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.
Secret Stuff: does it matter that Ratner’s daughter is an anorexic/mixed-up human being? It shows what kind of prick he is in his own personal life and how he treats his “loved” ones.
High-density development has a place, but not without infrastructure to support it. Ratner’s boondoggle doesn’t account for any of the strain bringing thousands of new people into that neighborhood would cause, whether on the schools, fire and police departments, traffic, or plumbing. It widens the divide between Fort Greene and Prospect Heights by building up “superblocks” of luxury condo development between them. And the way in which the plan circumvented the proper system for approvals means that the city didn’t get anywhere near true value for the land, thus literally taking money out of your pocket in lost city income that needs to be made up for in taxes, and giving it to that corrupt weasel Ratner.
And, seriously, wtf, global warming?! You want to not cause global warming, don’t spend 10 years spewing construction site fumes into the atmosphere.
Let’s all stick $1000 each in an envelope and maybe, if enough people do it, FCR et al will slink away with their takings and something much more sensible can be built and done in a fair, reviewed, and planned way–NOT carte effin’ blanche handed over to shnerers who are in it just to reap huge dollars from taxpayer money.
I feel like we are being held hostage.
Oh please Shahn you got to be kidding that is the stupidist strawman argument I ever heard – 1st of all if you knew anything about development in the city you’d know that Ratner is building a huge (and IMHO bad) retail complex on the upper east side; 2nd if he built the ugliest, most overblown complex on TOP of his house that wouldnt have anything to do with AY (nor would it satisfy its critics).
The issue isnt what “Brooklyn” wants – we have heard of many of the stupid things that various Brownstoners want (from displacement of everyone in the projects to a moritorium on buildings over 5 stories).
If you hadnt noticed the icecaps are melting, the economy is falling and there is a shortage of housing and office space in NYC. If we want to be competitive and sustainable the ONLY method of development that makes sense is high density development, near public transportation. And guess what – that is true whether NIMBY’s “want it” or not.
U-N-D-O-N-E-D-E-A-L. I can hear it unraveling from here.
Wait Anon 11:11, isn’t Bruce Ratner a NIMBY self-interested rich guy? It’s not like he wants to put the Atlantic Yards on the Upper East Side where he lives, or Cleveland, Ohio where he’s from. This site is too important to let a family legacy from a different state with no real interest in the community decide what he thinks Brooklyn wants.
Goldstein is such an ass. These pathetic attempts to halt the project will fail, just as all of the efforts of arena opponents have failed. Give it up, guys, you have lost, and lost big time! Ratner is rich and powerful beyond your wildest dreams and cannot be stopped. That is reality.
D-O-N-E-D-E-A-L!!!!!!!!!!!!
YOu are saying poor people are entitled to care about their neighborhood? What gives you that right?
10:59 – what’s appropriate????
Let me guess, no arena, no tall buildings, no large retail, no office buildings
Frankly a parcel this size next to the largest transit hub in the nation (by train lines) is too important to let a bunch of NIMBY self-interested rich folks determine its use.
FSRG