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May 31, 2008
Ouroussoff Can Still Join Fight Against Atlantic Yards
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn
The Times's architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff wrote a scathing attack against Bruce Ratner's and Frank Gehry's Atlantic Yards proposal back in March. In that attack he included this odd phrase:...No development at all would be preferable to building the design that is now on the table. What’s maddening is how few options opponents seem to have.We could wage a public campaign to stop it...
...
Today, Ouroussoff comes back with a review of another Gehry-Ratner production—the new Beekman tower design in Downtown Manhattan. We're not particularly interested in what he has to say about that building but we found this sentence interesting, especially in light of his March comment "we could wage a public campaign to stop it."...His [Gehry's] plan for the colossal Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn remains a pet target of grass-roots activists...Isn't that cute? Nicci O. recognized that there actually is a campaign against Atlantic Yards, which pre-existed his March article about his pet architect by about 4 years.
Posted by amy at 10:01 AM
Gehry's Beekman Tower Gets Presented, Goes Street
Curbed
The gang from developer Forest City Ratner met last night with folks living near their new Frank Gehry- designed luxury rental tower—the crinkled steel colossus at 8 Spruce Street also known as the Beekman Tower—and they brought along a nifty PowerPoint presentation to share more info about the underway project. Lower Manhattan's wavy wonder has already picked up a major endorsement, so it was nice to get the full scoop. But before getting into the nitty-gritty of the construction and the community benefits and the move-ins and all that fun stuff, can we take a moment to reflect on that Beekman/Gehry logo seen above? It was strange enough when Ian Schrager unveiled his high-brow interpretation of graffiti at the trés chic 40 Bond, but now Bruce Ratner and Frank Gehry want street cred? Guys, at least save it for Brooklyn!
Posted by amy at 9:52 AM
The (relative) silence about the long-delayed Ingersoll Community Center and the breadth of blogs
Atlantic Yards Report
When, earlier this month, I covered (for the Brooklyn Downtown Star) the annual convention of FUREE (Families United for Racial and Economic Equality), which advocates for low-income women of color, many in the housing projects of Fort Greene, I was surprised to learn that the Ingersoll Community Center, under construction for more than six years, still isn't open, in stark contrast to the steadily rising condos nearby. The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), whose web site says not-so-clearly that the center has been "rebuilt," now promises it will open in the fall.(Photo from New York Daily News.)
...
Given the paucity of press coverage of Brooklyn in general, I've said publicly that I'm less disturbed by the disproportionate number of bloggers--some good, some not--in Brownstone Brooklyn than by the fact that the Brooklyn bureaus of the city's dailies each have only a handful of people.
article
NoLandGrab: For full video coverage of the FUREE rally, Episode 1 of Freddy's Brooklyn Roundhouse's coverage of the
FUREE convention will air on BCAT at 8pm Tuesday, June 3rd and in Manhattan Thursday, June 5th, at 8:30pm on MNN. You can also view it on YouTube now.
Posted by amy at 9:29 AM
Looking Skyward in Lower Manhattan
NY Times
NICOLAI OUROUSSOFF thinks that it's a hard knocks life for Frank Gehry in New York, as project after project is dumped or "disfigured by an enormous logo."
His plan for the colossal Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn remains a pet target of grass-roots activists.
But all is not lost from cute little protests! The Beekman Tower forges on!
The design has evolved through an unusual public-private partnership. In an agreement with New York education officials, the tower’s developer, Forest City Ratner, agreed to incorporate a public elementary school into the project. Forest City was responsible for the construction of the school; the Department of Education then bought the building from the developer. (Forest City was also a development partner in the new Midtown headquarters of The New York Times Company.)The Beekman Tower is thus a curious fusion of public and private zones.
All of FCR's dealings with the government seem to be curious...it would have been nice if the Times had started out being a little more curious about Atlantic Yards.
Posted by amy at 9:18 AM
May 30, 2008
Open space versus parks
Greater Greater Washington
This District of Columbia blog serves up Atlantic Yards as an example of development that is not "good for the area."
The design for Poplar Point seems to do the best with what it has. Making the stadium stimulate activity in the neighborhood depends upon generating foot traffic to and from games rather than simply a lot of car trips to parking next to the stadium. The deck over the 295 freeway is a key piece, connecting the new neighborhood with the old one and the Metro station. The stadium is near the deck and from the drawing, I don't see any surface parking lots.
If the deck doesn't get cut for cost reasons and the stadium can in fact draw more events beyond the 33 professional soccer games a year, this will be good for the area. If the project morphs into something like NYC's Atlantic Yards, where one building after another gets "postponed" and acres of "temporary" surface parking will last for ten years or more, then we'll prove Fisher right. I hope not.
Posted by eric at 10:19 PM
Atlantic Yards Aerial Photos: Interview with Jonathan Barkey
Brit in Brooklyn
Two of the leading documenters of the struggle to stop Atlantic Yards, photographers Adrian Kinloch and Jonathan Barkey, get together to discuss Barkey's recent high-altitude photo shoot of the project footprint.
How did you get to take a helicopter ride around the footprint?
The Municipal Art Society of New York commissioned an architectural team to generate new renderings of the Atlantic Yards project reflecting developer Bruce Ratner's recent admission to The New York Times that most construction will be postponed due to financing issues and the slowing economy. I participated in extensive group e-mail exchanges with MAS that led to the choice of shooting angles and ultimately, their decision to photograph the site from the air.
Why not use shots from The Williamsburgh Savings Bank or other tall structures around the footprint?
Believe me, everyone involved tried hard to get good photos from nearby buildings, since helicopters are really expensive. When MAS asked for existing images, I sent them a panorama I'd taken last year from a rooftop on Flatbush across from the "Miss Brooklyn" and arena sites; it was clearly too close but, at least, good for context.
The Williamsburgh Savings Bank offers amazing views from its higher floors, but the angle isn't quite right, and Forest City's own Atlantic Terminal office building blocks key parts of the site. MAS also tried rooftop views from State Street and farther down Atlantic Avenue, neither of which offered acceptable proximity or height. I championed the idea of shooting from the Vanderbilt Avenue end—to show most effectively what would likely become a massive parking lot stretching west toward the arena. That's the most shocking of the two views used in the MAS renderings, and the reason the website can be called "Atlantic Lots."
Posted by eric at 2:30 PM
Q4 2007 Forest City Enterprises, Inc. Earnings Conference Call - Final
InsuranceNewsNet.com
InsuranceNewsNet has the entire transcript of Forest City Enterprises's 4th Quarter 2007 earnings call posted on its web site.
Use the search function to dig up references to Atlantic Yards, including the company's latest favorite lie: that it's 18-0 in Atlantic Yards-related legal decisions.
JOANNE MINIERI, PRESIDENT, FOREST CITY RATNER COMPANIES: Thanks, Chuck. We and our partners have been receiving favorable court decisions and now have won 18 separate rulings on the Atlantic yards project. There have been no adverse decisions.
NoLandGrab: We wonder in what other ways FCE might be misleading investors.
Posted by eric at 2:17 PM
Second to no one
The Brooklyn Paper
by Gersh Kuntzman
A group of ornery Brooklyn Democrats has effectively said it would rather have no one representing it in Congress than Rep. Yvette Clarke.
Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats — a progressive liberal clubhouse — denied Clarke (D–Park Slope) its support on May 22, handing “No endorsement” a stunning, 52–48 victory.
The club is now led by Chris Owens, who ran against Clarke for the open seat in 2006 — but the CBID president (and son of the congressman whom Clarke replaced) denied that he rigged the clubhouse vote to embarrass his former rival.
“This is a cantankerous, progressive club and I made no behind-the-scenes phone calls against Yvette,” said Owens. “I did nothing to color the process in any way. The fact is that if you want our endorsement, you’re expected to vote a certain way. People have not been satisfied enough with Yvette’s performance.”
Owens specifically cited Clarke’s continued support for the Atlantic Yards project....
NoLandGrab: We were on hand for that vote at CBID. The results had nothing to do with Clarke's defeat of Owens in 2006, and everything to do with her positions on numerous issues, including Atlantic Yards, which the club vehemently opposes.
Posted by eric at 1:59 PM
Pol sour on Domino Sugar plant proposal
The Brooklyn Paper
by Ben Muessig
Another example of how there's one set of rules for Bruce Ratner, and another set of rules for everyone else.
A local lawmaker has opened a new front against the proposed Domino Sugar mega-project, demanding that the developers behind the glassy waterfront high-rises open their books so that he can independently assess the project’s finances.
Assemblyman Joe Lentol (D–Williamsburg) told The Brooklyn Paper that he can not support the $1.2-billion, 2,200-unit project until the developer justifies the need for two 30-story and two 40-story towers.
“If we’re going to have a project of that magnitude, I really want to see the facts and the figures that require them to build that high and that dense,” Lentol said.
...But Lentol — who supported the much-larger Atlantic Yards project in low-rise Prospect Heights, despite its less-generous affordable housing component — won’t back Domino until he can eye the dollars.
“If they want us to continue to give them the benefit of the doubt, they need to make the financials transparent,” said Amy Cleary, a spokeswoman for Lentol. “They keep saying, ‘We’re making very little money,’ but they’re not showing us that.”
NoLandGrab: Yeah, make those financials transparent. Just the way Bruce Ratner has, Joe.
Posted by eric at 1:40 PM
Yards foes extend hand to critic of Ratner and DDDB
The Brooklyn Paper, Letters to the Editor
We’re responding to Leon de Augusto from Bushwick whose letter was published earlier this month regarding the fight to stop Atlantic Yards (“This guy faults Bruce Ratner and Atlantic Yards foes,” Letters, May 17).
Leon, we agree with your desire for the broadest coalition possible against the Atlantic Yards proposal and to find common ground on related issues such as housing, open space and city services.
We’d like to invite you, your family and neighbors and all friends to join us in our continued effort to bring together all the communities negatively affected by Forest City Ratner’s past and current plans. Together we can make a difference!
...We reach out to you, Leon, and the entire community. The developers and corporations have succeeded for years in dividing us along racial, economic and union or non-union lines. We reject those divisions and urge everyone to join us in our fight to save public housing, provide union living-wage jobs to our youth and community and build real affordable housing.
Claudia Massa, Chris Owens, Beverly Corbin, Mona Fafarman, and Daniel Goldstein
The writers are members of United Neighbors of Brooklyn.
Posted by eric at 1:31 PM
PlaNYC 2030 and the need for parking policy
Atlantic Yards Report
One glaring Atlantic Yards flaw ID'd by transportation advocates is the development project's thousands of planned parking spaces.
Last December, I described how Mayor Mike Bloomberg's much-praised PlaNYC 2030 contains a glaring omission, a failure to address the antiquated anti-urban policy that mandates parking attached to new residential developments outside Manhattan, even when such developments, like Atlantic Yards, are justified precisely because they're located near transit hubs. I called the current situation PlaNYC 1950.
(Ironically enough, the Empire State Development Corporation, which will override several aspects of city zoning to facilitate the Atlantic Yards project, chose note to override the city's parking policy.)
Last month, a year after Bloomberg's plan was announced, a watchdog group identified parking policy as among six administrative initiatives in order to implant the principles of sustainability into the city's governmental structure.
Posted by eric at 1:20 PM
May 29, 2008
AY ten-year timetable realistic or p.r. scheme? ESDC, residents battle in court
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder delves into the most-recent lawsuit — filed in state court on behalf of apartment renters facing eviction — challenging the use of eminent domain for the Atlantic Yards project.
The Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) has filed legal papers asking for a state court to dismiss the lawsuit filed April 30 that charges that the ESDC’s willingness to give developer Forest City Ratner 12+ years to build Phase 1 of Atlantic Yards violates a provision of the Eminent Domain Procedure Law (EDPL). The suit also requests a new public hearing to evaluate the benefits of the amended project.
In arguing against the lawsuit, filed by 13 residential tenants in two buildings within the project footprint, the ESDC curiously claims that the courts should view Bruce Ratner’s May 4 Daily News op-ed asserting a 2018 completion date as more credible than his interview in the March 21 New York Times regarding the project’s stall, and that the penalties facing the developer for delaying the project are “draconian.”
Ten-year timetable realistic?
While the lawsuit, filed on behalf of petitioners who have lost two other suits filed by attorney George Locker, attempts to break new legal ground and thus must be seen as an uphill effort, it brings an important public policy issue to the legal arena. At essence is whether the project approved by the ESDC in December 2006, with a ten-year “anticipated” timetable for an arena, 16 towers, eight acres of open space and more, remains realistic.
The ESDC says it is: “Petitioners cite an exhibit to the [State] Funding Agreement that describes the draconian contractual remedies that would be available to ESDC if FCRC fails to complete established Project milestones by certain outside dates. The fact that ESDC could bring to bear certain contractual remedies in such circumstances does not change the Project approved by ESDC on December 8, 2006. Moreover, a change in the construction schedule would not be the type of significant change in public use that would require a new EDPL public hearing.”
However, the funding agreement does not address a starting or ending date for the 11 towers of Phase 2, instead leaving that to be resolved in yet-unfinished “Project Documentation.” The petitioners thus contend that the ten-year project “that was studied and approved by ESDC in December 2006, as having sufficient public purpose and public benefit, ceased to exist on September 12, 2007, when by agreement AYP [Atlantic Yards Project] became an uncertain project of an unspecified duration.” The petitioners charge that the agreement “was kept hidden from petitioners and from the public for six months.”
NoLandGrab: Seems pretty straightforward to us that if your environmental review is based on a 10-year timeframe, and then the state turns around and gives the developer 12 years to build Phase 1 and doesn't attach any deadline to Phase 2, something ain't right.
Posted by eric at 9:14 AM
State Races To Attract an Economic Tsar
At Least Eight Decline To Take Development Post
The NY Sun
By Jacob Gershman
Hey, how about an ad on Craig's List?
Governor Paterson is struggling to lure a top-tier talent to take over the state's most important economic development agency, as pressure is building on him to settle for a candidate from within his political circle.
A growing list of heavyweights in the business and real estate world has turned down the offer to become the sole chairman of the Empire State Development Corp., which has been left in a state of limbo since Mr. Paterson assumed office more than two months ago.
...The erstwhile prospects privately offered the administration a variety of reasons for not wanting the job. Some were unwilling to accept a public-sector salary or had business dealings that would be disrupted by their departure. Others are said to have been wary of the intense public scrutiny that accompanies such a high-level government position.
...Compounding the concerns is the state's financial turmoil, which means a smaller pool of public capital and private investment in costly development projects. The development agency is already mired in setbacks. It recently scrapped plans for a $1,8 billion expansion of the Javits Center and has been unable to breathe life into plans for renovating Penn Station and for the construction of an Atlantic Yards basketball arena and residential complex in Brooklyn.
NoLandGrab: Could it be that prospective "development czars" aren't jazzed about overseeing the dismantling of the ill-conceived Atlantic Yards project?
Posted by eric at 8:56 AM
It came from the Blogosphere...
Here's what they're saying in the blogosphere:
My Slice of Pizza, Tour De Brooklyn
After this weekend's Tour de Brooklyn, one more blogger thinks that Bruce Ratner's controversial "Atlantic Yards" project is an actual neighborhood.
Today, I went on the bike tour of Brooklyn. The borough president Marty Markovitz, in his true Brooklyn accent, started us off. The tour went through a rainbow of neighborhoods: Atlantic yards, Crown Heights, Bed-Sty, Eastern Parkway, Bushwick, and curiously the Navy yard.
Bodega, And the Lil Debbie Award Goes to.....
BODEGA always pays homage to where it is due and deserved. We are awarding the Lil Debbie cake award to Addy & Ferro (our 2nd home) . Standing out can sometimes be a challenge, but this 3 year old Fort Greene based boutique has been standing strong and continues to bring the community fly threads.... Addy is also known for being heavily involved in the community, putting together book drives for children, supporting a NON Atlantic Yards, and pushing people to vote...for Obama (you can register there!).
Gray Wolf's Howl, Will Columbia Take Manhattanville?
From an article explaining the history of the Manhattanville fight against Columbia University's expansion and abuse of eminent domain:
Given the community’s misgivings about the Columbia plan, it’s not surprising that many expansion opponents have connected with residents of two other New York neighborhoods where huge development projects—Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn and Willetts Point in Queens—have sparked backlash against the use of eminent domain.
Daily Kos, In local news
Sometimes, in my rage at the Federal administration, I forget that local politics has its own fair share of disgrace. Case in point: the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn.
In case you didn't know, for the last few years Brooklyn has been victim to a rash of eminent domain abuse by the city and the development company Forest City Ratner. The company has enlisted architect Frank Gehry to design a vast mess of construction to sit on top of the rail yards at Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues, as well as on top of the former sites of many perfectly good residential buildings. The centerpieces of the project are to be a massive tower once known as Miss Brooklyn, and an arena for the Brooklyn Nets (currently the New Jersey Nets).
Of course, this is all financed by the usual shell game involved in pro sports construction.
Two architectural blogs recap the recent article from Architectural Record:
mimdap.org, Gehry, Atlantic Yards’ta yapacağı kulelerin boyunu kısalttı
Atlantic Yards bölgesinde 700 000 metrekarelik karma kullanımı bulunduran New York City projesi, ilk günden çeşitli tartışmaları başlattı. Projenin simge binalarından olan Miss Brooklyn binasının yüksekliği 190 metreden 155 metreye indirildi.
architectsjournal.co.uk, Frank Gehry cuts back New York tower amid financial downturn
The signature building of the 800,000m2 development, called Miss Brooklyn, has been downsized by Gehry from 62m to 51m in height due to the tough economic climate, but campaigners still believe the development is too big for the area. It is pictured here in its latest iteration.
According to the Architectural Record in New York, the building's use has been changed from residential and office space to 65,00m2 of commercial space and even the name has altered. It will now be referred to as Building One.
Posted by lumi at 4:38 AM
Financing Woes Could Doom Lower Manhattan Agency
The NY Sun
By Peter Kiefer
The latest installment in the continuing saga of redevelopment of Lower Manhattan mentions developer Bruce Ratner's Frank Gehry-designed Beekman St. tower, which will finally have its design unveiling tomorrow.
The agency responsible for overseeing more than $20 billion of construction in Lower Manhattan is in danger of being disbanded because financing from the state, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has not been forthcoming, according to several sources.
The hybrid city and state agency known as the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center is in charge of coordinating the development of the World Trade Center site, including plans for a new PATH Station, the MTA's Fulton Transit Center, and the construction of developer Bruce Ratner's 75-story Beekman Tower, among others.
The agency is facing a budget shortfall of about $9 million, according to officials from the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., which controls the Command Center. The Port Authority owes about $5.2 million and the MTA owes $3.8 million. Both entities are controlled by Governor Paterson.
Posted by lumi at 4:37 AM
May 28, 2008
"Voodoo" actuary provokes firestorm, but "voodoo" economist for AY gets a pass
Atlantic Yards Report
"Voodoo economics" in Albany are causing an outcry, but when it comes to Atlantic Yards, they do do that voodoo that they do so well.
The New York Times and others have rightly made a big deal out of the scandal that an actuary paid by unions was relied on by the State Legislature in its estimate that a bill that would offer early retirement to city workers would not cost a cent. But a not too dissimilar reliance on a partisan source regarding Atlantic Yards raised nary an eyebrow.
Posted by lumi at 5:37 AM
Ward Bakery Demolition
Photo by horseycraze, via flickr Atlantic Yards Photo Pool.
The Ward Bakery Demolition site is still inactive since last week's accident, pending the Stop Work Orders issued by the Department of Buildings.
See, http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/OverviewForComplaintServlet?requestid=2&vlcompdetlkey=0001030430.
Posted by lumi at 5:22 AM
Beekman Tower
Forest City to Unveil Frank Gehry's First Manhattan Apartment Tower
Even though Bruce Ratner's Frank Gehry-designed Beekman St. tower has already broken ground, secured massive subsidies and figures in a deal with State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to provide much-needed classroom space, the public has never actually had a peek at what this tower would look like.
In an effort to gin up publicity for Frank Gehry's first Manhattan residential cloud-buster, the so-called Beekman Tower, developer Forest City Ratner will unveil the design in a ceremony on Friday afternoon.
The development will be Mr. Gehry's second in Manhattan, following his wildly succesful design for the IAC headquarters on 11th Avenue.
The Beekman Tower is slated to rise 76 stories between Spruce and Beekman streets, with 903 market-rate rental apartments inside.
The 1.1 million-square-foot building will also house a public school and an ambulatory care center for New York Downtown Hospital.
Posted by lumi at 5:00 AM
Country Music Grows in Brooklyn
An unironic country scene flourishes, real-estate woes notwithstanding
The Village Voice
By Marc Ferris
Though country music is flourishing in Brooklyn, some of the venues aren't. Freddy's, in the footprint of Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards plan, is one of two bars with an uncertain future:
Standing in the crosshairs of the Atlantic Yards fiasco, Freddy's Bar & Backroom occupies a block slated for seizure by eminent domain. Newspaper clips about the $4 billion project's progress are posted outside, under glass; a sign taped to one wall reads: "Save the Bar, Save the Neighborhood, Save Brooklyn."
The décor is typical kitsch, but "Freddy's is a great listening room," Oscar says. "I scouted around, just in case, and there's nothing like the Backroom: It's located past a set of swinging doors, and if you want to sit at the bar and watch sports, you don't have to be bothered."
Posted by lumi at 4:54 AM
tour of the hood
Photo by Tracy Collins, via flickr Atlantic Yards Photo Pool.
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If this neighborhood is truly blighted and has a serious crime problem, as the developer-funded, state-sponsored blight study contends, then what the heck is this sightseeing bus doing cruising by on Vanderbilt Avenue?
Posted by lumi at 4:17 AM
Owens: CBID's Clarke Non-Endorsement Nothing Personal
NY Daily News, "The Daily Politics"
Could simmering resentment of Yvette Clarke's pro-Atlantic Yards position be one of the reasons the Central Brooklyn Idependent Democrats didn't endorse the US Rep for re-election?
Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats' President Chris Owens rejected the suggestion that his club's recent decision not to endorse Rep. Yvette Clarke for re-election this fall had something to do with lingering animosity from his own failed bid for her seat in 2006.
"I'm not running, and it's an insult to some very independent-minded and cantakerous progressives to assume that I corraled their votes," Owens said.
Clarke's support of (Hillary Clinton) was a significant issue for some - particularly given Clinton's recent comments BEFORE the RFK gaffe," Owens continued.
"A possible shift of support for HR676 (gov't-sponsored universal health care) was another issue, and her surrogate, John Flateau, reiterated Clarke's support for Atlantic Yards. CBID is very anti-Atlantic Yards."
Posted by lumi at 4:08 AM
May 27, 2008
The 50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers in America
The National Law Journal
by Michael Moline
Preeta D. Bansal
42, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, New York
Head of the appellate litigation practice at Skadden, Bansal has been counsel of record in the U.S. Supreme Court for a party or amicus in more than 20 cases at the merits stage and in more than a dozen at petition for certiorari stage. Upholding proposed exercise of eminent domain in 2007, the 2d U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a complaint filed by property owners opposing the Atlantic Yards redevelopment project in Brooklyn, N.Y., which included a new stadium for the National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets. It was the one of the first significant constitutional takings case since Kelo v. New London. Bansal is an adviser to Barack Obama on outreach to Asian-Americans.
NoLandGrab: Atlantic Yards critics and other opponents of eminent domain abuse are likely relieved that Bansal is not advising Obama on property rights policy.
Posted by eric at 10:49 PM
Tour de Brooklyn, 2008
Photo, by Tracy Collins, via flickr Atlantic Yards Photo Pool.
This year, the Tour de Brooklyn passed the footprint of Bruce Ratner's controversial Atlantic Yards plan.
Posted by lumi at 5:42 AM
At West Side hearing, Brodsky questions subsidies, muses about eminent domain for MSG
Atlantic Yards Report
Last week, Westchester Assemblyman Richard Brodsky chaired a hearing of the Assembly Corporations, Authorities and Commissions Committee "to assess the status of various projects on Manhattan’s West Side."
For those concerned with Atlantic Yards, however, the story was Brodsky’s ongoing and unresolved effort to assess the proper level of public investment and subsidies in such projects, and the incomplete responses from government officials.
“We want to create the incentives to get the private sector do things they wouldn’t otherwise do,” explained Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert Lieber. “We want to use the resources of the public sector sparingly to create incentives for the private sector.” It was, he said, a question of risk and value.
That question deserves a close look in the context of Atlantic Yards. When calculating the value of direct and indirect government support, to what extent, for example, did city and state officials assess the value of naming rights for the arena (and other buildings) in the Atlantic Yards project? The value of luxury boxes? While not traditional subsidies, the opportunity for such special revenue sources was made possible only by the government’s backing of Forest City Ratner’s plan.
While Brodsky mentioned Atlantic Yards in passing more than once, and suggested that the state’s willingness to pursue eminent domain for AY means it shouldn’t be philosophically opposed to using it for Moynihan Station, he wouldn’t commit to holding a hearing on Atlantic Yards.
Posted by lumi at 5:42 AM
Mayor of Willets Point: The last man standing
AM New York
by David Freedlander
Joseph Ardizzone, the last resident of Willets Point Boulevard, is featured in this article. New York City is threatening to use eminent domain to displace Ardizzone and businesses at Willets Point. The City has failed to improve the area's infrastructure for decades.
The Bloomberg administration is calling for a $3 billion redevelopment of the area, including a million square feet in retail space, a convention center, and a hotel. City officials have threatened to invoke eminent domain to push out reluctant businesses, and of course, the area's lone resident.
The plan is undergoing a land-use review by the City Council.
But the business owners say they are desperate to remain in a place, where there can be near their suppliers, and are looking to Ardizzone to lead the way.
Posted by steve at 5:41 AM
Tax breaks, even redesign to lure NYC corporate tenants
AP via Newsday
by Amy Westfeldt
This article discusses how far government will go to subsidize large developments. The proposed Atlantic Yards development isn't mentioned, but it's hard not to think about it when it is also an example of development that would not happen except for massive subsidies.
Across the city, big development projects are slowing down or falling apart because of uncertain financing, making an anchor tenant's commitment a potential make-or-break factor, experts say.
Posted by steve at 5:40 AM
Condo sales slumping, cities offer incentives
AP, via WTOL11 (Cleveland)
Slumping sales are forcing Cleveland area condo developers to offer free washers, dryers and even cars to lure buyers.
...
Forest City Enterprises recently re-launched condo sales with a 5 percent discount, plus a free washer and dryer. The empty condos hurt the city's tax base and drive down property values.
NoLandGrab: What will be the result of Forest City Enterprises's build-it-and-they-will-come business plan in Brooklyn?
Posted by lumi at 5:04 AM
May 26, 2008
Memorial Day, 2008
The Prison Ship Martyrs Monument in Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn.
Posted by steve at 10:59 AM
May 25, 2008
The FCE annual report looks like the NYT Magazine
The cover of the Forest City Enterprises (FCE) annual report, featuring the highly-successful New York Times Tower, jointly developed by FCE subsidiary Forest City Ratner with the New York Times Company, not only uses the typeface from the New York Times Magazine but also is printed on paper of similar dimensions and heft, as opposed to the narrower dimensions of previous reports.
If anyone else did this, there might be some grumbling, but I bet Forest City can get away with it.
NoLandGrab: Fortunately, this cozy relationship hasn't kept the New York Times from doing its very best job in covering the Atlantic Yards story. Oh, wait...
Posted by steve at 8:56 AM
Affordable housing DOA
The Brooklyn Paper
by Mike McLaughlin
Here is a story that reminds us: although a developer might tell you that he's providing affordable housing, they only get built when, and if, public funds are available to pay for them.
The leaner, meaner real-estate market has forced one of the city’s major developers to eliminate more than 200 affordable housing units from his 660-apartment complex in Downtown Brooklyn.
John Catsimatidis, the billionaire owner of the Gristedes supermarket chain and possible mayoral candidate, told The Brooklyn Paper that he is moving ahead with his project, which was halted in February, and that it is now no longer the mixed-income community he originally proposed.
...
He also couldn’t scrounge up the city and state affordable housing bonds, so he cast off those politically popular below-market-rate units.
The loss of those subsidized apartments provides a cautionary tale for other mega-developments, like Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards, where thousands of affordable units have been indefinitely delayed, that promises of below-market-rate housing are only as strong as the availability of taxpayer subsidies.
Posted by steve at 8:45 AM
Continuing Sagas: Hudson Yards, Atlantic Lots, and Nouvel's Tower
New York Sun
by Sandy Ikeda
This blog entry contains multiple items including one about the proposed Atlantic Yards development. For those who may have missed it, The Municipal Art Society's "Atlantic Lots" site is featured, as well the recently announced redesign for building B-1.
Speaking of Atlantic Yards, the Municipal Art Society prepared a sobering slideshow called "Atlantic Lots" depicting the Forest City Ratner/Frank Gehry project 1) as it is now, 2) fully built out, and 3) partially built out. The first series shows the huge border vacuum created by the rail yards themselves, much like Hudson Yards, though without the additional border created by the Hudson River. The second strikingly conveys, in the context of the surrounding neighborhood, the "Emerald-City-turned-inside-out look" typical of mega-projects these days, again, much like Related's Hudson Yards proposal. The third, and most frightening, series shows the most likely scenario in the short and perhaps even long term. The arena-in-a-parking-lot look echoes the very Meadowlands Arena, nestled in the New Jersey swampland, that the NBA Nets have been trying so desperately to leave. And I'm sure FCR didn't pitch this thing to New York State authorities as substituting one huge border vacuum for another.
Frank Gehry's architectural response at Atlantic Yards to the shaky economy has been to radically alter the centerpiece of the complex, Miss Brooklyn. This Sun article discusses the changes and contains illustrations. Looking at this thing, what can you say but — Frank Gehry!
Posted by steve at 8:25 AM
May 24, 2008
Two more the Times got wrong early on
Atlantic Yards Report
Wouldn't it have been nice if they'd gotten it right? And shouldn't they correct it? Looking back at early New York Times coverage of the Atlantic Yards project, a couple of errors surfaced.
In a 1/23/04 article headlined Bid for a Brooklyn Sports Complex Faces Challenges From All Sides, the Times reported: The arena would sit on what is now the Long Island Rail Road's Vanderbilt storage yard. Mr. Ratner needs the railroad to move the 11 tracks crisscrossing the nine-acre site to the east.
He also needs the state to condemn four blocks to the east of the rail yard, which includes the homes of 864 people and businesses with about 200 jobs. (Emphases added)
As the page from Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn reminds us, the arena would be built over not just the railyard. Also, he blocks extend south rather than east.
The first error, as I've pointed out before, is particularly important, because an arena built just over the railyard would not have required eminent domain and the ensuing court fight. Still, the Times has resisted making corrections.
Posted by steve at 8:53 AM
New York’s Past Beckons the Future
The New York Times
by Andy Newman
Recently, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced that double-decker buses may run on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue after disappearing about 50 years ago. This article takes advantage of the announcement to meditate on some of the different elements that made up New York City in the past that might also make a comeback. The somewhat light-hearted listing includes World's Fairs and Automats. Things get particularly interesting in a item that suggests bringing back the Brooklyn Dodgers.
THE BROOKLYN DODGERS Walter O’Malley picked up his ball team and went west partly because the government refused to use its power of eminent domain to acquire land for him to build a stadium near the railyards on Atlantic Avenue. But the state seems to have no such compunction these days, having begun exercising eminent domain to clear a path for the developer Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards mega-development next door to O’Malley’s would-have-been stadium site. With Atlantic Yards currently mired in economic woes, why not give the Dodgers a chance to come home? Even if half the city boycotts them, they’re still guaranteed to outdraw the Nets.
NoLandGrab: During the ongoing Atlantic Yards fight, project proponents liked to imply that building Atlantic Yards would somehow make up for the loss of the Dodgers. And, although it's not true that the State has exercised eminent domain, it's refreshing to see nostalgia used as a way to perhaps understand the ugly process used to try to make this project happen.
Posted by steve at 5:00 AM
MetroTech: A Vibrant Brooklyn Neighborhood?
An article in the most recent edition of The Brooklyn Paper is about new signs displayed near the pedestrian entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge. Much of the display concerns a map and accompanying description of nearby Brooklyn Neighborhoods.
Surprisingly, a close look at the map reveals that, apparently, Forest City's MetroTech development, located in Downtown Brooklyn, has become its own neighborhood.
The map's description of MetroTech includes the word "vibrant", but it is neither vibrant nor a neighborhood. It's really just an office park, and an unfortunate example of a Forest City project: Built with the help of large public subsidies and the use of eminent domain, the area is completely out of character with the surrounding neighborhoods and is never very lively, particularly after 6 p.m. when the office workers go home and the area goes dead. It's likely that the main point of interest of MetroTech to a Brooklyn visitor is just how uninteresting a place it is.
Posted by steve at 4:45 AM
May 23, 2008
Gehry Downsizes Tower Design for Atlantic Yards
Architectural Record
by C.J. Hughes
The architecture-business bible, perhaps inadvertently, hits the nail on the head.
Even Frank Gehry projects don’t seem to be immune to the current economic downturn.
Atlantic Yards, a 22-acre, 8-million-square-foot mixed-use New York City project that’s been mired in controversy from day one, is now scaling back its signature building, Miss Brooklyn, from 620 to 511 feet in height. Along with the downsizing comes a change in function: originally, the tower was to feature condos and offices, but the new design calls for just 650,000 square feet of commercial space. As such, developer Forest City Ratner Companies is also renaming it, from Miss Brooklyn, for the borough it will sit in, to the more prosaic Building One.
The high-rise has a completely new look. Previously, its facade was arrayed along relatively straight, clean lines, renderings show. Now, though, the glass-and-steel structure twists and tapers as it climbs, skewing its silver-colored panels at enough odd angles to suggest a house of cards. [Emphasis, ours]
NoLandGrab: Atlantic Yards suggests a house of cards in more ways than one.
Posted by eric at 8:25 PM
Demolition Watch: Carlton Avenue Bridge
Brownstoner
by Sarah Ryley
 |
The Carlton Avenue Bridge is five months into being dismantled before its planned replacement as part of the Atlantic Yards arena and high-rise project. Fortunately when we were taking this picture we didn't get stopped by some "SUV-driving [woman from New Jersey]" for taking photographs from public property (totally legal), but apparently that happens relatively frequently around the Atlantic Yards footprint. Construction on the bridge is expected to last another 19 months.
Posted by eric at 3:07 PM
Bay Ridge’s Atlantic Yards?
The Brooklyn Paper
by Ben Muessig
Congratulations Bruce Ratner, Atlantic Yards is now the poster project for stalled over-a-railyard development!
A developer’s controversial plan to build a Home Depot above a railyard on the border of Sunset Park and Bay Ridge has been abandoned until the economy rebounds.
...Kohen’s development joins a number of higher-profile projects that have stalled in the aftermath of the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
Bruce Ratner has struggled to save his ailing Atlantic Yards project near Downtown Brooklyn. The cost of the basketball arena has more than doubled to $950 million, an anchor tenant has not come forward for the iconic Miss Brooklyn tower, and the developer now says only one of his original 16 skyscrapers remains in the once $4-billion plan.
And this week, developer and mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis announced that he had eliminated affordable units in his 660-unit project on Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene because of the credit crisis.
Posted by eric at 2:28 PM
4th Annual Tour de Brooklyn
FreeNYC
Dust off your bikes for the summer time and take a little ride in the Tour de Brooklyn. The Tour de Brooklyn is an exciting free fun family bike tour through 18 miles of Brooklyn. Each year the route changes to highlight the diverse neighborhoods of the borough. This year's tour will ride by Brooklyn's waterfronts, Atlantic Yards, Eastern Parkway with a brief rest stop at Maria Hernandez Park, continuing towards East Williamsburg and into the exclusive Brooklyn Navy Yards.
NoLandGrab: "Atlantic Yards" is still just a plan — not a place. But a ride past the Vanderbilt Yards and their environs could be educational for those not familiar with the details of Bruce Ratner's land grab. Regardless, the Tour de Brooklyn is great fun, and the forecast looks smashing.
Posted by eric at 2:11 PM
More fallout from recent Atlantic Yards letters
The Brooklyn Paper, Letters to the Editor
I certainly can relate to last week’s letter from Leon de Augusto (“This guy faults Ratner and Atlantic Yards foes,” Letters, May 17).
As an African-American living near the footprint of Atlantic Yards, I understand his feelings about the apparent “inner-city cultural divide” between the opposition and their “minority neighbors.”
I say “apparent,” because there are minority neighbors involved in the fight, but not in the numbers that we in the opposition would like. Check out photos of the events that have been posted to numerous Web sites. We people of color are there.
Augusto said that Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn “has failed to persuade [its] minority neighbors that Ratner is fooling them again, this time through surrogates,” but Ratner apparently has not fooled you. I’m sure you’re not the only one.
I urge you, previous letter writer Thomasina Millet (“Mixed messages,” Letters, April 26), and others who have not been fooled by the developer’s public relations campaign to attend one of the many fundraisers, movie screenings, public hearings, protests and other events. It will take more people of color to regularly show up at these and other events to make it clear that the fight is not about race or color.
We don’t need another Metrotech.
Tracy Collins, Prospect Heights
Leon de Augusto and Thomasina Millet should be pointed to a photoblog I posted from the Brooklyn Museum protest at http://kingstonlounge.blogspot.com/2008/04/brooklyn-museum-ratner-protest-card-i.html.Not only were a wide variety of people of various colors on hand, but a wide variety of ages, economic statuses, and so on were in this crowd. It’s wrong to suggest that everybody at this protest — or everybody who is opposed to Atlantic Yards — looks like Daniel Goldstein. There are plenty “people of color” who oppose this project.
Richard Nickel, Jr., Weeksville
Posted by eric at 9:45 AM
Jeffries says Assembly should hold AY hearing; FCR instead offers breakfast update
Atlantic Yards Report
Hakeem Jeffries continues to talk tougher regarding Atlantic Yards.
While the State Assembly Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions is holding a hearing today on the progress of development projects on Manhattan's West Side, there's a strong argument for a hearing to assess the status of the Atlantic Yards project as well.
Whether that hearing, including representatives of the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) and developer Forest City Ratner, will get scheduled is another question. Assembly leadership--apparently Speaker Sheldon Silver--has so far balked, according to Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries.
Joint committee hearing
Jeffries, who represents Prospect Heights and the AY footprint, is a member of the Corporations committee. He said last night that he and two neighboring legislators--Assemblywoman Joan Millman, who chairs the Oversight, Analysis and Investigation committee, and Assemblyman Jim Brennan, who chairs the Cities committee--want to hold a joint hearing of their committees regarding Atlantic Yards, given the uncertainty regarding the project.
"I'd like to get all of them, ESDC and the developer, on the record, under oath," Jeffries said at a meeting of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council at P.S. 9 on Underhill Avenue. (Among the questions worth asking: how exactly were the generous timetables for the project determined?)
"There's been some resistance," Jeffries said. "The developer has offered to meet with legislators at a legislative breakfast. I think there's been enough back-room conversation."
He said hoped a hearing could sort out plans regarding eminent domain, the financing of the arena, the commitment to build affordable housing, and any negotiations to sell the Nets to an ownership group that would have them play in Newark's Prudential Center instead.
NoLandGrab: Jim Brennan also told a meeting of the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats last night that he intends to introduce legislation in the Assembly that would require Atlantic Yards to go through a fast-tracked City ULURP process.
Posted by eric at 9:34 AM
(Another) partial collapse at Ward Bread Bakery during demolition
not another fcking blog*
Tracy Collins posted some images from the Atlantic Yards Web Cam that "possibly recorded the actual collapse" at the Ward Bakery building on Tuesday, May 20.
All of this will need to be verified, but a resident who lives across Dean Street from Ward's heard a loud boom, and later saw a worker being removed on a stretcher.
This photo is a detail from one of the posted images, check out the series on Tracy's blog.
Posted by lumi at 5:28 AM
Ward Bakery update: injured worker in good condition
Atlantic Yards Report
Several people asked me about what happened at the Ward Bakery on Tuesday, after a worker was seen being removed on a stretcher and a stop-work order issued.
Empire State Development Corporation spokesman Warner Johnston offers this update: "The injured worker appears to be in good condition and we expect him to be released today. He was immediately taken to a nearby hospital... and my understanding is that he was kept over night for evaluation."
"With regards to the cause of the incident, the investigation is still being conducted," he added. "I don't have specific information to share until the investigation is complete." The stop-work order suggests a rotted beam as a possible cause for the collapse of a section of the floor.
Posted by lumi at 5:26 AM
Springtime!
It's springtime in the footprint of Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project: the trees have donned their new folliage, fledglings are sorting out their wings and the Community Liaison's office is still there.
Posted by lumi at 5:23 AM
Two sides of Gehry
The Brooklyn Paper
From a letter to the editor by Municipal Art Society (MAS) President Kent Barwick about the group's love-hate relationship with Frank Gehry and Forest City Ratner:
The MAS criticized the Atlantic Yards proposal for its poor planning and the total failure of its public and private sponsors to meaningfully engage the public. The MAS presented an award to the IAC building because it was selected by an independent jury as one of the best new buildings in New York City.
The fact that both projects are designed by the same architect is immaterial. In the same awards ceremony, we honored Forest City Ratner, the developer of the Atlantic Yards project, by naming the New York Times Building one of the best new buildings in the city.
Posted by lumi at 5:22 AM
The Closer: Celebrating the year of men - in design
NY Daily News
Is is possible that someone really thinks they already live in Atlantic Yards?
To celebrate the opening day of the 20th annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair, one of the three biggest furniture shows on Earth, the world's top designers and architects mingled with guests among works of art that included nudes, orange industrial squares and small pools of water on different levels of a slate terrace.
...
Designer of the year Todd Bracher talked about American design making a comeback."Everyone says American design is dead," says Bracher, who recently returned from a teaching stint in France to open a studio in Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards. "I was born in Flatlands, Brooklyn. America is alive and kicking."
Folks, this is Atlantic Yards and this is what it looks like now.
If anyone can find Bracher in Atlantic Yards, that would be a story.
Posted by lumi at 5:13 AM
Marine Park Students Get Special Reading Motivation
Canarsie Courier
City Councilman Lew Fidler joined former New Jersey Nets star Albert King last week to show local youth the importance of reading in an event coordinated by Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC). Fidler and King read to dozens of students at P.S. 207...
Posted by lumi at 5:09 AM
May 22, 2008
Ward's Bakery: SWO But Well Beyond Salvation
Brownstoner
 |
The condition of the Ward's Bakery building, illuminated by recent news of a Stop-Work Order, came like a splash of cold water in the face for Brownstoner.
When we snapped this photo of the rear of Ward's Bakery earlier this week, we did so simply because we were struck by how far along the demolition actually was; from the front, one would have no idea. Now, per Atlantic Yards Report, news comes of the project being hit with a Stop Work Order after a member of the demolition crew was injured on Monday. Other than remedial safety work, demolition may not recommence until the structural engineer gives the thumbs-up. And here we had deludedly held out hope that the recent delays and problems with the Atlantic Yards project as a whole might have opened up a window to save the historic building. Silly us.
NoLandGrab: The scorched-earth policy of taking down as many buildings as possible as quickly as possible is a tried-and-true tactic from the developer's playbook. Never mind that the state funding agreement established no deadline for the construction of Phase 2 of the project.
Of course, some of Brownstoner's pro-Atlantic Yards commentariat cites the "possible cause rotted beam" as the reason for the floor collapse that led to the stop-work order, willfully ignoring all the jackhammering, pick-axing and assorted other demolition going on in the building. Why, that parapet must've thrown itself off the Ward Bakery last April!
Posted by eric at 2:16 PM
At MAS, AY as an example of a neighborhood planning struggle
Atlantic Yards Report
When it comes to discussions of “David vs. Goliath,” the subject of a Municipal Art Society (MAS) Planning Center Forum on May 14, Atlantic Yards is an inevitable subject, though--as I’ll note below--the politics of AY means that more than one set of parties might consider themselves “Davids.”
The panel addressed the issue of “neighborhood planning in the face of large-scale development,” and planner/architect Stuart Pertz, in his introduction, noted that some projects are inherently large, and only work if built on a large scale. “Unfortunately, it often gets out of hand,” he said, suggesting that “Goliath in development has extraordinary leverage, using powerful lawyers, contractors, planners, and unions.” Then again, he said, “there are many Davids.”
A fair amount of the discussion revolved around the Atlantic Yards-alternative UNITY Plan.
Architect Marshall Brown (right), a developer of the UNITY plan for the Metropolitian Transportation Authority’s Vanderbilt Yard (and beyond), said, with perhaps some retrospective bravado, “Four years ago we realized we needed to have something in place for the probable occurrence of Forest City Ratner’s plans running aground.” He suggested that Atlantic Yards exemplified a “willful ignorance of limits,” including the physical limit of an eight-acre railyard, the legal limit of eminent domain, the democratic limit of ULURP (the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, bypassed in this case for a fast-track state review), and “finally, the all too evident limit of the talents of a single architect.”
He noted that he wasn’t dissing Frank Gehry, just pointing out--as have others, and even Gehry himself--that megaprojects require multiple architects.
Brown suggested that questions of sustainability and the “looming environmental apocalypse” meant that the Bloomberg administration should prioritize quality ahead of quantity: “I’d say it’s a city of limits.”
Lawyer Candace Carponter (right), a co-chair of the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods (CBN), described how the coalition, formed to respond to the Atlantic Yards environmental review, moved from officially agnostic to ultimately oppositional, joining a lawsuit challenging the review, and becoming a supporter of the UNITY plan. She suggested that the combination of a new governor, “detrimental economics,” and the Newark option for the Nets might provide an opening for the UNITY plan--though of course, that remains to be seen.
Posted by eric at 10:45 AM
The Manhattan Borough President stresses land use
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder surfs the web to evaluate how New York City's five borough presidents look at land-use issues.
As noted in the discussion May 14 at the Municipal Art Society, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has advanced ahead of the other borough presidents in stressing the importance of land use issues and in training Community Board members on land use issues.
Follow the link for a look at the different borough home pages.
Posted by eric at 10:43 AM
Pacific St. trench
There appears to be a utility trench on Pacific St. that has not been included in any of the recent Atlantic Yards Construction Updates. "Updates" are released bi-weekly by the Empire State Development Corporation and Forest City Ratner, in their ongoing effort "to keep the Atlantic Yards Community aware of upcoming construction activities."
This photo was taken yesterday by neighborhood photographer Tracy Collins, who posted another photo of the same trench further down the block.
A footprint resident contacted the Atlantic Yards ombudsman for information about the trench, but thus far has received no response.
Posted by lumi at 5:07 AM
May 21, 2008
Stop-work order at Ward Bakery
Atlantic Yards Report
[Updated: 11:05 am] Demolition at the Ward Bakery between Pacific and Dean streets was met with a stop-work order because the work is alleged to undermine an adjacent building and also because of an injury.
While the overview indicates it's been resolved, Department of Buildings spokeswoman Kate Lindquist says, "The Stop Work Order is not 'resolved.'” (The word is used by DOB as an administrative tool to track complaint dispositioning.)
She offered this explanation, "The Stop Work Order was issued on Monday after a worker, employed by Gateway Demolition, was injured during demolition work. The worker was brought to a nearby hospital. The Stop Work Order remains in effect. Workers are able to conduct remedial work to maintain a safe site – such as removing loose debris and tools – but demolition remains halted at this time. The Stop Work Order will remain in effect until the engineer of record, Thornton Tomasetti, fully assesses the structural conditions of the building and submits a revised demolition plan taking into consideration its findings."
Posted by eric at 10:15 AM
Brodsky on West Side deal: subsidy info needed
Atlantic Yards Report
From yesterday's New York Times, in an article headlined New Developer Signs $1 Billion Deal to Transform West Side Railyards:
“Until we get a handle on the level of subsidies involved, there’s no way to determine whether this is a good deal or a bad deal,” said Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky, a Democrat from Westchester who is holding a hearing on West Side development on Friday.Last week, I reported on similar comments. "Developers have learned the fight is about the subsidies," Brodsky said. "That distorting element is so powerful we don't know how much to give, what is proper." That, he said, makes it hard to assess "what exactly is the public good."
The same questions could be raised about the Atlantic Yards deal, where, for example, the amount of scarce housing bonds needed was not made public until after the project was approved.
NoLandGrab: Unfortunately, Atlantic Yards is not on Assemblyman Brodsky's agenda for Friday.
Posted by eric at 9:58 AM
Gehry's dutiful B1 charade and the marketing of naming rights
Atlantic Yards Report
In for a dime, in for a dollar--or many, many thousands of them. The opportunity to build his first arena, and maybe even "a neighborhood practically from scratch", means starchitect Frank Gehry dutifully participated in a charade over the name of the flagship Atlantic Yards tower, which is now--as predicted by me and NoLandGrab--up for a naming rights sponsorship.
Posted by eric at 9:51 AM
Brooklyn's Her Maiden Name: Ratner Offering Naming Deal for Atlantic Yards' Tallest Tower
The NY Observer
by Eliot Brown
Here's one we called a couple weeks ago:
Bruce Ratner is looking for a new name for the signature office tower in his $4 billion-plus Atlantic Yards project.
The Frank Gehry-designed tower was known as “Miss Brooklyn” until it was shrunk, redesigned and re-unveiled in April under a new, more staid moniker: “B1.” It turns out that that name, too, may change, should developer Forest City Ratner, led by Mr. Ratner, find a tenant eager enough to attach its name to the building.
NoLandGrab: "Find a tenant eager enough to attach its name to the building?" Forest City would be happy enough just to find a tenant that wanted space in the building, since it won't break ground until it has leases for at least 50% of "B1."
Posted by eric at 9:25 AM
Senate report warns of breach of duty in "done deal" Polytechnic-NYU consolidation
Atlantic Yards Report
Two-and-a-half months after the board of Polytechnic University (Poly) in Brooklyn voted to approve a controversial consolidation into much larger New York University (NYU), the chairman of the State Senate Committee on Higher Education has raised some serious questions about the deal, though it's unclear whether those questions--outnumbered by allegations dismissed--are enough for the state Department of Education or the Board of Regents to withhold their approval.
...Poly, a small engineering school at Brooklyn’s MetroTech that draws mainly on local students, offers NYU, a Greenwich Village-based university with international reach, two things it needs: an engineering school and, crucially, land, including air rights subject to a letter of intent Poly has signed with Forest City Ratner, its neighbor and lead partner on MetroTech.
Posted by eric at 9:12 AM
A REAL SCORECARD
FCR PR: Lie frequently and often!!
Atlantic Yards critics have been scratching their heads about developer Forest City Ratner's [FCR] claim of having swept the opposition in the courts (that's court of law, not b-ball), and their frequent trumpeting of their alleged 18-0 record.
Since there haven't been 18 court cases filed, we're assuming that FCR is counting court decisions.
Ratner may have "the math," but we asked Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn for the actual running tally of decisions, and found that the real math tells a somewhat different story, which leads us to the question, why don't reporters ask Forest City Ratner for proof of the company's outstanding record?
[The "journalism of verification" is supposed to mean more than just verifying that Ratner said what he said.]
Here's the tally, which comes out to 11-3 in favor of FCR, by our count:
CASE |
Plaintiff |
Defendant |
DDDB et al v. ESDC et al, |
 |
|
DDDB et al v. ESDC et al, |
|
|
DDDB et al v. ESDC et al, |
|
|
DDDB et al v. ESDC et al, |
|
|
Goldstein et al. v. Pataki et al, |
|
|
Goldstein et al. v. Patakii et al, |
|
|
Anderson et al v. ESDC et al, |
|
|
Anderson et al v. ESDC et al, |
|
|
Anderson et al v. ESDC et al, |
|
|
Anderson et al v. ESDC et al, |
|
|
Anderson et al v. ESDC et al, |
|
|
DDDB et al v. ESDC et al, |
 |
|
752 Pacific LLC v. Pacific Carlton Development Corp., |
|
|
Williams v. FCRC, |
|
|
TOTAL |
3 |
11 |
Two Forest City executives who have been spreading the 18-0 lie:
Bruce Ratner
Joanne Minieri
Here are two reporters and one government official who have been lied to by FCR and should ask for their money back:
Charles V. Bagli, The NY Times
Simon Houpt, Toronto Globe and Mail
Avi Schick, Empire State Development Corporation
Maybe the reporters can get a correction printed, and hopefully both of them have learned their lesson about FCR PR.
In the end, who won what court decisions is of little consequence, when either side needs only to win at the finish line. Compiling this scorecard is practically a waste of time, except for the fact that Bruce Ratner and his troops are making a big deal of it and have proliferated this lie.
Posted by lumi at 6:38 AM
AreYouOnTheList.com
This marketing hook is so over-the-top stupid that we're speechless.
Click the rotating banner at the bottom of BarclaysCenter.com. The link takes you to http://www.amionthelist.com, where you get congratulated for being on "the list" and get to enter your info to be "NOTIFIED OF EXCITING PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES AND EXCLUSIVE OFFERS AVAILABLE ONLY ON THE LIST."
NoLandGrab: [still speechless]
Posted by lumi at 5:01 AM
Brooklyn's bloggers show real faces
NY Daily News
By Erin O'Neill
Just after receiving props in an article about Brooklyn bloggers, only the the Mad Overkiller Norman Oder would go to the comments section to criticize the paper's recent coverage of Atlantic Yards.
Last week, the Brooklyn Lyceum hosted the third annual event, which was started by Louise ("Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn") Crawford in 2006 to put virtual names to actual faces.
...
Atlantic Yards Report (atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com):Norman Oder's blog chronicles every detail of the Atlantic Yards project, analyzing the media coverage, city involvement and developer Bruce Ratner.
Click here for full article and comments.
Posted by lumi at 4:43 AM
Top development official to quit
AP, via Albany Times Union
By Amy Westfeldt
Avi Schick, the state's leading development official who oversaw projects from Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards to ground zero, said Tuesday he'll leave his post at the agency in September for the private sector.
This article also ran on CNNMoney.com.
Posted by lumi at 4:40 AM
Jeff Strabone — Bringing New Blood to Cobble Hill’s Leadership
Takes Helm at Cobble Hill Association
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
By Amy Crawford
Congratulations Bruce Ratner, your controversial Atlantic Yards plan is now the poster project for "iffy" development.
Jeff Strabone, the new president of the Cobble Hill Association, compares the controversy over the Brooklyn Bridge Park development plan to that surrounding the Ratner project:
“I don’t want Brooklyn Bridge Park to become another Atlantic Yards,” Strabone said. “With Atlantic Yards there are so many things that turned out to be iffy, that turned out to be not what people thought they were. It’s not clear to me who will hold title to the parkland once the park is built.”
NoLandGrab: What we don't get is why Brooklyn Bridge Park has to be "self-sustaining," while Atlantic Yards is on track to suck up billions in direct and indirect subsidies.
Posted by lumi at 4:28 AM
Forest City in the News
Amherst Bee, Boulevard Mall appoints new general manager
Simi Khalsa has been named general manager of the Boulevard Mall. Khalsa was formerly the assistant general manager at Southbay Galleria, located in Redondo Beach, Calif. Prior to joining Forest City Commercial Management, the mall's parent company, she worked for the L.Y.F. Foundation....
GuruFocus.com, Michael Price Buys...
Billionaire investor Michael Price buys stock in out-of-favor small cap companies that are of good values. He is the mentor of David Winters, who also achieved outstanding performances. Michael Price owns 105 stocks with a total value of $563.4 billion. These are the details of the buys and sells.
...
New Purchase: Forest City Enterprises Inc. (FCE-A)Michael Price initiated holdings in Forest City Enterprises Inc.. His purchase prices were between $35.15 and $41.53, with an estimated average price of $37.2. The impact to his portfolio due to this purchase was 0.12%. His holdings were 17,800 shares as of 03/31/2008.
Forest City Enterprises, Inc. owns, develops, manages, and acquires commercial and residential real estate properties in the United States. Its Commercial Group owns, develops, and operates regional malls, specialty/urban retail centers, Forest City Enterprises Inc. has a market cap of $4.16 billion; its shares were traded at around $41.6 with a P/E ratio of 80.06 and P/S ratio of 3.31. The dividend yield of Forest City Enterprises Inc. stocks is 0.6%.
Posted by lumi at 4:12 AM
May 20, 2008
Open Look: New Jersey Nets
Possession Arrow
by Dan Waraska Jr.
Basketball blog Possession Arrow offers up an off-season checklist for the Nets, with recommendations for trades, draft strategy and... real estate.
(4) FORGET BROOKLYN: With the proposed Barclays Center in Brooklyn light years behind schedule, the Nets need to face the facts and realize they will NOT be moving to Brooklyn in time for the 2009-2010 season, the 2010-2011 season or EVER. They will no doubt be in the Izod Center until their recently signed lease extension runs out at the end of 2012. Facing the public relations nightmare of a Brooklyn move gone horribly wrong, Bruce Ratner should sell the club to someone interested in keeping the team in New Jersey. The new management should look to team up with the Devils yet again and take up residence in the Prudential Center in Newark. Repairing the fractured relationship with their NJ fan base should be paramount for the Nets in the coming years as they look to return to Eastern Conference dominance.
NoLandGrab: Possession Arrow describes itself as a "basketball blog that focuses on metric analysis." They've obviously run the numbers, and concluded, like many Atlantic Yards critics, that a Newark move makes increasing sense with each passing day.
Posted by eric at 3:49 PM
Calif. parks, NYC neighborhood on most-endangered sites list
USA Today
by Jayne Clark
No, Prospect Heights didn't make the National Trust's 2008 list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, but the Lower East Side did. Why? The threat of overdevelopment.
The entire California State Parks system, New York's Lower East Side, and a Topeka, Kan., elementary school that help foment the Civil Rights Movement are on the 2008 list of "America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places," issued today by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
...The 2008 list includes a number of neighborhoods, including the New York's Lower East Side, where buildings that figure significantly into the country's immigration history are in danger of yielding to development. They include former tenements, which the trust says, "had an impact on more Americans than any other form of urban housing."
NoLandGrab: Tenements once may "have had an impact on more Americans than any other form of urban housing," but their effect has been rapidly surpassed by that of the luxury condo.
Visit PreservationNation.org for the full list of endangered sites.
Posted by eric at 1:42 PM
ATLANTIC YARDS RATNERVILLE CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
A day late and perhaps a couple billion dollars short (but don't worry, Forest City Ratner will be asking for more subsidies), here's the latest update from the Empire State Development Corporation.
ATLANTIC YARDS CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
Weeks beginning May 19, 2008 and May 26, 2008In 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.
- Continue demolition of southern portion of Carlton Avenue Bridge.
- 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 30, 2007.
- 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); lot cleanup will continue.
- Demolition will continue at 642-646 Pacific Street (block 1127, lot 30) within this two week period.
- Demolition will continue at 640 Pacific Street (block 1127, lot 29) within this two week period.
- Abatement is complete at 195 Flatbush Avenue (block 1127, lot 1); demolition will begin 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 continued north along Flatbush. Work is underway 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. All work taking place in the sidewalk will occur during the day. Pedestrian walkways will be maintained.
Posted by eric at 1:22 PM
Activist's tenure meets ironic end
NY Daily News
A former member of the anti-Atlantic Yards group Develop, Don't Destroy, Brooklyn claims she was booted from the influential group during a secret meeting last year.
Patti Hagan, a public face for the fight against overdevelopment in Prospect Heights, compared the decision to eject her to meetings held by elected officials in support of the controversial $4.2 billion project.
"It's all been done in secret," said Hagan of the decision, made last summer, but only recently made public. "It's very odd because Develop, Don't Destroy, Brooklyn, that's the whole point, or one of the reasons it was created - because this whole project had been decided in back rooms."
DDDB member Daniel Goldstein declined to say why Hagan was booted, but defended the decision.
"DDDB restructured itself and dissolved its steering committee," said Goldstein, in a statement. "We are now governed by a new Board of Directors - five individuals we are very proud to have on our board."
link [scroll down]
Posted by eric at 1:11 PM
How build big in NYC? Not via the AY example, panelists suggest
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder files an in-depth report on last night's "Can NYC Build BIG Anymore" panel discussion, and offers plenty of reasons why opponents of Atlantic Yards won't miss Empire State Development Corporation President Avi Schick when he leaves at the end of the summer.
What are the right ways to build big projects in a growing city? Although panelists who spoke Monday night didn’t make the point explicitly, the answers they offered--public planning, realistic timetables, public ownership, infrastructure first, and media skepticism toward overhyped renderings--generally point to the opposite of the process behind Atlantic Yards.
The panel, titled Can NYC Build BIG Anymore?, was sponsored by Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century and held at Iguana Restaurant in Midtown. Notably, the acting head of the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) also offered a hearty defense of Atlantic Yards, adopting some of developer Forest City Ratner's talking points.
The question, panelists agreed, was not “can” but “how.” “One of the problems we have to confront is that people want to build big too fast,” observed Avi Schick, acting president of the ESDC, which approved and is overseeing Atlantic Yards. “Sometimes they bit off a little too much when they tried to push an entire plan forward at once.”
Posted by eric at 9:09 AM
Decoding the Daily News's belated story about Brooklyn Tech and AY
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder scolds the Daily News, which just caught on — sort of — that Brooklyn Tech is not going to be relocating to Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards.
Seventeen months ago, after approval of the Atlantic Yards project in December 2006, the Daily News massively overhyped--with the headline "Nets go High Tech: Ratner throws in new home for elite Brooklyn HS in arena deal"--a vague plan by Forest City Ratner to "work with the City, State and the United Federation of Teachers on the creation of a new 21st Century Brooklyn Tech High School, at a yet to be determined location in the borough."
There was no promised new home, and it certainly wasn't guaranteed to be Atlantic Yards. In April 2007, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle shot down any such plans, saying that influential alumni were opposed to the idea of leaving the largest high school in the country--prime potential real estate--and that the Department of Education had no plans to move.
Now they tell us
The Daily News should've responded immediately. Instead, more than a year later, we get a story today, disingenuously headlined Brooklyn Tech building not slated for Atlantic Yards. The article states:
A new building for Brooklyn Technical High School won't be part of the controversial Atlantic Yards project, city officials said."There's no such plan," said Mike Weiss, chairman of the Fort Greene school's alumni foundation. "Nobody's working on anything like that."
Developer Bruce Ratner had agreed to work with the city, state and teachers union officials, after the project won key state approval in December 2006, to include a new building for the specialized high school.
That's false. The plan was for a "yet to be determined location."
Click on the link to read about the silence of UFT President Randi Weingarten, and how the News buys into yet another tall tale from Forest City Ratner's spinmeister.
NY Daily News, Brooklyn Tech building not slated for Atlantic Yards
Posted by eric at 8:55 AM
Ratnerville Destruction Update Illustrated
Even though the Empire State Development Corporation didn't release a "construction update" this week, photographer Tracy Collins ventured into the footprint of Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project to bring you an update of what's going on.
[Click on the thumbnail images to view.]
More photos are posted on the flickr Atlantic Yards Photo Pool.
Posted by lumi at 5:24 AM
Development Agency Is Losing Its President
The NY Times
By Charles V. Bagli
Bruce Ratner's best friend at the Empire State Development Corporation will be stepping down in September.
Avi Schick, president of the state’s economic development agency, which is in the midst of a political overhaul, will step down in September.
...
After Mr. Spitzer was elected governor, Mr. Schick moved to the Empire State Development Corporation, becoming its president. He was responsible for the state’s role in rebuilding Lower Manhattan, as well as Governors Island, and the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, Columbia University’s expansion plan for Manhattanville and the Brooklyn Bridge project.
Posted by lumi at 5:14 AM
SAY WHAT CHUCK??
Though a Forest City September 2005 earnings conference call hardly seems like breaking news, Norman Oder reported yesterday that Forest City Enterprises CEO Charles Ratner told investors that they had been eyeing the Atlantic Yards project.
Chuck Ratner, CEO of FCE, said:
I will confess that it was less than two or three years ago we were sitting around in New York wondering where the next deals were going to come from. We had finished a whole bunch of office and we completed MetroTech and we didn't have the next great site in Brooklyn. That was one of the reasons we got so aggressive and creative, Bruce and his team did in this Atlantic Yards project. We saw that land sitting there for this last 10 years, realizing it would be a great opportunity if somebody could turn it on. We hope we've found a way to do that.
What's news about that, other than that it totally contradicts the delusion that Atlantic Yards started with a phone call from Borough President Marty Markowitz to Bruce Ratner?
This nugget is part of the mounting evidence that Atlantic Yards is a developer-driven project with only one developer in mind, Forest City. It also buttresses the claim by property owners who have held out against Ratner and NY State that any public benefits are incidental, perhaps even illusory.
Posted by lumi at 4:51 AM
Forget LeBron and rebuild Knicks pick by brick
amNY
By Shaun Powell
Powell handicaps Bruce Ratner's new Nets arena in Brooklyn in today's column about the possible future of Cleveland Cavalier forward LeBron James and the New York Knicks:
Let's all conveniently forget that LeBron is super-tight with Jay-Z, the rap maestro who has a small piece of the Nets, and if that new arena ever gets built in Brooklyn (my hunch says no), LeBron will be coming to New York, all right.
Posted by lumi at 4:43 AM
EarthCam Launches New MegapixelCam For Retail Developers At RECON 2008
Earth News
Atlantic Yards developer Forest City Ratner uses remote video to monitor construction sites and who knows what else. And now, manufacturer EarthCam, presents the 8 mega-pixel hi-def model with a windshield-wiper system, which would really come in handy during a rainy day for the much smaller, community-minded AYCAM. [Ok, sometimes size does matter.]
EarthCam, Inc., (www.earthcam.net) the leader in webcam technology, reinvents the webcam with a new advanced model that features 8 megapixel high def and live streaming video in one revolutionary camera system. This camera is the only 8 megapixel high def model available featuring live streaming video in a heavy-duty enclosure with a maintenance free washer-wipersystem. The breakthrough will be demonstrated for the first time at the EarthCam Exhibit # S8059 during May 18 - 21 at the annual ICSC international event that will be attended by more than 50,000 real estate executives, developers and investors.
...
EarthCam provides complete infrastructure services to manage, host and maintain live streaming and advanced Megapixel video camera systems for its corporate clients. Among them: Atlantic Properties, Barron Collier, Aker Kvaerner, Irving Co., *Forest City Ratner Companies, Trammell Crowe, The Related Cos., Inland, Kimco Realty, Vornado, Turner Construction, Tishman, Perini Building, Pike, Parsons, Skanska, Bechtel, URS, Disney, Coca-Cola, Ford, Sprint, Toyota, Panasonic, Yahoo!, Northrop Grumman, New York City Department of Transportation, Boeing, NASA, Bovis Lend Lease, Lockheed Martin, City of Chicago, GSA, Army Corps of Engineers, and Office of Homeland Security.
Posted by lumi at 4:21 AM
May 19, 2008
JAY-Z CAUGHT USING SECRET HANDSHAKE
TheBoomBox.com
This whole Atlantic Yards thing is finally starting to make sense...
On May 16th, Jay-Z came through to the Barclay's Center showroom opening in Brooklyn, New York to support his big homey Bruce Ratner. The music mogul and Ratner have been in business together ever since the rap star bought a piece of the entrepreneur's New Jersey Nets. The pair's currently working on a deal to transport the basketball team from Newark to Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards near Jay's old stomping grounds.
CORRECTION: The Barclays Center Showroom is located in Manhattan, at the NY Times building, not in Brooklyn. And the Nets would be relocating from East Rutherford, though Z and B-Rat might secretly be working on a plan to move the team to Newark.
They had some laughs and popped some bottles, but it was their oddly-gripped handshake (seen here) that sparked yet another round of Jay-related conspiracy theory.
Hova has long been rumored to be a member of the Freemasons, the fraternal organization known for their deep political ties and use of signs (gestures) and grips (handshakes). Past members allegedly include thirteen signors of the Constitution, fourteen U.S. Presidents and many of the nation's most powerful families such as the Rockefellers (ROC, mane) and Rothschilds.
NoLandGrab: We always thought the "conspiracy" involved secret backroom deals between powerful real estate interests and their enablers in government, not the Freemasons. But now we learn that the ranks of the Masonic Temple include, or have included, David Paterson, Chuck Schumer, Charlie Ebbets and Branch Rickey. Coincidence? Maybe. Or maybe not. The "deep political ties" certainly sound familiar.
We also see that both former Montana Senator Conrad Burns and Scottish poet Robert Burns were Freemasons. No word, however, if C. Montgomery Burns is a Mason, though this video proves his membership in the Stonecutters.
Posted by eric at 8:41 PM
More evidence about AY as a developer-driven project
Atlantic Yards Report
If judges were as probing as Norman Oder, we might be getting a little discovery by now.
More than a year ago, on 2/27/07, I wrote about how, despite claims by Forest City Ratner's lawyers that the developer did not conceive of Atlantic Yards, evidence suggested otherwise.
Let's look at two pieces of additional evidence, which seem to contradict each other. When the project was announced, a 12/11/03 New York Times article, headlined A Grand Plan in Brooklyn For the Nets' Arena Complex, reported:
Mr. [Bruce] Ratner said his effort began after [Borough President] Mr. [Marty] Markowitz called urging him to buy the Nets and move the team to Brooklyn.The implication is that only upon the sale of the Nets did Ratner begin to consider development at the railyards.
"Next great site in Brooklyn"
But consider some more evidence of a developer-driven project. It's from a 9/9/05 Q2 2005 Forest City Enterprises, Inc. Earnings Conference Call (for sale) that representatives of parent Forest City Enterprises (FCE) had with investment analysts.
Chuck Ratner, CEO of FCE, said:
I will confess that it was less than two or three years ago we were sitting around in New York wondering where the next deals were going to come from. We had finished a whole bunch of office and we completed MetroTech and we didn't have the next great site in Brooklyn. That was one of the reasons we got so aggressive and creative, Bruce and his team did in this Atlantic Yards project. We saw that land sitting there for this last 10 years, rea