Barclays Center Rising
This photo is the best one we’ve seen of the progress at the Barclays Center, the future home of The Nets and the first piece of the Atlantic Yards project. And it should: It was sent out by someone in-house to potential buyers of basketball tickets yesterday!
This photo is the best one we’ve seen of the progress at the Barclays Center, the future home of The Nets and the first piece of the Atlantic Yards project. And it should: It was sent out by someone in-house to potential buyers of basketball tickets yesterday!
Bxgrl, I guess I just have hope that this very dense part of Brooklyn could become even more thriving (especially the commercial corridors) but the inclusion of some highrises on the AY site. I don’t necessarily assume the worst and see what will eventually happen there as more closely resembling the Manhattan style high rise. I really think that the project (while the way it came to be might be unsavory) will be a win win for many more people than it will have adversely affected. And in a great big city like this, that really is what we should be after. There will always be detractors to everything, but in the end if the arena and new housing create a vibrant center of life in a once hole in the ground, I think it will be a great thing for Brooklyn and NYC.
11217- I think because Manhattan evolved that way. I find the whole evolution of NY as a city to be so fascinating! I would so love to read a book in 100 years time when the author has looked back and can see how all the decisions have affected us.
I agree Hi-rise doesn’t have to be bad and I grew up in a great apartment projects that was built by an architect famous for his apartment complexes. They were and still are considered some of the most successful complexes ever built. My sister lives in Amalgamated and those are great also. Both of them have a mix of low to hi rise with lots of public and community spaces. So communities developed over blocks, whereas most hi rises today strive to be self-sufficient communities within themselves.
I think in Manhattan this is true. The communities that are most spread out and active are the ones in low-rise neighborhoods, or historic neighborhoods while the big apt. buildings are introverted communities because they are so self-sufficient. They are more monolithic- oh well- you get the picture. 🙂
“Emperor Bloomberg’s affordable housing efforts are lip service. This is not misinformation. Affordable housing projects are not being built in Manhattan, or in desirable neighborhoods of Brooklyn.”
That’s interesting, babs, because there is a BRAND NEW affordable housing building on 15th street and 5th Avenue in Park Slope. Is Park Slope not desirable enough for you, or should it have been built on Park Avenue and 75th Street??
This comment solidifies that your comments are not based in reality, but come from your own issues and misconceptions about this city.
Emperor Bloomberg’s affordable housing efforts are lip service. This is not misinformation. Affordable housing projects are not being built in Manhattan, or in desirable neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Those units are all in far-flung areas.
The Frank Gehry structures initially proposed were hideous. Additionally, his buildings do not age well (see the horror stories from MIT) and are not appropriate for the kind of heavy use a basketball arena would get.
Bloomberg, Markowitz (because they supported passing it off to the state and bypassing ULURP and because of Markowitz’s continuing role as the Rat’s court jester and seller of visa to Chinese investors), Di Blasio (for lukewarm and flip-flopping opposition), Yvette Clarke (who supported it before she went to Congress and as a result will never get my vote there), many City Council members, Paterson (but he’s taken himself out – Pataki and Spitzer are already gone), etc., etc. Bruno is already out, but Sheldon Silver needs to go, too. Tish James and Velmanette Montgomery are heros who have always resisted FCR’s “lobbying”.
I usually agree with you on many points, Bxgrl and I do here as well. You are always thoughtful.
But just to point out that Manhattan is a borough filled with high rise apartment buildings and it seems to be doing just fine.
Highrise does not have to equal bad.
11217- I pretty much agree with what you just said- and I think judgemental applies to all sides. Like you, I am a preservationist but believe me I don’t think every falling down shanty is worthy of preservation. My issue with AY isn’t even so much the arena- although i still think it’s a bad idea at that location- my issue is with his methods and the rest of his plan. And the fact that he pretty much bulldozed over a neighborhood that really was coming back without any help from him. There were lots of ways ratner could have done this but instead he chose the slash and burn method. And everyday the news reports more and more inconsistencies, changes and outright lies they used to push this through.
I’m looking at the long range too- as great as people think AY looks on paper, the reality can play out very differently. Mega apartment projects? Look at how those megaprojects played out in the Bronx. I grew up there. It isn’t pretty- no matter how wonderful the idea looked on paper. Why do you think the Bronx is the last borough to come back? I could give you my theory on how enormous apartment complexes affect communities and the life of the borough.
It was all to easy for pro-AY people to label those who opposed it as nimbys- because the easiest thing is to ignore the real issues. Nor was it the so-called nimbys who disagree with pro AYers by saying “FUCK YOU ALL RIGHT IN YOUR FACES.” And that’s been the level of conversation.
“Affordable housing is in crisis in this city, thanks to Emperor Bloomberg’s plan to rid the city of poor people, by pushing them progressively farther and farther out.”
Babs, why do you like spreading misinformation? Do you think it helps your cause?? While the Mayor has needed to shift his affordable housing plans more to preservation and a bit less towards creating (due to the cost of 1 billion dollars) he has still managed to create over 60,000 new units of affordable housing and preserve 105,000 units.
You are one of the reasons why this project ended up looking crappier than it could have been. We could have had a beautiful building here by a wonderful architect if it weren’t for people like you spreading lies around.
Well, DIBS, this project exists entirely beacuse of the bureaucratic waste and corruption that this city and state are famous for (how else could established legal processes like ULURP have been bypassed and why was the EIS so flimsy?). And as I said earlier, your taxes may not have gone up yet, as the thing wasn’t funded, but give it time.