PACB Gives Ratner What He Wants
After an Oscar-worthy head fake on Tuesday, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, along with the two other members of the Public Authorities Control Board, George Pataki and Joseph Bruno, gave the thumbs up to Bruce Ratner’s vision for Atlantic Yards. “I am pleased the developer is committed to addressing numerous community concerns through several specific actions…
After an Oscar-worthy head fake on Tuesday, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, along with the two other members of the Public Authorities Control Board, George Pataki and Joseph Bruno, gave the thumbs up to Bruce Ratner’s vision for Atlantic Yards. “I am pleased the developer is committed to addressing numerous community concerns through several specific actions that will result in significant neighborhood improvements,” said Silver. Last time we checked, traffic congestion, overcrowded schools and a surfeit of chain stores didn’t exactly qualify as improvements (though there were some last minute changes, including 200 more units of affordable housing and $3 million more for improvements to neighboring parks) but then again, pols who live upstate must have a better grasp of what’s better for Brooklyn than the four assembly members closest to the site. So where does this leave those who oppose the project? Eminent domain lawsuits, scale negotiations and a guy named Spitzer. From the beginning, the project has been a public-private partnership in which the public has not been represented, said Kent Barwick, president of the Municipal Art Society. The vote today reflected a process that simply did not allow New Yorkers to shape the project, and the result is a plan that will not work for Brooklyn.
State Approves Major Complex for Brooklyn [NY Times]
NY Board Approves Atlantic Yards Plan [Bloomberg]
The Nets Win! [NY Post]
Photo by f.trainer
As evidenced by those who attended the forums and the public hearings. Those who are in favor of this project are ALL ON THE PAYROLL in some way: a bought out existing organization that was broke (ACORN, BUILD), union members who were paid to be there, kids paid by organizations which were in turn paid by Ratner, wives of union workers again who were paid to be there as bogus women in favor of development groups, and paid off politicians. So the bozos who are on this board are certainly some sort of stakeholders with a handout getting paid by Ratner. Because there was literally NOBODY IN FAVOR OF IT other than those on the payroll. Ratner even paid models to appear in his pamphlets touting the yards that hate the idea of the project. There literally are only sleazebags in favor of this thing. That’s it. And if you think we believe otherwise you are on crack. That is something I do think will be found at the Atlantic Yards complex by the way. I can get it off the street in front of MSG whenever I want it. And perhaps that’s what they are smoking over at Ratner-central?
5:23 makes a very sane point after so many useless ones.
6:03: What other options are there at this point. Litigation of the eminent domain issue will fail. The Supreme Court made that clear. How else could you stop the ground breaking?
Sadly now matter how smart our arguments for opposing the AY proposal is it seems as if we are losing. This is good reason to help out DDDB. Don’t let the Ratner goons make you think the war is over. It’s only just begun. And this time the opponents are much more optimistic about getting a fair shake.
David,
I object to the lack of transparency,
to corrupt sham of a public process
I object to eminent domain abuse.
I would like to see the yards developed in a way that works. I am against AY because it clearly doesn’t.
As i said earlier I don’t think any honest person should be happy or complacent about the sham of a process that has gotten us to point. If Ratner suceeds it’s not just those neigborhoods that will suffer it will be any place in the target of a corrupt developer like Ratner.
Well since Court St is as ‘in the midst’ of Brooklyn Heights as Atlantic Yards is of Prospect Heights, Park Slope and Ft. Greene it isnt ‘idiotic’ it is an exact analogy.
The posters HERE have made it abudently clear that in the majority they hate the vast majority of new construction, think sheetrock construction is cheap and terrible and think balcanies are generally ugly and should be hidden.
As for me being a ‘hired pen’ I dont mind you thinking so, as it makes me feel less stupid for posting here all the time for nothing more then the satisfaction that 95% of the arguments apparently cant be met with anything better then hyperbole, strawmen and name calling.
Well, David, thanks for acknowledging what’s obvious — that you care nothing about neighborhoods or communities but only about building as “densely as possible”. ANd what defines “as possible”? Are there any limits, in your mind? Or just the limit of how high a building can be built?
Your mention of Court St. is idiotic. The highrise buildings on Court St. are in the downtown of Court St. Where is there a 30 story building in the midst of Carroll Gardens? But clearly you’d be in favor of that as well.
What an ass!
David, you clearly don’t know anything about what “most” anti-AY posters would say if the development project had been created in consultation with the surrounding community. I, for one, would absolutely welcome development on the AY site at 12-16 stories. But of course that’s not what’s on the table.
BUt why am I wasting time arguing with a Ratner hired pen? The joke’s on me, clearly.
Anon @ 4:55 and 4:57 Love the strawman arguments – I never said anything like that. I actually dont think we should ‘develop’ our forests – I think we should develop (as densely as possible) a virtually empty hole situated above one of the largest transportation hubs in the country – for precisely the reason that I think it is ecologically the correct thing to do – the fact that it will most likely increase the tax base and property values is just a bonus.
And no I am for historic preservation so I probably wouldnt support a high rise in the middle of Brooklyn Heights (and certainly not Nantucket for the reasons I already said) but if they wanted to build 30 story buildings along court street – I’d have no problem with that…oh wait … they already did that – 50yrs ago and amazingly we all survived.
to Anonymous at 4:40 except they arent replacing an ‘old’ Atlantic Yards with a new one – there is no arena, retail, office or residential on the vast majority of the site – so the Penn Station comparison just doesnt work.
As to the lost ‘potential’ – there is no ‘correct’ answer on that- most of the posters here seeminglly would say AY is a nightmare if they used sheetrock or put balcanies on anything, even if it was 15 stories or less.