At hearing on Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan, a few Atlantic Yards echoes: a "public" site, oversight, and a new population needing green space

Yesterday, the City Planning Commission held a hearing on the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan (AAMUP) a long-percolating rezoning of blocks directly east of Vanderbilt Avenue, the eastern border of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, nearly to Nostrand Avenue.

(Also included are a few blocks/parcels outside the rezoning area, where public sites can supply affordable housing.)

From Department of City Planning presentation

The goal is to allow new residential development, with affordable units, in an area currently shackled by outdated manufacturing zoning.

Brooklyn Community Boards 8 and 3, as well as Borough President Antonio Reynoso, have issued support for the proposal, with conditions, including a greater commitment to affordable housing and to ensuring space for manufacturing.

I'll write separately about the broader issues, but for now would just focus on a few Atlantic Yards-related issues. Though the project, and the development plans it influenced, is in the shadow of AAMUP, it was only glancingly referenced.

Affordable housing

Commissioner Raju Mann, an urban planner who's President and CEO of the Battery Park City Authority, observed that "the biggest public affordable housing site opportunity here is Atlantic Yards, which continues to be a vacant site at the corner of Atlantic and Vanderbilt. So I'm curious if any part of this process is helping to nudge some resolution around a vacant train yard site, and what the status of that is?"

Paula Diaz, Neighborhood Planner at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation & Development, responded that she didn't have any update on that. 

She said conversations with Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, have focused on the state-owned property at 1024 Fulton Street, which is slated for affordable housing in conjunction with AAMUP.

"So I know that Atlantic Yards has come up a couple times, but this is not something we're actively collaborating with the state," she said.

A "public" site?

That deserves a little unpacking. First, while the Vanderbilt Yard, which has six Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park development sites, is a publicly-owned parcel, the project developers have been paying for--and thus control--development rights.

That said, they--or some entity!--are also obligated to deliver 876 more units of affordable housing by May 2025 or face penalties of $2,000/unit. That gives ESD some leverage in the inevitable negotiations to extend the deadline.

Also, as I've reported, developer Greenland USA, which has lost those six sites in foreclosure, in 2023 proposed that the state provide an increase of 1 million square feet of bulk, without compensation, to make the project more viable. 

In exchange for an extension of deadlines to complete the affordable housing and the full project, as well as the right to build nearly 2,700 more units, Greenland would deliver 600 more units of affordable housing. 

Presumably a new plan for Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, pursued by the emerging (but hardly complete) joint venture involving Cirrus Real Estate Partners, would require negotiations with both the state and the city. Apparently they're not there yet.

The need for oversight

Sharon Wedderburn, chair of Brooklyn Community Board 8's Housing & Land Use Committee, observed that they had learned a lesson from Atlantic Yards "and what it has not been able to deliver. It has not been able to deliver the community's voice, and we urge the funding of an ongoing monitoring group [for the AAMUP commitments], so that we would be able to continue to monitor progress and monitor the obligations as stated."

One condition of CB 8's support was that the city "fund a consultant for 10 years to act as a facilitator of a community body formed to oversee the City's delivery of benefits committed as part of AAMUP to provide transparency and accountability, with proportional representation of residential and commercial tenants and small homeowners of 1 to 3 families based on the makeup of surrounding neighborhoods."

More green space

Gib Veconi, an influential CB 8 member (and chair of the M-CROWN subcommittee, a precursor to AAMUP), testified as Chair of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council (PHNDC).

"The completion of the Atlantic Yards project and the anticipated development resulting from the aim of rezoning will add more than 15,000 residents to the northern portion of Prospect Heights by 2035," he said. "This area already has a significant shortage of open space. Atlantic Avenue, between Flatbush Avenue and Bedford Avenue constitutes 19 acres of publicly owned land. Currently, 80% of the 115-foot right of way is dedicated to through travel of private vehicles and trucks."

"We suggest that at least 50% of the right of way should prioritize people and nature," he said. "While this might not generate a typical park, it can provide safe and healthy walking and biking environments for current and future residents and much-needed curb infrastructure."

"The city Department of Transportation, coordinating with the Department of City Planning, should develop a district wide curb-zone management plan prioritizing pedestrians and cyclists, street trees and rain gardens, as well as space for waste," he said. "It should limit private parking in front of buildings and minimize disruptive loading docks and driveways."

At the Brooklyn Borough President's hearing Jan. 15, Prospect Heights resident (and urban planner) Kaja Kühl similarly urged Reynoso to condition his support for the rezoning to convert Atlantic Avenue it to a "green boulevard."

A "road diet"?

While Reynoso said that DOT must commit to a road diet from six to four lanes along Atlantic Avenue, in line with the rest of the corridor, his recommendation didn't stress a "green boulevard." That said, even CB 8 didn't condition its support on a lane reduction. 

At the hearing yesterday, DOT representative Dash Henley said they could neither commit to, nor dismiss, the concept of a road diet, but it would require a separate study. Meanwhile, they do plan
various safety improvements at intersections in the study area. including painted curb extensions and enhanced crossings.

See more on this from Streetsblog.