Atlantic Yards: The Morning After
“In theory, it should be everything that a progressive urban policy analyst like me would want from a new development. Atlantic Yards would create lots of new housing immediately adjacent to mass transit lines. It would be a mix of residential, commercial, retail, and entertainment space. And it would create new affordable housing and green…
“In theory, it should be everything that a progressive urban policy analyst like me would want from a new development. Atlantic Yards would create lots of new housing immediately adjacent to mass transit lines. It would be a mix of residential, commercial, retail, and entertainment space. And it would create new affordable housing and green space. But, somehow, Atlantic Yards developer Forest City Ratner got it all wrong…” Read the rest of Urban Policy Analyst John Petro’s opinion piece today on The Huffington Post.
MM what you say ignores the fact that had Ratner and the state done everything you ask above – it wouldnt have matter one iota to the result – since Goldstein et al would have filed all the same lawsuits, thrown out just as much FUD and delayed the project just as effectively – because DDDB has already said that as long as the project contained an arena – they were against it.
It’s soooo easy to blame it on DDDB, or Goldstein, because he/they are not lovable people, but the fact of the matter is that FCR and the city and state are far, far, far more culpable of blame here. Goldstein didn’t give away the MTA yards, a short sale from the get-go, a freebee at the end. DDDB didn’t obfuscate, cover-up and ignore legitimate and reasonable questions and issues about the eminent domain end of this, or the use of tax payer funds for public development. And neither of them promised a packed room of needy people permanent, well paying jobs and affordable housing for their support of the project, pitting them against gentrifying NIMBY’s.
If FCR had wanted to keep Ghery, or his original design, knowing full well that he had the deep pockets and wherewithal to wait out the lawsuits, he could have done so, if his ultimate goal was to give Brooklyn his vision of the ultimate 21st century complex. His ultimate goal, as many pegged from the beginning, is rather, to make as much money as possible for himself and his company, by spending as little of his own bucks on the project as humanly possible. In this, he is succeeding, like gangbusters.
wow be_rude nice piece
I agree with what you wrote 100%
although while I dont prefer the loss of Pacific as a through street – I do think that this “its like the projects” is overblown – plenty of successful developments are built in “gardens” – Stuyvesant Town/Parkchester; Amalgamated and United Workers Coop to name a few….Is it my “prefered” layout – no – but the idea that simply taking away a single through street is going to destroy Brooklyn is pathetically silly.
This is a generally well-reasoned piece that certainly makes valid criticisms of what the residential side of the development will become (project-esque in the long-term; parking lots in the interim) under current plans. Hopefully reasoned debate about these items can change aspects of the plan, as the residential component is still a long ways off (and it’s already changed a few times!).
What I find interesting here is a piece that, on its surface, clearly appeals to the anti-AY crowd, yet contains subtext that basically places some of the blame on Goldstein and the blindly stubborn portion of the anti-AY set. The author concedes that, in theory, mixed-use development atop a transportation hub like AY is the ideal form of new development. And he seems to mourn the loss of the Gehry design. However, in apportioning blame for what ultimately went wrong between this theoretically great project and what we now have, the author asserts “Forest City Ratner got it all wrong”.
I’m not going to say FCR & the government aren’t at fault for some of this watered-down, imperfect project. However, some of the blame clearly has to fall on Dan Goldstein’s doorstep as well. If not for the delays, Gehry’s design may have been built and the yards woudn’t be a temporary parking lot for 10 years. If not for the delays, we may have had “everything that a progressive urban policy analyst like me would want from a new development.” And though the author doesn’t call out DDDB explicitly, this line really sums it all up: “opposition caused a string of delays that would eventually force the developer to put plans for office and housing towers on hold indefinitely. The result was, to the extent that there ever were any public benefits, those benefits have now disappeared.”
What is currently planned @ AY is far from perfect (but better than nothing). The design can still change for the better, though, if we accept that AY is happening and try to engage FCR on that basis as opposed to throwing up needless roadblocks. Don’t bash FCR & the City while simultanously slurping DDDB/Goldstein, they’re all to blame for the current mess.
Recidivist, yes, I believe we will have that blacktop parking lot for years and years. The good news is that the parking lot will be where the housing project-like towers are planned to be. They will likely never get built, or, when they are finally built, look completely different. Maybe better. Maybe not.
And while there’s a scar at the site now, it doesn’t generate construction dust or traffic jams. No one defends the arid, industrial beauty of the current situation. (Although I suppose someone could.)
Such a depressing article. I cannot believe this is really happening.
It will go up, people will live there, people will see the Nets, and ten years after no one will be complaining.
Just like people that live in the ‘projects’. Quite a waiting list for those also.
Nothing like comparing luxury housing to the ‘projects’ to get people’s attention. Better not put any affordable housing in then, it might actually become the ‘projects’. Then the naysayers will be happy.
Bring on the cranes, baby!
Really excellent piece by Mr. Petro. He deftly summarizes why every Brooklynite should be unhappy with what’s coming:
“But the real kicker is how the project will create blight, instead of eradicating it. The project is adjacent to some of the most successful pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods in the entire city: Park Slope, Prospect Heights, and Fort Greene. But instead of incorporating the characteristics that make these neighborhoods so successful, Atlantic Yards relies on an urban design that has been thoroughly discredited in cities across the globe.
The development will have many of the design characteristics of the public housing projects constructed in the early 20th Century. Local streets will be permanently closed, creating superblocks that will discourage pedestrian activity. Instead of mimicking the commercial corridors of nearby neighborhoods, like Park Slope’s 5th Avenue, the new towers will be surrounded by “open space” that will create pedestrian dead zones and will be intimidating during the night. Think of the unused and often unsettling green spaces between public housing towers and you will begin to get the idea.”
People…it’s a HORRIBLE LOOKING RAIL YARD right now. I can understand the acrimony about the use of eminent domain to seize the lands surrounding this, but to call this a “scar” on the area is just absurd. You know what’s a scar on the area? A sunken rail yard that permanently divides two vibrant neighborhoods. And the author slams the design of the project, saying that it calls to mind the worst public housing projects, etc. But right now, we haven’t seen any final designs of the buildings proposed for those sites, and early word as of yesterday is that Ratner is possibly turning to starchitects (yet again) to make it look great. Maybe that will come true, maybe not. But personally, I’ll take the “cup half-full” approach to this whole thing. I like the look of the new arena, I am excited about taking my kids to games and concerts there, and I’m POSITIVE whatever goes up will eventually look a ton better than what’s there right now – even if it is just the Barclay’s Center. Do you all really think we’re going to get stuck with giant parking lots for years and years? With the economy slowly trending upward and the obvious commitment of public officials to creating construction jobs? Me, I don’t think so.
I was in a car service car going home from my vet in Cobble Hill, when the hoopla was breaking up. I usually go down Wykcoff, which turns into St. Marks, and take that all the way to Crown Heights. The traffic was ridiculous, as people were trying to avoid Dean, which was a parking lot. My driver ended up going much further down into the Slope, and going over to Grand Army Plaza, and then we took Eastern Parkway to take me home. It was a wise move, but waaaayyyyy out of the way. We both agreed this was a harbinger of things to come.