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July 12, 2006
Shiffman speaks out, a summertime must-read
Former NYC Planning Commissioner Ron Shiffman's statement of support for Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn explains his decision to serve on the group's Advisory Board.
Shiffman's concerns run the gamut:
Density
If Forest City Ratner’s proposal proceeds at the current scale, it would constitute the densest residential community in the United States and, perhaps, Europe, with the exception of some of the suburbs of Paris.
An arena at Atlantic & Flatbush
Some viable sites already existed for an arena, the most obvious being Forest City Ratner’s Atlantic Center Mall, a failed design with a limited life expectancy that constitutes a major blighting on the border of Fort Greene, near the proposed Atlantic Yards site.
Public property and private developers
A private developer shouldn’t be allowed to drive the disposition of publicly owned or controlled land without a participatory planning process setting the conditions for the disposition of that land.
Eminent domain and blight
Sadly, FCR is responsible for the “developer’s blight” that now plagues the area. The only pre-existing blighting influence was the Atlantic Center mall.
We thought that we'd link it directly since, though it was relegated to the end of today's DDDB press release, it is getting some notice today in the Blogosphere:
Gotham Gazette, "The Wonkster," Former City Planning Commissioner Weighs in on Atlantic Yards
Daily Gotham (Mole333), Former City Planning Commissioner Speaks Against Ratner
Posted by lumi at July 12, 2006 8:44 PM