Bi-Weekly Digest: BrooklynSpeaks Frustration over Penalties; Quiet MTA Renegotiation
The lesson from Atlantic Yards, Borough President Reynoso warns city officials pushing the Brooklyn Marine Terminal Plan, is that commitments don't get enforced.
This digest offers a way to keep up with my Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report blog and my other coverage in this newsletter and elsewhere.
A lot is going on behind the scenes regarding the future of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park.
At a press conference held by the coalition BrooklynSpeaks protesting the failure of New York State to impose the $2,000/month penalties due for 876 (or 877) missing affordable housing units, we learned that the coalition had not ruled out filing a suit.
(State officials say they haven’t waived the penalties, but are suspending them pending a new project plan with, presumably, new terms.)
Afterward, though, we also learned that BrooklynSpeaks has met with the potential new lead developer, Cirrus Real Estate Partners, though they didn't discuss details about project's future.
Would Cirrus try to get buy-in on potential project changes, such as increased bulk, from BrooklynSpeaks? Probably. Should that coalition negotiate in private? The history of this project says no.
MTA renegotiation
We also learned that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is negotiating with the potential lead developer, but won’t disclose anything. Could they be discussing only the platform over the railyard, needed for six towers? Unlikely.
Could they also be discussing the timing and terms for payments for railyard development rights? Likely.
If that includes additional bulk for larger, more profitable (er, economically viable) buildings, would the gubernatorially controlled MTA simply give away valuable square footage, or market it at a discount? That deserves discussion, as well.
From this newsletter
June 9: In Brooklyn Marine Terminal Discussion, Atlantic Yards is the Elephant in the Room. After Borough President Antonio Reynoso points to broken promises from that project, city official says other projects met commitments.
Not always. The lesson is that megaprojects have many moving parts and thus pose more risks of going wrong.
Would the governance solution below really work?
A proposed Brooklyn Marine Terminal Development Corporation (BMTDC) would, among 23 members, have 12 mayoral appointees, leaving the mayor in charge. Reynoso was appropriately skeptical.
(Coverage from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle got to the Atlantic Yards issue, but that in the Brooklyn Paper and BKReader did not.)
Note the considerable momentum behind the BMT plan, such as this amNY op-ed by reliable development champion Prof. Mitchell Moss, while the journalism around it, given the diminished state of New York City news outlets, has been pretty thin, with the exception of the local Red Hook Star-Revue.
A City Council committee hearing June 12 addressed the BMT plan, but all I’ve seen was a Council press release, testimony from Reynoso, a useful (though it needs fact-checking) blow-by-blow with video from PublicMeetings.org, and video of press conference from Resilient Red Hook. No article has emerged to summarize it.
From Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report
June 3: Some questions for today's BrooklynSpeaks press conference on the missed affordable housing deadline. (Most didn’t get answered, perhaps because they were too granular. I wasn’t there, but sent a videographer.)
June 4: Is BrooklynSpeaks getting ready to sue over affordable housing, or renegotiate terms? Outrage from advocates and elected officials combines with pragmatism.
In the video below, Gib Veconi of BrooklynSpeaks observes that the liquidated damages were “intended to compensate for the fact that the affordable housing was not there for Brooklyn residents to live in and the money was to go to the city of New York" for affordable housing nearby.
June 5: New York Times columnist laments public spending on sports venues, provokes support and defense. The Barclays Center, though, didn't catalyze promised benefits.
June 6: New York Liberty update: Brooklyn Public Library cards (& gala); Ellie the Elephant's ubiquity; team's new investors include Jack Ma of Alibaba, who co-founded company with Liberty/Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai of BSE Global.
June 7: With major league sports teams, "it's never a good time to sell," says ex-NBA owner, pointing to steady upside. BSE Global’s Clara Wu Tsai sees more boom in value of Liberty. Hm, isn’t it time for New York State to claw back some value?
June 8: Video, finally, of State Attorney General Letitia James James at Association for a Better New York: if Trump "wants to do some major capital projects [like Atlantic Yards], I'm here." Here, as in she’d be the future Governor?
June 10: In hiring Carpenters Union's political director, Mayoral front-runner Andrew Cuomo likely solidifying support for Cirrus/union construction proposals, including emerging Atlantic Yards plan.
June 11: Would you believe that the U.S. Immigration Fund, the investor visa broker with a stake in the future of Atlantic Yards, now has federal approval for immigrant investors to borrow money to finance part of their EB-5 loans (to businesses), in this case to a Kushner project in Jersey City. What could go wrong?
June 12: What exactly must the MTA approve by June 30? Railyard work? Payment schedule? Additional development rights? Will there be a vote? The MTA won't say.
June 13: "Affordable" rents rise with 2025 Area Median Income, so a 1-bedroom at 60% of AMI—likely the template for future below-market units in Atlantic Yards and also the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan—could now rent for $1,822. That may not be realistic today. Still, the ceiling will rise.
June 14: Risk chart from the nonprofit ANHD, which includes affordable housing providers, shows four Community Districts near Atlantic Yards face high rent burdens, while few truly affordable units have been built.
Despite such sobering statistics, the situation is far worse in the Bronx, as the darker shading on the chart indicates.