Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

So the New York Liberty won their first WNBA title in an overtime thriller last night at the Barclays Center (see NetsDaily coverage here ), prompting cheers from many New Yorkers and Brooklynites for the team's play and the owners' savvy in rebuilding the franchise. They made the tabloids' front pages: I’m gonna go get the papers, get the papers. pic.twitter.com/0QAHSnL69o — Robert Shields (@rshields37) October 21, 2024 And, of course, the back pages: I’m gonna go get the papers, get the papers: back page edition. pic.twitter.com/3VHV11bniS — Robert Shields (@rshields37) October 21, 2024 Public people “There is nothing like professional sports to make public people nutty," the late Assemblymember Richard Brodsky said in Congressional testimony on Sept. 18, 2008, referring to the willingness of various government entities to subsidize what subsidy skeptic Bettina Damiana  called  privately-owned "sports entertainment corporations." But sports brings people

Weekly Digest: A Case Study of Atlantic Yards (vs. Hudson Yards) ( link ) Plus: tonight, the New York Liberty play in the decisive WNBA Finals game, at the Barclays Center.

So, the New York Liberty lost a nail-biter last night in Minneapolis, as the home Lynx tied the best-of-five WNBA Finals at 2-2, setting up a deciding Game 5 tomorrow at 8 pm at Barclays Center. While it hasn't been announced yet, I'd expect amplified sound and other promotional activites on branded Ticketmaster Plaza before the game. Photos Oct. 17 by Norman Oder The cheapest Upper Bowl tickets  start at $223 . Expect a full house, and some craziness on the streets, especially if the Libs win. Mayor Eric Adams, surely happy for a feel-good distraction amid his legal and other troubles, has promised a ticker-tape parade along the section of Broadway known as the "Canyon of Heroes" if the Liberty win. Perhaps Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso will aim for a local celebration. Contra the up-and-down Brooklyn Nets, the Liberty have become a feel-good narrative for both the WNBA and the fans, with owners Joe and Clara Wu Tsai investing in a distressed asset ,

OK, there will finally be a forum to hear community concerns about Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, and the Barclays Center.  As I wrote Oct. 5 ( link ), officials at Empire State Development, the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project, said they would soon schedule a  Quality of Life meeting , the first since February 2023. The meetings slacked when vertical construction finished, and also, I suspect, because ESD personnel had departed.  However, the reason for such meetings, with ESD having the ability to bring representatives from various agencies and companies to field question, has not waned. "This meeting is a forum for the community to receive updates and engage Empire State Development, Barclays Center operators, and other project partners in the Atlantic Yards Project regarding issues affecting the quality of life for residents and businesses in close proximity to the project site," the notice stated. I'll publish an update before the meeting about some

Penn Case Study: Atlantic Yards Lacked Edge Hudson Yards Had ( link ) Easier transaction, more density, transport subsidy. But researchers ignored Hudson Yards' huge EB-5 fundraising and impact of Downtown Brooklyn rezoning. Sloppy, too.

There's a quote I remember from former Forest City Ratner CEO MaryAnne Gilmartin, in one observer's paraphrase , don't "get too attached to the brick and mortar.” So the 36-story 80 DeKalb tower, Forest City's first Brooklyn residential tower, claimed to test the market for Atlantic Yards when it opened in 2009, has been sold yet again, in a third transaction, at a modest profit. Let's back up. As reported in June 2018, Forest City Realty Trust--the successor to Forest City Enterprises, parent of Forest City Ratner/Forest City New York--along with Madison International Realty bought out the 49% owned by National Real Estate Advisors. The transaction valued National's share of the property at a total of $93.5 million, including assumption of debt, suggesting the total project value of $190.8 million.  Then, as reported in July 2022, Forest City's successor, Brookfield sold the tower for $190 million to the partnership of KKR and Dalan Management. Not m

Weekly Digest: Will Pacific Park Be Renamed? I'd Bet Yes. ( link ) C'mon, wouldn't a new developer want a reboot? Also: WNBA Finals.