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August 17, 2006
Open Space in the Atlantic Yards Development
This Gotham Gazette article by Anne Schwartz provides a detailed look at the Draft Environmental Impact Statement and what the document tells us about open space and parkland in and around Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards proposal.
For Brooklynites who are unfamiliar with the issues and orthodoxy of parks and open-space planning, this article is a great intro.
On face value, the amount of open space is respectable. It constitutes almost a third of the project's 22-acre site. But because the towers would have so many residents -- with a projected 15,000 to 18,000 residents, it would become the densest census tract in the country -- the area within a half-mile radius would actually end up with a lower ratio of public space per resident that it has now, .28 acres per 1,000 residents. The percentage of active recreational space would drop to .15 acres. The already fully booked sports fields in Prospect Park and elsewhere in the area would not be able to absorb the overload.
Compare that to Battery Park City, which also has about a third of its 92 acres of residential and commercial development set aside as parks and fields. When completely built, it will have about 14,000 residents, so the ratio of parkland per 1,000 residents meets the city's goal of 2.5.
Schwartz's comparison leads to these warnings:
At Battery Park City, much of the parkland was put in before construction of the buildings. At Atlantic Yards, however, no parkland is slated to be constructed until the second building phase, which includes most of the residential towers, estimated to be completed in 2016. For families affected by a lack of places to play, ten years is most of a childhood. Also, the economic and real estate climate can change drastically over ten or more years. Changing financial circumstances could prevent the developer from finishing the green space as planned or create pressure to increase the footprint of the buildings.
We could continue to quote from the article, which goes on to cover the effect of shadows on the Atlantic Terminal housing's open space, the public-access debate and programming. However, we recommend that you head on over to the Gazette and start reading.
Posted by lumi at August 17, 2006 9:05 AM