Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

Confronted with some untoward neighborhood impacts, the message from Barclays Center operators was again "we're trying," though there are no apparent internal or external sanctions. From Atlantic Yards Watch Take the example of circus trailers blocking nearby streets, including a bus stop on Atlantic Avenue near the arena, last Thursday, on the day the circus came to the Barclays Center for an 11-day stint. Speaking at a meeting last night of the Atlantic Yards Quality of Life Committee, which meets about every two months to discuss project-related issues, arena Community Relations Manager Terence Kelly said " bad weather compounded an already large-scale operation" that involved a 40-hour load-in. "We certainly did our best to remedy the situation," he said. "We take it seriously, and we really do want to operate in good faith and keep those clear and not keep them an ongoing and persistent problem." Jim Vogel, a Pacific ...

Just in time for tonight's New Year's Eve Billy Joel Concert, and some 15 months after the Barclays Center opened, the arena (as noted on Atlantic Yards Watch ) has finally installed "No Idling Vehicles" signs on the pad--an accessory parking area just east of the loading dock. Large vehicles, including buses and trucks, have regularly been idling on the pad, which was not disclosed in planning for the arena. They've apparently used internal power for heat and light, but now the arena has instructed them that they can access power from the building open request. The pad has been subject to numerous complaints, documented at public meetings and on Atlantic Yards Watch--though curiously absent in a New York Times article  last February about arena impacts. After complaints were raised at the 5/7/13 Atlantic Yards Quality of Life Committee meeting , state official Arana Hankin (since departed ) said that the pad could be used for parking, but “Idling is not...

Less than a week ago, as I reported , trucks were idling on the Barclays Center "pad" adjacent to the loading dock, despite official statements, by a state official, that idling is neither allowed nor tolerated. That problem continues. A  report  posted yesterday on Atlantic Yards Watch details buses idling or generators running not just on the pad, but across the street in the satellite uplink parking lot, and even in the neighborhood. The report links to several videos. Initial photos, such as the first photo below, do not indicate any visible connecting cables to the arena, meaning that idling vehicles were running under their own power. Later photos suggested some cabling from the arena to support any internal electronics.

Trucks and buses aren't supposed to idle on the Barclays Center "pad"--the strip of parking on Dean Street next to the loading dock and screened off from the bicycle parking area (which itself is the site for a future tower)--but they still do. After complaints were raised at 5/7/13 Atlantic Yards Quality of Life Committee meeting, as I  reported , state official Arana Hankin (since departed ) said that the pad could be used for parking, but “Idling is not allowed, not tolerated." Moreover, any vehicle running generators was "an issue." As noted on Atlantic Yards Watch , beginning more than a day before the Furthur concert at the arena last night, buses were idling and generators running for continuously for more than 28 hours.