Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

The Barclays Center this week released its January 2025 event calendar, with 19 events--but only 18 available via the arena box office. The schedule includes seven Brooklyn Nets games and nine Disney on Ice performances, the latter over four days.  Last January, there were eight Disney on Ice performances over four days, with two Sunday shows, rather than three, as in the coming January. There were 16 ticketed events total, so this year represents a slight uptick. Also this January: one comedy show (Martin Lawrence) and the first of four Monster Jam  live truck stunt shows, with the other three on the first two days of February. Also, on Jan. 3, nearby Long Island University's men's basketball game is supposedly at Barclays, though, as of now, the game is listed as being played at LIU's Steinberg Wellness Center. January 2024 In January 2024, the arena scheduled eight Brooklyn Nets games and eight Disney on Ice performances, the latter over four days.  So January 2024,...

What happened to the six-month look-ahead regarding expected construction within Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park? Answer: nothing's happening, so there's no "required" document. However, there might be something deeper going on. Required document The June 2014 Second Amended Memorandum of Environmental Commitments ( link ) for Atlantic Yards documents commitments made by original developer Forest City Ratner (FCRC) to Empire State Development (ESD) the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project. Among other things, it states: FCRC shall provide ESD with “six month look aheads” that will describe, in general terms, the activities anticipated on the Project site for the next six months (including major milestones for areas of new construction activity, excavation, 15 construction, anticipated maintenance and protection of traffic (“MPT”) measures, soil and groundwater remediation work and soil characterization). The six month look aheads shall be provided to ESD on...

Troubles persist at 38 Sixth Ave. (B3 of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park), where both tenants and the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) have sued the landlord, Avanath Capital, over conditions in the building, some of which still pose hazards, according to the tenants.   Photo: Norman Oder Remember, City Limits on July 24 published my article  Despite New Owner’s Promised Upgrades, ‘100% Affordable’ Atlantic Yards Building Endures Hot Water Outages, Broken Door, Even Bees . The tenant lawsuit remains active, with a trial scheduled tomorrow at 2:15 pm at Civil Court of the City of New York, Kings County, Housing Part, 141 Livingston St., Brooklyn, Part B, Room 409. The  petition , filed Sept. 10, from the 38 6th Avenue Tenants Association' (TA), cites "serious building-wide conditions," including "a front door that does not lock, a roach infestation, and repeated boiler outages that deprive tenants of hot water for hours and days at a ...

Weekly Digest: Does Construction on Terra Firma Vindicate Atlantic Yards? ( link ) Also: looking at a slow change near the Barclays Center, and an alert regarding a tenant lawsuit against 38 Sixth Avenue.

Something is finally happening at 604 Pacific Street, just below the intersection with Flatbush Avenue, a key retail parcel across from the Barclays Center and adjacent to a strip of retail spaces (Snipes, Chik-fil-A, Shake Shack), that draw a high volume of customers. See the photo below, taken Dec. 12. It's more than 12 years after the arena opened. Photo: Norman Oder What's happening? As indicated in the work permit (right), workers are converting a four-story building with a cellar and basement to a three-story building with a cellar only, as well as various interior renovations. As I reported in July 2021, once proposed as a bar/nightclub, and more recently as a retail flagship, the long beckoning largest available retail parcel near the Barclays Center was said to have a ground-floor tenant: Walgreens, the pharmacy and general convenience store. The retailer was expected to open in the third quarter of 2022, according to the Commercial Observer. That didn't happen. I...

A breathless "exclusive" Business Insider article published Dec. 11,  The billionaire owners of the Nets and Liberty plan to launch a media brand around the 'zeitgeist of Brooklyn' in 2025 , relies on five (!) unnamed sources all buffing the same vague but ambitious project. BSE Global's new media brand will focus on "capturing and sharing the zeitgeist of Brooklyn," spokesperson Sheerin Salimi told Business Insider. They're calling it "Brand X" and even considered "Boom," but it's no longer on the table. Much of this isn't new--it started with the purchase (and transformation) of once-indie Brooklyn Magazine (whose editor is gone) and has been amplified in other coverage, including plans for retail and events. Screenshot from Complex The Complex complex What's new is the influence of the youth culture brand Complex , which mixes content, including video, and direct marketing.  They've hired five former Complex st...

Times Plaza, a modest triangle bounded by Fourth, Flatbush, and Atlantic avenues just above the Site 5 parcel occupied by P.C. Richard and the now-closed Modell's, is still in limbo. It was  supposed to be revamped  as partial mitigation for an impact from Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park. but that never happened. Times Plaza today. Photo: Norman Oder Seven years ago (!), in October 2017, I  reported  that the project's main developer, Greenland USA, said open space work at Times Plaza—on about 4,500 square feet controlled by the Department of Transportation (DOT)—might go into construction in the second quarter of 2018.  That didn’t happen. “The developer remains in ongoing discussions with the Department of Transportation,” then-Empire State Development (ESD) Atlantic Yards Project Director Tobi Jaiyesimi said at a  public meeting  in January 2022. What about now? What's the status now? "At this time, there are no immediate construction plans for Times Pl...