Rage Against The Eminent Domain Machine

Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me. And now you do what they told ya:

For the past six years, Daniel Goldstein has been at the center of just about every rally, house party, concert and lawsuit opposed to the $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards project near Downtown Brooklyn.

He wielded a bullhorn and had a lightning-fast e-mail response to every incursion by the developer Bruce C. Ratner on the 22-acre project site at Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues. As the project advanced, and every one his neighbors abandoned his building on Pacific Street, Mr. Goldstein remained with his wife and child, vowing never to be dislodged from their seventh-floor condominium.

But on Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Goldstein, the last residential holdout in Mr. Ratner’s way, agreed to walk away from his apartment by May 7 for $3 million. Mr. Goldstein, 40, also agreed to step down as spokesman for Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, the main group opposing Atlantic Yards. And he said he would withdraw from any litigation and not “actively oppose the project,” although he said he held on to his First Amendment rights.

Here’s Goldstein’s statement: “My home was seized by the government to give to a private developer.”

Location Scout: Atlantic Yards.

Here’s One Way You Show Outrage For Excessive Wall Street Bonuses

In a record year for bonuses, it’s reasonable to make them take Town Cars like every other self-respecting fat cat:

The X25 bus, an express line transporting financial hotshots from Grand Central Terminal to Wall Street, will soon be eliminated by MTA bean counters, CEO Jay Walder said yesterday.

The line — and many others like it that will also soon hit the cutting block — is essentially an exclusive club for just 20 daily riders.

“It costs the MTA $80 per person to run this service,” Walder said. “I can assure you that we won’t be running the X25 much longer . . . This cannot continue to go on and on. There are services that no longer make sense.”

My Body Is A Pastime My Mind Is A Simple Joy I Learn My Lesson The Hardest Way

When you put it that way, I should have tried jacking some kid’s iPod instead:

A man convicted of three muggings in Queens, including an attack on a 101-year-old woman, was sentenced on Wednesday to 75 years in prison.

In imposing the sentence, Justice Gregory L. Lasak of State Supreme Court in Queens lashed out at the defendant, Jack Rhodes, 47, for preying on older women, and noted that his sentence added up to almost one year for every dollar he stole from his victims. Prosecutors also read a statement from his oldest victim, Rose Morat, now 103, whose assault was captured on surveillance tape and led to an intense hunt for her attacker.

Then there’s this charming realization:

Lasak reminded Rhodes that he would spend his declining years in a prison near the Canadian border with fewer and fewer visitors as the years go by.

“You’re going to get old and lonely up there. You’re going to become an old man,” Lasak said. “I wonder if the young inmates will show you the same respect that you showed Rose Morat, Solange Elizee and Angela Khan.”

Earlier: Jesus, What A Jerk.

High Five, Up High, Down Low, Too Slow!

Deep down, we are all that 7-year-old Staten Island girl:

After the press conference, Bloomberg attempted to give a high-five to a 7-year-old girl — but was rebuffed. “She left him hanging,” laughs an eyewitness.

See also: Bloomberg For Mayor 2009.

Can Howard Wolfson Massage This, Too?

Gains in student test scores that the Bloomberg administration trumpeted as proof mayoral control reforms are working, apparently are limited to questionable state testing:

New York students math scores stayed mostly flat on the most recent national tests, calling into question the big gains the same students have posted on state exams.

Scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress math exams show little change for fourth- and eighth-graders in New York.

The percentage of fourth-graders scoring proficient or higher fell from 43% in 2007 to 40% this year.

The state math exams have painted a very different picture of student achievement.