[font=Verdana]Developer Bruce Ratner starts demolition today on the first of the buildings standing in the way of his $3.5 billion NBA arena and skyscraper complex in [/font][font=Verdana]Brooklyn[/font][font=Verdana]. [/font]

[font=Verdana]Officials with Ratner's Forest City Ratner Companies said Gateway Demolition would raze the decrepit, four-story Underberg Building on Atlantic Avenue, which earned a prominent spot in Jonathan Lethem's ac- claimed Brooklyn memoir, "Fortress of Solitude." [/font]

[font=Verdana]The building, a former food-supplies store, is one of six that Ratner has targeted for demolition, claiming they are so dilapidated that they're a public hazard. [/font]

[font=Verdana]Opponents of Ratner's Atlantic Yards project sued to block the demolition, but a judge tossed out the suit. [/font]

[font=Verdana]They are appealing the decision, but most agreed the Underberg was in the worst condition of any of the buildings slated for demolition. Still, Candace Carponter, a spokeswoman for the opponents, complained, "We never got inside so we couldn't tell." [/font]

[font=Verdana]Gateway Demolition will start dismantling the Underberg by hand and it should take several weeks to bring the entire structure down. [/font]

[font=Verdana]Ratner paid Gateway $1.3 million to tear down the Underberg and several other buildings in the area. [/font]