Yards Scale-Back: Token or Meaningful Move?
Big news on Atlantic Yards on Friday. First, Ratner announced that he was axing 440 market-rate condominiums for a total of 475,000 square feet. According to James P. Stuckey, the new plan “allows for more open space, narrows the scale of the buildings and reduces overall bulk and density, but it also gives us the…
Big news on Atlantic Yards on Friday. First, Ratner announced that he was axing 440 market-rate condominiums for a total of 475,000 square feet. According to James P. Stuckey, the new plan “allows for more open space, narrows the scale of the buildings and reduces overall bulk and density, but it also gives us the flexibility to maintain our commitment to affordable housing.” While the overall number of floors would shrink, some buildings would be even taller than originally planned. (Hmmmm.) Separately, the Empire State Development Corporation said it would expand the main geographic area under study and increase the number of intersections where the traffic impact will be examined. Marty says he’s “delighted” by the changes but not so Dan Goldstein: “The whole thing is still bigger than it was when it was announced.”
Arena Complex Shrink by 5% [NY Times]
Final Scope Document [DDDB]
First of all, jps, if you live in Bklyn you’re entitled to an opinion. I live closer in than that but I’m sure the development will affect a much bigger radius.
Secondly- there was a choice. Not only have alternate designs been proposed, that would have been much more in scale, but one of the developers offered more money to the MTA for the yard rights. There still would have been hi-rises, but not the monstrosities Ratner offers. And while they may sound whiny about the quality of life issues, don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. The big issues are the important ones. And it was opponents who asked and got alternate plans for the site.
Just because you can pack people into an area like sardines doesn’t mean you should- it’s not healthy for them or the community, it’s ugly, and eventually it will cost much more than it brings in.
Wow, the people who bought real estate from people who could no longer afford to live in the area, whether buying from owners or landlords of people who were forced out, are now complaining that someone with more money and economic clout has come along and done the same thing to them. I live in Cobble Hill, and not looking forward to what I see as the eventual high rise development on the waterfront there, but money talks and bullshit walks. Unfortunately the developer’s money talks and their bullshit walks, right into peoples’ nabes. Regarding the cars, I think within 5 years there will be congestion pricing in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn and tolls on the east river bridges. What do y’all think about that?
lro… OK. Could you give us a little map of the areas in which one is allowed to have an opinion about Atlantic Yards? (I thought that one of the arguments is that it would increase traffic and hurt quality of life for miles around!) Or just give us a block radius? Four blocks? Six?
Would I have your permission to _oppose_ Ratner from a dozen blocks away?
And seriously, don’t you realize that this is exactly the sort of thing that costs you support? If the opinions of people who live farther from the project don’t matter — sorry, if they should not be too “loud” — why would you ever expect them to support you? Do you think you can change the project only with the support of people who live within three blocks?
Folks – just one point. You don’t make development, or even transportation policy, based on the conditions present during a transit strike. That is just stupid. Transit strikes are against the law which helps make them happen about once every 25 years or so. If we did then nothing would ever get built. But then again… maybe that is your true goal.
jps says it perfectly:
As for what the project will do, it will provide thousands of more homes for people (of virtually every income level) who live or want to live in Brooklyn, it will eliminate a discusting scar (Atlantic Railyard) in the middle of or community, it will provide an arena for Professional and amateur sporting, music and similar events in a convenient (by mass transit as well as foot traffic) location for th 2.5M Brooklyn residents, it will result in a larger tax base for the city and and it will provide more jobs for citizens. Do I agree with every part of the plan – no; could there be a more efficent use of govt policy to achieve the same result- I am sure – but this is the best proposal in at least 25 years and I think the potential benefis outweighs the issues.
As for the other areas you asked me about –
Yes traffic will increase, so what! You live in the city, virtually everything you need for everyday life is in walking distance or a bus/subway ride. If you want a car culture with no traffic move to a distant suburb.
Eminent Domain (which so far has not even been used) does not “steal” anyone’s home; it provides complete due process to ensure that the property owner is given fair compensation.
Moderate and Affordable Housing component – you act as though this is some novel or new situation, developers have been including such in their developments for years in order to obtain significant tax benefits, so you can remain skeptical all you want but this is fairly routine (and in fact there is an intelligent proposal to elimate 421a tax exemptions from all new construction except where such a component is included.)
CrownHeightsProud,
Actually, 12 blocks south is too far away to have such a loud opinion. We’re a mere three blocks away from the hell-in-planning and are facing the erasure of the very things we love about Brooklyn–namely, the relative quiet, the mellow vibe, the ability to sit out on the stoop and chat with neighbors (without being fumigated and/or drowned out by car horns), the street-side parking places, the list goes on. Here’s another way of looking at it: given the choice, how many people you know would you choose to live in Herald Square? That’s what we’re facing here in the future shadow of the arena, high-rise monstrosities, etc.
Bx2Bklyn — Right, the opponents are focused on the big-picture AND the quality-of-life issues. Which is why they lose me. Because if you also insist that tall buildings don’t get built, that people’s light and views don’t get compromised, you are basically insisting on a low-rise development that has no practical chance of getting built.
So if it’s Ratner or nothing — which, sorry, is what that position practically means — I choose Ratner, though I do support a more pedestrian-friendly grid, and even though I will be affected by more traffic. The project can be done without a superblock — it cannot be done without the high-rises, not in a form that anyone is going to pay for.
By the way, I live about a dozen blocks south… is that close enough to be allowed to have an opinion?
Driver, have you been inhaling the fumes whilst in a traffic bottleneck? NO ONE is going to suddenly wake up and say, “Oh, the streets are smaller and narrower, let me leave the car at home and take the bike.” Please. We are only going to get more gridlock and chaos. Like it or not, we are not a 2 wheel society, people are not going to switch their cars for bikes like Beijing, or motorbikes, like Rome. Not everyone is able to bike to work anyway, it’s not a realistic back up plan. If the MTA and the city were to provide for the doubling of commuters by providing extra trains, buses, or for that matter, jobs in Brooklyn, along with this project, then we’d have something to talk about. As it is, that isn’t even in the long range scanners, let alone on the table. Most of the people who are against this project are not screaming Cassandras, they have put more thought into the project than just square footage and dollars.
I think a lot of us are being quiet or looking the other way on this issue because we’re anticipating huge spikes in property value as well as a more sophisticated/cosmopolitan feel to downtown bklyn. And that stance is okay if you’re an investor/flipper. But if you intend to set down roots in bklyn then you have to honestly ask yourself what are the downsides to any development of this magnitude. Traffic congestion isn’t a big deal if you’re a pedestrian and you don’t ever intend to catch a taxi in the downtown area. But anyone who drives has to be concerned about the potential impact of this development. Will your quiet tree-lined street be transformed into a busy, noisy, horn-honking thoroughfare once the AY is built?