Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

The Barclays Center last Thursday, 3/11/21, hosted its first Brooklyn Nets game at 10% of capacity, or about 1,770 attendees, which required use of the plaza rather than, as with earlier games hosting just 300 ticketholders, a tent at the Dean Street entrance. As shown in the photo at right, the plaza offered multple entrances, including those for testing, for those using the mobile app CLEAR to validate coronavirus test results, and to those without the CLEAR app. (Also note: that new digital signage over the entrance programmed for the game.) Using the plaza and perimeter The arena operators were (and are) making significant use of available real estate at the plaza and in the building perimeter.  As shown above, they uses metal fencing--as in the past--to segment crowds on this privately managed public space. As shown at left, one entrance was used for COVID-19 testing. As shown at right, part of the arena space, formerly the team store, is being used for testing.  What h...

Well, I'm not sure exactly when it was replaced, but sometime between 1/7/21, my previous visit to the Barclays Center, and 3/11/21, my most recent visit, the quote attributed to activist Angela Davis (but not confirmed )--“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I can no longer accept”--is gone. Now, as shown below, there's an ad for generic medications. The space for the banner is controlled by the operator of the Barclays Center, a spokesperson for which told me last July, “A partner of ours wanted to show support [for protests] but wishes to remain anonymous." Now, as with the Martin Luther King, Jr. quote that emerged last June after protests and persisted at the arena oculus until November , it's back to commerce. (The oculus can be briefly reprogrammed.)

It was quite a day yesterday for Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to quote Politico's Anna Gronewald; As I was struck, but not entirely surprised, by how energetic he sounded after weeks of devastating news coverage, especially damning new reports in The New York Times and New York Magazine about a culture of fear, harassment and intimidation in his office. He faces an inquiry from from state Attorney General Letitia James and an investigation by the Assembly, a precursor to impeachment, and a large number of state politicos, most recently Senators Chuck Schumer and Kristin Gillibrand, have called for him to step down. I guess the thing that still gets me is why we needed to wait until 2021 for the deep dive anti-Andrew Cuomo pieces. Where was prestige media in 2020? 2019? 2018? None of this was secret. None of it is new. His pathological bullying and failure have been with us since 2011. — Ross Barkan (@RossBarkan) March 13, 2021 In New York Rebecca Traister's New York article, Abuse a...

I wanted to show some of the images produced for the proposed 840 Atlantic Avenue project at the southeast corner of Atlantic and Vanderbilt avenues, as I wrote about for Bklyner , because they perspectives show Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park buildings with varying levels of prominence. All the images were produced by the applicant, from a PowerPoint presentation to Community Board 8, another presentation to the City Planning Commission, and an Environmental Assessment Statement to the Department of City Planning. The image below argues that the under-construction 809 Atlantic Avenue, across the street, and the not-yet-built (and who knows when?) B10 tower within Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park would be far taller. (That said, 809 Atlantic would be less bulky.) The above image shows a full buildout of Pacific Park, though that of course is not guaranteed. The below image gives a good sense of the space available to build over the MTA's Vanderbilt Yard, though it also puts the 809 Atlantic...

I have an article yesterday in Bklyner headlined Proposed Tower at McDonald’s Site Faces Pushback, Questions Over Ownership , with the subheading "Community Board 8 hears argument for density, details on the cultural tenant, but fears domino effect for building sites down Atlantic Avenue." From the lead: With the clock finally starting on the city’s land-use review process for 840 Atlantic Ave, Community Board 8 again reacted critically to a developer’s application to build an 18-story, 195-foot mostly residential building at the southeast corner of Vanderbilt and Atlantic avenues in Prospect Heights. The site is currently mainly occupied by a drive-through McDonald’s. But the March 4 session was more than a reprise of the initial meeting last December, when board members—who’ve endorsed a significant but smaller rezoning for larger buildings—called the proposed tower, with 316 apartments, too big and argued it was not offering enough affordability in the 95 below-market ap...

The superstar-laden Brooklyn Nets, even without their big three (Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden) playing together much, have been dominating the NBA of late, which is why most (but not all) pundits are now ranking them as title favorites, as summarized by NetsDaily. Now the Nets are adding some missing pieces, like power forward Blake Griffin, as players with a choice are opting to seek a ring, rather than maximize salary. So, by July--given the late start on the truncated season--we could see the Nets win a championship. It would be a notable, if odd, achievement, since home games, at least for now, are being played at 10% capacity in the Barclays Center, a percentage that might grow but likely not represent even a half-full house. But the NBA is about televised entertainment, above all, and the teams--to use subsidy skeptic Bettina Damiani's piquant phrase--are "sports entertainment corporations." So, if the Nets win, will there be parades and celebration...

Crunch time is coming, in 15 months. The date 6/15/22--as I wrote  in June 2019--is key to understanding whether and how the developers of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park will meet the 5/31/25 deadline for the required 2,250 affordable housing units, with potentially onerous $2,000/month fines per missing unit. There are four towers under construction now, but that means a gap of 876 units, which depend likely on two towers starting over the Vanderbilt Yard--and that depends on a platform that has not yet started. The 6/15/22 may be the deadline to start the necessary buildings, given that that's the deadline to start buildings under the current Affordable New York tax break , and it's not clear whether and how that will be renewed, provoking uncertainty among developers . So while it's surely possible to start constructing a building in the second half of 2022 and finish by mid-2025, the tax advantages remain uncertain. Of course it's possible that the project developers w...

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been deeply wounded by allegations of sexual harassment and bullying, some of which are tougher to defend/explain away than others, as well as the charge of underreporting coronavirus deaths in nursing homes, thus goosing his own performance, and allowing him to write a triumphant book about leadership. Dems calling on Cuomo to resign is the story on 3 NY tab front pages this morning pic.twitter.com/6NusMEblr9 — Azi 👏 Wear your 😷 over your 👃and 👄 (@Azi) March 8, 2021 The New York Times's Gail Collins : If it had just been the sex part we could have had some interesting conversations about what’s acceptable in an era that combines feminism with a fairly expansive view of what people — at least unmarried people — can and can’t do. ...But the nursing home cover-up is something that could have ruined Cuomo’s career all by itself. Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins joined many others in calling for Cuomo to step down based on the harassm...

How about that. Long Island Business News on 3/4/21 published an op-ed, Mastroianni: Reimaging the Nassau Coliseum in an era of COVID , from Nicholas Mastroianni III, son of the controversial entrepreneur who founded the U.S. Immigration Fund and, in an amazing switcheroo , went from middleman for the EB-5 loan to the leaseholder of the arena.  The credit line states: "Nicholas Mastroianni III, the president & CMO at U.S. Immigration Fund, is the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum leaseholder under the company Nassau Live Center LLC."  That's news to me, I thought his father was the leaseholder. At the very least, he was described in a recent press release as "Nick Mastroianni II, Nassau Live Center LLC. Or maybe both of them are? There are a lot of generalities, but he seems to be lowering our expectations: It is premature to discuss our plans, but they are built on the simple truth that bears repeating: the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum is a significant ass...

A Nassau County press release 3/2/21, published on LongIsland.com as Curran, Islanders, and Coliseum Announce Reopening To Fans , seems to be the full version of the one in Patch 2/24/21 (which I previously cited ): Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, the New York Islanders organization, and Nassau Coliseum management today announced the building’s reopening to Islanders season ticket members starting on March 18th, as permitted by state guidelines . Attendance will be limited to 10% of capacity, and all required safety protocols will be followed. On March 11th, 1,000 Northwell Health frontline staff will be guests of the Islanders, to thank them for their heroic efforts this past year. Season ticket members will have priority for all Islanders home games this season. For information about season tickets, fans can call 888-NY-ISLES. County Executive Curran and the Islanders organization thank Nassau Live Center at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum management and the many others ...

Well, arenas are reopening in New York State, with a state requirement for proof of a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours, as announced 2/10/21. That allows for a resumption of sporting events, which have a huge television audience, but not necessarily for concerts--which make more money from ticket sales.  (Note that the separately announced opening, beginning April 2, of event, arts and entertainment venues at 33 percent capacity, up to 100 people indoors, does not really help arenas.) Barclays Center: two-day requirement The Barclays Center is doing better than the state requirement (and its rival  Madison Square Garden ): requiring a test within 48 hours, not 72 hours. But Barclays is not continuing--perhaps because of the difficulty doing it at scale--with what seemed a pilot: rapid testing on-site (as reported by the New York Post  and New York Daily News ), which would do more to establish that a person has not been infected in the intervening two days, an...

The latest Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Construction Update (bottom), covering the two weeks beginning Monday, 3/8/21, was circulated yesterday at 4:55 pm (lead time) by Empire State Development (ESD) after preparation by Greenland Forest City Partners.  The only work indicated as new, in red type, is at the B12/B13 site on Dean Street: Concrete Superstructure work for selected portions of the plaza, cellar and subcellar levels to commence including delivery of materials (formwork, rebar, concrete, etc.). The number of trucks is not mentioned.  Notably, the potentially disruptive track work previously announced for the two blocks of the Vanderbilt Yard has been extended again, apparently for the next three weekends, starting at 9 pm Friday and finishiong by 4 am Monday, and may require the use of portable light towers.  After-hours work: accurate for B15, not for B4 As I've written, there's been a pattern of not disclosing the full scope of After-Hours Variances (AHVs),...

"It's The Cuomo Way": Former Staffers Describe Toxic Workplace Under Governor’s Relentless Thumb , Gwynne Hogan of WNYC reported 3/4/21 for Gothamist. The summary: Nearly a dozen current and former staffers of Cuomo’s office who spoke to Gothamist/WNYC this week said Cuomo has cultivated an intense work culture that was brutal for some, traumatic for others. We are withholding all of their names, including Sarah's, because they fear professional or personal retaliation from the governor and his senior staff.... Their comments follow a tumultuous week for the governor, who is accused of sexual misconduct by three women, including two former staffers who said he harassed them at work, allegations he has denied and the Attorney General is investigating . The former staffers said they weren’t surprised by the allegations, in part because they described a workplace where outdated gender binaries were the norm, bullying was constant, and where people worked non-stop, blurr...

I was a little too generous, it turns out. I  wrote  2/21/21 that the most recent Construction Update, covering the two weeks beginning the next day, mostly continued the belated practice of accuracy regarding after-hours variances (AHVs), with one exception. (The document is circulated by Empire State Development after preparation by Greenland Forest City Partners.) However, there was one inaccuracy--and now another one, both of which obscure the extent of after-hours work. At the B4 tower (18 Sixth Ave.), weekday hours, including AHVs, were stated as being from 6 am to 10 pm , with Saturday work from 9 am to 5 pm . However, as I showed in a screenshot, the developer and construction company actually had an AHV to start weekday work at  5 am . "Saturday permits, when received, are for all work starting at 9 am until 5 pm," the document said, with no reference to Sunday work. Turns out that B4 this weekend and next  has since gained permits for Sunday work 9 am to 5...

From presentation The 3/2/21 Quality of Life meeting --supposed to be bimonthly but this time after only a five-week gap--was uneventful, lasting only about a half an hour and drawing just 23 participants on Zoom. The developer and Empire State Development had no news on big questions like the status of the platform over the Vanderbilt Yard, or plans to start any towers over that platform, crucial to delivering the required affordable housing.  Ditto for the contemplated plan for a giant two-tower project at Site 5, longtime home to Modell's and P.C. Richard across Flatbush Avenue at the arena. However, some incremental updates emerged. Construction at the B4 (18 Sixth Ave.) and B15 (662 Pacific St.) towers is on schedule, said Scott Solish of Greenland USA. which dominates Greenland Forest City Partners. (Of course--they work after hours !) He said B15 should be ready for initial move-ins this summer and B4 by the second half of the year. Each has 30% affordable units, though affo...

Is this the next Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park surprise? (After all, there's always something.)   My annotations Apparently no--and I should've been more careful with the evidence--but it does raise some intriguing questions. A photo of a model of the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park project, tweeted 2/25/21 by the 78th Precinct from a community meeting, seemingly suggests, as the excerpt at right shows, an additional tower associated with the project, on the south side of Dean Street, indicated by the pink arrow I added. That "vaportecture" tower--seemingly roughly comparable in height to the 27-story B15 (662 Pacific St.) looked to be just east of Sixth Avenue--at least according to my not-quite-accurate reading. However, a representative of developer Greenland Forest City Partners, in response to my query, said that building is not part of the project, and that pieces of the model are moveable, as I soon tweeted. (I've deleted my old tweets but screen-capped them h...

Anyone building in New York City--private projects, at least--must be an optimist, because the crystal ball is very cloudy. The New York City Independent Budget Office yesterday offered Outlook for the City’s Economy: A Slow and Fragile Recovery , noting that, despite increased vaccinations, the rise of new variants of the coronavirus "suggests the city’s economic recovery will remain slow and fragile." The outlook is worrying: The largest impacts on employment and earnings in the city have been concentrated among industries that rely heavily on consumer behavior and tourism. Meanwhile, real estate sales have been depressed for most of 2020, particularly in the commercial real estate market. In the short run, personal income grew due to a large increase in government aid, while other income categories including wages and proprietors’ income have declined. All of these factors suggest the possibility of a substantial realignment to the local economy even after the threat of th...

Last week, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce released 2020 Year End Small Business COVID Impact Survey Results , indicating some grim news: 80% of all businesses, and 77% of M/WBE businesses had lowered revenues last year, and 47% of those losing revenue said it was by more than half. Of the 13% of businesses that reported an increase in revenue, they were concentrated in the healthcare, construction, and consulting sectors. (Here's coverage .) Note: revenue decline doesn't necessarily translate fully to financial losses, because they might have lowered costs somewhat. Indeed, 85% of all businesses cut their employee headcounts. The outlook is grim, since 33% of all businesses owe some back rent, and 49% of all businesses did not receive any rent concessions. Of those businesses receiving concessions, 20% got rent reductions and another 20% got rent deferrals. More than half those surveyed, 51%, said they increased debt. Some 75% of small businesses received a Paycheck Protectio...

A 2/22/21 press release,  CBRE Group, Inc. Acquires 35 Percent Interest in Industrious, Leading Provider of Flexible Space Solutions , adding that the "world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm," which is headquartered in Dallas, is expecting to acquire another 5% in the coming weeks. The deal includes $200 million in cash and the transfer of CBRE's own "flexible-space solutions offering, Hana," which has ten locations in the U.S. and UK. The Commercial Observer quoted Industrious CEO Jamie Hodari: "Almost every Fortune 500 [company] is putting in workplace plans that explicitly say they’re going to massively increase their use of flex." "Industrious has more than 100 locations in more than 50 U.S. cities and specializes in asset-lite flexible workplace operating models," according to the press release, which added: The investment significantly increases CBRE’s participation in the flexible workplace sector and posi...