PR Teams Work Hard to Patch Up Frank Gehry’s Atlantic Yards ‘Misquote’

So as to give you a bit of a breather from these bits of Frank Gehry news until at least after the weekend, you have our promise to be brief. After saying he doesn’t have much hope of seeing the Atlantic Yards project ever completed, Gehry, developer Forest City Ratner, and most specifically, both their PR departments, have been working in overtime to repair any damage caused from this brief, off-the-cuff remark. Gehry released a statement saying his comments were being misconstrued and the Ratner people are doing the same:

“Frank Gehry is still the architect of this project,” [New Jersey Nets CEO Brett Yormark] insisted on WFAN radio. “He loves it. It’s very dear to his heart, no different than it is to all of us.”

“Frank was just venting probably,” Yormark added later.

Though we wonder how “I don’t think it’s going to happen,” which were Gehry’s words, is exactly “venting.” Maybe if he’d yelled it, flipped the table over, and poured hot coffee all over the interviewer, that would be “venting” (at least that’s how we do it). To us, his original quote sounded more like “resignation” which tends to be a little more genuine and grounded in reality.

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.