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November 23, 2005
The Trade-Offs in Zoning Trade-Offs
The NY Times
by Lisa Chamberlain
It has become common in New York City for real estate developers to offer public amenities in exchange for the right to put up buildings that are taller than the zoning ordinarily would allow or to garner public support for projects that might stir controversy. But those amenities - parks, plazas or atriums, for example - sometimes fail to live up to expectation, fall into disrepair and are occasionally scrapped altogether.
It was recently disclosed, for example, that the Forest City Ratner Companies will not open a rooftop park to the public - as it originally announced - as part of its proposed mixed-use development on Atlantic Avenue in downtown Brooklyn, which includes an arena for the New Jersey Nets basketball team, as well as 16 buildings. The omission of the park is a small change amid many others in this large-scale development, but it provided fodder for critics and renewed questions about relying on private developers to create public spaces.
Posted by lumi at November 23, 2005 6:57 AM