(Bi-)Weekly Digest: The Strains of Gentrification
What a stymied rezoning (badly reported by the NY Times) and a new book have in common. Also, more Brooklyn ambitions for BSE Global.
This digest offers a way for people to keep up with my Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report blog, as well as my other coverage in this newsletter and elsewhere.
So, the New York Times went big with articles, online and in print, and even a video about “The Housing Crunch,” illustrating it with, among other things, the story of the 962 Pacific Street rezoning in Crown Heights. (See links below.)
Except it’s complicated and they got it wrong. Brooklyn Community Board 8, rather than opting to stymie the request for permission to build housing on land zoned for manufacturing, negotiated significant concessions in terms of more affordable housing.
That compromise didn’t make it to the finish line because (take your pick) 1) Council Member Crystal Hudson stuck to her stated position of no more spot rezonings before a comprehensive neighborhood plan was released or 2) Hudson tried but could not get agreement on other concessions.
I wrote a long piece this week, Making Sense of the 962 Pacific Street Rezoning Story, explaining my case. And because I don’t have the imprimatur of the Times, well, I sourced every document and public discussion, with video links to most.
Let’s see if any other “credible messengers” pick this up.
From Common Edge
My other long piece was a Dec. 3 Q&A, Telling the Essential Stories of Everyday Places, with author Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani, author of a new book called The Cities We Need.
The book focuses significantly on Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, with gentrification—caused significantly but not solely by the Atlantic Yards project—as a backdrop.
Bendiner-Viani’s approach as an environmental psychologist or visual urbanist is different than mine as a journalist and investigator, but her ability to mine the everyday, both in the book and in the project Intersection | Prospect Heights project, is valuable food for thought.
As one reader wrote me, the quote above from interviewee Julia resonated: “We were saying that we used to be nicer, and I said, well, we used to have less money.”
From this newsletter
Dec. 6: Making Sense of the 962 Pacific Street Rezoning Story. The New York Times wrongly posited a NIMBY backlash, missing the Community Board's affordability gain, and downplayed reasons for skepticism. But yes, it was Council Member Hudson's call.
The key articles were Two Apartment Buildings Were Planned. Only One Went Up, published Nov. 19, and Brooklyn Needs Housing. She Has a Vacant Lot. Why Can’t She Build?, published Nov. 21. Also, a video published Nov. 26,
From Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report
Nov. 26: Barclays Center releases December 2024 event calendar: 15 ticketed events, including eight concerts and women's college hoops tourney. No New Year’s Eve show.
Nov. 27: Munch the Good Vibe: Wise is now official chips of the Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center, complementing (right?) the arena's "civic" space.
Dec. 1: Fixing the housing crisis? An Atlantic Yards lesson. “If developers are to be given increased subsidies or greater latitude with regards to zoning and regulations to deliver more housing,” writes a Times commenter, “it needs to be delivered now, not on a schedule that suits the developer.”
Dec. 4: As ticket prices for some New York Liberty games continue to rise, the team earns two mentions in New York magazine's "Reasons to Love New York."
Dec. 5: Is the Brooklyn Wine Club for you? Well, it starts at $1,500 a year (plus $250 initiation). Also: look to BSE Global’s new Williamsburgh bank building space for a new marketplace?
Dec. 7: That Times article on 962 Pacific is part of a big print Metropolitan section package in the Sunday paper. It still needs a critique.