Weekly Digest #1: A Project Reckoning and Its Aftermath

Waiting for New York State officials to discuss what's next.

I launched this newsletter a week ago with the aim of producing “periodic articles that address basic questions, offer deeper analysis, or explore ongoing dilemmas.”

I’d planned it to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the announcement of Atlantic Yards. A day later I published Flashback, Dec. 10, 2003: The Atlantic Yards unveiling.

Never built: Frank Gehry’s 2003 image of arena buried in towers, including “Miss Brooklyn”

My goal was/is one bigger-picture article a week, aimed at readers new(er) to the project and/or who don’t keep up with my more regularly-published Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report blog.

I have an essay set for tomorrow, and aim to publish subsequent bigger-picture pieces on Mondays.

A flurry of news

However, after a lull in the project, a lot of news has surfaced regarding a planned foreclosure auction of six sites over the Vanderbilt Yard.

Will six towers be built over the MTA’s Vanderbilt Yard? Photos: Norman Oder

So there’s even more reason for a weekly (or bi-weekly) digest post to summarize what I’ve published in the blog, as well as related news.

(It’s possible to subscribe to the blog by email—go to the top right here—but the posts don’t arrive immediately.)

This week: a reckoning, and more

Dec. 11: The Real Deal, a real-estate publication, assesses Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park on its 20th anniversary, with a few key new insights—the Chinese company Greenland USA was out of sync—though I don’t fully agree with their analysis. (I have more coming.)

Screenshot from coverage in The Real Deal

The project is overseen and shepherded by New York State, via the gubernatorially-controlled Empire State Development. The Real Deal got state officials to comment—Gov. Kathy Hochul is committed to the “successful buildout and completion of this project,” whatever that means—which is more than I’ve gotten.

Dec. 12: Former Forest City CEO MaryAnne Gilmartin, who now heads her own company, was once confident about the future of Atlantic Yards. Now she says it gave her too much PTSD to consider a return to help rescue it.

That'll be a school, at Pacific Street and Sixth Avenue.

Dec. 13: The middle-school just across from arena block—in the based of the 662 Pacific tower (aka Plank Road) is now due to open in September 2024 (not 2025), thanks to after-hours work. Neighbors have questions about how the school will operate.

Dec. 14: The coalition BrooklynSpeaks, which has the ear of local elected officials and is the only extant group monitoring the project, says it’s time for a new Atlantic Yards project plan. Their virtual press briefing draws minimal response. Has the press forgotten?

Dec. 15: BrooklynSpeaks seeks a meeting with the state authority Empire State Development over the project’s future. Sure, but the state also needs to speak to the public at large.

Trucks on Atlantic Avenue, some (all?) delivering Madonna merchandise.

Dec. 15: Merch for Madonna! A row of idling 53-foot trailer-trucks outside the Barclays Center before the Queen of Pop’s three-show stint, launching her U.S. tour. I was told the trucks had permits, but… the arena operator didn’t supply them.

Dec. 16: The latest project Construction Update from the state is online only, because there’s no point in sending emails out when there’s no work. A document clarifies that 876 (not 877) affordable units are now required. (A super's unit counts. Go figure.)

A car on the sidewalk outside the Barclays Center’s Dean Street entrance.

Dec. 16: Sure, most people have grown inured to it, and 40,000-plus Madonna fans can’t be wrong, but it’s remarkable how the Barclays Center still claims public space, such as parking a car on the sidewalk, or leaving the oculus lights on past midnight.

Going forward

I’ll aim to publish this digest on Sundays. Your comments and suggestions on format, scope, and tone are welcome, either by email or below, as this evolves.