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June 9, 2009
It came from the Blogosphere...
Who Gives A Shit, It's Gone, Yet Another Reason to Root Against the Nets
I'm not going to go into all the many, many ins-and-outs of the highly contentious Atlantic Yards development project, which consists of a new arena for the New Jersey Nets and 16 residential/office towers right in the heart of Brooklyn.
...By my unofficial tally, however, there are probably 1,000 or so reasons to be against the project. But until developer and Nets owner Bruce Ratner had the gaul to fire architect Frank Gehry in favor of Ellerbe Becket, the architectural equivalent of trading Michael Jordan for Kerry Kittles, nobody of institutional import dared to chime in against Ratner's plan. Enter the New York Times, whose line in the sand is, apparently, bad architecture...
Realty Collective, Atlantic Yards arena scrapped in favor of Tractor Supply Company
In a stunning turnaround, Forest City Ratner released their latest plans for what was to be the Nets stadium at Atlantic Yards - Brooklyn's first Tractor Supply Company. The new proposal may finally unite community groups, civic leaders, and the developers.
Given Brooklynites' deep commitment to sustainable living and local organic produce, Tractor Supply Company may finally fill the need for small farm vehicles, manure spreaders, and rototillers currently unmet by other big box chains. The new design is fresh and rural, and sends a meaningful message for these bleak economic times - thumbing its nose at "fashion" and "quality."
Brownstoner, Ouroussoff, Tell Us How You Really Feel
New York Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff doesn't mince words in reviewing the new design for the Atlantic Yards Arena.
WCWP Sports, Nets, Atlantic Yards Ditch Gehry -- Get Gymnasium
Damn, Nicolai. That's cold... but true.
Pray extra hard tonight, people. This cannot be built.
Curbed, New Nets Arena Renderings Make Critic No Less Angry
...not only does the new Barclays Center threaten to destroy the neighborhood, but it could also wreak havoc on the entire city and architecture as a whole.
Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, Times on Ratner: A Stunning Bait and Switch
In yesterday's New York Times Nicolia Ouroussoff wrote a scathing piece about Forest City Ratner's decision to change architects on the Atlantic Yards Project.
Taunter Media, Bait and Switch
It seems they had a bit of a change of heart, and decided to go with something a bit more Oversized Costco:
Actually, that’s not quite fair. It is simply a relocated Conseco Fieldhouse, which nicely saves everyone the trip to Indianapolis:
Tropolism, Atlantic Yards: The First Post
Instead, the project has simply been redone, shorn of its residences and shops and now it's simply become one of those deadening black holes in the city, just like "Madison" "Square" "Garden". It's a classic, bald-faced bait-and-switch, which is a cute New York way of saying that Forest City Ratner are crooks. They have stolen the public's patience and benefit of the doubt in exchange for their own personal profit. The effect of which is that this part of Brooklyn will be dumb and cold and dead until 2050 when some even more stupid gyration will have to happen in order to renovate the dumb thing that might get built right now.
NY Times City Room, The Atlantic Yards Development: Two Designs, Many Opinions
Nicolai Ouroussoff’s assessment of the new scheme for the Nets arena in Brooklyn, which replaces a more elaborate and expensive Frank Gehry design, has drawn a lot of reader comments — he’s apparently not the only one with strong feelings.
Nets Daily, Architecture Critic Laments New Arena Design
Amazingly, there are actually a couple Atlantic Yards-related blog posts today that don't mention Nicolai Ourousoff or the new arena design.
The Angry New Yorker, DO THE MATH! BLOOMTURD’S NUMBERS READY TO DROP!
Atlantic Yards ranks #3 among TANY's reasons why the Mayor's re-election bid is about to come undone.
Curbed, Brooklyn's New Tallest Gets a Name: The Brooklyner!
Atlantic Yards gets a mention in this story about Brooklyn's excitingly named new tallest building.
For all the hubbub that was created when Frank Gehry designed his Miss Brooklyn skyscraper at the Atlantic Yards to replace the Williamsburgh Bank Building as Brooklyn's tallest building (before it was eventually downsized), the Clarrett Group's 111 Lawrence Street has flown relatively under the radar.
NoLandGrab: Downsized? As of now, Miss Brooklyn is non-sized.
Posted by eric at June 9, 2009 1:54 PM