Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

With Less Than 48 Hours' Notice, New York State Announces an Atlantic Yards Meeting ( link ) ESD's advisory Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation will meet in Brooklyn tomorrow at 1 pm. (Clairvoyant) public comments are due by 3 pm today.

May Roundup: Waiting for the Subsidy Deal, the MOU, and the "Conceptual" Program ( link ) Coverage of project transparency, Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, and the Tsais' Social Justice Fund. Shouldn't the operators of MSG and Barclays pay taxes?

If Cirrus/LCOR Now Might Gain $175M in State Budget, Is That a Cut, or Just a Sequencing Issue? ( link ) Developers earlier sought $350 million for platform over railyard. Current budget now has half. But the railyard is two blocks.

Waiting for the MOU: Should the Key Criterion For Atlantic Yards Progress Be "Viability"? ( link ) What about "reconciling project cost, subsidy, and public benefit"? And whether the project can "support the people who will live there"?

As Bergen and Dean Streets Planned for Bike Boulevards (and B65 Re-Route), Some Concerns ( link ) Neighbors near Barclays Center cite event-related congestion, streets narrowed by NYPD and FDNY parking, and poor road conditions. What happens when Atlantic Yards and AAMUP construction surge?

Lessons from 962 Pacific: Developer's Warnings May Not be Credible. Deals Will Get Done. ( link ) The parcel, after a failed spot rezoning, sold for $33 million after an area plan was passed. A portent for Atlantic Yards?

If New York Liberty Are Now Worth $600M, Do the Billionaire Owners Deserve a Tax-Exempt Arena? ( link ) As WNBA valuations rocket, Clara Wu Tsai's $1B goal no longer seems a stretch. The Democratic Socialist Mayor attends debut game. Will he push venue operators on tax exemptions?

Barclays Center Belatedly Releases May 2026 Calendar, Including Liberty Debut and JetBlue Pop-Up on Plaza ( link ) The "public" plaza has private use. Also: seven unspecified private events, mostly Commencement ceremonies. Why not more transparency for neighbors?

From LPC Casa Tua's Cucina, a high-end food court, bar, and market pioneered in Miami, will occupy the base of One Hanson, the commercial condo in the landmark Williamsburgh Savings Bank purchased by Barclays Center operator Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment.  As reported in November 2024, the space was bought for $10.3 million in a foreclosure auction. The office space in the building, which for 80 years (1929-2009) was Brooklyn's tallest, was converted to condos after a 2005 sale, with the vaulted banking space used for events like the Brooklyn Flea, but with no permanent tenant. Set to open in 2027, Cucina by Casa Tua part of the Brooklyn "ecosystem" of events, media, and hospitality pursued by Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, owned mainly by Joe and Clara Wu Tsai (plus the Koch family). A hotel may emerge, as well, perhaps at the Site 5 parcel across Flatbush Avenue from the arena. From the press release: Cucina will serve as a cornerstone of One Hanson Plac...

ESD's Engagement Report Defends Subsidy, Reveals Design Change, Deflects on Affordable Housing, and Stonewalls on Oversight ( link ) Development team agrees that B9 tower should be a rectangle to maximize open space. Report misleads on open space, "anticipates" optimistic timetable.

After Jury Finds Live Nation a Monopoly, a New Taint for Barclays Center's "Ticketmaster Plaza" ( link )  Testimony from arena's chief booker, though, complicated the story of Barclays' switch from SeatGeek.

As Barclays Center Begins More Renovations, the Box Office Moves to the (Public?) Plaza ( link ) Also coming by fall: "reimagined" atrium and new perks for high-rollers.

Mamdani Seems Wary of Subsidizing Platform for Second Phase of Hudson Yards ( link ) The Atlantic Yards platform, by contrast, depends on state funds. Still, shouldn't former Deputy Mayor Glen's framework apply regarding public benefits and public upside?

Update April 29: Adweek reports in a claimed "SCOOP" : Now, Type.Set Brooklyn appears to have shuttered, having not published content on any of its channels since January. A spokesperson for the parent company, BSE Global, said that the company is focusing on Brooklyn Magazine, which it acquired in November 2024 . The closure reflects the difficulty of standing up new media brands even when backed with the finances of an Alibaba cofounder. --- Less than a year after the launch of Type.Set.Brooklyn, a "digital first global media brand" focused on pop culture, music, style, and sports, it looks like Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment has pulled the plug. Though there's been no announcement of a closing or a pause, Type.Set.Brooklyn's most recent posting on Threads was January 27 , following regular updates. The brand's X/Twitter feed has vanished, despite a link from the homepage . The latest Instagram post was February 9 , after a series of regular upd...

Why Cirrus’s Request for 1.6M Square Feet of Free Bulk Has a Parallel to... Deed Theft ( link ) Unsolicited offers for houses must now share estimates of market value. What about the value of the Atlantic Yards developer’s requested bonus?

Would a Giant New Building Approved Up Flatbush Avenue Be a Precedent for Atlantic Yards? ( link ) The density argument may be transposed to the Site 5 parcel, though they're not quite parallel.

As Atlantic Yards plans percolate, Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversee/shepherds the project, has now signed its third consultant and second law firm. As previously reported, ESD  approved  a $2 million-plus contract with consultant AKRF to prepare the planned Second Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SSEIS) needed to consider proposed project modifications. ESD in February  approved  extension of a contract, up to $500,000. with the law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, to advise on land use and environmental issues, including the SSEIS. A new contract And on March 26 ESD  approved  a new two-year contract , up to $750,000, with the law firm Carter Ledyard & Milburn for help in drafting the emerging deal with developers Cirrus Workforce Housing and LCOR. "Legal services relating to negotiating and drafting modified and/or new Project documents will be needed as ESD and the new development team move forward with Ph...

Freddy's Bar, Down the Memory Hole ( link ) An article in BK MAG , owned by arena operator Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, can't tell readers that the bar was ejected to build the Barclays Center. Lots more to remember.

I just published a series of articles about the Social Justice Fund of the Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the main owners of the Brooklyn Nets, New York Liberty, and the Barclays Center operating company. It was launched in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd and the #BlackLivesMatter protests at the arena. Press coverage has mainly been driven by their public relations efforts. Has the Social Justice Fund done some valuable things? Surely. Have they spent $5 million a year? Hard to say. Have they fulfilled their goals, for example, to create scalable programs? Maybe not. Is the spending dwarfed by the annual tax break the Tsais get and recent gains in the value of their holdings? Dramatically. Should they be more transparent? Yes. Are they revising their history as they go? Yes. Does the spending boost their businesses? Sometimes. Philanthropy often operates without scrutiny or accountability, so there’s a role for journalism, especially when philan...

April Roundup: Electeds Press Hochul on Affordability and Oversight ( link ) We await a final report on community engagement, and details on the $350M subsidy request. Also, partial answers from ESD, a former neighbor's lament, a Flatbush Ave. alert, and six weeks of links.