Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

Last April, Laura Barrett, the National Campaign Director for the grassroots network Gamaliel and Transportation Equity Network , wrote 6 Reasons to Be Wary of Public-Private Partnerships for Rooflines, the blog of the National Housing Institute , which also publishes Shelterforce. The latter was the site for some fierce debate about the Atlantic Yards project, with Shelterforce's writer, John Atlas, defending the deal struck by ACORN, and later writing a book about ACORN with an Atlantic Yards chapter. So it's interesting to note that public-private partnerships, praised by President Obama, have, according to Barrett, a mixed record, as "political cronyism and financial desperation have contributed to these six troubling trends." Let's see how much the trends she identified apply to Atlantic Yards: Little or no democratic oversight : Yes, Atlantic Yards is run by a state agency accountable only to the governor, and that agency currently has one employ...

In the latest issue of n+1 , attorney Andrew Jacobs offers an intriguing take on Atlantic Yards, titled " Berman ’s Children" ( subscribers only), explaining how the legal doctrine that enabled  the state power of eminent domain--and the not-so-transparent agency overseeing the project--also brought us the Prospect Heights Historic District, and, of course, the earlier historic districts in the radius of the development site, thus creating enduring tensions from an expansion of state power. "Efforts to designate the Prospect Heights Historic District began in 2006 and came to fruition in the summer of 2009," Jacobs writes. "The Yards, in some sense, created the District." Jacobs finds a thread of connection in Suleiman Osman's The Invention of Brownstone Brooklyn , who explains how postwar, post-industrial New York faced both "urban modernism and antimodern, romantic urbanism." The former, including eminent domain, relied on expe...

On the heels of state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's cautions on public-private partnerships comes The Limitations of Public-Private Partnerships: Recent Lessons from the Surface Transportation and Real Estate Sectors , by Marc Scribner of the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute . Notably, Scribner suggests that the two categories are very different beasts, and that real estate projects should be avoided. Atlantic Yards is one of five examples in that sector. His summary: One has long been dominated by government monopolies and the other has been largely free of political forces. In the case of surface transportation infrastructure, innovative new private-sector financing, management, and ownership regimes have much to offer in terms of minimizing taxpayer exposure to risk, capturing user revenues, and creating an efficient transport network. In contrast, government’s recently expanded role in real estate development has increased taxpayer exposure to risk, socialized cos...

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has released a new report, Controlling Risk Without Gimmicks: New York’s Infrastructure Crisis and Public-Private Partnerships , an effort to evaluate both the opportunities and risks with turning infrastructure over to partnership with the private sector. The report notes that the state faces an estimated $250 billion in infrastructure needs over the next 20 years, notably transportation ($175 billion), municipal wastewater ($36 billion) and clean water ($39 billion). (Here's coverage from City Hall News.) The Atlantic Yards example is not mentioned, but is at least partly on point: the main issue was the marketing of public land without a fair process, and secondary issues involved the packaging and valuation of public infrastructure such as a new railyard and transit entrance. Essential principles So DiNapoli's conclusions are worth noting: There are four essential principles that New York must adopt in order to mitigate the financial ris...

It was a convivial, heartfelt event on Monday night, October 18, when the Rockefeller Foundation awarded the fourth annual Jane Jacobs Medals for new activism and career activism. Both categories of awards were richly deserved. Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, founder of the Central Park Conservancy, helped revive the city's jewel, once shockingly deteriorated and neglected. Josh David and Robert Hammond, founder of Friends of the High Line, saw civic possibilities in a long-neglected piece of infrastructure slated for demolition. And the presenters of each award, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe and City Planning Commission Chairperson Amanda Burden, respectively, could proudly, affectinately claim mayoral endorsement for both projects. And the disconnect But we shouldn't be misled into thinking that the administration of Mayor Mike Bloomberg and followers of famed urbanist Jane Jacobs are always on the same page. Consider that, in a video shown to attendees, New Yorker architecture ...

A pointed analysis of one-sided development deals from Thursday's New York Times might have led some people to think about Atlantic Yards: “Public-private partnerships are now one-sided arrangements in which the public actors no longer plan public spaces in the public interest,” said Elliott Sclar, a professor of urban planning at Columbia University. “Instead they facilitate private-sector developments of these spaces in exchange for slight public amenities. In this case, the public gets the chance to catch a train in the basement of a vertical shopping mall.” The critics say that given the level of public investment, tax breaks and zoning bonuses involved in the project, the city and state should be giving greater priority to the public spaces. Oh, that was about the Moynihan Station plan, from an article headlined Big Moynihan Station Plan Is Sputtering . And what about AY? Are the Atlantic Yards benefits "slight public amenities"? The courts haven't had to decide....