Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

I recently  wrote  that below-ground garage on the project's southeast block added 469 parking spaces, not the announced 455, to the existing 303 spaces, and wondered how well those 772 spaces could work. (The entrance is within the 535 Carlton building, but on Dean Street, with the address of 585 Dean.) After all, as I wrote there  were bottlenecks when the garage only held 303 spaces. It's not just the garage, it's the limited capacity of the street, given double-parking and periodic fire trucks. That said, only certain arena events--big concerts attracting seniors, playoff games--attract a greater number of vehicles. Ongoing questions One question, yet unanswered, is whether there's a limit on capacity for garages, in this case, with one entrance lane and two exit lanes. (I queried the Department of Buildings, but didn't heard back.) Another question is the impact, starting next spring, of the combined sewer installation on Dean Street, which could last 18 mont...

Looking east on Dean Street, from 535 Carlton So, how many parking spaces are there on Dean Street under the three apartment buildings--535 Carlton and the two-tower 595 Dean--stretching east of Carlton Avenue? The total is now apparently 772, as 469 spaces under B12/B13 (595 Dean), which opened earlier this year, have been added to the initial 303 spaces under B14 (535 Carlton Avenue), which opened in 2017. That's according to documents filed with the Department of Buildings. And that's slightly more than the 455 spaces announced earlier--which itself was the product of multiple adjustments. (There's no parking under the fourth tower on the block, the condo building 550 Vanderbilt.) Time will tell I dig into the numbers below, but the bigger question is: what happens if and when several hundred drivers drawn by an arena event all want to enter around the same time or leave at the same time? As shown below, there's only one way in and out, and it's a relatively narr...

I recent read Henry Grabar's excellent book Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World , which helps explain one of the lasting conundrums related to the Barclays Center: the unwillingness and inability of city officials to enforce parking laws. From the summary: Parking, quite literally, has a death grip on America: each year a handful of Americans are tragically killed by their fellow citizens over parking spots. But even when we don’t resort to violence, we routinely do ridiculous things for parking, contorting our professional, social, and financial lives to get a spot. Indeed, in the century since the advent of the car, we have deformed—and in some cases demolished—our homes and our cities in a Sisyphean quest for cheap and convenient car storage. As a result, much of the nation’s most valuable real estate is now devoted exclusively to empty and idle vehicles, even as so many Americans struggle to find affordable housing. Parking determines the design of new buildings and ...

An email from Brooklyn Magazine includes this sponcon (sponsored content), THE INIMITABLE 595 DEAN ST HAS SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE , regarding the two-tower project otherwise known as B12/B13, including: Say hello there to 595 Dean St , a building that offers something for everyone (and we mean *everyone*). This impressive space boasts a brand-new public park, flexible layouts, a deluxe suite of indoor and outdoor amenities, and the latest Chelsea Piers Field House & Fitness Center. Seriously, what’s not to like? Note: it's two buildings, not one. Hmm, nearly two acres of privately operated, publicly accessible open space does not a park make. Nor will residents' lives necessarily be serene if and when the railyard immediately to the north is platformed, supporting three towers and the lion's share of the promised 8 acres of open space, as suggested in the graphic below. More from TF Cornerstone's marketing copy: So, what exactly are the specs for this new living spac...

As part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's proposed  Brooklyn Bus Network Redesign , the route bordering the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park project, the eastbound B65, would be re-routed to Atlantic Avenue to avoid Dean Street west of Washington Avenue. That would thus separate it from a bike route, potential traffic jams caused by double-parking, fire department trucks, and vehicles--especially during a heavy event night--lined up for the 535 Carlton parking garage, which in 2023 will expand from 303 spaces to 758 spaces, all via the same narrow entrance. So too would the westbound B65 be re-routed from Bergen Street west of Washington Avenue. In both cases, as shown in the image below, that would add additional traffic to Washington Avenue between Atlantic Avenue and Bergen Street. The MTA explains that the change would mean "using a wider street as compared to Dean St/Bergen St and providing a direct connection to the Atlantic Av-Barclays Center subway and LIRR st...

It's long been obvious that the New York Police Department has little interest in pursuing complaints about vehicles parking or idling illegally during Barclays Center events--response to 911 complaints, or crimefighting, is the priority--so it's useful that Streetsblog has pursued the general issue of response to 311 complaints. Captain of 78th Precinct Defends Arrest of Famed Bike Lawyer For Fixing Defaced Plate , Streetsblog wrote 11/30/22, covering an exchange at the online 78th Precinct Community Council meeting, which is one of the few--if not only--forums for citizens to get answers from precinct brass. (The case was not pursued by the Brooklyn DA.) Screenshot from Streetsblog. Colors = complaint type (blocked  bike lane, double parking, blocked hydrant, etc). These are  near the Barclays Center but not necessarily related to events. That article pointed back to Jesse Coburn's Streetsblog investigation published 10/21/21,  IGNORED, DISMISSED: How the NYP...

This is the eighth of ten articles on the 6/7/22 meeting of the Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation. The  first  concerned the affordable housing timetable. The  second  assessed an estimated 2031 completion date. The  third  addressed the impact of a potential Greenland default. The  fourth  concerned expectations of 421-a benefits. The  fifth  concerned the deadline for the Urban Room. The  sixth  addressed timing for the school.  The  seventh  concerned plans for the platform.  The  ninth  concerned plans for B12/B12 affordable housing.  The  tenth  concerned the Open Meetings Law. Platform construction will not only curtail sidewalk and crosswalk access around Block 1120--bounded by Atlantic Avenue and Pacific Street, and Sixth and Carlton avenues--but also eliminate parking on that north side of Pacific Street. Scott Solish of Greenland USA, which owns nearly all of...

This is the second of two articles on the 3/8/22 Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Quality of Life meeting . The first concerned platform commencement and after-hours work. Resident Regina Cahill asked about the “the traffic control mechanism with a new valet service by Cielo Garage on Pacific Street.” That question was a unclear, since it's actually not the garage at Pacific Street but rather the one across Atlantic Avenue at the Atlantic Terrace development, with an entrance on South Portland Avenue.  It touts itself as  The Official Parking Garage of Barclays Center. I contacted Cielo, which told me: "We have a business relationship with the Barclays Center that parks various cars for staff as well as handling their premier suite guests parking which is generally included in their premier suite pricing." The valet service, billed as new, started a year ago.  Drop-off 2.5 hours before game The service promises "Vehicle Drop off at 630 Atlantic Ave," which is the ...

I previously noted that the BrooklynSpeaks coalition has posted video and the slideshow from the 1/12/22 Urban Design/Street Design Presentation, part of the four-week Crossroads discussion series , with the opportunity for comment on the presentation board . Developers' 2016 proposal Let's take a closer look at their suggestions--notably a slowed-down Pacific Street and a modestly-scaled streetwall--regarding Site 5, bounded by Pacific Street and Atlantic, Fourth, and Flatbush Avenues.  It's long been home to Modell's and P.C. Richard and approved for a 250-foot, 439,050-square-foot building, but slated for, perhaps, a  project  more than three times the height and 2.5 times the bulk. That could result in a mixed-use tower--once contemplated as mostly office space, now perhaps more housing--that includes retail once likened to the Time Warner Center. That depends on a public process in which developers Greenland Forest City Partners get permission to move most of the...

Thursday night 11/11/21, on the evening of a Disney on Ice show, I walked by the Barclays Center and noticed something surprising. The no-standing lane outside the arena on Atlantic Avenue and the lay-by lane outside the arena on Flatbush Avenue had virtually no vehicles outside NYPD ones, rather than--as on Atlantic--a line of vehicles long used for de facto private parking. So I sent a question for the upcoming Quality of Life meeting Tuesday: Was this policy change instituted by the arena? By NYPD? What's the rationale? After all, it's unlikely that the arena operators voluntarily sacrificed improper-but-allowed use of public space that has been assisting with their operations. And, as shown in the photo on the left, there was one private vehicle in the no-standing lane, helpfully surrounded by orange traffic cones. A careful inspection of the front windshield revealed a yellow vest emblazoned with the words "Pedestrian Safety"--in other words, it was the vehicle...

In her 10/3/21 "Big City" column, the New York Times's Ginia Bellafante offered 8 or 9 Ways to Fix New York’s Traffic Hell Right Now , quoting several experts. Curiously enough, the first expert quoted, "Sam Schwartz, engineer, consultant, former New York City traffic commissioner, creator of the term 'gridlock'," also offered a solution to the illegal parking and idling plaguing the neighbors within a few blocks of the Barclays Center arena: You could also automate control of illegal parking. You could have cars getting summons immediately if they are illegally parked — the technology is there. It could be camera technology; it could be EZ Pass technology. Camera technology for illegal parking is actually being used by some buses when cars are blocking bus lanes.  Schwartz, of course, was the guru behind the arena's Transportation Demand Management plan, which left no place for limos and other vehicles to idle, frustrating neighbors . His triumphant...

This is the third of three posts on the 9/14/21 Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Quality of Life meeting, held on Zoom, sponsored by Empire State Development (ESD). The  first  concerned construction progress at four towers. The second concerned accountability issues. Barclays Center representative Mandy Gutmann noted that the first concert at the arena will be this Sunday, Sept. 19, with Mark Anthony. The first Brooklyn Nets pre-season game is Oct. 8, and opening night is Oct. 24 against the Hornets. Asked about crowd control for these next events, which likely will have larger crowds than previous, she said that “the perimeter of the arena will return to what it typically is during a normal concert or basketball game similar to what we had during playoffs where we will be using part of the plaza as a checkpoint to get our fans in the building as quickly as possible, while still providing a pathway to ensure that pedestrians can cross.” “And then, with regards to the other areas...

This is the third of four posts about the July 13, 2021 Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Quality of Life meeting. The first  noted  no updates on big questions regarding the project and episodes of obfuscation and non-transparency. The second addressed some mysterious, unauthorized "No Parking" signs. The fourth cited pending questions. Well, apparently it wasn't a one-off--and that makes sense. After all, if the Barclays Center has the capacity to publicly broadcast snippets of basketball games on its newfangled (and sometimes intrustive) LED screen above the arena entrance doors, why not use it, and not just in a playoff game . I posed a question before the meeting and got a response from arena operators, presented by Tobi Jaiyesimi of Empire State Development. "Small portions of Nets games were aired on the atrium glass display approximately one minute per quarter, with a mix of live clips and replays," ste stated. " There's plans to continue this for t...