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March 26, 2009
It came from the Blogosphere...
Atlantic Yards is dead! Long live Atlantic Yards!
Here's a sampling of the blowback from Frank Gehry's comment, reported in The Architect's Newspaper, that he didn't think that Atlantic Yards was going to happen.
Brownstoner, Gehry Says He Thinks Yards Won't Get Built, Then Hedges
In an interview with the Architect's Newspaper on Tuesday, starchitect Frank Gehry let this line slip about the Atlantic Yards project that he is the lead designer for: "I don't think it's going to happen." In a press release, Bruce Ratner called Gehry a "great friend" and said it was understandable that he (and others) "have concerns about this project happening in the worst economic environment since the Great Depression." Never fear, though, he said. It will get built. Gehry then responded through his publicist, saying that his original statement was "misconstrued as a prediction" about the project and that he remains "hopeful it will come to fruition." Time will tell.
Gothamist, Gehry: Atlantic Yards Project Won't Happen
From a pretty informed update of the recent events in the Atlantic Yards saga:
Starchitect Frank Gehry really stepped in it during a recent interview with industry journal The Architect's Newspaper, admitting he doesn't think developer Bruce Ratner's $4.2 billion plan to build a Nets basketball arena, office towers and thousands of apartments in Brooklyn will become a reality.
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But Ratner is keeping up a brave face; in a statement sent out last night, he deemed Gehry's doubts "understandable," and even acknowledged that "others have concerns about this project happening in the worst economic environment since the Great Depression." But excelsior! Ratner insists, "Atlantic Yards will get built."
Hoops World, No Arena For The Nets?
Frank Gehry's comments come at a time when most believe the project will never get off the ground.
Curbed.com, Gehry Predicts Atlantic Yards' Death, But Hopes It'll Happen
Frank O. Gehry knows that what ends up getting built at Atlantic Yards might not bear much of his DNA, but according to the architect, Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards might not end up looking like much of anything at all.
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That's some fresh blood in the water for the project's opponents, and the Atlantic Yards team (no, not the Nets) is already doing damage control.
Reason, Hit & Run, "...the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn—I don’t think it’s going to happen."
New York turned to eminent domain, it's worth remembering, so Bruce Ratner could build a new basketball stadium for the Bruce Ratner-owned Nets.
Runnin' Scared [Village Voice blog], Dark Days, Press-Wise, for Atlantic Yards
As Ward Harkavy pointed out this morning, Atlantic Yards architect Frank Gehry's admission in regard to the project ("I don't think it's going to happen") must chap developer Bruce Ratner's ass, despite Gehry's walkback.
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Meanwhile the Daily News refers to the project as "trapped in limbo" and "dormant," and NY1 says Ratner is "struggling to raise cash for the project." Negative perceptions aren't everything, especially when big money and high-powered interests are pulling the other way, but this can't be helping the boosterism that long animated the project.
$mart A$sets [Village Voice blog], Game on at Atlantic Yards: Ratner disputes Gehry's pessimism. Even Gehry disputes Gehry.
But as I noted yesterday, speaking of the massive development's future, Gehry told The Architect's Newspaper, "I don't think it's going to happen."
Oops, there goes that sales scheme.
Joshing Politics, Gehry Proclaims Atlantic Yards Dead
In what may be one of the worst pieces of news for the embattled Bruce Ratner, his star-architect (or starchitect) Frank Gehry said that the controversial Atlantic Yards development is kaput. Well, he didn't say "kaput" but the answer was just as bad.
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Atlantic Yards probablity of being built has diminished for the last year or so and the current state of the economy has helped drive it into the ground for good. Credit is tight, construction costs have risen, but most importantly, the controversy of the development helped keep the project in question just long enough to help quash Ratner's dreams. Now he'll try to build something a lot smaller and less grand, but this is where a competent city government would come in and restore some order. Of course, as long as Marty Markowitz is around that possibility is quite slim.
The Cross Pollinator, Poor poor Atlantic Yards
I’m psyched Gehry used the ‘d’ word as in dead, kaput, no go. I feel empathy towards those who have taken time out of their lives to oppose this corporate monstrosity. I’m happy Bruce Ratner’s ugly anti-democratic concrete monstrosity may not come to pass. I will be thrilled if Mayor Bloomberg takes a black eye on this project.
But it’s not official. And as everybody knows, vampires are really difficult to kill. So let’s hope this slow circling of the toilet will eventually culminate with a flush. The day Bruce Ratner throws in the towel will be a great day.
Plan NYC, Mayor Disappointed by Changes in Atlantic Yards Plans
Mayor Bloomberg says it would be a shame if Atlantic Yards is built without a Frank Gehry designed arena, because litigation delayed the project long enough for economic changes to make the plan unfeasible. However, one critic says the government should have proceeded with caution rather than endorsing assumptions made at the peak of the market. In addition, it is still unclear whether the Gehry design will be used.
Nets Daily, Ratner Denies His Architect’s Claim That Brooklyn “May Not Be Completed”
In an interview published Tuesday, Atlantic Yards architect Frank Gehry told a writer, “I don’t think it’s going to happen” describing the site of the Nets’ arena as one of two big projects “that are being threatened, and may not be completed”. Later, Bruce Ratner denied the claim, saying “Atlantic Yards will get built”. On Monday, Mayor Bloomberg had told reporters the project may get built “without the Gehry design”
UnBeige, Gehry Gives Up on Atlantic Yards
Continuing with Frank Gehry's worst start to a month in the last little bit, what with the Beekman Tower getting chopped in half and finding new leaks in Ontario, in a section of this interview with The Architects Newspaper, it looks like Gehry has finally come to terms with the "on hold" Atlantic Yards project never being finished....
Queens Crap, Ratner's architect thinks Atlantic Yards won't happen
ArtInfo.com, Atlantic Yards Project Unlikely, Says Gehry
Posted by lumi at March 26, 2009 1:37 AM