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August 29, 2006
A Brawl in Brooklyn
Public Hearing for Atlantic Yards project stirs anger, not consensus
The Architect's Newspaper
By Alec Appelbaum
On August 23, a public hearing on Forest City Ratner’s 22-acre Atlantic Yards proposal lasted over seven hours, and in its bitter tone, showed that positions for and against the project have hardened.
Technically, the hearing disposed of the Empire State Development Corporation’s obligation to consider the project’s effect on local life. If New York City had assembled the land in question, as it did for rezoning Williamsburg/Greenpoint and rebuilding Yankee Stadium, four public hearings and a 120-day review would have preceded a vote by the City Council. But the state used eminent domain to speed developer Bruce Ratner’s project. Under the state’s streamlined review, the public got 66 days to review a 2,000-page draft statement, which was released on July 18th, and one chance to comment on it. Opponents asked for a longer review period, saying it could generate consensus on a plan that would create jobs without distorting neighborhood scale.
Posted by lumi at August 29, 2006 7:49 AM