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December 5, 2006
At the Dean St. Playground: how FCR's $20K offer became a $1.25M comfort station
Atlantic Yards Report
Negotiators generally offer less than they’re willing to give up, so it’s safe to assume that the developer has another change or three at the ready, to be announced when the time is right, to move the project forward.
Consider the developer’s agreement to provide a comfort station at the Dean Street Playground, in partial mitigation for the excess noise the playground would experience due to the project construction and traffic nearby.
It turns out that Forest City Ratner agreed to pay much more--62.5 times more--than the company initially offered. The New York City Economic Development Corporation set up a meeting with the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR). Initially, FCR offered just $20,000, Martin Maher, chief of staff in DPR's Brooklyn office, told the Friends of the Dean Street Playground at a meeting on Saturday.
"We said the community really needs a comfort station," Maher said. The comfort station, which would cost at least $1.25 million, had been on the Friends group's wish list for a while.
Forest City Ratner officials agreed, Maher said. Apparently, the developer wanted the problem to go away, and $1.25M+, as part of a $4.2 billion project, was within their comfort zone.
Norman Oder points originally pointed out that the Friends of the Dean St. Playground were pleased with the mitigation, but were concerned with staffing a facility since the Department of Parks and Recreation has "removed or closed bathrooms when they got too dangerous."
UPDATE:
I initially wrote that the group was "generally pleased," but co-coordinator Peter Krashes pointed out today that, despite the deal that DPR achieved, the group still remains quite frustrated with the overall challenge.
"They don't have community consent," he said. "There’s been no real meaningful process to discuss how the playground can be adjusted to the impact of this enormous project."
The larger question remains:
What other changes in the Atlantic Yards project is the developer willing to make in response to pressure?
NoLandGrab: Developer Forest City Ratner must be kind of flumoxed by the reaction by the Friends of Dean St. Playground. The company has pledged over $1.25M for improvements to the playground but, unlike the groups that signed Community Benefits Agreement, the Friends of Dean St. Playground aren't exactly playing ball.
As civic responsibility would require, the group is still looking for "impacts [to be] addressed meaningfully with mitigation."
Posted by lumi at December 5, 2006 6:57 AM