Ratner Cans Gehry For Good

Remember FCR's arena was approved at $637 million. In less than 2 years it went up to $950, and now $800 million, they say. Construction materials did not go up at that rate. Why did it go up so much; was it affordable at approval? Was it ever possible to build architecturally or financially? No. Especially ever since Forest City scrapped the commercial tower that never had any demand anyway.

Notably Ouroussoff's tirade places the blame squarely on Forest City Ratner's head and, to a lesser extent, government—right where it belongs.

Our opposition to Atlantic Yards, to name just a few reasons, has always been about the political corruption, the sweetheart, backroom deals, the laughable and undemocratic approval "process," the ongoing bait-and-switch, the feeding from the public subsidy trough, the abuse of eminent domain, the superblocks, and the offensive scale and density of the project. We also weren't too pleased when the now-lamented Gehry said in 2003 that he was "excited to build a neighborhood practically from scratch."

The opposition is about the concept of the arena itself, NOT what it looks like or who designed it. It was wrongheaded as a concept in 2003, and it is wrongheaded as a concept now. An arena doesn't belong and doesn't fit in the fabric of Brownstone Brooklyn, or any residential neighborhood. That is why city zoning regulations, overridden in this instance by the state, do not allow arenas in residential neighborhoods.

Ellerbe Becket, Lemony Snicket or Frank Gehry could be the architect, but it all would be just so much window-dressing on an affront to the community.

There is no accounting for taste. Some like Gehry some don't. Some like Ellerbe Becket (really, some do) and some don't. Whether one prefers spaceships or airplane hangars is not the issue.

We fully understand that Ouroussoff must view the project through his critic's lens, and well he should (though had he brought his skeptic's lens earlier, he might not be kicking himself now.) And though we don't agree with him that Atlantic Yards was ever about the public good—even as architecture—we do agree with him that Ratner's dumping of Gehry is a "shameful betrayal of the public trust," and a bait-and-switch.

The final dots that need to be connected are left unconnected by Ourossoff. Bait-and-switchers don't just bait-and-switch once, it is a pattern. And if Ratner's Gehry bait-and-switch is stunning, so is the bait-and-switch on "affordable" housing, "publicly accessible open space," job creation, commercial space, reneging on a contract with the MTA, and changing the project timeline from 10 years to, unofficially "decades" and officially 6 years to build just the arena according to state financing documents. Atlantic Yards itself is a monument to bait-and-switch.

And remember, numerous times over the past six months various Ratner team members, including Bruce Ratner, Nets President Brett Yormark, and Forest City Ratner mouthpiece Joe DePlasco have all told the public, through reporters, that Frank Gehry was their architect for the arena when all the while Elllerbe Becket was working up their new "spiritless box" or "airplane hangar."

Why should anyone trust Forest City about anything they say or do, at this point?

Now we need our elected leaders, starting with Gov Paterson, to restore the public trust, to convince us that they view the public as more than mere play things for duplicitous developers and backdrops for ribbon cuttings. We need the man in charge of the two agencies preparing to make concessions to Forest City for its Zombie Project—the MTA and the Empire State Development Corporation—to say enough is enough, and take away Ratner's tackle box so the Atlantic Yards bait-and-switch ploys can be put to rest.

Posted by: DDDB at June 11, 2009 10:32 AM