The Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC on Christmas Day, was a rebroadcast of the original 11/17/09 show with New Yorker (and former NYT) architecture critic, Paul Goldberger. Speaking before the recent closing of the bond issue and property transfer (and erection of the arena propaganda, above), Goldberger went on record saying that he thought that AY was, and is, a mistake. He based that on his opinion that mega-projects don’t improve street life, and he hoped that the slowdown in the economy would give the project time for improvement, and the correction of mistakes. He went on to quote the celebrated critic Louis Mumford, who said that, the great function of the city is to permit, indeed, to encourage and incite, the greatest possible number of meetings, encounters, challenges between all people, classes, groups, providing a stage upon which the drama of life may be enacted. Mega-projects, and he cites the World Trade Center, as well as Battery Park City, are enclaves unto themselves that do not encourage this great mingling of people necessary to great city life. Goldberger conceded that he likes the redone façade of the proposed stadium, but still does not approve of the project. Over the years, I’ve realized that streets are more important than buildings,” he said. “The urban experience has to be had on foot.”

The Atlantic Yards Report also has a full report of the Lopate/Goldberger interview, with commentary.