Not Too Late For AY to Go Through ULURP?
Although Dan Doctoroff signed an agreement with the state and Forest City Ratner in ’05 that allowed the developer to sidestep ULURP for Atlantic Yards, thus substantially weakening the community’s say in the mega-project, the outgoing deputy mayor is now singing a different tune. If it happened again, and the state were to ask if…
Although Dan Doctoroff signed an agreement with the state and Forest City Ratner in ’05 that allowed the developer to sidestep ULURP for Atlantic Yards, thus substantially weakening the community’s say in the mega-project, the outgoing deputy mayor is now singing a different tune. If it happened again, and the state were to ask if I would encourage them to take Atlantic Yards through the ULURP process, I would say yes, Doctoroff tells the Observer in an interview. But is it really too late for Atlantic Yards to go through the public-review planning process? In a press release, Develop Don’t Destroy spokesman Daniel Goldstein argues that it’s not. As the project has not begun construction—and can’t while it faces two court challenges—Mayor Bloomberg can get it right and send the development of the Vanderbilt Yards through ULURP; it’s what his soon-to-be former, highly praised and trusted right hand man thinks is appropriate,” says Goldstein. We agree: Better late than never for Brooklyn’s largest development, a project that is going to receive substantial public financing and forever alter the borough.
Doctoroff Looks Back on Atlantic Yards [NY Observer]
Doctoroff: Atlantic Yards Should Have Gone Through ULURP [DDDB]
Photo by pencer T. Tucker for nyc.gov.
9:28, you hit the nail on the head…An eminent domain win does not stop Atlantic Yards…alters it, yes…stops it, no.
“And, seriously, wtf, global warming?! You want to not cause global warming, don’t spend 10 years spewing construction site fumes into the atmosphere.”
Oh my god, I got a good laugh out of this one.
For one thing, the population of this planet is growing. If they’re not spewing 10 years of construction fumes into the air here, they’d just be doing it somewhere else because all those people from the increasing population has got to live somewhere.
If they don’t live in a dense, environment close to transit, then they’ll just live in the outskirts and continue to destroy virgin lands. Not only that but they’d have to drive more in those areas so that’s a double edge sword to the environment.
The person who made that statement is an ignorant NIMBY.
The arena CAN be built without eminent domain – at the corner of Atlantic and Vanderbilt. But it’s neither in Ratner’s or DDDb’s interest to point this out. Putting the arena in the opposite corner of the site would negate Ratner’s argument about the arena being transit oriented. DDDb would like us to believe that an ED win will stop the arena and the project altogether.
I’m 10:04…to 11:20, my question is WHY can’t the project be built without eminent domain? I used Willoughby Square park being built WITHOUT eminent domain for a reason…if Ratner owns 80% of the footprint of the property, why can’t he just build on what he has? Regarding GoldStein…I’ve lived in Brooklyn for 36 years (my entire life). I’m sick of white people gentrifying black neighborhoods and then telling black people what’s good for them…they may think they are so liberal, but they are actually the most patronizing and worst kinds of racists!
because the arena can’t be built without eminent domain and the superblocks can’t be built without eminent doman. eg, the project can’t be built without eminent domain. that’s why.
as for Daniel Goldstein he has lived in Brooklyn for 12 years, is that long enough for you? or what is the cutoff date precisely for one to express one’s opinion?
whatever, seems quite a bit longer than Bruce Ratner who has lived in Brooklyn for only….wait, oops, he’s never lived in Brooklyn.
So after reading fifty posts, I notice that nobody has asked (or answered) the obvious question, which is how do you unwind a deal that is already done? FCR already has a signed deal with the city and state and already has the approval of that obsure committee chaired by Pataki, Bruno and Silver (I can’t remember the name). Sure, there are two outstanding lawsuits, but let’s say (for the sake of argument) that the courts rule in favor of Daniel “I Just Moved Here From Manhattan Last Week, But Don’t Develop Brooklyn” Goldstein and determine that eminent domain would be unfairly applied in this context…what’s to stop Ratner from just building Atlantic Yards around the land he hoped to have condemned. In other words, he already owns 80% of the site, so why wouldn’t he just redraw his plans and just build on the land he owns (just like the city is doing by building Willoughby Square Park around the Duffield Street houses). Am I missing something here?
Doctoroff is hot!
Great! More money to ConnEd because they anticipate the massive job of bringing service to this proposed mess.
Is Keyspan (what’s the name of the company that’s buying Keyspan up?) doing the same?
I guess our property taxes will get sucked up into this mess to.
Where is the public benefit?
I’m sure when the buildings need some major repairs or who knows what, the owners will find a way to shift the cost to either the public or a new owner or sell off the rental apartments to the tenants so they have to cover the costs of needed work. Maybe these buildings won’t even last that long anyway.
Interesting infrastructure point.
Con Ed has already used the additional infrastructure expense of AY as justification for raising their rates. We’re all already paying for this debacle – higher utility rates this winter, courtesy of Bruce Ratner.