As the development of downtown Brooklyn moves forward, it will happen in a job environment where city-wide unemployment for Black men is over 50 percent and the nearby Ingersoll housing projects have over 75 percent of residents unemployed. Given these kinds of statistics, the plantation model of white-owned construction firms providing jobs for Blacks and Latinos, and then when construction is over other white-owned businesses coming in to do the same, is not a solution to urban development.

Mayor of Atlanta Georgia, Maynard Jackson, had a different idea about the $1 billion expansion of the Hartsfield International Airport. He insisted that black firms be included in all aspects of the project, from concessions to construction. The most visible aspect is in the food court where the long-famed local eatery Paschal’s shares space with major franchises. Jackson had blocked the airport expansion until 25 percent of the construction contracts were awarded to minority-owned businesses. With his model, Jackson grew major construction, architecture, food service and other large black-owned companies.

After the airport project, Atlanta was the Black Mecca, as in “Black folks are doin’ it in Atlanta.”

If New York were to follow Jackson’s precedent, then for every billion dollars spent, $250 million would go to African-American and Latino-owned firms. That would be real economic development that would help stabilize Black and Latino communities and build wealth from the bottom—including the middle class—up, rather than hope it trickles down.

Asked how close he thinks the downtown development plan will come to the Atlanta model, Brooklyn Councilman Albert Vann said: “Not close at all.” Vann noted that Maynard Jackson was a black man, who had the executive power of mayor, but without that, “we can have influence — and if all of the political leaders came together a great deal of influence—but the power to do it lies elsewhere.”

One of the power centers is Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, an enthusiastic booster of the downtown development plan and the Ratner arena development, which he says is still evolving to minimize the displacement of residents.

At a press conference at Brooklyn Borough Hall, Markowitz responded to a question about high unemployment among African-American males, saying that every effort will be made to employ locally and use Brooklyn-based businesses. “Every African-American business should be at the gate.”

Eric Williams of WBAI asked if other cities with arenas had been contacted, and one of Markowitz’ aides said that the Staples Centers’ Community Benefit Agreement was one of the models they were looking at for guidance.

We found the Community Benefits Program for the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment District Project online and it details local hiring, local training, and practices which require the developer to do little more than regularly listen to community groups and then he can go back to work. There are living-wage and hiring goals, targeting, “among others, individuals whose residence or place of employment has been displaced by the STAPLES Center project, low-income individuals living within a three-mile radius of the Project, and individuals living in low-income areas throughout the City.” But there is no targeted business-building requirement and that is something that should be in any Brooklyn model.

Under the section “Developer Selection of Tenants,” local businesses, including restaurants, should have guaranteed percentages of prime locations in the development. Eateries such as The Five Spot, Bodegas and Shakoor’s Sweet Tooth, can open for business and hire even more people than they already employ.

Looking to have some influence on the project is BUILD, a coalition growing out of Assemblyman Roger Green’s office. We met with BUILD officials, Eric Blackwell, James Caldwell and Darnell Canada, at their offices on Vanderbilt Avenue. The group says that it opposes the idea of saying “no” to the arena project without looking at all of the possible ramifications. As Mr. Blackwell put it, “We owe it to ourselves as residents and activists to take a look at all of the projects downtown, not just this one.”

Speaking of the development proposed in downtown Brooklyn, Blackwell said: “There was no community input, and we felt that we should put the current economic climate on the table as well. There are people to be relocated from Pacific and Dean? What about those being relocated from Ingersoll Houses? Where’s the concern for them?”

Mr. Darnell added that, “We’re not going to blindly say no to development that could put our people to work and create business opportunities. We need a community benefit agreement between the community and the developer where both win.

“In the past, the developers have been winning and the community has been losing. We’re not going to say no to development when we have 78 percent unemployment. We want to find out the facts.” Darnell added: “If there is any opportunity to create a positive economic environment, we have to take a look at it. We want to be a part of the process.”

The group noted that Londell McMillan, the lawyer negotiating on behalf of the Black and Latino legislators grew up in Tompkins Housing, and investor Jay-Z comes from the Marcy houses and Bernard King from Fort Greene Housing. “Where else can you find a project of this size with black participation from the neighborhood so high up?”