...But the new twist in the continuing saga of Coney's revitalization was State Senator Carl Kruger who, earlier had announced his plan to attend and criticize the plan - and in fact did just that! And with bus-loads of back-up support to make his case heard, he told reporters that this raises serious questions. "They cancelled the meeting, not, because they wanted to label it as an overflow crowd, they cancelled the meeting because it was not going to be one-sided. This was going to be an opportunity to ask questions. Questions which city administration does not have answers to", said Kruger.

He also pressed the questions, "Who is going to pay for this scheme? Who is going to build it? How long is it going to take? And what is the impact on our community?" He also gave a stern warning, "If this bill for parkland sees the light of day in Albany, then the Mayor is going to have a real fight on his hands, trying to get it through the state senate!" He proclaimed, "It's not going to happen! This is a backdoor approach to eminent domain!. He also said he will not allow Coney Island to be given away without community input...
(emphasis added)

...Score one for the good guys,” state Sen. Carl Kruger (D–Bensonhurst) shouted to his supporters after the Coney Island Development Corporation hastily canceled the meeting. “We won the ground war. You made a point tonight, and that is that Bloomberg isn’t going to push his Manhattan plans on Brooklyn without hearing from Brighton Beach, Coney Island and Sheepshead Bay.”
(emphasis added)

...Big Ratner supporter - and City Councilmember - Lew Fidler shared his thoughts about his old Buick, while State Senator Carl Kruger delivered a boilerplate special that could have easily addressed local Lions Club boosters...

SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Carl Kruger. I'm the State Senator representing the Southern Tier of Brooklyn and I think that tonight "Brooklyn" is the operative word.

We're not talking about the Nets Arena. We're not talking about Forest City Ratner. We're talking about Brooklyn, we're talking about communities, we're talking about Brooklyn first.

And what better setting for us to talk about Brooklyn than to talk about job creation; to talk about union jobs -

(Audience participation.)

-- building a union project;

What better way can we talk about Brooklyn than talking about affordable housing;

What better way can we talk about Brooklyn than bringing an arena and a first-class team it the doorstep of what is truly the capital of the world, our borough, Brooklyn;

(Audience participation.)

How better tonight can we talk about Brooklyn than to talk about development. When we talk about development, we talk about neighborhoods; We talk about sustaining the old while we build on the new; We talk about creating communities where communities existed; We talk about change; and We talk about growth; We talk about a borough and we talk about a city; We talk about people and we talk about children; We talk about what it means to each and every one of us and what we hold near and dear.

So today, as this Commission deliberates the very process for which this hearing is taking place, it must look at the Atlantic Yards project in the vacuum of what it really is, it's putting Brooklyn first -

(Audience participation.)

-- and jobs and housing and communities and neighborhoods and children.

And although there will be diverse opinions and wherever there is growth and change, there will always be people both being advocates and being opponents, but at the end of the day when the dust settles, what we care about is our great borough; what we care about is our communities; what we care is change and growth and prosperity and Atlantic Yards offers our great borough all of that.

So today, as we all become partners in the process, it's a partnership that says that as Atlantic Yards goes forward, so does Brooklyn.

Thank you.
(Audience participation.)