August 4, 2006
Community Calls Atlantic Yards "Mistake" and "Kafka-esque"
Public hearings tend to be impassioned and last night's Atlantic Yards gathering was no exception. With three community board hearings held simultaneously in different locales, we opted, sans body armor, for the homey confines of Community Board 6 (where we happen to live). And yet, sitting among a crowd of just 60 in the sterile Long Island College Hospital conference room with pale pink walls, a blank blackboard and a television with AV-style accouterments perched in the corner, we sensed an eerie quiet.
Chair Jeff Armer introduced the meeting, saying there was no state assurance that the board's
recommendation would carry as much weight as it would if the development project were subject to the city's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), a mandated public-approval process for development projects not unlike the proposed Atlantic Yards (if you've been living in Burkina Faso, the proposed 22 acre-site includes an 18,000 seat arena and 16 high-rise buildings, including up to 6,860 residential units).
Armer and company heard from about 25 public commenters, who bemoaned the proposal for being out of scale, for "Manhattanizing" Brooklyn, for subverting public review, for its indequate relocation plan and for improperly addressing what are sure to be increases in pollution and street, pedestrian and park traffic. Community member Paul Heller accused "some public authorities" of collusion, cronyism and conspiracy and someone else described the plan as
"Kafka-esque."
"They will have blood on their hands" said Jonathan Barkey, who suggested that the Atlantic Yards project surely will trump New York City's 1898 annexation of Brooklyn in the "greatest mistake" department. He then described a recent "Atlantic Yards moment" involving a truck driver dogging cars on Pacific Street while claiming to carry $4 million of materials.
Jim Stuckey, president of the Atlantic Yards Development Group, a subsidiary of Forest City Ratner Companies, touted the number of rental units (4,500) and boasted of the project's effort to gain LEED certification for those 16 high-rises. Forest City Ratner transportation consultant Sam Schwartz assured the crowd of his recommendation to maximize transit and minimize car usage. Stuckey briskly entered and exited the room through a door that minimized contact with attendees (except for one or two who accosted him in the hallway) while Schwartz elegantly walked to the back of the room and awaited responses.
In an ominous sign, the hearing ended 25 minutes early and community board members sat around a table to plot their next move. The Empire State Development Corporation is holding a public hearing on August 23 at New York City Technical College in Brooklyn.
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Why is the plan Kafka-esque?
yea, there really isnt anything kafkaesque about it
the comment about it being 'the greatest mistake since annexation..." is moronic. someone presented that as a serious argument? where are the practical, realistic defenders of the area. sensualists won't get us anywhere
Yeah, I am sick of my fellow New Yorkers flipping out about every new development project, and then whining that there is not enough housing in the city.
None of you have even bothered to really look at the proposed development. Understand that Frank Gehry really hates New York. Why I state this, is because the art commission has renderings of his proposal for the Manhattan brige. He wanted to cover the bridge in mesh with MANHATTAN BRIDGE imprinted across the entire length of the bridge. All in all a hideous proposal and thank God that that did not get approved.
Understand that the scale of the graphic wall is about 30 ft tall and a person is about 6ft tall. Also all the relevant images have been removed from the atlantic yards site.
Ummm... Brooklyn voted to join New York City. Which is more than anyone can say for this project. But still-- the anti-Ratner hysteria is actually making me more sympathetic to the project.
EvaMN,
Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC) understands your concern about the magnitude of the Atlantic Yards project. Your comments are appreciated, and will be taken into account at the next development board meeting.
The Atlantic Yards development means jobs for local residents, opportunities for local suppliers, and revenues for local projects and services. Our projects are often key elements in neighborhood stability and revitalization.
FCRC is a proud to be the sole developer of the blighted Atlantic Yards area, and continues to be an active, responsible corporate citizen in the Prospect Heights neighborhood.
Kindest regards,
Jim Stuckey
The opposition to this project may appear hysterical to those who don't fully apprehend the many problems with it, starting with the fact that local government has abdicated its job as an honest broker between community and development interests. When the powers what be turn a deaf ear, the community is forced to shout in order to be heard over the white noise of corporate PR and to counter the vacuum created by political irresponsibility. What would you have the community do, just bend over and say, "Thank you sir, may I please have another?" C'mon. No self-respecting citizen with a stake in her locality should take what proposes to be the densest residential project in the country—maybe even the world—sitting on her ass. This isn't just another development project, SeanCK. It's a friggin' monster. And ef-bk, if something as superficial as the semblance of hysteria is enough to move you Ratnerward when weighed against the Atlantic Yards' many actual demerits, you're just not thinking clearly. Please try to take this more seriously. Atlantic Yards Report is an excellent, well-researched, reality-based place to start.
PS from Jim Stuckey: Now get the f*** out of your home so we can knock it down and get on with this already. Kindest regards, JS.
I love when people who don't know what "kafka-esque" means use the term.
i meant kafkaesque, not kafka-esque.
i also meant inadequate, not indequate.
mistakes happen.
WTF is that gross corporate form letter from Jim Stuckey? That can't be a real name. It's much too dorky. Jim Stuckey? It makes me want to have diarrhea.
Prospect Heights is neither "blighted" nor does it need "revitalization" JIM, YOU STUPID ASSHOLE!
Correction: Credit for "Atlantic Yards moment" should go to Jim Vogel from Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods, who ended his testimony with that little anecdote.
Perhaps the "eerie quiet" had more to do with the fact that it was around 95 degrees outside and the hospital had turned down the AC to conserve power (neighborhoods near Atlantic Yards were experiencing power outages at the time). The room was at capacity so the lack of fresh air sort of kept the braying to a minimum.
Please! in my comments, I used the word ALLEGED several times. We are all presumed innocent until convicted.
There is a rumor that Mr. Stuckey is SO concerned about affordable housing that he will suggest that the arena is a waste of space and should be used for affordable housing. Once the project is finished, he will be devoting his time to working for Habitat for Humanity to show how caring he is in providing affordable housing. If this is true, his sincerety cannot be questioned.
the "public comment" part of this process is a mockery, window dressing around the ugly truth that WE, the people who live here, shop here, go to school here, die here, we have almost NOTHING to do with this gigantic project. its just being plopped down in our yard as a done deal. we might be able to dicker around the edges, but the central idea of the project (a whole bunch of skyscrapers with a b-ball area thrown in for fun sporting times) is not in question. that's what makes it kafka-esque. you can speak, but nobody is listening. you can protest, but it won't do any good. all the real decisions are being made elsewhere. where? we're not authorized to tell you. don't object, or make waves of any sort or you may find yourself "before the law." in this universe, "affordable" means $70,000, "accessible" public space really means non accessible private amenity, and "decreasing" sewage into the gowanus actually means millions MORE gallons of sludge.
speaking of sludge, this isn't really the developers fault. it's their job to try and make a billion dollars by putting up new buildings. the folks at fault here, the folks whose feet need to be held to fire, the people who need to be made to pay for their will disregard of the community, are our elected reps. they're the ones who are selling us down the (toxic)(traffic clogged) river.