Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

After the scheduled July 15 meeting of the (purportedly) advisory Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation was canceled for a lack of quorum, it has been rescheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 6, it was announced yesterday by the parent Empire State Development (ESD). The meeting will be held at: Shirley A. Chisholm State Office Building, 55 Hanson Place – 3rd Floor Conference Room, Brooklyn, New York 11217 Wednesday, Aug. 6 at 3 pm Due to purported building procedures, members of the public attending in-person should RSVP by 4:30 pm on Tuesday, Aug. 5. Members of the press should call (800) 260-7313; Members of the public should call (212) 803-3795. The public may listen to the meeting via webcast here . (I'll be away, so I'll have to watch the video.) The Agenda Members of the public may submit comments on the Agenda items in writing to AYCDCBdMtg@esd.ny.gov by 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 5. All comments received by the deadline will be distributed to the Directors prior to ...

I drafted a version of this article five years ago, but never published it. My recent coverage of BSE Global CEO Sam Zussman ( link ) reminded me that I should, if only for my own archival purposes, revise and publish it. Remember the abrupt departure--surely a firing--of Brooklyn Nets/arena company CEO David Levy in 2019, after only two months? Probably not. Well, I didn't pay quite enough attention to Levy's statement, in an interview, "don't jeopardize your values for what may be a profit." That might have been seen as an implicit criticism of Nets owner Joe Tsai's defense of the Chinese regime.  That was reported only by the New York Post, which also reported--in contrast with some other coverage--that a "Nets source said Levy’s departure was not based solely on his comments from that event."  That implies it was, in fact, part of the reason. Initial vagueness As I wrote in November 2019, quoting a New York Times article , Levy's exit wasn...

Yesterday, funding company Cirrus and developer LCOR--the collaboration expected to lead a joint venture to develop most if not all the rest of the Atlantic Yards site--got a big boost from New York City. The press release,  Most Pro-Housing Administration in City History: Mayor Adams, NYCEDC Kick Off Housing Week by Unveiling Ambitious Plan to Transform Former Flushing Airport Into 3,000 New Homes  announced a " sweeping proposal to build approximately 3,000 homes and 60 acres of public space on the site of the former Flushing Airport in College Point, Queens. "The development — led by New York City-based firms Cirrus Workforce Housing and LCOR Incorporated — is projected to generate $3.2 billion in economic activity over the next 30 years, creating over 1,300 union constructions job and 530 permanent career," it states. While there was a competitive RFP process, its not unlikely Cirrus--which signed a  "historic partnership"  with labor unions and their pensi...

Back in November 2020, I calculated ( link ) that, consultants and law firms hired by Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project, had earned more than $50 million, paid for by the developers.  That was imprecise. A recalculation shows about $57.8 million. So it wasn't that small an increase from 2016, as I  reported , when total had approached $46 million, with some contracts starting as early as 2005 and 2006. The overall number deserves an update, since each year, in its June board materials and annual report, ESD provides new statistics.  According to my calculation, the total is now $63,427,386.70, or more than $63.4 million. Here's my chart summing up the totals detailed further below. The largest sums are for three law firms, then nearly $21 million for three consulting firms, then a small sum for another law firm. Presumably, if the project restarts and needs new public approvals, that would require new spending on consu...

Is Atlantic Yards "Next to" the Arena? Was the Project Delayed Because of Gentrification Fears? ( link ) For the New York Times, it's "Atlantic Yards down the memory hole." Stale photo, too. 

Previewing the July event calendar distributed to neighbors by the Barclays Center, I noted that on July 27, a "Belong Brooklyn" event was likely a concert sponsored by the Social Justice Fund (SJF) of arena company (and team) owners Joe and Clara Wu Tsai.  Indeed, though it's gotten relatively little publicity, on July 16, the Brooklyn Steel Pan Féte on was announced by the SJF on  Twitter/X and Instagram , and perhaps other socials. It's not on the are na web site . It hasn't even been mentioned in BK MAG , which is owned by the Tsai's BSE Global.  Do they not want people to attend? Or have they already announced it directly to a few community groups? Do they not want to alert neighbors there might be noise and crowds? Two different announcements The poster promises "hands-on workshops, youth orchestras, brake drummers, soca music, stilt walkers, carnival all-stars, food trucks, and more!" Interestingly enough, the graphic (top right) advertisi...

CULTURED , "a leading voice for inspiration and a trusted vehicle for discovery at the intersection of art, design, and style," offers a July 15 interview with "philanthropist and businesswoman" Clara Wu Tsai, bannered as "New York Liberty Owner." (h/t NetsDaily ) It offers both insight and myopia toward the tricky melding of sports venues and art. In  New York Liberty Owner Clara Wu Tsai on What the Art World Can Learn From Women’s Basketball , Sophia Cohen, daughter of New York Mets owner Steve Cohen, leads off with a fat pitch to herself--and then Tsai, who with her husband Joe Tsai owns most of BSE Global, parent of the arena company, Brooklyn Nets, and New York Liberty: I’ve spent my fair share of time in sports stadiums and arenas.  Like museums, they are special places where a wide variety of people come together with a common goal to witness excellence.    The businesswoman and philanthropist Clara Wu Tsai—who owns the Brooklyn Nets, Barclays Cente...

The recent BSE Global June Community Update announced: We are committed to positively impacting surrounding communities through various initiatives and programs. See the below recap of June events and activations hosted by the Brooklyn Nets, the New York Liberty, the Long Island Nets, Brooklyn Basketball, and BSE Global. Positive impact, marketing juice, sponsor involvement--it's all connected. Keep in mind that the BSE Global/Nets/Liberty spending is dwarfed by the huge benefit, for example, of a tax-exempt venue and tax-free construction debt. But if the Nets are aiming to build "generational fandom," as corporate leaders say , they're on the way.  School clinics For example, consider the item headed Brooklyn Basketball: Department of Education Clinics: On June 25, Brooklyn Basketball completed its second year of free in-school basketball clinics for elementary and middle schoolers in public schools across Brooklyn. This year, the program reached over 32,000 student...

Regarding Brooklyn Marine Terminal Plan, BrooklynSpeaks' Leaders Simon & de la Uz at Odds re Atlantic Yards Lessons ( link ) With task force vote scheduled today, Brooklyn Eagle offers useful package of nine essays, pro and con. (I'm not convinced BMT can escape Atlantic Yards doubts.)

As I've written ( link ), questions persist about the oversight of "Pacific Park," the 2.7-acre (for now) open space on the southeast block of the project, which has required significant maintenance in less than a year, due to--take your pick--the inability to manage dogs, or the inability of dog owners to stay off Aug. 15, 2024 (top), April 25, 2025 (bottom). Photos: Norman Oder the grass. The Pacific Park Conservancy, at least for now, has a somewhat distracted and distanced main Member, Atlantic Yards Venture, the project developer controlled by Greenland USA.  The latter has since November 2023 been on the verge of losing six railyard development sites to foreclosure, though it still controls B1, the unbuilt tower once slated to loom over the arena, and Site 5, the parcel catercorner to the arena, and wants to be part of a much larger project there. Who's in charge? As I wrote in 2019, according to the bylaws , the Conservancy initially has two Members, the Pacif...

Weekly Digest: Key Meeting on Project's Future Postponed; BrooklynSpeaks Starts Petition on Penalties ( link ) At 38 Sixth tower, new troubles (flood damage, lease waivers); Nets' parent BSE Global talks of "Brooklyn DNA"

Looking northwest toward 38 Sixth, at Sixth Ave. & Dean St. Photo: Norman Oder This is the second of two articles on 38 Sixth. The first concerned the absence of a live-in super. About a year ago, I reported for City Limits ( link ) on persistent complaints about poor conditions and procedures at “100% affordable” 38 Sixth Avenue (B3), a 23-story, 303-unit tower flanking the Barclays Center.  Opening in 2017, it was built by the joint venture Greenland Forest City Partners and was sold --along with the similarly below-market 535 Carlton Avenue--in 2022 to California-based Avanath Capital Management, which specializes in income-targeted affordable and workforce housing. A troubled building, residents said, got worse.  Persistent hot water outages, for example, led to tenants boiling water or going offsite. Her young son “couldn't take a bath for several days,” said resident Siena Shundi, so “camp last year was a disaster." Since then, there have been improvements; the hot ...