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September 27, 2007
City Living: Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
amNY
By Patrick Verel
There's a big story today in amNY about Prospect Heights, the neighborhood that's being forced to host Bruce Ratner's controversial Atlantic Yards developement plan.
If Prospect Heights was ever in the shadow of Park Slope, its ritzy neighbor across Flatbush Avenue, those days are long past.
...
"It's the gold coast of Brooklyn, in a sense, with these institutions grouped together," [Ellen F. Salpeter, director of Heart of Brooklyn] said. "It has a diverse housing stock and an extraordinarily diverse group of residents, too. It weaves together a wonderful community."
But...
The looming Atlantic Yards project in the neighborhood's northeast [actually it's "northwest"] corner has the potential to upend sections of the neighborhood for years to come.
...
While taking a wait-and-see attitude on Atlantic Yards, Salpeter said she was confident that retail will follow the residential boom that has brought condos to once empty lots.The Buzz
There is no bigger issue facing Prospect Heights than Atlantic Yards, the Frank Gehry-designed development that is being spearheaded by Forest City Ratner.
One local cites Atlantic Yards for spurring development, though feelings are mixed:
Many new developments have sprouted up alongside car-repair shops on Washington Avenue, but he said the jury is out on the sale numbers there.
"A lot of that land was very cheap, and the people saw the dollar signs," he said. "They saw the Atlantic Yard project was coming, and they figured 'This is my time.' We're watching to see how it does; it's not quite the garden spot that everyone wants it to be."
NoLandGrab: From our vantage point, what's interesting about the article is that all the great stuff about Prospect Heights has NOTHING to do with Atlantic Yards — it could even be argued that the neighborhood is the antithesis of Bruce Ratner's megaproject. Also, many of the owners of the unique neighborhood amenities listed in the article are publicly opposed to the project.
Posted by lumi at September 27, 2007 7:00 AM