Brooklyn Beckons Builders

Zoning changes, "approved over the summer, also clear the way for 3,000 new housing units and 800,000 square feet of retail. "We want to have a vibrant commercial core," declares Amanda Burden, chair of the city's planning commission.

Brooklyn has recently become a destination for companies wanting to spread out their operations in the wake of the 2001 terror attacks. The attacks paralyzed financial firms in the Wall Street area for days. Bank of New York this summer christened a 10-story office tower at Ratner's new Atlantic Terminal, at the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues and across Atlantic from the future arena complex." (Includes images.)