Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

According to the latest Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Construction Alert, (bottom) covering the two weeks beginning yesterday and circulated yesterday at 1:54 pm (late) by Empire State Development after preparation by Greenland Forest City Partners, segments of Dean Street should be closing at different times.

Notably, tomorrow, 4/27/16, water connection work for the B3 (aka 38 Sixth Avenue) residential tower requires the closure/partial closure of Dean Street between Flatbush and Sixth avenues.

The work is expected to start after 10 am and be done by 5 pm, as stipulated by DOT permits. Pathways will remain open to pedestrians, as stated in the Community Notice at right. This work will not require any disruption of water service to residents along Dean Street or within the Barclays Center.

Additionally, temporary closures of Dean Street between Carlton and Vanderbilt avenues may occur for electrical installations by Con Edison to serve the B11 (550 Vanderbilt) and B14 (535 Carlton) tow…

So here's the gentle profile (written by a 2014 college grad!) of Forest City Ratner's executives in the Commercial Observer's Power 100 (here's last year's short blurb): 66. MaryAnne Gilmartin and Bruce Ratner (79 in 2015)
President and CEO of Forest City Ratner Companies and Executive Chairman of Forest City Ratner Companies and Executive Vice President of Forest City Enterprises
“If I have to leave my kids everyday, it better be good,” MaryAnne Gilmartin said.
And as president and CEO of Forest City Ratner Companies, she certainly makes it worthwhile. Ms. Gilmartin, who is in charge of the New York City office wing of its Ohio-based parent company, works closely with Bruce Ratner, together spearheading many of the $1.5 billion in projects FCRC has under development.
The company officially started operating as a real estate investment trust under the moniker Forest City Realty Trust on Jan. 1 of this year, which Ms. Gilmartin said has helped the company align wi…

DNAinfo reports, in Police Crack Down on Trucks After Cyclist's Death, But Summonses Are Rare, how enforcement efforts in Park Slope last Thursday were welcome but rare.
And yes, there's an Atlantic Yards angle:
In addition to local officers, a team from the NYPD's Highway Patrol Motor Carrier Safety unit was in the neighborhood Thursday to issue summonses, a police source said. Those officers are specially trained to spot trucks operating illegally and they were invited to Park Slope by local police, the source said.
The action was planned before Gregg's death in response to a recent increase in truck traffic around the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park construction site, the source said. Expect more discussion of the truck issue at tomorrow's 78th Precinct Community Council meeting, held at 7:30 pm at the station house, at 65 Sixth Avenue at Bergen Street.

Those at the 3/13/16 Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Brooklyn Community Update meeting saw an MPT (Maintenance and Protection of Traffic) presentation, regarding how access to streets and sidewalks will change as construction on the project moves forward.

But that presentation, prepared by Greenland Forest City Partners consultant Stantec and discussed--if not fully evaluated--by the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT), has not yet been made public on the page maintained by Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority overseeing and shepherding the project.

I checked with ESD, which told me that the presentation will be posted only when DOT approves it. While it makes some sense to want the most up-to-date information, this was a public meeting, and attendees could simply try to reconstruct the presentation. There's no reason, in my book, not to share that presentation under the caveat that it's a draft.

So, how many people actually work on Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park construction?

Forest City Ratner's Ashley Cotton was quoted in a 4/11/16 New York Daily News article regarding plans to create a sticker system to identify construction workers: “At any given time we could have 1,700 construction workers out there. I need levers in order to create accountability for these workers."

However, at the Community Update meeting 4/13/16, Cotton said, regarding that sticker plan, "I have a thousand workers to ID."

That suggests that there are currently 1000 workers. That's tough to believe, just based on the eyeball observations that I and others have made of the site.

But if there were more oversight, as well as the Independent Compliance Monitor required by the Community Benefits Agreement (but never hired), maybe we'd know.

Could additional construction on the project site ultimately mean more workers? Possibly. But again, let's have a neutral party evaluate numb…

Yesterday, I appeared on a New York Daily News Sports podcast with Michael O’Keeffe of the Daily News Sports I-Team, which produced four articles (scroll down to I-Team) on the Barclays Center and the larger Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park project, and their impact on the neighborhood.



We discussed a lot about the project, including the arena's location, which uses public transit but has a very small margin for error given the tight fit in the neighborhood, the recent quality of life complaints regarding project construction and operations, why some fears of the project didn't come true, the "Culture of Cheating," how sports fandom sometimes leads to narrow thinking, the reason for an arena not designed for hockey, and the impact of the Islanders and "tailgating culture."

I several times said "the devil's in the details," since that refers to so much regarding the project, including whether arena workers are truly happy (they get too few hours), w…

From the New York Observer's New York City’s Political Power 50:
26. Jonathan Rosen, Co-Founder ofBerlinRosen
Mr. Rosen, of the PR firm BerlinRosen, is perhaps Mr. de Blasio’s best-known outside consultant—but the mayor’s relationship with Mr. Rosen and others has been gaining greater scrutiny. Mr. Rosen is not a lobbyist and as such does not have to disclose his meetings with the mayor, but his firm represents a slew of boldfaced names that have major business at City Hall. BerlinRosen also handles the mayor’s nongovernmental press, putting out his message as Mr. de Blasio continually tries to influence national politics and spinning on issues like his campaign contributions. One of those boldfaced names Rosen represents is, of course, Greenland Forest City Partners and the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park project.

It gets complicated

Today, the New York Post reports:
A top aide to Mayor de Blasio and a consulting firm that helped him win City Hall are under investigation as part of a …

What's going on here?

Well, as a Prospect Heights resident living near the corner of Bergen Street and Carlton Avenue wrote to Empire State Development (copying me and others), his family and house guest " awoke to copper pipes being dropped into bins at 7:50 am this morning by construction workers from the 535 Carlton Project."

That location, the corner of Bergen and Carlton, is one block south of the construction site, outside the delivery area (and in front of a fire hydrant).

That posed dangers to pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles, as the bins blocked both traffic land and bike lane.

The resident confirmed to me that the materials were being delivered to 535 Carlton, which has a fence that extends into the street purportedly to accommodate cranes and deliveries.

Violations

This seems to be both a vehicular violation (blocking street, parking at hydrant, etc.) as well as a violation of the state Memorandum of Environmental Commitments the developer signed, which stat…

A 4/20/16 op-ed in Crain's New York Business, from Downtown Brooklyn Partnership President Tucker Reed and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, is headlined The Brooklyn boom could get much bigger. Here's how: Unlock the borough's commercial potential before it becomes a victim of its own success.

Citing the surge in high-resident residential construction, the strain on infrastructure, and the low office vacancy rate, the authors write:
To truly satiate demand and allow for firms to grow and stay in the borough, we must look beyond basic market forces to generate the additional commercial density needed to secure the future of Brooklyn’s economy. Wasn't that exactly the point of the 2004 Downtown Brooklyn rezoning? Yup. Except the rules were written loosely enough to allow upzoning for housing development, without any reciprocal affordable housing, and that was far more lucrative than building office space.

They call for measures to "meet the original goals of t…

There will be Long Island Rail Road pile-drilling work this weekend, according to an announcement from the developer, though no indication was made regarding the level of noise. (This weekend work was not specified in the most recent Construction Update.)

Also, Con Edison will be doing electrical work this weekend, thus closing Dean Street between Carlton and Vanderbilt avenues during daytime hours Saturday and Sunday.

This also was not specified in the Construction Update, which typically covers only work done at the behest of developer Greenland Forest City Partners. However, community complaints at the last public meeting led the developer to pledge to try to alert residents to such project-related work.

A message from Pacific Park Brooklyn:
As part of the Pacific Park Brooklyn construction, contractors will be drilling piles below grade in the LIRR yard near 6th Avenue between Atlantic Avenue & Pacific Street from 7AM - 7PM on Saturday, April 23, 2016 and Sunday, April 24, 201…

Yesterday, as reported by outlets such as Gothamist and Streetsblog, a truck driver on narrow Sixth Avenue killed a cyclist at Sterling Place. (I lived near there for 17 years.)

There's no evidence the truck was heading to or from the Barclays Center, but the construction and operation of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park has changed the road system, sometimes on a daily or weekly basis. One Gothamist commenter wrote, "Trucks on 6th have become much more of an issue since the Barclays Center opened."

Gothamist noted that the 78th Precinct, which has found a number of moving violations, has not issued tickets for violating a truck route. The rules are somewhat flexible, but not completely so:
An operator is allowed to travel on a street that is not a designated truck route for the purpose of arriving at his or her destination.When accessing such a location, the operator must leave a designated truck route at the intersection that is nearest to his/her destination, proceed by th…

At least it didn't happen around midnight, as on Sunday. The post-playoff experience last night, after the New York Islanders' playoff game, started at about 11:15 and lasted 30 minutes, with fans honking and screaming.



That suggests that the recently-announced Islanders Code of Conduct hasn't had any effect; in fact, if it is this document, it says nothing about post-game conduct.

Some Islanders fans commenting on Twitter, YouTube, and my previous post essentially said "Get over it."

In other words, this is what happens with a boisterous fan base after an important hockey game, and it's wrong or unrealistic to expect quiet. Maybe.

If so, then maybe it's important not to build sports facilities without more of a cordon around them, as New York City zoning regulations require--and were overridden by the state in the case of the Barclays Center.

On Tuesday, 4/12/16, the Real Deal reported that Greenland Forest City Partners was seeking new investors for three buildings: the planned B12 and B13 condo towers on the southeast block of the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park site, as well as the B4 tower--where the developers aim to build office space, after previously planning apartments--at the northeast corner of the arena block.

The next night, at the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Community Update meeting, a spokeswoman for the developer wouldn't say much about that plan, but her words, I think, were inadvertently revealing,

"There was report earlier about B12, B13, B4 being marketed," said Gib Veconi of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council. "Is that accurate?"

"Yes, there is a report that is accurate that we are seeking to recapitalize our investment in order to make the project run even more expediously [sic]," responded Forest City Ratner's Ashley Cotton. "So we are interes…

On 6/27/14, Governor Andrew Cuomo and other officials announced a plan that set 2025 as the deadline for the Atlantic Yards affordable housing--after the longstanding ten-year timetable had been extended to 25 years, with an "outside date" of 2035.

The compromise also included this pledge:
Ensuring sustained development of affordable housing by requiring that the project developers will provide 35 percent of the completed units at the site as affordable housing units until 1,050 affordable housing units are built. This new deal ensures that the delivery of affordable units does not lag behind the creation of market rate units. After 1,050 units, then the percentage of affordable units could drop, for a time, to 25 percent, until it was raised with a final buildout of three 50/50 (affordable/market-rate) towers.

Gib Veconi of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council, who helped negotiate that new timetable, warned--as I wrote 4/6/16--that if the B4 tower at the …

The main point of the Instagram posting below from yesterday is to show how a delivery truck for Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park construction blocks a turning lane (and bicycle lane), next to a closed sidewalk along the B3 (aka 38 Sixth Avenue) site on Dean Street between Flatbush and Sixth avenues.

But note that the truck is delivering sheetrock to the site of adjacent B2 (aka 461 Dean Street), the only tower being built via experimental--and, we now know, flawed--modular construction.

They're not supposed to have to deliver sheetrock. That's the whole point of modular construction.

As developer Forest City Ratner (which owns this building outright, as it's not part of the joint venture with Greenland USA) explained in 2012 most building components--sections of apartments--are supposed to be delivered finished from the factory, with workers on site placing the modules and connecting building systems.

However, after leaks and mold plagued the lower floors, as I reported last Au…

Oh, remember that one justification for moving the bulk of the unbuilt B1 tower across Flatbush Avenue to build what I've dubbed the "Brooklyn Behemoth," according to Forest City Ratner executive Ashley Cotton, is that "a key thing we think we can accomplish with this is keeping the plaza permanent open space."

That positions it as a public amenity, rather than a branded business deal, since the official name is the Resorts World NYC Casino Plaza.

It's also a key safety valve for arena attendees. In fact, as WPIX-11 (a partner with the Barclays Center, remember) reported yesterday, in Islanders fans swarm Barclays Center for playoff festivities, it was the scene for a modified tailgate: attendees "were greeted by live bands, team gear and a chance to hang out with some hockey legends."

An interesting piece of news emerged at the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Community Update meeting last Wednesday.

Tobi Jaiyesimi, who last January was named Executive Director of the Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation, an advisory body that's a subsidiary of Empire State Development (ESD), the state agency overseeing/shepherding the project, now has additional duties.

"I wanted to let you know a slight staffing change on our end. Sam Filler is currently still at ESD. He has transitioned roles, and he will no longer working directly on this project," Jaiyesimi said. " I will be taking on some of his responsibilities as relates to this project specifically."

Does she have a new title, I asked.

"No, I like Director of the AY CDC," she said, adding that things are still in transition.

Indeed, they'll have to update the Welcome message (right) on the ESD's Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park page, at least.

Question raised: institutional memory

…

It was their first playoff game ever in Brooklyn last night, and there was a full house watching the New York Islanders win in overtime, their first victory in three games against the Florida Panthers.

One witness describing the atmosphere--in a building often criticized for being unfriendly to hockey--as "every bit as lively, raucous and boisterous as what you’ll find in any other building in the National Hockey League."

And that meant it spilled out into the street as midnight approached, and even afterward--on a school night. The video below--shot halfway down Pacific Street from the arena--shows yelling and honking.. Apparently the new "Islanders Code of Conduct" can only go so far.

The arena operators need to do more, but they face a challenge. Fans understandably want to celebrate, and they'd be even louder if they were tailgating outside the Nassau Coliseum.

But the arena backs into a residential neighborhood. The next home playoff game is Wednesday, als…

Yesterday was a rough one for pedestrians at Sixth Avenue and Dean Street, where construction continued on the northwest corner for the B3 tower, aka 38 Sixth Avenue.

As detailed in the first Instagram post, a flagger waved vehicles through even when pedestrians had the green, thus putting them in peril. As shown in the second post from Wayne Bailey, a truck blocked southbound traffic on Sixth Avenue, though there should have been a place inside the construction fence for such trucks.

An email sent to me by Dean St Resident reports "nearly got ran over" this morning because of #pacificparkbk Safeway Atlantic 18 wheeler blocked entire traffic lane at 6th Ave & Dean St and "flag man kept waving cars through" when pedestrians had the walk light, "glad I'm alive to tell story" #535carlton #550vanderbilt #38sixthave #pacificparkbk #78thprecinct #communityboard8 #615Dean #664pacific #pedistriansafety #moreenvironmentalmonitors @empireststedev email sent …