Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

Beyond the security issues raised at the 5/17/16 meeting ( video ) of the Atlantic Yards Community Development Commission, several issues regarding the state’s oversight of project community impacts were raised. Notably, it was disclosed that, despite a generally good record of compliance with the Memorandum of Environmental Commitments (MEC) aimed to avoid neighborhood impacts, a state monitor has recommended new tactics to limit idling trucks and other neighborhood impacts. Still, the developer does not seem to be at risk for penalties from Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority overseeing/shepherding the project. In context Jennifer Bienemann of environmental monitor HDR said her firm serves as “independent mitigation monitors on five other projects” in the city, and “the program for Atlantic Yards is by far the most robust, thorough, and expansive in scope.” (Here's her presentation , also at bottom.) For example, they visit other projects once a week...

At the Atlantic Yards District Service Cabinet meeting , held the morning of 7/14/11 at Borough Hall, some of us in the audience picked up cameras to take a few photos. (I shot the photo at left before the meeting began.) I did, as did Amy Clark of Prospect Heights Patch , Michael D. D. White of Noticing New York , and a couple of academics working on a project related to Atlantic Yards. A Borough Hall staffer told us to stop taking photos. Getting an explanation Later, I asked, as I had done in February , for an explanation of why cameras were banned at the meetings, held bi-monthly. Markowitz spokesman Mark Zustovich sent me a statement: “Our office, along with Empire State Development (ESD) and Council Member Letitia James, are preparing a statement about the openness of these meetings and our expectations regarding public attendee behavior, and that statement will be included with each meeting’s agenda so there’s no confusion going forward. However, you will recall tha...

Photographer Tracy Collins did some filming yesterday, and workers at Forest City Ratner's arena site as well at the developer's mall complex didn't want him getting too close. The documentation doesn't bring up anything unusual, but there's a value to consistent documentation. Surely Forest City Ratner is trying to control the visuals, such as with these shots of new Nets majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov. Arena construction Flatbush Avenue at Pacific Street Prospect Heights Brooklyn, New York May 27, 2010 2:30pm Collins writes: Site of the Barclays Center Arena of the Atlantic Yards development by Forest City Ratner. Forest City Ratner's Atlantic Center Mall is in the background. I was told by the construction workers (who eventually covered the gap in the fence thru which I was shooting) that I should "move along" and that "I couldn't photograph here." I told them that I could and I would as I was on a public sidewalk. Barclays Center ...

Continuing the trip I took May 20 up Vanderbilt Avenue to look for blight near the eastern edge of the Atlantic Yards footprint, in the video below I walk from Vanderbilt Avenue and Atlantic Avenue south to Pacific Street, west to Carlton Avenue, and south to Dean Street. The walk traverses part of Block 1129, which is being used for construction staging and interim surface parking. The demolition of the Ward Bakery led to the provision of significant surface space. (Note that in the beginning of the video I identify the starting place as Vanderbilt Avenue and Pacific Street, whereas it's actually Atlantic Avenue.) Private street? Even though there are signs professing that the street is closed, the street remains unblocked, at least during off-hours, and I saw a few bicyclists and cars passing through. There was no guard at either end of the street, but there was a guard outside one of the buildings, presumably protecting it from any incursion. I turned off the camera before I go...

Photographer Tracy Collins, who has done yeoman work chronicling the physical state of the Atlantic Yards footprint and civic events related to Atlantic Yards, doesn't make much money for his efforts. His work often gets used, without permission. Sometimes commercial entities ask for permission but won't pay. Other times they offer the smallest, and least enticing, of carrots. Read how he turned down a t-shirt from a Kansas City company putting together a proposal to construct the metal outer shell for the Barclays Center. It is a testament to Collins' professionalism that, whatever his position on the project (and he's clearly an opponent) his work is such that metal companies in the Midwest might want to use it.

Photographer Tracy Collins has been uploading Atlantic Yards site photos from Google Maps and adding some helpful information. Above is one example. Go to Collins's annotations to learn, for example, his estimate that the photo was taken sometime in August 2008, given that the Ward Bread Bakery is half demolished--its top (Pacific Street) side seemingly intact, its bottom (Dean Street) side gone. Now it's all gone except for a (still handsome) segment used for storage .

The year 2008 was chock full of Atlantic Yards news; below, I look back chronologically at some memorable issues, moments, and quotes, including the understated prediction by Forest City Ratner CEO Bruce Ratner that the project is "not going to happen in a nanosecond." Tomorrow, I'll assess the outlook for this year, which is very much uncertain (as are the Construction Updates on the official AY site ). January I report that pending lawsuits might be cleared in 2008 but point out that there were reasons to be skeptical. Indeed, both major lawsuits remain pending. Despite reportage that the official Atlantic Yards arena opening date had been moved from 2009 to 2010, I argue that the real story is 2011 . State Court Justice Joan Madden takes eight months to rule against a community challenge to the Atlantic Yards environmental review. She punts on the crime statistics and thus doesn't fully assess the issue of blight. Could "Shoot the Freak be a "civic pro...