Proposed: Atlantic Yards Development - Commercial, Residential, Retail, NBA Arena

[ZippyTheChimp]

No, it has to do with yours.

[kz1000ps]

if you feel compelled to cry this much about it then it really doesn't mean that much to you b/c if it did you'd have enough perspective to see the full picture.

So you're fine with your beloved borough being populated by second- and third-rate architecture? Any growth is good growth?

[scumonkey]

I'm almost willing to bet that Gene the hack could come up with something cheaper and less offensive?!

[TREPYE]

you're being irrational.

Thats it? Thats all you got. Why am I irrational, because I completely disagree with you?? As usual, your commentary is about as shallow as a desert puddle....:rolleyes:

If after what Ratner did you do not think that he is a disgrace then you really dont care about good architectural design and perhaps you should go post on the NBA forums with your Brooklyn Nets pom poms. If he was going to do the job he should have gone about it in an honest way and stuck to his original plans instead of this depicable bait and switch. As Kz mentions not ANY development is good....try to be somewhat selective.

I can believe I am going to say this but.....BRAVO Nicolai, its been a while since you have churned out a real good one and hit the nail on the head.

[BrooklynRider]

brooklyn is defined by its historical lasting landmarks - the williamsburg bank building, the brooklyn bridge, prospect park, GAP arch, the brownstones. we don't need to be redefined by some irrelevant architectural study. if you're looking to redefine some place go to new jersey. ourousoff is an attention ho btw.

Using this reasoning, it would be acceptable for people to think that Brooklyn's best days are behind it. I think we can continue to develop Brooklyn, but that the examples you cite should be inspiration for what follows. Ratner gave Brooklyn Atlantic Center Mall. He gave Manhattan NY Times Tower and Beekman Tower. Something is amiss.

[BKALLDAY]

I am very sad that this development has hit so many road blocks its even worse than Ground Zero

[BrooklynLove]

Thats it? Thats all you got. Why am I irrational, because I completely disagree with you?? As usual, your commentary is about as shallow as a desert puddle....:rolleyes:

If after what Ratner did you do not think that he is a disgrace then you really dont care about good architectural design and perhaps you should go post on the NBA forums with your Brooklyn Nets pom poms. If he was going to do the job he should have gone about it in an honest way and stuck to his original plans instead of this depicable bait and switch. As Kz mentions not ANY development is good....try to be somewhat selective.

I can believe I am going to say this but.....BRAVO Nicolai, its been a while since you have churned out a real good one and hit the nail on the head.

no i clearly stated why you are being irrational - go back and read my post. the new design is better than or similar to the vast majority of other nba venues. your bloody murder rants overdo it. i am selective - given the huge non-architectural benefits of this project, an average design is easily outweighed. if your issue is a "bait and switch" you should direct your anger at the people who made cost reduction necessary in the first place.

[BrooklynLove]

Using this reasoning, it would be acceptable for people to think that Brooklyn's best days are behind it. I think we can continue to develop Brooklyn, but that the examples you cite should be inspiration for what follows. Ratner gave Brooklyn Atlantic Center Mall. He gave Manhattan NY Times Tower and Beekman Tower. Something is amiss.

it's not fair to take make this analysis in a vacuum. real estate development is not philanthropy. if ratner's work on NYT and BT were delayed for years by selfish protest then those designs would have changed as well - they were planned and implemented in an entirely different economic world. my point is not to accept any design but one needs to be reasonable. if this arena isn't built and the nets bail then this entire project is dead. on the other hand if the arena happens and the nets come, this would be an enormous boon to further growth and HIGHER QUALITY development in the area. this factor taken together with the fact that the design is relatively mediocre at worst, the kicking and screaming on this board is overdone tunnel vision.

[BrooklynLove]

No, it has to do with yours.

No Zippy, it's always about you. You're the one who felt the need to stroke yourself with that post; not I.

[ZippyTheChimp]

LOL

Read your own stuff.


"Irrational people."

"Don't like it, don't look".

"Move to Newark."

"Only people with blood in Brooklyn."

That last one is really good. So that's you, the Mayor of Brooklyn, who knows it all.


on the other hand if the arena happens and the nets come, this would be an enormous boon to further growth and HIGHER QUALITY development in the area.

Enormous boon?


The proposed basketball arena in Brooklyn's controversial Atlantic Yards project was once thought to be a moneymaker for the city, but an independent budget analysis predicts the city will lose money on the deal. http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/99938/locals--lawmakers-still-divided-over-atlantic-yards/Default.aspx

[lofter1]

... the huge non-architectural benefits of this project ...

Aside from covering the RR tracks, minimal job creation and the housing of a basketball team in Brooklyn can you clarify what those "huge" benefits will actually be?

[TREPYE]

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/misc/nyt_interbanner.gif
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/06/09/arts/atlantspan.jpg


http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/misc/spacer.gifhttp://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/06/09/arts/Atlanticeastbig.jpghttp://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/misc/spacer.gifhttp://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/misc/spacer.gif
Ellerbe Becket The firm Ellerbe Becket’s design for a Nets arena, looking east.



This OFFENSIVE piece of garbage makes me want to join Develop Dont Destroy Brooklyn, because indeed this arena destroys and does not develop the borough.

Dehumanizing, souless, characterless. Ratner, you rodent!

[lofter1]

And of course what we're seeing now are what Ratner and gang consider to be the best & most attractive aspects of the design. Hidden from view are the vast high walls of blankness.

Deadening.

Walk around the block surrounding MSG to see what Brooklyn will get.

[ZippyTheChimp]

How do they need near a billion dollars to build this arena?

Good question.

Remember back to last Spring, when that crude rendering came out of the arena without commercial buildings. If you think about it, Gehry's arena design is meaningless without the buildings surrounding it. He may have been off the arena project that far back.

Good analysis here. (http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2009/06/two-reasons-ratners-arena-switch-is.html) Note the decline in construction costs. If you accept the $1 billion vs $800 million for Gehry vs Ellerbe, most of the reduction should have come from lower construction costs.

[BrooklynRider]

it's not fair to take make this analysis in a vacuum. real estate development is not philanthropy. if ratner's work on NYT and BT were delayed for years by selfish protest then those designs would have changed as well - they were planned and implemented in an entirely different economic world. my point is not to accept any design but one needs to be reasonable. if this arena isn't built and the nets bail then this entire project is dead. on the other hand if the arena happens and the nets come, this would be an enormous boon to further growth and HIGHER QUALITY development in the area. this factor taken together with the fact that the design is relatively mediocre at worst, the kicking and screaming on this board is overdone tunnel vision.

Queens got Citi Field.
Bronx got Yankee Stadium.
Manhattan is getting Calatrava Station.
This arena is ultimately a public work and it is deserving of a design that meets the standards enlisted for these other major projects.
I agree with those who say, "let the Nets go to Newark."
This project is ill-advised from the get-go.
The city should focus on Coney Island as the next focused major development area. Broken into reasonably sized parcels and left to the market, Atlantic Yards will rise in a much more organic fashion.

[lofter1]

I guess one positive aspect of the new design is that it might offer LOTS of parking (http://atlanticlots.com/) ...

So clearly & dearly needed atop the transit junction down below.

[ZippyTheChimp]

Broken into reasonably sized parcels and left to the market, Atlantic Yards will rise in a much more organic fashion.What's funny is that's exactly what's going on - of course without any other bidding for parcels.

Ratner wants to pay the MTA only $20 million up front money for the segment of the railyard under the arena, rather than the original $100 million bid, which was already much lower than the $214 million assessed value of the railyard.

And Rater's promised railyard upgrade has shrunk from 9 to 7 tracks.

[STT757]

Queens got Citi Field.
Bronx got Yankee Stadium.
Manhattan is getting Calatrava Station.
This arena is ultimately a public work and it is deserving of a design that meets the standards enlisted for these other major projects.
I agree with those who say, "let the Nets go to Newark."
This project is ill-advised from the get-go.
The city should focus on Coney Island as the next focused major development area. Broken into reasonably sized parcels and left to the market, Atlantic Yards will rise in a much more organic fashion.

What does Staten Island get, besides the shaft?..

[BrooklynRider]

We gave you Fresh Kills dump. That boosted home values, yes?

[lofter1]

SI almost got the NASCAR fiasco. Sometimes it really is better when stuff dies, rather than being built.

[BrooklynLove]

i love it, and look forward to the start of construction and the path forward. time will move on and the lot of you will find something else to cry about. meanwhile, brooklyn will continue to draw more businesses, more residents and more investment.

by the way, the gist of that nyt article is an architect's rant on how their role in any development is effectively marginal. sorry fellas but that's reality. you call no shots at the end of the day.

[scumonkey]

and neither do you (thank goddes);):cool:

[BrooklynLove]

oh little scum monkey if you only knew the truth. ignorance is bliss my friend.

[scumonkey]

Then you must be the most blissful person in all of Brooklyn,
and you seem to relish living in it- my friend;)

[dtolman]

WNYC reported that Gehry is 100% out of the project. No buildings, no plan, nothing. Bye Bye Miss Brooklyn for good...

[lofter1]

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]

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

[BenM]

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]

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]

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

[philvia]

why cant this project just die

[BrooklynLove]

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

[TREPYE]

^ A classless and derranged comment, BL.

[scumonkey]

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]

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]

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]

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

[ZippyTheChimp]

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

[InvisibleMan BK]

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]

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]

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

[scumonkey]

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]

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

[scumonkey]

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

[BrooklynLove]

The lawyers - assuming that their clients pay their bills.

[TonyO]

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]

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]

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

[TREPYE]

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

[arcman210]

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]

Da Lyin' Rat is Broke & Busted.

[Derek2k3]

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]

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]

Looks promising.

[dtolman]

Its... different.

[kz1000ps]

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

[arcman210]

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]

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]

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]

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

$1.00

[lofter1]

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]

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]

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

[arcman210]

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]

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]

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

[JCMAN320]

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]

2nd place = first loser.

Reality check: Newark is a hole.

[lofter1]

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

More than can be said about someplace else.

[arcman210]

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]

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]

Why is Newark considered a hole?

[ablarc]

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

[STT757]

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

They don't call it Crooklyn for nothing.

[JCMAN320]

Jealous much Brooklyn love?

[ZippyTheChimp]

No pissing matches, please.

[BrooklynRider]

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]

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]

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]

After all this time, what has been done exactly?

[BrooklynLove]

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]

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

[Merry]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

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

[BrooklynLove]

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]

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]

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]

Eminent Domain decision should be coming down soon.

[BrooklynLove]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.