May 21, 2012
From the latest Construction Alert: noisy jackhammering on Atlantic Avenue will be by day, not night; surface parking lot scheduled to start soon
Atlantic Yards Report
The latest two-week Atlantic Yards Construction Alert, dated 5/21/12 (and embedded below) and released today by Empire State Development after preparation by Forest City Ratner, quietly reveals that noisy jackhammering along Atlantic Avenue will be done during the day, thus sparing residents' sleep, even as it may cause drivers to complain.
Work on raised medians along Atlantic Avenue from Flatbush Avenue to Vanderbilt Avenue--aimed to mitigate the impact of traffic and make it easier to cross--was supposed to begin in April but apparently has been delayed as the methods were debated. (Previous late-night jackhammering disturbed many residents.)
And while the state agency (via Forest City) had stated that work at night would be faster, the city Department of Transportation's Office of Construction Mitigation and Coordination (OCMC) "reviewed the scope and location of the medians and determined the work shall be performed during daytime hours."
That will take lanes out of service during the work period, though some traffic signal and street light conduit work may occur during nighttime hours. Because other project-related work will take lanes out of service, the median work must be scheduled block by block.
Other highlights: railyard lights, parking lot
Also noted in the Construction Alert, some railyard lights in the eastern portion of the yard will not be turned off at 3 am on some nights but will be left on during some light plumbing work that is described as quiet and subject to cancellation if there is rain.
Also, as work in the north rail yard is completed in preparation for cutover in mid-June, and work in the yard turns into a 24-hour a day operation around that time, yard lights will on all night, and it's possible "that yard lights may intermittently need to be turned on all night through the end of June."
This "is essential to timely completion" of the Carlton Avenue Bridge, which is supposed to be open before the arena opens September 28 but is currently delayed.
NoLandGrab: Funny, we kinda thought not waiting for three years to begin reconstruction of the Carlton Avenue bridge after beginning its demolition in January 2008 would've been "essential to the timely completion" of the bridge.
Posted by eric at 11:27 PM
Flashback: in 2006 comment, MSG employee warned of rowdy fans, noise; ESDC responded that sidewalks would be fine, crowd noise "masked" by vehicle noise
Atlantic Yards Report
Tomorrow we're supposed to learn about the Transportation Demand Management plan for the Barclays Center, first at a 9:30 meeting of the Atlantic Yards District Service Cabinet, then at a 6 pm public meeting at Borough Hall.
That plan's been delayed nearly six months, and there are other plans yet unrevealed, such as a code of conduct for the arena.
A warning from a MSG employee
So it's worth looking back to an 11/29/06 post, in which I pointed to an interesting, if anonymous, nugget of commentary emerged from the multitudinous comments filed in response to the Atlantic Yards Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and included in the Final EIS.
A ten-year employee of Madison Square Garden warned urgently about noise, rowdy patrons, garbage, and gridlock.
The writer, who said he could not give his name, because, "like contracts that are signed with Bruce Ratner, there are speech restrictions included in the contracts with MSG." (The latter is unconfirmed, but there is a record of Ratner gag orders.)
The writer warned that, after events with younger crowds, drunk patrons crowd the street and carelessly strew garbage. They also treat the streets like they own them, he said, and are quite loud:
In the end, on any number of occasions, it's just one big party in the streets...
The proposed Nets Arena is surrounded by dense residential neighborhoods. What can the residents expect before and after events? There needs to be a study that addresses and answers that question.
Posted by eric at 2:44 PM
Are concerns about Barclays Center liquor license "entitled neighborhood grievance"? Times columnist doesn't look closely enough
Atlantic Yards Report
Ginia Bellafante's Big City column yesterday in the New York Times Metropolitan section, The Neighborhood Drinking Problem, raised the question: "Should we think harder about drinking as a matter of urban policy?"
And in getting to her prime example--the threat in Corona, Queens, where working-class single male immigrants face a plethora of bars--the writer took an uninformed swipe at the arguments over the Barclays Center liquor license.
Bellafante wrote:
The problem with modern-day temperance initiatives in New York — beyond the obvious risk of their seeming hoary in a place where a wine bar provides the ultimate imprimatur of gentrification — is that they so often take the form of entitled neighborhood grievance. Recently in Chelsea, residents protested the potential opening of a gastro pub that had the well-known club owner Amy Sacco attached...
In the same vein, this month, Brooklyn Speaks, an amalgamation of civic organizations and community groups concerned about the development at Atlantic Yards, drew up a petition calling on the State Liquor Authority to end alcohol sales at the Barclays Center arena no later than 10 p.m. The group worried that drinking at the stadium could linger on until 4 a.m., even though no amount of N.B.A. overtime — or encores at a Bon Jovi concert, for that matter — would ever likely last that long. (The group was seeking to end drinks sales at basketball games at half time; at Madison Square Garden, they are permitted until the beginning of the fourth quarter.)
These outcries, however warranted, have received far more attention than the existing threat to civic and social life elsewhere.
Looking more closely
It's not unreasonable to point to Corona, but to consider qualms about the Barclays Center liquor license "entitled neighborhood grievance" (yet "however warranted") is to not have looked closely enough.
Indeed, as one commenter on the article observed, the arena operator "has REQUESTED that drinks be served at its establishment until 4 am. It's not an idle idea floating out there as your article implies."
And, as BrooklynSpeaks points out, liquor sales after 9:30 pm are banned at Wrigley Field in Chicago. That's because Wrigley is ensconced in a residential neighborhood.
Related content...
The New York Times, The Neighborhood Drinking Problem
In 2009, alcohol was responsible for more than 8,840 hospitalizations in New York, a 36 percent increase over 2000. Additionally, the proportion of alcohol-related emergency-room visits among New Yorkers ages 21 to 64 doubled from 2003 to 2009. There were 70,000 such visits just in 2009.
...The Bloomberg administration, for its part, is adamant that it is not seeking to reduce the number of bars in the city, a spokesman said. (“The answer is no.”) Responding to inquiries earlier this year about whether the city might discourage the opening of more bars, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s press secretary, Stu Loeser, said, “We’re deeply committed to encouraging entrepreneurs to start and expand small businesses in the city.”
In this instance an interventionist administration that recently called for residential buildings to regulate smoking seems oddly satisfied simply to play advertiser in chief.
Eschaton, It's The Pre-Game Drinking That's The Problem
I think efforts to limit the time of booze sales at sports events is really counterproductive. People aren't getting plastered off of $8 Coors Lights, they're getting plastered from the shots they downed before they walked into the place. Limit sales at the games and you're going to encourage more of that.
NoLandGrab: No, we're pretty sure from our many visits to sporting events that arena patrons are indeed getting plastered off of $8 (or $9) Coors Lights.
Posted by eric at 11:16 AM
May 17, 2012
Railyard lights and construction may extend to 24 hours through June
Atlantic Yards Watch
Empire State Development continues to do absolutely nothing to protect the interests of people living near the Atlantic Yards site.
ESDC and FCRC have issued a supplemental construction alert giving notice that work in Vanderbilt railyard will be extended to 24 hours a day for some periods through June. Work already takes place in the railyard from 6 AM to 3 AM. The notice states that working hours are being expanded to help speed up the reconstruction of the Carlton Avenue Bridge. Work to reconstruct the bridge began in December 2010, nearly 3 years after it was closed for reconstruction.
According to the notice, plumbing work scheduled over the next few weeks and located in the section of the railyard between Carlton and Vanderbilt Avenues cannot be executed while other work is taking place there. It is described as "quiet work" that will be localized and intermittent. The work will be lit either by the LIRR yard's permanent lights (only those lights in the vicinity of the work), or by portable lights.
The hours the lights will be used will be expanded again when the "cutover" of LIRR operations from the southern tracks to the northern tracks takes place. Around the clock work will occur immediately before and during the cutover, which will take place over the course of two weekends in mid-June. Moving LIRR operations to the northern tracks is the next step in the construction of the railyard. The southern half now has to be lowered 27 feet to be at the same height as the recently excavated northern half.
Numerous complaints about the lights spilling over into nearby residences have been received by AYW. In the past, neighbors residing near the railyard have noted all the yard lights have been turned on even when a small number of workers have been concentrated in just a portion of the two-block area.
Related coverage...
Atlantic Yards Report, A delay in the railyard cutover means... a delay in completion of the Carlton Avenue Bridge?
Posted by eric at 11:58 AM
May 14, 2012
Sleep tight: Railyard lights to be on all night to rush completion of delayed Carlton Avenue Bridge
Atlantic Yards Report
Ratner (and ESDC) to residents near Atlantic Yards site: "F**k you!"
Empire State Development, the state agency overseeing Atlantic Yards, today issued a Supplemental Report to its regular two-week Construction Updates.
The gist: floodlights at the Vanderbilt Yard that are supposed* to be off by 3 am may be on all night during the next two week period, in mid-June, and possibly through the end of June. That means residents nearby to ensure they have very thorough coverage blocking their windows.
Why'd I add the asterisk? Because residents have already reported, via Atlantic Yards Watch, that those operating the lights do not necessarily follow the stated plan.
The reason? Developer Forest City Ratner is rushing to achieve "timely completion" of the Carlton Avenue Bridge, indicated in the announcement by the rather cryptic initials CAB.
What's missing? That the current schedule for the bridge indicates completion in the week after the arena opens, though the reconstruction of the bridge is an "arena opening condition," and the state has asked Forest City Ratner to draw up mitigation plans in case the arena opens September 28 without having the bridge open. The bridge is a major artery between Prospect Heights and Fort Greene.
Posted by eric at 5:05 PM
More than 1,000 Brooklynites call on Governor Cuomo and the State Liquor Authority to end liquor sales at Barclays Center by 10:00 PM
Local elected officials join call for policies to limit impact of arena crowds on residential neighborhoods
BrooklynSpeaks
The BrooklynSpeaks sponsors announced today that more than 1,000 Brooklynites have signed an online petition calling on the State to limit the hours of liquor sales at the Barclays Center arena, with a final cut-off time of 10:00 PM. The petition was first posted on BrooklynSpeaks’ web site on Monday, May 7.
“The response to BrooklynSpeaks’ petition says volumes about public concern for safety and neighborhood quality of life following the opening of the Barclays Center,” said Jo Anne Simon, Democratic Leader of the 52nd Assembly District. “The arena operators and concessionaires have an obligation to do what is reasonable and responsible to ensure that crowds leaving events late in the evening don’t disrupt residential life.”
Said City Council Member Stephen Levin, whose district includes the neighborhoods of Boerum Hill and Park Slope adjacent to the arena, “Residents don’t understand why Barclays should be reluctant to accept a 10:00 PM limit on liquor sales, when the same concession operator has a 9:30 PM curfew at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Barclays has a responsibility to ensure that rowdy crowds will not be spilling into our residential communities late at night, causing problems for the families who live here.”
“The only reason Barclays Center is being built at the corner of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues is because the State allowed overrides of City zoning regulations that would have prevented an arena being sited next to homes,” said Council Member Letitia James, who represents the adjoining neighborhoods of Prospect Heights and Fort Greene. “We now need the Governor and the State Liquor Authority to ensure we don’t end up with an all-night bar, too.”
Posted by eric at 4:48 PM
What Time Should Barclays Stop Serving Alcohol?
Is a 2 a.m. last call too late for the 18,000-seat arena? Is a 10 p.m. cutoff time too early?
Park Slope Patch
by Will Yakowicz and Amy Sara Clark
The answer to this question may help keep the surrounding neighborhoods more quiet: At what time should the Barclays Center stop serving alcohol?
Last week, Community Board 6 voted to recommend an absolute cut-off time for all alcohol sales at 2 a.m. during all events at the arena.
However the recommendation, which will go to the New York State Liquor Authority, came with two conditions that follow the policy already in place for the 40 NBA games:
- During all NBA games no alcohol can be sold after the third quarter.
- All alcohol sales cease an hour before the end of any other event.
But, BrooklynSpeaks , a coalition of civic organizations surrounding the arena, has a petition that requests all alcoholic beverage sales be cut off at 10 p.m. at the absolute latest in all areas of the arena, reflecting area residents' fear of drunk pedestrians and drivers flooding the streets after the 180 non-NBA events expected next year.
In addition, there are four clubs in the buiding that could be open until 4 a.m. additional nights, and still be working within the state's legal time frame to sell booze.
...That said, what time do you think Barclays should be required to stop serving alcohol?
Posted by eric at 11:21 AM
May 10, 2012
Community Board 6 votes to support liquor license with 2 am cutoff, far from BrooklynSpeaks' request of 10 pm
Atlantic Yards Report
In a very modest nod toward recognition of some neighbors' concerns, the full Community Board 6 last night voted to approve a liquor license for the Barclays Center with cut off of sales by 2 am, after the third quarter of NBA games, and one hour before the end of other events, whichever comes first, as noted by Patch.
Arena officials had previously said they planned to follow the NBA policy of a third-quarter cutoff, and to end sales one hour before events conclude. The law typically allows sales until 4 am. In this case, the 2 am cutoff would go into effect only for events that lasted past 3 am, surely an unusual occurrence.
Request for earlier cutoff
BrooklynSpeaks and other groups have requested a 10 pm cutoff, noting the 9:30 pm example set by Wrigley Field in Chicago--nestled completely in a residential neighborhood, even more so than the Barclays Center.
However, proposals to pass a cutoff of 10 pm or even midnight did not pass the board, whose committee last month did not address a cutoff time. The board's vote is only advisory; the decision will be made by the State Liquor Authority.
"It's good to see the board stipulate a cut off time for non-NBA events, but the late limit of 2 am is a blow to residents of Dean Street and other blocks near the arena," Gib Veconi of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council, said last night. "As of tonight, more than 900 people have signed BrooklynSpeaks' online petition calling for a 10 pm limit, clearly more appropriate for a residential neighborhood."
Related coverage...
Park Slope Patch, CB6 Approves 2 A.M. Last Call for Alcohol Sales at Barclays Center
Nica Lalli, a member of CB6 and Park Slope resident said that it is the board’s responsibility to vote on restrictions on how long the Barclays Center should sell alcohol.
“If this is an opportunity to stipulate hours, I think we should take that opportunity,” Lalli said, explaining that the board recommends hours and regulations for every bar and establishment that stands before them to apply for a liquor license.
Before the vote, Richard Bashner, another member, said that he was “troubled” by the “absence of restrictions” Levy Restaurants would have if the board did not vote on a recommendation.
Bashner, along with Lalli, suggested that alcohol should stop being sold at half time during NBA games, 45 minutes before the end of any other event and a hard cutoff time of 10 p.m., whichever came first.
Park Slope Patch, Brooklyn Speaks Circulates Petition on Barclays Liquor License
“Wrigley Field has a 9:30 p.m. cutoff during night games,” [Brooklyn Speaks's Gib] Veconi said, explaining that Levy Restaurants also runs the food and beverage program at the Chicago-based stadium. “I don’t think the people in Brooklyn deserve less respect than people in Chicago.”
Posted by eric at 12:37 PM
May 9, 2012
Group Seeks Restrictions for Barclays Center's Liquor License
WNYC
A neighborhood group wants to limit the hours Brooklyn's Barclays Center can sell alcohol when it opens in September.
"The application by Barclays Center doesn't have any specified cutoff time for liquor sales and that's not typical at a sports facility and certainly not in a residential neighborhood," said Gib Veconi of the group Brooklyn-Speaks.
The arena dos not yet have a liquor license from the New York State Liquor Authority.
Brooklyn-Speaks started an online petition this week asking the state to stop alcohol sales at the arena by 10 p.m.
NoLandGrab: You can sign the petition here.
Posted by eric at 1:20 PM
May 8, 2012
From the latest Construction Alert: "loud banging noises" predicted until 1 am over ten days; work to begin on broadcast parking lot, comfort station at Dean Playground
Atlantic Yards Report
The latest two-week Atlantic Yards Construction Alert, dated 5/7/12 (and embedded below) and released yesterday by Empire State Development after preparation by Forest City Ratner, contains some warnings to neighbors near the site.
Notably, from 3:30pm – 1:00 am between May 10-20, residents should expect to hear "loud banging noises by dump trucks will occur as they empty their loads of stone in the east yard between Carlton and Vanderbilt Avenues."
Also, there will be additional demolition on the southeast block of the project site, Block 1129, in preparation for construction on the surface parking lot, which is to start May 15.
New broadcast parking lot, comfort station
A "vacant lot at the northeast corner of Dean Street and 6th Avenue that is currently being used as temporary NYPD parking will be improved for use as an at grade broadcast location for the Arena," according to the alert. Of course, the lot was dis-improved by being created out of, in part, two intact houses that were demolished. A Department of Buildings permit is expected within two weeks.
NoLandGrab: As far as we know, those "loud banging noises" have nothing to do with James P. Stuckey.
Posted by eric at 1:14 PM
May 7, 2012
Should arena crowds really be able to drink all night?
BrooklynSpeaks
 |
In Chicago, Wrigley Field is allowed to host only 30 evening events a year. Liquor sales must end no later than 9:30PM. And any changes to that policy have to be approved by the Chicago City Council.
You’d think that the people of Brooklyn deserve no less respect.
Not according to Barclays Center, which has applied for a license that would allow it to keep serving alcohol up to the 4AM State limit in an 18,000-seat arena. Sure, the NBA has a policy that requires liquor sales to end after the third quarter. But basketball only accounts for 40 of the expected 220 events to be held at the arena each year. And Barclays’ application isn’t even limited to serving drinks at arena events. (Arena plans include four club/lounge areas.)
We all know that the history of Atlantic Yards has been one blanket approval by government after another, with little oversight afterward. But isn’t this getting ridiculous?
Click here to tell the New York State Liquor Authority and Governor Cuomo that Barlcays’ liquor license must be appropriate for the residential neighborhoods in which it is situated, and through which patrons will travel on their way home. Require drink sales to end after half time at a NBA game, 45 minutes before the end of an event, or 10PM, whichever comes first. And only permit alcohol to be sold during ticketed arena events.
Posted by eric at 11:17 AM
BrooklynSpeaks launches petition to request that alcohol sales at Barclays Center end no later than 10 pm, 45 minutes before event end, or at halftime
Atlantic Yards Report
When local community boards expressed qualified support for the Barclays Center liquor license, they requested a community liaison from the arena as well as the expected issuance of transportation and security plans, but they did not accede to community requests for a time to cut off alcohol sales, other than at NBA basketball games, where the league standard is the end of the third quarter.
The typical time is an hour before a concert ends, AEG's David Anderson said, in a statement that unnerved a few people, who noted that some concerts could go very late.
The votes from the community boards are advisory; the decision is up to the State Liquor Authority.
Posted by eric at 11:12 AM
"Mayor Bloomberg, I take sleeping pills in an effort to sleep through disruptions."
Atlantic Yards Watch
Below is a copy of an open letter sent to the Mayor and to The New York Times by a local resident. The resident lives near what is now the construction staging area for the project and will soon become a full block of surface parking. It is also currently anticipated to continue as a location for construction staging for 25 years or more. Unlike most arenas and stadiums around the country, the operation of Barclays Center is integrated into a residential community.
April 27, 2012
An open letter to Mayor Bloomberg and the City of New York:
My daughter Chelsea was born December 29, 2010 in the nasty aftermath of the Blizzard that crippled New York. Conquering the obstacles of unplowed Brooklyn streets, we made it to the hospital in one piece and came home with our little girl. We’re New Yorkers and can navigate a difficult situation. However, since bringing her home almost a year and a half ago, her days and nights have been filled with the relentless noise, dust, dirt and vibration of a project that you’ve given your support to: The Atlantic Yards Project.
Our apartment on Carlton Avenue in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn faces the staging area for this development that few have rallied for and many have opposed. Last night at 11:00 pm our entire apartment shook with a force equal to or greater than that of the earthquake that hit this area last summer. This morning tractors were buzzing around at 4:00 a.m. This has become the status quo and I’ve had enough. I’m not opposed to development, but I am most definitely opposed to disrupting the sleep and well being of a community.
I now go to bed at night dreading the inevitable wake ups. My wife and I take sleeping pills in an effort to sleep through the disruptions. We create white noise in the bedrooms to drown out the noise. My blood pressure has gone up in this time and my daughter wakes up crying.
Click below to keep reading.
Related coverage...
Atlantic Yards Report, From Atlantic Yards Watch: "Mayor Bloomberg, I take sleeping pills in an effort to sleep through disruptions."
Empire State Development CEO Kenneth Adams sounds concerned about getting community input regarding Atlantic Yards, but he really has much more urgent issues on his agenda, ones that were touched on but not fully explored during his May 2 community meeting.
Posted by eric at 10:25 AM
April 26, 2012
Regarding Kemistry liquor license application, Millman sends SLA letter urging recognition of concerns about bottle service and closing times
Atlantic Yards Report
Assemblywoman Joan Millman has backed Prospect Place residents' concerns about the pending state liquor license application from Kemistry Lounge, which on April 23 received a thumbs-down advisory vote from a committee of Community Board Six.
According to her April 24 letter to the State Liquor Authority (below), Millman is concerned about:
1) Bottle service: Kemistry Lounge wishes to be the second establishment in Brooklyn to offer bottle service. Bottle service drastically increases patrons’ incentive to drink and promotes dangerous levels of drunkenness.
2) Closing times: This establishment abuts a quiet residential block and is located near two day-care centers. A set of reasonable closing times must be established.
The proprietors and neighbors are far apart on the issue of closing times; for example, the former have requested a 3:30 am cutoff on weekends, while residents, as well as the North Flatbush Business Improvement District, asked for 2 am.
Posted by eric at 10:47 AM
April 24, 2012
Community Board 6 committee supports arena liquor license with stipulations; Veconi warns that the CB, which didn't take comments, gave up leverage
Atlantic Yards Report
At the end of a meeting that lasted more than three hours, including perhaps an hour devoted to the controversial Kemistry Lounge application, the Community Board 6 Public Safety/Environmental Protection/Permits/Licenses committee agreed to supports a liquor license for the Barclays Center subject to the same conditions under which Community Board 2 and its committee approved it.
That means that, while the applicant, Levy Premium Foodservice and Brooklyn Events Center, must set up a community liaison and also make sure the arena moves ahead with security, sanitation, transportation plans, there’s essentially no roadblock--not that it was assumed that the State Liquor Authority (SLA) would deny the application.
And while dozens of Prospect Place-area residents showed up to weigh in on Kemistry, there was virtually no one there to comment on the arena application, which provoked huge discussion two weeks earlier. (Those concerned about Kemistry didn't stick around.)
No public comment
Nor was public comment taken. That left Gib Veconi of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council, who has argued, for among other things, a cut-off in time for liquor sales, quite frustrated.
At the end of the meeting, Veconi approached committee chair Gary Reilly and said that, while the committee had been “doing a super job,” it was “unconscionable” to not take public comment and to approve a resolution with no enforceability.
Posted by eric at 12:28 PM
Community Board 6 committee disapproves Kemistry Lounge liquor license application; would be second bottle-service club in the borough (video)
Atlantic Yards Report
After hearing passionate criticism about the planned Kemistry Lounge on Flatbush Avenue near Prospect Place, the Community Board 6 Public Safety/Environmental Protection/Permits/Licenses committee voted to disapprove a liquor license application, agreeing with concerns expressed about late night hours and what would be only the second bottle-service club in the borough--and the first one particularly close to residences.
Here's a summary of concerns from Prospect Place Neighbors, a new organization formed in response to the application, which points out that the location is within 500 feet of eight establishments with full liquor licenses and on a block with six storefronts of preschool facilities. (Here's their press kit.)
The lounge would be a few short blocks from the Barclays Center, clearly a generator of patrons.
The committee's vote is only advisory, and the State Liquor Authority (SLA) has the final call.
Related coverage...
Park Slope Patch, Community Board 6 Rejects Kemistry Lounge’s Liquor License Application
On Monday night, Community Board 6’s liquor license committee voted to reject Kemistry Lounge’s liquor license application, with a final vote of 12 in favor to reject, zero opposed and 2 abstentions.
Kemistry Lounge at 260 Flatbush Avenue, which is not open and still under construction, is located between Prospect Place and St Marks Avenue and plans to be a 225-person upscale lounge with bottle service at tables, a private party room with a dance floor in the basement and live music and DJs.
But the aspect that disturbed the residents of Prospect Place the most was the fact that the establishment runs from Flatbush Avenue to Prospect Place and has three large plate glass windows and an exit on to the residential street.
...“There is going to be a lot less thump, thump, thumping than you guys think,” [Kemistry co-owner James] Brown said. “We are not a nightclub.”
But with bottle service, a 225-person capacity, live music and DJs, Lou Somes, a member of CB6, said it is hard to believe that Kemistry won’t at least be “like a club.”
“The bottom line is that it looks like a nightclub, it smells like a nightclub and I have a problem with having something like a nightclub in this area,” Somes said.
Posted by eric at 12:13 PM
April 19, 2012
Residents Worried About Drunken ‘Rowdiness’ Coming From Barclays Center
CBS New York
by Holly Haerr
Brooklynites around the new Barclays Center are not ready to raise a pint to the Nets and their fans.
Some residents are concerned about what crowds of fans will do if they drink a lot during games or concerts and come into the surrounding neighborhoods after events at the soon-to-be home of the Brooklyn Nets.
“If you ask me, I wouldn’t have any alcohol at all. It makes people act crazy,” one Park Slope resident told 1010 WINS’ Holly Haerr. “It’s a big concern to me because I’m an older person. I don’t like it.”
...“The arena operators are acting as if they don’t need the support of the local community and, you know, that’s a scary proposition for people who are going to have to live next to this arena for decades — for the rest of their lives,” said Gib Veconi, Treasurer of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council.
Posted by eric at 11:26 AM
April 18, 2012
Sip off: Barclays Center neighbors fight for smaller beer cups
The Brooklyn Paper
by Natalie O'Neill
 |
Prospect Heights residents want to referee the booze rules at the soon-to-open Barclays Center in an attempt to keep liquored-up sports fans from committing fouls on their residential streets after games.
Arena neighbors are demanding the hoops hub adopt an alcohol cut-off time and limit the size and number of drinks served to fans, claiming the restrictions are necessary because the future home of the Brooklyn Nets borders residential areas and, unlike most urban stadiums, is not buffered from communities by large parking lots.
“This is a truly unique situation — so we need more sensitive crowd control rules,” said Gib Veconi of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council.
He and other neighbors want beer sold in 12-ounce containers rather than the 16-ounce cups common at many stadiums, served no more than two at a time, and poured no later than 9:30 pm at sports games and concerts.
...Pinning the booze curfew to an hour, not a stoppage in play, isn’t unheard of, either: Chicago’s Wrigley Field — which, like the Barclays Center, isn’t far from residences — has a 9:20 pm alcohol cut-off.
NoLandGrab: The photo illustrates perfectly how absurdly close to private homes New York State allowed Forest City Ratner to build the arena. Those homes it didn't allow him to bulldoze, that is.
Photo: Stefano Giovannini/The Brooklyn Paper
Posted by eric at 11:25 AM
April 12, 2012
Barclays Center liquor license follow-up: CB2 approval, Patch coverage
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder rounds up the stray coverage of the Barclays Center liquor-license hearing.
In CB2 Toasts Barclays Center Booze Permit, The Local reports:
Community Board 2’s vote rubber-stamped a committee’s approval one night earlier of the license in exchange for promises to involve the community and crack down on underage drinking and post-game filth. That approval came after intense debate, but there was little discussion by the full board last night.
“Barclays Center, here we come!” hailed CB2 Chairman John Dew after the vote.
My comment:
Despite Mr. Dew's triumphant tone, I'm not sure this article should share it. The resolution approved includes fairly onerous reservations. Some regard expected but delayed actions: transportation and security plans.
The Community Advisory Committee is doable, but there was no sign it's actually coming. And, as the article indicates, Levy opposes the use of ID readers.
Also, we didn't hear what Levy and developer Forest City Ratner think of a review of the license in one year, but it's unlikely they're thrilled about it.
I'd add that there may be a divide on the board, with Dew having fewer reservations about the Barclays Center than some CB 2 members. I'll note that one CB 2 member told me after the committee meeting Tuesday that they were forbidden to talk to the press.
Patch report
This morning Patch produces Community Residents Have Reservations About Barclays Center Liquor License, a thorough article that's only about a day late.
The article, like the WNYC coverage, included a reference to one supporter I didn't mention in my article:
However, not everyone in the room was against approving the liquor license. David Vendley, the co-owner of Calexico, a restaurant on Union Street, said that the community should support Barclays and their liquor license.
“I like to drink beer at games, but I don’t want to get drunk. To lump everyone who drinks at arenas together and say that selling liquor is going to create an unruly group of people in a gross assumption,” David Vendley said.
Vendley has a point, but the committees are concerned because there's just much less of a margin for error, given the arena's location.
Related content...
The Local [Fort Greene/Clinton Hill], CB2 Toasts Barclays Center Booze Permit
Park Slope Patch, Community Residents Have Reservations About Barclays Center Liquor License
WNYC, Neighborhood Raises Concerns About Alcohol at Barclay's Center
Posted by eric at 10:59 AM
April 11, 2012
Make Barclays Liquor Sales Work for the Community
Prospect Heights Patch
by Gib Veconi
Here's a bit of common-sense commentary from the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council's Gib Veconi.
Let’s be clear: The question is not whether Forest City Ratner has hired a reputable, experienced firm to run the food and beverage concessions at the Barclays Center arena. The question is not whether the arena will enforce State laws against underage drinking and patrons walking out the doors with drinks in their hands. And the question is most certainly not whether Barclays Center should be like all other U.S. sports facilities, which are able to serve alcohol. Let’s assume the answer to those questions is yes.
The real question is on what terms Barclays Center should be granted a license to open a bar with 18,000 seats. And right now the answer is, we don’t know.
We don’t know because Barclays has yet to release a code of conduct for its patrons. We don’t know because the NYPD hasn’t yet announced a plan for maintaining order and safety before and after arena events. We don’t know because Forest City Ratner has yet to explain how the parking lot two avenues east of the arena is going to be operated. And we don’t know because the representatives from Barclays who attended last night’s meeting of Community Boards 2 and 6 could not even commit to a time after which sales of alcohol at the arena would be cut off.
It’s not even clear that the arena operations team has thought through its crowd control strategy yet. At last night’s meeting, Peter Krashes of the Dean Street Block Association pointed out that the largest exit from Barclays Center is onto residential Dean Street. David Anderson of arena operator AEG stated that patrons would be directed away from Dean Street and on to Flatbush Avenue. That won’t work—Mr. Anderson apparently did not realize that an 1,100-car parking lot for arena patrons lies two avenues to the east down Dean Street.
NoLandGrab: Geography's hard! We're confident all other aspects of arena security are under control though, right?!
Posted by eric at 10:49 PM
As Brooklyn Paper whiffs on liquor license story, Veconi (on Patch) points out the unknowns--and how arena operators don't (yet) get it
Atlantic Yards Report
So what if the Brooklyn Paper's print deadlines might cut into coverage of Tuesday night events.
Would you believe the newspaper ignored the joint Community Board meeting last night on the Barclays Center liquor license?
It did.
(Former Brooklyn Paper editor Gersh Kuntzman, now at The Local, did a solid job covering it.)
Instead, the newspaper brings us the news and fluff listed at right.
Patch, by the way, had a reporter there, but I haven't seen a story yet.
Posted by eric at 10:41 PM
Liquor license for new Barclays Center arena sparks fight in Prospect Heights
Boozy crowds will disrupt neighborhood, locals say
NY Daily News
by Erin Durkin
A boozy battle has broken out over a liquor license for the new Nets arena.
Residents worry liquored-up hordes of fans will wreak havoc in their streets after games and other events at the Prospect Heights arena.
The venue is virtually certain to get a license before it opens in September, but many locals want it held up until developer Forest City Ratner come out with security and transportation plans and a code of conduct for the arena.
“I’m just urging that we slow it down,” said City Councilwoman Letitia James (D-Prospect Heights), who said she’s been asking for transportation and security plans for over a year.
...Barclays Center officials said while liquor would be sold by 57 spots in the arena plus hawkers in the stands, they would check IDs strictly, refuse to serve anyone who looks intoxicated, and cut off sales before the end of events.
“We take it extremely seriously. Responsible alcohol service is the number one thing we want to ensure,” said Julie Margolin, director of operations for Chicago-based Levy Restaurants, which will handle food and liquor at the arena.
NoLandGrab: Actually, Levy intends to serve alcohol the same way they do in the rest of the 70% of NBA arenas they handle, and we know no one is ever drunk or unruly in any of those venues, right?
Related coverage...
Gothamist, Locals Fear Nets Arena Liquor License Will Cause "More Dead Cyclists And Pedestrians"
Posted by eric at 10:32 PM
Community Board committees say inevitable Barclays Center liquor license should not go forward without community outreach, negotiation
Atlantic Yards Report
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Committees of Brooklyn Community Boards 2 and 6, urging attention to the Barclays Center's unique placement in and near residential districts, both last night urged caution to the operators of the Barclays Center arena, saying they were unwilling to support the venue's inevitable liquor license without reservations.
After a 2.5-hour hearing in a standing-room only meeting room at the 78th Precinct stationhouse just a block from the arena site, a CB 6 committee tabled any vote on the liquor license, then voted to urge the applicant, Levy Restaurants, to set up a community liaison group to address residents' concerns.
(Photos and set by Tracy Collins)
A CB 2 committee voted to approve the license, but with heavy reservations, including issues that are related but not exactly in Levy's hands: developer Forest City Ratner's issuance of a transportation demand management plan, which was promised in December but has been delayed until May, and a clarified arena security plan, which involves coordination of arena operations with the New York Police Department, which has yet to assign a precinct to be in charge of policing the arena.
The full boards also will make their recommendations, and then have a chance to again weigh in when the State Liquor Authority holds a hearing on the 500-foot rule, required when there are other nearby establishments. The SLA is expected to approve the application; the question is whether the process will impose any conditions on the operator.
Related coverage...
The Local [Fort Greene/Clinton Hill], Mixed Drinks as Two Community Boards Send Different Messages of Temperance
Two Brownstone Brooklyn community boards sent different messages of temperance to Barclays Center officials who were seeking approval for the arena’s liquor license last night — but both boards agreed that arena operators need to do more to ensure that quality of life in the surrounding neighborhoods will not be destroyed by thousands of boozed-up basketball fans.
...“This is a win,” said Councilwoman Letitia James, the Fort Greene Democrat who had demanded that the liquor license bid be suspended until “all of those outstanding issues can be resolved.”
...“There will be drinking and driving,” said Hildegaard Link, a member of Community Board 6. “How many more dead bicyclists and pedestrians to we need? This is not a joke.”
NY Post, Net ‘shot’ blockers
“We have so many new bars coming and now they want to set up 57 stations in the arena to sell liquor. It’s just too much,” said Community Board 6 member Pauline Blake.
threecee via flickr, 2012 Barclays Center Arena Liquor License Public Meeting
Posted by eric at 1:37 PM
February 15, 2012
Construction Noise Still Giving Residents Near Barclays Center a Headache
Loud construction noises and lights from Con Ed electrical work, as well as the rebuilding of the Carlton Ave. Bridge, have been keeping residents up at night.
Park Slope Patch
by Jamie Schuh
Construction in and around the Barclays Center arena has still been keeping neighbors up all night, says the Daily News.
The News says that residents around Fifth Avenue and Dean Street in Park Slope have heard Con Ed workers installing an electrical conduit at the arena until as late as 6 a.m., and about an hour later, construction on the arena itself begins.
NoLandGrab: What a bunch of whiners. Brett Yormark gets by on one hour of sleep a night — why can't they?
Posted by eric at 4:00 PM
February 14, 2012
Nets arena construction at Atlantic Yards causes sleepless nights in Prospect Heights
All night jackhammering driving Dean St. residents crazy
NY Daily News
by Erin Durkin
Just like a good hellish neighbor, Bruce Ratner is there — nearly 24/7.
The Atlantic Yards project is causing a lot of sleepless nights for Prospect Heights neighbors.
All night jackhammering for utility work to prepare for the new Nets arena - expected to open in September- has residents on Dean St. near 5th Ave. ready to crack, they said.
And on the other side of the project site, the state last week authorized developer Bruce Ratner to work until 3 a.m. on rebuilding the Carlton Ave. Bridge, which he is scrambling to get done in time for the arena opening.
“It’s horrible,” said Gary Wiebke, 52, who lives on Dean St. “The noise levels are astounding. Our building shimmies, it shakes.”
Residents said the work on the electrical upgrades goes on until 6 a.m. - and about an hour later, construction work on the arena starts. They say it’s the latest in a series of arena-related infrastructure projects that have driven them up the wall. Wiebke said a tenant who rented the apartment across the hall from him moved out after less than a week because he couldn’t take it.
“I'm getting physically ill as a result of not sleeping,” said Alan Sondheim, 69. “The noise really got seriously intolerable.”
...Over at the Vanderbilt Railyards, Ratner spokesman Joe Deplasco said the late-night work is “required to complete the rail yard work and north half of the bridge.”
NoLandGrab: Maybe if they hadn't spent two years not working on the bridge after they tore it down in 2008, they wouldn't be working round the clock now. "F**k the bridge?" More like f**k the residents.
Related coverage...
Now that Forest City Ratner is on an accelerated schedule to finish the Carlton Avenue Bridge by September, flood lights at the Vanderbilt Yard are on til 3 am:
Wayne Bailey, 57, who lives across from the yard, said as bad as the noise are the blinding flood lights that make it bright enough to read a book at midnight. “It is so extreme, it’s so glaring, it’s such light pollution that kids can’t go to sleep,” he said.
“This is a circumstance they created for themselves," said Peter Krashes of the Dean Street Block Association. They shouldn’t be let off the hook.”
But they can be, unless there's effective oversight.
Posted by eric at 1:32 PM
December 21, 2011
WPIX picks up on noisy generator story, gets response from FCR that it won't happen again
Atlantic Yards Report
You'd think that the myriad of incidents reported on Atlantic Yards Watch would be easy pickings for the press, but too many press outlets suffer from AY fatigue, indifference, or a willingness to follow the announced narrative.
But last night WPIX-TV's Monica Morales followed up on the story of noisy generators in the Vanderbilt Yard and got the same response from developer Forest City Ratner that I got from Empire State Development: it won't happen again, because noise-attenuating blankets will be used.
The lingering question: why weren't they used in the first place?
Related coverage...
WPIX, Brooklyn Generator Uproar
Atlantic Yards Report, ESD says next time noisy generators near residences will use noise attenuating blankets (but why didn't they do so originally?)
So, was there any response to the Atlantic Yards Watch posting that explained how noisy generators at Pacific Street and Carlton Avenue were annoying neighbors.
I quered Arana Hankin, Director, Atlantic Yards Project, for Empire State Development, who responded:
The contractor will not be using the generator again in this area in the near future. The generator was placed on the street because there was no space in the yard where the generator could have been placed to do the necessary work on the south abutment of the bridge. If there is a need to use the generator in this area again, the contactor will be required to use noise attenuating blankets.
Posted by eric at 11:05 AM
December 20, 2011
From Atlantic Yards Watch: Generators at Carlton Avenue and Pacific Street disrupt residents
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder follows up on yesterday's Atlantic Yards Watch post on noisy generators.
Who wants to live near generators, especially when the decibel level gets stratospheric?
...So, is "noisier equipment," as per the memorandum, situated "at locations that are removed from sensitive receptor locations and are shielded from sensitive receptor locations wherever feasible," provided with significant noise shielding?
Apparently not:
Although the Memorandum specifies a "minimum 8 foot height perimeter barrier (constructed of 3/4 thick plywood), with a 16 foot hight barrier (of 3/4" thick plywood) adjacent to sensitive locations, including locations along Pacific Street, Dean Street, and Flatbush Avenue opposite residences," there are no barriers of that description installed in this location. The generators are separated from residences by a chain link fence that does not shield noise.
Yesterday, I contacted the state and city officials in charge of Atlantic Yards construction issues, but didn't hear back yet.
Posted by eric at 12:56 PM
December 19, 2011
Generators at Carlton Avenue and Pacific Street disrupt residents
Atlantic Yards Watch
Generators adjacent to perimeter fencing across from residences, and the absence of barriers to shield the residences from the noise they generate, appear to violate both the spirit and the letter of the Amended Memorandum of Environmental Commitments. The generators are apparently being used to facilitate construction of the Carlton Avenue Bridge.
They are situated directly across the street from residences on the north sidewalk of Pacific Street at the location of the Carlton Avenue Bridge. They are in a highly visible location close to the construction offices and along the walking route between the construction offices and the arena construction site.
...The Memorandum states that contractors will situate "noisier equipment, such as generators, cranes, tractor trailers, concrete pumps, concrete trucks and dump trucks at locations that are removed from sensitive receptor locations and are shielded from sensitive receptor locations wherever feasible." If not feasible, another step contractors should utilize when practicable are "noise curtains and equipment enclosures . . . to provide shielding from significant noise-generating equipment to sensitive receptor locations."
Although the Memorandum specifies a "minimum 8 foot height perimeter barrier (constructed of 3/4 thick plywood), with a 16 foot hight barrier (of 3/4" thick plywood) adjacent to sensitive locations, including locations along Pacific Street, Dean Street, and Flatbush Avenue opposite residences," there are no barriers of that description installed in this location. The generators are separated from residences by a chain link fence that does not shield noise.
NoLandGrab: It's possible it's just a test, intended to simulate the noise of a drunken crowd leaving a Nets game.
Posted by eric at 11:08 PM
October 7, 2011
Construction noise: waiting for answers, some curious (relative) quiet, and some TV coverage
Atlantic Yards Report
For the third time in four days, I ventured last night at 11 pm to the intersections of Fourth Avenue and Atlantic Avenue and Fourth Avenue and Pacific Street, site of overnight road/utility work that's been keeping residents up at night.
Last night, it was relatively quiet, at least until midnight when I left. There was very light work at Atlantic, and the work at Pacific, though it clocked at about 90 decibels from just off the opposite curb. Inside an apartment hallway (though not an apartment itself) on Monday, the ricocheting noise reached 94 dB.
The indoor limit is 65 dB, and that limit has been approached (64.5 dB in one apartment Monday) or exceeded in nearby apartments. More testing is needed, but clearly those affected include residents outside the zone where impacts were predicted.
Why the quiet? Could it be that they knew that WPIX-TV (below) had been out doing an article earlier that day? Could complaints to Empire State Development, the state agency in charge of the development (which has yet to answer my question about additional mitigation), have led to some phone calls?
Related content...
WPIX, Not Stop Contruction Headache
Posted by eric at 1:22 PM