Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

Lolita Jackson, director of special projects at the mayor's office and described (probably over-described) as an ombudsman to oversee quality-of-life issues regarding the project--attended the January 26 meeting --her first--of the Atlantic Yards District Service Cabinet, which includes agency and governmental officials. She was introduced by Sam Pierre , Brooklyn director at the Mayor's Community Assistance Unit. (Pierre was formerly an aide to Rep. Ed Towns, as well an officer in the powerful Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club, both of which have favorable postures toward Atlantic Yards, as does the mayor.) “Lolita’s role will be to assist some of the work we're already doing here, working with city agencies, so that we can improve quality of life issues around the project," Pierre said. "We’ll be working with Carlo [Scissura, special advisor at the Brooklyn Borough President's Office], and Arana [Hankin, Director, Atlantic Yards Project, Empire State Dev...

Given what Atlantic Yards Watch describes as repeated violations of the Amended Memorandum of Environmental Commitments, Barclays Center Truck Rules and Requirements and city law, it couldn't be too soon before Empire State Development (aka Empire State Development Corporation) hires a new ombudsman (aka community/government affairs rep). At the 7/14/11 Atlantic Yards District Service Cabinet meeting , more than four weeks ago, state Atlantic Yards Project Director Arana Hankin said, "ESD is going to be hiring a new community and government affairs rep shortly. And we will be... ramping up the community engagement and... a communications strategy." (The original ombudsman left in June .) Three days ago, on August 9, I asked the ESD for an update on that hiring, but haven't heard back. More violations Yesterday, Atlantic Yards Watch posted, in As trucks continue to violate Atlantic Yards environmental commitments and NYC law, signs emerge that methods for coo...

The need for an Atlantic Yards ombudsman--er, community relations manager --remains, as Prospect Heights residents continue to notice apparently improper construction activities. Shouldn't someone official be proactively responding, telling us, You're wrong, this isn't a problem , or Thanks for pointing this out, we're taking action so it doesn't happen again ? From Atlantic Yards Watch AY Watch yesterday posted Canadian truck carrying prefabricated Barclays Center seating blocks local street's bike lane while idling : A Canadian truck carrying prefabricated Barclays Center seating blocked the Dean Street bicycle lane at Vanderbilt Avenue for over an hour last night. The truck was headed to block 1129 where the seating is stored before being installed in the arena. According to the local resident who supplied the video above, he first encountered the truck in the location shown in the video around 6:00 pm. The video was filmed over an hour later when he...

Sharp-eyed readers of the Empire State Development Corporation's Atlantic Yards page (click on graphics to enlarge) might notice that this: has been replaced by this: The difference? Ombudsman Forrest Taylor, who took the job in November 2007 calling Atlantic Yards a "sexy project", but soon came to experience the uncomfortable role of not-so-empowered go-between, is no longer listed. So he won't be at the ESDC/Forest City Ratner meeting tonight about traffic changes . In response to my query, ESDC spokeswoman Elizabeth Mitchell said, "Forrest Taylor has left ESD for another position and we are currently interviewing prospective candidates for the Atlantic Yards Ombudsman position." (Peter Krashes writes on Atlantic Yards Watch that Taylor's going to the state housing agency.) More facilitator than public advocate Despite the term "ombudsman," and the position's announcement in the wake of the fall of a Ward Bakery parapet, Taylor was m...

Three local elected officials appeared last night at a meeting of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council (PHNDC), and the Atlantic Yards news came not from City Council Member Letitia James (speaking at left), who barely mentioned the project, noting that her position was well-known. Rather, Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries and state Senator Eric Adams, two elected officials somewhat critical of AY but--unlike James--have not stood with project opponents in protests and lawsuits, offered some clarification of their positions. Notably, Jeffries said he and other local elected officials seek a meeting with the state's leaders to discuss Atlantic Yards; that he didn't have editorial control of a seemingly pro-AY letter he signed; that the federal Department of Homeland Security, not just the New York Police Department, should advise on security issues; and that the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) had not empowered its own AY ombudsman to do the job. Adams ad...

Yes, it really is kosher for the Department of Transportation (DOT) to approve temporary use of a sidewalk for vehicles, as it did for [ updated ] 12 weeks--beginning this week--on Pacific Street going east of Sixth Avenue in Prospect Heights, while utility work goes on nearby. However, after inspecting the initial configuration of the site--perhaps in response to concerns raised online once Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn on Tuesday posted a photo  of a potentially dangerous situation--the DOT took additional action to increase safety. Indeed, as I commented Wednesday on Streetsblog, I walked by there that morning around 9 and a pedestrian--walking west, approaching Sixth Avenue--was smack in the middle of the sidewalk-turned-road, at approximately the location of the black car in the second photo. There was a uniformed traffic cop in the intersection helping steer traffic, but I didn't see (or hear) him motioning for the pedestrian to get out of the way. The pedestrian di...

(This is the first in an irregular series of articles about issues that a State Senate committee might address when it holds a hearing on Atlantic Yards.) What did they know and when did they know it? Not much, and not too soon. (Photo by Jonathan Barkey ) On February 16, four days after Atlantic Yards Ombudsman Forrest Taylor discussed the issue of the possibly-longer-than-announced closing of the Carlton Avenue bridge, I filed a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request with the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC). I noted that I had recently learned , via a FOIL request, that the Department of Transportation's 12/17/07 contract with Forest City Ratner to rebuild the bridge gives the developer three years to complete the project without penalty. (In contrast, the ESDC had publicly stated the project would take two years.) I wrote that I would like to know: when ESDC was informed of the agreement via what method ESDC was informed whether the ESDC commented to DOT about t...

Last Wednesday, the Empire State Development Corporation's (ESDC) Atlantic Yards Ombudsman, Forrest Taylor was asked the definition of “shovel-ready,” the term used in discussion of projects eligible for federal stimulus funding. “I think that ‘shovel-ready' will be a federal term,” Taylor said. Perhaps, but there's no formal federal definition of shovel-ready, according to NPR. But the Federal Highway Administration's (FHA) "ready to go" designation seems a rough equivalent, NPR suggested last week, encompassing projects that have gotten through design work and environmental approval. And a New York definition, as I describe below, seems similar. AY bailout? The Atlantic Yards railyard might seem to qualify, though not the project as a whole, given that Forest City Ratner does not control the property. But the railyard would require a huge bailout asterisk, connected to FCR's lobbying . As I've written , the difference between using federal funds fo...

You'd think that the Empire State Development Corporation's (ESDC) community point person, Atlantic Yards Ombudsman Forrest Taylor, would be up to speed on developer Forest City Ratner's community point person, the occupant of the Atlantic Yards Community Liaison Office (CLO), right? So, how much did Taylor misspeak Wednesday night? That's when he identified Sonya Covington as the FCR's Community Liaison Officer; then, after speaking with the developer the next day, he contacted me to clarify that person in the job was Bill Murphy. According to one community member, however, Taylor's initial statement was not far off, especially since Murphy, depending on semantics, might not be the Community Liaison Officer. And that, I suspect, may have something to do with the cash-strapped developer seeing its staff stretched thin and the CLO reconceived.. A tangled tale Peter Krashes, who lives on Dean Street opposite the eastern end of the project footprint, told me of ...

OK, I'm trying to figure out the headline in today's Daily News story, Community advocate still missing in Atlantic Yards project . Yes, complaints are aired about Empire State Development Corporation ombudsman Forrest Taylor, but those have been aired for months, since he was appointed in late November. The Daily News reports: But since November, when Taylor started the job, office renovations and ongoing meetings with city and state officials have delayed his advocacy duties. "He's been the ombudsman since we hired him and he's been working with the community, but this will be the first time he'll be keeping office hours," said Empire State Development Corp. spokesman Warner Johnston. Well, he was supposed to be an advocate all along. The news is that his office on Hanson Place apparently will open soon. Right now, he's on vacation.