Movie Review: Battle for Brooklyn

Though hardly kneejerk, the Moving Picture Institute has nurtured some of the most challenging free-market/right-of-center documentaries to sneak into theaters in recent years. Norman Siegel is a self-proclaimed civil liberties attorney so far to the left that he has lost three Democratic primaries in New York City to more moderate candidates. When they agree something is a problem, it must be awful.

The issue in question is the abuse of the state government’s eminent domain powers. Indeed, both the MPI and Siegel were involved with Suki Hawley & Michael Galinsky’s Battle for Brooklyn, the opening night film of the 2011 Brooklyn Film Festival.

Formerly the Brooklyn International Film Fest, the BFF has dropped the “I” to emphasize its commitment to Brooklyn filmmakers, making this film an especially apt selection to kick off the proceedings.

Bruce Ratner, a generous political donor (mainly to Democrats), concocted a massive development project in Brooklyn anchored by a stadium that will supposedly house the relocated New Jersey Nets. Originally designed by Frank Gehry, it was billed as all things for all people, including scads of low-income housing and open space.

To build it, he only asked the state of New York to underwrite a substantial portion of it and to forcibly evict some residents and business owners through eminent domain. They happily complied. However, a group of upstart 718-ers would not go without a fight. Hawley & Galinsky focus on one particularly quixotic protester—Daniel Goldstein.

When the megastadium complex was first announced, Goldstein had just purchased an apartment within the zone of contention and was engaged to be married. By the end of the film, he had married a different woman with whom he had a healthy baby girl. Yes, this David-and-Goliath fight certainly altered the course of his life.

At each juncture, the fix is obviously in for the so-called Atlantic Yards project. State commissioners vote on the proposal despite having no familiarity with the actual details, while members of the city council cannot be bothered to hear out its critics during committee hearings. Indeed, besides Brooklyn City Councilor Letitia James, New York City’s politicians do not come out looking well.

Over the course of the film, viewers will pick up a heck of an education in New York state land-use law, but not at the expense of the film’s central drama. At its core, this is a film about a man fighting for his home and a community struggling to stay intact.

New York might be one of the worst states for eminent domain law, but the concerns raised by the film apply to jurisdictions across the country. Tightly edited by Hawley from 400 hours of raw footage, each hair-pullingly frustrating step of the way is clearly presented and easy to follow.

Granted, Goldstein gets a bit whiny at times as the central POV character, but he certainly has a right to be ticked. Years in the making at a cost of millions to New York State tax payers, Battle for Brooklyn is an important case study of unchecked power at the state level.

Battle for Brooklyn screens again as a special co-presentation with Rooftop Films at Fort Greene Park on Saturday (June 11) at IndieScreen, in advance of its June 17 theatrical opening at Cinema Village.

Joe Bendel writes about independent film and jazz and lives in New York. To read his most recent articles, please visit jbspins.blogspot.com.