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December 31, 2009
The 2009 Streetsie Awards: Worst City Agency
Streetsblog
Forest City's East River Plaza is one of the reasons why The NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC) received this years "Streetsie" award for Worst City Agency:
Aching to build a huge parking deck but don't have enough cash? The NYC Economic Development Corporation is here to help. This quasi-public agency's predilection for financing suburban-style development was on full display in 2009. Two EDC specials held grand openings: The Gateway Center Mall on the South Bronx waterfront, with its 2,800 parking spots and atrocious walkways; and East River Plaza, a big-box retail complex with a 1,248-car garage hulking beside the FDR Drive in Harlem. These are utterly hostile environments for anyone who doesn't get around in a car, subsidized by taxpayers and located in neighborhoods with very high asthma rates. How does it all fit with PlaNYC and the vision of a more sustainable city? It doesn't. Not one bit.
NoLandGrab: Forest City's web site describes the East River Plaza as a "vibrant commercial center," which is developerspeak for "big-box retail complex with a 1,248-car garage."
Posted by lumi at December 31, 2009 4:51 AM