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November 5, 2010
When was Block 1129 parking increased to 1100 spaces? At Borough Hall meeting on construction issues, the answer (from FCR, not ESDC) is wrong
Atlantic Yards Report
All Forest City and ESDC double-talk aside, Prospect Heights residents are staring at an absurdly large, and life-altering, number of surface parking spots in their near future.
The size of the parking lot on Block 1129, the southeast block of the Atlantic Yards site, was increased to 1100 spaces in a rather non-transparent fashion last year, and the issue was further obscured yesterday at the first meeting of the Atlantic Yards District Service Cabinet.
The cabinet will meet quarterly to discuss construction and other issues. (I'll have a separate report on the meeting later this morning.)
The person designated to answer the parking question, Forest City Ratner (FCR) attorney Melanie Meyers, gave a misleading answer regarding parking.
So no one learned that FCR and the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) agreed to increase the size of the parking lot not once but twice, from 944 to 1044 and then to 1100, a 16.5% increase. Nor that the explanation for the second increase is rather disingenuous.
The first increase was disclosed in the June 2009 Technical Memorandum, but the second wasn't disclosed until the December 2009 Amended Memorandum of Environmental Commitments, which didn't surface for months.
Posted by eric at November 5, 2010 11:35 AM