ESD schedules fourth Atlantic Yards workshop March 19 (late), promises Draft Community Engagement Report

About a month late, Empire State Development (ESD) has scheduled the fourth public workshop (of four) regarding the Atlantic Yards project on Thursday, March 19, at 6:30 pm, online. Register here.

Ahead of this meeting, though with the date unspecified, ESD will release on its website the Draft Community Engagement Report. The report summarizes key themes and insights from the first three public workshops and the online survey. 

My bet is the report will be used to ratify the new developer's request for an additional 1.6 million square feet of bulk, worth perhaps $320 million, as needed to deliver promised open space and, as of now, unspecified amounts of below-market affordable housing.

The Draft Report will be posted on the ESD website along with an online form for people to submit comments and feedback in advance of the workshop. 

During the meeting, ESD will provide a brief presentation on the Draft Report, followed by a live, open Q&A session where attendees may ask questions and share comments.

Questions and comments can be submitted via the form until Sunday, March 22 at 11:59 PM. All comments and feedback collected before, during, and after the public workshop will be considered in finalizing the Atlantic Yards Redevelopment Community Engagement Report, which will be released in April 2026.

As I've noted, past workshops seemed managed to massage public input. For example, at the second in-person workshop, there was no opportunity for people at the various roundtables to report back to the group at large.

Past workshops

Here's my coverage of the first workshop, concerning the proposed new scale, affordable housing, and free additional bulk.

Here's my coverage of the second workshop, regarding the Public Realm, Retail, and Community Facilities.

Here's my coverage of the third workshop, which was online and covered a range of topics.

From developer presentation; a deceptive rather than informative skyline