Atlantic Yards, How You've Changed
This chart put together earlier this week by the Brooklyn Speaks coalition pretty much, well, speaks for itself. You can check out the entire presentation here. Atlantic Yards Then and Now [Brooklyn Speaks]
This chart put together earlier this week by the Brooklyn Speaks coalition pretty much, well, speaks for itself. You can check out the entire presentation here.
Atlantic Yards Then and Now [Brooklyn Speaks]
DDDB and all others on record opposing AY would not have been able to litigate for years if there hadn’t been plenty of material for lawyers and opposition to work with.
If FCR, the City and State had been above board in the first place, then there would be construction going on as we speak. There was no need for eminent domain, a project could have been designed with the land FCR had already, or would have bought without displacing people and business that didn’t want to sell. He could have worked with, or around Ward’s Bakery, there was no need to tear it down. If they hadn’t have had to have some gigantic ego-driven, look how big my appendage is, mega-project, they could have possibly garnered some community support, and public approval.
If the city and state had not been so enamoured with the whole gigantic-ness of the thing, that they were willing to give FCR ANYTHING they wanted, including valuable, MTA property that could have been sold at market rate, intead of given away, that would have been a start.
The list of “shoulda, couldas” is really, really long, but in the long run, I’d have to say that FCR’s mess is their own making, not DDDB’s, but we, the residents and taxpayers are going to be paying for it for generations.
Plus, we people living in the arena’s shadow can probably moonlight selling beer and sundries to the tailgaters! Or just start stealing gps units.
barf.
Why does everyone hate DDDB? (I’m neutral)
Why are some people so sure AY is a good thing?
Has it occurred to anyone that those 7 acres of ‘temporary’ parking will be of great benefit to the arena? I mean, look at every other 20k seat arena in the country – acres and acres of parking. They’ll be able to charge $20/car on event nights no problem.
Hmm, so the MTA and city are crying about the MTA’s $400m budget shortfall this year. Meanwhile the city is giving AY $236m in subsidies and MTA agreed to sell the land for $120+m less than its appraised value.
I’m not a math genius but does anyone else think it might have made more sense to refuse the subsidies to AY and sell the land for its actual value thereby offsetting the MTA’s budget shortfall? Call me crazy but that seems like a better result than destroying two or three of Brooklyn’s best neighborhoods and pulling $400m out of city coffers in exchange for the worst basketball franchise and 7 acres of lined pavement.
A classic bait and switch.**
Extensive government subsidies Check
Tie project to superstar architect(s) Check
Sell the public on said superstar architect(s) designs Check
Promise an extensive development of many buildings Check
Insist on additional government subsidy Check
Replace approved superstar designs with a cheaper one
that would have never been approved initially Check
Build a mere fraction of what was promised Check
** See also the World Trade Center Redevelopment.
So do you think Ratner and Silverstein compare notes when they run their scams?
7 acres of parking. HA!
DDDB’s other strategy –
(IV) New Yorkers would wake up to the fact that New York taxpayers were being fleeced by perhaps the biggest corporate welfare scam in New York’s history and stop it.
Despite a great deal of “elementary school” logic to see this, it didn’t happen either.
still in favor here.
if there is some corruption in the project, go after the potentially guilty parties.
but in case you didn’t notice there’s been a huge financial event that might not have been forecast in the original numbers.
why is this still considered a sweet deal for ratner? doesnt his payoff come on the resi tower side? how do long delays and massive reduction in numbers help that business proposition? he had to give away most of his franchise (which will increase in value as Bkln Nyets) to get it funded.
still this project does no favors to real estate listings in the shadow of the construction like yesterday’s hotd revisited.
still really hate the idea of parking lots.