Another Political Twist for Atlantic Yards
The end-of-term politics around the Atlantic Yards project is getting very interesting. State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who holds the project by the balls with his vote on the Public Authorities Control Board (PACB), had the following to say about the project this weekend on WNBC: In Brooklyn, it’s a mixed bag. There are people…
The end-of-term politics around the Atlantic Yards project is getting very interesting. State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who holds the project by the balls with his vote on the Public Authorities Control Board (PACB), had the following to say about the project this weekend on WNBC:
In Brooklyn, it’s a mixed bag. There are people for it, people against it, and the proposal itself keeps changing somewhat. So we’ll look at it in a very favorable light because development is necessary down there, see how the developer responds to some of the criticism, either because of the mass of the project or some of the traffic.
In his analysis this weekend, Norman Oder theorizes that FCR “would rather compromise significantly with Silver before the end of the year than let the project carry over to a Spitzer administration that might take a closer look at the project.” How much of a compromise? As much as 20 to 30 percent, think Oder. Interesting.
Silver to View AY in Favorable Light [AY Report]
ESDC Certifies Yards Environmental Report [Brownstoner]
“The reason why CI wont work nearly as well as AY is b/c it is at the END of the line(45 minutes) from Manhattan and is only serviced by 4 lines (versus 10 Plus LIRR at AY).”
are you a developer david? what do you do, specifically and for whom?
bty, CI is a termis so there are 8 tracks and much wider platforms thus much more suitable.
“If everyone affiliated with DDDB is a volunteer, then why was Daniel Goldstein’s girlfriend hired?”
she left her well paying full time job to volunteer full time she gets 35K a year that’s it. she is the only paid employee – and earns every penny. to imply dddb has some elboarate payroll is absurd. for a pro ratner person to charge this is the epitome of hypocrisy considering all of your fake activist organizations are covertly funded by ratner.
Make no doubts about it, this project will ruin your communities. They will become mirror images of the desolate wasteland that currently surround most arenas.
These guys are businessmen and their bottomline is the almighty dollar. They couldn’t care less about maintaining the character and flavor of your communities. They want to get as many people as possible into the arena. They anticipate that if the commute time is short and the area is centrally located, that more people will attend the games.
AY is not about civic pride or a recapturing of the Glory Days of the Brooklyn Dodgers. If this was the case they would have approached the impacted communities differently.
This about the bottomline and earnings. Union Square, Columbus Circle, Hell’s Kitchen, Grand Central, West 4th, 96th Street, etc are all transportation hubs in Manhattan. But these developers sensed a pro-longed and ultimately, un-winnable battle in those areas of the city (case in point, the Jets Stadium in Hell’s Kitchen). So they decided to take their show to Brooklyn thinking that we’re all a bunch of morons.
While we would love to have the Nets in Brooklyn, this isn’t the way to do it. We’re as much fans of the game as the next guy but, this isn’t the way to do it.
Ratner, you need to repent, step up your game and come correctly.
Coney Island is already set up for something of this magnatude, the surrounding area and boardwalk are ready to handle the crowds. also, may i present another alternative, why doesn’t RATner build his money machine stadium in the Navy Yard where the current auto impound lot is? this is still very walkable from the trains and the city can still slide him free land. of course there would still be traffic problems and probs with the bridges not handling the volume but these are problems which are already being ignored by the blasphemers in city govt so we’d be no worse off then now on that front.
Well apparently David, from the way you say it, we’re not supposed to be self-interested at all; we should just give up our rights and lifestyle just because you say so. And, even more importantly, we’re not supposed to cry, wimper or complain about it. And definitely, if nothing else, we ought not to question anything. But even more importantly, we should smile while we’re getting shafted and we should open up our pocketbooks as taxpayers and help you build this thing too. Nothing like participating in one’s own demise.
This eminent domain thing involves more than just the taking of a couple of homes.
It obviously involves the ‘taking’ of entire neighborhoods. It’s not just the poor homeowners who were forced to sell and move; we will all lose something when this project goes through.
Eminent domain: we no longer own the quiet comforts and luxuries that we’ve grown accustomed to. If you’ve ever been angry and frustrated while driving in Brooklyn, or while being pushed and jostled on the trains or while waiting for a train to come, get used to it, for it will only get worse by several degrees of magnitude.
Eminent domain: we no longer own the intimacy of our streets. We no longer own quiet evenings at home without a symphony of cars honking and unending sirens. We no longer own guarantees of properly functioning utilities (water, sewer, electricity). We no longer own the confidence of safety and security within our subways. Nevermind that our infrastructure (firemen, police, paramedics, schools, garbage, electric grid, subways, highways, streets) will be squeezed and stretched beyond limits.
Eminent domain: do not even consider asking a question even if all you want to do is to ensure that your live isn’t enormously disrupted.
Sounds like we ought to become best of friends with the people who are getting their homes taken from them because they’re not the only ones getting the raw end of the deal in this scenario.
If everyone affiliated with DDDB is a volunteer, then why was Daniel Goldstein’s girlfriend hired?
I don’t expect anyone to answer that question.
Actually I use the the Atlantic/Pacific stop everyday at rush hour.
And unless your going to stop people from moving to NYC and stop them from having kids it is 1000% irrelevant how crowded the subway is presently in terms of site location for development – more people are going to use an overcrowded subway that is just ‘downstairs’ and has easy access to the whole city then will use that same subway if it is 10 blocks away and/or requires a long trip/many transfers to get to where they want to go.
FYI – I usually get a seat on my way home
What have I said that isnt “credible” are you saying that our Government Officials arent hacks? – Or is it simply b/c Silver hasnt approved AY yet he isnt one – Yet??
Silver is a hack, a blood sucking plaintiffs lawyer who b/c of our disfunctional system is given massive power over the entire state – even though he is only elected by a small district on the Lower Eastside. and BTW – Gargano is a hack too.
The reason why CI wont work nearly as well as AY is b/c it is at the END of the line(45 minutes) from Manhattan and is only serviced by 4 lines (versus 10 Plus LIRR at AY). To encourage mass transit you have to make it convenient – it will not be convenient for someone working and living in Manhattan to take the train to a game (at 7pm) and then home again at 10. And it will force suburban fans to take their cars b/c they will be so far from the suburban train lines as to make going to a game by mass transit a 2hr trip in each direction.
Finally the reverse question must be asked – Coney Island is a fairly densely developed area with more development coming – if AY is so bad for Downtown then why are you so willing to push it off to the people of CI – could it be that your position is more about self-interest then anything else?
and for whomever asked – yes Union Sq is densely developed and served by significantly less mass transit.
It’s obvious that David doesn’t use the subway lines at Atlantic/Pacific during rush hours.
He’s made this lame argument in the past – it’s a very weak one that fixates on the single concept of “lots of subway lines=mass density and new tall buildings=best use of the site.” Duh…just brilliant, david…
more importantly, independent 3rd party EXPERTS were never consulted about the impact on public transportation or sewers, streets, parking, etc. (Or if they were, the results of their studies were kept on the down-low, for pretty obvious reasons.)
most importantly, It’s the violation of our constitution and the pilfering of taxpayer dollars that are the the real crimes being committed here, while zombies chant ” Done Deal.”
the public subsidizing of a freakin’ NBA basketball franchise/arena for this owner (Ratner) is pretty messed up, don’t you think?
Keep drinkin’ the Kool-Aid, pro AYers…Your master needs you to spread the gospel of B-ball at taxpayer’s expense…