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Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park graphic: what's built/what's coming + FAQ (pinned post)

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Concrete workers picket outside B4 & B15 sites, part of citywide contract action

A broad strike by concrete laborers across the city began yesterday at various construction sites, including pickets outside the B4 (18 Sixth Avenue) and B 15 (37 Sixth Avenue) sites.

The strike relates to not any specific action by the developers of those projects but rather a contract offer by the Cement League, the umbrella group of contractors, that the union considers inadequate.

The impact of the strike? Unclear, but it continues today, as documented at bottom.

One neighbor told me that three trucks delivering cement were sent away, while another saw one delivery. Yesterday I did see what appeared to some ongoing construction work, and today a witness said some work continued.

I did contact CEMENT AND CONCRETE LABORERS' LOCAL 20, as well as a representative of the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park developer, but didn't hear back.

Previous strikes

There have been at least two strikes by concrete workers in recent years, as Crain's New York Business reported 7/1/15, exactly …
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Yes, it's much harder for low-income households to win the affordable housing lottery

This more broadly confirms what I reported4 @CityLimitsNews in 2017 re #535Carlton@pacificparkbk#AtlanticYardshttps://t.co/TJTmZGowv3
Far more lower-income people apply4 income-linked #affordablehousing.
So it's misleading 2aggregate number of applicants for a single building — Norman Oder (@AYReport) June 29, 2020Affordable Housing Lottery Odds Worst for Those Who Can Afford the Least, The City reported 6/28/20, crunching numbers in a broad way, for the first time on this issue:
A review by THE CITY of more than 18 million applications to the NYC Housing Connect system between January 2014 and March 2019 shows that for every one of the 21,382 new apartments built as part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Housing New York plan, 314 eligible applications poured in.
...Of the five income categories within the lottery system, households like Cardona’s that are classified as “extremely low-income” — currently defined as earning up to $30,720 for a family of three — faced the most competitio…
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As two Nets test positive, a "crisis" for the team and more worries for NBA's planned restart

Well, the Brooklyn Nets are on the back pages of the tabloids today, with the New York Post above the New York Daily News, at right, From the New York Post's Marc Berman last night:
The Nets’ chances of missing the playoffs have increased as Spencer Dinwiddie and DeAndre Jordan have tested positive for COVID-19.
Jordan ruled himself out of the Orlando restart while Dinwiddie left the door open. It all leaves the Nets in shambles as they look to fly to Orlando on July 7.
If this sort of spread continues, it’s not too early to wonder whether the NBA’s elaborate Disney World-bubble plan will ever make it to the playoffs. From NetsDaily, under the headline NETS IN CRISIS: DEANDRE JORDAN BECOMES SECOND PLAYER TO TEST POSITIVE, OPTS OUT OF ‘BUBBLE’:
Under league rules, the Nets can add substitute players. After Wilson Chandler opted out of the “bubble” over the weekend, the Nets added Justin Anderson. Woj reported late Sunday, that sources told him the Nets plan to sign a substitute for…
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Barclays Center to host MTV Video Music Awards August 30, without audience; also, local performances in boroughs planned

Confirming a report first floated in Variety 5/28/20, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in his press conference yesterday, declared that the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards will be held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Sunday, August 30.
"The event will follow all safety guidance, including limited or no audience," a graphic stated.
Later, the daily email from the Governor's office clarified, "The event will take place without an in-person audience."
Still, it's unclear how many personnel will be needed to manage/operate the event, or how many performers/guests there will be.
This will be the first event held at Barclays since it shuttered in March for the coronavirus pandemic. Surely, they need the money. 
It will be interesting to see whether any protests will be continuing on the arena plaza. That said, it's possible that protests can proceed while the side entrance(s) and loading dock are used to make the vent go.
"Extensive social distancing" but also…
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How about... the Jackie Robinson Arena at Barclays Center? Advocate Piccolo renews effort.

What if… the Barclays Center Had Been the Jackie Robinson Arena?, I wrote June 4 for Bklyner, suggesting that we would not merely have honored the former Brooklyn Dodger as the first black man in major league baseball, but also would've had to reflect on Robinson's criticisms of American racism.

Since then, longtime Brooklynite Arthur Piccolo, who years ago (as I wrote) quixotically proposed that the Brooklyn arena be named for Robinson, has renewed his cause in a new video, embedded at bottom.

It ends with a photo-shopped image of a Robinson statue with #blacklivesmatter protesters at the arena, Brooklyn's protest epicenter, invoking the gruesome police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The name Jackie Robinson Arena is appended to the arena oculus. (Screenshot at right)

I had mused about a hybrid name, such as “The Jackie Robinson Center, Presented by Barclays” or even “The Barclays Center: Honoring Jackie Robinson," but Piccolo suggests a dual name: the "…
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From the latest Construction Update: excavation and foundation work expected to start at B12/B13

The latest Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Construction Update (bottom), covering the two weeks beginning Monday, 6/19/20, was circulated Friday, 6/26/20 at 3:22 pm (lead time) by Empire State Development (ESD) after preparation by Greenland Forest City Partners.

Judging from the text highlighted in in red in the document below, the only new work (compared with the previous update) expected is excavation and foundation work for the B12 (615 Dean) and B13 (595 Dean) towers, as described at the recent Quality of Life meeting.

That will occur after already-started fencing work is completed.

Those two towers would have 798 rental units and, underground, a fitness center and fieldhouse.

After-hours work--to enable social distancing, we learned--continues at both the B4 (18 Sixth) and B15 (37 Sixth) towers, until 7 pm daily and Saturdays 8 am to 5 pm. (Night and weekend work continues at the Vanderbilt Yard.)





PPB Construction Alert 6 29 20 (PDF)


PPB Construction Alert 6 29 20 (Text)
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Times on Newswalk condo: "The Atlantic Yards run behind the building, which will mean living with construction at some point." (Um...)

From the New York Times Real Estate section today, On the Market, "a one-bedroom, one-bath, architect-renovated, 1,107-square-foot, loft-style apartment" at 535 Dean Street in the Newswalk building.

Pros include large rooms and closets, a renovated kitchen, proximity to subways, and shopping.

Cons: "The Atlantic Yards run behind the building, which will mean living with construction at some point. The unit does not have a washer-dryer, but there is a hookup in the foyer closet."

Well, credit the Times with more candor than the typical real-estate agent. Still, the article repeats a common error: Atlantic Yards is (was) the name of a project, not a place.

Just to be clear, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Vanderbilt Yard, the largest component of the 22-acre site dubbed Atlantic Yards, and renamed Pacific Park Brooklyn, is across the street.

And yes, there should be construction of three towers on the western block of the railyard, and three on the eas…
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