Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

Mayor Adams Launches Historic Effort to Build "A Little More Housing in Every Neighborhood,"  the city announced 9/21/23. Translation: a potential 100,000 more homes over 15 years, or 6,667 a year. The  “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” proposal  is part of Adams’ “moonshot” goal of delivering 500,000 new homes to New Yorkers over the next decade, given that population and jobs exceeds the supply of residences. The top feature is "Ending Parking Mandates for New Housing," which drives up costs--and helps explain why applicants for spot rezonings propose eliminating a parking requirement. But that proposal may face challenge in certain neighborhoods less connected to public transit. New affordability More crucial for those watching development in the area around Atlantic Yards is the "Universal Affordability Preference," which is a 20% density bonus for all affordable housing--including additions to existing buildings but most likely for new constructi

Yesterday I noted some of the debate about financing local journalism. A 6/27/23 Nieman Lab article, If the U.S. wants to boost journalism, it should learn from Canada’s mistakes , analyzes a report from the University of North Carolina’s Center on Technology Policy on Canada's tax credits for news publishers and individuals. From Sarah Scire's article: “At the federal level, lawmakers have framed news tax credits as key to protecting democracy through a healthy press,” the report notes. “This is a worthy goal, but given widespread partisan mistrust of the press it is unlikely to be broadly appealing across party lines. A potentially stronger framing would be to cast the credits as a benefit for small business owners and the broader community.” Indeed, that seems to be the framing of the current bill in Congress. I'll note a couple of recommendations in the report: Impose transparency measures to allow for public accountability.  That seems a no-brainer. Who's getting

I wrote the other day about the loss of the publication Gotham Gazette and yesterday I published  a long article on the 962 Pacific rezoning vote at the Sept. 14 Community Board 8 meeting. What do those two things have in common? Well, had there been any other journalist at the meeting--or even a secondhand report based on a press release--I would've published something sooner.  But I was waiting to clarify a few things--like how did a Land Use Committee resolution (which I had on tape) change by the time it got to the applicant? Answer: a typo--though whose typo remains unclear. Had another news outlet published an article, I would've published something sooner, then returned for a follow up. But there's so little budget for journalism that no oiher reporter was there--not even a student reporter covering things for school credit. Fixing things? So, I wonder, is The Local-News Crisis Is Weirdly Easy to Solve , as journalsm guru Steven Waldman contended in The Atlantic 8/8

After a convoluted process that required two votes, Brooklyn Community Board 8 on Sept. 14 endorsed the spot rezoning of the proposed 962 Pacific Street at a somewhat revised configuration from the Land Use Committee's  request  a week earlier. That means a promise of 27 deeply affordable apartments rather than the requested 30—but more than the 15 that applicant HSN Realty had earlier offered at the Crown Heights site, just east of Grand Avenue, under the city's Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program.  The 27 units at 40% of Area Median Income (AMI) would rent, under current  limits  (which will rise), as follows: $848 for a studio, $1,059 for a one-bedroom, and $1,271 for a two-betroom.  It was a not insubstantial gain for those seeking deeper affordable housing and homes for those at risk of displacement, while a once majority-Black area has become whiter and wealthier.  Ultimately, it was also a victory for both HSN—there’s often slack in an applicant’s request--and some CB

It's a sign, perhaps, of the paucity of journalism in New York City that the recent news that Citizens Union would shut down the valuable online publication Gotham Gazette (1999-2023) did not , as far as I can tell, make it beyond Twitter. Citizens Union announces that it is "temporarily" shutting down @GothamGazette pic.twitter.com/ppbuwYRPcg — David Freedlander (@freedlander) June 26, 2023 But the frustrated response--"disastrous decision," "sad news, etc."--to David Freedlander's tweet, especially from journalists and those in politics/government, indicates that Gotham Gazette would be missed.  After all, a nonprofit site devoted to "policy and politics" has an enormous range to cover, much of which may not generate huge advertising but deserves support. Can we blame Citizens Union for, as it stated , not beong "immune to the challenges facing nonprofit media outlets, particularly the costs"? Not completely, of course, b

The bad weather yesterday afternoon might have been good news for the scheduled free "Counterpoint: Steve Reich" new music concert , scheduled for Barclays Center's Ticketmaster Plaza and sponsored by the Social Justice Fund of the Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation, operated by the couple that owns the Brooklyn Nets, New York Liberty, and the arena operating company. Anthony McGill greeting the crowd before the 11-clarinet version of "New York Counterpoint" (Photos/Norman Oder) Instead of having the metronomic, minimalist compositions on the plaza, competing with traffic along Flatbush and Atlantic avenues and other street noise, the concert was moved just into the arena lobby. While that likely stymied some passers-by who might have discovered it, enough passionate fans of Reich had gotten the word, and many of perhaps 200 seats were filled, with numerous standees. And they enjoyed it enthusiastically, so far as I could tell.  I only stayed for the first of the thr

City & State NY on 7/31/23 announced the 2023 Brooklyn Power 100 . Among the obvious suspects, leading off the list are politicos like Eric Adams, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, and Letitia James, plus advisors/lobbyists like former mayoral Chief of Staff Frank Carone (#20), Adams campaign chief Evan Thies (#29). Among the real-estate entrepreneurs are Jed Walentas, CEO of Two Trees (#18) and Doug Steiner, Chair of Steiner Studios (#38). You might wonder exactly why five members of the publication's Advisory Board  (which helps advise on such lists) make this list, four of them lobbyists. After all, are these rankings are arbitrary--are lobbyists more powerful than, say, some  low-profile Hasidic developers , for example? About the Tsais I'm not sure if it makes sense to nudge the power couple Joe and Clara Wu Tsai to #42, from #33 in 2022. The squib inadequately described them as "Co-Owners, Brooklyn Nets," since they also own the New York Liberty and Barclays C