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March 13, 2007
"Abdicating its role": Atlantic Yards and the City
BrooklynSpeaks
Did the City really “abdicate its role” during the Atlantic Yards approval process, as Speaker Quinn stated last week?
Yes.
Because of legislation passed in the 1960’s, the state has the power to override the city’s zoning laws and land-use approval process (known as ULURP), which is far more rigorous than the state’s own process, requiring votes by the local community boards, the borough president and ultimately the City Council.
But in practice, the state can only do so when the city permits it.
BrooklynSpeaks politely explains the one action taken by NYC Planning, the "scaleback", calling it an "awkward episode" as opposed to a carefully choreographed tactic.
And for those of you who have been wondering what BrooklynSpeaks Plan C is (Plan A was to convince politicians to delay the vote, Plan B is to work on Eliot Spitzer to tweak the project), here it is in a nutshell:
So there’s still time for the City – and Speaker Quinn - to insist that the project is redesigned with input from local elected officials and other stakeholders, and still time for the City to spearhead the development of a comprehensive transportation plan, instead of the piece-meal, anti-pedestrian approach they have pursued so far.
Most importantly, there’s also still time for the City and the State to improve the governance for the project. For example, they could establish an ESDC subsidiary to oversee the project that includes board members appointed by the city and local elected officials - as numerous other state projects including Queens West and Hudson River Park have.
Posted by lumi at March 13, 2007 9:00 AM