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April 30, 2008
Fort Trumbull Housing Plan In Jeopardy
NLDC chief doubts developer will meet deadline for financing
The Day (New London, CT)
by Kevin Dale
Another eminent domain-reliant housing plan, this one at the center of the Kelo vs. New London Supreme Court case, is imperiled by the troubled credit market. This doesn't happen when neighborhoods are allowed to develop organically.
Citing “turmoil” in the national lending market, New London Development Corp. President Michael Joplin said he has “grave doubts” that the Corcoran Jennison company will meet a crucial May 29 deadline to secure financing for its long-delayed Fort Trumbull housing development.
”It's almost impossible, so we have to start dealing with reality,” said Joplin, who broached the “most difficult topic” at Tuesday night's annual meeting of NLDC's full membership in the Crocker House Ballroom.
If Corcoran Jennison doesn't meet the deadline, the Boston-based developer would violate a December extension document in which it agreed to secure a loan and enter a construction contract for an $18.7 million, 80-unit development of rental apartments and townhouses.
The project, whose uncertain groundbreaking could now be delayed months if not years, would represent the first new, ground-up construction since eminent domain cleared portions of the peninsula for redevelopment.
NoLandGrab: The irony is that there was housing on the site, before it was seized by eminent domain and bulldozed to make way for... housing. Which isn't being built any time soon. Did someone say "bait and switch?"
Posted by eric at 3:14 PM
City agreement allows FCR to build 44% smaller Phase 1; what about NYC's extra $105M?
BREAKING STORY from Atlantic Yards Report
After filing a Freedom of Infomation request, Norman Oder finally got his hot hands on the NY City Atlantic Yards Funding Agreement.
Here's the scoop:
Despite assertions by Forest City Ratner officials that “all of Atlantic Yards... will be built," the State Funding Agreement, which the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) quietly released last month, gives the developer 6+ years to build the arena, 12+ years to build the five towers in Phase 1, and an unspecified amount of time to build the 11 towers in Phase 2.
A look at the previously-unreleased City Funding Agreement signed last September shows the developer has an even gentler deal: modest penalties for delay, plus allowance for a much smaller Phase 1 than that outlined in the General Project Plan passed by the ESDC in December 2006.
(I obtained the City Funding Agreement from the New York City Economic Development Corporation, or NYCEDC, via a Freedom of Information Law request. Warning: 13+ MB; ads before download.)
The City Funding Agreement involves NYCEDC and ESDC, while the state agreement involves ESDC and the developer. (Click on all graphics to enlarge.)
The city agreement casts further doubt on the schedule for affordable housing units, perhaps the main generator of political support for the project.
It includes no penalties as long as the developer builds, within 12+ years, 1.5 million square feet in Phase 1--some 44% smaller than promised less than a year earlier.
It permits a scenario of only 300 affordable housing units by 2020
With such a smaller Phase 1, it further reduces expected tax revenues.
It does not address the city's $105 million contribution for infrastructure, raising the possibility that, upon the project's demise, the city could recover only its initial $100 million outlay.
It confirms that the initial $100 million--once intended at least in part for infrastructure--will be used to reimburse Forest City Ratner for the seemingly generous checks the developer wrote to owners of properties destined for the arena footprint.
It requires larger penalties for a delayed arena than a delayed Phase 1, suggesting that the arena is more of a priority.
It sets a schedule for relatively modest penalties; an arena three years late (given the grace period), delayed to 2018, likely would cost the developer little more than $10 million in damages to the city.
Such relatively modest penalties also apply to Phase 1 delays; should the Phase 1 site lie fallow until 2027--nearly two decades from now--the six-year delay (given the grace period) likely would cost the developer only $17 million in damages to the city.
It also poses relatively small penalties if FCR abandons the project within three years; that suggests that a decision to pull the plug, should it be made, would come sooner rather than later.
Click here for the rest of this must-read article.
Posted by lumi at 6:36 AM
Revisiting that May 2004 Daily News scoop about Ratner's generous buyouts
Atlantic Yards Report
BONANZA! Back in May 2004, the NY Daily News gave Ratner front-page props for his generous offers to homeowners in the footprint of his Atlantic Yards proposal.
Guess where Ratner got the money for the generous above-market buyouts — yup, taxpayers!
Norman Oder rewrites the article with the assitance of facts and hindsight:
Real estate tycoon Bruce Ratner is showing Brooklyn homeowners the money.
Revised: Real estate tycoon Bruce Ratner is showing Brooklyn homeowners taxpayers’ money.
He's turning residents of one building into instant millionaires so they'll go quietly - letting him knock down their homes to make way for his controversial $2.5 billion Nets arena and housing complex.
Revised: Taxpayer funds are turning residents of one building into instant millionaires so they'll go quietly - letting him knock down their homes to make way for his controversial $2.5 billion Nets arena and housing complex.
Read on...
NoLandGrab: The irony is that condo-owner Daniel Goldstein didn't take the taxpayers' money to sign a gag order and fade away. As a consequence, the building featured in the article is still standing.
Posted by lumi at 6:22 AM
Atlantic Yards footprint, west from Vanderbilt
Photo by Tracy Collins, posted on the flickr Atlantic Yards Photo Pool.
This is a recent photo of Block 1129 on the Eastern end of the Atlantic Yards footprint, bounded by Vanderbilt Avenue (foreground) and Dean Street (left) and Pacific Street (right).
The "nail house" is currently occupied by tenants, but is slated to eventually be hammered down like the rest of the block.
Posted by lumi at 6:10 AM
Rally Planned To Halt Atlantic Yards Demolitions
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
A community rally whose goal is to tell Gov. Patterson to halt the Atlantic Yards Project is planned for 2 p.m. Saturday, May 3, on Pacific Street, between Carlton and Vanderbilt avenues in Prospect Heights.
With Atlantic Yards developer Forest City Ratner recently announcing that most of the project’s 17 towers have been delayed indefinitely, local groups are protesting that demolition of existing buildings is continuing in the same areas of the project footprint where those buildings were planned.
NoLandGrab: The Eagle may want to check with developer Forest City Ratner, but we only count 16 towers, at this time.
Posted by lumi at 6:05 AM
Bruce Ratner, Mystery Science Theather 2008
More follow up on Bud Mishkin's NY1 interview with Brooklyn's favorite overdeveloper, Bruce Ratner:
Curbed, Ratner Praises East River Fish, Disses Architecture
The snarky real estate blog basically lets Bruce Ratner speak for himself in coverage of the Atlantic Yards overdeveloper's NY1 interview (because you can't make this stuff up).
Our favorite of the bunch:
"[Y]ou know, those who focus on the architecture are frankly misguided about what's really important in this world."
...or maybe it's:
"I want to do great architecture, but I have to say something, which is that, if one is going to boil life down to architecture, then you know what? It's not for me."
...or:
"The architecture is important, but it's not that important."
NoLandGrab: Ratner might consider reserving his love-hate relationship with "architecture" for the therapist's couch.
The Knickerblogger, Bruce Ratner: the Ed Wood of Developers?
Knickerblogger recommends Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn's commentary on the Ratner NY1 interview:
Its sort of like the old Mystery Science Theater 2000 - except Atlantic Yards is the crappy film, Ratner the washed up actor - its just no fun without the commentary.
NLG: Speaking about actors, who would you choose to play Bruce Ratner in the movie? Email us with your A-list.
Posted by lumi at 5:39 AM
Joe Chan, Downtown Brooklyn Shopaholic
The NY Observer
By Dana Rubenstein
Keeping in mind that it is Joe Chan's job to say nice things about Atlantic Yards, the president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership stays on message by asserting that the project will get built, no matter how many decades it takes:
Location: About six months ago you released an Ian McKellen-narrated video of what downtown Brooklyn would look like in five years. Given the current economic turmoil, would you release the same video today?
Mr. Chan: Absolutely.
The video cited $9.5 billion in private investment—that included Atlantic Yards?
That includes Atlantic Yards.
So you still think Atlantic Yards will happen?
Yeah, I think it is in the process of happening.
All 16 towers and arena?
The Atlantic Yards was always a project that was conceived as taking a few economic cycles to fully realize itself.
Posted by lumi at 5:28 AM
Olympic Landscape
The NY Sun
By James Gardner
Congratulations Bruce Ratner, your Atlantic Yards plan is now on the short list of controversial projects in NYC:
When it comes to dreaming up grand architectural visions, repressive authoritarian regimes are clearly the way to go. There are none of those nettlesome obstructions that beset the urban planners of New York City: community boards and concerned citizens, good-government types and the dithering dysfunctionality of a score of agencies. Well known to all are the hurdles that developers and architects have encountered recently at ground zero and the Atlantic Yards, the acrimony that has beset Columbia University's West Harlem expansion, not to mention the travails of Londoners over furnishing Heathrow with one lousy little new runway.
Meanwhile, in less time than it takes for New Yorkers to draw up a committee to decide whether to vote on drawing up a committee, the city of Beijing has reinvented itself in anticipation of this August's Olympic Games. Whole neighborhoods have been gleefully wiped out in order to build the Beijing CBD, or Central Business District, situated between the capital's 3rd and 4th Ring Roads and now the site of CCTV headquarters, designed by the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas.
Despite the social consequences, Beijing appears to be one NYC architecture critic's wet dream:
Taken together, the new architecture of Beijing is a partial and mitigated success, whatever its social benefit or harm. But however many eggs had to be broken to make this particular omelet, New Yorkers can only look on in envy and amazement at the boldness, the size, and the inventiveness of these new designs, which would never have stood a chance in Gotham.
NoLandGrab: Mayor Bloomberg would probably give his right arm to do away with the pesky Community Boards, heck, even skip the City Council, in order to "streamline" the city planning process. Imagine how many neighborhoods and blocks the city could have plowed and resown if the city had been awarded the 2012 Olympic games.
Posted by lumi at 4:58 AM
Forest City in the News
The Journal News, Turning the tide
An editorial in support of Forest City Ratner's Echo Bay project in New Rochelle.
WebWire, Sandia Tiger Teams reach out with solar
Forest City Enterprises' military housing unit will be participating in a Department of Energy program to encourage American cities to go solar:
The Solar American Showcase program and the Government Solar Installation Program are less publicized but equally real parts of DOE’s solar effort.
The showcase program provides $200,000 and Tiger Team technical assistance to companies, universities, cities, or states interested in trying new solar technologies. The winners include Forest City Military Communities in Hawaii, the city of San Jose, the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla., Montclair State University in New Jersey, and a Housing Authority project in northeast Denver.
The government installation program provides solar technical assistance to federal entities.
Posted by lumi at 4:47 AM
DDDB PRESS RELEASE: City Funding Agreement Casts Further Doubt on Atlantic Yards ‘Affordable Housing'
Allows Lenient Timelines and Minor Penalties;
Reimburses Ratner for Buyouts Made Under Eminent Domain Threat
City Council Committee Hearings Needed to Scrutinize Convoluted City-Ratner Agreement
BROOKLYN, NY— The New York Economic Development Corporation will use $100 million in taxpayer money to reimburse developer Bruce Ratner for the properties he bought, under the threat of eminent domain, for his planned Atlantic Yards arena. Also, Ratner only has to build 300 "affordable" housing units (only 120 for low-income tenants) by the year 2020. That's 10 low-income units per year.
"Ratner's 'generous' buyouts to many property owners threatened by the developer's abuse of eminent domain to build his arena, it turns out, were generously paid for by taxpayers—Ratner paid just about nothing to purchase those properties" said Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB) spokesman Daniel Goldstein. "It is unconscionable and indefensible that the City is giving $100 million of NYC taxpayers' money to pay for Ratner's strong-arm real estate deals."
Norman Oder broke this news today on his Atlantic Yards Report (AYR), revealing these and many other troubling arrangements in the city's Atlantic Yards funding agreement signed with the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) in September, but only made public now through a Freedom of Information Law request. Documents show that Ratner purchased properties within the footprint of his proposed arena site, under the threat of eminent domain, for about $103.5 million; but the funding agreement confirms that the developer's "largesse" is non-existent as the taxpayer will pick up $100 million of that tab.
According to AYR's analysis of the funding agreement, Ratner can also get away with no penalty at all as long as he builds 1.5 million square feet of Phase 1 within 12 years—that would be 44% smaller than the Phase 1 promised at the time the project was approved in December 2006. Such a scenario would mean only 300 units of "affordable" housing in 2020, even though the project that was approved envisioned 2,250 "affordable" units by 2016. The extended timeline allowed in a funding agreement with the state and the reduced project size allowed in the city agreement, would also substantially reduce projected tax revenue found in earlier state documents.
There is no timeline whatsoever for the 11 Phase 2 skyscrapers where the bulk of the "affordable" housing had been proposed
The agreement also requires far greater penalties for the developer if he delays or doesn't build his planned arena, than it requires if the developer delays the housing. And all of the penalties are minimal. Ratner is not even required to pay back $105 million of the $205 million in direct city subsidies if he abandons his project entirely.
Councilwoman Letitia James told AYR that the City Council's Contracts Committee and the Economic Development Committee "should look into the deal." James chairs the Contracts Committee
According to the AYR Councilwoman James expressed shock that the damages the developer would have to pay for an arena delay would be higher than for a housing delay, and that all the penalties are so "minimal."
"These funding agreements demonstrate, once again, that the Atlantic Yards proposal is a bait and switch by the developer, the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), and the NYC Economic Development Corporation," DDDB's Goldstein said. "What's clear is that the ESDC approved an idea, not a plan; it was content to do so knowing that it could negotiate pretty much anything it wanted to, without oversight, once the project was approved. Of course Ratner had no problem with that either. The convoluted, post-approval agreement between Ratner and the city requires City Council committee hearings."
The new revelations in the funding agreements make this Saturday's community rally—urging Governor Paterson to halt Atlantic Yards subsidies, demolitions and displacement—that much more urgent.
"Each day the facts of the Atlantic Yards bait and switch become more and more astounding. The Atlantic Yards promises were a mirage, so it's time to halt the project before Ratner turns our neighborhoods into a desert, as he is attempting to do," Goldstein concluded.
The City funding agreement with developer Forest City Ratner can be found here: http://www.dddb.net/documents/economics/NYCEDC_FCRAgreement.pdf (The file is 13.5 mb)
Posted by lumi at 4:33 AM
April 29, 2008
Secret, True Identity of Real Estate Developer Revealed!
Disco-era Bruce Ratner or celebrity imposter?
Posted by lumi at 7:01 PM
Q&A With Isabel Hill, "Brooklyn Matters" Filmmaker
Brownstoner.com
On Thursday Cobble Hill Cinemas will host a free screening of "Brooklyn Matters," the documentary about Atlantic Yards. The film, which examines how Atlantic Yards came about and what the project's possible ramifications are, came out early last year and has been shown in a number of venues, including colleges and universities like Pratt and NYU. Isabel Hill, the director and producer of "Brooklyn Matters," talked to us about the movie's relevance now that Atlantic Yards is likely to be stalled and how audiences have reacted to her work. The main thrust of Hill's documentary is that Atlantic Yards has ignored decades-old urban planning wisdom and techniques. Hill worked as a planner for many years before making the film.
Now that you’ve been showing the documentary for a while, have you noticed a difference in audience reaction over time?
Hill:Yes, frankly, there does seem to be more outrage over the specific elements of this project. When I first started showing the film, I think many people were just surprised when they discovered the overwhelming scale of the many proposed skyscrapers. Most people initially understood the project to consist of a sports arena and a vague outline of other development. When they saw the monumental scale of the proposed buildings, most first-time viewers were incredulous. Also, when I first began showing the film, viewers were shocked at the ways this project circumvented public process and how project advocates manipulated public perception. Now, I think as people know more about Atlantic Yards, they are incensed when they see the film and more fully understand the drastic and long-lasting impacts of this proposal—a proposal we taxpayers are subsidizing. What I’ve seen is that the film consistently is a revelation to viewers whether they know nothing, little, or a lot about the project.
"Brooklyn Matters" will be screened for free this Thursday evening, May 1st, at the Cobble Hill Cinemas, 265 Court Street, at 7:30 p.m.
Posted by eric at 12:43 PM
Development Watch: Atlantic Terrace
Brownstoner.com
Here's one development near the Vanderbilt Railyard, featuring a lot of affordable housing, that's actually going forward as scheduled.
While the future of affordable housing at Atlantic Yards is unclear, there's been some progress on Atlantic Terrace, the mixed-income development a stone's throw from the AY footprint. There was a ceremonial groundbreaking for the project back (rendered at right) in October, and workers have dug the big hole that'll eventually get filled with 80 co-ops, 50 percent of which will be affordable to low-income families and 20 percent of which will be affordable moderate-income earners. Last year there were stories in the Observer and Post about how plans for solar panels on the building's roof had to be scrapped because the looming shadows of AY high-rises would interfere with harnessing sunshine. Perhaps dark days for AY help that design facet see the light of day.
Posted by eric at 12:34 PM
Major Community Rally Against Ratner's Atlantic Yards Scheme
Daily Gotham [mole333]
As Bruce Ratner goes public admitting he has no intention of fulfilling the promises he made to New York regarding affordable housing in his Atlantic Yards project, even former allies like Bill DeBlasio are now questioning just why New York City and New York State are giving him so much taxpayer money. On Saturday, May 3rd a major rally will be held where opposition will coalesce against Ratner. Among those sponsoring and publicizing this event are former supporters of Ratner, politicians who have previously been lukewarm in their opposition, and opposition groups that formerly didn't work together. In other words, Ratner may have finally shown his hand and all those who believed his promises or who weren't ready to take a strong stand now are feeling betrayed and angry. Saturday may be the beginning of the end for Ratner because for the first time I have seen the names of politicians who had been solidly, blindly behind Ratner cropping up among the opposition.
Posted by eric at 12:09 PM
Borough President Marshall rips 'crazy' option to split Willets Point plan
NY Daily News
by Frank Lombardi and John Lauinger
Were pretty sure the only thing "crazy" in this story is the person calling a plan that might avoid the use of eminent domain at Willets Point "crazy."
The mammoth Willets Point redevelopment plan could be divided into two stages under an alternative approach being considered by city officials.
But a key backer of the city's Willets Point vision, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, denounced the piecemeal option as "crazy." Marshall said she believes the option is aimed at averting the controversial use of eminent domain.
..."I don't think it's a secret. What they're trying to do is to avoid the anti-eminent domain spirit that is going around the City Council," Marshall said.
NoLandGrab: OK, we admit it — we've caught that "crazy" "anti-eminent domain spirit," too.
Posted by eric at 11:58 AM
Simon Liu Fine Art Supply building demolished
Photographer Jonathan Barkey got this shot of what is left of the building that used to house Simon Liu Fine Art Supply.
Tracy Collins documented the demolition of the same building and posted a photo, shot from above, in the flickr Atlantic Yards Photo Pool.
Posted by lumi at 6:16 AM
Ratner Speaks
Atlantic Yards Report and Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn examine Bruce Ratner's interview on NY1 last night (transcript/video).
Atlantic Yards Report, Ratner lowers our architectural expections; will Gehry ease away?
Yes, the "news" (as hinted by the New York Observer) from the fairly gentle profile NY1 ran last night of Bruce Ratner is that the Atlantic Yards developer is talking populism, not Gehry-ism:
“We need jobs, we need shopping that's appropriate and the right price and quality goods, we need supermarkets that provide food that is of quality and well-priced, we need housing, and you know what? The architecture is important, but it's not that important,” says Ratner.
"I want to do great architecture, but I have to say something, which is that, if one is going to boil life down to architecture, then you know what? It's not for me,” he adds.
Interviewer Budd Mishkin, host of the "One On 1" series, didn't raise the suggestion, but to me it hinted as a potential estrangement from Frank Gehry. (Gehry's not mentioned at all in the piece, though models of his buildings are evident and, of course, such video segments are edited.)
After all, Ratner not so long ago was emphasizing his commitment to architecture:
"I’ve been talking for ten years about trying to use ‘design architects’ instead of ‘developer architects," he told New York magazine's Kurt Andersen in 2005. (Citation below.)
Gehry's never designed an arena, so to him that may be the prime lure of the Atlantic Yards commission. Given that most of the project, including the Miss Brooklyn tower (which Gehry called "my ego trip"), has been delayed and layoffs have occurred in Gehry's office, it's possible that Gehry--who has publicly said that typically he'd bring in other architects to work with him--sees a light at the end of the tunnel.
If so, Ratner is now talking about housing and jobs and big box shopping, not architecture.
(The profile offered a look at Ratner in his earlier days as well as a reasonable survey of his life and career.)
NoLandGrab: If starchitect Frank Gehry only designs the arena, then even Gehry detractors might start missing the old guy. The prospect for interesting architecture will become very dim — think MetroTech in the middle of Brownstone Brooklyn.
DDDB.net, Breaking: Ratner Eats East River Fish, Says He's "Progressive"
Develop Don't Destroy got a hearty chuckle from last night's interview. The community group ran the disco-era photo of Bruce Ratner and noted that the self-proclaimed "progressive" ate the fish he caught out of the East River.
NY1 did this fluff job on controversial Atlantic Yards demolition man Bruce Ratner. Some might say it was even hagiographic.
Ratner wants to make sure you know that he is a "progressive." He is so "progressive" that he makes sure to tell the interviewer, Budd Mishkin, that he is "progressive," and Budd tells the viewers that Bruce is "progressive." He also understands the opposition to his project because....their concerns "are not inappropriate," and people have the right to their opinions.
NoLandGrab: Ratner boasted of catching a striped bass, which is migratory and doesn't actually live in the East River, so might not be all that bad for eating, if you want to take your chances. Then again, it must have been a quite big striper because, currently, they have to be at least 28" to be a keeper.
Posted by lumi at 5:46 AM
Atlantic Yards Is Very Much Alive,
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
By Raanan Geberer
The various uncertainties, plus Forest City Ratner’s insistence that the project is going through, are why groups critical of the Atlantic Yards project haven’t been celebrating the facts reported in the Times article. Several of these groups, plus local elected officials, have joined together to sponsor a rally set for this Saturday. The rally, scheduled for 2 p.m. at 752 Pacific St., is asking new Gov. David Paterson to “Call `Time Out’ on the Atlantic Yards Project.”
...
One of the main complaints of this coalition is that demolition of large areas in the “footprint” is continuing, even though, according to the announcement, “Forest City Ratner Company has acknowledged that the Atlantic Yards project won’t be built according to the schedule and plan that was approved.”
...
Jim Vogel of the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods said, “They [Forest City Ratner] say they have a commitment to the project, but they haven’t put a timeline on it. I do project management for a living, and if you don’t have times for deliverables, you don’t have a project plan.”
...
The main day-to-day complaint in the neighborhood, Vogel added, is the continuing jack-hammering and construction noises, often at night. “Dean Street and Flatbush Avenue have become a continual construction zone from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. every night,” he said. “I live at Fourth and Pacific, and I hear this every single night.”Riegelhaupt of Forest City Ratner responded that “The work we’re doing is massive infrastructure improvement, replacing 80-year-old water mains that have never been replaced. We’re upgrading, water, sewer lines, and work on the rail yards is also proceeding.”
The company is coordinating with the city to work at night, he explained, because major daytime projects on major streets like Atlantic Avenue would severely impact daytime traffic.
Vogel replied that it’s not only on Atlantic Avenue – night work is also proceeding on smaller streets such as Dean Street.
...
Gib Veconi of BrooklynSpeaks says, “Forest City Ratner is still moving ahead with demolitions and infrastructure disruptions as though they were proceeding with the original plans.“One of the reasons the Atlantic Yards was announced was to combat blight – now, they’re creating blight. All of Block 1129, between Pacific, Dean, Vanderbilt and Carlton, is slated to be demolished.”
Posted by lumi at 5:44 AM
Time Out Rally in the News
The Real Deal, Pols to rally for Atlantic Yards halt
Several politicians will attend a Saturday rally that will call for halting Bruce Ratner's massive Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn so that it can be re-examined. The rally's sponsors, BrooklynSpeaks, the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods and Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, want Gov. David Paterson to call a "timeout" because they say the struggling project will demolish buildings and displace residents and businesses with no definite plans to build.... On Friday, The Real Deal reported that Ratner has been approached by New Jersey investors and public officials who want him to relocate the Nets, who are supposed to move from the Meadowlands to Atlantic Yards, to the new Prudential Center in downtown Newark instead.
Runnin' Scared [The Village Voice], April Showers Bring Rally Calling for Atlantic Yards 'Time Out'
As the economy falters and the credit markets tumble, the initial Atlantic Yards proposal estimated at $4 billion, including much hyped affordable housing, appears to have shriveled to a $950 million arena and a few smaller residential buildings, prompting unnecessary demolitions in the Prospect Heights neighborhood.
A collaboration of community groups—Brooklyn Speaks, the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods, and Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn—wants Governor Paterson to put a freeze on all Atlantic Yards activities until a more sensible solution can be determined.
...
For a deeper glimpse into how the other side spins, catch Atlantic Yards mega-developer Bruce Ratner one-on-one with NY1’s Bud Mishkin tonight at 8 p.m.
Posted by lumi at 5:29 AM
Congestion pricing failure may delay BRT; Flatbush route not yet on the agenda
Atlantic Yards Report
The failure of congestion pricing threw a bit of a wrench in the city's plans for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), suggested as one solution to congestion on Flatbush Avenue, but now apparently several years away.
Though Flatbush is an obvious candidate for such service--which would have a dedicated express lane, fewer stops, offsite payment and "honor system" entrance (subject to random check), staggered stoplights, and back boarding, according to the city's pilot in the Bronx--another obvious candidate, Nostrand Avenue, was selected in 2006 for one-per-borough pilot project. It looks to be about four years away, however.
...
A PlaNYC "scorecard" clarifies that the other four SBS services are planned to be introduced by 2011. That's likely too late to start up a Flatbush Avenue version by 2010, the unreliable official target date for opening the Atlantic Yards arena, or even 2011, which I consider the likely best-case scenario.In fact, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority contradicts the PlaNYC document, estimating on its SBS FAQ page that the Nostrand Avenue route would be implemented in 2012. Though that's subject to change, it's a good bet that a Flatbush Avenue route would be at least a year after that.
Would that be in time for an AY arena? Then again, developer Forest City Ratner has six years--after the close of litigation and the transfer of property via eminent domain--to build the arena without penalty.
Posted by lumi at 5:22 AM
Atlantic Yards
From Relinq Wish
I like this photo a lot. It's hard to find wide open spaces in the city these days, especially a vast open blue sky and a plane in the middle of it. Of course, if you pan down a little more you would see the semi-bearable chaos of the street below. But this picture captures the rare silent and pure moments which are few and far between in the daily norm of hysteria.
NoLandGrab: This is the westerly view over the Vanderbilt Railyards, over which the "Atlantic Yards" project will be built. The Newswalk building is to the left — it's not under threat of demolition, since it was initially carved out of the footprint of Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards plan.
Though some Atlantic Yards supporters may scoff at those who decry the loss of "vast open blue sky," it's the one resource that belongs to everyone.
UPDATE: It appears that this photo was actually taken by local photographer TRACY COLLINS who uploaded it to flickr on April 8, 2007, a year before Relinq Wish posted the same shot to her own flickr account. What are the chances Relinq Wish will relinquish the photo credit?
Posted by lumi at 5:09 AM
NYC building boom won't peak for 2-3 yrs -panel
The Guardian
By Joan Gralla
New York City's building boom will not top out until 2010 or 2011 despite the ailing economy because so many billion-dollar public and private projects are under way, a panel said on Monday.
Wall Street is the sun around which the city's economy revolves, but private developers and public agencies have planned $51 billion of projects over the next four years, according to the blue-ribbon panel's report for New York state's Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
With contractors and skilled workmen in short supply and the prices of steel, concrete, copper and other materials spiraling higher, the state agency convened the panel to find ways to cut costs to avoid having to delay or reduce projects.
...
So far, Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards development, which includes a new basketball stadium for the Nets, is the only project that has said it probably will take longer to finish than first thought because of the sagging economy.
Posted by lumi at 5:01 AM
L.A.'s Grand Avenue project snags on loans
LA Times
By Cara Mia DiMassa
The other Frank Gehry-designed megaproject is also stalling out:
The developer of the Grand Avenue project in downtown Los Angeles said Monday that completion of the $3-billion redevelopment effort will be delayed until 2012 because of difficulty in obtaining construction loans amid the real estate downturn.
The Frank Gehry-designed high-rise project is seen as a linchpin in downtown's revitalization, and the delay is the latest sign that the loft and condo craze in the city center is cooling off.
...
Grand Avenue is one of several mega-developments around the nation that are in trouble because of the credit crunch. In Seattle, developers recently shelved plans for a $7-billion development downtown, citing the poor economy. Huge projects in Las Vegas, Phoenix and New York have also been scaled back or delayed, including part of the Gehry-designed Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn and a $14-billion development of the area around Penn Station.
Posted by lumi at 4:56 AM
It came from the Blogosphere...
Veritas et Venustas, Urbanism and An Architecture of Place
John Massengale chides NY Mets owner Fred Wilpon for his artifice and then points out that the traffic-infested triple intersection at "Atlantic Yards" (we think he means Vanderbilt Yards) would be a better site for a metropolitan ballpark.
Wilpon told the architects of CitiField to make it like Ebbets Field, where the Dodgers played. But then he put the field in the middle of a parking lot. As a Brooklyn boy, he should have known better.
Ebbets Field was firmly embedded in the urban fabric of Brooklyn. The team got its name because their fans had to "dodge" streetcars to get to the field. But CitiField has no city, and the Metropolitans have no metropolis. They should play on the Atlantic Yards site, where there are 5 or 6 subway lines and the LIRR. Their urban locations are part of what make Fenway and Wrigley the two best fields.
No Police State, Another Event
And I was reading another one of those Todd Eaton emails today that seem to be all protest all the time, and this one was titled "Time Out on Atlantic Yards". And it was talking about developers destroying and demolishing whole communities in Brooklyn for no apparent reason other than I am not sure. And that word developer that I've been hearing a lot lately when it comes to overdevelopment leads me to wonder for what reason does the word developer contain the word devel which sounds like devil? Or is that a whole another blah blog posting.
Found in Brooklyn, Atlantic Yards Rally * May 3rd
Please try and attend and spread the word!
The Campaign for Community-Based Planning, Rally to Halt Atlantic Yards, May 3
News of the rally from Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn.
Posted by lumi at 4:35 AM
Forest City in the News
The Johns Hopkins University Gazette, 'Rebuilding America's Cities'
The third annual Rebuilding America's Cities lecture presented by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies and Evergreen Museum & Library will be held at 6:30 p.m., on Thursday, May 1, in the Evergreen Carriage House. Ronald Ratner, executive vice president and director of Forest City Enterprises, and president and CEO of Forest City Residential Group, will give a talk titled "American Cities: Does Size Matter?"
Ratner, an executive vice president of one of the largest publicly traded real estate companies in the United States, will discuss the pitfalls of equating city size and growth with success, the central role that cities play in metropolitan areas and smart strategies for shrinking cities.
Curious topic, since Forest City Enterprises is the beneficiary of a massive state zoning override for the Atlantic Yards mini-city planned in the "Heart of Brooklyn." Since we seem to be keeping count, the article sites Atlantic Yards in "downtown Brooklyn," instead of Prospect Heights.
New Mexico Business Weekly, Lumidigm soon to join Mesa del Sol community
New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands Patrick Lyons said on Tuesday fingerprinting technology firm Lumidigm soon will break ground on a 25,000-square-foot facility at Mesa del Sol.
Lumidigm has signed a lease for land from Forest City Covington NM, the developer of the 13,000-acre, master-planned community on the southern outskirts of Albuquerque. The facility will be located in the community's town center.
New Mexico Business Weekly, Mesa del Sol signs agreement with South Valley center
The master-planned community being developed by Forest City Covington New Mexico signed an agreement with the South Valley Economic Development Center that will help local growers build capacity to supply the 13,000-acre project south of the Albuquerque International Sunport.
The South Valley Economic Development Center assisted local growers in creating the Rio Grande Growers' Association. Mesa del Sol will invest $100,000 for administrative expenses and start-up capital for the association. Growers will provide Mesa del Sol with plants for its Aperture Park and for plantings along the extension of University Boulevard.
Mesa del Sol also will appoint a landscape expert to work with growers and identify the quantity and specific plants to be used for landscaping. The growers, in turn, will supply drought-tolerant, low-water use and native plant materials.
Posted by lumi at 4:13 AM
April 28, 2008
Ratner on NY1: A Snapshot
The Real Estate Observer
Oh man, we hope that the rest of Bruce Ratner's interview with Budd Mishkin on NY1 is as good as the quote that The Observer ran as a teaser:
The notoriously press-shy Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner is due to appear on NY1 tonight at 8:30, going one-on-one with reporter Budd Mishkin.
The folks at NY1 have sent us over a brief teaser quote from Mr. Ratner:
We need jobs, we need shopping that's appropriate, and the right price and quality goods, supermarkets that provide food of quality and well priced, we need housing, and the architecture is important but it's not that important.
NoLandGrab: "Shopping that's appropriate," and "architecture is important, but it's not that important?" No wonder the Brucester is press shy.
Which leads us to wonder, what would constitute shopping that's inappropriate?
Posted by lumi at 6:17 PM
MEDIA ADVISORY: Community Groups, Elected Officials To Hold Major Rally
WHAT: Time Out on Atlantic Yards Rally
WHEN: Saturday, May 3rd at 2:00PM
WHERE: 752 Pacific Street between Carlton and Vanderbilt Avenues [Map]
WHO: BrooklynSpeaks, Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods, Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, local elected officials
Forest City Ratner Company has acknowledged that the Atlantic Yards project won't be built according to the schedule and plan that was approved. Brooklyn residents are faced with demolition of vast areas of their community with no committed plans to build. Taxpayers may be asked to bear an even greater burden than the $2 billion in public subsidies already estimated.
A major community rally will be held Saturday, May 3, 2pm at 752 Pacific Street. The Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods, BrooklynSpeaks, and Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn will join with community leaders and elected officials to ask Governor Paterson to call "Time Out" on the Atlantic Yards project: suspend demolitions, displacement of residents and businesses, infrastructure disruptions and further subsidies to the project so that changes to the project can be assessed and a plan prepared with community involvement. The three sponsoring coalitions represent thousands of New Yorkers who have had differing perspectives on issues raised by the Atlantic Yards proposal, but all agree that the current state of affairs is intolerable.
The following elected officials have confirmed attendance: NYS Senator Velmanette Montgomery, NYS Assemblywoman Joan Millman, NYS Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, NYC Councilwoman Letitia James, NYC Councilman Bill de Blasio, NYC Councilman David Yassky, NYC Councilman Tony Avella.
CONTACT:
Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, www.dddb.net
Daniel Goldstein (917) 701-3056
Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods, www.councilofbrooklynneighborhoods.org
Jim Vogel (718) 638-3349
BrooklynSpeaks, www.brooklynspeaks.net
Gib Veconi (917) 881-0401
Public transportation to the rally:
SUBWAYS [Map]:
2/3 to Bergen Street
B, D,M,N,R to Pacific Street
Q to 7th Avenue
C to Lafayette or Washington Avenues
2,3,4,5 to Atlantic Avenue
BUS:
65 On Dean Street going East, or Bergen Street Going West
45 on Atlantic Avenue
Posted by lumi at 6:07 PM
Atlantic Yards Time Out Rally
Posted by lumi at 5:16 AM
The PlaNYC 2030 housing update and the contradictions of AY
Atlantic Yards Report
When PlaNYC 2030 was announced last April, I pointed out how Atlantic Yards was conspicuously absent as an example of how to build new housing, even though the plan promotes the identification of underutilized areas across the city that are well-served by transit and the exploration of opportunities to create new land by decking over rail yards, rail lines and highways.
Given that the project remains high on the mayoral agenda, the omission was curious, I noted--though I'd add today that there is a built-in excuse; as a state project, the city can claim that it has no power over the rezoning.
The PlaNYC 2030 Progress Report issued last week also understandably leaves Atlantic Yards off the maps of city-initiated rezonings and rezonings with inclusionary zoning.
Does South/Central Brooklyn have the carrying capacity for Bruce Ratner's megaproject? Should the need for affordable housing supercede the debate on other urban planning concerns? Ron Shiffman, former City Planning Commissioner and Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn board member, argues that there needs to be a balance.
For more reporting on the progress of PlaNYC, check out "PlaNYC gets praise from planners, but momentum must be sustained."
Posted by lumi at 4:55 AM
Real Estate Slump Hits New York
Gotham Gazette
By Steven Josselson
Congratulations Bruce Ratner, your Atlantic Yards scheme is now the poster-project for the local real estate slowdown:
In recent years, few issues have divided residents of Downtown Brooklyn more than the $4 billion, 22-acre Atlantic Yards project being developed by New Jersey Nets' owner Bruce Ratner. Ratner's company Forest City Ratner is in a deal with the city and state to develop a high-rise commercial office tower, affordable housing units and a basketball stadium, the Barclays Center, in the heart of Downtown Brooklyn in just a few years.
Local community groups and residents, concerned that such a large-scale development in a partially residential area could harm their quality of life and change the neighborhood's character forever, have been attempting to stop the project in its tracks through litigation, seeking to influence public opinion and pressure decision-makers in City Hall and Albany to reconsider the project's risks.
While these concerted efforts have proven unsuccessful, integral components of the development have now been put on hold for an indeterminate period of time -- not because of public outrage, but rather due to increasing construction costs, a slowing economy sliding toward a recession and a tightening credit market.
To different degrees, the very same economic challenges facing Atlantic Yards are impacting real estate projects both big and small throughout the five boroughs.
NoLandGrab: Though Daily News columnist Errol Louis derides those of us who spend our free time pointing out anything that locates Atlantic Yards in "Downtown Brooklyn," as developer Bruce Ratner would have you believe, instead of "Prospect Heights," where it is actually located, we can't seem to stop. It's a no-brainer and thus, just about our speed.
Seriously, the tip-off to the author should have been the description of the neighborhood as a "partially residential area."
Posted by lumi at 4:36 AM
City forcing its will upon Coney Island
MetroNY
By Neil deMause
NY City revised the plan for Coney Island in the hopes of “getting something done,” which is a good thing, right?
Worse yet, focusing on “getting things done” doesn’t even always get things done. Too often, it’s meant putting all the city’s eggs in one basket — witness Bruce Ratner’s maybe-on-hiatus Atlantic Yards project, where the city’s hopes for a sweeping remaking of the Brooklyn railyards could instead end up leading to 20 years of empty lots. It’s important to remember that historically, there are plenty of districts that developed because the city didn’t get things done — say, SoHo, which was colonized by artists after Robert Moses’ Lower Manhattan Expressway scheme collapsed — achieving more gradual, organic change. Sometimes, slow and steady wins the race.
Posted by lumi at 4:20 AM
April 27, 2008
Newark wants Ratner to ditch Brooklyn and stay in NJ
The Real Deal
Developer Bruce Ratner has been approached by several New Jersey investors and public officials on a plan to relocate the Nets to the Prudential Center in downtown Newark, according to sources familiar with the talks.The investors would like Ratner to have the Nets partner with the New Jersey Devils and move into the Prudential Center in Newark, where the hockey team has just finished its first full season.
"They're being wooed politically as well as by the private sector," said Ken Baris, a New Jersey realtor, who is familiar with some of the investors who have approached Ratner. "There's a lot of people that kind of want to keep it quiet, but [at the same time] are looking forward to a lot more leaks."
A move to Newark would effectively end Ratner's efforts to move the Nets to a $950 million Barclays Center in downtown Brooklyn, which was to serve as the centerpiece of his controversial $4 billion Atlantic Yards complex and would be the most expensive basketball arena in the country. Nets officials denied there have been any plans to move to Newark and have insisted they are moving forward with the Brooklyn arena.
Posted by amy at 10:02 AM
Flashback: in 2005, the Times reported project completion by 2011
Atlantic Yards Report
Remember this front-page New York Times article?
The article was flawed for all sorts of reasons, notably the claim that the arena was instantly gaining a skyline. (See the skyline announced in December 2003 here.) Instead, revised designs were being released, exclusively to the Times.But a second look shows the real whopper below.
Well, 2008-9 for the arena is of course way off. At the time, it was highly unlikely though not completely implausible, assuming a smooth environmental review process and no lawsuits.2011: a fantasy
But could the the entire project have been completed by 2011? That's ridiculous, given that the developer claimed when Atlantic Yards was announced in 2003 that it would take ten years to build.
Posted by amy at 9:30 AM
3 vie for Recchia's City Council seat
NY Daily News
JOTHAM SEDERSTROM
While one group in the Bronx tries to negotiate a real CBA, one candidate for Domenic Recchia's City Council seat representing Coney Island seems to be aiming low:
Lisyanskiy, an aide to Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) who has worked under speakers Gifford Miller and Peter Vallone, said unemployment and an ambitious plan to redevelop much of Coney Island are among his top priorities if elected.The Ukranian-born Bensonhurst resident said he would push for a legally binding Community Benefit Agreement like one tied to the controversial Atlantic Yards project.
article
NoLandGrab: Recommended reading for city council candidates: AYR's "Substantial legally enforceable penalties"? FCR's claims about CBA raise doubts
Posted by amy at 9:20 AM
Economy, Credit Woes Foil Cities' Big Projects
Wall Street Journal
JENNIFER S. FORSYTH
One project being watched closely is Atlantic Yards, a $4 billion development that Forest City Ratner Cos. is building on 22 acres in Brooklyn, N.Y. After a number of court battles, the developer plans to finally begin construction on a new arena for the New Jersey Nets basketball team by the end of this year.However, the schedule for its planned office tower, called Miss Brooklyn, likely be will pushed back until an anchor tenant is signed given the current market conditions, says Loren Riegelhaupt, a Forest City spokesman. He stresses that the entire project eventually will be built. "It's not a question of if, but when."
Atlantic Yards Report responded:
Well, the plan may be to break ground this year, but how can he be sure? As to whether the entire project will be built, well, there's no guarantee that housing subsidies will be available.More importantly, the governmental authorities don't require the project to be built as approved; the State Funding Agreement includes a City Purpose Covenant that allows for the amendment of the General Project Plan and contemplates its abandonment for a smaller project. Maybe that's why Frank Gehry is laying off architects, as the Los Angeles Times reports on its blog.
Posted by amy at 9:11 AM
Putting the "Community" back into CBA
After Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner took the first steps towards perverting the concept of the "Community Benefits Agreement" (CBA), things have gone from bad to worse in NYC. Now a group from the Bronx is hoping to negotiate a real CBA with Related Companies for the Kingbridge Armory project.
From The Eminent Domain:
Now KARA [Kingbrige Armory Redevelopment Alliance] is doing something extremely gutsy: It is trying to wrest the whole concept of a community benefits agreement back from the jaws of elected officials who have perverted it beyond recognition, so much so that New Yorkers who pay attention to development simply assume that a CBA is one step removed from a shakedown. (Check out the comments on blogs and news sites if you’d like to think that’s not true.) And you can’t exactly fault that perception, given “CBAs” like the Yankee Stadium deal that basically gives Bronx officials a pile of money they can spend in any way they want, plus an ample supply of free sports equipment.
The question now is: how is KARA going to change the script here?
...
But the situation highlights a glaring reality: New York City is suffering from its lack of a citywide framework for how economic development projects like this happen. All over the city we’re seeing citizens wage campaigns to make development more responsive to its host communities — in West Harlem, Willets Point, downtown Brooklyn, Coney Island, and those are only the big ones — but they each fight their own lonely battles, often pitted against their own elected officials.
Posted by lumi at 6:33 AM
April 26, 2008
All in the timing: "when" but not "if," says FCR (but not on AY.com)
Atlantic Yards Report
From the FAQ page at the Atlantic Yards web site:
Obviously, ground hasn't been broken. And the plan, at least that passed by the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), may have been to phase construction over ten years, but it was hardly realistic. Now it's an impossibility, and the ESDC gives the developer a long leash. So the FAQ needs an update.
Posted by amy at 11:18 AM
De Blasio claims AY would have 3000 low-income units
Atlantic Yards Report
In an interview in the Spring issue of the Park Slope Reader, City Council Member Bill de Blasio, who's running for Borough President, shows he hasn't improved his due diligence regarding Atlantic Yards.Notably--unless he was misquoted--he claimed that the project would include 3000 low-income housing units, a significant overstatement.
Actually, the plan is to include 900 low-income rental units--at 30-50% of AMI (Area Median Income)--among 2250 affordable rentals, and 600 to 1000 for-sale affordable units, of which a "majority... will be sold to families in the upper affordable income tiers," according to the Housing Memorandum of Understanding Forest City Ratner signed with ACORN. That means households with six-figure incomes, perhaps needing a boost in New York, but hardly low-income.
Posted by amy at 11:03 AM
Layoffs at Frank Gehry's firm have L.A. architects on edge
L.A. Now
One Gehry architect told LA Now today that 23 workers were laid off in the firm's Venice office in response to the delay in the giant Atlantic Yards project in New York and the slowing economy. On Thursday, Curbed LA reported a rumor that 80 people had lost their jobs. Gehry's firm, for its part, is not talking, failing to respond to several e-mails and phone calls today.What's for sure is that architects, along with real estate developers and builders, are seeing business drop off steeply, with no end in sight. Says Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne:
"I think it's likely certain big firms around town will have to take similar action; even foreign investors flush with capital, which have been keeping a few high-stakes projects here from collapsing, are starting to look wary of investing in the U.S. All the same, Gehry's is a special case: The sheer scale of the firm's Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn -- not to mention Grand Avenue, Abu Dhabi and other mega-commissions around the world -- meant it had to expand over the last few years to an unprecedented degree. Staffing levels there really had nowhere to go but down."
Posted by amy at 10:59 AM
‘Room’ doomed?
The Brooklyn Paper, Letter to the Editor from Alan Rosner, Park Slope
To the editor,We have just learned that the iconic Frank Gehry skyscraper, Miss Brooklyn, has no anchor tenant, and that without one no financing is available (“Atlantic Yards Dead,” March 29). That being the case, the basketball arena may get built long before Miss Brooklyn construction begins.
Meanwhile, no one seems to have asked if the “Urban Room” — a six-story, all-glass entry to Miss Brooklyn, the arena and the Atlantic Avenue station — will be built or abandoned.
There are problems either way. If it is to be built, Bruce Ratner will have some major redesign costs, especially if the distance between the “Urban Room” and the arena is to be hidden rather than left a gaping open wound.
Ratner’s less-costly alternative is to wait until Miss Brooklyn eventually goes ahead. But the “Urban Room,” a promised amenity, also served to mitigate the expected hoards of pedestrians crossing Atlantic Avenue by connecting the MTA’s Atlantic Avenue station with the arena. The silence suggests that neither the ESDC nor Ratner are concerned.
I’d like to think The Brooklyn Paper could find out what a delayed Miss Brooklyn means, but unfortunately control of what happens to neighborhoods is happening behind closed doors among connected, corporate developers who have money to buy their way through the system.
I guess the real question is how much longer this swindle will be allowed to drag on?
Alan Rosner, Park Slope
Posted by amy at 10:55 AM
Brooklyn Bridge Park goes forward
The Brooklyn Paper
By Mike McLaughlin
Brooklyn Bridge Park cleared another hurdle this week, as the State Supreme Court ruled against opponents of the open space and luxury housing development, unanimously upholding the state’s inclusion of private housing inside the park’s footprint.The Brooklyn Bridge Park Defense Fund had filed the lawsuit to force the state to revise its plans for the 85-acre parkland and commercial development along the DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights waterfront by eliminating the controversial condominiums and hotel slated for the park.
...
The Defense Fund also argued that the development’s Environmental Impact Statement — a document that examines the effect of the project on everything from air quality to traffic flows — was flawed because it underestimated the impact of traffic from the proposed Atlantic Yards mega-project just over a mile away.
...
The court also concluded that the effects of Atlantic Yards-related traffic was sufficiently studied.
Posted by amy at 10:50 AM
April 25, 2008
Rally for AY "time out" to be held Saturday, May 3
Atlantic Yards Report
Three "flavors," one rally:
The "Atlantic Yards stall" has brought groups representing different flavors of project criticism and opposition together for a rally at 2 pm on Saturday, May 3, with a range of local political officials confirmed as attendees. The location is 752 Pacific Street near Carlton Avenue in the AY footprint, a block planned to hold "interim surface parking" that could last indefinitely. (The Brooklyn Paper broke the news, though the lead of the article says Sunday rather than Saturday and stresses stopping demolitions.)
The stated purpose--asking Gov. David Paterson for a "time out"--is certainly milder than the full agenda of Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods (CBN) and Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB). Indeed, DDDB restates its opposition to the project in its rally announcement.
What does the statement that "Brooklyn needs a new plan and community involvement" mean? It could mean the UNITY plan, which DDDB and CBN support, but it also could be a restatement of the position of more moderate coalition BrooklynSpeaks, which has taken a "mend it, don't end it" posture toward AY and has avoided joining any lawsuits.
...
(Note that the rally location is outside a building owned by Henry Weinstein, a plaintiff in the eminent domain case and a party in a suit, so far successful, against his tenant Shaya Boymelgreen, who then assigned leases to Forest City Ratner.)
Posted by lumi at 5:19 AM
Mega-rally to stop mega-project
The Brooklyn Paper
By Gersh Kuntzman
Three local groups that haven’t exactly agreed on how to fight the Atlantic Yards development will put aside their differences to demand a halt in demolition work on the project at a mega-rally next Sunday.
The announcement of the May 3 rally by the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods, Brooklyn Speaks and Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn comes one week after three City Councilmembers from Brooklyn asked the Empire State Development Corporation to bar developer Bruce Ratner from continuing to tear down buildings in the Atlantic Yards footprint given that the developer has said he cannot build the 16-skyscraper, office space, retail and basketball arena project that was approved by the state in December, 2006.
...
Expected on hand will be Councilmembers Bill DeBlasio (D–Park Slope), Letitia James (D–Fort Greene) and David Yassky (D–Brooklyn Heights), the trio that penned a letter to state officials calling for a halt in demolitions so that the neighborhood is not left “in an empty, blighted state for an unknown number of years to come.”Rally against Atlantic Yards sponsored by the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhood, Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn and Brooklyn Speaks will be held at 752 Pacific St. (between Carlton and Vanderbilt avenues in Prospect Heights) at 2 pm on Saturday, May 3. Visit www.councilofbrooklynneighborhoods.org, www.dddb.net or www.brooklynspeaks.org for info.
NoLandGrab: Though the positions held by the three participating groups are significantly different (read the article for details), the irony is that to the developer Forest City, NY City and State, these same distinctions remain subtle.
Posted by lumi at 5:06 AM
Arena subway access without the Urban Room? ESDC says it's OK
Atlantic Yards Report
The "Urban Room" at Atlantic Yards (aka, "atrium") is billed as a multipurpose, glass-enclosed retail gallery, public space, ticket window, subway entrance, and the largest stoop in Brooklyn, and has been lauded and sold as a "significant public amenity," "a soaring Piranesian space," "a prominent feature of the pedestrian experience," and "its own destination." Yet without the signature tower — fancifully dubbed "Miss Brooklyn" — might developer Bruce Ratner deliver an "Urban Shed?"
Norman Oder sifts through the few documents that have been made public, and it looks like the only requirement is that Ratner "provide reasonable assurances... that the new subway station access that will adjoin the Arena will be completed and operational at the time the Arena is opened for operation."
Oder concludes:
Without Miss Brooklyn, it looks like there's no room for the Urban Room.
Posted by lumi at 4:26 AM
April 24, 2008
An Open Letter to President Bollinger
Columbia Spectator
West Harlem businessman Nick Sprayregen, unable to get a meeting with the man who runs the institution that wants New York State to take his land by eminent domain, resorts to an open letter in the Columbia Spectator.
Dear President Bollinger,
With the recent appointment of a new governor, there is renewed hope among many that the state will finally take strides in amending its abusive eminent domain laws. As such, I publish this open letter with the sincere hope that it will lead to meaningful dialogue between you and me. Over the past nearly four years, the institution that you head, Columbia University, and the family business of which I am president, Tuck-It-Away Self Storage, have been locked in battle. The outcome of this struggle will affect the future direction of many parties—my family, Columbia, and West Harlem. The stakes are huge.
The issue: the threatened use of eminent domain. You have asked the state to condemn any properties in the Manhattanville area of West Harlem that refuse to sell to you. Out of regard for my family, which has owned and operated four commercial properties here for almost 30 years, my answer has always been the same: I will not negotiate while the threat of eminent domain is hung over my head. That is not fair.
During this fight, you and I have never directly communicated, despite my request for a meeting with you. This request was turned down. Instead, it has only been through surrogates—lawyers, lobbyists, and journalists—that we have had any form of contact.
I am adamant in my opposition to the possible use of eminent domain so that Columbia can take others’ private property to help it build a new campus. This is not how eminent domain should be used. Columbia is a private institution of privilege—it is not a fire station, highway or, indeed, a public school.
Posted by eric at 2:26 PM
Legislation would require emergency report on major capital projects
EmpireStateNews.Net
Citing a pattern of inadequate financing, bad planning and misplaced priorities, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, Chairman of the Assembly Committee on Corporations, Commissions, and Authorities today released legislation requiring the immediate submission to the Legislature and the Governor of a report outlining the status of and issues confronting close to a dozen major capital projects in the downstate region.
These projects, all of which are facing significant problems, include Hudson Yards, 7 Line extension, Javits Convention Center, the Boulevard, Moynihan Station, World Trade Center rebuild, PATH station, Atlantic Yards, Willets Point and Sunnyside Yards.
Additional coverage:
The NY Sun, Progress Reports Urged for Big Development Projects
"This is not about the fact that these developments are in various states of collapse, which they are, but that they are all endangering the MTA's capital plan, which is the single most important part for any government," Mr. Brodsky said.
"Other than the mayor and the governor, who knows what is actually going on?" [Brodsky] said.
NY Daily News, Pol wants facts & figures on faltering big projects
Brodsky says the projects are in trouble due to "inadequate financing, bad planning and misplaced priorities," and he's worried that they're siphoning off funds for much-needed mass transit projects.
Atlantic Yards Report, Brodsky seeks AY timetable, cost-benefit analysis in report on megaprojects
Analysis and commentary from Norman Oder:
If passed, the law would require not merely a status report, but also would require a cost-benefit analysis that has so far not been conducted. It would require the ESDC to detail the full spectrum of public "incentives, benefits, subsidies, and revenues," the projected economic impact on the city, state, and metropolitan area, "and a comparison of expected benefits with anticipated costs."
That could be a watershed. The ESDC has produced a lengthy Final Environmental Impact Statement (see the last pages of the Socioeconomics chapter), as well as a General Project Plan, both of which estimate new revenues, but provide scant details on the totality of public subsidies and public costs. (The Independent Budget Office came the closest to estimating the total impact of the project, but shied away from a full study.)
It would be astounding if the ESDC produced a full cost-benefit analysis within 45 days. More likely the agency would supply an updated version of previously compiled documents.
Posted by lumi at 5:43 AM
MTA head "concerned" about $100M owed by FCR; developer says first tower residential
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder tuned in to the MTA's "webinar" and provides some coverage and analysis and parses Forest City Ratner spokesperson Loren Riegelhaupt's response to The NY Observer:
The Observer's report also quoted FCR spokesman Loren Riegelhaupt, who stated that the first building to open, along with the arena, would be residential. That means that Building 1, aka Miss Brooklyn, remains on hold until an anchor tenant is found, as the New York Times first reported last month. It also means that, unless certain parts of Building 1 are completed, the arena would open without the Urban Room, the atrium that would serve as a combination building lobby, arena entrance, subway entrance, retail/restaurant space, and public gathering space.
Posted by lumi at 5:34 AM
MTA Chief 'Concerned' About $100M Owed for Atlantic Yards
The Real Estate Observer
By Eliot Brown
Metropolitan Transportation Authority executive director Lee Sander seems a bit uncertain about the $100 million that developer Forest City Ratner owes the agency for Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards project. He had this to say earlier this month in a capital program “webinar” (no, we don’t quite know what that word is either), responding to a question about the MTA’s current capital plan:
There is $100 million associated with the sale of Atlantic Yards, and many of you have read in the newspapers some of the difficulty Forest City is having with that development, so hopefully that will proceed, but we want to make sure that that happens—but we’re concerned about that.
A spokesman for Forest City, Loren Riegelhaupt, said the $100 million would indeed go to the MTA later this year, once the company closes on the deal.
Posted by lumi at 5:29 AM
Questions unanswered in the State Funding Agreement
Atlantic Yards Report
One lesson from the Atlantic Yards saga is that, at least in this case, the approval in December 2006 by the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) was not the end of the story but a midpoint, given that negotiations regarding funding agreements--and thus project deadlines--were in the future.
(Is this standard operating procedure for most ESDC projects? That's a question worth looking into.)
And even the State Funding Agreement, signed last September but made public last month, leaves several ambiguities subject to further negotiations. In other words, it's very much not over--but the negotiations are not exactly public. Perhaps the law, proposed by Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, requiring the ESDC to report on details of the project might get to some of these details.
...
I posed several questions to the Empire State Development Corporation. Spokesman Warner Johnston told me last week it was too soon to provide details...
Click here to read Norman Oder's list of questions for the ESDC.
Posted by lumi at 5:24 AM
April 23, 2008
Behind 80 DeKalb, FCR's test run for AY marketing (and, probably, housing bonds)
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder takes an in-depth look at Forest City Ratner's 80 DeKalb project for clues about the company's chances of securing scarce tax-exempt bonds for Atlantic Yards.
Forest City Ratner's plan for a 365-unit rental apartment building at 80 DeKalb Avenue, a new tower at the edge of Fort Greene and Downtown Brooklyn, offers some obvious and not so obvious parallels regarding the housing planned for the Atlantic Yards project.
The marketing of residential real estate--a first for FCR in Brooklyn and one of only three such company projects in the city--presents the obvious parallel.
The less obvious parallel: the developer's success in gaining scarce tax-exempt bonds from the state housing finance agency--in an application that earned praise from the agency's head--shows that FCR may be well-positioned to compete for similar bonds from the city housing finance agency to build AY.
Posted by eric at 9:12 AM
NJ Nets Chatterbox
If it wasn't for Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, we might have missed two articles from New Jersey, which have stirred up all kinds of chatter about keeping the Nets in the Garden State:
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, Nets to Newark Chatter
Yesterday in two Jersey papers (The Newark Star-Ledger and The Record), there was quite a bit of chatter about the expense of the proposed move of the Nets to Brooklyn and the possibility of the Nets moving to the newly built Prudential Center Arena in Newark.
The Bergen Record, Can the Nets afford to move to Brooklyn?
The Nets expect to lose about $40 million in the just-completed season, with similar red ink expected annually for the basketball franchise's foreseeable future at the Izod Center [in New Jersey].
At the same time, the estimated cost of their proposed new building — the Barclays Center in Brooklyn — has soared to $950 million, or more than twice the price of any pro basketball or hockey arena ever built in the United States.
At this rate, the Nets can't afford to stay in the Meadowlands — but can they afford to move to Brooklyn?
The Newark Star-Ledger, Newark hoop dreams [Blog editorial]
Those who dream in New Jersey know the rumors that developer Ratner bought the Nets only to sweeten the appeal of the development project. The reverie is that if Brooklyn falls through, a coalition of New Jersey buyers (led by the New Jersey Devils hockey team, perhaps?) would take the Nets off Ratner's hands. Then the Nets would move into the shiny new Prudential Center, which the Devils built with the city of Newark. Whether the financing of the Newark arena made sense (the city put up the lion's share), it's built and it draws tons of fans via mass transit. The arena here was originally planned as a home for the Nets, and that's where the team belongs.
Nets Daily, Newark Nets? Hope and Reality
The Star-Ledger thinks the Nets should join the Devils at the Prudential Center. With the Nets’ Brooklyn arena hurt by protests and rising costs, the newspaper thinks “The Rock” would be an ideal home. But local pride has its limits, notes an editorial. A Nets’ spokesman says, “Newark is not even a consideration.” There’s also the Nets’ onerous lease with the state, but that, the Ledger hears, could be modified.
The commenters are largely for keeping the Nets in NJ, though most aren't bullish about the prospects.
Posted by lumi at 5:42 AM
The Brooklyn Literary 100
The NY Observer
By Doree Shafrir
NYO outs the authors most responsible for Brooklyn's epidemic of writers, some of whom, as if writing isn't hard enough, have taken up "the cause."
But making the jump across the East River, and onto Carroll Street and Clinton Avenue—along with the assistants and junior staffers and newly minted MFAs—are now the likes of (No. 1 New York Times best-selling author!) Jhumpa Lahiri; Jonathan Safran Foer and Nicole Krauss, who famously bought a Park Slope townhouse for $3.5 million in 2005; and the veritable Renaissance man Kurt Andersen, who makes his home in Carroll Gardens. And so they clack away on their MacBooks at Ozzie’s or the Tea Lounge in Park Slope or the Central branch of the Brooklyn Public Library at Grand Army Plaza, and do readings at Pete’s Candy Store in Williamsburg or the Brooklyn Lyceum, and contribute to A Public Space or One Story or n+1, and meet their editor for drinks at Union Hall, and play football in Prospect Park on the weekends and tutor kids at 826NYC and buy their friends’ books at the Community Bookstore or Book Court and raise money to fight the Atlantic Yards project by contributing essays to a book called Brooklyn Was Mine, published by Riverhead in January.
Posted by lumi at 5:32 AM
4 Brooklyn Groups To Receive Grassroots Preservation Awards
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
By Linda Collins
Four Brooklyn organizations have been selected to receive preservation awards at the Historic Districts Council (HDC) Ninth Annual Grassroots Preservation Awards in Manhattan on Thursday, May 15, it was announced this week.
...
The following are the four Brooklyn award winners (of six total):
227 Duffield Street Coalition, consisting of Joy Chatel of 227 Duffield St., Jennifer Levy of South Brooklyn Legal Services, and Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE), for their successful efforts to save 227 Duffield St. from demolition and raise awareness about Downtown Brooklyn’s important abolitionist history.
DUMBO Neighborhood Assoc., for its successful efforts to have DUMBO designated as a New York City historic district, as well as its continued work advocating for appropriate zoning and new development in the neighborhood.
Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, for its ongoing campaign to stop the Atlantic Yards mega project and advocate for appropriate development on the Vanderbilt Rail Yards.
Brownstoner.com, a Brooklyn-based blog, will be honored with a “Friend from the Media” Award for its role in informing and interesting the public about issues affecting land use in Brooklyn and across the city.
NoLandGrab: Congratulations to all of our friends and colleagues who are so richly deserving of this award and thanks to the Historic Districts Council for all of their efforts citywide!
Posted by lumi at 5:18 AM
Brooklyn People
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
By Sam Howe
Louise Crawford, the woman behind OnlyTheBlogKnowsBrooklyn.typepad.com, wants them to meet offline for the third annual Brooklyn Blogfest at Brooklyn Lyceum on May 8 at 8 p.m. Several of last year’s presenters were popular local bloggers who spoke about the impact blogging has on the community, including Lumi Michelle Rolley of noLandGrab.org, dedicated to Atlantic Yards coverage, Robert Guskind of GowanusLounge.blogspot.com, Jonathan Butler of real estate and architecture blog Brownstoner.com, and Norman Oder of AtlanticYardsReport.blogspot.com.
NoLandGrab: The Blogfest seems to have outgrown the original digs at the Old Stone House as well as the dominance of the blogs covering Atlantic Yards.
Posted by lumi at 5:11 AM
April 22, 2008
ATLANTIC YARDS RATNERVILLE CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
ATLANTIC YARDS CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
Weeks beginning April 21, 2008 and April 28, 2008
In an effort to keep the Atlantic Yards Community aware of upcoming construction activities, ESD and Forest City Ratner provide the following outline of anticipated upcoming construction activities.
Please note: the scope and nature of activities are subject to change based upon field conditions. All work has been approved by appropriate City and State agencies where required.
In addition to the activities described below noise attenuation and vibration monitoring measures are underway in connection with the Memorandum of Environmental Commitments dated 12/08/06.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact our project Ombudsperson at: 212-803-3233 or AtlanticYards@empire.state.ny.us.
Long Island Rail Road/Vanderbilt Yard Work
- Continue excavation, lagging and walers at SOE piles in Southeast Gas Station (block 1121, lot 47).
- Continue construction and debris removal from block 1121.
- Continue hauling soil from block 1121.
- Trench and install conduit in block 1120.
- Prepare and begin foundation piles for cable bridge (in block 1120, parallel to 6th Avenue Bridge).
Abatement and Demolition Work
All work described below will comply with the additional oversight and protocols by the Department of Buildings (DOB) that were established on April 30th.
- Demolition is underway at 800 Pacific Street (block 1129, lot 25) and will continue throughout this two week period.
- Demolition is complete at 626 Pacific Street (block 1127, lot 22).
- Demolition will begin at 642-646 Pacific Street (block 1127, lot 30) within this two week period.
- Demolition will begin at 640 Pacific Street (block 1127, lot 29) within this two week period.
- Demolition will begin at 645 Dean Street (block 1129, lot 62) within this two week period.
- Abatement will begin at 195 Flatbush Avenue (block 1127, lot 1) within this two week period.
- Demolition will resume at 585 Dean Street (block 1129, lot 81) within this two week period.
Utility Work
All utility work scheduled to take place in Flatbush Avenue will only take place at night (between 10PM and 6AM) as mandated by DOT.
- The first of three phases of upgraded water and sewer installations is underway and is expected to continue through the end of the year. Work will continue on Dean Street between Flatbush and Sixth Avenues and on Sixth between Pacific and Dean Streets. Night time work began on Flatbush Avenue at Dean Street and will continue north along Flatbush. Work began on a new sewer chamber on Dean Street near Flatbush during the day.
- Transit ducts on Flatbush Avenue between Atlantic Avenue and Dean Street will be relocated. This work is expected to continue over the next three months.
Transportation Update
- The northbound B67 bus stop on the east side of Flatbush Avenue between Atlantic Avenue and Pacific Street will be temporarily eliminated in the next two weeks to accommodate the utility work described above. The bus stops in close proximity to the north at Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues and to the south at Flatbush and Dean Street will be maintained.
Posted by lumi at 5:28 AM
Newark option gets more realistic, even as Nets seek Euro companies for Gehry arena
Atlantic Yards Report
Forest City Ratner has no intention of moving the Nets to Newark, not even as an interim solution while the Barclays Center is being built. However, suggests the Newark Star-Ledger's editorial board in a blog commentary headlined Newark hoop dreams, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority may be willing to make a move--though not an interim one--easier.
The Authority owns the Izod Center at the Meadowlands and, if the Nets were to leave for a venue other than Brooklyn (or Queens), the penalty this year would be $12 million (though it would decline in subsequent years).
Newark Star-Ledger, Newark hoop dreams
For those looking at Brooklyn from New Jersey, the wish that something -- anything -- might happen to keep the Nets in New Jersey has been a hope that would not die.
Some things have happened. The real estate and credit markets have changed since the $4 billion Brooklyn Atlantic Yards development, with thousands of condos, other homes and an 18,000-seat arena, was proposed. Financing is no longer easy. The payoff is no longer certain. The Nets are losing $40 million a year.
Posted by lumi at 5:23 AM
Will Bloomberg's PlaNYC 2030 survive his mayoralty? Should it?
Atlantic Yards Report
Many people concerned about planning and development issues were heartened by Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s announcement last year of PlaNYC 2030, observed Eve Baron, director of the Municipal Art Society (MAS) Planning Center. However, as she said introducing a forum titled “PlaNYC2030 Post-Bloomberg” on April 14, many people think important issues were left out--and the panel discussion bore that out.
Posted by lumi at 5:19 AM
EMINENT DOMAINIA: The Big Apple Bites!
The Willets Point group is a coalition of sucessful businesses, who are more capable of wielding political clout than the typical property owner fighting eminent domain abuse. It's no small wonder that there isn't very much support for Mayor Bloomberg's plan to remake Willets Point, after decades of abuse and neglect from the City of New York. There's a demonstration and protest over the Columbia University land grab on Saturday. |
WILLETS POINT, QUEENS
The NY Observer, Nearly 30 City Council Members Call Willets Point Plan 'Unacceptable'
Late last week, when the Bloomberg administration announced it would begin the process of rezoning the neighborhood of Willets Point without a developer, it did so over the objections of the City Council, including Land Use Committee Chair Melinda Katz.
So it can't be a complete surprise that today, a number of critics of the plan, led by Hiram Monserrate, the most vocal opponent, have written a letter protesting the planned redevelopment that says, “This plan is unacceptable, and we wish to inform you that without significant modifications, we will strongly oppose it, leaving no chance of it moving forward.”
MetroNY, Willets point plan called dead on arrival
Just as the Bloomberg administration set its plan for Willets Point in motion yesterday, 29 City Council members declared the mayor’s redevelopment project dead on arrival.
Crain's NY Business, City Council rebuffs Willets Point plan
Charging that the redevelopment of Willets Point would displace more than 250 businesses and provide an inadequate amount of affordable housing, a majority of the City Council today said they opposed the Bloomberg administration’s decision to advance the plan through the land review process.
...
The city says it is in discussions with business owners about relocation and that it will only use eminent domain as a last resort.
NoLandGrab: The joke is that the government always says that it will use eminent domain "as a last resort."
The Campaign for Community-Based Planning, Willets Point and Hunters Point South Plans to be Certified Today
The Willets Point Plan has also been extremely controversial — it involves the taking of many industrial businesses, located along the stretch of Queens waterfront located next to Shea Stadium, by eminent domain. In their place, the City plans to construct an entirely new community, including a convention center, hotels, housing, retail, parks/open space, and a school. According to Crain’s, the area’s Council Member, Hiram Monserrate, “remains opposed, saying he wants the administration to guarantee the inclusion of middle- and low-income housing units, require livable-wage jobs and agree not to use eminent domain to take over properties.”
WEST HARLEM, MANHATTAN
A message from the Coalition to Preserve Community:
COLUMBIA SPENT $2.3 MILLION LAST YEAR TO LOBBY FOR ITS WEST HARLEM EVICTION PLAN THEY CAN BUY THE POLITICIANS, BUT THEY STILL HAVE THE COMMUNITY TO DEAL WITH
Join the Coalition to Preserve Community’s March to Columbia 4/26
JOIN TOGETHER SATURDAY, APR. 26, 08
MEET TO MARCH AT ST. MARY’S CHURCH 12:30PM (521 West 126th Street)
DEMONSTRATION WITH STUDENTS ON THE CAMPUS 1:30PM (116 St campus plaza)IT'S BEEN 40 YEARS SINCE COLUMBIA STUDENTS AND COMMUNITY RESIDENTS STOPPED THE CU GYM IN MORNINGSIDE PARK. LET'S SHOW CU THAT HARLEM IS STILL NOT FOR SALE. NO COLUMBIA EXPANSION IN WEST HARLEM. NO DESTRUCTION OF 125TH STREET. NO FORCED DISPLACEMENT OF BUSINESSES AND RESIDENTS. NO DANGEROUS BIOTECH LABS.
FOR MORE INFO ON THE “BATHTUB” CONSTRUCTION, VISIT THIS WEBSITE: www.biohazardonhudson.com
COME OUT. YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
CONTACT US: Call (212) 666-6426, 646-812-5188, or (212) 234-3002 (se habla espanol) or go to www.stopcolumbia.org and sign up to be on our contact list.
Posted by lumi at 4:43 AM
Forest City in the News
Even developers get in on the Earth Day action:
LA Daily News, L.A.'s green-building plan deserves praise
From an Earth Day op-ed by Kevin Ratner, President of Forest City Residential West:
The terms "sustainability" and "green" have become ubiquitous marketing terms with increasingly powerful brand presence, not only in Los Angeles and California but throughout the world. Unfortunately, these terms are being misused to promote many products and projects which may not be in fact sustainable over time. As consumers, the public has little information and background to determine if a product truly lives up to these environmental claims.
So, we need to be sure now that what gets measured and promised actually gets done. [Los Angeles] must commit the staff and resources necessary to achieve tangible and measurable results.
NoLandGrab: A great example of how the word "sustainability" has been "misused" is Forest City's sponsorship of "sustainable sculptures," where recyclable water bottles were reused to create sculptures. Wouldn't it have been more "sustainable" to just recycle the damn bottles and use materials that would normally have ended up in a landfill somewhere?
Baltimore Examiner, Businesses do their part for Earth Day
Younger employees are also expecting to work in green office environments, said Joe Wilke, senior construction manager for Forest City, which developed the 278,000-square-foot John G. Rangos Sr. Building in the Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins in East Baltimore.
The building, which opened April 11, was built with heat-recovery flywheels to filter warm and cool air from the building, a white roofing system and high-efficiency lighting. The developer also paid to have recycling picked up from the building.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Shopping bag choices moving beyond just paper or plastic
Last weekend, the Mall at Robinson was one of 15 shopping centers owned by Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises to give out reusable canvas tote bags to customers who brought plastic bottles to recycle.
NoLandGrab: It's really nice that Forest City is jumping on the eco-bandwagon — every bit helps. Meanwhile, in the footprint of the Atlantic Yards megaproject in Brooklyn, the Ratners are tearing down perfectly good buildings that have "SUSTAIN ME!" writen all over them. It's hard to take the eco-Ratners seriously — maybe they can buy a bundle of carbon offsets to assuage their guilt.
Posted by lumi at 4:15 AM
April 21, 2008
Lunch with Mike, Amanda and Patty
Lost City
SYNOPSIS: The Mayor does lunch by the pool at the Four Seasons with the Commishes of City Planning and Department of Buildings. Everything goes swimmingly until Atlantic Yards overdeveloper Bruce Ratner sends over a bottle of bubbly.
Click here for a laugh.
Posted by lumi at 8:30 PM
House of the Day: 58 6th Avenue
Brownstoner
What happens when a house that may have "no soul" is located in a neighborhood that's fighting to save its own?
Character matters (as does the Atlantic Yards Effect).
...the new owner put it back on the market for $1,850,000 last July, where it sat for eight months. In early March the price was cut to $1,795,000 and in late March again to $1,695,000. More than a proximity to Ratner-land, the problem in our opinion is the renovation. It's got a bad case of personality disorder. As we've harped on again and again, a renovation that goes half-way to modern is likely to result in a house with no soul.
Posted by lumi at 8:17 PM
Barclay Center Blood Sport
Ultimate fighting has its proponents in Brooklyn
Courier Life Publications
By Stephen Witt
The new Barclay's Center, the home of NBA's Brooklyn Nets* that is expected to open sometime in 2010**, may also feature Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts.***
The UFC is the trademarked league that promotes and produces mixed martial arts fights that are growing nationally.†
While currently not legal in New York, the State Senate and Assembly are moving bills to officially sanction the sport. ††
I have talked with someone [from Forest City Ratner Companies — the Nets owners and Atlantic Yards developer] unofficially, but it's our understanding that the arena won't be built for another two or three years," said Marc Ratner, UFC vice president of governmental and regulatory affairs. †††
...
FCRC spokesperson Joe DePlasco refused to comment on discussions involving the sport.
Click image to read the rest.
* Note: The team is still called the "New Jersey Nets."
** Everyone knows that there's no way the arena will be ready in 2010, despite the public protestations of developer Forest City Ratner.
*** Hence the "blood sport" headline, which Barclays Bank is probably not too thrilled about.
† Does this sentence scream "I come from a press release," or what?
†† Because the State Legislature has nothing better to do?
††† So, Marc Ratner has a good idea that the arena won't be ready by 2010, but reporter Stephen Witt doesn't?
Posted by lumi at 7:43 PM
Exxon Mobil Second Worst Company to Sponsor McCarren Park Earth Day?
The Gowanus Lounge
There was a lot of irony and disagreement this weekend about the role that Exxon (and Forest City Ratner) played as sponsors of the Go Green Greenpoint Earth Day event in McCarren Park. Exxon is responsible for the monstrous oil spill under Greenpoint along Newtown Creek, less than one-third of which has been cleaned up after a half-century. There is a bit of a protest campaign and there was a protest and suggestions that making a fuss about it was inappropriate.
Also, "Protesting Exxon Mobil's Sponsorship of Go Green Greenpoint."
Posted by lumi at 6:39 PM
Dung Deal? Brooklyn Museum Protest Over Ratner Honor
A message from Freddy's Brooklyn Roundhouse:
From the folks who brought you “Condemned for Christmas” and “How to Rig a Public Hearing”, Freddy's Brooklyn Roundhouse presents “Dung Deal? Brooklyn Museum Protest Over Ratner Honor”, featuring Daniel Goldstein, Lucy Koteen, Gloria Matera, Chris Owens, Gersh Kuntzman and a lot of cute kids smart enough to know Ratner’s bad for Brooklyn!
On TV tomorrow, Tuesday (4/22/08), 8.00 pm Eastern on BCAT Time Warner 34 or CableVision 67 and again on TV tomorrow, Tuesday (4/22/08) 8.00 pm Eastern on BCAT Time Warner 34 or CableVision 67
Can’t wait for the broadcast, you can watch it now, via YouTube: