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July 23, 2009
HEADLINES: Atlantic Yards Confrontational Informational Hearing
Though the headlines mostly key on the disruption (when was there ever anything Atlantic Yards-related without disruption?), the more interesting story was the wee bit of news coming out of last night's joint Community Board event. Atlantic Yards Report got there first, but here are highlights from the rest of the coverage. First up, some good insight from The Observer's Eliot Brown.
NY Observer, Public Review of Atlantic Yards, Without the 'View' Part
With changes to the design and timetable, Bruce Ratner’s $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards project is back in public review, complete with public meetings, public comment and a vote of the board of a public authority.
Theoretically, this month-long public comment period is meant to review the changed project. But one thing that’s absent in this re-review: renderings, or any other look at the project’s design (which one would assume has changed dramatically since the last approval in 2006, given that star architect Frank Gehry, with his distinctive style, was pulled from the project).
...At a public hearing Wednesday night on the project, a state official, Darren Bloch, was asked about whether there would be any formal comment allowed on the renderings.
“We do not expect a formal review process by the public,” he said. “We expect to see the renderings by Forest City Ratner; we expect ourselves, the city, to weigh in on those to some degree, but we do not expect a formal presentation to the public to accept comment from that.”
He added the renderings were expected to be presented in the fall (the public comment period on the revised "General Project Plan" closes at the end of August).
The argument of the officials and Forest City Ratner is that the original approval from 2006 provided for design guidelines, and so long as the arena falls in line with those (which they say it will), then they are doing what is required of them at this point.
NoLandGrab: So the ESDC is sole judge and jury as to whether or not the project meets the "design guidelines," which of course it claims it does, and the public can't weigh in on whether or not it agrees, because we won't see renderings until after the comment period ends. Wha?
Back when Frank Gehry was the designer, Forest City and the state trumpeted grand renderings and models well in advance of when they were detailed. Mr. Gehry’s design was a key selling point, of course, and his name came up at most every possible mention of the project.
The issue highlights the inherently misleading nature of renderings in public projects. They are used to sell the public and officials on something that looks appealing, but unlike something like rent payments or certain amenities, developers are rarely, if ever, contractually obligated to build a project as pictured or with a certain architect.
NLG: The Gehry factor played prominently in the acquiescence of a number of "culturally susceptible types."
The Local [Fort Greene/Clinton Hill], Atlantic Yards Meeting Erupts
Former Brooklyn Paper Atlantic Yards beat reporter Jess Wisloski covered the meeting for The Local.
With one week to go before the official comment period begins for the state’s recently modified plan for the project, state and Ratner representatives were greeted by an avalanche of tough questions posed by community members who live in and around the site’s 22-acre footprint, and the meeting at times flew out of control, with both proponents and opponents erupting.
The hostile tenor of the meeting was obviously a result of pent-up emotions by those who have been trying to raise questions about the viability of the project and its affect on the surrounding areas. In the absence of public forums, opponents had repeatedly showed up at the authority’s monthly board meetings, which do not offer an opportunity for the agency to respond to public comment.
The Brooklyn Paper, Atlantic antics! Yards hearing goes haywire!
The state, meanwhile, dismissed a report by the city’s Independent Budget Office that said the basketball arena would in fact be a net loss for taxpayers, rather than the promised generator of revenues.
“Own analysis [covers] the entire project,” said Steve Matlin, counsel at the ESDC. “Our calculation determined that it would be a significant benefit to the city and state.”
NLG: Only the state's "analysis" hasn't been updated since 2006 — and even if it had, it doesn't trifle with bothersome things such as "costs."
Nets Daily, Hearing on Barclays Center Devolves into Screamfest
It was supposed to be an informational hearing on changes to Bruce Ratner’s plans for Barclays Center–and the larger Atlantic Yard project–but once again, tempers flared as critics heckled Ratner representatives and construction workers heckled critics.
Posted by eric at July 23, 2009 1:08 PM