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May 2, 2007
Suspension of FCRC Demolition: What Next for Atlantic Yards?
Meanwhile, Buildings Dept. Probes Cause of Bakery Parapet Collapse
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle
By Raanan Geberer
No sooner had the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods announced on Friday that it was calling a public gathering to demand a temporary end to demolitions in the Atlantic Yards “footprint” when word came that the state had decided to do just that.
NoLandGrab: To be clear, CBN announced the gathering on Thursday and the suspension was announced on Friday morning — demolition work continued in the footprint of Atlantic Yards as late as 3PM that afternoon.
“That’s really great news,” said Jim Vogel, spokesman for the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods, a coalition of civic organizations in and around Downtown Brooklyn. He added, though, that it was important to establish a conduit between Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC) and the community where information could be communicated about construction activity.
At the present time, the only such conduit is the Atlantic Yards Community Liaison Office — and whenever this reporter has called that number, only an answering machine is heard.
NLG: The phone number for the Atlantic Yards Community Liaison Office is 866-923-5315.
Vogel, who lives near the old bakery building, said that before the collapse, he had noticed workmen on the roof without gloves, masks or protective attire, despite city rules for requiring them for asbestos abatement procedures.
“They also had removed the overhead protective shed,” said Vogel. When the parapet fell down, he added, the noise was so loud that “some people thought a bomb had gone off.”
Posted by lumi at May 2, 2007 8:07 AM