Story of Occupy Wall Street protestors runs parallel to 'Battle for Brooklyn' documentary

By Michael O’Keeffe. NY Daily News

The pundits who continue to say they don’t understand what the protesters behind Occupy Wall Street want should look at “Battle for Brooklyn,” the award-winning documentary about the Atlantic Yards that was released this summer.

The film was released before the Wall Street protests began, but the story it tells is a strong summary of the crony capitalism that sparked the OWS movement.

Public assets, according to the film, were given away to the wealthy and connected. Eminent domain was used, and abused, to benefit corporate interests. Fawning elected officials — Bloomberg, Schumer, Markowitz, take your pick — parroted the developer’s dubious claims of jobs and affordable housing. Millions of dollars in subsidies were provided for a project that bypassed local review. Competing proposals, which may have been more beneficial to taxpayers and the surrounding community, were ignored or dismissed…

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