Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

View south from Vanderbilt Ave.; Beer Street  South at corner, retail space at right past car Last April, I wrote ( link ) that retail space at 550 Vanderbilt (aka B11) once used as a construction field office and community liaison office was finally up for rent, after Greenland Forest City Partners, which built the tower, had finally sold the three retail condos--one subdivided--at the base of the building. I had suggested that that 2400-square-foot space might not be easy to rent, given that there's relatively little foot traffic west on that stump of demapped Pacific Street. (If and when the adjacent railyard is developed and the open space complete, it would become prime property.) Well, new signage indicates that part of the space--that closest to Vanderbilt Avenue--will by June become the new home of Prospect Heights Eastern Spa , a body work and foot reflexology spa long operated down Vanderbilt Avenue.  It'll be a spa. Photos: Norman Oder Yelp reviews describe it as a...

The lesson of my recent coverage of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park is that the state officials who should know the most don't know much (or aren't telling), and the official advisory board hasn't been told. See: Brooklyn’s Stalled Atlantic Yards Plan Faces More Questions Than Answers  from City Limits  State officials say they expect a new developer to emerge. But without a new plan, will they pursue damages on June 1 for absent affordable housing? , from this blog The lesson from some other coverage and events is that other people know even less. Consider, as detailed below, an op-ed from a former state official, comments from one candidate for Brooklyn Borough President (though the incumbent had a better grasp), and a friendly interview with a city official who worked on the project. Blaming the NIMBYs It’s time for New Yorkers to embrace YIMBYism , wrote Elizabeth Fine, former counsel to Gov. Kathy Hochul and now principal of Liz Fine Advisory, wrote in Crain's New York...