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April 5, 2008
EXCLUSIVE: Gehry to Brooklyn Paper: Miss Brooklyn ain’t dead — in fact, she’s hotter than ever
The Brooklyn Paper
by Gersh Kuntzman
An exclusive interview with Frank Gehry, starchitect of the proposed Atlantic Yards project, takes up the first part of this article.
In an exclusive interview, he told The Paper that not only will it be built, but it will “look better than anyone imagines.”
Gehry admitted that developer Bruce Ratner has struggled to find an anchor tenant for the 511-foot iconic, shimmering glass-walled skyscraper. Brooklyn Bridge Realty
But Gehry quickly added: “Bruce will have a tenant soon — and then he’ll begin construction.”
...
Gehry’s comments come two weeks after Ratner admitted that he was having trouble finding an anchor tenant for Miss Brooklyn, telling the New York Times that he “won’t build” the tower without such a tenant.
But if Ratner gets a tenant, Gehry said, his design is “better than ever.”
“We’ve made some adjustments that people will absolutely love,” he said. “This is the part of the process I enjoy — tinkering, making things better.”
The protest outside the event is also covered.
Protesters condemned the Museum’s decision to honor Ratner, some holding signs reading, “Con Artist” and, in a particularly nifty bit of memory, “Dung Deal,” a reference to the Museum’s 1999 controversy over its “Sensation” exhibition, which featured a painting of the Virgin Mary adorned with elephant dung.
Joining the protesters was former city Department of Environmental Protection commissioner Marilyn Gelber.
NoLandGrab: Considering that its initial design showed 'Miss Brooklyn' to be a hulking, out-of-scale monster, It's not hard to imagine that Gehry's tinkerings make it 'better than ever'. Also, 'soon' is a relative term, but it's probably not the word you'd use for the AY construction schedule.
Posted by steve at April 5, 2008 8:25 AM