A handful residents protested in front of Ward Bread Bakery on Pacific Street Monday morning as workers began to prepare for the demolition of the structure to make way for the Atlantic Yards arena and housing project.

"It's a beautiful building and it part of the historic fabric of this neighborhood," said Patti Hagan a member of the Prospect Heights Action Coalition, a group that opposes the $4 billion megadevelopment. "To take it down is just wasteful."

The protesters said the historic six-story building, built in 1911 and covered in white terra cotta tiles, is example of a "scorched earth" policy that will blight the corridor along the Long Island Rail Road yards in Prospect Heights. Along with the former Daily News printing plant and the former Spalding factory, the Ward Bakery Co. building form an important industrial corridor, Hagan said.

Developer Bruce Ratner has received approval from the state to build an 8-million square-foot mixed-use development that includes a new Frank Gehry-designed arena, but still faces a number of legal challenges including a federal eminent domain lawsuit that will be heard on Friday.

The work started yesterday at the bakery at 800 Pacific St. will include two months of abatement, including the removal of asbestos, Forest City Ratner Companies said in a statement. When the building is gone in two months, 75 percent of the materials will be recycled, the company said.