Developer Ratner Feted and Jeered at Brooklyn Museum

BROOKLYN—Last week’s Brooklyn Ball, the Brooklyn Museum's annual spring fundraiser, honored developer Bruce Ratner for his philanthropic support, a decision that brought out, in addition to the usual legions of celebrities and museum supporters, scores of protesters who braved the cold evening to rail against his $4 billion Atlantic Yards project, Bloomberg reports.

As guests at the gala paid $1,000 for dinner catered by chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa's Nobu 57 restaurant, outside the museum, about 60 local residents jeered the developer’s plans for the 22-acre area, which include erecting a $950 million, 19,000-seat arena for the National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets and 16 high-rise buildings near the Atlantic Terminal, New York's third-largest transit hub.

Some local residents claim that the project is too large and will flood nearby residential neighborhoods with traffic and crowds. There is also considerable concern about the plan’s intended use of eminent domain to seize nearly 60 residential and commercial buildings in the nearby Prospect Heights neighborhood, according to Daniel Goldstein, a spokesman for the Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn opposition group.

“Honoring Bruce Ratner has nothing to do with anything other than his terrific patronage over a very long period of time,'' museum director Arnold Lehman said. "We're not involved in the politics that seems to be swirling around us."

The ball raised $1.5 million, which will be used for "a wide range of museum programs," said museum spokesman Sally Williams.

In addition to presenting Ratner with the Augustus Graham Medal, the event celebrated the museum’s exhibition of work by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, which opened April 5. Celebrities in attendance included designer Marc Jacobs, former tennis star John McEnroe, actress Kristin Davis, artist Richard Prince, and rapper Kanye West, who performed after the dinner.