"Battle for Brooklyn" Is Screening On June 9th As Part Of The Rooftop Films Summer Series

"Battle for Brooklyn" will be playing the Rooftop Films Summer Series on Thursday, June 9th at 9pm. The screening will be taking place at Fort Greene Park.

*Doors Open at 8:00pm

LIVE Musical Performance & Rally by Brooklyn Activist Reverend Billy at 8:30pm

Don't Miss Q&A with one of the film's subjects Daniel Goldstein and filmmakers Michael Galinsky & Suki Hawley following the screening!

ABOUT THE FILM

Battle For Brooklyn (Michael Galinsky, Suki Hawley, David Beilinson | Brooklyn, NY | 93 min.)

In 2003 filmmaker Michael Galinsky read a NY Times article about a New Jersey Nets stadium coming to Brooklyn. Eight years and three lawsuits later, the Forest City Ratner vs. The People vs. The State of New York vs. The Borough of Brooklyn saga has played out for all of New York City to bear witness. A main character in this real estate tragedy has been Daniel Goldstein, the Prospect Heights man who refused to be bought out by Ratner developers. His organization, Develop Don't Destroy, led the anti-Atlantic Yards movement and mobilized thousands of people toward his cause.

Battle for Brooklyn starts at the very beginning of this debate and follows it through its devastating conclusion. We see how Goldstein's life was upended when he took on Ratner, and how he changes over the course of this near decade long struggle. New Yorkers pride themselves on being stubborn and vocal, and Goldstein certainly earns this pride. If you're a Brooklyn resident who heard about all the hoopla but didn't understand what people were actually fighting for, now is your chance to learn about the (anti-) development in your own backyard.

Of course people want more jobs and affordable housing in their communities. We should have those things without question; they are worth fighting for. Battle for Brooklyn sheds light on the realities of the promises made by Forest City Ratner, however, and shows us how those empty pledges divided our unified Borough. The brilliant and fiery Councilwoman Leticia James leads the charge, challenging the "backdoor deals" that eliminated local city involvement from Atlantic Yards and exposing the twisted truths about the effects this development will have on our community. Though it may appear that the battle is lost, the story, as we see here, is far from dead..

IN CASE OF RAIN, THE SCREENING WILL BE RESCHEDULED FOR A LATER DATE. CHECK WWW.ROOFTOPFILMS.COM ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT OR CALL 718.417.7362 FOR UPDATES OR MORE INFORMATION.