Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

Nudge forward Atlantic Yards: Brooklyn housing plan must be completed , the New York Daily News editorial board wrote yesterday, offering vague support for an implied compromise, including, perhaps, a waiver of the $2,000/month fines for each of the 876 affordable housing units not completed by May 2025. In other words, the editorial--which generally praises the project while describing it misleadingly--is a not-so-incisive look at a process that's so far been a black box. Then again, at least someone's trying to discuss a complicated issue that's mostly been buried. (Here's my recent Atlantic Yards overview , for Urban Omnibus.) Should state pay? In response to the editorial, as noted below, an influential advocate, Gib Veconi, suggested that the state should pay for the platform and, implicitly, waive pending fines.  My take is such a public contribution--the platform, as of 2019, was estimated to cost $240+ million and probably now more than $300 million--must invol...

Daily News editorial page editor (and Park Slope resident) Josh Greenman is a fan of the Barclays Center (see below) but he also walks to the subway station there (see below), and his regular observations of an out-of-order elevator led to today's stinging editorial, headlined Pushing our buttons: An awful subway elevator must finally come back online : As our correspondent noticed on morning after evening after morning after evening after morning after evening, the station is also plagued by a chronically kaput elevator from the street to the trains. This, despite the station’s total overhaul — with brand new entrances and exits and lifts — in 2012. ...Friday, after the umpteenth complaint lodged on Twitter, folks at the MTA kindly engaged to say: Yep, the elevator is one of the system’s worst. It is out of service about half (!) the time. The folks at Barclays built it and are responsible for maintenance, a task at which they are objectively worse at than the Nets are at bask...

Check out two troubling and well-reported articles for the Daily Beast by Brooklyn College professor (and former New York Newsday staffer) Paul Moses:  In New York City, Local Coverage Declines—and Takes Accountability With It  and  The New York Times Turns Its Sights Away From New York City . This confirms what I've seen covering Atlantic Yards since 2005--though I often criticized spotty coverage of the project a decade ago, at least the project merited coverage. Today, as news outlets shrink staff and coverage diminishes, what we do see is too often driven by press releases, thanks to a growing number of public relations staffers and a shrinking number of reporters. That has to do with the changing metrics of the journalism business, as managers chase national audiences and national ads. Queens as a weathervane In Moses's first  installment , he suggests that Queens--which could be the nation’s fourth largest city, at 2.3 million people--is critically unde...

A sunny editorial from the Daily News today, Sunnyside rising on Mayor de Blasio's dream , hails the potential of building on the Sunnyside Yards in Queens. It states, in part: Is the mayor’s vision possible? The answer is a resounding sort of. The technology to cover the rails was barely in doubt — as witnessed by the spectacular towers now rising at Hudson Yards on Manhattan’s far West Side and at Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards. Fake news! Actually, the "spectacular towers" for Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park that are rising are all on terra firma--the sites of former streets and buildings--which is much easier to build on. The technology--the platform or deck--is still under construction. The towers over the working railyard, between Pacific Street and Atlantic Avenue, were scheduled to be among the last to be built. Now they're delayed further . Oh, and it's the Vanderbilt Yard, not "Atlantic Yards," which was the brand name for a development. Which ...

Remember that 5/15/06 Daily News editorial headline, "A Super Design for a Great Project" , regarding Frank Gehry's newly-released renderings? Those were the days, weren't they? (Remember, the project was supposed to be done in 2016! Gehry was supposed to design every building!) That boost for Atlantic Yards (now Pacific Park). It sure was useful for developer Forest City Ratner (now Greenland Forest City Partners).

There's not a lot new to Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park followers in the latest Daily News puff piece, Prospect Heights developers offer virtual tours of Pacific Park Brooklyn  (not to be confused with some tough Sports I-Team coverage ). But the latest advertisement story regarding the developer's use of virtual reality does have a couple of good lines/quotes. First, it calls the open space an "eight-acre park." Not so . No lawsuits? Then it assures people: Neighbors initially fought the $4.9 billion development, a venture by Forest City Ratner Companies and Greenland, USA. Lawsuits have been settled and none remain that would delay construction, said Michael Rapfogel, a spokesmen for Forest City. That's not the whole story. Neighbors are still plenty peeved, if not fighting the project, because regular construction/operation miscues go beyond normal city noise and dust. Moreover, there is a lawsuit that has delayed construction, regarding the Site ...

Today's New York Daily News editorial, Atlantic becomes pacific as buildings rise at Brookyn rail yard , is riddled with errors, half-truths, and omissions, starting with the typo in the headline, which, of course, should be corrected to "Brooklyn." (The link, for those who have the Genius annotation software, has all my critiques embedded.) I critique the text below (Daily News in italics ), paragraph by paragraph, but, actually, the strongest critique comes from the Daily News itself, since the newspaper's own recommendation algorithm suggests some critical, investigatory articles about the project, which suggests that Pacific Park is not at all "pacific" (meaning peaceful). See the graphic at left, and the links to the following articles: A Living Nightmare: Neighbors say life next to Atlantic Yards is like living in 'shark tank' Promises of full-time jobs at Atlantic Yards has turned into part-time reality for Barclays employees Fight N...

Yesterday, I appeared on a New York Daily News Sports podcast with Michael O’Keeffe of the Daily News Sports I-Team, which produced four articles ( scroll down to I-Team ) on the Barclays Center and the larger Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park project, and their impact on the neighborhood. We discussed a lot about the project, including the arena's location, which uses public transit but has a very small margin for error given the tight fit in the neighborhood, the recent quality of life complaints regarding project construction and operations, why some fears of the project didn't come true, the "Culture of Cheating," how sports fandom sometimes leads to narrow thinking, the reason for an arena not designed for hockey, and the impact of the Islanders and "tailgating culture." I several times said "the devil's in the details," since that refers to so much regarding the project, including whether arena workers are truly happy (they get too few h...

In December, I wrote about how a Prospect Heights woman reported regular sexual harassment from construction workers in the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park project, and an even worse episode--a "dry hump"--from drunks leaving a Barclays Center boxing event. Those concerns were conveyed secondhand by the friends of the woman, and I kept her name confidential at their request. Now resident Elicia Howard, frustrated after little progress from overseers of the project and the Barclays Center, goes public in a Daily News article headlined A Living Nightmare: Neighbors say life next to Atlantic Yards is like living in 'shark tank ' That "shark tank" quote comes from Howard's original letter. In the article, other neighbors relate regular problems with construction--perhaps not so much "shark tank" as "loud grinder." Howard has apparently been willing to go public because she feels there's been too little progress since that meeti...

From the New York Daily News today, Barclays Center’s swish West End Club offers luxury to New York Islanders fans : He sits, he scores! As journalistic assignments go, it’s hard to top getting an offer to take in the view of a New York Islanders game from Barclays Center’s swanky new West End Club, with all the perks that come with the most exclusive seats in the venue. ...It’s a luxury item, for sure, with seats going for $300 and up per game as part of season ticket packages. All West End Club season tickets also come with unlimited food and non-alcoholic beverages at concession stands. If they actually paid for that luxury item, I would be very, very surprised. Might put a different spin on the enthusiasm. Also, an important detail is missing. It sure seems the "swanky new West End Club" is a rebranding of the Draft Ops Ice Club , which was claimed to have the "best seats in hockey" when announced last July. Barclays Center press release Could it ...

News you can use: an article headlined  Brooklyn Nets dancers, the Brooklynettes, went to Barbados to shoot 2016 swimsuit calendar  is near the top of the Daily News home page, below. Note that one photo from the calendar shows a plane from JetBlue, which is a Barclays Center sponsor . Synergy! (Oh, and the Daily News is/was a sponsor of the arena plaza.)

Twitter: NYC Mayor It's the visuals that count. The large photo below accompanies a New York Times Sports section piece today,  Islanders Embrace Their Future in Brooklyn While Staying Connected With the Past . See Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, WFAN's Craig Carton, Barclays Center developer Bruce Ratner, and arena/Nets CEO Brett Yormark all posing with new alternate, black-and-white jerseys for the New York Islanders. It's would look perfect in a press release. Hey, where are the Islanders' owners? Do note that New York City Bill de Blasio did model a jersey , too, as pictured above right. Borough President Eric Adams at left. Photo: Alex Goodlett for the New York Times Bettman, once skeptical of the move to Brooklyn, talked up the location. The Times reports: Bettman cited history as he touted Barclays Center, where the Islanders will host the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in the season opener on Oct...

There's been no official announcement (that I could find), but Resorts World Casino NYC (in Queens) has either taken over sponsorship of the Barclays Center plaza or has some sort of co-sponsorship deal. Note the new signage in the photo below, stating Resorts World Casino NYC Plaza. (Previously there was no such naming convention in that location; see photo here .) The signage pictured at right shows the name Daily News Plaza very much intact, but the name Resorts World Casino added at the bottom. The Casino also has wrapped the stairs to the subway entrance in advertising. (Here's a gloomy article from Narratively about the casino and the people who go there on free buses.) Does this mean the Daily News's role is gone, or diminished? (There are still bricks on the plaza with "Daily News: on them.) Stay tuned. The newspaper, after all, is going through some severe cuts, with several veterans laid off, and high-profile/high-paid columnist Mike Lupica...

Lots of news outlets publish items that are variations of press releases, but there does seem to be a pattern in which entities associated with the Barclays Center participate. Yesterday, the Daily News (sponsor of the arena plaza) reported, in  New York Islanders billboards roll out in Brooklyn, their new home : Billboards touting the borough’s newest sports heroes, the New York Islanders hockey team, are going up Monday across the borough, the Daily News has learned. The “Tradition’s New Home” campaign by Barclays Center, which will be the Isles’ home ice starting this upcoming season, will featuring 20 billboards spotlighting a storied history that includes four Stanley Cup championships. Some of the billboards feature the team’s stars, including captain John Tavares and defenseman Johnny Boychuk. Now, how do we think the Daily News "learned" that--through some aggressive application of reporting chops or rather an arena handout? A 8/25/15 "PIX11 report"...

Well, we should have guessed. In advance of tonight's Community Update meeting , which includes an "open space presentation," developer Greenland Forest City Partners placed an "exclusive" with a friendly newspaper, the New York Daily News. This morning the Daily News--remember, the sponsor of the arena plaza--published EXCLUSIVE: Forest City Ratner unveils design of 8-acre park at Brooklyn’s Pacific Park mega-development . Why now? Not because the "8-acre park"--which is not a park"--will arrive soon. The first pieces should come next year, but the full open space won't be finished until 2025. Surely it has something to do with marketing those new condos, as well as reinforcing the misconception that the open space is a park. Open space is privately managed, likely by a nonprofit, and has shorter hours than parks. It can also impose greater restrictions on freedom of expression and other activities. As shown in the graphic above ...

Three--count 'em, three--New York Daily News reporters were required for yesterday's breathless report, Prince William and pregnant Kate Middleton set to see Brooklyn Nets take on LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers: The royal couple will head for the Barclays Center to see the game when they are in New York for three days next month. A selection of the perfectly chosen/delivered quotes: “How befitting for the future King of England to travel to Kings County!” said Borough President Eric Adams, thrilled by the impending arrival of both Cambridge and Cleveland royalty. “So it’s nice that he’s coming to Brooklyn,” said Debra Bock-Woo, 62, who lives near Barclays Center. “I hope they enjoy themselves. It might be their first basketball game.” “That’s so cool,” [Barclays worker Collis Matthews] said Friday. “That’s going to bring a lot of attention here. It’s good for them to come have a little fun. A lot of people are going to want to see ’em. “It’s a good thing,” said Br...

Yesterday the New York Daily News offered this brief editorial,  A wheely big deal , subtitled "$150 million from Chinese nationals to help build the Staten Island Ferris Wheel": You know the enormous Ferris wheel project planned for the North Shore of Staten Island? It just got a huge cash infusion: $150 million, through a federal program that lets affluent foreigners and their families get temporary visas when they invest at least $500,000 in U.S. job creation. In this case, the lucky rich visa-holders-to-be are 300 Chinese nationals. And you thought immigration policy was broken. My comment: "Same goes for Atlantic Yards: $249 million. Through deceptive marketing ." Somehow the Daily News didn't connect the dots. But maybe that's because no other news outlet beyond this blog has reported on the Atlantic Yards deal, and the Staten Island news emerged last week. On the New York Wheel The Staten Island Advance reported 7/24/14,  New York Wheel ...