« State big to Brooklyn: You’re Manhattan now | Main | Friday black humor »
July 21, 2006
Inside Ratner’s Atlantic Yards
State docs show massive impact
By Ariella Cohen, Gersh Kuntzman and Dana Rubinstein
Illustrations by Sylvan Migdal
The Brooklyn Papers devoted A LOT of time and column inches to inform its readers about many of the environmental impacts described in the State-issued Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). The impacts covered are below, along with excerpts from the analysis.
According to the draft environmental impact statement released on Tuesday, 68 intersections around the project’s epicenter — Flatbush and Atlantic avenues — would have “significant adverse impacts” from the project.
“Peak hour vehicular traffic through this intersection would increase by four to 15 percent,” the report states.
That’s bad news, considering that 57 of 87 signalized intersections around the project are already congested at least once a day.
Some impacts of the Atlantic Yards mega-project simply can not be fixed while still allowing Bruce Ratner to make a reasonable profit and build affordable housing — but the developer will buy air-conditioners for everyone who wants one, state documents reveal.
The irreparable harm, most of which cannot be mitigated without conflicting with “the project’s goals,” consists of:
• The demolition of the Ward Bread Bakery
• Obstructed views of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank tower
• “Significant noise” on Dean Street between Flatbush and Vanderbilt avenues
• Massive shadows
• Intense traffic
The 16 towers of the Atlantic Yards project will enshroud the playground at the Atlantic Terminal Houses in Fort Greene in shadows all day, every day, during the winter, and place the northern portion of Prospect Heights in the same gloom every morning until noon all year long, according to the state study released this week.
As The Brooklyn Papers reported in June, Bruce Ratner’s skyscrapers will cast shadows on the area bordered by DeKalb Avenue Douglass Street, Grand Avenue and Bond Street.
The shadows would be at their worst during the cold winter months.
Atlantic Yards probably won’t exacerbate the gentrification that’s already taking place in Prospect Heights and Fort Greene, according to a new state report on the impact of the project on local socioeconomics.
State planners made that conclusion based on Census data showing that the number of “at-risk” households in the area has been declining for years — even before Bruce Ratner dreamed up Atlantic Yards.
The project would displace an estimated 410 residents and 27 businesses from its 22-acre footprint, plus the residents of 144 homes already purchased by the developer.
...
And although the DEIS frequently calls the Prospect Heights development site “blighted,” the document does admit that the neighborhood ranks among the wealthiest near the proposed basketball arena that is Atlantic Yards’ centerpiece.
The ESDC says that Bruce Ratner’s behemoth project will not significantly affect Brooklyn’s existing infrastructure — but its own documents show that the project would cause overcrowded schools, create new challenges to police and fire coverage, and cause more sewage to flow into the East River.
[All three of these impacts can be mitigated according to the DEIS, but would require additional commitments from the City to get it done.]
New York State planners admitted that the 16-skyscrapers of the Atlantic Yards project are significantly larger than the surrounding neighborhoods — but concluded that the project’s size is a good thing.
“The proposed project would change the character of the project site, and for the better,” the state’s draft environmental impact statement said.
“The new taller buildings of the proposed project would have a positive effect by serving as new wayfinders in the Brooklyn skyline.”
[The DEIS is also including the enormous lobby, dubbed the "Urban Room," as "public space."]
Atlantic Yards will bring seven acres of lush green parkland to Brooklyn, but watch out: the open space closes early.
In contrast to the city’s public parks — which open at 5 am and close at 1 am — the green jewel of the development will open at 7 am and close at 8 pm or sunset — whichever is later — during most of the year.
From May to September, it will stay open until 10:30 pm.
Posted by lumi at July 21, 2006 1:05 PM