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March 11, 2007
The open space dodge, revisited
Atlantic Yards Report
Last April, I pointed out that the section on Open Space in the new Atlantic Yards.com web site deceptively claimed that the developer "will transform portions of the exposed rail yards into publicly accessible open space."While portions of the rail yards would indeed become "publicly accessible open space," the phrasing suggests that the open space would be built only above the unsightly rail yards. Indeed, landscape architect Laurie Olin, in a candid interview with the New York Observer, explained how taking the street was crucial for Forest City Ratner to assemble the quota of open space necessary for the project to pass muster.
Taking the streets
A comparison of Olin's sketch (above) on the Atlantic Yards web site with the schematic of the project footprint created by BrooklynSpeaks (right), shows that open space would be built over the currently functioning Pacific Street, as well as the area between Pacific and Dean streets currently occupied by buildings.
Posted by amy at March 11, 2007 12:27 PM