Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

Following up on the main lesson of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park for student journalists--"Go beyond stenography and be wary of manipulation"--I should try to answer another question: why is this such a difficult topic to cover? Because of depth, and breadth. A long period of time What do I mean? This project was announced in 2003. I followed it, informally, until mid-2005, when I jumped in, first with a critique of New York Times coverage, then a precursor blog. I never intended to keep writing a blog (and freelance articles) this long. Now, I have no particular plan to stop; the project won't be done until perhaps the early 2030s . So I have what's called institutional memory. Because I can remember--or search quickly for information--that positions me ahead of other reporters who can't devote time to in-depth work. And I'm fortunate--and unusual--in being able to focus on one project. (Sure, it is possible, by dint of hard work, to become better in...

Also consider another lesson : Stick with a subject. Do the reading. Show up. Preparing to meet with some journalism students, I began thinking: what is the main lesson of Atlantic Yards for journalists? That lesson, I think, is linked to the five Atlantic Yards mantras I described in October 2017, which relate more generally to the project: “Atlantic Yards is a never-say-never project.”  “The devil’s in the details.”  “It’s a very tight fit.”  "The culture of cheating."  "Power defines reality." The last of those mantras does connect to the journalistic lesson that I try to heed as a watchdog (though I can fall short): "Go beyond stenography and be wary of manipulation." The power behind press releases In other words, those with power to shape the agenda--generally, the developer and the government--are not necessarily giving it to you straight. So if you're just reprinting or summarizing their press releases, you're missing...

Two nights after a report that a new computer system to operate the Barclays Center oculus’s flashing ads and announcements had been installed and there “have been no issues for anyone,” the oculus malfunctioned, operating past midnight on Friday morning and disturbing neighbors trying to sleep on nearby Pacific Street. Despite that new system, the lights flashed until about 1:30 am, leaving neighbors frustrated, just as they were earlier this year, which then led to pledges of progress . Barclays Center VP for Communications Mandy Gutmann responded yesterday to residents: Thanks for alerting us to the issue with the oculus. I was informed that our security leader at Barclays Center made the appropriate call and the oculus was off by 1:30 a.m. Nonetheless, our apologies for the disturbance early this morning. As I had mentioned in this week’s Quality of Life Meeting, our new system is in place and running, which is a huge step forward. Unfortunately, one small detail was miss...

NetsDaily reported : In a series of post-midnight tweets Friday, Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Sean Marks has ended the Nets backcourt logjam, added two bigs, a first rounder in next year’s draft and two second rounders in 2020 ... all of it without cutting into their 2019 cap space. Bottom line: The Nets traded Jeremy Lin and Isaiah Whitehead in two interrelated moves, dealing and swapping second rounders with Atlanta and engineering a salary dump that have them taking on Kenneth Faried and Darrell Arthur in exchange for the two picks. It may be a smart move in building a roster, but, again, it's another sign that basketball is a business. Lin was a fan favorite and an international media magnet, and even ownership by Joe Tsai (minority owner now, slated to be majority), who calls Lin his favorite player, didn't stop the trade. Whitehead was born and raised in Coney Island, and could play in his home borough and link to that Coney basketball tradition. None of that...

Yesterday, accompanying a print article about a proposed soccer stadium headlined online as  Hunt for New York City F.C.’s Stadium Site Is Back Where It Began: the Bronx , the New York Times published an online-only sidebar headlined So Many Seats, So Many Tax Breaks . That article has the subheading "New York City is considered one of the country’s most crowded market for sports stadiums and arenas — many of which have been built with sizable public assistance in the form of free land, tax breaks and cash." But the analysis is incomplete. Let's take a look at three of them, with the Times squibs republished in full. The Islanders' new arena From the Times: Belmont Park Arena Location: Elmont, N.Y. Year It Will Open: Projected 2021 Seats: 18,000 The arena, planned as the new home for the New York Islanders, is part of a proposed $1 billion complex, to be built by Sterling Equities and Oak View group and their partners. It would be located eight miles fr...

Well, the main news from the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Quality of Life Meeting 7/10/18 concerned the murky timetable and some coming demolitions, but I wanted to add a few more details. Retail updates Ashley Cotton, a former Forest City New York executive now representing the company while working for L&L MAG, said that one of the coming tenants at 550 Vanderbilt, the bar Beer Street, will soon be coming to Community Board 8 for its advisory opinion on a liquor license. She said news is “hopefully coming soon” regarding retail tenants at 535 Carlton, but would not provide details. As reported , the retailer/cafe/eatery Mekelburg’s was exploring a liquor license, with neighbors concerned about a possible 4 am closing. Open space Regarding plans to create open space at Times Plaza, just across from the arena, she said that the Department of Transportation is “still reviewing that design.” That project, at one point, was projected to go forward in the second quarter of ...

Also see follow-up article on other meeting topics. A few signs of progress, notably completed infrastructure and a coming demolition, were announced at last night’s bi-monthly Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Quality of Life meeting. But they were dwarfed by the persistent question marks about the project’s timing. What are the plans of Greenland USA, the 95% owner of the Greenland Forest City Partners joint venture going forward, company official Scott Solish was asked. Solish deflected the question, saying the company’s focus as of now is on B4, the huge tower planned for the northeast corner of the arena block and targeted to start in the spring of 2019. It is expected to rise 511 feet and contain some 825,000 square feet, enough for at least 750 apartments. According to tentative plans circulated in 2014, that tower would contain 551 rental units, half of them affordable, plus 213 condos, but that configuration likely will change. “As we push forward on that, we’ll have...

Given discussion of EB-5 investors in various projects who want to get their money back, well, what about the first round of Atlantic Yards EB-5 investors, the 456 people, mostly from China (plus a small number from South Korea), who invested $500,000 each around 2010/2011? The deadline seems to be approaching, if it hasn't already been surpassed. As I wrote in December 2011 , the maturity date was the fifth anniversary of the final advance of loan funds, with a potential two-year extension, as indicated in the screenshot below. When was the final advance of loan funds? Unclear.  The loan agreement was dated 10/5/10 and amended 5/27/11, as indicated in the screenshot below. It's unclear if that amendment--or any later, undisclosed, amendment--changed the timetable. If the final advance of loan funds was in 2010, well, that's more than seven years. But maybe it was slightly later. The Atlantic Yards funding was officially  announced  7/15/11, by t...

The Real Deal has an interesting package of articles in its  July 2018 issue  about EB-5, especially the notion that many investors are fed up and want their money back. Is EB-5 coming apart at the seams? , one article asks, pointing to allegations of fraud, enormous wait lists among visa-seekers from China, and a series of short-term extension to the key element of the investments-for-green-cards program, which involves Regional Centers, which can pool investments. The article points to some tensions aired at June Senate hearing: “We’re talking about a program that allows rich people to buy legal status in the United States with their wealth at the same time as poor people are risking their lives and the health of their children to even apply for legal status in the United States,” said Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin. And Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa — one of the program’s most vocal opponents in Washington — maintained that the EB-5 economy of brokers, deale...

The latest Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Construction Update (bottom), covering the two weeks beginning Monday, July 9, was circulated at 3:12 pm Friday (lead time) by Empire State Development (ESD) after preparation by Greenland Forest City Partners. No new vertical construction is planned for now, and there's not much change from the previous update . However, the ongoing infrastructure work is supposed to position the project for later tower construction. Barclays Center sidewalk work was described as nearly complete before the previous two-week notice, but punch list work is still planned during the day and night time on Flatbush, Atlantic and Sixth Avenues. Railyard work Railyard sub-grading and final surface preparation in the western block--between Sixth and Carlton avenues--will be on-going during this reporting period. At the eastern block, between Carlton and Vanderbilt avenues, installations of MPT [Maintenance and Protection of Traffic] for the East Portal Demol...

The Barclays Center on July 3 released its calendar of July 2018 events, with seven ticketed events. Among ticketed events, there are three concerts (including the K-Pop group Got 7, Shania Twain, and Chris Brown), two events with televangelist Joel Osteen, and two days of the e-sports competition Overwatch. There are also six non-ticketed events, including auditions for the Nets' Team Hype, and five private events, two of them in the evening, and the other three during business hours. July 2017 In July 2017, there were 14 ticketed events , including seven Cirque du Soleil performances over five days, six concerts (including two two-day stints, by Kendrick Lamar and Iron Maiden), and one boxing card. (At that point, the arena had temporarily stopped alerting neighbors to non-ticketed events.)

Here's something that should be addressed at the next Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park  Quality of Life meeting , on July 10: why do they still park on the sidewalks? The Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park project is a tight fit, but there are supposed to be 24 spaces in the 535 Carlton garage for police assigned to the nearby 78th Precinct. At the most recent  public meeting where this was discussed, last month, it was clear that the police were not yet using those spaces. Instead, they park not only around the neighborhood but also on the Sixth Avenue (right) and Pacific Street sidewalks near the site for B15, aka 664 Pacific Street, a planned 27-story tower with a school. In my walks around, most but not all of the cars have New York Police Department placards on the dashboard. (I've occasionally seen Fire Department placards on Dean Street, too.) Placards allow drivers to park in no-parking zones. If they allow parking on a sidewalk, that's news to me. Even if that's...

Here's something that should be addressed at the next Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Quality of Life meeting , on July 10: what's going on at the B15 site, just east of Sixth Avenue, between Dean and Pacific streets? That's supposed to be the site for a 27-story tower, with a school at its base, announced in December 2015. But construction has been delayed, as stated at various public meetings, because of site access issues with one neighbor (a legal case since resolved) and another. A 2021 opening is a best-case scenario. But is that the full story? Based on photos, below, taken through a window into the site, it sure looks like it's also being used for staging materials for the project. And the photo at bottom, taken from a distance, shows a truck exiting the site. Moreover, the decision to build the tower is a business decision, and the change in the 421-a law, which no longer makes 100% market-rate buildings viable, means the financing plan and building program ...

Y'know, I've been critical of the New York Times's generally gentle coverage of Bruce Ratner, but a  a "Big Ticket" column in the most recent Real Estate section does him wrong. The roundup article, headlined Jessica Lange Among Owners Expanding Into Grander Homes , states that Ratner bought a two-bedroom, one-bath apartment for $1.725 million in the East Village, at 170 Second Avenue. It even includes a photo of Ratner and another of his building. That's no big ticket, that suggests Ratner's  downsizing from the grand Upper East Side townhouse he and his wife lived in before their divorce. Sure, he's a boldface name, but, consider, among  active listings on StreetEasy for two-bedrooms units at 550 Vanderbilt, the Pacific Park Brooklyn condominium building developed by Greenland Forest City Partners, ten have list prices more expensive than Ratner's purchase, while seven have list prices less expensive. These days, a two-bedroom apa...

I've been asked how I  calculated  the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) recommended by Borough President Eric Adams for the proposed 80 Flatbush project. Remember: while he called for a 39% reduction in height for the taller tower in the two-tower project--from 986 feet, nearly twice as high as the Williamsburgh Savings Bank (with the clock tower), to some 600 feet--he called for a 12% reduction in bulk. Not that he spelled it out. Here's my math, which Adams's office confirmed, looking at the recommendations on p. 26-27 of his  letter  (right) to the City Planning Commission: The requested C6-9 zoning (18 FAR) be amended to C6-4 (10 FAR). Total: 10.0 FAR For the school, exempt up to 50,000 square feet from definition of zoning floor area. The site (p. 4) is 61,400 square feet, so 50,000 square feet represents 81.4%, or .81 FAR. Total: 10.81 FAR Modify zoning resolution to enable maximum community facility FAR, adding 1.0 FAR. Total: 11.81 FAR. To advance a subway s...