Atlantic Yards Development - Commercial, Residential, Retail, NBA Arena [Archive] - Page 13

lofter1

June 10th, 2009, 11:33 AM

Brooklynites call foul on new designs for Atlantic Yards arena project

"It reminds me of a train station back at home in Poland."

NY DAILY NEWS (http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2009/06/10/2009-06-10_new_designs_for_atlantic_yards_arena_.html)
BY BEN CHAPMAN AND JOTHAM SEDERSTROM
June 10, 2009

New designs for a proposed NBA basketball arena at the controversial Atlantic Yards site received overwhelmingly poor reviews Tuesday from disappointed Brooklynites.

Described alternately as an airplane hangar and a suburban big-box chain store, designs commissioned by Forest City Ratner got failing grades, even from supporters of the project.

"It looks like an airplane hangar from the '50s - not a good look," said Joe Voden, 40, of Prospect Heights, a supporter of the $4.2 billion project who opposes the new design.

The designs, which a Ratner spokesman and the new architect insisted are not final, are a far cry from the glitzy glass-enclosed arena envisioned by original architect Frank Gehry, who announced last week that he would no longer be involved in the project.

Architecture firm Ellerbe Becket was quietly tapped last year to create a less costly arena, which Ratner officials insisted would retain some of the Gehry flourishes.

And as recently as last Thursday, Ratner officials claimed that the Gehry designs would be used as a "blueprint" for the new arena, the estimated cost of which had soared to a whopping $950 million.

Not so, said Geoffrey Soffer, a television casting director who moved to Prospect Heights from Hell's Kitchen two years ago to live next to what he thought would be a work of art.

"These are obviously two very different designs," said Soffer, 32, who bought a condo nearby. "We've been duped."

For Ron Karp, a Sheepshead Bay resident who was shopping at the nearby Atlantic Terminal Mall Tuesday, the new designs reminded him of the great outdoors, for better or worse.

"It looks like a barn that should have horses and cows out front," cracked Karp, 62, a supporter of the project. "It looks like something you would see when driving upstate."

The design had the opposite effect for Bedford-Stuyvesant resident James Taylor, who noted the new arena design's orange facade looked similar to that of a familiar nationwide retail chain.

"It looks a little like a Home Depot," said Taylor, 19. "It's not as extravagant as I thought it would be."

Prospect Heights writer Aharon Levy was more direct.

"The entirety of the design is dull," said Levy, 34, who is opposed to the Yards project. "It's suburban. We have [garbage] here now and in the future we're going to have [garbage]."

For one new Brooklynite, however, the arena was nothing short of inspiring, a piece of architecture like no other.

"I like the new design better," said a 27-year-old Prospect Heights bartender who grew up in Eastern Europe and gave only her first name, Izabel. "It reminds me of a train station back at home in Poland."

© 2009 Daily News, L.P.

BrooklynRider

June 10th, 2009, 01:50 PM

He has two buildings in his way and I don't think they'll invoke eminent domain for the arena.

BenM

June 17th, 2009, 09:49 AM

Now that Gehry is out, does that mean Ratner is starting from scratch on everything except the arena? Does he have to hire someone else to design a new master plan?

ZippyTheChimp

June 24th, 2009, 11:50 PM

http://www.archpaper.com/images/anp_logos/anplogo.gif

06.22.2009

Be My Sweetheart Deal

Ratner brokers agreement with MTA on rail yards purchase

The value engineering continues.

That was the message out of today’s MTA finance committee hearing, at which a new agreement for the purchase of the Vanderbilt rail yards was announced. With the Nets arena cut down to size, the rail yards beneath Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project will also shrink from nine tracks to seven. Also, as previously expected, the developer will pay only $20 million upfront for the rights to build the arena, with the remaining portion of the $100 million deal being paid out over the next 22 years.

The committee took no action on the new arrangement, which critics are already calling another sweetheart deal for Forest City Ratner, waiting instead for a new General Project Plan from the Empire State Development Corporation, which is due out tomorrow. The committee and full board is then expected to vote on the new agreement on Wednesday, though given the tough questions asked by committee members at today’s hearing, it could be a close call. Still, in a staff report prepared for the committee, a favorable vote was recommended.

Daniel Goldstein, head of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, the lead Yards opposition group, said in an interview after the hearing that he was not surprised by the agreement, except that it gave an even longer timeline than the 10 year one he had expected. “Ratner’s failed,” Goldstein said. “He’s defaulted on his commitments but the MTA appears to be giving him a passing grade, to the detriment of the MTA.”

Following testimony from 18 speakers, split roughly between opponents from the neighborhood and advocacy groups and supporters from the Carpenters trade union and BUILD, MTA chief financial officer Gary Dellaverson outlined the new deal as revised from one initially approved in 2005. “We did not complete these discussions until yesterday,” he noted, as a means of apologizing for the lack of a prior briefing to the committee. “Today there will be no vote. Everything we’re having right now is a conversation.”

bIn addition to the upfront payment, the new deal for the remaining six development plots to the east of the arena includes four annual payments of $2 million beginning on June 1, 2012, followed by 15 $11 million payments. The total cost for the remaining parcels thus reaches $173 million, but that accounts for inflation, with the “net present value” remaining $80 million. Originally there was to be an upfront payment of $100 million.

As for the new rail yards, they are expected to cost $147 million, down from an expected $240 million. (Some accounts put the ultimate amount at closer to $340 million in infrastructural and environmental work, much of which is now out of the deal.) The scaled-down seven-track yards will have a capacity of 56 cars, down from the 76 cars allowed by nine tracks. While questions had been raised as recently as a month ago about whether a reduction in tracks would jeopardize the planned East Access megaproject, MTA officials said this was no longer the case.

“Helena is satisfied her usage will not be impacted,” H. Dale Hemmerdinger, the board chair said, referring to Helena Williams, president of the Long Island Railroad, which operates the yards. A number of committee members struggled to grasp how this was possible, repeatedly asking question about it, without ever getting a clear answer. It was also revealed that the developer approached the MTA about value engineering the site toward the end of last year, and worked with Parsons Brinckerhoff on “value engineering” the design of the station.

Part of the reason the quality of the station is so important, beyond it being one of the oft-trumpeted public benefits behind Ratner’s development package, is that the inclusion of new “state-of-the-art” rail yards was one of the reasons given for dismissing a competing bid offered by Extell development.

“They’re delivering what the railroad needed,” Dellaverson said in defense of the changes. “It’s a step up from the default position we have now. But it’s not quite what was first proposed.”

To ensure Ratner begins construction on those compromised yards by June 30, 2012 and completes them by September 1, 2016, the developer must secure a letter of credit for $86 million, which would then be forfeit to the MTA and used to complete the project. That number was arrived at as the bare minimum the agency would need to upgrade the yards. Ratner is also obligated to complete the temporary yards before the arena opens, though those completion on those facilities is expected by year’s end.

Asked why the MTA continued to support Ratner’s bid for the yards, and whether he could continue to be counted on, given repeated renegotiations, reversals, and revisions to the proposed development, an agency spokesperson declined to comment, though the possibility of a meager payment during these cash-strapped times is a factor.

During the meeting, Dellaverson said the deal was a winning one for the agency. “Our intent, if we were to prioritize, is transportation first and financial second, and this satisfies those needs,” he said.

In a statement, Ratner insists it is forces beyond his control that have hobbled the project thus far, but those obstacles will be overcome. “While the world has changed significantly since Atlantic Yards won public approval in December 2006, and we are trying to adapt to those changes, the project and the project benefits, including the arena, the jobs and the affordable housing will remain the same,” Ratner said.

Should Ratner fail to find financing for the project, he has until next March to cancel the deal. Ditto, should no significant construction take place by April 2011. Goldstein is already considering additional litigation to push Ratner over that threshold, though he continues to hope it will not come to that. “They’re propping up FCR and that’s not their job,” he said of the MTA. “Their job is to get the best deal for their riders.”

Matt Chaban

Copyright © 2003-2008 | The Architect's Newspaper, LLC.

scumonkey

June 25th, 2009, 12:18 AM

MTA...Who's your Daddy :rolleyes:

philvia

June 25th, 2009, 12:57 AM

why cant this project just die

BrooklynLove

June 25th, 2009, 08:00 AM

I ask the same question about the hordes of people who constantly whine about the project yet do nothing.

TREPYE

June 25th, 2009, 11:12 AM

^ A classless and derranged comment, BL.

scumonkey

June 25th, 2009, 11:31 AM

MTA approves deal 10-2 despite warnings from Brennan, Straphangers, RPA; DDDB offer disdained; see video of testimony and board justifications (http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2009/06/mta-approves-deal-10-2-despite-warnings.html)

(http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2009/06/mta-approves-deal-10-2-despite-warnings.html)

ZippyTheChimp

June 25th, 2009, 11:38 AM

Despite a warning by veteran Assemblyman Jim Brennan that they were squandering their assetsThat says it all. It's what the MTA consistently does. They misuse public assets, and then run to Albany to get the public to pay for their mistakes.

BrooklynLove

June 25th, 2009, 10:48 PM

Let's see. Don't renegotiate, deal falls through, get zero, and no developer in his right mind would ever touch this spot again given the hell that a handful of babies have created for Ratner.

Or defer some of the payment over time plus interest. The MTA is better getting cash later than now anyway b/c they would just waste it.

TREPYE - when have you ever said anything of more substance than an guttural moan?

sfenn1117

June 26th, 2009, 01:12 AM

^It wouldn't be so funny, but you're actually serious.

ZippyTheChimp

June 26th, 2009, 07:27 AM

^
What's funny is that if the railyard was privately owed, they would never sell or lease it in this economic environment.

InvisibleMan BK

June 26th, 2009, 10:52 PM

I have been a long time opponent and sceptic of this project, especially because of Gehry's dominance.
but Now, with Gehry's withdrawal and Ellerbe Becket proposing this lame, generic arena design, i've had a change of heart.
To me Gehry's design of the Arena and "Miss Brooklyn" tower would have really put BK on the architectural map, giving it a well needed icons.
My major concern had more to do with Gehry's housing and master planning. I dont think the words Frank Gehry and "affordable housing" should be mentioned in the same sentence. Form the beginning Ratner should have let Gehry do the public buildings and the housing portion to
those with more of an expertise in affordable or mixed income Brooklyn housing.
That being said, now i wish Gehry was still on board beacuse the new "value engineered" architecture is so uninspiring to say the least. They are better off scrapping this project outright, than putting up bullshit.

InvisibleMan BK

June 26th, 2009, 11:36 PM

There is a new "affordable housing" development going up on Atlantic Ave & 6th Avenue (just across the street from the site).

1. We know it is "affordable housing" and at the edge of downright "indigent shelter" based on the high quality signage.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN1025.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN1025.jpg)

2. Designed by...

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN1024.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN1024.jpg)

3.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN1018.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN1018.jpg)

4.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN1023.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN1023.jpg)

"Indigent"? not quite, Rider. Atlantic Terrace is a well designed Mixed income development. it will feature 20 market rate units including 7 duplex units (penthouses) with double height living rooms and private terraces. It has about 1200 sf of retail and much needed attended parking for about 80 vehicles underground.
In addition the site is in the Brownfields clean up program (DEC) and is targeting LEED Gold! i dont think indigent is applicable here.
Lets discuss the merits of design when the scaffolding comes down. i think it will be head and shoulders above most of the stuff in its vicinity.

BrooklynLove

June 30th, 2009, 08:11 AM

Sanity prevailing - page 1, third bullet: http://www.scribd.com/doc/16926397/KBW

scumonkey

June 30th, 2009, 01:52 PM

From The New York Observer:

New Uncertainty for Atlantic Yards as Court of Appeals Takes Eminent Domain Suit (http://www.observer.com/2009/real-estate/new-uncertainty-atlantic-yards-court-appeals-takes-eminent-domain-suit)

By Eliot Brown (http://www.observer.com/author/eliot-brown/)
June 30, 2009 | 11:27 a.m.
New York’s highest court has agreed to hear an eminent domain case over the Atlantic Yards project proposed for Brooklyn, a move that infuses new uncertainty into the planned $4.9 billion development that entails a new Nets basketball arena and 6,400 apartments.
The decision by the Court of Appeals was not expected by the project’s developer—Bruce Ratner and his Forest City Ratner—at least based on its public statements and actions. After a year and a half of stagnation, the development seemed to gain new momentum in recent weeks after an appellate court ruled against opponent (http://www.politickerny.com/3562/court-rules-against-atlantic-yards-opponents-legal-options-narrow)s (http://www.politickerny.com/3562/court-rules-against-atlantic-yards-opponents-legal-options-narrow). Mr. Ratner had been pushing for new public approvals and renegotiated deals with the stated intent of breaking ground on the arena this fall.
Mr. Ratner already confronts a tight schedule in securing $530 million in tax-free financing for the arena. Based on a Dec. 31 I.R.S. deadline for the financing, the cost of the arena would jump by tens of millions of dollars without a tax exemption, and the task of securing financing would grow substantially harder (the broader real estate financing market is more inclement than the tax-free bond market). Thus the viability of the project seems to depend in large part on how fast the court can turn around a ruling.
In a letter that landowners and tenants’ attorneys received Monday (http://www.dddb.net/eminentdomain/papers/stateappeal/20090629courtletter.pdf) (by standard mail), the court said it would hear the case in its October session, failing to honor a request by the state (http://www.dddb.net/eminentdomain/papers/stateappeal/karmelJune1500029381.pdf) to hear the case “no later than September 9.” From there, the court acts on its own timeline to issue a decision, so it’s unclear whether or not a ruling would be issued before Mr. Ratner's year-end deadline for tax-free arena financing.
Just after the appellate court decision last month in the developer’s favor, Forest City seemed to be working under the assumption that the project opponents would be unsuccessful in their final appeal. Hours after the appellate decision was announced, Mr. Ratner broke months of press silence and told reporters that he would break ground on the arena later in the year.
At the time, in response to a set of questions I had for Forest City, the developer’s spokesman characterized the opponent’s chances as slim.
“The decision was pretty definitive—in fact, unanimous and strongly written,” the spokesman, Joe DePlasco, said in an email at the time. “They can seek to appeal but it is unlikely it will be granted and we are proceeding based on the victory that we won.
“We are proceeding with the financing. While ESDC [the Empire State Development Corporation] will handle eminent domain issues, we believe that we can finance this deal even if there is an appeal—but we do not anticipate an appeal.”
The viability of the project seems to depend in large part on how fast the court can turn around a ruling.

Based on the prior victory, last week, the developer renegotiated a deal with the M.T.A. to pay about $180 million less up front (http://www.observer.com/2009/real-estate/ratner-pay-180-m-less-upfront-atlantic-yards) for the rights to build the project, and it is in the process of gaining new approval from the state.
On Tuesday, in a statement, Mr. DePlasco expressed confidence again:
The Appellate Division ruled unanimously in May in favor of the use of eminent domain because of the public benefits associated with Atlantic Yards. We’re confident that the Court of Appeals will come to the same conclusion. We are moving forward aggressively following last week’s approval by the MTA and authorization by the Empire State Development Corporation. We intend to be in construction before the end of the year.
ebrown@observer.com

BrooklynLove

June 30th, 2009, 10:57 PM

Ratner can start work while a decision is under appeal. This is much ado about nothing.

scumonkey

June 30th, 2009, 11:46 PM

:rolleyes:
We'll see who gets the last laugh...

BrooklynLove

July 1st, 2009, 09:00 AM

The lawyers - assuming that their clients pay their bills.

TonyO

July 2nd, 2009, 12:53 PM

Crain's
July 02, 2009 11:25 AM

Ratner promises Atlantic Yards arena redesign

The Forest City Ratner chief said the Atlantic Yards basketball arena renderings leaked to the media last month were premature and do not reflect his intentions for the project.

Bruce Ratner, chief executive of Forest City Ratner, has told senior members of the Bloomberg administration that the Atlantic Yards basketball arena renderings leaked to the media last month were premature and do not reflect his intentions for the project, city sources say. While Mr. Ratner is said to have reaffirmed his commitment to a "world-class" design, he faces the challenge of improving it without substantially raising the cost.

Frank Gehry had designed a $1 billion arena that impressed architecture critics but proved unaffordable when the economy tanked and credit markets froze. Missouri-based architectural firm Ellerbe Becket was brought in and proposed a $772 million arena that resembled an airplane hangar. To say that the design did not meet the expectations of Amanda Burden, chairwoman of the City Planning Commission, would be a vast understatement.

"One of the key goals of the Atlantic Yards project was to transform an area with development that incorporates world-class architecture, a dynamic streetscape, and significant public amenities," she said in a statement issued by her spokeswoman. "Bruce Ratner has given the city a commitment that he will design the Atlantic Yards in a way that respects both the letter and the spirit of what was envisaged in 2006, when the project received its original approval."

The project's original schedule called for the New Jersey Nets to begin playing in the arena this fall. Forest City is now simply trying to break ground by Dec. 31, the deadline to qualify for tax-exempt financing. Lawsuits by project opponents have stymied the development for years.

lofter1

July 2nd, 2009, 01:05 PM

Bruce Ratner has given the city a commitment that he will design the Atlantic Yards
in a way that respects both the letter and the spirit of what was envisaged in 2006 ...

Oh, sure ...

http://blog.tystoybox.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/pinocchio.jpg

scumonkey

July 2nd, 2009, 01:21 PM

Newest plans leaked again
http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4529583/shoeboxstackcloseup2_Full.jpg

TREPYE

July 2nd, 2009, 03:35 PM

Don't give the Ratner a CENT until he shows us and commits to an adequate proposal that will not embarrass BKLN...

arcman210

July 24th, 2009, 11:56 AM

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07242009/sports/nets/sources__nets_ratner_looks_to_sell_team_181058.htm (http://www.nypost.com/seven/07242009/sports/nets/sources__nets_ratner_looks_to_sell_team_181058.htm )

SOURCES: NETS' RATNER LOOKS TO SELL TEAM
By FRED KERBER

Faced with mounting financial losses that triggered cost-cutting throughout the organization, The Post has learned that Nets owner Bruce Ratner is actively investigating the feasibility of selling the team, despite a decidedly down seller's market, multiple team and league sources said.
In fact, several of the sources claim the team is definitely up for sale, though Ratner is determined to try to keep the team headed for Brooklyn and wants to maintain a piece of the team.
"I know definitely he has been thinking about doing it [selling]," one source close to the situation said. "But now is not the time. And if he sells, what about the building? Does he sell just the team? Then you're in New Jersey for a couple years losing a ton of money."
There have been "preliminary discussions" with some investors viewed as potential buyers, sources said, but the extent and seriousness of the talks were not clear.
"After this year, the Nets will have one of, if not the, lowest payroll in the league, which could make them attractive," said one source associated with the team. "That they're trying to sell is not even an issue any more."
"They're up for sale," a minority ownership source said flatly.
The situation has been rumored and discussed for months, but Ratner's camp insists the Forest City Ratner CEO who bought the team for $305 million in 2004 will keep his controlling interest in the team which last year suffered the NBA's biggest drop in gate receipts, 29 percent. Nets ownership said they are seeking investors, not buyers, and have fielded all inquiries.
"We have received interest from potential investors in the team. That interest is growing as it is clear that we are moving to Brooklyn. Our ownership group is as committed as ever to the success of the Nets and to the Barclays Center," Nets CEO Brett Yormark said in a statement.
Sale or not, Ratner wants to maintain a piece of the team, though to a lesser degree. Indications suggest three groups are maneuvering as potential buyers with a group headed by Vince Viola, a Brooklyn product and the senior adviser to the New York Merchantile Exchange, emerging as the favorites.
Viola already owns the second biggest chunk of the team after Ratner. All sources said that current ownership is adamant about keeping the team steered toward Brooklyn. The New Jersey identity is being shelved in some subtle and other not so subtle ways. Only road uniforms that say "Nets" will be used this season while the blue "New Jersey" outfits have been mothballed.
A critical component of the Brooklyn move will be the sale of an estimated $650 million in tax exempt bonds before a Dec. 31 deadline. The Empire State Development Corp. hopes to start issuing the bonds in September.
The Nets have reduced their office workforce by approximately 25 percent. Most non-basketball employees have faced Friday furloughs in the summer, reducing their pay by 20 percent. Assistant coaches accepted significant pay cuts in order to keep all of them employed -- rather than see one lose his job, the four remaining assistants on coach Lawrence Frank's staff agreed to salary reductions equal to the cost of one salary. The Nets thus far have been mute in free agency.
And the Nets unloaded their highest-paid player, Vince Carter, in a draft night trade. Carter was due $33.6 million over the next two seasons so his $17.5 million for 2010-11 was wiped away. So it seems the Nets have done everything they can to reduce costs, which would make them more attractive to prospective buyers.

lofter1

July 24th, 2009, 12:59 PM

Da Lyin' Rat is Broke & Busted.

Derek2k3

July 24th, 2009, 01:59 PM

Some New Yorkers couldn't recognize a good thing if it fell on top of them. I guess we'll be stuck with a gigantic railyard in the middle of DT BK for the next few decades.

I doubt whatever is proposed for the site will be half as interesting as what Ratner was initially going to build. Now I expect something along the lines of what the city is building at Hunter's Point.

arcman210

September 9th, 2009, 02:26 PM

Source (renderings found here too): http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/new-design-unveiled-for-atlantic-yards-arena/

September 9, 2009, 11:15 am
New Design Unveiled for Atlantic Yards Arena

By Charles V. Bagli (http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/author/charles-v-bagli/)

Updated, 12:18 p.m. | Bruce C. Ratner (http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/r/bruce_ratner/index.html) is hoping the third time is the charm for his planned basketball arena for the Nets near Downtown Brooklyn.
On Wednesday morning, Mr. Ratner, the chief executive of Forest City Ratner, unveiled the latest design (http://www.barclayscenter.com/venue/venue_5.shtml) for the 18,000-seat arena, which is the centerpiece for his 22-acre Atlantic Yards development at the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues.
The original design by the architect Frank Gehry (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/frank_gehry/index.html) called for a $1 billion development that had four residential and commercial buildings hugging the glass-walled arena. It was scrapped in a cost-cutting move (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/05/nyregion/05gehry.html) this year when the developer sought to build something less expensive. Mr. Ratner then turned to Ellerbe Becket (http://www.ellerbebecket.com/), a firm that has designed many professional basketball arenas. But when its initial renderings of a structure resembling a brick airplane hangar leaked out in June, they were met with nearly universally negative reviews (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/arts/design/09arena.html).
Stunned by the reaction, Mr. Ratner brought in a second architect, SHoP (http://www.shoparc.com/), to collaborate on the more glamorous design that was released Wednesday.
The arena images figure into what promises to be an intense marketing effort. Forest City Ratner plans to get final state approval next week from the Empire State Development Corporation. It will then try to raise about $700 million in tax-exempt financing. But the state still faces a legal challenge from opponents to the state’s use of eminent domain on Mr. Ratner’s behalf. The proceeds would have to be placed in escrow until the Court of Appeals issues a decision later this year, even as Forest Ctiy plans to begin marketing the luxury boxes and premium seats at the arena.
The new design drew contempt from critics of the Atlantic Yards project, who have been battling the project for years. One prominent critic, Daniel Goldstein, a spokesman for the group Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn (http://developdontdestroy.org/php/latestnews_ArchiveDate.php), compared the new design with a giant eyeball.
Mr. Goldstein said in a statement:

The arena design is irrelevant. Designs continue to come and go, but they change nothing. It’s all lipstick on a corrupt pig, window-dressing on a boondoggle. Ratner faces a serious eminent domain court challenge and other litigation, he doesn’t have the land or any of the financing he needs for the arena, and won’t be able to break ground this year, if ever. The project is still a sham, still a phantom, with no designs for the promised affordable housing and no designs whatsoever for anything besides a money-losing arena. It is unconscionable that any elected official could support this farcical project anymore.
Mr. Goldstein said the Empire State Development Corporation vote amounted to a rubber stamp. He said the project would take at least 20 years to build — more than twice the official 10-year projection — and said it had had changed drastically from what the corporation approved in 2006.
“All Ratner is able to show, six years since unveiling his mega-project proposal, is the sixth version of his arena design and nothing else,” Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn said. “The previous five designs all failed, and this new one is likely to do the same.”

NoyokA

September 9th, 2009, 02:47 PM

Looks promising.

dtolman

September 9th, 2009, 03:32 PM

Its... different.

kz1000ps

September 9th, 2009, 05:06 PM

Please bring back Miss Brooklyn. Without her, the newest arena looks incredibly low-slung and anti-urban.

arcman210

September 10th, 2009, 10:01 AM

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/09/10/alg_new_atlantic_yards_rendering.jpg

http://blog.nj.com/nets_impact/2009/09/large_new-barclays-center-design-909.jpg

scumonkey

September 10th, 2009, 07:06 PM

New AY design seems tired and middle-aged

September 10, 2009 02:15PM By James Gardner (http://therealdeal.com/looks/byq/James%20Gardner) http://s3.amazonaws.com/trd_three/images/67434/Gardner.jpgYesterday the office of Bruce Ratner, Atlantic Yards developer and Forest City Ratner Companies CEO, released renderings of a new design for the stadium he hopes to develop at Atlantic Yards (http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/new-nets-arena-renderings-released) in Brooklyn.

As so often in New York, it represents an odd, even cynical, compromise. You may recall that the original stadium, a shimmering and iconic titanium mirage, was designed by Frank Gehry. Immediately controversial and expensive, it divided New York between those who opposed it in the name of preserving Brooklyn's small-town spirit and those who loudly endorsed it in the name of progressive architecture.

All of that was rendered moot, however, when Gehry (http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/frank-gehry-out-at-atlantic-yards-forest-city-ratner-bruce-ratner-ellerbe-becket) was unceremoniously fired from the development back in June. Whatever one thought of his design -- and some of us thought very little of it -- at least it had guts and personality to spare.

Thus it was with a sense of morbid inevitability that one awakened back in June to the news that the new Nets stadium design, by the paltry firm of Ellerbe Becket (http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/architectural-firm-ellerbe-becket-to-re-evaluate-frank-gehry-s-atlantic-yards-plans), was so boring and predictable, so hangar-like and so inept, that it made even the new Citifield (http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/how-citifield-stacks-up-against-yankee-stadium) look chic and avant-garde.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/trd_three/images/118067/image_2.jpg
No sooner was their rendering (http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/atlantic-yards-arena-renderings-premature-bruce-ratner-says-forest-city-ratner-ellerbe-becket-frank-gehry) made public than a howl of disappointment was heard throughout the five boroughs. Apparently bowing to pressure, Ratner quickly engaged the architecture services of SHoP (http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/shop-to-assist-ellerbe-becket-at-atlantic-yards-after-frank-gehry-was-dropped-from-the-project), who at least have some vanguardist credentials under their belt.

But the product they have unveiled seems to partake of the weakest elements of both earlier designs. Even in the gussied-up rendering -- where, traditionally, even weak designs look snazzy -- this looks weary and uninspired. For all the world, the copper-colored carapace of the building recalls the exoskeleton of a cockroach, while the attenuated front part, terminating at the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic avenues, brings to mind the proboscis of a rhinoceros beetle.

Though it is true that SHoP has avoided the dull symmetries of Ellerbe Becket, they have managed to make deconstructivism seem tired, gratuitous and middle-aged. This is what happens when a developer has no aesthetic compass and when an architectural firm has only a few weeks to develop a design which the good citizens of Brooklyn may very well rue for a century to come.

James Gardner, formerly the architecture critic of the New York Sun, writes on the visual arts for several publications.

kz1000ps

September 23rd, 2009, 02:46 PM

Russian tycoon says he's made offer to buy Nets

http://l.yimg.com/a/i/us/nws/p/ap_logo_106.png

By JIM HEINTZ, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 19 mins ago

MOSCOW – Russia's richest man, an amateur basketball player who made billions in metals, says he wants to buy the New Jersey Nets in exchange for funding the team's troubled plans to build an arena in Brooklyn.

Mikhail Prokhorov wrote Tuesday on his blog that he wants to improve Russian basketball by getting access to NBA training methods and sending Russian coaches for internships.

Prokhorov said that he sent team shareholders an offer over the weekend. Under the proposal, Prokhorov's holding company Onexim would obtain a controlling share in the NBA team in return for loaning the money to build a new arena.

The posting says the controlling shares would be obtained for "a symbolic price."

Nets owner Bruce Ratner faces a crucial December deadline for his plan to build an arena in Brooklyn and move his team there in 2011. The construction needs to break ground by then or lose access to the tax-free bonds financing much of the project.

Ratner spokesman Joe DePlasco said Wednesday that "we do not have a comment as of yet."

**

Full article here (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090923/ap_on_sp_bk_ne/bkn_prokhorov_nets)

ZippyTheChimp

September 23rd, 2009, 03:21 PM

the posting says the controlling shares would be obtained for "a symbolic price."

$1.00

lofter1

September 23rd, 2009, 03:35 PM

Russian tycoon says he's made offer to buy Nets

... Ratner spokesman Joe DePlasco said Wednesday that "we do not have a comment as of yet."

It seems that now they do ...

Back in the U-S-S-Yards: Russian Comes to Conquer Brooklyn

CURBED (http://curbed.com/archives/2009/09/23/back_in_the_ussyards_russian_comes_to_conquer_broo klyn.php)
Wednesday, September 23, 2009, by Joey

With speculation on Russian oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov's potential investment in the Nets and Barclays Center arena at Brooklyn's controversial Atlantic Yards megaproject growing — and kicked into overdrive when Prokhorov blogged about the matter — developer Forest City Ratner has issued a press release confirming the negotiations and outlining the potential deal:

Forest City Ratner Companies (“FCRC”), Nets Sports and Entertainment (“NSE”) and Onexim Group announced today that they have signed a letter of intent to create a strategic partnership for the development of the Atlantic Yards Project, a 22-acre residential and commercial real estate project in Brooklyn and the Barclays Center, the future home for the NBA's Nets.

This partnership will ensure the successful completion of a world-class entertainment venue in Brooklyn, the relocation of the NBA Nets basketball team and the economic and housing benefits of the Atlantic Yards Project.

In accordance with the agreement, entities to be formed by Onexim Group will invest $200 million and make certain contingent funding commitments to acquire 45% of the arena project and 80% of the NBA team, and the right to purchase up to 20% of the Atlantic Yards Development Company, which will develop the non-arena real estate.

Bruce Ratner, the Chairman and CEO of FCRC, said, “Mikhail and Onexim will be great partners for this project. I am thrilled that smart global investors appreciate the exciting economic potential of Brooklyn. We are one step closer to achieving our goals of creating much needed jobs and economic development for Brooklyn and the city.”

Mikhail Prokhorov, President of Onexim Group, said “We are delighted to join in this exciting project and to participate in the landmark development of global sports in this entertainment arena in the heart of New York City. I have a long-standing passion for basketball and pursuing interests that forward the development of the sport in Russia. I look forward to becoming a member of the NBA and working with Bruce and his talented team to bring the Nets to Brooklyn.”

NBA Commissioner David Stern said, "We are looking forward to the Nets' move to a state-of-the-art facility in Brooklyn, with its rich sports heritage. Interest in basketball and the NBA is growing rapidly on a global basis and we are especially encouraged by Mr. Prokhorov's commitment to the Nets and the opportunity it presents to continue the growth of basketball in Russia."

As a Curbed commenter wrote yesterday, once NBA overlord David Stern blesses it, it's good to go. Prospect Heights: Welcome to your future, comrades.

lofter1

September 23rd, 2009, 03:37 PM

The shape of things to come (http://www.unics.ru/)?

http://217.13.116.51/fans/unics_big.gif

Kazan Russia basketball stadium "Basket-Hall"

The largest in Russia basketball palace was opened in Kazan August 29 2003. It was named "Basket-hall". There are two playgrounds: main has the audience of 7500, the small one - 1500.

*

BrooklynLove

September 23rd, 2009, 08:38 PM

Once this gets locked up, press will start turning against selfish group behind the littany of sham litigation slowing this project down.

arcman210

October 22nd, 2009, 09:47 AM

From NJ.com

NJ Nets warming to the idea of a move to the Prudential Center
By Dave D'Alessandro/The Star-Ledger (http://connect.nj.com/user/ddalessa/index.html)
October 22, 2009, 12:59AM

http://media.nj.com/nets_impact/photo/crowd-shot-of-prudential-center-for-nets-celtics-12ede5388db9412e_large.jpg
Saed Hindash/The Star-Ledger

The preseason Nets game against the Boston Celtics drew more than 12,000 spectators. Wednesday's game against the Knicks drew more than 15,000.
The Nets are considering playing their regular season home games at the Prudential Center in Newark while a new arena is being built for them in Brooklyn, several team officials said Wednesday night.
After drawing large crowds for two preseason games in Newark — including nearly 16,000 Wednesday for a game against the New York Knicks — the Nets are warming to the idea of spending a few years at the Prudential Center as long as they can get out of their lease at Meadowlands without having to pay an $8 million penalty.
A temporary move to Newark could happen as early as next season, said the officials, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak for the club.
The team now plays at the Izod Center in East Rutherford and has said it will remain there until the move to Brooklyn, which could come as early as the 2011-12 season.
Brett Yormark, the team’s CEO, would not discuss a move to Newark, saying only that he appreciated the fan support the team received for Wednesday’s game.
However, a number of other officials indicated the Nets have softened to the idea of making the temporary move to the Prudential Center as long as the state waives the penalty the team would have to pay to break its lease at the Izod Center.
The lease with the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority runs through 2013 but the Nets can can opt out at any time as long as they are moving to Brooklyn. Otherwise, they are subjected to the $8 million penalty.
Nets owner Bruce Ratner is reluctant to leave the Izod Center because a move to Newark could undermine the Brooklyn plans and give New York officials the impression they’re playing one side against the other, the team officials said.
Ratner needs to break ground for the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn before the end of the year to beat a Dec. 31 Internal Revenue Service deadline for the issuance of tax-exempt bonds that will be used to fund construction costs. He also must come out on the right side of a New York State Court of Appeals decision about the legality of using eminent domain to acquire land at the site. That decision is expected next month.
The Nets have played two preseason games in Newark. The first game, on Oct. 13 against the Boston Celtics, drew 12,790 which officials said was roughly three times the the size of a typical preseason crowd at Izod Center. The game against the Knicks drew 15,721.
The Prudential Center, which seats 18,342 for baskeball, is home for the New Jersey Devils hockey team and Seton Hall University basketball team. The Nets have played in East Rutherford since 1981.
Last month, Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov agreed to purchase 80 percent of the team and 45 percent of the proposed arena by pouring $200 million into the cash-depleted Brooklyn venture.
Under the agreement, Ratner’s Forest City Enterprises group will retain controlling interest in the proposed Barclays Center but relinquish authority over basketball operations. It also will give Prokhorov’s Onexim Group the right to purchase up to 20 percent of the Atlantic Yards Development Company, which will develop the area around the proposed $800 million arena.
Prokhorov was not at Wednesday's game, but sent a number of Onexim executives.who were seated at courtside opposite the Nets bench.

http://www.nj.com/nets/index.ssf/200...e_idea_of.html (http://www.nj.com/nets/index.ssf/2009/10/nj_nets_warming_to_the_idea_of.html)

ablarc

October 22nd, 2009, 10:34 AM

Atlantic Yards was going to be such a huge boon to Brooklyn --and now it's just humdrum dickering about where the team will play next. Does anyone really care?

arcman210

October 23rd, 2009, 03:39 PM

The Barclays Center will be dead by years end and the Nets will be sold and permanently moved to Newark next season.

JCMAN320

October 23rd, 2009, 03:51 PM

Newark's Prudential Center gets N.J. Nets under arenas deal, report says

http://media.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impact/photo/pru-centerjpg-5d19237f11839c70_large.jpg
John Munson/The Star-Ledger
Aerial scene of the Prudential Center in Newark

By The Star-Ledger Continuous News Desk
October 23, 2009, 5:04AM

NEWARK -- The New Jersey Nets would play at the Prudential Center for at least the next two years while the Izod Center in the Meadowlands will get more concert and family show bookings under the deal that is close to being signed, according to a report in The Record.

The report said the deal would include the creation of Jersey Presents LLC between the owners of the Prudential Center and the Izod Center. Jerry Zaro, Gov. Jon Corzine’s economic czar, told the newspaper “You can’t have two venues that close together fighting each other and have that be productive for the state. The governor recognized that this was going to be a festering wound."

Under the deal, the report said the Prudential Center would become New Jersey's prime sports venue -- home to Nets pro basketball, New Jersey Devils hockey, Seton Hall University basketball, indoor pro soccer and indoor pro lacrosse. The city of Newark would reportedly get more than $2 million in back rent from the Devils.

BrooklynLove

October 25th, 2009, 07:47 PM

2nd place = first loser.

Reality check: Newark is a hole.

lofter1

October 25th, 2009, 11:41 PM

Well, if so then it's a hole with professional sports teams.

More than can be said about someplace else.

arcman210

October 26th, 2009, 10:39 AM

2nd place = first loser.

Reality check: Newark is a hole.

Atlantic Yards is (still) a hole. Because of Ratner and the Barclays Center, it probably will be for many more years to come.

STT757

October 26th, 2009, 11:11 AM

2nd place = first loser.

Reality check: Newark is a hole.

Newark is home to 3 Fortune 500 company Headquarters, how many are in Brooklyn?..
Newark is home to the largest Port on the East Coast of the United States, 3rd largest in the Country.
Newark is home to the largest airline operation in the NYC area, Continental Airlines handles more passengers through it's EWR hub than AA, Jetblue or DL handle through EWR, JFK and LGA combined.
Newark has a brand new sports arena, and soon will have two Professional sports franchises with a third close by in Harrison.

ZippyTheChimp

October 26th, 2009, 11:15 AM

Why is Newark considered a hole?

ablarc

October 26th, 2009, 03:52 PM

^ High crime rate, political corruption, run-down appearance ?

STT757

October 27th, 2009, 12:02 AM

^ High crime rate, political corruption, run-down appearance ?

They don't call it Crooklyn for nothing.

JCMAN320

October 27th, 2009, 12:22 AM

Jealous much Brooklyn love?

ZippyTheChimp

October 27th, 2009, 12:42 AM

No pissing matches, please.

BrooklynRider

November 4th, 2009, 09:44 PM

We have movement on the site. I think it is infrastructure, but its a lot of machinery...

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/048.jpg

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/049.jpg

3.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/050.jpg

4.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/051.jpg

BrooklynRider

November 4th, 2009, 09:45 PM

There's also these piles of steel...

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/046.jpg

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/047.jpg

BrooklynLove

November 4th, 2009, 11:26 PM

There is constant work going on. All the usual blogs are anti-AY so none of the reporting is re progress. All attention is focused on the big loser with a megaphone. Makes lots of noise but he's just a sideshow.

Alonzo-ny

November 5th, 2009, 05:12 AM

After all this time, what has been done exactly?

BrooklynLove

November 5th, 2009, 10:20 PM

Tons of infrastructural work that needs to happen before the arena work moves forward in any significant manner. A lot of work has been on boundary streets and since been covered up by new pavement. A lot of work is in the cut. The first thing you'll see if you go over there for a look is a new RR track bed suspended above grade in the cut. It appears as if it will be able to swivel and connect different track beds further along in the cut to the exit tunnel heading under Vanderbilt. There also has been tons of demo of surrounding structures and clearing of sites.

BrooklynLove

November 8th, 2009, 06:45 PM

FWIW: http://www.empire.state.ny.us/AtlanticYards/ConstructionUpdate62.asp

Merry

November 14th, 2009, 08:17 PM

I'm posting this article here as well as here (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22360&highlight=eminent+domain) since it relates specifically to the Atlantic Yards redevelopment.

The Empire State and Eminent Domain

By NICOLE GELINAS

In September, Dan Goldstein received a letter from New York State informing him and his wife that the government was about to seize their Brooklyn apartment "In furtherance of the Atlantic Yards Arena and Redevelopment Project." The building would be razed as part of a 22-acre, $4.9 billion sports-complex project.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and developer Bruce C. Ratner have promised that the project will bring jobs, affordable apartments and the Nets basketball team. Lost amid these promises is the story of Mr. Goldstein, his wife Shabnam Merchant, and a few others who have spent years resisting efforts to dislodge them. The state's highest court—the New York Court of Appeals—is expected to issue its ruling in Goldstein et al. v. Empire State Development Corporation any day. The case is a pivotal one in the struggle to prevent abuse of the power of eminent domain.

Eminent domain leapt onto the national stage in 2005 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Kelo v. City of New London that governments can take private property for economic redevelopment because the redevelopment's "public purpose" fits a broad definition of the constitutional "public use" test. The decision sparked a national outcry that led more than 40 states to pass restrictions on eminent domain. Yet in New York there should not have been a debate at all.

For decades, New York courts rejected the notion that private landowners can be compelled to sell their property for the benefit for other individuals or companies, which is a central component of many redevelopment projects. In a 1951 case, for example, a state court prohibited a property seizure in New York City because the public use—the creation of a park—was incidental to the benefits for the private developer who would profit from building on land around the park.

Also in 1967, New York voters were asked whether to add a "public purpose" provision to the takings clause in the state's constitution to make it easier to seize private property. It was voted down.

So to push the Atlantic Yards project through the courts, New York state isn't arguing that it needs to take Mr. Goldstein's property for economic development. Instead, it has declared that Mr. Goldstein's neighborhood is "blighted." This allows the state to condemn property on the theory that clearing unsanitary and unsafe slums constitutes a public benefit.

In fact, the Prospect Heights neighborhood that Mr. Goldstein and his wife have made their home is hardly a slum. Prospect Heights was thriving before Atlantic Yards construction began. It's a hip neighborhood that's a short hop on the subway from Manhattan.

To meet the needs of in-flowing residents, developers had been converting sturdy old warehouses into condos. One of the newer arrivals, Mr. Goldstein, paid $590,000 in 2003 for his three-bedroom condo in a distinctive, eight-story dry-goods warehouse designed by a renowned Chicago architect and solidly built nearly 80 years before. His neighborhood was home, too, to small-scale industrial firms and a still-operating Prohibition-era bar, as well as to working-class renters.

To discover blight in all this, Albany hired consultants. Their 2006 report pointed to below-grade railyards for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which make up less than half the condemned area, and noted weeds growing and graffiti on some properties. All of this could be remedied without demolishing a large swath of urban landscape if the state compelled the MTA to sell the development rights above its underground tracks at a market rate.

Mainly, however, the report pointed to "underutilization" of the land, concluding that the area wasn't being used to the maximum economic benefit allowed by law. But that means the Atlantic Yards is really an economic-development project—and that the politicians along with Mr. Ratner want to manage Brooklyn's economy rather than let competitive forces continue to improve the neighborhood.

Specifically, New York would use its power to condemn private property, along with $700 million in subsidies to aid Mr. Ratner's arena, while he would deliver economic benefits favored by officials in City Hall and the state capital. To wit: 2,000 subsidized apartments and a few thousand jobs, a basketball arena and 4,000 luxury apartments.

Just last week, Mr. Ratner bristled at requests from a reporter at Crain's New York Business to see his specific building plans. "Why should people get to see plans?" he said. "This isn't a public project." A curious statement, given the state's use of eminent domain on behalf of the project.

All of this places Mr. Goldstein in an important spot. The case that bears his name is the first opportunity since Kelo for New York's highest court to affirm that the state's constitutional standard for seizing property is more stringent than the federal constitutional standard.

If the court rules against Mr. Goldstein, however, he and his wife could suffer one final injustice. The letter they received in September informed them that the state will compensate them $510,000 for their property—less than what they bought it for and less than half of what Mr. Ratner offered to pay them for it four years ago.

It's also less per square foot than what Mr. Ratner expects to sell his luxury apartments for once they are built. "I think [the state] lowballs to deter people from fighting like we have," Mr. Goldstein told me.
Mr. Goldstein should win. The state constitution supports him. If he loses, so will the owners of private property everywhere in the Empire State.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB2000...194721796.html (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704576204574530161194721796.html)

lofter1

November 14th, 2009, 11:15 PM

Similarly ^ the full text of this article is posted HERE (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showpost.php?p=304938&postcount=3)

Pfizer to Leave City That Won Land-Use Case

... In a 5-to-4 decision, the high court ruled that it was permissible to take private property and turn it over to developers as part of a plan to bolster the local economy ... The decision was widely criticized, and spurred lawmakers across the country to adopt statutes to prevent similar uses of eminent domain ... 43 states had moved to protect private-property rights since the Kelo decision. New York and New Jersey are among the seven that have not ...

NY TIMES (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/13/nyregion/13pfizer.html?scp=1&sq=kelo%20new%20london&st=cse)
By PATRICK McGEEHAN
November 13, 2009

From the edge of the Thames River in New London, Conn., Michael Cristofaro surveyed the empty acres where his parents’ neighborhood had stood, before it became the crux of an epic battle over eminent domain.

“Look what they did,” Mr. Cristofaro said on Thursday. “They stole our home for economic development. It was all for Pfizer, and now they get up and walk away.”

That sentiment has been echoing around New London since Monday, when Pfizer, the giant drug company, announced it would leave the city just eight years after its arrival led to a debate about urban redevelopment that rumbled through the United States Supreme Court, and reset the boundaries for governments to seize private land for commercial use.

Pfizer said it would pull 1,400 jobs out of New London within two years and move most of them a few miles away to a campus it owns in Groton, Conn., as a cost-cutting measure. It would leave behind the city’s biggest office complex and an adjacent swath of barren land that was cleared of dozens of homes to make room for a hotel, stores and condominiums that were never built ...

londonlawyer

November 15th, 2009, 07:14 AM

I'm in the minority, but I fully support eminent domain. In Manhattan, it is extremely hard to assemble a site when so many ramshackle little buildings can occupy a block. Greedy bastards could hold out, thereby preventing construction of new towers.

JCMAN320

November 15th, 2009, 06:48 PM

Report: Nets could remain in New Jersey if Brooklyn move falls through

By Dave D'Alessandro/The Star-Ledger

November 14, 2009, 8:15PM

MIAMI — The Nets have a safety net in Newark if the Brooklyn deal falls through, an unsourced ESPN.com report suggested Saturday.

The report stated that Mikhail Prokhorov is willing to buy the team at a reduced rate and keep it in New Jersey if the Atlantic Yards project cannot go forward, which directly contradicts what the team and the league have been saying since the Russian oligarch bid $200 million for a controlling share of the Nets in September.

Nets CEO Brett Yormark would not comment on the report, which others in the organization say originated from the league, and not the team.

Both Nets owner Bruce Ratner and NBA commissioner David Stern have stated recently that if Atlantic Yards doesn’t get under way, it’s a deal-breaker, and that Prokhorov will take his billions and go home. But that might have changed in the months since they made those assertions.

But one minority partner, who requested anonymity so he could speak candidly, said Saturday it is believed that Prokhorov “might be inclined to still buy and keep it in Jersey” if the price could be worked out.

Yormark would only say that the Jersey option will be moot as soon as the Nets take possession of the land in Brooklyn: “There are bulldozers on the site right now,” the CEO said here Saturday. “There is preparatory activity, and we will commence construction in mid-December. We’re just as confident as ever that we’ll be in Brooklyn.”

That cannot happen until some eminent domain issues and bond sales go forward, however.

BrooklynLove

November 15th, 2009, 06:54 PM

Hilarious. Apparently this is the only way that high school NJ paper can sell copies. You should pay a visit to the Yards and save yourself some disappointment.

JCMAN320

November 15th, 2009, 07:56 PM

Really the Ledger high school paper??!?!?! The Star-Ledger is a great news paper!! Your ignorance is sad yet hilarious! Hey if it happen it happens. Don't be a sore sport.

STT757

November 15th, 2009, 08:34 PM

Newark Star Ledger is the 16th largest paper in the Country:

http://www.infoplease.com/ipea/A0004420.html

BrooklynLove

November 15th, 2009, 11:25 PM

Seriously. Do you really think this is a helpful stat? It ranks behind 3 NY papers and the basically bankrupt Boston Globe. And barely beats out Long Island's newspaper. Pathetic. Not surprising really b/c the content in The Ledge and Newsday is about equivalent.

JCMan - The Star Ledger is a joke. Just like Newark is a hole. And just like the concept of the Nets coming to Newark indefinitely instead of Brooklyn is a pipe dream. I am fond of the NJ - Long Island similarities though. Maybe you can get the Islanders to come to Newark.

arcman210

November 16th, 2009, 11:00 AM

Newark is a hole.

I dont see a hole
http://hockey.ballparks.com/NHL/NewJerseyDevils/newfront.jpg

Oh wait, here's one!!
http://blog.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impact/2008/05/large_atlantic%20yards.jpg

STT757

November 16th, 2009, 11:01 AM

Seriously. Do you really think this is a helpful stat? It ranks behind 3 NY papers and the basically bankrupt Boston Globe. And barely beats out Long Island's newspaper. Pathetic. Not surprising really b/c the content in The Ledge and Newsday is about equivalent.

.

Considering it's competing against the New York Times, New York Daily News and the New York Post on news shelves across New Jersey, yes I think that's an impressive ranking. What's not impressive is your ignorance.

BiggieSmalls

November 16th, 2009, 01:06 PM

Eminent Domain decision should be coming down soon.

BrooklynLove

November 16th, 2009, 10:04 PM

Considering it's competing against the New York Times, New York Daily News and the New York Post on news shelves across New Jersey, yes I think that's an impressive ranking. What's not impressive is your ignorance.

Do you even know what ignorance is? I know enough about your schoolboy paper to judge it. A circulation barely above that of Newsday is pathetic. But even more relevant, the content is awful, which i guess indicates that a lot of NJ'ers find second grade level writing stimulating. Nice work.

By the way, did i mention that Newark is a hole?

antinimby

November 16th, 2009, 10:26 PM

Dude, the only "schoolboy" and "second grade level" anything here is you, with your constant name-calling, insults and put-downs.

Notice nobody else here is doing that except you?

If you are so confident that AY is moving forward like you said you were, then why are you so angry and defensive over somebody says?

BrooklynLove

November 16th, 2009, 11:41 PM

Because this is a thread about the Atlantic Yards project, not the NJ Arena.

By the way, you're the last person on the face of the earth to lecture about insulting people.

Did I insult the poster? If you're such a scholar, maybe try reading what I wrote.

antinimby

November 16th, 2009, 11:57 PM

Let's see...you are insulting the entire city of Newark. You are putting down a major metropolitan newspaper (at least Newark's got one. Where's Brooklyn's?). You are insulting "a lot of NJ'ers (which by the way, show's your lack of education because they're "New Jerseyans" and/or "New Jerseyites").

Reality check: Newark is a hole.

Apparently this is the only way that high school NJ paper can sell copies.

The Star Ledger is a joke. Just like Newark is a hole.

I know enough about your schoolboy paper to judge it. A circulation barely above that of Newsday is pathetic. which i guess indicates that a lot of NJ'ers find second grade level writing stimulating. By the way, did i mention that Newark is a hole?

This thread is about AY and the NJ Nets possibly moving to there so yes, it is all related.

If I'm the last person to be lecturing and I'm still right in lecturing you, then it says a lot about how bad you are looking right now.

Understand, son?

BrooklynLove

November 17th, 2009, 12:22 AM

Understand, son?

Does the anonymity of the internet give you the confidence to be a tough guy?

You must be very scary in cyberspace.

So again: where did I insult someone in this thread? If you need to use three derivations of explanation to satisfy a quick to speak, slow to think statement in hindsight you're not answering the question.

But hey, if you can't answer the question, maybe you can just cyber-bully it out of me ...

BrooklynRider

November 17th, 2009, 12:25 AM

Let's end this tangent right here.

JCman posted a relevant article about ownership or potential ownership of the Nets. The team is critical to the argument for building an arena (the centerpiece of Atlantic Yards).

The arguments over what Newark has or doesn't have is not relevant to the topic. The fact is that the team may have new ownership and that impacts AY.

This forum's success is funded upon the mutual agreement of the forum community to post in a manner that is courteous and without personal attacks. So, step back and think before hitting reply. If your postcontains the word "You" anywhere in it, there's a 99% chance that you are talking about another poster and not the topic.

Thank you.

BrooklynRider

November 17th, 2009, 12:29 AM

One has to wonder what the argument might be for building this arena without a pro-sports team signed on as a home team. As for concerts and non-sports events, the Borough already has BAM, Keyspan Park, and the proposed amphitheater for Coney Island. All are underused facilities. I don't see how this project can possibly move forward. the platforms and infrastructure canbe built in advance, but that AY design and redesign and re-redesign are outdated and no longer appropriate. None of the arguments used to justify that old design have stood up over time.

BrooklynLove

November 17th, 2009, 08:18 AM

The change has been a shift in focus to the arena only. Do what is necessary to make that happen and we'll worry about the rest later. That is how this project is being viewed now by interested parties.

As for non-sport event demand here. There are no venues in the vicinity anywhere near this capacity. Concert tours commonly hit both MSG and the Meadowlands. No reason why they don't hit this venue as well along the way.

STT757

November 17th, 2009, 10:58 AM

As for non-sport event demand here. There are no venues in the vicinity anywhere near this capacity. Concert tours commonly hit both MSG and the Meadowlands. No reason why they don't hit this venue as well along the way.

PNC banks Arts Center, Prudential Center, Izod Center, Madison Square Garden, Jones Beach Ampitheater, Nassau Coliseum.

I think if anything there's too many venues.

BrooklynRider

November 17th, 2009, 11:36 AM

I agree. I didn't have a problem with the arena in context of Gehry's design for that block. The arena with three integrated towers was a hot, urban design. This stand alone crap is not what anyone anticipated. I am completely against it. Without the integrated design, it becomes more of a void on the streetscape than anything else - and I'm sure that all the rest of the site becomes parking for the arena until further notice. Ratner pull a blatant bait and switch - and it has very little to do with opposition groups or lawsuits. he is just a scumbag when it comes to this borough.

arcman210

November 17th, 2009, 11:45 AM

PNC banks Arts Center, Prudential Center, Izod Center, Madison Square Garden, Jones Beach Ampitheater, Nassau Coliseum.

I think if anything there's too many venues.

Don't forget Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, and soon Meadowlands Stadium and Red Bull Arena... not to mention the dozens and dozens of smaller venues and theatres. By April 2010, five new major stadiums and arenas will have followed the path of being designed, constructed, and opened in the NYC area for 6 of the local major sports teams. This is all since the proposed move to Brooklyn had been announced in 2005.

Atlantic Yards doesn't need an arena.

infoshare

November 17th, 2009, 01:40 PM

Atlantic Yards doesn't need an arena.

I am next to certain that much of the Public Funding (http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20080306/FREE/809048612) on this project is contingent upon there being an arena in the development package. It is In that sense only, one could argue that the Atlantic Yards project NEEDS an Arena.

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20080306/FREE/809048612

lofter1

November 17th, 2009, 03:13 PM

Without the arena there's nothing there, aside from infrastructure / platform over the tracks. With the arena there will but nothing but all that there.

Offices? Housing? Ha ha ha ha ...

BrooklynLove

November 17th, 2009, 09:11 PM

Definite uptick in work in this most recent report:

ATLANTIC YARDS CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
Weeks beginning November 9, 2009 and November 16, 2009

In an effort to keep the Atlantic Yards Community aware of upcoming construction activities, ESD and Forest City Ratner provide the following outline of anticipated upcoming construction activities.

Please note: the scope and nature of activities are subject to change based upon field conditions. All work has been approved by appropriate City and State agencies where required. In addition to the activities described below noise attenuation and vibration monitoring measures are underway in connection with the Memorandum of Environmental Commitments dated 12/08/06.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact our project Ombudsperson at: 212-803-3233 or AtlanticYards@empire.state.ny.us

Long Island Rail Road/Vanderbilt Yard Work

Installation of conduit and cable within Yard (BL1120 and 1121)

Connection to City water (BL1120 and 1121)

Paving of Vehicle Access Roadway throughout Yard (BL 1120 and 1121)

Installation of two stair towers from Pacific St down to Yard level. One in BL1120 and one in BL1121

Testing and Commissioning of Yard

Work is anticipated to continue through the end of the year.

Environmental Remediation

The environmental consultant will begin shallow excavation and drilling to test and classify soils in blocks 1127 and 1119. Work will continue on these blocks and 1118 for 3 months. This is prep work required in advance of any actual removal of soil from the site.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure work related to installation of new sewer chambers at the intersection of 6th Avenue at Pacific Street is complete. Infrastructure work related to the installation of new a water main along the east side of Flatbush Avenue is complete.

The traffic and pedestrian safety barriers along the north side of Flatbush Avenue and Block 1118 for sewer installation is complete for the current phase of the work. Additional protection will be installed to modify traffic in 5th Avenue upon approval from the Department of Transportation.

The contractor commenced pile drilling and excavation work on Blocks 1127 and 1118 in connection with sewer installation. Work will continue for 5 to 6 months.

During the course of this work, the contractor may encounter unforeseen underground storage tanks or other structures. In the event that this happens and where appropriate, notification will be given to the DEC and remediation steps were implemented.
Demolition

The Abatement contractor will install scaffolding in preparation for the removal of asbestos at the roof at 475 Dean Street.

The Abatement and Demolition contractor will install sidewalk protection as required by the Department of Buildings in preparation for the removal of asbestos and demolition of 648 Pacific Street. The start of this work is dependent upon approvals by the Department of Buildings.

The Abatement contractor will install sidewalk protection as required by the Department of Buildings in preparation for the removal of asbestos and demolition of 467 Dean Street. The start of this work is dependent upon approvals by the Department of Buildings.

BiggieSmalls

November 24th, 2009, 12:06 PM

Its Over

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/nyregion/25yards.html?_r=1

Atlantic Yards Project in Brooklyn Clears Legal Hurdle

The last major obstacle to a groundbreaking for the $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/a/atlantic_yards_brooklyn/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier) development in Brooklyn fell Tuesday when New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, dismissed a challenge to the state’s use of eminent domain on behalf of the developer, Bruce C. Ratner.

arcman210

November 24th, 2009, 01:14 PM

Its Over

The court hearing, maybe... The saga known as Atlantic Yards? Not so much.

BrooklynLove

November 24th, 2009, 10:01 PM

We're getting close to the chapter of this story when it is no longer the 'in thing' to be anti this project. Time for Goldstein to take his stipend and go back to where he was before Brooklyn. Stop manipulating weak people under false pretense of the public good you selfish poser.

arcman210

November 25th, 2009, 12:55 PM

Time for Goldstein to take his stipend and go back to where he was before Brooklyn. Stop manipulating weak people under false pretense of the public good you selfish poser.

It's not so much manipulation as it is a relevant point of view. The arena portion of the project does nothing for the good of the public, being that most of the public wont ever set foot inside it because it will be out of their budget. Not to mention the public will be paying for a nice portion of the project.

BrooklynLove

November 26th, 2009, 12:06 AM

Maybe maybe not but Goldstein could care less about that perspective.

BiggieSmalls

November 26th, 2009, 09:34 AM

The arena portion of the project does nothing for the good of the public, being that most of the public wont ever set foot inside it because it will be out of their budget.

Going to Nets games is NOT a public benefit. The thought is that the Arena would be available for civic events. And having the economic impact of an Arean in the area can also be called a public benefit..

arcman210

December 1st, 2009, 06:23 PM

The Ratings Are In For Atlantic Yards
By Reid Pillifant
December 1, 2009 | 4:24 p.m

Atlantic Yards slipped in just above junk bond status today, when Moody's gave the project an Baa3 rating, the lowest rung of investment-grade bonds.
That's probably not as high as Bruce Ratner had hoped, but given the uncertainty surrounding the long-stalled development, it's better than it could have been. Mr. Ratner now has exactly one month to sell $500 million dollars in bonds if he wants to qualify for an I.R.S. deadline on the tax-free debt, which has long been seen as the last significant hurdle facing the project--though there are at least three outstanding lawsuits that could still derail it.
Consider it a rare win for the Nets, who just tied an N.B.A. record with 17 losses to open their season.

Source: the New York Observer
http://www.observer.com/2009/daily-transom/ratings-are-atlantic-yards

ASchwarz

December 2nd, 2009, 02:08 AM

^
What sort of horrible reporting is that? They received a great credit rating, and it's yet another positive step.

The Barclays Arena received the exact same credit rating as Yankee Stadium and Cowboys Stadium.

I really don't think the Nets could expect anything better than the two premiere sports teams in the U.S.

Oh, and BTW, yet ANOTHER court challenge was dismissed today. So what else is new?

BrooklynLove

December 2nd, 2009, 08:42 AM

Yeah, that article is completely clueless. Getting an investment grade rating for these bonds was huge. To pitch it as disappointing evidences complete ignorance and an obvious anti-AY bent.

BiggieSmalls

December 2nd, 2009, 09:31 AM

That decision yesterday was the Court of Appeals failing to hear the argument that the Environmental Impact Statement was invalid and needed to be redone.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/nyregion/02yards.html?_r=2
New Nets Arena Wins Another Court Challenge

Those Bonds should sell rather easily given the lack of competing offerings and likely attractive yield.

BiggieSmalls

December 3rd, 2009, 01:29 PM

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/32/48/32_48_sb_rejected_esdc_foil.html?utm_campaign=Feed %3A+TheBrooklynPaper-FullArticles+%28The+Brooklyn+Paper%3A+Full+article s%29&utm_content=Google+Reader&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburner

ESDC to Paper: Drop dead! State denies our FOIL request

State officials have offered an odd excuse for not revealing how they determined the market value of a critical piece of property in the Atlantic Yards footprint: They can’t talk right now because they’re probably going to be sued again.
This week, the Empire State Development Corporation used that argument in denying The Brooklyn Paper’s “Freedom of Information Law” request for details about how the agency determined that Daniel Goldstein’s three-bedroom apartment on Pacific Street is worth $510,000 — $80,000 less (http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/32/46/32_46_sb_goldsteins_apartment.html) than the Atlantic Yards opponent paid for it six years ago.

BrooklynLove

December 5th, 2009, 11:10 AM

Lots of interesting tidbits here:

http://www.nypost.com/p/nets_half_off_at_brooklyn_arena_Fn7k4wmOcWMIHSWK8U ts5H

It’s half-off at Brooklyn arena, but Islanders 'could' join Nets

5:41 PM, December 3, 2009 ι RICH CALDER

Barclays Bank could be getting two horrendous teams for half off what it originally agreed to pay for naming rights to the planned Brooklyn arena.

New arena financing documents released yesterday leave the door open to the NHL’s Islanders joining the NBA’s Nets at the planned Barclays Center in Prospect Heights, and they also indicate that a once-record $400 million naming-rights deal the British bank agreed to pay over 20 years has been chopped to $200 million.

Barclays would now pay $10 million a year to the arena’s owner over the 20-year deal as part of a renegotiated agreement, according to a 772-page statement prepared by Goldman Sachs for the $900 million arena project sent out to potential investors.

Joe DePlasco, a spokesman for developer Bruce Ratner, indicated the deal would pay the Nets other fees above the $10 million annually, saying “Naming-rights agreements always include the arena, team and hospitality assets. Ours are the same."

But he declined to say how much.

A source close to the deal said it is a far cry from the $20 million a year over 20 years that Barclays was once set to pay.

The Nets will "definitely be getting much closer to $10 million a year than $20 million,” the source said.

The original $400 million deal, first reported by the Post in January 2007, was to shatter the record for the most lucrative deal for an indoor arena in the United States.

It was renegotiated twice in the past year, according to the document, as mounting lawsuits and a slumping economy held up construction and star architect Frank Gehry was fired from the project to cut costs.

Barclays declined comment.

The naming-rights deal is still double what Prudential is paying for the Devils’ hockey arena in Newark, but the New York market was expected to command more money for the cash-strapped Ratner, who is in the process of selling majority interest in the New Jersey Nets and 45 percent interest in the arena to Russian billionaire playboy Mikhail Prokhorov.

The Goldman Sachs document says the Nets – who set an NBA futility record Wednesday by starting a season 0-18 -- are expected to be in the new arena by the middle of 2012, and for the first time indicates the Islanders could be leaving Long Island to join them.

“The New York Islanders could potentially become a tenant” at the Barclays Center, the document says.

But there’s one problem: When Ratner spiked Gehry’s original arena plan for a cheaper design, the size of the arena’s playing area was a casualty, and, as planned, it’s no longer wide enough to host pro hockey games.

However, with shovels yet in the ground anything could change, and Borough President Marty Markowitz told the Post in October that Brooklyn wants the lslanders.

Frustrated with the town of Hempstead’s lack of action on a proposed development plan that would provide the Islanders with a new arena, Islanders owner Charles Wang has said he’s exploring all options -- including relocation.

The Islanders current lease at the Nassau Coliseum runs through 2015, but there are provisions that allow them to leave early.

BrooklynLove

December 15th, 2009, 09:12 PM

http://www.barclayscenter.com/pdf/crane_12_2009.pdf

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/bonds-for-nets-arena-in-brooklyn-sell-briskly/

BiggieSmalls

December 15th, 2009, 10:06 PM

Looks like ratner and the EDC will come in just under the deadline to get the Bonds sold..

So teh next step is the master closing and then they move to foreclose on the remaining properties.. after a ceremonial ground breaking last week in December..

BrooklynLove

December 16th, 2009, 08:23 AM

I hope that Goldstein forces the police to remove him from his apartment and that need to mace and taser him.

BiggieSmalls

December 17th, 2009, 02:57 PM

LMAO.. looks like you might get your wish

http://curbed.com/archives/2009/12/17/brooklyn_bar_to_bruce_ratner_hell_no_we_wont_go.ph p#more

Up until now the loudest voices of opposition in the Atlantic Yards eminent domain battle have been the folks that stand to lose their homes, like Develop Don't Destroy (http://www.developdontdestroy.org/php/latestnews_ArchiveDate.php)'s Daniel Goldstein. But what do the real salt-of-the-earth types—and by that we mean boozehounds—have to say about the issue? Beloved Prospect Heights dive Freddy's Bar is located at Dean Street and Sixth Avenue, which—consulting our Atlantic Yards footprint pop-up map (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tracy_collins/532810476/)—means the place is totally screwed. But the suds slingers are not going quietly! They're enlisting fellow eminent domain haters to take part in what the anti-Atlantic Yards campaign has been sorely lacking: civil disobedience! Announcing, ladies and gentlemen, the Chains of Justice. Here's a taste of the e-mail from Freddy's:

An overwhelming number of Freddy's Bar patrons plan on chaining themselves to the bar if Scrooge Ratner and Grinch Paterson's Atlantic Yards Project attempts to shutdown and demolish Freddy's Bar and Backroom. This Sunday, we are installing chains onto the Bar itself for just such a purpose. Here comes some more anger. >> (http://curbed.com/archives/2009/12/17/brooklyn_bar_to_bruce_ratner_hell_no_we_wont_go.ph p#more)

In light of the recent decision against Columbia University (http://curbed.com/archives/2009/12/03/states_land_seizure_for_columbia_expansion_ruled_u nconstitutional.php) and the Empire State Development Corporation’s attempt to steal properties by eminent domain, and the confusion in the Courts that seems to allow taking Brooklyn properties for Ratner (http://curbed.com/archives/2009/11/24/atlantic_yards_opponents_lose_challenge_over_emine nt_domain.php), but not Harlem properties for Columbia…we are angry. We are giddy for the victory against Columbia, but angry that our neighborhood can be taken, that our bar can be taken. We will stand in support of the Prospect Heights neighborhood, and the extended neighborhood of 5000+ supporters who have donated time and money to fight against eminent domain. We believe the links of the chain represent all the individuals unbreakably locked in a chain gang seeking fair rights for the individual in the contemporary flurry of land-grabbing corporate greed. The Backroom at Freddy’s Bar was the birthplace of this particular rebellion for fair treatment, the front room is where we bring out the hardware to back it up.

The Chain will officially be installed on Sunday, December 20th at 12:00 noon.
Though Freddy's stands about as much chance of winning as the Nets do on any given nights, we salute such made-for-TV tactics.

BrooklynLove

December 23rd, 2009, 08:52 PM

FCRC CLOSES ON ATLANTIC YARDS
Master Closing on the Project Means Barclays Center, Thousands of Jobs,
Affordable Housing and the Nets Coming to Brooklyn
(Brooklyn, NY) – December 23, 2009 – Bruce Ratner, the Chairman and CEO of Forest City
Ratner Companies (FCRC), the developer of Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, announced today that
FCRC, the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority (MTA), the City of New York, and other parties have executed all necessary
documents and officially closed on the project.
“Today, what has long been a vision for the future of Brooklyn becomes a reality,” Mr. Ratner
said. “Six years after we announced our plan for Atlantic Yards we are very pleased to be closing
on the project with our public partners. Today’s closing represents a vital step forward for New
York City, one that is all the more important because of the economic challenges our City faces.
The jobs we are creating today, as we set forth on the arena and one of the boldest affordable
housing initiatives in our City’s history, will create a new dynamic center in this wonderful
borough.”
While construction on the Barclays Center and the project site in downtown Brooklyn has
commenced and is ongoing, today’s closing includes the issuance of bonds and the execution of
various real estate documents, including the arena lease, financing, development, and purchase
and sale agreements.
To date, 35 buildings, roughly 56% of the structures on the site, have been demolished and
construction of the temporary rail yard has been completed. Removal of the Vanderbilt Yard
tracks and critical upgrades to the sewer and water infrastructure in the area are underway.
Mr. Ratner thanked the Governor, the Mayor, the Brooklyn Borough President, ESDC, the MTA
– Long Island Rail Road and the vast majority of the people of Brooklyn and New York who
have stood by us and have long believed in the benefits and promise of Atlantic Yards.
2
Atlantic Yards will create close to 17,000 union construction jobs, as well as 8,000 permanent
jobs once the project is complete. The project involves the redevelopment of 22 acres in
downtown Brooklyn, which will include approximately six million square feet of residential
space (6,430 units of affordable and market-rate housing), an 18,000-seat sports and
entertainment arena to be known as the Barclays Center, 247,000 square feet of retail use,
approximately 336,000 square feet of office space, and eight acres of publicly accessible open
space.
FCRC and the Nets today also have placed branded signage along fencing at the arena
construction site, which includes logos of the major partners of the Barclays Center. Those
partners include Barclays, which is the naming rights partner, along with ADT, Cushman &
Wakefield, EmblemHealth, MGM Grand at Foxwoods, Anheuser-Busch, High Point Solutions,
IZOD, Jones Soda, and MetroPCS.

BiggieSmalls

December 24th, 2009, 02:19 AM

so I think the next big date is mid february when the condemnation gets processed and people get their money as fair compensation..

Derek2k3

December 24th, 2009, 09:25 PM

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/4209386952_73303c535b_b.jpg
threecee (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tracy_collins/4209386952/sizes/l/in/pool-18964236@N00/)

Tectonic

December 25th, 2009, 07:10 AM

I think the logo still evoke the old Gehry design.

BrooklynLove

December 25th, 2009, 09:35 AM

I'm overwhelmed with excitement when I walk by this. Full steam ahead baby.

Added bonus that Goldstein's soon to be leveled POS condo building looms in the background of this shot. PEACE AND HAIR GREASE HOMIE!!:D:D

MidtownGuy

January 5th, 2010, 12:37 AM

This guy should have taken the money:

..."I made a commitment to myself that I wasn't going to be forced to sell. ... I wasn't going to be pressured or bullied," he said. "I didn't know what that would mean. But I knew I was committing myself to it."
Only now is the cost of defiance becoming clear.
After a six-year fight, the state has begun the final legal steps to seize the family's condo using eminent domain law and hand it to Ratner's company.
In November, Goldstein got a letter saying the state planned to pay him $510,000, about $80,000 less than what he paid in 2003.
That's a fraction of what Ratner was offering years ago, and nowhere near what he needs to buy a comparable place in the same part of Brooklyn...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/04/daniel-goldstein-atlantic_n_410259.html

BrooklynRider

January 5th, 2010, 01:22 AM

Brooklyn got a total bait & switch from Ratner.

Forgoing arguments on the merits of the design of the arena, I am still perplexed how this guy managed to wrangle so much financial aid from the city and state.

Other cities and counties are going after businesses that reneged on development deals that provided tax abatement or credits. We're still giving away the store.

It's bad enough that we have a residential market saturated with pricey condos that are subsidized with tax dollars - literally draining away dollars we should be collecting. Now we have this boondoggle.

lofter1

January 5th, 2010, 01:26 AM

How did Ratner do it?

is there a big developer that Bloomberg hasn't helped out in the past 8 years, no matter their worth?

BiggieSmalls

January 5th, 2010, 11:13 AM

im skeptical of this Goldstein guy's motivations..

what does he do for a living?

He COULD be some kind of plant for the Institute of Justice or some such org..

Would anyone put it past some group that sniffed the pending development and use of ED and bought a place in the footprint so as to have a platform for a fight?

I mean he bought the place shortly before the plan was announced (though rumored for some time) and then he was offered a huge profit soon after just to move? And ALL his fellow CoOp owners sold out..

Why in God's name would Anyone want to go through this for 6 years? Living in an empty building in a construction site?

I mean life is so damn short as it is.

BrooklynRider

January 6th, 2010, 03:58 AM

Some people have principles. Some people don't accept the status quo. Some people think that emminent domain should not be used as a tool to promote private development.

I don't know how he has been able to maintain his stance, but I sure do admire him.

spatulashack

January 6th, 2010, 11:16 AM

Am I the only one that actually prefers the use of SHOP on this project rather than Gehry? Their work is first class and it's nice that it's going to an up and coming New York based firm. Gehry has enough projects going on.

BiggieSmalls

January 6th, 2010, 11:33 AM

dated but interesting artcle

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/nets/2009/03/14/2009-03-14_brooklyns_daniel_goldstein_the_last_man_.html#i xzz0bqYZp9MU

When Goldstein moved to Brooklyn in the 1990s, he worked as a graphic designer. Now his full-time job is with Develop Dont Destroy Brooklyn

BrooklynRider

January 6th, 2010, 11:36 AM

I typically like ShOP's work. I don't think it is a terrible design. However, it is a freestanding arena as opposed to Gehry's arena integrated into an urban design. This HUGE block is going to become a complete dead zone. Think "8th Avenue in front of MSG."

Ratner has so morphed his plan that there is little doubt in my mind that the unbuilt sites around this arena will become parking lots. That will bring in the traffic that the area activists were concerned about, but which were dismissed by the city and Ratner. It will fail to create jobs that pay above minimum wage or that are full-time positions. It fails to pay the negotiated price of the land as Ratner renegotiated after the real estate bubble collapsed.

We can read and reread this thread and the most prescient of the comments were those that it was a giveaway for private development and that Ratner would not fulfil his promises. Within the thread there are articles and coments that asked the question: What if he builds the arena and then fails to deliver on other components? Those people had their hands on the real pulse of Ratner and the state's intentions for the site.

I think this could become a disastrous development for Brooklyn. People with money will get to go to Nets games in a new arena. The neighborhood gets a void, unintegrated, lousy neighor and dead space along two huge blocks of Flatbush Avenue.

lofter1

January 6th, 2010, 12:08 PM

Avaricious developers and governments twist the meaning of 'blight'

THE WASHINGTON POST (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/01/AR2010010101367.html)
By George F. Will
January 3, 2010

BROOKLYN

On Aug. 27, 1776, British forces routed George Washington's novice army in the Battle of Brooklyn (http://www.brooklynonline.com/history/battle.xhtml), which was fought in fields and woods where today the battle of Prospect Heights is being fought. Americans' liberty is again under assault, but this time by overbearing American governments.

The fight involves an especially egregious example of today's eminent domain racket. The issue is a form of government theft that the Supreme Court encouraged with its worst decision of the past decade -- one that probably will be radically revised in this one.

The Atlantic Yards site, where 10 subway lines and one railway line converge, is the center of the bustling Prospect Heights neighborhood of mostly small businesses and middle-class residences. Its energy and gentrification are reasons why 22 acres of this area -- the World Trade Center site is only 16 acres -- are coveted by Bruce Ratner (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/31/AR2006123100856.html), a politically connected developer collaborating with the avaricious city and state governments.

To seize the acres for Ratner's use, government must claim that the area -- which is desirable because it is vibrant -- is "blighted." The cognitive dissonance would embarrass Ratner and his collaborating politicians, had their cupidity not extinguished their sense of the absurd.

The condo of Daniel Goldstein, his wife and year-old daughter, which cost Goldstein $590,000 in 2003, is on part of the land where Ratner's $4.9 billion project would be built -- with the assistance of more than $1 billion in corporate welfare from the state and city governments, which are drowning in red ink. The Goldsteins' building would not seem blighted to anyone not paid to see blight for the convenience of the payers. Which is of constitutional significance.

The Constitution says that government may not take private property other than for a "public use." By "public," the Framers, who did not scatter adjectives carelessly, meant uses -- roads, bridges, parks, public buildings -- directly owned or primarily used by the general public. In 1954, however, in a case concerning a crime- and infectious-disease-ridden section of Washington, D.C., the court expanded the notion of "public use" (http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&invol=26&vol=348) to include removing "blight."

Since then, that term, untethered from serious social dangers, has become elastic in the service of avarice. In 2005, the court held, 5 to 4, that New London, Conn., could take the property of a middle-class neighborhood (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/23/AR2005062300783.html) and transfer it to a corporate developer who would pay more taxes to the city government than the evicted homeowners had paid. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, dissenting, warned that the consequences of the decision would "not be random." The beneficiaries would be people "with disproportionate influence and power in the political process."

Enter Ratner, with plans to build a huge complex of high-rise residences, commercial properties and a basketball arena for the NBA's New Jersey Nets (http://www.nba.com/nets/index_main.html), which he bought. The city and state governments salivated at the thought of new revenue -- perhaps chimerical -- to waste. The problem was, and is, that people live and work where Ratner wants to build.

So blight had to be discovered. It duly was, by a firm that specializes in such discoveries. New York's highest court ratified that finding (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/top_court_eminent_domain_ok_in_nets_qrgy89FUr0TKb1 VY62DiWI), 6 to 1.

But a week later, Columbia University, which has plans for a $6.3 billion expansion in Manhattan, was stymied in its attempt to wield the life-shattering power of eminent domain against several local businesses that do not want to be shattered. A state court held, 3 to 2, that condemnation proceedings had been unconstitutional (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/nyregion/04columbia.html?_r=1). The court said the blight designation was "mere sophistry": "Even a cursory examination of the study reveals the idiocy of considering things like unpainted block walls or loose awning supports as evidence of a blighted neighborhood." The idiocy was written on Columbia's behalf by the same firm that Empire State Development Corp. hired to find blight at the Brooklyn site. Both Columbia and Ratner are operating in partnership with the ESDC, an arm of the state government. Both Columbia's and Ratner's attempts at seizing property are "pretextual takings," using trumped-up accusations of blight to concoct a spurious "public use" for a preconceived project.

The Atlantic Yards nonsense was compounded when Ratner, to bolster his balance sheet after the real estate collapse, sold the Nets to a Russian billionaire, who stands to benefit from Ratner's government-subsidized seizure of other people's property. Those people can only hope that New York's highest court will grant their appeal for reconsideration on the grounds that Ratner's argument is about as good as the Nets are. Through Saturday, their record was 3-30.

© Copyright 1996-2010 The Washington Post Company

BiggieSmalls

January 14th, 2010, 11:56 AM

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/construction_on_barclays_arena_commences_5jijvOLIs V9E4UcJNJ4mmO

Construction on Barclays Arena commences

If it looks like construction, sounds like construction and money is spent on construction, then it’s a good bet that the Barclays Center arena at the Atlantic/Flatbush avenues intersection is already under construction.
The start of construction on the arena that will bring Brooklyn its first major sports franchise (the NBA’s Nets) since the Dodgers left Brooklyn following the 1957 baseball season was also confirmed by sources close to developer Forest City Ratner (FCR).

That work has begun is particularly obvious to anyone who goes near the intersection where the arena and 22-acre Atlantic Yards project is slated.
Besides signage, a truss has been erected and workers are busy with infrastructure sewer and pipeline work.
As first reported locally by anti-project blogger Norman Oder in his Atlantic Yards Report, developer Forest City Ratner has also purchased $50 million worth of steel from Virgina-based Banker Steel for the arena.
Sources close to the project said the money bought 9,600 tons of steel, and the Virgina-based newspaper covering the story stated that the contract will allow Banker Steel to hire 50 more people
Meanwhile, the Empire State Development Corporation, the lead government agency on the project, announced street closings as per the General Project Plan and Modified Project Plan.
Effective on or around Feb. 1, sections of both Fifth Avenue and Pacific Street will be permanently closed.
This includes Fifth Avenue between Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues; and Pacific Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, and between Vanderbilt and Carlton Avenues.
Local and emergency vehicle access will be maintained as needed.
Upon closure, northbound traffic on Fifth Avenue can use Flatbush Avenue or Sixth Avenue to continue north; southbound traffic can use Sixth Avenue.
Eastbound traffic on Pacific Street can use Dean Street and westbound traffic can use Bergen Street.
To facilitate vehicle circulation, Sixth Avenue (between Flatbush Avenue and Pacific Street) and the block of
Carlton Avenue (between Dean and Pacific Streets) will become two-way.
These changes necessitate the removal of the Cobble Hill-bound B63 bus stop on Fifth Avenue, between Pacific Street and Atlantic Avenue. Passengers can use existing bus stops on Fifth Avenue (at Bergen Street) and on
Atlantic Avenue (at Fourth Avenue).
Advisory signs will be posted in advance of the closures and detour signs will be posted during the work. Traffic agents will be assigned to facilitate the flow of traffic and pedestrians.
Questions relating to this project may be addressed to: Atlantic Yards Community Liaison Office Empire State Development Corporation, (866) 923-5315, or the office of the Atlantic Yards Ombudsman at communityliaison@atlanticyards.com (or by calling 212) 803-3233.

ablarc

January 14th, 2010, 01:05 PM

This thing was badly blown by the "community." They could have had something world-class, and they will end up with a piece of shit.

TREPYE

January 14th, 2010, 01:14 PM

Im not entirely convinced that Ratner was not using Gerhy as a smokescreen for favorability from the beggining. The community had their part but I dont think that you can fault them for the developer deciding to change architiects.

Thus, I think that in terms of shit, Ratner is the one is who is a piece of it for the architect bait and switch.

BiggieSmalls

January 14th, 2010, 02:05 PM

thats not completely fair.

in the SIX YEARS since the project was announced and the opposition mobilized their Delay Dont Destroy Strategy the credit and real estate markets imploded.

Ratner had to cut costs from somewhere in order to get the project rolling in an environment where most large scale development projects are being delayed until the markets pick up.

If Rather had his financing in place shovels in the ground in say 2006 the Ghery plan would be three years closer to completion.

BrooklynRider

January 16th, 2010, 12:51 PM

...or not.

He's a developer with a history. The Ratner that develops inManhattan is different than the filthy scum that does it in Brooklyn.

BrooklynLove

January 16th, 2010, 03:02 PM

BR - Metrotech improved its immediate area hugely. Atlantic Center and the PC Richards/Modells across Flatbush aren't pretty but they have also hugely improved the immediate area. The only way I can understand someone being sour on these developments is if that someone did not experience (or doesn't remember) the pre-development areas and wants to focus on reasons to hate, but not like, the projects.

BrooklynRider

February 4th, 2010, 11:54 PM

Ratner Chooses Contractor for Barclays Arena by Brooklyn Eagle (edit@brooklyneagle.net (edit@brooklyneagle.net)), published online 02-04-2010
http://www.brooklyneagle.com/images/1x1.gif

Forest City Ratner Companies has awarded Hunt Construction Group the construction contract for the Barclays Center, the intended home of the basketball Nets and the centerpiece of the controversial Atlantic Yards development plan. Hunt has been involved in the construction of more than 100 sports-event center facilities in the nation and is consistently highly ranked by Engineering News-Record, a trade publication.

TREPYE

February 6th, 2010, 10:58 AM

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/09/10/alg_new_atlantic_yards_rendering.jpg

http://blog.nj.com/nets_impact/2009/09/large_new-barclays-center-design-909.jpg

I dont know how to feel about the design. Its not exactly gorgeous but it has its own unique visual flavor and it is very orgininal....so I guess I like it it.

ablarc

February 6th, 2010, 11:35 AM

Does it play music?

NoyokA

February 6th, 2010, 02:20 PM

Do you only post one sentence quips?

ablarc

February 7th, 2010, 11:14 AM

^ Sorry to have annoyed you, NoyokA. Future posts will be longer.

BrooklynRider

February 7th, 2010, 02:28 PM

I think that it is original. I think the context it will sit in (across the street from the hideous Atlantic Center mall and pretty bad Atlantic Terminal) will make it difficult to appreciate. Of course, it is nothing like the integrated arena that was proposed. This is going to be one more stand alone arena. I'm betting it will be surrounded by parking with the excuse that it will only be that way until the rest of the project is funded.

It is certainly better looking than MSG.

BrooklynLove

February 7th, 2010, 02:49 PM

I think it's a pretty safe bet that the Modell's and PC Richards sites are redeveloped within the next 20 years.

BrooklynRider

February 8th, 2010, 02:14 AM

It's more of a problem that we have these Ratner sh*tboxes with the faux stadium designs. He loves his fake stadiums designs at Atlantic Center & Atlantic Terminal. Unfortunately, when any kind of interesting designs get built - as this stadium might be - people will better understand the argument that these Ratner projects (especially Atlantic Centr) are the very picture of blight.

Jasonik

February 9th, 2010, 03:32 PM

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/09/10/alg_new_atlantic_yards_rendering.jpg

http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing?.out=jpg&size=l&tid=8150464

lofter1

February 9th, 2010, 05:25 PM

Perfect: AY = Ratner's Purse

BiggieSmalls

March 1st, 2010, 06:55 PM

Turn out the lights Goldstein

http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2010/03/gerges-dismisses-challenge-to.html

Gerges dismisses challenge to condemnation; no barrier to project construction; streets to close March 8 (http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2010/03/gerges-dismisses-challenge-to.html)

After a month, Supreme Court Justice Abraham Gerges has dismissed a challenge to the condemnation of property needed for the Atlantic Yards project.

While there are other extant legal challenges, there's no bar to construction, and Forest City Ratner has said it would mobilize large numbers of workers shortly after the decision.

BrooklynLove

March 2nd, 2010, 07:32 AM

Word Up.

arcman210

March 3rd, 2010, 09:44 PM

NJ Nets will officially announce temporary relocation to Newark

By Michael J. Fensom/The Star-Ledger

March 03, 2010, 7:09PMLeBron James will never play another game at Izod Center and soon the Nets won't, either.

The team announced Wednesday that it will hold a news conference Friday at the Prudential Center to announce their relocation to the Newark arena beginning next season.

Newark mayor Cory Booker and Devils chairman and managing partner Jeff Vanderbeek, along with officials from the Nets, the NBA, and the Newark Regional Business Partnership, will attend.

The Nets' stay in Newark is only a two-year layover, however. The team is expected to ultimately move to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Wednesday, the Nets announced they will break ground on their new arena next Thursday.

The Barclays Center website shows a clock counting down to the official groundbreaking as well as the words "BROOKLYN 3/11/2010."

http://www.nj.com/nets/index.ssf/2010/03/nj_nets_will_officially_announ.html

ablarc

March 3rd, 2010, 09:54 PM

After a month, Supreme Court Justice Abraham Gerges has dismissed a challenge to the condemnation of property needed for the Atlantic Yards project.

While there are other extant legal challenges, there's no bar to construction, and Forest City Ratner has said it would mobilize large numbers of workers shortly after the decision.
But the project is now completely screwed. Thanks, Mr. Goldstein.

Tectonic

March 10th, 2010, 03:52 PM

Groundbreaking at Atlantic Yards comes years late

Thursday's ceremony to mark beginning of work on Nets arena in Brooklyn; building first of the residential towers expected to start in spring of 2011.

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/storyimage/CN/20100310/REAL_ESTATE/100319998/Barclays-Center-rendering.jpg?ref=AR&MaxW=320&border=0 (http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/storyimage/CN/20100310/REAL_ESTATE/100319998/Barclays-Center-rendering.jpg?ref=AR&MaxW=800)
A rendering of the proposed Barclays Center's interior.

After more than six years of upheaval, lawsuits and false-starts, progress will finally be made at the sprawling Atlantic Yards site on the edge of downtown Brooklyn.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the Barclays Center, the future home of the Nets basketball team, is scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Among those scheduled to attend are Gov. David Paterson, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. Also present will be Bruce Ratner, chief executive of Forest City Ratner Cos., which is developing the site, as well as Barclays Bank President Robert Diamond, and Nets investor and hip-hop superstar Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter.

While some work has been done at the site in recent months, including the completion of a temporary rail yard in December, the project is years behind schedule. Original proposals called for the arena, plus residential and office towers, to be half-finished by now.

Thursday's groundbreaking ceremony will nonetheless finally signal that the project is underway. The Barclays Center, an 18,000-seat sports and entertainment arena, is expected to host multiple sporting events, including Nets basketball games, concerts and family shows year-round.

A spokesperson for Forest City said it plans to open the arena “at some point” in 2012. The first phase of construction at the 22-acre Atlantic Yards site will include three residential buildings. Design work for the first of those towers is expected to start later this year. Although Forest City Ratner has yet to select an architect, the company hopes to begin construction in spring of next year. Work on the second tower would then commence six to nine months later, and the third would begin six to nine months after that. At least 30% of the apartments in phase one will be affordable housing units, according to Forest City.

The Atlantic Yards project has had an unusually rocky and tumultuous history, even by New York City standards. Since the plan for the complex was announced in December of 2003 and embraced by Mr. Bloomberg and then Gov. George Pataki, Mr. Ratner has fought off multiple lawsuits, scrapped his original plans in the shadow of the Great Recession, and dismissed his prestigious architect, Frank Gehry over cost concerns. Mr. Ratner has also faced vocal dissent from Brooklyn residents and housing advocacy groups such as Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn.

Some of those groups are continuing to fight the project even now. Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn recently announced that they would stage a protest the groundbreaking nearby, outside of Freddy's Bar on Dean Street.

Correction: Acorn is a supporter of the Atlantic Yards development in downtown Brooklyn. That fact was misstated in the original version of the article published online March 10, 2010.

© Crains Communications Inc

lofter1

March 10th, 2010, 04:35 PM

Architecture Dream Team Being Assembled for Atlantic Yards?

CURBED (http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2010/03/10/architecture_dream_team_being_assembled_for_atlant ic_yards.php)

The Nets are hopeless, so developer Bruce Ratner is reportedly looking at other ways to infuse his controversial Brooklyn megaproject with talent. Bring on the starchitects! There are 16 residential high-rises that are still part (in theory) of Atlantic Yards, with construction on the first—for which no design has been revealed—slated to begin next spring. Ratner already sacked the biggest name (http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2009/06/11/gehry_officially_doneski_at_atlantic_yards_all_of_ it.php) of them all, so who's he looking at now? Here's one: Freedom Tower—pardon, 1 World Trade Center—designer David Childs, who told the Brooklyn Paper (http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/33/11/33_11_gk_atlantic_yards_builders.html?utm_source=f eedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBrooklynPaper-FullArticles+%28The+Brooklyn+Paper%3A+Full+article s%29) that he has discussed working on one of the Atlantic Yards towers with Ratner. And then Childs went and did it: He got our hopes up!

Childs added: "Bruce wants to bring in different architects, good architects, to do each of the residential buildings. That’s something I'd be very excited about. Talking to Bruce, it’s clear that he wants to do this right. He really does." If you say so, buddy. Frank Gehry was tossed off the project in a cost-cutting move, so it's unclear how much Ratner is really willing to spend to import some flashy names. Another potential candidate is Childs's SOM (http://www.som.com/content.cfm/www_home) colleague Roger Duffy, who designed Downtown Brooklyn conversation starter Toren (http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2010/03/04/touring_toren_brooklyns_most_eyepopping_new_buildi ng.php). A zebra building for every Brooklyn 'hood, we say!

TREPYE

March 10th, 2010, 07:44 PM

Oh no...David C. of SOM is gonna get involved??

:eek:<GULP!>

ZippyTheChimp

March 10th, 2010, 07:59 PM

So Ratner is name dropping?

Must want more money from Albany

Is Paterson still the governor?

I could just scream.

BrooklynRider

March 11th, 2010, 02:39 AM

One thing that really sucks is the fact that the new arena design makes it nearly impossible to integrate into the complex.

ZippyTheChimp

March 11th, 2010, 08:56 AM

This (http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showpost.php?p=315875&postcount=3152) is really hilarious.

lofter1

March 11th, 2010, 09:56 AM

New renders (http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2010/03/09/atlantic_yards_update_new_renderings_signage_debat ed.php?o=1) show they're plastering the Barclays name on top as well.

Will they come up with a bag to match?

BrooklynRider

March 11th, 2010, 02:05 PM

Come down to the site and see the rendering. There are around 10 sponsor logos on the sign. They ought to name it "corporate arena" or "logo park".

lofter1

March 11th, 2010, 02:29 PM

Fun and games today from AY via Curbed ...

Liveblogging the Barclays Center Groundbreaking! (http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2010/03/11/liveblogging_the_barclays_center_groundbreaking.ph p)

ZippyTheChimp

March 11th, 2010, 04:30 PM

So now the city will have two NBA teams that suck.

lofter1

March 11th, 2010, 04:37 PM

Marty Markowitz' display of his infatuation with Beyonce at AY this afternoon was particularly comical. Although Jay-Z was cool enough, he didn't dig it all that much.

GordonGecko

March 11th, 2010, 06:35 PM

All I can say is it's about time!! Love the faces on the crackpots in denial protesting outside who really should be living in Wyoming if they don't like change and choose to fight progress at every turn

BrooklynRider

March 11th, 2010, 06:41 PM

March 11, 2010, 4:46 pm

Ground Broken on Atlantic Yards Project

By KAREEM FAHIM Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Gov. David A. Paterson and other officials shoveled dirt for the Atlantic Yards groundbreaking on Thursday.

After years of delays and lawsuits, officials broke ground Thursday afternoon on $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards project near Downtown Brooklyn.
Sitting in a tent at Atlantic and Fifth Avenues, Gov. David A. Paterson acknowledged the years of battles over the project. “As the buildings rise on Atlantic Yards,” he said, “the joblessness rate will fall here in Brooklyn.”

The governor, the mayor, the borough president and other dignitaries took their turns on the dais to celebrate the start of construction of the Barclays Center arena, the intended future home of the New Jersey Nets basketball team.

Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times Protesters gathered a block away from the ceremony.

The 22-acre site near Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues, two of Brooklyn’s main thoroughfares, will eventually be home to skyscrapers and thousands of apartments, if the project gets built.

A few hundred feet away, crowds of protesters, their legal options all but exhausted, hooted and whistled loudly enough to make their voices heard.
At one point, the protesters wandered into the traffic on Atlantic Avenue, and one protester, an activist with the local Green Party, was arrested for disorderly conduct, according to the police and other protesters.

The afternoon’s events started with satire. Some of the protesters, many aligned with a community group called Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, wore masks depicting prominent New York politicians. A fake Marty Markowitz, the Brooklyn borough president, read a fake proclamation, declaring March 11, 2010, “The Destruction of Brooklyn’s Soul Day.”

An hour later, the real Mr. Markowitz and others fought back, calling the project a win for Brooklyn.

Ruby Washington/The New York Times Protesters outside the groundbreaking ceremony of Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn.

Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

**********************************

Marty Markowitz is a fat obnoxious windbag.

BrooklynLove

March 11th, 2010, 09:20 PM

What else are these losers going to do now with their unemployment benefits? Maybe time to return to protesting glass towers in the name of birds' rights.

ASchwarz

March 12th, 2010, 12:16 AM

This is great news! Finally, already!

I hope the NIMBYs at Don't Destroy Brooklyn, or whatever they call themselves, are finally out of business and forced to do something useful with their lives.

And the first residential tower should break ground this summer.

ShaMegro

March 12th, 2010, 12:51 AM

lofter1

March 12th, 2010, 01:44 AM

Except there's no real commercial component at AY that's set to rise at any point even in the far-off future.

Miss Brooklyn be dead.

BrooklynLove

March 12th, 2010, 09:08 AM

This is great news for downtown Brooklyn. I think this will definitely spur development there, and downtown Brooklyn can emerge as a major commercial office market secondary to midtown. All these banks (Goldman, Citi) moving their satellite offices to Jersey and LIC should be moving them to Brooklyn instead!!!

If there is a trend recently, it's been moving out of JC, LIC and BK with further concentration in Manhattan. I think that BK's growth in the commercial RE landscape is better served targeting smaller professional services entities - law firms, software companies, etc.

Merry

March 24th, 2010, 07:10 AM

:D

Inanimate Object Speaks Out Against Atlantic Yards

March 23, 2010, by Joey

http://ny.curbed.com/uploads/2010_3_effratner.jpg

Electronic road sign hacking, all the rage (http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2009/03/16/signs_of_the_apocalypse_now_handily_digitized.php) in March '09, has made an anniversary comeback on Flatbush and St. Marks Avenue in Prospect Heights this morning. And so personal! But you have to admit, the message is certainly a lot more pithy than running through all those complicated Atlantic Yards street closures.

Signs of the Apocalypse, Now Handily Digitalized! (http://ny.curbed.com/tags/nyc-is-dying) [Curbed]
Atlantic Yards coverage (http://ny.curbed.com/tags/atlantic-yards) [Curbed]

http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2010/03/23/inanimate_object_speaks_out_against_atlantic_yards .php

BStyles

March 24th, 2010, 09:41 AM

When I saw this i'll admit. I was on the floor crying!

I really don't like Ratner's design for the stadium. It's just to....hmm, can't find a better word than BS. I liked the previous designs better, because it complied with Atlantic Terminal across the street.

But this...now this is just classic.

GordonGecko

March 24th, 2010, 02:33 PM

^ BTW, who's the genius that positioned the traffic advisory display panel BEHIND a tree?

ablarc

March 24th, 2010, 02:58 PM

I liked the previous designs better, because it complied with Atlantic Terminal across the street.
If that's the best reason you can find to like the now-dead Gehry design, shame on you for having no judgment.

Gehry's design was an act of genius, and it made its own context --as ALL architectural masterpieces do --by definition.

Alonzo-ny

March 24th, 2010, 06:27 PM

Surprisingly, Gehry actually understood that to fit in a large scale building like an arena, but would also work with other large buildings, into a neighbourhood is to wrap in in other, more lively functions that hide the large scale of what is behind it. I read an article recently by Richard McCormac who had designed large industrial warehouses in London which he placed behind housing like mews. The urbanity is retained. He also designed something similar with large offices.

BiggieSmalls

April 21st, 2010, 05:45 PM

its all about the money
aint a damn thing funny
you gotta have a con in this land of milk and honey

Last Atlantic Yards hold-out Daniel Goldstein folds; makes $3M deal with Ratner to leave apartment

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/real_estate/2010/04/21/2010-04-21_last_atlantic_yards_holdout_daniel_goldstein_fo lds_makes_3m_deal_with_ratner_to_.html#ixzz0llm66Y B9

lofter1

April 21st, 2010, 06:02 PM

Classic NYC story. Fight like hell, position yourself to advantage, get a big pay off and then move on.

F. Scott Fitzgerald didn't know what he was talking about when he said there are no second acts in American life.

BiggieSmalls

April 21st, 2010, 07:55 PM

he should pay the money back to all those who donated to his "organization" Develop Dont Destroy Brooklyn

BrooklynLove

April 21st, 2010, 09:42 PM

I've said it a hundred times over the years and I'll repeat it now - this guy is a poser activist who has always used "the cause" as a vehicle to address his personal situation. He should be banned from Brooklyn for life. Back in the day he wouldn't have lasted another week in the boro for pulling crap like this.

lofter1

April 21st, 2010, 09:56 PM

"Pulling a Goldstein" will become the latest in NY Real Estate parlance.

Derek2k3

April 21st, 2010, 09:57 PM

i need to buy next to the Sunnyside Railyards.

bigchet

April 23rd, 2010, 08:04 PM

thank the lord! now we can finally get some progress over there in brooklyn. brooklyn is finally taking a step into the 21st century, be it a small step but at least it is a step in the right direction.

lofter1

April 23rd, 2010, 08:56 PM

bigchet: Where do you hail from?

bigchet

April 24th, 2010, 10:27 AM

nj my grandparents came to america in the late 1800's via ellis island. my father was born in brooklyn grew up in harlem and hells kitchen moved to nj after the war. my mother was born and grew up in hells kitchen were she met pop. pops buried in brooklyn at most holy trinity,any of you familiar with the the area. if you are you know what im talking about when i speak of dilapidation, ruins, disrepair, out right slum. i love ny and only want to see it return to its days of glory. in which case there is a lot of work ahead of us to get it back to its grandeur.

BrooklynLove

April 24th, 2010, 12:45 PM

Hell yes. I'm 3rd Gen BK and agree with this sentiment 100%. I'm actually planning to move deeper into Brooklyn and closer to the Yards as a direct result of this step forward.

bigchet

May 7th, 2010, 06:05 PM

i was in the city the day before yesterday, driving in on the bqe from the van wyck and you know that downtown brooklyn skyline is really starting to look good. be it needs a couple of 1000+ footers but i was really impressed. can't wait for these AY's to get under way.

ablarc

May 7th, 2010, 06:33 PM

^^ Glad some folks think Brooklyn's future matters as much as its past.

You can live in the future, but not in the past.

After having his forehead decorated, Goldstein should be exiled to Nantucket to enjoy his ill-gotten gains.

BrooklynLove

May 8th, 2010, 12:46 PM

He plans to stay in Brooklyn for the time being but let's see how long that lasts. Once AY is significantly built out and a success, I suspect that his legacy will be that of someone who played the system to his personal advantage on the back of many other residents who actually needed more than the minimum they were entitled under the law.

BrooklynLove

May 11th, 2010, 07:57 AM

Barring no more hidden opportunists, looks like all hands on deck full speed ahead:
http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/brooklyn/exclusive_real_last_holdouts_out_FrQdASx4jrJvVuoWP 7IVxH

fioco

May 11th, 2010, 01:33 PM

If I could give Brooklyn a gift, it would be a return to the Gehry design. The protracted battle came at great cost -- with Brooklyn's long-term prosperity losing the most. The eternal optimist, I continue to wish for a silk purse. But my inner pragmatism causes me to weep.

lofter1

May 21st, 2010, 09:10 PM

They'll sell 1/3 of the seats as luxury, so they make their money and can say F U to the working folks.

BrooklynLove

May 22nd, 2010, 09:19 AM

Lofter would like to shift the affordable housing component at AY to affordable seating at the arena.

BrooklynLove

June 13th, 2010, 01:42 PM

Lots of activity now. httphttp://www.brooklyncb8.org/atlantic-yards-construction-update.php

ATLANTIC YARDS CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
Weeks of June 7, 2010 through June 20, 2010

In an effort to keep the Atlantic Yards Community aware of upcoming construction activities, ESD and Forest City Ratner provide the following outline of anticipated upcoming construction activities.

Please note: the scope and nature of activities are subject to change based upon field conditions. In addition, during the utility work water shut offs may be required; these shuts downs are done under the oversight of DEP and property owners will be given advance notice. All work has been approved by appropriate City and State agencies where required.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact our project Ombudsperson at: Phone: 212-803-3233 or AtlanticYards@empire.state.ny.us

Weeks covering June 7, 2010 through June 20, 2010

Long Island Rail Road/Vanderbilt Yard Work

There will be a month or two of on-site downtime as we work with the LIRR and our design consultants on the next phase of the new yard and coordinate it with the design of the Carlton Avenue Bridge
Subject to receipt of approval from the LIRR, work is expected to begin to relocate a storm water drain that previously ran from BL1120 through BL1119. A new manhole and sump pump will be installed under the 6th Avenue Bridge and water will be pumped from that location to the catch basin at the northeast corner of 6th Avenue and Pacific Street. This work is necessary to eliminate storm water from the arena block and the rail yard.
Subject to receipt of approval from the LIRR utilities for the Maintenance of Equipment Division (LIRR) trailers will be relocated from the present location (at the west side of the bump on BL1120, lot 35) further west to outside the area for the new AO-1-2 (east side of the 6th Avenue Bridge, adjacent to BL1120, lot 19).

Environmental Remediation
Soil that has been classified as clean, contaminated or hazardous will be removed from the site as part of the excavation activities and brought to appropriate disposal locations.
Some contaminated soil has been stockpiled on BL 1118, lot 1. The soils have been classified to determine proper disposal method and disposal is expected to take place within this 2 week period.
Additional soil classification testing to facilitate disposal facility selection will take place on 5th Avenue, BL 1118 and BL 1127 during this period.
Water quality monitoring around the site per NYS Department of Environmental Conservation requirements has been completed for this quarter and the consultant, Roux, is preparing the report to the DEC.
Where excavation and soil moving activities occur in areas of known VOCs (BL 1119, lot 1 & 64, BL 1118, lot 1 and BL 1127, lot 1) Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) monitoring will be performed as required in the Community Air Monitoring Plan (“CAMP”) and VOC Best Monitoring Practices documents.
CAMP monitoring is continuing on all areas of soil disturbance per the project plan, including excavation, grading and demolition.

CAMP monitoring is continuing on all areas of soil disturbance per the project plan, including excavation, grading and demolition.

Infrastructure
The portion of the 36” combined sewer main from the easement just west of 5th Avenue and continuing eastward toward a point approximately 260’west of 5th Avenue has been completed.
The contractor completed ancillary work at the recently installed sewer pipe between Flatbush and Atlantic north of Chamber 2 (Block 1118, approximately 215’ from the tip) and will not return to the area until the arena foundation south of Chamber 2 is being constructed.
The contractor completed ancillary work at the recently installed sewer pipe between Flatbush and Atlantic north of Chamber 2 (BL1118, approximately 215’ from the tip) and will not return to the area until the arena foundation south of Chamber 2 is being constructed.
As schedule and weather permits, the contractor will return to install the final street pavement at Atlantic Avenue near 4th Avenue and another location near Cumberland where test pits had been opened.
Installation of a new 20" water main on the west side of Flatbush Avenue between Pacific and Dean Streets will commence during this reporting period. Work is expected to take two months and will be conducted at night during the hours of 10:00 P.M. to 6:00 A.M. This work will be performed in compliance with the NYC Noise Code. During the course of this work, periodic shut downs of water service will be required. In those instances, DEP will provide 48 hour advance notice to those properties that may be potentially impacted.
During the course of utility installation work, the contractor may encounter unforeseen contaminants, underground storage tanks or other structures. In the event that this happens and where appropriate, notification will be given to the DEC, VOC monitoring will be continuously performed, and remediation steps will be implemented.

Demolition
648 Pacific Street – the demolition permit has been issued and demolition work has commenced. Work is expected to take 2-3 weeks.
Upon receipt of a demolition permit, demolition work is expected to commence on 467 Dean Street.
Upon receipt of a demolition permit, interior demolition of 475 Dean Street is expected to begin within the two week period.
Abatement is underway and is expected to be completed during this two week reporting period at 473 Dean, 479 Dean and 483 Dean.
Demolition permit filings are commencing underway for 473, 479, 481, 483 and 485 Dean and 38 6th Avenue and 636 Pacific Street. If Demolition permits are received for any of the Dean and Pacific Street properties listed, work will commence during this reporting period.

Arena
Drilling activities for the support of excavation (SOE) for the northeast half of the arena (BL1119) have commenced and is ongoing along the west side of the closed Fifth Avenue.
Excavation for the arena foundation in the area of Atlantic Avenue and within the BL1119 portion of the Arena footprint continues. Work is being done pursuant to Alt 2 and Excavation permits issued by the DOB.
The second Alt 2 SOE & Foundations Permit has been issued. Installation of SOE along the western portion of the arena building, continuing down Flatbush to Dean, has commenced and will continue during this report period.
During the course of this work, the contractor may encounter unforeseen contaminants, underground storage tanks or other structures. In the event that this happens and where appropriate, notification will be given to the DEC, VOC monitoring will be continuously performed while excavating these materials and remediation steps will be implemented.

Staging – Block 1129

The attached staging plan for BL1129 shows the interim layout for the next few months and includes locations and approximate numbers of temporary trailers for construction staff offices, storage containers, fencing, equipment staging areas, guards, access points for personnel and vehicles, construction vehicle queuing, and fire department access. The interim layout and use of BL1129 will change as buildings become vacant and available for use or demolition as necessary. In order to prepare the block for these interim uses, the land may be regraded and trenches may be dug for installation of electric and communication conduits. Existing fences may be moved, temporarily removed and replaced and modified to accommodate the uses. All soil disturbances are being monitored in accordance with the CAMP procedures.

ablarc

June 14th, 2010, 11:28 AM

A shriveled fiasco.

lofter1

June 22nd, 2010, 01:36 PM

A Russian Billionaire, the Nets and Sweetheart Deals

Prokhorov ... did not get rich without working the system

NY TIMES (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/sports/basketball/22oder.html?partner=rss&emc=rss)
By NORMAN ODER
June 21, 2010

The Russian billionaire Mikhail D. Prokhorov, the Nets’ new majority owner and the N.B.A.’s first overseas owner, magnetized members of the news media during his recent whirlwind tour of New York.

Prokhorov, a 6-foot-8 kick boxer, international playboy and shrewd businessman, did his best to make people forget the team’s performance last year at the dreary Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J. He was droll (“America, I come in peace”), playfully evasive about changing the team’s name and confident of a championship in five years “maximum.”

As Prokhorov, Russia’s second-richest man, dangles cash for a coach, free agents and first-class facilities, let’s not forget the money that he and his business partner Bruce C. Ratner saved because of taxpayer help for the arena under construction in Brooklyn. The help includes eminent domain, major subsidies, a naming-rights giveaway and bad, undemocratic urban planning.

The larger-than-life Prokhorov contrasts greatly with James L. Dolan, the media-averse owner of the Knicks, and the reticent Ratner. A Brooklyn real estate developer, Ratner bought the Nets to leverage the Atlantic Yards project and stripped the team for the move.

Last year, ESPN the Magazine rated Ratner — a neophyte to basketball, unlike Prokhorov — the second-worst owner in team sports. But they are teammates. Prokhorov will own 80 percent of the team and 45 percent of the arena operating company, which Ratner’s company will control. Prokhorov has an option to buy 20 percent of the Atlantic Yards development.

And Prokhorov, whom the ESPN columnist Bill Simmons called Mutant Russian Mark Cuban in a nod to the colorful Dallas Mavericks owner, did not get rich without working the system.

Prokhorov considers himself a “self-made man.” But his purchase of the metals firm Norilsk Nickel came about because of a process that was probably not even legal under Western standards, a business partner told “60 Minutes.”

In Brooklyn, the arena process passed legal muster, as courts generally defer to state agencies. Still, as I’ve written for more than four years in my blog, Atlantic Yards Report, it was an insider’s game.

Ratner, whose company spends a lot on lobbying, needed a key piece of public property, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Vanderbilt Yard; city and state officials signed on without putting the site up for bid.

When the M.T.A. belatedly sought bids, the sole rival developer offered three times more cash than did Ratner’s firm. Yes, Ratner’s overall bid was seen as more valuable, but the agency chose to negotiate solely with Ratner. Last year, when Ratner’s firm hit cash-flow problems, the M.T.A. agreed to sweeten the rail yard deal even as it cut services.

The arena could not be built without eminent domain, the power of the state to take private property for public use — or “public purpose,” as it has evolved — with just compensation. The problem? The justification in Brooklyn was the removal of blight, which the state describes vaguely as “substandard and insanitary” conditions that bring a neighborhood down. There were luxury condominiums inside the Atlantic Yards site. Many remain nearby. State claims of high crime at the site? Actually, the high crime nearby is at Ratner’s malls.

“Sports entertainment corporations” (an apt term from Bettina Damiani of Good Jobs New York) have been quite successful at getting the public to pay for sports facilities. The financing for the nearly $1 billion Barclays Center is more subtle, but the public still pays significantly.

Consider that the state and the city each allotted $100 million, ostensibly for infrastructure like utilities. The city’s subsidy, part of which could be used for land, went solely to reimburse Ratner for property he bought from residents and businesses.

Later, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg allotted $105 million for infrastructure. That was not enough; Bloomberg agreed last year to shift $31 million from that sum to land, making it likely that future mayors will be asked to pay more for infrastructure. The New York City Independent Budget Office calls the arena a net loss for taxpayers.

A more direct gift involved arena naming rights, once reported at $400 million, now at least $200 million.

Why do the arena operators keep the naming-rights revenue for what the state calls a publicly owned arena?

“It’s part of the financing for the project,” according to a representative of the Empire State Development Corporation, whose unelected board approved the project, overriding local zoning.

The fig leaf of public ownership allows Ratner and Prokhorov to benefit from $511 million in tax-free bonds for the arena, saving them perhaps $150 million in a type of financing structure the Treasury Department now disallows.

The arena relies on the site’s proximity to Brooklyn’s largest transit hub, with 10 subway lines and the Brooklyn terminus of the Long Island Rail Road. Indeed, a new subway entrance is likely to connect to the arena plaza.

If city and state officials had been committed to transit-oriented development, they would have invested in the subways while limiting arena traffic. But a 1,100-space surface parking lot is also planned one long block east of the arena.

Some people will want to drive there, but the Atlantic Yards site is a tight fit. On the west and north, it borders two major avenues and the transit hub; on the east and south, it encroaches on the thriving residential neighborhood of Prospect Heights.

The parking lot is flanked by a historic district; after leaving their cars, arena-goers will navigate a residential block’s narrow sidewalk.

Given that the state relaxed deadlines for the Atlantic Yards project, the surface parking lot could linger for a decade or more.

Prokhorov’s strategy, off to a flying start, is to build a dynasty, become a household name in North America and open investment opportunities.

But the arena process should have been fair, and he should have paid full freight. Surely he can afford it.

Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

lofter1

July 7th, 2010, 05:57 PM

Could it be? Who knows what Jay-Z and Prokhorov have promised.

We'll find out tomorrow night when LeBron spills the beans (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5359255) ...

ablarc

July 7th, 2010, 06:21 PM

Where ten subway lines converge ... A gigantic parking lot, huh?

Downtown Brooklyn, eh ... ?

I used to be a supporter of this project.

Oh, I know, the NIMBYs delayed it till nothing else was possible.

Tectonic

September 19th, 2010, 04:19 PM

Construction a of today:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4147/5004920295_bdb9329b00_b.jpg

Merry

October 1st, 2010, 07:38 AM

Looks horrible.

New Front Yard for Atlantic Yards

SHoP unveils design for temporary plaza outside Barclays Center arena

Julia Galef
http://www.archpaper.com/uploads/image/Barclays-Center-Aerial-2.jpg
The plaza is designed to accommodate a crisscrossing flow of pedestrians, including commuters headed
into a new, green-roofed entrance to the Atlantic Transit Terminal Hub. [Courtesy SHoP Architects]

While designs for the Barclays Center arena at Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards have been public for a year, only on Tuesday did SHoP Architects and Forest City Ratner Companies release their plans for the temporary plaza that will become the project’s initial public calling card. A nearly 39,000-square-foot triangular shape formed by the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues, the plaza consists of a wide swath of open space, punctuated by a green-roofed entrance to the Atlantic Terminal Transit Hub, and two semicircles of planters inlaid with wooden benches at the plaza’s tip.

SHoP founding principal Gregg Pasquarelli explained that the space is designed to accommodate three primary types of circulation patterns: Commuters coming from the surrounding neighborhood to the transit center entrance, fans headed into the arena, and pedestrians cutting across the plaza between Atlantic and Flatbush avenues.

http://www.archpaper.com/uploads/Barclays-Center-Flatbush.jpg
As seen from Flatbush Avenue, the plaza is ringed by planters at its tip, creating a semi-enclosed seating area.

“We tried to make the patterning of the pavement reflect circulation patterns,” Pasquarelli said, with the tightness of the concrete pavers reflecting the heaviness of expected foot traffic. Clusters of lights embedded in the paving will allow the plaza to be unobstructed by floodlights, which would also have affected the surrounding neighborhood, Pasquarelli said.

Toward the center of the plaza, the pavement extends upward to form a roof for the entrance to the transit hub. The roof will be planted with sedum, a hardy genus of flowering succulents, which SHoP predicts will complement the weathered steel on the arena’s facade. Unlike the Lincoln Center lawn, this one is strictly ornamental: A railing keeps visitors from clambering onto the roof.

http://www.archpaper.com/uploads/Barclays-Center-Atlantic.jpg
Along Atlantic Avenue, the plaza is framed by the arena's swooping canopy and the transit center entrance.

http://www.archpaper.com/uploads/Barclays-Center-Oculus.jpg
The oculus itself offers a dynamic presence overhead and helps to animate the space.

The innermost part of the plaza will be shaded by a canopy cantilevered over the arena entrance, punctuated by a 117-by-56-foot oculus that allows light down into the plaza and frames views upward toward the structure. On the inside edge of the oculus, a programmable screen will be customized for games, events, and other activities.

http://www.archpaper.com/uploads/Barclays-Center-Dean.jpg
Seen from Dean Street, the plaza, at far left, will eventually be home to one of the project's anticipated
towers, becoming a glass-walled urban room at the tower's base.

The current design is intended to serve as a placeholder until economic conditions allow for the construction of the Atlantic Yards’ first office building. At that time, the portion of the plaza from the transit hub entrance to the arena will be enclosed in 80-foot-high glass walls, creating what the developers refer to as an “urban room,” with the office tower sitting on top. The team has not yet decided how the plaza will change when the office tower is added, but indicated that they hope to preserve many of its original design elements.

http://www.archpaper.com/e-board_rev.asp?News_ID=4862

lofter1

October 1st, 2010, 11:01 AM

Does that oculus thing in the canopy have a glass roof? Or is it open to the sky?

antinimby

October 1st, 2010, 12:14 PM

Will need a facelift in about 25 years (or sooner).

Derek2k3

October 1st, 2010, 12:25 PM

Would've preferred a redder brown for the arena, not dead tree bark brown.

arcman210

October 1st, 2010, 03:00 PM

I doubt that entrance is "temporary." And if it is, thats gotta be the most elaborate and expensive temporary plaza I can think of.

ablarc

October 1st, 2010, 03:58 PM

I wonder what Gehry says about this.

TREPYE

October 2nd, 2010, 02:54 PM

Well it certainly is done in the spirit of being sculptural. He shouldn't have a problem with it. One thing I see as a marked improvement over Gerhy's design is the material of the facade. His was going to be predominatly glass which in architectural terms ages as gracefully as a ripe bannana; or like Elizabeth Taylor, constantly needing repaneling. These weathered panels give the structure a nice earthy texture, and seem like they will age rather gracefully.
http://www.archpaper.com/uploads/image/Barclays-Center-Aerial-2.jpg

ZippyTheChimp

October 2nd, 2010, 06:53 PM

That shot at Elizabeth Taylor was unwarranted.

scumonkey

October 2nd, 2010, 09:48 PM

monumental schlong...
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb276/scumonkey/Untitled-1-38.jpg

Merry

October 2nd, 2010, 10:40 PM

^ In more ways than one, if we go by the frequency with which this description is used elsewhere at WNY ;).

At that angle, it looks even worse (architecturally).

lofter1

November 10th, 2010, 08:37 PM

Surprise! The gang in charge here wasn't being fully honest ...

Judge Rebukes State Agency Over Atlantic Yards Timetable

NY TIMES (http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/10/judge-rebukes-state-agency-over-atlantic-yards-timetable/?ref=nyregion)
By ANDY NEWMAN
November 10, 2010, 6:24 PM

It comes too late to halt construction, but a judge has issued a stinging rebuke to the state agency overseeing the $5 billion Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, finding that it made “totally incomplete representations” in legal papers about how long it would take the project to get built, in “what appears to be yet another failure of transparency.”

On Tuesday, the judge, Marcy S. Friedman of State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, ordered the agency, the Empire State Development Corporation, to justify its decision to require only a 10-year environmental impact statement. The agency’s own agreement with the developer, Forest City Ratner, allows 25 years for construction of the project, which includes a basketball arena, currently being built, and 16 residential and commercial towers. Forest City Ratner officials have acknowledged that the 10-year timetable was a best-case scenario.

The ruling, reported by Atlantic Yards Report (http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2010/11/justice-friedman-slams-esdc-for-yet.html), came in a challenge by opponents of the project to the agency’s approval of Forest City Ratner’s plan.

Justice Friedman wrote that if the agency concludes that a 10-year timetable continues to be reasonable “and that it need not examine environmental impacts of construction over a 25-year period on neighborhood character, air quality, noise and traffic, among other issues, then it must expressly make such findings and provide a detailed, reasoned basis for the findings.”

Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

BiggieSmalls

November 11th, 2010, 04:00 PM

doesnt sound like the set back that DDDB is making it out to be.. no surprises there obviously.. spin is spin.. i cant imagine any chance of this actually stopping progress

lofter1

November 11th, 2010, 04:13 PM

Dunno. If the Environmental Impact Statement is based on a false premise and filled with non-pertinent information, then that means the public has been deceived and public money / public benefits have been granted against the regulations governing such developments. Defeats the entire purpose of an EIS.

But it would be hard to put this genie back in the bottle.

Tectonic

December 11th, 2010, 08:06 PM

Some updates from today

http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/8436/dsc0023sn.jpg

http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/1831/dsc0017sn.jpg

© 2010 tectonic (http://www.tectonicphoto.com)

bigchet

December 12th, 2010, 10:16 AM

Why do you need an environmental study in nyc. There is constant construction ,constant noise, constant traffic, constant congestion, constant pollution it's consistent with living in a mega city. Give it up already and move to Jersey. This thing is really starting to move now.

BrooklynLove

December 12th, 2010, 11:57 PM

environmental study = more government jobs = self-congratulatory over-educated under-motivated residents of the great democratic state of new york

lofter1

December 13th, 2010, 01:41 AM

Heck, yeah. Just build whatever wherever. Damn the impact.

Tectonic

December 13th, 2010, 08:28 AM

Are really eventually going to squeeze a tower in the space close to where Atlantic and Flatbush meets?

http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/741/dsc0027sn.jpg

Where the plaza is here:
http://www.archpaper.com/uploads/image/Barclays-Center-Aerial-2.jpg

BrooklynLove

December 13th, 2010, 09:09 AM

We've seen towers squeezed into smaller spots many times.

lofter1

December 13th, 2010, 10:48 AM

Aren't they going to buildout the foundation and below-grade stuff for the future tower now, while there's a hole in the ground?

ZippyTheChimp

December 13th, 2010, 11:13 AM

Are really eventually going to squeeze a tower in the space close to where Atlantic and Flatbush meets?The original commercial tower was integrated with the arena, so the site was larger.

I doubt that will ever be done now, so we're left with a footprint that's only appropriate for a residential tower.

BBMW

December 13th, 2010, 11:30 AM

Sounds about right :p

Heck, yeah. Just build whatever wherever. Damn the impact.

BStyles

December 13th, 2010, 12:10 PM

The plaza really suits Barclays. I really hope they keep it open to the public.

Tectonic

December 13th, 2010, 12:23 PM

The original commercial tower was integrated with the arena, so the site was larger.

I doubt that will ever be done now, so we're left with a footprint that's only appropriate for a residential tower.

Got it, kind of a squeeze still don't you think? They'll have tons of space east of the arena.

ZippyTheChimp

December 13th, 2010, 12:29 PM

^
Yeah, I don't think it would be economically attractive for a developer. Triangular buildings aren't the best choice for salable floor space.

Tectonic

February 10th, 2011, 03:15 PM

02.06.11

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/168731_500697687902_330613722902_6181026_3857438_n .jpg

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/179891_500697802902_330613722902_6181028_5187973_n .jpg

© 2011 tectonic (http://www.tectonicphoto.com)

Merry

February 11th, 2011, 06:19 AM

SHoP Scores First Apartment Building at Atlantic Yards

By Matt Chaban

http://www.observer.com/files/article/Barclays_Dean_SHoP_0.jpg
SHoP will be designing the apartment tower
in the foreground of this rendering.

Back when Frank Gehry got bounced off Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project, the new designs for the Nets' arena, created by Ellerbe Beckett, were said to be so loathed by certain city officials that the developer had to find another firm to dress things up. Ratner chose local hotshots SHoP, which had made its name designing hip, slightly cerebral housing, like the Porterhouse in the Meatpacking District, and the new designs for the East River Esplanade and South Street Seaport.

Back in September, when Ratner and SHoP principal Gregg Pasquarelli unveiled new designs for the public plaza at the foot of the Barclays Center arena, the architect said he would love to design some of the project's buildings, though his primary concern was executing the masterplan. "SHoP's goal is to make sure it's a beautiful and cohesive whole," he said at the time.

Well, it looks like Pasquarelli will be getting his wish after all, as The Observer has learned the firm has been tapped to design B2, the first apartment building planned for the site, along Dean Street on the southeast corner of the arena.

At that September announcement, Ratner said he planned to have at least one rental building in the ground this year, and possibly two. Yesterday, at a Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable, Forest City Ratner executive vice president MaryAnne Gilmartin reaffirmed this commitment, if somewhat cautiously, according to The Real Deal:
Gilmartin emphasized the affordable housing elements of Forest City Ratner's master plan for the 22-acre Atlantic Yards site, calling it "one of the more ambitious" affordable housing initiatives the city has seen. The project is slated to eventually have more than 6,400 units of affordable, middle-income and market-rate housing.

The first residential building on the site will be a 50-30-20 project, she said, meaning 20 percent of the apartments will be reserved for low-income tenants, 30 percent for middle-income tenants and the rest for market-rate renters. She said Forest City Ratner hopes to begin construction this year.
Ratner had been more emphatic about apartments being built this year, though an official groundbreaking has still not been set.

This is in part because the project is still in the hunt for financing. Somewhat controversial efforts to find it in China have been going well, And it appears that SHoP's selection, and the design work the firm will undertake, should further help Forest City Ratner secure funding for the project. Development projects in the city and beyond have all struggled with financing since the real estate bubble collapsed. This despite the fact that Forest City Ratner's nearby 80 DKLB is now 97 percent leased, as are many other rental buildings in Downtown Brooklyn.

Whenever and whatever gets built, this is yet another big project for the budding SHoP. Yesterday, the city announced the developer of the first phase of Hunter's Point South, and SHoP will be designing the two apartment towers and a school along with Ishmael Leyva. And the firm continues to work on plans for a large mixed-use housing complex at the South Street Seaport for banker-developer Bill Ackman.

http://www.observer.com/2011/real-estate/shop-scores-first-apartment-building-atlantic-yards

TREPYE

February 12th, 2011, 08:23 PM

^ This can only mean something good: Contextualism.
(To the fine arena that is being there, that is)

Tectonic

March 7th, 2011, 03:32 AM

03.05.2011

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/183422_10150103325252903_330613722902_6353621_6969 68_n.jpg

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/184290_10150103325372903_330613722902_6353623_4834 652_n.jpg

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/190154_10150103325392903_330613722902_6353624_3243 977_n.jpg

© 2011 tectonic (http://www.tectonicphoto.com)
on twitter @tectonicphoto

lofter1

March 7th, 2011, 10:41 AM

I thought they had to build a big costly platform over this site before they could build up :confused: ...

Post 29 (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4322&p=18418&viewfull=1#post18418):

The six-block site is adjacent to Atlantic Terminal, where the Long Island Rail Road and nine subway lines converge. It is now an open railyard. When decked over, the site will form an east-west corridor three city blocks long. The western end, terminating in a V at the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues, points toward Lower Manhattan.

marnegator

March 7th, 2011, 11:36 AM

Between 6th Ave and Vanderbilt it will be decked-over; the LIRR yard and lead tracks barely extend into the block occupied by the stadium. Looking at Google Earth, there is ~800 ft between the stadium wall and the track switches, long enough for a 9-car train.

lofter1

March 7th, 2011, 11:44 AM

And that decking will happen, when? 2028?

Tectonic

March 7th, 2011, 11:46 AM

From what I'm seeing they can build the entire stadium without decking.

ablarc

March 7th, 2011, 11:55 AM

The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley.

GordonGecko

March 8th, 2011, 02:16 PM

Man, the design for this arena is so UGLY. Memo to Bruce, the cheap wood panelling look went out of style 30 years ago

futurecity

March 8th, 2011, 02:26 PM

Looks like metal to me, not wood.

GordonGecko

March 8th, 2011, 03:41 PM

Actually, it looks most like a large ugly brown weaved basket, or some sort of cheap snake skin. The clashing blue signage is the cherry on top

BStyles

March 8th, 2011, 06:45 PM

Oh? From www.netsdaily.com . It really changed my mind.
http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/544419/PMU_Josh_044.jpg

lofter1

March 8th, 2011, 07:35 PM

^ Looks good.

This may already have been posted, but even so it's worth a second look:

Barclay's Center Animation (http://barclayscenter.com/venue/venue_5.shtml#5d) [Vid Tour]

marnegator

March 8th, 2011, 08:01 PM

Woof... I don't know about that. It's nice to see things moving along, but I don't think this facade will do the stadium any favors in daylight.

scumonkey

March 8th, 2011, 09:28 PM

Looks like a piece of the barricades down south along I- 95 that are used to screen junk yards from peoples view

Tectonic

March 8th, 2011, 10:43 PM

Why brown though? Whats with the brown and texture from Shop:

http://www.emporis.com/img/6/2010/07/774743.jpg
© 2010 tectonic (http://www.tectonicphoto.com)

arcman210

March 8th, 2011, 10:52 PM

Going to be backlit?

TREPYE

March 9th, 2011, 02:08 PM

I like this better....

Why brown though? Whats with the brown and texture from Shop:

http://www.emporis.com/img/6/2010/07/774743.jpg
© 2010 tectonic (http://www.tectonicphoto.com)

Than this...

Oh? From www.netsdaily.com (http://www.netsdaily.com) . It really changed my mind.
http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/544419/PMU_Josh_044.jpg

Which is not exatly well representative of the facade as depicted here...

Along Atlantic Avenue, the plaza is framed by the arena's swooping canopy and the transit center entrance.

http://www.archpaper.com/uploads/Barclays-Center-Oculus.jpg

:confused:

Im worried. That mock up looks too sleek and not earthly textured, as the color selected indicates.

ZippyTheChimp

March 9th, 2011, 02:41 PM

Uh, does that eagle remind anyone else of something quite different from the NBA?

ablarc

March 9th, 2011, 03:00 PM

Reichskommissar Ratner reporting, SIR! (click)

GordonGecko

March 9th, 2011, 03:07 PM

Uh, does that eagle remind anyone else of something quite different from the NBA?

It's from the ABA (Aryan Basketball Association)

lofter1

March 9th, 2011, 04:59 PM

A few years back Barclays considered dropping their logo (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23401148-barclays-could-drop-eagle-logo-because-of-nazi-connotations.do) ...

... A source close to the bank said in the Times: "It is rather a Teutonic-looking eagle and has unfortunate connotations." ...

The sign has evolved over years and was softened by brand consultants in a 1999 makeover ...

It's linked to an early London location of the bank (http://www.banking-history.co.uk/barclayseagle.html) and pre-dates all the nasty stuff that came after ...

The spread eagle emblem has featured prominently throughout the history of Barclays. In the late seventeenth century a goldsmith-banker called John Freame was living in the City of London. The exact date when he started his business is not known, but in 1690 he was a partner in a banking business which traded at premises in Lombard Street. In those days very few people could read or write and business houses used pictorial signs so that their customers could find them easily.

In 1728, Freame moved to the present site in Lombard Street at the sign of the Black Spread Eagle. The business expanded over the years and other properties in Lombard Street were acquired. The banking partnership chose 54 Lombard Street as their official address, but the sign of that house - the bible - was thought to be inappropriate as a sign for a Quaker business, so they adopted the Spread Eagle sign over the extended premises.

At the Sign of the Black Spread Eagle (http://www.calverts.coop/blog/?p=995)

http://www.calverts.coop/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/spreadeagle.gif

It's not all that different from the eagle found on a commemorative 1984 Olympic coin (http://www.taxfreegold.co.uk/usa10dollarscommemoratives.html) ...

http://www.taxfreegold.co.uk/images/1984usa10dollarsolympicsrev400.jpg
Spread Eagle Reverse Design on a 1984 American Gold Eagle

The spread eagle is a popular symbol, used by all sorts ...

http://static.musictoday.com/store/bands/1719/product_large/BGCTMM31.JPG

Ingram-Richardson Porcelain American Embassy Eagle (http://www.hylandgranby.com/marine_antiques_paintings_details.asp?itemID=FA078 4):

http://www.hylandgranby.com/stkimgs/FA0784.jpg

http://cdn3.iofferphoto.com/img/item/193/229/164/MVJc.jpg

Seems the American versions tend to show the eagle's wings uplifted.

ZippyTheChimp

March 9th, 2011, 07:17 PM

It's from the ABA (Aryan Basketball Association)Good one.

Reminds me of a 1940 film, The Mortal Storm, where MGM dipped a tentative toe into message-movies. They didn't want to upset the large film audience in Germany, so countries weren't named, and people were called Aryans and Non-Aryans.

Germany banned all MGM films anyway.

lofter1

March 16th, 2011, 11:33 PM

Prefabricated Tower May Rise at Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards

NY TIMES (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/nyregion/17yards.html?hpw)
By CHARLES V. BAGLI
March 16, 2011

In a bid to cut costs at his star-crossed Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, the developer Bruce C. Ratner is pursuing plans to erect the world’s tallest prefabricated steel structure, a 34-story tower that would fulfill his obligation to start building affordable housing at the site.

The prefabricated, or modular, method he would use, which is untested at that height, could cut construction costs in half by saving time and requiring substantially fewer and cheaper workers. And the large number of buildings planned for the $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards — 16 in all, not including the Nets arena now under construction — could also make it economical for the company to run its own modular factory, where walls, ceilings, floors, plumbing and even bathrooms and kitchens could be installed in prefabricated steel-frame boxes.

The 34-story building, with roughly 400 apartments, would comprise more than 900 modules that would be hauled to Atlantic Yards, lifted into place by crane and bolted together at the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Dean Street, next to the arena.

Mr. Ratner’s development company, Forest City Ratner, has been investigating modular construction for a year, but has kept its plans secret. MaryAnne Gilmartin, executive vice president of Forest City Ratner, confirmed Wednesday that the company was seriously considering the modular method, although, she added, no final decision had been made.

The company has also continued to design a conventional tower. Forest City hired Ove Arup & Partners, a prominent engineering firm, for the modular work, while SHoP Architects is working on designs for both types of buildings ...

“The company is interested in modular, high-rise construction in an urban setting,” Ms. Gilmartin said. “It’s driven by cost and efficiencies.”

But it would also infuriate the construction workers who were Mr. Ratner’s most ardent supporters during years of stormy community meetings, where they drowned out neighborhood opponents with chants of, “Jobs, jobs, jobs.”

“This is something that could be of great consequence to the building trades,” said Gary La Barbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, an umbrella group for the construction unions. “We have never been supportive of prefab buildings, for obvious reasons.” After several years of delays, Forest City is under considerable pressure because of the difficulty in obtaining financing for the building and the weak real estate market ...

In pursuit of cutting construction costs, Mr. Ratner and Ms. Gilmartin recently traveled to Europe to talk to builders involved with what is currently the world’s tallest modular building: a 25-story dormitory (http://www.modularmusings.com/index.php/tag/victoria-hall/) in Wolverhampton, England, that was built last year in less than 12 months.

Victoria Hall dormitory:

12516

Mr. Ratner has also become captivated by a YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps0DSihggio) depicting the assembly of the 15-story Ark Hotel in China in a matter of days.

Ark Hotel:

12514

12515

Modular buildings are not new to New York City. The School Construction Authority has used the technology to build classrooms. Capsys, a modular builder at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, has built steel-frame, prefabricated housing up to seven stories tall in Clinton Hill and East New York, Brooklyn, and on Long Island.

Whether taller modular buildings can be built to withstand intense wind shear and seismic forces, while retaining cost savings, is another question, because the higher a structure is built, the more bracing it would require ...

Tony Sclafani, a spokesman for the Department of Buildings, said city rules did not prohibit Forest City Ratner from using modular construction on the building. “There’s nothing standing in the way of a prefab building as long as they follow our regulations,” he said.

... it is the labor savings that are suddenly worrying some union officials, who were repeatedly asked by Forest City to mobilize their members for years of raucous community meetings.

The state and the city agreed to provide $300 million in direct subsidies for Atlantic Yards, in part, because Forest City insisted that the project would generate “upwards of 17,000 union construction jobs.”

Not to worry, Ms. Gilmartin said, “We’re a union shop, and we build union.”

But under current wage scales, union workers earn less in a factory than they do on-site. A carpenter earns $85 an hour in wages and benefits on-site, but only $35 an hour in a factory.

And while modular construction employs a large number of carpenters, iron workers, who earn as much as $93.88 an hour in pay and benefits, could lose a lot of jobs.

One construction professional, who was familiar with Forest City Ratner’s plans but requested anonymity because he did not want to anger the company, said, “The incentive is to move as much work as possible to the factory from the field.”

FULL ARTICLE (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/nyregion/17yards.html?hpw)

© 2011 The New York Times Company