Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

From a New York Times profile today,  The Dual Education of Hakeem Jeffries , subtitled "Shaped by Black Brooklyn and trained by Manhattan’s legal elite, the House Democrats’ new leader is not easily pigeonholed": When Forest City Ratner proposed a multibillion-dollar redevelopment in Mr. Jeffries’s backyard — including an arena that is now home to the Brooklyn Nets — some of his neighbors were flummoxed by his position. Ms. [Letitia] James forcefully opposed the project, known as Atlantic Yards; Mr. [Roger] Green supported it. Mr. Jeffries straddled the divide, saying he was against the use of eminent domain to seize land for the development and some design decisions, but not the project as a whole. “I spent six hours at two meetings with him,” Daniel Goldstein, an opponent of the project, told The New York Times in 2006 . “After six hours, it was unclear to us where he stood.” Allies saw early signs of something else, though — an ability to balance competing and sometimes o...

I have an essay in CommonEdge today,  How Atlantic Yards Failed to Deliver Affordable Homeownership (With a Hakeem Jeffries Cameo) . From the lead: U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ inaugural address to colleagues in the early morning hours of Saturday, January 7, showed that the Brooklyn politician, the Democrats’ first Black leader in the House, should be a public fixture for years. While commentators hailed Jeffries’ tour-de-force A–Z passage contrasting Democrats and Republicans, what struck me most occurred in the last third of the speech, when Jeffries stated , “So on this first day, let us commit to the American Dream … if you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to provide a comfortable living for yourself and for your family, educate your children, purchase a home, and one day retire with grace and dignity.” An unsurprising list? Well, the reference to “purchase a home” reminded me of one of Jeffries’ first political victories, ...

From the Wall Street Journal yesterday, Hakeem Jeffries, Front-Runner to Succeed Nancy Pelosi, Forged Ties Across Spectrum : Lupe Todd-Medina, a consultant who helped Mr. Jeffries in that 2006 campaign, recalled how he navigated the contentious issue of the Atlantic Yards development, a complex of residential towers built around an arena atop a rail yard. Mr. Jeffries declined to join the most vocal opponents, but stood against the use of eminent domain, she said. “He was pragmatic about it,” said Ms. Todd-Medina. Well, as I tweeted (see below), that statement doesn't quite capture Jeffries' strategically ambiguous 2006 stances. Nor, as I wrote in a 2012 article upon his expected ascension to Congress, does that capture his general caution--critical of aspects, then supportive--regarding the project. Back to 2006 As I wrote in September 2006, Jeffries during his Assembly Campaign could sound like a righteous critic of the project: And finally, let me just imply say, in terms ...

Map excerpted from Gothamist Thanks to Democratic Party-controlled redistricting, Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park will have some new Democratic legislators representing it in Congress. (This assumes no successful legal challenge .) As shown in the map at right. Rep. Yvette Clarke--a Flatbush resident --would lose Atlantic Yards, as her 9th District boundary moves east, to the most part east of Underhill Avenue, and then east of Prospect Park.  (Her current district lines , which extend to Fourth Avenue in part, and then to Sixth Avenue in Park Slope, are below left.) And now the Atlantic Yards/Pacific site would be split between Reps. Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Jerry Nadler.  Jeffries, a Prospect Heights resident and former state Assemblymember, is quite familiar with the project, though it can hardly be a priority. Nadler's  lived on the Upper West Side his entire adult life and likely knows little about the project. The Congressional impact on the project has been limit...

I wrote a post in January 2020 headlined  The rise of "Hakeem" and "Tish": from Central Brooklyn to national prominence .  It already deserves an update. About Letitia James James, who Gov. Andrew Cuomo supported for Attorney General over a more left-wing challenger, issued the convincing report documenting evidence of Cuomo's alleged sexual harassment, which led the governor to step down. That led to salutes from some who'd questioned James's independence. Cuomo's departure puts little-known Lt. Gov Kathy Hochul, from western New York, in office.  Hochul  said she'd run for the full term in 2022, so she's likely choosing a new Lt. Gov. from downstate, possibly a Black man who would who would it harder for James to consolidate support. There's always the wild card--suggested here --that Cuomo, who retains a huge war chest, could enter the race at the last minute, especially since the Legislature has given up impeachment, which would bar...

Not that surprising that a Member of Congress still gets stopped. See Sen. Tim Scott, etc. https://t.co/UnregWscA2 (I was stopped 3-4 times in early 1990s. Not since, tho.) — Norman Oder (@AYReport) July 27, 2020 Rep. Jeffries as incoming Assemblymember helped negotiate a promise of 200 below-market for-sale units (condos), rather than affordable rentals, in #AtlanticYards @pacificparkbk https://t.co/gDvhKk1nFO But that plan seems dead, w/no enforceability (& no push from legislators) — Norman Oder (@AYReport) July 27, 2020 Well, it was also a matter of the drafting language in the project documents signed by the developer and @EmpireStateDev — Norman Oder (@AYReport) July 28, 2020

To a good number of people in and around Central Brooklyn, they're simply "Hakeem" and "Tish," charismatic, capable lawyer-politicians who've shown up at so many events and functions that they seem familiar. To political observers around the city, state, and country, they're now New York Attorney General Letitia James and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, House Democratic Caucus Chair. Those are powerful positions: other than Special Counsel Robert Mueller and House impeachment managers, James has been best positioned to investigate President Donald Trump, given that his companies and foundation conduct business in New York. Jeffries, fifth in the House Democratic leadership, is poised to rise even higher once senior leaders retire or step aside. James, in many ways, has a bigger job, and a tougher one. After all, she's got to run a vast department, while also pursuing policy reforms discussed during the campaign (cleaner government, voting reform) and, no...

City & State New York's listing of  The 2019 Brooklyn Power 100  is, of course arbitrary, but it's also intriguing. And it includes some Atlantic Yards-related references. The ranking is... interesting, starting with: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries Sen. Charles Schumer State AG Letitia James Rep. Nydia Velazquez Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams The description for Adams: No Brooklyn borough president has ever become mayor, and the last borough president in New York City to ascend to Gracie Mansion was Manhattan’s David Dinkins. But Eric Adams hopes he could become the first. With Letitia James preoccupied enforcing state law, the former state senator and ex-police officer may have an opening in what will no doubt be a crowded field in 2021. He has outraised his opponents recently, hauling in more than $500,000 over the first six months of the year, although his rival City Comptroller Scott Stringer has more than $2.5 million in his war chest. Adams has been noticeab...

These well-done Brooklyn Nets promos involving Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Borough President Eric Adams, are telling in a number of ways, some unsaid. They involve shots of the Brooklyn Bridge, interview snippets, murals of the late Christopher Wallace (aka the Notorious B.I.G., aka Biggie Smalls) , the Barclays Center, a basketball court named for Smalls, and kids playing basketball in some jazzy new jerseys. Oh, and a selective soundtrack. Surely Jeffries and Adams think they, like the Nets, are honoring the Brooklyn hip-hop icon, while gaining a little buzz and cred for themselves. They are, but they're also saluting the Nets, and the Nets are no charity. What's unsaid is that the hashtag #WeGoBig, and that jazzed up Brooklyn Nets logo--well, they're selling $80 shorts and $30 ballcaps . It's notable to see Jeffries, who as Assemblyman had a sort of rope-a-dope position regarding Atlantic Yards, ultimately more positive than negative, thoroughly embrace the Net...

So, now that Forest City Realty Trust is selling all but 5% of its 30% share in Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, what about that off-site affordable housing? And what about the Community Benefits Agreement (CBA)? Don't hold your breath. We haven't heard a lot about either since the first deal between Forest City Realty Trust and Greenland USA closed in 2014. And, perhaps most importantly, the joint venture continued Forest City's pattern of not hiring the Independent Compliance Monitor required by the CBA. Does anyone think that, without significant pressure, Greenland--owned by the government of Shanghai, in large part--will have any reason to bring third-party scrutiny to the project? Off-site for-sale affordable housing As I reported in May 2015, a recently unveiled LLC agreement between original developer Forest City Ratner and new joint venture partner/overseer Greenland Holdings, explained the promise to build 600 to 1000 for-sale affordable units at or near th...

Truth be told, there was little illuminating about Forest City's presentation to Community Board 2 last night regarding the upcoming 181 units of affordable housing at 461 Dean Street, the modular tower also known as B2. (They similarly presented at CB 6 .) And presumably the presentation tonight to Community Board 8 will be similar: no details about the units but rather a reminder that information will be available this month, with online applications via NYC Housing Connect and paper applications via Mutual Housing Association of New York (MHANY). Applicants must choose one only. MHANY is a successor to ACORN as a signatory of the Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement and Housing Memorandum of Understanding. MHANY's Ismene Speliotis and Forest City Ratner's Elizabeth Canela said they would be back at a future meeting with more specifics, including affordability. (I outlined the range, as detailed in 2012, in my article .) But even a brief visit to the CB 2...

A seemingly small but meaningful change in Atlantic Yards affordable housing preferences was effected in 2007, as far as I can tell, with no announcement or explanation: residents of Brooklyn Community District 3, in Bedford-Stuyvesant, will get community preference in the affordable housing lottery, along with residents served by Community Boards 2, 6, and 8. (A lawsuit was filed  last week challenging that citywide policy, which reserves half the places in the lottery for residents of the local community district or districts.) The Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement (CBA), signed in 2005, described the “neighboring community” as those in Community Districts 2, 6, and 8. That was reinforced at an affordable housing information session in 2006. Red outline approximates Atlantic Yards location In 2007, state legislation indicated--though no one discussed it publicly at the time--that Community District 3 residents in Bedford-Stuyvesant would also be eligible for...

Thanks to the Observer's Colin Campbell, who posted Walter Mosley Hopes to Replicate Hakeem Jeffries’ Magic yesterday with video, we have the 57th Assembly District candidate (and current male District Leader), friend and presumed heir of the House of Representatives-bound Jeffries, talking about Atlantic Yards. Campbell, like a lot of journalists not quite familiar with Atlantic Yards, got it wrong, writing: And on the most charged and controversial issue in the district, the construction of Atlantic Yards, Mr. Mosley took a middle-of-the-road position of acknowledging his support but demanding more action on the chief complaints of the project’s opponents. Actually, the chief complaints of the project's opponents are that it's a rigged process (see, um, Battle for Brooklyn ) with a government willing to give the developer a pass (see the latest Atlantic Yards Watch report ). They've also turned into watchdogs regarding the project's failure to deliver prom...

Yes, Atlantic Yards popped up yesterday as a small factor in the 8th Congressional District race to succeed Rep. Ed Towns, who has endorsed (despite their differences ) relative underdog and radical Council Member Charles Barron against the better-funded, more widely endorsed, and more mainstream fellow Democrat, Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries. From NY 1 : In the debate that was moderated by NY1 Political Anchor Errol Louis, Barron accused Jeffries of changing his position on several key issues in the community, including the Atlantic Yards development. Barron: “Why should we trust you? You flip-flop on Atlantic Yards. You flip-flop on charter schools so you can get money from the hedge funds. So…why should we trust, if you do all this flip-flopping…why should we trust you when you go to Congress?” Jeffries: “You have no evidence that I’ve flip-flopped on any of those issues. In fact, this is just another example of the reckless type of charges that you have been making for the las...

January 2012 photo by Tracy Collins Brooklyn Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries was anointed yesterday by the New York Times as one of the city's ten "rising" power players, a nod to his record of accomplishment and his role as the clear front-runner in the race to succeed Rep. Ed Towns, who chose to retire rather than face Jeffries and Council Member Charles Barron: Mr. Jeffries, 41, a former lawyer at the Paul Weiss firm, is politically moderate and untouched by scandal, and can talk to the gentrifiers in Clinton Hill and Fort Greene and to the Hasidim in Crown Heights. “He has the potential to swing a much larger bat in the power game than any of the black leaders in Brooklyn,” said Norman Adler, a Democratic political consultant. Indeed, Jeffries has real accomplishments in his record, notably, as the Times put it, sponsoring a bill that "prohibited the police from collecting data on people stopped and frisked but not charged with a crime." I'd add ...