By failing to schedule bi-monthly Quality of Life meeting and quarterly AY CDC meetings, New York State has kept big questions from getting answers.

Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, has notably backed off from the project.

For the first time (in my memory), ESD last month not only skipped a scheduled bi-monthly Quality of Life meeting but it issued no announcement, nor any plan to reschedule it.

Was it carelessness, staff overload, or deliberate withdrawal from engagement?

Unclear, but whatever the explanation, it means resistance to transparency.

It's not that complicated a meeting to schedule, given that it typically relies on presentations by ESD staffer Tobi Jaiyesimi and Scott Solish of developer Greenland USA, (which dominates Greenland Forest City Partners), though sometimes Jaiyesimi has done it solo.

Despite limited attendance and constrained transparency, the bi-monthly online meeting is still a forum to learn updates about the project, and for stakeholders to ask questions, even if answers aren't always candid. 

(Note that there was some candor in the recently released meeting notes, which for the first time acknowledged a 2035 completion date for the project.)

Also, though the (purportedly) advisory Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC) has never met its stated quarterly timetable, the failure to schedule the two expected meetings since the last session in June has also diminished transparency.

Why it matters: platform

This matters because questions surrounding the project have only grown more pressing, notably: why, if Greenland in May announced that it expected to start the long-awaited first phase of the platform, has it not moved ahead?

The explanation that work on Atlantic Avenue posed conflicts didn't wash, not for long.

If they still haven't received permits from the Long Island Rail Road, they should say so.

But if the decision to not move forward is related to the financial struggles of parent Greenland Holdings Corp., or renegotiation of project terms, well that deserves transparency.

Why it matters: affordable housing deadline

Another question: given that it now seems impossible that the developer can deliver the required 2,250 affordable housing units by May 2025--877 (or 876) remain to start--has Greenland asked for an extension, or any any way lobbied to avoid the $2,000/month penalties?

Or is there a grand proposal to revise the timetable and configuration of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, perhaps attached to the plan to move the bulk of the unbuilt "Miss Brooklyn," the flagship office tower once planned to loom over the arena, across Flatbush Avenue to create a giant two-tower project at Site 5, longtime home to Modell's and P.C. Richard.

Unresolved, at AY CDC: Urban Room

At the June meeting of the AY CDC, Director Gib Veconi proposed a motion regarding the developer's obligation to build the Urban Room, a glass atrium attached to Miss Brooklyn, and if not to pay liquidated damages totaling $10 million by May 2023.

ESD's Jaiyesimi intervened and said no motion was necessary: "I think we can all note that the Urban Room has not been developed and there's been no action taken to the development of the Urban Room. So I'll follow up with the team and get some details with you on that."

There's been no meeting, so no follow-up. 

When Veconi and others in the BrooklynSpeaks coalition later held a press conference to point out the failure to build the Urban Room--and to point to the more significant, looming 2025 affordable housing deadline--ESD responded with a statement:

“While the existing plaza in front of the Barclays Center has become an indispensable public space and serves as an important public benefit, ESD acknowledges the importance of ensuring that this developer honors the commitments it promised to the community. ESD will work with the developer and the community to expand access to public space and advance the next phases of this critical project.”

That's not the same as providing details at a public meeting.

Unresolved, at AY CDC: affordability

Also at that June meeting, Greenland USA's Solish was asked about the percentage of affordability at the under-construction B12 & B13, two towers known as 595 Dean Street.

The buildings are being developed by TF Cornerstone, which bought development leases from Greenland Forest City Partners

Solish said he thought the percentage would be between 25% and 30%--strategic obfuscation given that the 30% figure had already been shared with the AY CDC.

The real question is the level of affordability. Though both Greenland the TF Cornerstone reps have not been forthcoming, I found a submission from the developer to the state that shows, unsurprisingly, that the 240 affordable units (30%) would all be at 130% of Area Median Income, aimed at middle-income households earning six figures.

"I will certainly share that question" about the percentage of affordability with TF Cornerstone, Solish said, "and we'll get the directors an answer." 

That answer awaits, as well as the answer to the more important question of affordability level.

Those aren't tough questions to answer. But if there's no meeting, they may not get answered.