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June 7, 2010
Atlantic Yards YES! MTA paint NO!!
What's a fresh coat of paint when we're getting a shiny new basketball palace?
The Brooklyn Paper, MTA’s Jay Street paint chip disaster
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is spending $110 million to rehabilitate the bustling Jay Street subway station, but it is content to treat the hub’s entryway as an ugly stepchild.
The transit agency said this week it will not repaint the peeling ceilings on either exit on the west side of Jay Street between Willoughby Street and Myrtle Avenue, leaving a moonscape of potentially toxic paint chips raining down.
The ceiling work is not included in the current rehab plan, which will be completed by August, 2011. Transit officials said that intra-agency discussions are underway to try to secure funding for the paint job — but could not provide a cost estimate or a time frame for the work, vexing area business leaders.
“If this was Midtown Manhattan, I’m not sure we’d be having this conversation,” said Joe Chan, president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, a quasi-governmental group.
...“The MTA has to stop blighting the neighborhood through its neglect of this building,” Chan said, adding that the investment the agency made to rehabbing the station justifies cleaning up the exterior. “Saying this sticks out like a sore thumb is a huge understatement.”
NoLandGrab: Perhaps if Chan, whose "quasi-governmental group" has been a big supporter of Atlantic Yards, had spoken up about the MTA's giveaway of the Vanderbilt Yard for a fraction of its value, there might be enough money to paint the ceiling. Or maybe he could cough up some of that $6 million no-bid contract from the city to buy some paint.
Photo: The Brooklyn Paper
Posted by eric at June 7, 2010 10:12 AM