At belated online meeting about project issues, low turnout & big Qs bypassed. Looming: foreclosure, new developer, supersizing plan. Whose map explains more?
This is the first of three articles about the Nov. 6, 2024 Atlantic Yards Quality of Life meeting, sponsored by Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project. The second concerned the dog run and open space. The third concerned a presentation by arena operator BSE Global.
The first Atlantic Yards Quality of Life meeting since February 2023—it was previously held bi-monthly, at least while construction proceeded—last night was a low-key affair, lasting about an hour and attracting, as organizers later reported, about a dozen people, fewer than at previous such meetings.
Maybe it was fatigue and resignation regarding Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park. Maybe it was that various organizations didn't announce the event. (It wasn’t in the Monday newsletters, for example, of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council or the North Flatbush Business Improvement District.)
Surely it had something to do with people distracted after the election results that morning.
The first Atlantic Yards Quality of Life meeting since February 2023—it was previously held bi-monthly, at least while construction proceeded—last night was a low-key affair, lasting about an hour and attracting, as organizers later reported, about a dozen people, fewer than at previous such meetings.
Maybe it was fatigue and resignation regarding Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park. Maybe it was that various organizations didn't announce the event. (It wasn’t in the Monday newsletters, for example, of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council or the North Flatbush Business Improvement District.)
Surely it had something to do with people distracted after the election results that morning.
Small news, not big
No news about the project's future was discussed, and ESD staffers notably ignored pending plans for a foreclosure auction, a new master developer, and, likely, far larger towers, as I describe below.
I get why they wanted to keep the discussion narrowed to Quality of Life issues, but not to even acknowledge the elephant in the room strikes me as a lapse, especially given the map distributed.
The most notable news, as I'll describe in a separate article, involves belated, incomplete efforts to better manage the noisy dog run west of the B13 tower (the West tower of 595 Dean).
I'll also write about a presentation by Barclays Center operator BSE Global, including plans to use the closed Modell's building for youth basketball, and policies regarding the plaza and oculus.
Constricted format, new constraints
The online meeting format--debuted during the pandemic, with a questionable rationale for it to persist--made it easier to attend, but ESD's management tamped down transparency.
The new-ish employees at ESD didn’t have experience at the previous meetings, so they had to be reminded, by me, to announce the attendance and whether any elected officials were there. (State Sen. Jabari Brisport and a staffer for Council Member Crystal Hudson, but it’s unclear if either raised questions.)
They also told me, before the meeting, that they would not be answering my questions, since I should be submitting them to their press office. I told them that my questions at previous meetings had been answered, as most reflected questions I’d heard from people in the neighborhood. To their credit, they ultimately did respond to most of them.
Leading off
The meeting was run by ESD’s Anna Pycior, Senior VP for Community Relations, and David Viana, Assistant VP for Community Relations. Unlike with staff at previous meetings, neither is assigned mainly to this project.
Viana asked that questions be specific to the project and pertain to quality of life. “Specifically, if there are questions about things beyond what is already built and on the ground,” he said, “that's something that's reserved for another another time.” (See bottom for my questions that didn’t make the cut.)
He started with an updated project map, showing the buildings that have been completed and the sites remaining for development.
Note that the map showed outlines for both B1, the unbuilt tower once slated for what’s now the arena plaza, and Site 5, catercorner to the arena, longtime home to the big-box stores P.C. Richard and the now-closed Modell’s. B1, of course, won't be built.
Note that the project, within the state authority, is still called Atlantic Yards, though the current master developer in 2014 renamed it Pacific Park. I'd bet the expected future master developer will rename the project. (What about "Brooklyn Central"?)
Has the "You Belong Here"/"We Belong Here" conceptual art signage over the arena's transit entrance, which I think also doubles as advertising, been renewed? (Its initial term was supposed to end this year.)
Also, in October 2017, I reported that the developer said open space work at Times Plaza—a triangle of land just above Site 5, about 4,500 square feet controlled by the Department of Transportation (DOT)—might go into construction in the second quarter of 2018.
This was supposed to include planters, tables and chairs, plus space for a kiosk, bike racks and trash cans. What's going on with this?
The initial justification for the plan--first presented as a public space upgrade, then augmented with safety improvements after public pushback--was to offset an open space deficit for workers in the area, as identified in the 2014 Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.
Constricted format, new constraints
The online meeting format--debuted during the pandemic, with a questionable rationale for it to persist--made it easier to attend, but ESD's management tamped down transparency.
Attendees were invisible to each others. The chat was disabled. Only the hosts saw posted questions. Other online meetings are not necessarily run that way.
But this format advantages the presenters and controlling agency, limiting the ability of attendees facing the same issue to communicate with each other, or to ask legitimate follow-up questions. It doesn’t mirror the experience of an in-person meeting, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
The new-ish employees at ESD didn’t have experience at the previous meetings, so they had to be reminded, by me, to announce the attendance and whether any elected officials were there. (State Sen. Jabari Brisport and a staffer for Council Member Crystal Hudson, but it’s unclear if either raised questions.)
They also told me, before the meeting, that they would not be answering my questions, since I should be submitting them to their press office. I told them that my questions at previous meetings had been answered, as most reflected questions I’d heard from people in the neighborhood. To their credit, they ultimately did respond to most of them.
Leading off
The meeting was run by ESD’s Anna Pycior, Senior VP for Community Relations, and David Viana, Assistant VP for Community Relations. Unlike with staff at previous meetings, neither is assigned mainly to this project.
Viana asked that questions be specific to the project and pertain to quality of life. “Specifically, if there are questions about things beyond what is already built and on the ground,” he said, “that's something that's reserved for another another time.” (See bottom for my questions that didn’t make the cut.)
He started with an updated project map, showing the buildings that have been completed and the sites remaining for development.
Note that the map showed outlines for both B1, the unbuilt tower once slated for what’s now the arena plaza, and Site 5, catercorner to the arena, longtime home to the big-box stores P.C. Richard and the now-closed Modell’s. B1, of course, won't be built.
What's missing
That map did not hint at the longtime plan, first floated by developer Greenland USA in 2015-16, to move the unbuilt bulk from B1 across Flatbush Avenue to Site 5, creating a giant two-tower project. (At that point, original developer Forest City was part of a joint venture.)
Nor the ESD officials mention the Interim Lease ESD signed with Greenland in October 2021, committing to an even larger two-tower project, with one rising 910 feet and the other 450 feet. That requires a public process to approve the shift in bulk, which surely would be connected to new deadlines for the project’s affordable housing, given that it's impossible to build 876 more units due by 2025.
So maybe the maps I commissioned, from designer Ben Keel, would’ve been more useful. The first indicates what's currently been built, and what's been approved.
That map did not hint at the longtime plan, first floated by developer Greenland USA in 2015-16, to move the unbuilt bulk from B1 across Flatbush Avenue to Site 5, creating a giant two-tower project. (At that point, original developer Forest City was part of a joint venture.)
Nor the ESD officials mention the Interim Lease ESD signed with Greenland in October 2021, committing to an even larger two-tower project, with one rising 910 feet and the other 450 feet. That requires a public process to approve the shift in bulk, which surely would be connected to new deadlines for the project’s affordable housing, given that it's impossible to build 876 more units due by 2025.
So maybe the maps I commissioned, from designer Ben Keel, would’ve been more useful. The first indicates what's currently been built, and what's been approved.
Note that the Approved Plans above is a bit of a stretch regarding Site 5 and B1, because it shows a ghost outline for B1, which won't be built, as well as both the scale of the Site 5 building as approved, as well as the proposed scale as of 2016.
The below graphic shows, at bottom, Site 5 as approved, and above, the two different configurations (2016 and 2021-23) proposed for Site 5.
Also omitted: what next
Nor was the 2025 affordable housing deadline mentioned. Nor was the status of the six tower sites (B5-B10), which Greenland is expected to lose in a foreclosure auction, with an emerging joint venture involving Hudson Yards developer Related Companies.
News on that could surface very soon, and involve a reimagining of the project, with the new developer likely seeking more density not just at Site 5 but, as Greenland sought in 2023, on the railyard sites.
Nor was the 2025 affordable housing deadline mentioned. Nor was the status of the six tower sites (B5-B10), which Greenland is expected to lose in a foreclosure auction, with an emerging joint venture involving Hudson Yards developer Related Companies.
News on that could surface very soon, and involve a reimagining of the project, with the new developer likely seeking more density not just at Site 5 but, as Greenland sought in 2023, on the railyard sites.
Sure, this isn't part of neighbors' immediate questions, and surely will be discussed at the next meeting of the advisory Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC), which is supposed to meet quarterly.
However, given the questions raised by the map distributed, tssues are at least worth mentioning in passing.Contact info
Viana also offered ESD’s contact information for the Atlantic Yards team, with a voicemail, (212)803-3736, and email, AtlanticYards@esd.gov, and the project page for Atlantic Yards, which is, a bit oddly, associated with AY CDC.
Viana also offered ESD’s contact information for the Atlantic Yards team, with a voicemail, (212)803-3736, and email, AtlanticYards@esd.gov, and the project page for Atlantic Yards, which is, a bit oddly, associated with AY CDC.
Note that the project, within the state authority, is still called Atlantic Yards, though the current master developer in 2014 renamed it Pacific Park. I'd bet the expected future master developer will rename the project. (What about "Brooklyn Central"?)
Questions omitted: neon signage
While ESD was willing to have Greenland talk about the open space and BSE Global about plans to put youth basketball in the former Modell's building--both of which I'll write about--it didn't answer a few of my questions.
If so, for how long? How many extensions are possible?
Don't those questions address "what's already built," to use Viana's guideline? If BSE Global could talk about maintenance plans for the Barclays Center plaza, why is this off-limits?
Questions omitted: Times Plaza
This was supposed to include planters, tables and chairs, plus space for a kiosk, bike racks and trash cans. What's going on with this?
This was definitely a topic at previous Quality of Life meetings. My guess is that's something they need to research.
So I'll submit these questions separately.
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