Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

The NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) last night made a presentation to Brooklyn Community Board 8's Environment, Sanitation and Transportation Committee on what's called Pacific Park Project Phase I, involving a combined sewer installation and water main replacement, expected to start this fall and last three years. (I first wrote about it last month.) Some key details were scarce, but it seemed clear that work along Dean Street between Carlton and Vanderbilt avenues, and then up Dean one block and Vanderbilt up two blocks, would intersect with, and impact, construction in the neighborhood. Though one reason for the project is to support newly constructed buildings, it won't be completed until well after the B12 and B13 towers (615 Dean/595 Dean) open in mid-2023, raising questions about why it didn't start sooner. ( Update : those buildings will rely on existing infrastructure installed by the developers; this new work will add support.) A DDC rep said ...

The most important news, in my view , from last night's appearance of a Greenland USA executive at a meeting of the North Prospect Heights Association regarded the timetable for construction of the first phase of the platform, the first tower (B5), and the question marks over the remaining project. But Scott Solish was there to talk to the project's immediate neighbors about the significant changes to traffic and pedestrian flow from the establishment of construction fences around the perimeter of the first block of the MTA's Vanderbilt Yard, between Atlantic Avenue and Pacific Street, and Sixth and Carlton avenues. This could last three years. Both topics likely will be amplified at tonight's public, online  Quality of Life meeting , hosted at 6 pm by Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project. Another close-up view of Block 1120 was also shown; see below Solish, the head of development for Greenland USA, noted he was approa...

Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park is moving ahead, belatedly, with plans to build a platform over the first of two railyard blocks, which will support three towers--but there are still significant clouds over the potential progress. Last night, a representative of developer Greenland USA appeared at an online meeting of the North Prospect Heights Association (NPHA), mainly to talk about the coming changes to neighborhood traffic and pedestrian flow (separate article coming) from construction at the first block of the MTA's Vanderbilt Yard, between Atlantic Avenue and Pacific Street and Sixth and Carlton avenues. That means construction of a platform and the start of the first of three towers, B5, at the western end of that block. It was a rare public appearance by a Greenland representative at a neighborhood meeting, separate from the bi-monthly public meetings hosted by Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project. At far left, B4, already buil...

I wrote yesterday about the unfulfilled plans for 225 senior units at Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park. So let's look at the city's  proposal  for at least 80 units of affordable senior housing nearby on an underutilized city-owned site in Prospect Heights, 542 Dean Street, and unspecified plans for "another population in need" at a similar city-owned site, 516 Bergen Street.  Both are between Sixth and Carlton avenues quite close to Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park. As I noted, such affordable housing is welcomed by neighbors, but not necessarily at that scale. The North Prospect Heights Association (NPHA) has called for development at existing zoning--rather than doubling the allowable square footage and enabling nine-story buildings instead of five-story ones--and warned that this sets a precedent for upzoning other parcels nearby. The proposal at Dean Street, rather than offer required open space, "uses the site to bring additional density to an already overtaxed neig...

Well, Empire State Development  (ESD) has posted the official Meeting Notes (also at bottom) for the 7/21/20 Quality of Life meeting (my coverage ), and they're worth checking before the next meeting , to be held 9/15/20, especially since I've added more detail on some issues. There's clearly some obfuscation and evasion. Timeline for platform and B5 From the notes: There is no timeline available for the construction of the platform and B5. Details will be provided to the community when available. Well, surely they knew more. As I reported last month: Construction of the long-awaited platform over the first block of the Vanderbilt Yard, necessary for the construction of three towers, "will commence" in the second half of the year, according to a memo dated May 6 from the main project developer, Greenland USA, to state officials. That obviously was known by ESD at the previous Quality of Life meeting, as well as the one in June, They just didn't tell...

Acc2 N. Prospect Heights Assoc, @NYCLU letter2 @NYPDnews demanded barricades/request for IDs be withdrawn, saying police perimeter is unreasonable/unlawful. NYPD has agreed to “pull back significantly.” Contours unclear for now. But no more ID checks/questioning at barricades. pic.twitter.com/Yad98O6Itc — Norman Oder (@AYReport) June 12, 2020 A note yesterday from the North Prospect Heights Association: Barricades to be Pulled Back We would like to update the community on the status of the barricades that encircle the 78th Precinct, encompassing a large part of north Prospect Heights. Yesterday the New York Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to the NYPD stating the barricades and request for IDs are unconstitutional and unreasonable, and demanded they be withdrawn. The letter states " the Fourth Amendment protects individuals against unreasonable searches and seizures. Stops of the sort here, which are not based on individualized suspicion of wrongdoing and are unt...

This is the third of eight posts regarding the 1/28/20 Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Quality of Life meeting . The first regarded delays in B12/B13, the platform, and Site 5. The second concerned progress at B4, B15, and the railyard. The fourth concerned impacts from Barclays Center operations. The fifth concerned the Community Liaison Office, and impacts from workers. The sixth concerned the next Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation meeting. The seventh concerned questions for the Department of Transportation. The eighth concerned DEP digging. Block 1129 garages, Reduced Parking Alternative; Saturday 1-2 pm pre-game; 910 total spaces The issue of parking on Block 1129, the southeast block of the 22-acre site , first raised at the previous Quality of Life meeting last November, remains confounding. The bottom line: though the state studied the impact of far more cars using a three-entrance parking garage on the block, it never studied the impact of a larger n...