Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

This is the third of a few articles based on the 1/24/17 Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park meeting. I previously wrote about the unclear timing of the project buildout and the role of Greenland. When the Barclays Center's new VP for Community Relations spoke, there was an echo of the 11/1/16 meeting in which neighbors complained about a noisy television shoot for which preparations began at 6 am on the arena plaza and Roland Guevara basically responded that it often "comes directed from the news channels themselves" and that he remembered feeling happy as a kid, "or even as an adult," seeing "something positive about going on" regarding his neighborhood. Of course, the arena's interests are not necessarily the neighborhood's interests, especially those who live there (as opposed to those who run restaurants and bars). "Some of the events hosted on the plaza are very disruptive to the community," commented Michelle, a regular at the...

Well, on Aug. 15, we got a reminder that that the seemingly bi-monthly Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park "Quality of Life Community Update Meeting" had been rescheduled from Aug. 24 to Sept. 13, which is next Tuesday. The meeting will be from 6-8 pm and the location, as per usual, is the: Shirley Chisholm State Office Building 55 Hanson Place 1st Floor Conference Room But there's no agenda yet. Surely the state and developer Greenland Forest City Partners have information they wish to share. But if they need a record of construction and operations incidents affecting the community around the project site--cars on the sidewalk, illegal truck parking, traffic jams, etc.--they should go to the #BCIZA hashtag (Barclays Center Impact Zone Alliance) on Instagram. Below are some examples. By the way, the meeting was originally called the Quality of Life Committee, with expected citizen participation; it then became a Community Update Meeting, a "developer meeting...

Update: note belated, bland agenda at right. At tonight's Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Community Update meeting , expect a discussion of how well Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority overseeing/shepherding the project, tracks incursions on the neighborhood from construction or arena operations. At the 4/13/16 Community Update meeting, where responses to harassment dominated discussion, there was a frustrated set of exchanges regarding that issue. And at last month's Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC) meeting , that issue recurred--along with a meta-discussion about how well the minutes of the Community Update meeting were conveyed to the AY CDC directors. At the April Community Update After ESD's Community Affairs officer Nicole Jordan explained that incidents posted on Atlantic Yards Watch were immediately forwarded to her, Peter Krashes of the Dean Street Block Association noted that many incidents he knew of were not liste...

At the March meeting of the Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC), the state entity set up to advise Empire State Development (ESD), a rather shocking account of sexual harassment and assault was diminished , in the ESD’s report, to a single incident involving one worker. That led resident Elicia Howard to go public in the New York Daily News and at a subsequent Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Community Update meeting . Yesterday, at the subsequent AY CDC meeting, Howard came to tell the board directly. Her story was part of a larger, not-quite-resolved discussion about security improvements at the site and the Barclays Center. Notably, a new directive to arenagoers, developed for hockey games, regarding respect for the surrounding neighborhood is only now being added for other arena events. Also, while construction workers now wear color-coded ID stickers to associate them with specific parts of the project, they are not specifically told that the initiative...

The agenda for today's Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation meeting , at right, doesn't offer much detail, but, given the most recent AY CDC and Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Community Update meetings, there should be some intense discussion. At the last meeting of the AY CDC board, in March, a few board members raised questions about the parent Empire State Development's ability to track complaints from the community. An ESD staffer's rather bureaucratic description of a sexual harassment episode downplayed the issue, and and at the Community Update meeting last month, resident Elicia Howard criticized ESD for doing so. Now expect some debate about the follow-up. Consider: for the first time, ESD actually posted meeting notes from the Community Update meeting, as requested by some AY CDC board members since last October. I noticed the Meeting Notes  (also at bottom) yesterday, just about the same time the Barclays Center Impact Zone Alliance (BCIZA)...

In the wake of an altercation between fans and security officers at the Barclays Center Tuesday, the arena announced several policy changes, which were summarized, in flattering fashion, by the Daily News  and Post  as cutting off alcohol sales "early." (Also see coverage in  Newsday ,  Sports Illustrated , and the  Times . Also note the criticism, as described below, of the overall policy changes.) Indeed, by ending sale of alcohol by the end of the second period--as opposed to the 12-minute mark of the third period--the Barclays Center will cut booze off earlier . (Note that the 12-minute mark of the third period is 8 minutes in.) But the policy change obscures the fact that arena's previously policy was rather aggressive, compared to some other arenas and recommended best practices, and the arena is only now adopting best practices. That suggests that (duh) they were trying to reap the most revenue. True, as the Daily News stated, the N...

On top of the call by elected officials to delay the transfer of the Barclays Center operating company from Forest City Ratner to Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, a coalition formed last year to push for transparency has also called for a halt unless there's a "public review process and a firm agreement as to arena operations protocols and oversight measures." Those include real teeth, such as a traffic agent to monitor the Barclays Center loading dock, more street cleaning, and response in real time to complaints. The Barclays Center Impact Zone Alliance, which represents residents within a few blocks of the arena, points to "the ever-increasing need to coordinate events while creating the least disruption to the community inside and outside the project. Past agreements regarding arena operations have proven to be unsuccessful in maximizing the visitor experience without encroaching on area residents. There is real concern that future residents, Greenla...

The Barclays Center Impact Zone Alliance, which formed last year in response to the city's bid for the 2016 Democratic National Convention and has periodically issued statements , is organizing to better monitor the impacts of the arena and the emerging Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park project. It's holding a meeting Monday to gather input. The letter: Dear Neighbor, Like us, you live or work in the impact zone of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park and Barclays Center. Our quality of life is dramatically affected by this megaproject, for which Governor Cuomo, New York State, and the developer Greenland Forest City Partners have special commitments. How do you think the developer and State are doing? Come to this meeting to get an update on the project and share any thoughts or concerns you have. TIME: Monday, November 9th from 7 PM to 8 PM PLACE: McMahon's Public House, 39 5th Avenue, 2nd floor We have ideas and we are certain that you do, too. Whether you have been i...