Atlantic Yards: Beneficiary or Victim of Economy?
Reason number 14 to love New York: “Because sometimes immense, gratuitous, noncontextual acts of real-estate ego don’t pan out.” Those adjectives belong to New York magazine, pointing out that Ratner’s “$4.2 billion, 22-acre combination of residential towers and office buildings, anchored by a basketball arena for the Nets, was supposed to completely transform downtown Brooklyn—with…
Reason number 14 to love New York: “Because sometimes immense, gratuitous, noncontextual acts of real-estate ego don’t pan out.” Those adjectives belong to New York magazine, pointing out that Ratner’s “$4.2 billion, 22-acre combination of residential towers and office buildings, anchored by a basketball arena for the Nets, was supposed to completely transform downtown Brooklyn—with seemingly little thought given to what it might do to the already paralyzed intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues.” Though the lawsuits against the project “never got any real traction,” they did indeed delay the project, they write, until the market changed. “At the moment, the old neighborhood is winning. Score two points for entropy.” Is this a victory for opponents? A pit-stop on the way to development? Construction may be a while off, but demolition is long underway.
Because Sometimes Immense, Gratuitous, Noncontextual Acts Of Real-estate Ego Don’t Pan Out [New York]
Polemicist: The land is not state property. If one day it become state property, then you are correct, the zoning override by the state overrides the city zoning regulations and no rezoning required. But, if Atlantic Yards does not happen, and Ratner wants to develop the non rail yard properties, he’d have to get a city rezoning.
The demapping has nothing to do with the decking. the demapping has to do with the superblocking. Also, they will not be demapped, they would be condemned by eminent domain just like the private properties.
bkn4life wrote:
“i repectfully disagree that the final nail in the coffin has been filed. you have done good work and it may be enough. but for my money, there is more awaitin the rat.”
not saying at all that the “final nail is in the coffin.” That is not the case whatsoever. What the comment said is that you were saying you’d be interested in a lawsuit challenging the blight finding, and that suit has been filed.
more about it here:
http://dddb.net/FEIS/appeal/index.php
bkn4life:
There is no need for “rezoning” as the land is/will be state property. City zoning laws do not apply to land owned by the state of nation. Spot rezoning applies to the growth of zoning districts (i.e. you can build at the higher density if your zoning abuts a higher density zone) and has no relevance here.
As has been said countless times, the demapping is needed to accommodate the design constraints of the decking. It is not just to piss off people like you.
As for the free-market issue, I would normally agree – the problem is the the train yard. If it was land, I’d say you are 100% right. The train yard complicates matters however, so it’s not that easy.
But what happens now? Will Ratner begin selling off bits of the property to smaller developers, a la BK Developers? Or Boymelgreen? Or will the land lay fallow and become a dumping ground for mattresses and old Christmas trees? Or maybe homeless shanty towns, a la Tompkins Square Park circa 1986? Will responsible development prevail? Can this fiscal crisis and ongoing lawsuits convince Ratner to build contextually and responsibly? I am not advocating Ratner-style development, no, no, not at all, but really would like to know–what are we in for?
How about brownstone townhouses and low-rise (non-Scarano) buildings?
havelc,
how about no special zoning?
how about dont demap streets?
how about no spot zoning?
how about free-market development?
Look, I don’t like the look of the AY buildings either… but can someone please tell me what would be contextual in that space? It’s the edge of P.H. brownstones, ratty Flatbush storefronts, 4th ave restaurants with permanent garbage in front, the Ratner shopping center monstrosity and the most phallic high rise (W’berg Savings) in the entire world.
actually wasder, i was thinking that also-but he seems to have drastically altered Miss Brooklyn, unless I’m mistaken.
Instead of reading Brownstoner, I think I’ll pick up one of these New York Magazines I’m hearing so much about. Seems they have some very interesting articles.
dddb,
i repectfully disagree that the final nail in the coffin has been filed. you have done good work and it may be enough. but for my money, there is more awaitin the rat.