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August 5, 2005
New Details Reveal Even Denser Atlantic Yards Plan
The Brooklyn Eagle
by Dennis Holt
More details of the Ratner plan have been revealed since their MTA bid submission.
The numbers are impressive; to some, frightening; to others, troublesome.
If this plan, or anything like it, is executed, it will solidify the extension of the downtown commercial area to east of Flatbush Avenue. With the large housing element in the Ratner plan, the goal by city and Brooklyn planners to make downtown Brooklyn a “24-hour city,” as is happening elsewhere in the country, will take a significant step forward.
As has been widely publicized, the Ratner plan calls for a sports arena, office buildings, retail outlets, and extensive housing units, all designed by Frank Gehry. The combination of all four of these elements, at this scale, has never before been attempted in New York City.
NoLandGrab Note: It's a neat Forest City Ratner PR trick to entitle the above image "Downtown Brooklyn" -- Downtown Brooklyn only appears in the background. The area in the foreground is called "Prospect Heights."
Obviously, if Ratner's plan is built, it will be called "Atlantic Yards," to go along with Ratner's Atlantic Center and Atlantic Terminal malls. Maybe he'll call the new section (though announced, it's not shown in the current footprint scheme) in Park Slope, "Atlantic Slope."
Posted by lumi at August 5, 2005 9:15 AM