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.
I love the idea of creating new stuff at this site but, between the public-housing design, the arena, and the parking lots… it’s very hard to be optimistic about this.
Where, btw, will the parking lots be?
Have those plans been released?
Lincoln Slope, I would be more worried about crime than noise or dust at Vanderbilt and Dean. The block btw Carlton/Vanderbilt and Dean/Pacific won’t be built on for many years to come (FCR is estimating 10 years). But it will be both a staging area and a surface parking lot. So no residences or businesses to keep the streets active and safe. Areas like this are notorious for attracting prostitution, drug dealing, muggings. OTOH, Dean St has a great block association and those folks will be working overtime to help local residents. Don’t expect anything from FCR, though. They have consistently ignored all overtures from civic groups in the nabe trying to address quality of life issues for local residents.
My only hope at this point is that the mega-block between Carlton and Vanderbilt (aka the future parking lot) will be redesigned in the future making it more pedestrian friendly rather than public housing/office park looking.
It’s indeed long on opinion and short on fact, with some minor valid points against Ratner. I instinctively don’t like the thing but be nice to see a better analysis of what’s really going to happen.
I really feel sorry for anyone living on Dean St. I was driving down 6th ave past by the 78th precinct yesterday. Due to the ceremonies/protest were going on, all of the traffic was routed down Dean St. It took 15 minutes to get from 6th ave to Vanderbilt and I had the misfortune of spending half that time behind a wailing ambulance.
If a small ceremony and protest results in this kind of congestion, I can only image what things will be like when 18,000 people come streaming out of Barclays.
Do you guys think Vanderbilt and Dean will be heavily influenced by the construction. Will there be tons of noise and dust. A friend is thinking about renting an apartment there.
Seems very well said, although is it fair to blame the opposition to AY for the reduction of the project? Wouldn’t that have happened anyways? Or would it not?
On the bright side, urban blight planning is always good for filming zombie post apocalyptic movies.
Excellent piece but incredibly depressing to read.
Nothing new there, which highlights why this is so maddening. We are walking very slowly, eyes wide open, into urban blight planning. Shame on Ratner, Bloomberg, Patterson and others who are enabling this brazen theft of public funds.