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June 22, 2005
The Planning Vacuum
New York stumbles into a good stadium deal
Wall St. Journal, Opinion
by Ada Louise Huxtable
Huxtable's post mortem of Jets stadium and the state of large-scale development in NYC.
Here's her little bit on Ratner:
Savvy developers know how to navigate the civic shoals with singular skill. Forest City Ratner, currently engaged in a vast project for the Atlantic Yards on the Brooklyn waterfront, which includes a basketball stadium for the Nets designed by Frank Gehry, has made token changes in cooperation with community representatives, although questions remain about densities and scale. There are builders who sugarcoat their proposals with big-name architects, irresistible bait in a city that shamefully settles for the ordinary. New York has never managed, as Chicago has, to make Donald Trump use a different architect in exchange for a prime site.
NoLandGrab: Maybe someone could point the Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic in the right direction.
In case anyone else is muddled up over Brooklyn development controversies:
* Brooklyn waterfront controversies are in Greenpoint/Williamsburgh and Brooklyn Bridge Park.
* Atlantic Yards is planned for Prospect Heights & Park Slope (nowhere near the waterfront).
Posted by lumi at June 22, 2005 7:18 AM