Atlantic Yards

As the Bloomberg administration scrambles to get its development projects in the ground amid a slowing economy and a waning political term, two major planned initiatives the city has championed face a formidable hurdle: the Internal Revenue Service.

For the financing plan for the Atlantic Yards housing and sports arena complex in Brooklyn, and for one being considered for the planned middle-income-housing mega-complex at Hunter’s Point South in Queens, the city would need a favorable ruling from the I.R.S. or face substantially higher costs for both projects. Negative rulings from the federal agency could result in tens of millions of dollars in added costs, putting up new obstacles to major developments that have already seen ambitions scaled back.  read more »

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to take up an appeal in the fight over Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards project, putting to an end the federal lawsuit filed by landowners and tenants in late 2006 that challenged the state’s use of eminent domain for the mega-project.

The plaintiffs in the suit are now pledging to take the case to state court, a route they initially avoided as eminent domain laws in New York tend to be relatively favorable to the state.

In the federal suit, the landowners and tenants charged that the state’s use of eminent domain was improper as it was intended for a private gain of developer Bruce Ratner, who sought to move the Nets basketball team to a new arena on the site and build over 6,000 apartments.  read more »

A handful of local politicians this morning crowded onto the steps of City Hall to announce an initiative to foster community involvement in the Atlantic Yards project.

The Atlantic Yards Governance Act, co-sponsored by Assemblymen Hakim Jeffries and James Brennan of Brooklyn, would create a 15-member development trust to balance what they say is a one-sided effort monopolized by developer Forest City Ratner. The trust would, theoretically, have full power to modify the Yards’ development plan. But, at the same time, a majority eight members of the board would still be appointed by the governor.  read more »

Mayor Bloomberg on his way out of City Hall this morning, after seeing the set-up for this morning's protest against Atlantic Yards (we'll have more on it this afternoon): 'Democracy in action.'

Hat tip to Azi Paybarah at The Politicker.

On his way out of City Hall this morning with a cadre of body guards and aides, Michael Bloomberg looked toward the steps, where some television cameras and a handful of elected officials were about to start a protest over the Atlantic Yards Project, and offered an unmistakably dry assessment. “Democracy in action,” he said, as he kept walking.

Much ado has been made about the Yankees' desire to get another $350 million or so in tax-free bonds to finish their stadium.

Not to downplay the subsidy involved in tax-free bonds, but the press has been filled with rather misleading headlines and langauge suggesting that the team is asking for $400 million in public funds (from Metro: “Yankees ask City for $400M More”) to finish the new stadium.

But the actual effect on city and state coffers, according to the city’s Independent Budget Office, is far more marginal, at least when compared with the amount of additional financing the Yankees are seeking. The IBO estimates that a $350 million tax-free 40-year bond for the team would cost the city $3.6 million in net present value and $6.7 million for the state, according to IBO spokesman Doug Turetsky. The federal government would take a substantially bigger hit: $72.6 million, which is perhaps why the feds are pushing to amend the rules while the city and state are resisting.  read more »

Deputy Mayor Robert Lieber, speaking yesterday at a Crain’s breakfast forum, was asked whether he would be open to giving more city subsidies to Forest City Ratner’s more than $4 billion Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn. His noncommittal response:

“We have not received any kinds of requests, formally, from Forest City Ratner to date. But we’re open minded and we’ll listen, and if it makes sense, we’ll do it.”  read more »

Bruce Ratner is looking for a new name for the signature office tower in his $4 billion-plus Atlantic Yards project.  read more »

The Municipal Art Society has launched a Web site and campaign critical of the proposed phasing for Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards project, claiming the creation of parking lots in place of existing buildings will blight the area.

Because of the long time frame that will likely be needed to build the project—developer Forest City Ratner puts the slated completion date at 2018, though critics say that’s too optimistic—the footprint could be filled with parking lots (though Forest City denies that charge, claiming it will be public open space with trees).  read more »

David Paterson was on the WFAN "Boomer and Carton" show this morning, expressing frustration over the city’s stalled major development projects.

“What I’m going to do," Paterson told the hosts, "is probably move construction of Moynihan [Station] to the Port Authority, which I think has a better chance of getting it done quickly, and I hope that we can start construction quickly enough that we can reverse plans that exist.”  read more »

The Star-Ledger reports that Newark Mayor Cory Booker and the New Jersey Devils are trying to assemble investors to buy the Nets basketball team from development firm Forest City Ratner.

Should the Nets be sold—Forest City denied that the team is for sale—it would presumably kill the more than $4 billion Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, developed by Forest City under the premise that a new Frank Gehry-designed arena would be created for the Nets.  read more »

The notoriously press-shy Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner is due to appear on NY1 tonight at 8:30, going one-on-one with reporter Budd Mishkin.

The folks at NY1 have sent us over a brief teaser quote from Mr. Ratner:

We need jobs, we need shopping that's appropriate, and the right price and quality goods, supermarkets that provide food of quality and well priced, we need housing, and the architecture is important but it's not that important.

 read more »

Elected officials are pushing to halt work on Brooklyn’s $4 billion-plus Atlantic Yards development in order to re-examine the project, given the new governor and delays caused by the slow economy.

A rally is scheduled for Saturday.  read more »

Metropolitan Transportation Authority executive director Lee Sander seems a bit uncertain about the $100 million that developer Forest City Ratner owes the agency for Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards project. He had this to say earlier this month in a capital program “webinar” (no, we don’t quite know what that word is either), responding to a question about the MTA’s current capital plan:

There is $100 million associated with the sale of Atlantic Yards, and many of you have read in the newspapers some of the difficulty Forest City is having with that development, so hopefully that will proceed, but we want to make sure that that happens—but we’re concerned about that.

 read more »

Last night, City Councilman and candidate for Brooklyn borough president, Bill de Blasio, called for a moratorium on demolition at the Atlantic Yards footprint until developer Bruce Ratner outlines “what will be built when and confirms affordability,” Brownstoner and Gowanus Lounge reported this morning.

Mr. de Blasio told a meeting of Brooklyn bloggers that he was “livid” about Mr. Ratner’s recent admission in The New York Times that the Miss Brooklyn office tower and residential buildings Mr. Ratner planned to build at Atlantic Yards were stalled due to trouble finding financing, and said he cannot support an “arena-only plan.”  read more »

Another scene from Thursday evening's protest outside the Brooklyn Museum of Art against Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner.

The big protest against Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner went off Thursday evening outside of the Brooklyn Museum of Art, which was honoring Mr. Ratner inside for his philanthropy. Above is a nattily dressed protestor (it was black-tie inside and outside--get it?!) snapped by Observer photo editor Nicole Brydson. More to come.

Tonight's the night! Opponents of the Atlantic Yards project plan to protest outside of the Brooklyn Museum of Art because the museum's honoring developer Bruce Ratner. Black tie is optional (it's not inside the museum) but, please, according to organizer Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, bring your own pickets!  read more »

The developers of Brooklyn’s $4 billion-plus Atlantic Yards project, Forest City Ratner, tried to assuage fears about the stalled development in a conference call with investors today, saying they are committed to the success of the project in the long term. The call was held by Forest City Enterprises, the parent company of Forest City Ratner.  read more »

Property owners and tenants filed an appeal late yesterday in U.S. Supreme Court for their case contesting the use of eminent domain in the $4 billion-plus Atlantic Yards project, an action that legal experts have said is likely to be the final chapter for the federal lawsuit, first filed in late 2006.

Even a favorable Supreme Court ruling for the plaintiffs (which would require a decision by the Court to hear the case in the first place) would not necessarily stop the use of eminent domain—it would only allow for the case to reach the trial phase.

If the lawsuit is dismissed, Matthew Brinckerhoff, attorney for the owners and tenants, said that there would still be an option to file an eminent domain case in New York State court.  read more »

Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn is inviting Atlantic Yards opponents to grab their pickets (and don formal dress if they so desire) to protest the Brooklyn Museum’s decision to honor the developer Bruce Ratner at its annual $1,000-a-plate Brooklyn Ball, which DDDB calls an “affront to Brooklyn communities.”

Kayne West will perform at the Thursday night gala celebrating the Forest City Ratner CEO—described as “an upstanding corporate citizen” and a “sing  read more »

This morning, Brooklyn bloggers and opponents of the Atlantic Yards project are busy digesting Charles Bagli’s front-page Times story in which developer Bruce Ratner admits that the bulk of his Atlantic Yards project is stalled due to trouble finding financing or an anchor tenant for the “Miss Brooklyn” office building.

For a bullet-point run down of important points of the story, visit No Land Grab. But, basically, the article confirmed what the blogosphere has been predicting all along: Forest City Ratner will go forward with the Nets arena, but plans for three residential buildings, affordable housing, and a commercial tower are indefinitely on hold. Plus, the costs of the project have spiraled far above the initial estimates approved a few years ago.

The four blogs we looked at greeted Mr. Ratner’s disclosure with a collective “I told you so” (or something along those lines), and faulted the Times for giving him softball treatment.  read more »

Editor's Note: This story originally reported that the Clive Campbell who filed the claim was the real name of D.J. Kool Herc, a founder of hip hop. In fact, it is a different Clive Campbell. Mr. Campbell is a Brooklyn-based activist. The story has been corrected.

Brooklyn activist Clive Campbell is seeking $5 billion from rapper Jay-Z, developer Bruce Ratner and Barclays bank, filing a “claim of lien” in property records that seeks the money for slavery reparations.

Mr. Ratner, Jay-Z, and Barclay’s are all linked through the $4 billion Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, for which Mr. Ratner plans to build a Frank Gehry-designed basketball arena for the Nets and more than 6,000 apartments. Jay-Z, a partial owner of the Nets, has been a major supporter of the project, appearing at press conferences to tout its merits. Barclays owns the naming rights to the arena, and has been accused of having links with the slave trade—an accusation the bank denies.  read more »

One of the major differences, generally speaking, between Manhattan and Brooklyn is the proximity you have to your neighbor. In Manhattan, residents may feel piled on top of each other in shoeboxes or filing cabinets, depending on your metaphor preference, but rarely will they ever get to know one another. In Brooklyn, residents tend to have more space and fewer neighbors, yet the proximity seems closer.

Brooklynites exist closer to the urban frontier.  read more »

We got a copy of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz's State of the Borough address, given yesterday at the Brooklyn Cruise Ship Terminal. Mr. Markowitz imagined out loud a bustling downtown Brooklyn, one that includes a completed Atlantic Yards project:  read more »

Apparently it's quite controversial to discuss the experience of living in Brooklyn when it comes to the topic of race. A few weeks back, I dared to talk about it and received a lot of flack. But in my hood, Prospect Heights, and anywhere really, race, class and gentrification are heavy topics, and I'm not going to shy away from them.

After graduating college, I spent close to two years working in central Brooklyn politics, commuting south every morning from my apartment in Greenpoint to a state senator's office on Flatbush Avenue near Lincoln Place. I worked with families whose homes were in disrepair, mediating fights with landlords over HPD cases; and with community groups, landlords and community affairs police officers over drug-related crime. All the work merely put band-aids on a broken system. I often returned home in utter shock. Perhaps you've seen The Wire.  read more »

Here's the full decision by the Second Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals rejecting the appeal over use of eminent domain brought by critics of the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn.

The first plaintiff listed on the appeal is Daniel Goldstein, a leader of Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn. Last June, I met with Mr.  read more »

A federal appeals court rejected an appeal by critics of the use of eminent domain in the $4 billion Atlantic Yards mega-project in Brooklyn, a big, if expected, victory for developer Forest City Ratner, and surely a demoralizing blow to project opponents.

The decision nearly puts to rest the legal chapter of this years-long, high-profile development battle. Since the plan was approved more than a year ago, the courts have been the focus of any attention, as Forest City chairman Bruce Ratner has done little work on the Prospect Heights site other than demolitions and some other preparation.

The rejection leaves opponents with few legal avenues left, as the appellants on the lawsuit would need a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to merely be granted a trial in the case, let alone to come out victorious. Critics had said they put their highest hopes at the federal appellate level, and have previously conceded that it was unlikely the Supreme Court would take the case (the court only hears a few dozen cases a year).  read more »

Today brings another legal blow for Atlantic Yards opponents, this time a bit more minor than Friday’s dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the environmental review for the project.

Tenant attorney George Locker, who lost a case in November related to eminent domain and tenants in the project's footprint, saw his appeal dismissed today, according to developer Forest City Ratner.  read more »

Here's the 71-page decision by state Supreme Court Justice Joan Madden throwing out the lawsuit challenging the environmental impact statement for Atlantic Yards.

We’ve put together a compilation of statements and press releases on this afternoon’s Atlantic Yards court decision, which clears a potentially major hurdle for the $4 billion development. The statements (after the jump) come from Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn; developer Forest City Ratner; Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz; and the Empire State Development Corporation.  read more »

A state justice this afternoon dismissed one of two remaining major lawsuits brought by critics of Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards project, clearing a potential stumbling block for the $4 billion complex, according to a spokesman for developer Forest City Ratner.

Project critics brought the suit in April, challenging the environmental impact statement, a required document in the state’s approval process (the project was given the green light in December 2006).  read more »

The New Jersey Nets basketball team now plans to move to the Barclays Arena in central Brooklyn in 2010. The team originally planned to be in the arena, which is part of the Atlantic Yards project, in time for the 2009-10 season; but, as the Bergen Record reports this morning (via The Real Deal), the Nets missed a deadline for telling its East Rutherford landlord if it would move by 2009 or not.

Brooklyn writers are joining the fight against Bruce Ratner's vision for Atlantic Yards by donating short essays and stories to Brooklyn Was Mine, an anthology compiled by two Vogue senior editors that will benefit Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn. The book will be available in stores—mostly in the quaint, tweedy-type joints—starting today. According to press notes, 20 authors submitted works, including Jonthan Lethem, who published "a wild, dystopian ride into Brooklyn's future" called "Ruckus Flatbush," and Jennifer Egan, who wrote about a Brooklyn Navy Yard worker who writes letters to her husband fighting in World War II. "Who is to say what will become of the place, or whether Brooklyn will retain its soul?" asked contributing writer Phillip Lopate in the introduction. "Whatever happens to Brooklyn," he answers, "its literary soul is sound and robust, and its writers fiercely loyal."

Jennifer Egan, Susan Choi and Darin Strauss will have a reading at the Park Slope Barnes & Noble next Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m.

Full release after the jump.  read more »

Two senior editors at Vogue and 20 writers joined the fight to "protect (the) fragile miracle" that is Brooklyn from the Atlantic Yards project. On Wednesday, they publicized the release of Brooklyn Was Mine, an anthology of short stories whose proceeds will be donated to the nonprofit Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn. The book is published by Riverhead Trade.  read more »

It makes sense that a movement that has focused as much on minute details, uncovered documents, and meticulously analyzed data as the opposition to Atlantic Yards has should find its highest expression in a trivia night. But here it is: the Develop Don’t Destroy edition of Trivial Pursuit, to take place Thursday, Jan. 17, at Rocky Sullivan’s pub in Red Hook.  read more »

Atlantic Yards opponents in the blogosphere loved reading Dan Doctoroff eat crow in this week's Observer, but Forest City Ratner's admission in a New York Times article that construction of the Nets arena would be delayed until 2010 was greeted with a collective "duh".  read more »

Critics of Atlantic Yards repeatedly argue that there is something about the 22-acre housing and arena complex in Brooklyn that does not jibe with the Bloomberg administration’s rhetoric about community participation in the planning process. In an article appearing in tomorrow’s Observer, Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff basically agrees.  read more »

In February of this year, The Observer's Matthew Schuerman sat down with Daniel Doctoroff at City Hall to discuss his policy achievements and his goals for the last couple of years of the Bloomberg administration. Mr. Doctoroff on Thursday announced that he was resigning as deputy mayor of economic development and rebuilding to become president of Bloomberg L.P.

We will have exchanges on various topics from that February interview throughout the day.  read more »

After more than six months of searching for the perfect candidate for the job (and after three people had refused offers), an ombudsman for the Atlantic Yards project has finally been found: Forrest R. Taylor, a communications and government relations consultant who worked as chief of staff to former City Council Speaker Gifford Miller and as deputy executive director for operations at the MTA. One word of advice to Mr. Taylor: Duck!

Press release after the jump.  read more »

Atlantic Yards opponents, who have been trying to make the risk of terrorism an issue for the planned 22-acre complex in Brooklyn, finally got some traction this weekend when The New York Times picked up some of their arguments in Saturday’s edition.  read more »

A state appellate panel dismissed a case by tenants in the Atlantic Yards footprint who alleged that the state had not adequately prepared for their relocation.  read more »

Lawsuits against architects must be as plentiful as plasterboard, but when the client is Massachusetts Institute of Technolgy and the architect is Frank Gehry, well, even the Boston Globe takes notice.

MIT is saying that “deficient design services and drawings” have led to leaks, cracks, mold and a $1.5 million reconstruction of the amphitheater at the Stata Center.

Most surprisingly, the construction contractor for the building, which was also sued, is publicly blaming the architect as well:

"This is not a construction issue, never has been," said Paul Hewins, executive vice president and area general manager of Skanska USA. He said Gehry rejected Skanska's formal request to create a design that included soft joints and a drainage system in the amphitheater, and "we were told to proceed with the original design."

The Wall Street Journal talked to new Forest City Ratner CEO Joanne Minieri. She's a Brooklyn native, and she had lots to say about the firm's Atlantic Yards project in that borough:

WSJ: What effect do the current credit markets and housing softness have on projects such as Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn [a development that will include 16 skyscrapers with 6,400 housing units, offices and shopping as well as a new arena for the New Jersey Nets basketball team]?

Ms. Minieri: We will probably encounter a couple of different market cycles as we move through that development. We think it's a tremendous opportunity to help the economy to revitalize the neighborhood -- all the things we like to do in our development projects... We are proceeding according to plan.

WSJ: How does it feel to work on a major Brooklyn project such as Atlantic Yards?

Ms. Minieri: I can't tell you how it really feels to be a Brooklynite and to be part of a company that's done incredibly historic things ... It gives me the goose bumps.

 

Affordable, environmentally friendly apartments are about to go up on a former brownfield site near the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues.

You think you know what we are talking about?

No, not Atlantic Yards, but rather the more modest Atlantic Terrace (above), developed by the nonprofit Fifth Avenue Committee in conjunction with MAP Development and Line Development. Back in November 2003, when the team first won the right to develop the site at Atlantic and South Portland Avenue, the 10-story, 80-unit cooperative was supposed to include solar panels to provide some of the energy for the residents. One month later, Forest City Ratner unveiled its plans for 30- to 50-story towers across the street to the south.  read more »

How did we miss this? Norman Oder reports that Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn’s walkathon on Sunday raised $50,000—less than last year but more than the year before that. Daniel Goldstein reassures the troops: “We're well-funded for the coming months.”

Opponents of the Atlantic Yards project have seized on Newark’s recent decision to close streets near the new Prudential Center arena as reason to scrutinize the security arrangements for the future arena in Brooklyn.

Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn is calling a press conference with elected officials this Sunday, before the organization’s walkathon.

The developer, Forest City Ratner, has consulted with the police and fire departments about security, but blogger Norman Oder points out that the state agency overseing the project did not consider large-scale terrorist attacks or even a bomb as reasonable worst case scenarios that needed to be evaluated in the environmental impact study.