I'm on a panel tomorrow discussing blight (previous coverage here and here), and I just wanted to point to a couple of more absurdities that surfaced in the 2006 Atlantic Yards blight designation.
Cracks in sidewalk
The cracks in the Sixth Avenue sidewalk below were listed as indicia of blight, but, as an New Yorker knows, they were hardly exceptional. After all, as Michael D.D. White pointed out in his Noticing New York blog, the sidewalk outside Sen. Chuck Schumer's Prospect Park West home looked worse.
More recently, in 2017, the city Department of Transportation issued a citation for sidewalk repair outside the B15 site, including the damaged and far more hazardous sidewalk below. But guess what: it didn't trigger eminent domain, but rather required fixing, aka abatement.
Weeds at the railyard
Weeds were described as part of "unsanitary and unsafe conditions." But who was responsible for that? The state punted, saying in response to comments only:
The photo below shows the 2007 effort at community cleanup, done by residents. Abatement is not so hard, after all. (In 2008, an apparent government effort also achieved cleanup.)
A too-small house on Dean Street
Regarding the petite, two-story house on Dean Street east of Sixth Avenue, the Blight Study acknowledges that there were no unsanitary or unsafe conditions identified, no evidence of a building structure is substantially compromised building structure, no open building code violations associated, no issues of environmental concerns.
However, because the building used less than 60 percent of the lot’s development potential, the site was considered underutilized, and thus an indication of blight.
Here's a broader look at the block. Does the underutilization seem to be dragging down the block? No. But that five-house swath, 100 feet wide, was needed to supply a lot for construction staging, and later for a 272-foot tower.
Cracks in sidewalk
The cracks in the Sixth Avenue sidewalk below were listed as indicia of blight, but, as an New Yorker knows, they were hardly exceptional. After all, as Michael D.D. White pointed out in his Noticing New York blog, the sidewalk outside Sen. Chuck Schumer's Prospect Park West home looked worse.
More recently, in 2017, the city Department of Transportation issued a citation for sidewalk repair outside the B15 site, including the damaged and far more hazardous sidewalk below. But guess what: it didn't trigger eminent domain, but rather required fixing, aka abatement.
Weeds at the railyard
Weeds were described as part of "unsanitary and unsafe conditions." But who was responsible for that? The state punted, saying in response to comments only:
Chapter 1, “Project Description,” and Chapter 3, “Land Use, Zoning, and Public Policy,” describe in detail the present condition of the project site, including the Vanderbilt Yard.
The photo below shows the 2007 effort at community cleanup, done by residents. Abatement is not so hard, after all. (In 2008, an apparent government effort also achieved cleanup.)
A too-small house on Dean Street
Regarding the petite, two-story house on Dean Street east of Sixth Avenue, the Blight Study acknowledges that there were no unsanitary or unsafe conditions identified, no evidence of a building structure is substantially compromised building structure, no open building code violations associated, no issues of environmental concerns.
However, because the building used less than 60 percent of the lot’s development potential, the site was considered underutilized, and thus an indication of blight.
Here's a broader look at the block. Does the underutilization seem to be dragging down the block? No. But that five-house swath, 100 feet wide, was needed to supply a lot for construction staging, and later for a 272-foot tower.
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