Views of a born and bred Brooklynite. (umbrooklynborn@gmail.com) This blog satisfies my need to hear and air feelings of B'klyn from the people whose life experience were born here. Hopefully it'll balance to some of the revisionist historical musings I've seen as if Bklyn barely existed before the 90's. Brooklyn as Tabula Rasa. If we can all live as best possible while appreciating the past and neighbors we've inherited that would be great too.
In lieu of the Atlantic Yards boondoggle more of the properties in it's clutches are going the way of the opposition. I was headed down Vanderbilt when I saw this building in mid-destruction and I don't think its over the top to say it looked ripped open and violated.
And at the actual construction site,
the stakes are in the heart, struts are in the ground for the Nets' soon to be arena. If you listen closely you can already hear the sound of losing...
In a vote today that you've probably heard about already, the city council has given permission for a towering building to be constructed almost the same size and less than two blocks away from the Empire State Building (seen in the rendering above).
The building is unremarkable and huge it's like putting a garbage can next to a wedding cake. Sure the garbage can may have a purpose but it doesn't need to be in position to drag down the vibe. Yes, vibe, sensation, emotion the resonance that comes from our collective built environment.
The issue I have isn't that we should forever never again build a giant skyscraper in Manhattan. My issue is that we should build up, not pander down.
I am still saddened by the eventuality of this new building and for anyone who supports the planned new skyscraper I'd like to say this;
My biggest issue with this new building is that presedent is being established as a result of the process that is allowing this plan to go forward and that presedent opens the door to an overwrought unremarkable city.
The presedent and message is there is no sacred space in New York (and you could argue there have been some). And while I agree New York is a constantly evolving city that shouldn't be restrained stricty out of nostalgia, the more worrisome presedent is that there is no standard that city altering construction needs to meet. I'm aware during the construction of the Empire State Building and other landmarks there were people who didnt want it's size and scope, but no one could reasonably argue against it's grandeur and elegance. That's not the case with the planned new skyscraper on the block. It looks like a nondescript object no more distinct than the cap from a magic marker. In fact it's less distinct that the tower in Jersey City which is very similar in design.
And that's my biggest problem, that the city council has given the go ahead to alter the most famous skyline in the world and directly impact te most famous skyscraper in the world to date and they didn't even establish a standard for what it should take to be worth of causing such a reality altering addition.
I also feel and hav felt for a decade that this is an indirect result of the destruction of the Twin Towers. In a pre-9/11 world this would have never flown. 9/11 altered the skyline taking away in a day what had been the last and arguably most significant realignment to Manhattan's skyline in a day. Afterward we yearned to retouch the skyline, initially it was to repair, soon after the conversation turned to revision. Major gestures were planned but like ground zero itself few of those intentions grew ion results. But it didn't matter because the sacrosanct skyline was a thing of the past, the idea had been accepted universally as a result of that day that the skyline would ve different based on choice to counteract the changes made against our will.
Most of the art and aspiration of the months following 9/11 were left to twist in the wind until nothing remained but a public and governmental acceptance of change and then the developers were free to get plans approved that would have been preposterous until that fateful Tuesday morning.
Think to yourself or google regarding changes to the coot post 9/11. There's an entirely new canyon of towers on sixth av just between 23rd and 31st. Williamsburg has towers, downtown Brooklyn has towers Trump builds a mega hotel at Soho's edge. An 80 story tower blocks from the Brooklyn Bridge. I see it as all resulting from that September morning.
Regarding the new skyscraper to rival the Empire state, if you consider the empty lure of jobs the developer offered (most temporary) and the faked necessity (calling it "much needed office space" in a market already over stocked with empty offices and that's before the new Worl Trade Center is built) and the payoff factor as I call it, ($100 million to the MTA to renew surrounding stations the developer Vornado has offered to sweeten the deal, the MTA's acceptance of the $100mil is a clear message to other developers that they need only pay-up to build-up) and I think you have clear reasons why approving this plan was a mistake and an declared disregard for past standards.
The precedent the NYC City Council should have set is that the skyline of New York City aspires to be and often is an elegant space and those attempting to add buildings to the skyline should seek to add elegance not enormous mediocrity.
Time to do a little self congratulatory dance! Why? If you haven't heard the Gowanus Canal was granted SuperFund status by the Federal Government which means basically that after 100 plus years of oil, lead, car and body parts polluting the once pristine oyster lined waterway, it will now be cleaned under specific guidelines. Congrats to Gowanus, especially all the people in the surrounding areas, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Wyckoff, Park Slope, who've fought again the city's lower standards and the pressure from developers who wanted to do less cleanup.
Special cheer and thanks to the Found in Brooklyn blog whose posts have keep me in the know on this issue way better than the established media has. Thanks (wiggle wiggle)
Second dance goes to me (yay me, wiggle, wiggle) for getting my photowednesday post up last week (though I did forget I scheduled the bottom part of this post and started to get frantic about time last night) and of all things for me to pick as my future post topic I chose the Gowanus Canal. Awesome I see the future and it will be! Love it when I'm prescient. (below is the original post)
The Gowanus portion of the BQE makes no sense to me. It never has been possible for my brain to wrap around it because of it's enormity. The fact that something this mammoth is in Brooklyn. I think that every time and yet I have so few photos of the Gowanus Canal spanning portion of this highway because my photos never seem to do a good job expressing more than a few unspecific words. With this one I realized scale (at least) is what's lacking the people in frame give a good sense of what is the easily tallest roadway in any of the 5 boroughs.
out of the sky I landed with a thud. New York, again New York. The city, it's cabs, subways, hotdogs, wisecracks always right on time. It would be like this for 36 hours more, at least. I wondered how much more?
I've been away from the blog, the borough, the whole damn thing.
I found what was left, yes it was me, and the experience all cliche and true.
Here's some photos I've taken since the return:
I still hate this building (situated north of Myrtle Ave, Btwn Hall & Washington, Clinton Hill), too big (again, it blocks the view from two miles away on Washington and Eastern Parkway, at least the view I'm used to)
I got through Pratt Campus to see how my alumni donations are spend, this time they let me in....
This factory has always given me a chill, for years I thought I imagined it, and even then, it only existed in twilight's haze.
Huzzah new cycle shop, this one on Myrtle (it's news to me) I dig the old trim of the store's metal rims
Gothamist today has the story of the new renderings for the taxpayer funded money pit that is called Atlantic Yards/Barclay Center.
You probably know it is a bloated project, feed by tax dollars enriching private investors and it will drop a massive overcrowding set of buildings and stadium into an area not big enough and already choked with traffic. oh and it's ugly and built by people who've already dropped an ugly barely usable project across the street.
As tiring as it is to keep writing this, it will be worse to live with it, if it's built.
here is one of the new renders after the old baited and switched designers for the project were roundly dissed.
(img credit: ShoP Architects)
and here's what I wrote on gothamist:
The project needs to be scaled into something workable, and the arena can be anywhere along miles of underutilized brooklyn waterfront, or even, if they really want to improve a blighted neighborhood as they calm, the whole project can move about 8 blocks west to where atlantic has almost nothing but auto body shops and vacant lots. there's even an LIRR station that can be used.
but equally insane are these renderings. the second image shows a crowd of kids about to wander gleefully into Atlantic Avenue, a six lane stretch of people slicer!
Once again, why is it wrong to stop this madness as it currently stands?
As always if you want the detailed story check with Atlantic Yards report which has tirelessly reported on this project. Some day this war's gonna end.
Maybe I need to get off the horse. (Photo taken in Red Hook)
Summer's getting away from me. I know it is. I've been hard at work on multiple fronts, and I'm mostly confident my efforts are creating great works, but I can't even really see. It's like I'm tied to the nose of a great vehicle, plowing through the atmosphere, the air ahead rushing into my face, blinding and suffocating me. I turn my head away just to breathe and gather myself. that works, I can breathe. But all I see is a blur rushing past.
I think that rainy day yesterday unleashed a floodgate somewheres.
However according to what I understood of the article, the Council's suggestions seems to be more of an amnesty program for developers who already got in too deep than an actual step to prevent having derelict skeletons left to rot because they didn't secure funding in advanced. The latter would be my preference.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've moved back further into Brooklyn to Crown Heights recently. Traversing the area I've been shocked at how much construction has gone on in Crown Heights and frequently much of that construction looks like this photo: (above: from the intersection of Lefferts and New York Avenues)
The first thing that struck me was the size, but the impact of that view was quickly replaced by the obvious fact that the site had long been neglected. I turned to a resident that had been standing in her yard nearby as I snapped pictures and I asked, "how long has that (pointing to the building) been like that?"
Disgust hissed from her lips and she replied, "for years, more than three. They ran out of money and left it there."
The rust stains seem to support the resident's statement as well as googlemaps which tend to built from images months to years old. Google's imagemap shows a sign that didn't exist when I was there a few weeks ago. Can you imagine what it does to your property values to live across the street from this for years? Which says nothing of what it does to your sense of well-being to live with that eye-sore. You can tell by the photos that they didn't even finish the exterior walls. Did they not have enough funding to complete even the outer walls which would help protect the interior structure from the elements? Which brings up a question in my mind; Is there no requirement that a developer has the money to complete a project before they are allowed to erect it?
(Additional) I just found a post on Brownstoner from this January past, describing this building:
"...the developer (of) 393 Lefferts Avenue in Crown Heights Prospect Lefferts Gardens(*) has put the partially-constructed seven-story building on the market. Asking price: $8,500,000. This comes out to an average price of $257,576 for each of the 33 apartments, or somewhere between $200 and $250 per foot depending on which square footage estimate you believe."
"So hot that condo developers are seeking building sites even in Prospect Lefferts Gardens"
the Daily News article goes on to an interview with "Steve Rosenberg" who they credit as developer of the incomplete condos above.
*They also give the historically accurate boundaries of Prospect-Lefferts Gardens ("The boundaries of the eight-block area are Lincoln Road, Flatbush Ave., Fenimore St. and Rogers Ave." for those making their maps at home) while ignoring the fact that this construction site is outside those bounds.
**I won't wade into the border wars on for this part of Brooklyn, except to say that in my three plus Brooklyn decades, being that near to Empire Blvd meant you were on the south border of Crown Heights. "Lefferts Gardens" (no Prospect) was always referred to by people I spoke with as ending at Bedford Av, west of that intersection. Conversely, I've heard that area has been referred to Crown Heights or Flatbush until you reach Kings County Hospital at which point we'd say East Flatbush.
So how is this: ...allowed to happen?
This question also relates to my post yesterday about Atlantic Yards, since the developer there has millions of dollars riding on being able to break ground this year and so what defines "breaking ground"? Does it mean having the resources to finish or simply enough money and materials to drive a stake deep into Brooklyn and her heart?
Does anyone know the answer and what if anything our local elected officials in the City Council have to say about this?
One of these images inspires jokes, the other laughs at our expense
Several area politicians in response to growing concern that the billionaire developer of the proposed Atlantic Yards Stadium project could get his hands on some Obama stimulus dollars have sent a letter to Governor Patterson excerpted below:
Assembly Members James Brennan, Hakeem Jeffries, and Joan Millman, Council Members Letitia James and David Yassky, and 52nd District Leader Jo Anne Simon sent the attached letter to Governor Paterson this past week. The letter explains why these Brooklyn elected officials feel the proposed Atlantic Yards project should not receive funds from the federal stimulus package passed last month.
The letter also suggest that people who have send their own letters to Govenor Patterson.
Brooklyn residents have expressed a similar concern, and the elected officials are providing a voice for their constituents. Please feel free to contact the offices of elected officials who signed onto this letter with any questions. Thank you.
For those who have no idea what Atlantic Yards is, in this blogger's opinion Atlantic Yards is a classic misuse of taxpayer dollars and taxpayer hopes by a developer intending to shove something huge and dishonest down our throats. I wrote some details of Atlantic Yards below but I'd recommend checking out both the Atlantic Yards wikipedia page and Atlantic Yards Report the site of reporter Norman Oder who from the beginning has been shining an unbiased light on what the project really is.
Here's a computer rendering projecting what the project would look like compared it's surroundings when it's done:
here's a line from wikipedia about the scale of the project:
"...since Atlantic Yards sits on 22 acres (89,000 m2), it can be expected to become the most densely populated census tract in North America, with a density of 361,000 to 490,000 people per square mile, about twice the density of the current densest census tract in the United States..."
If you can find it, you could also watch the Simpsons episode where Mr. Burns decides to destroy land and build an NBA stadium which sums up the whole issue pretty well. That episode is called "the Burns and the Bees" Here's a clip:
The point of the message our elected representatives has sent to the Governor is that it has been suggested that the developer of Atlantic Yards the proposed stadium, luxury condo and rental project which if completed would shoe-horn 20 sky scrapers into five square blocks, may be looking for Obama stimulus dollars to help complete the project which has lost funding thanks in part to the global economic crisis.
If you want to read more about the Atlantic Yards proposal (and you should since you're probably helping pay for it) here it is:
The developer Forest City Ratner (led by Bruce Ratner) had been expecting additional corporate and taxpayer dollars to help raise the money necessary to build. The project itself takes a mix of things people can support, like new housing, development and entertainment (the proposed Nets basketball stadium) and overdoes each element compounding the poor judgment is the attempt to place all of this on a few blocks at one of the most congested points in Brooklyn, the intersection of Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic Avenue which itself intersects a block away with Fourth Avenue.
In simple terms it's too big for the area it's proposed to be in, the claim of affordable housing is exaggerated, the impact to the area will be damaging and considering the project was decided by governmental officials without oversight, the project has spent too many millions of taxpayer dollars. Worse the developer without a clear plan has been allowed to destroy several buildings in the proposed development area making the area look more rundown than it had been.
Another jacked-up part of this project is that the land to be used is owned by the same MTA that operates the subway and even now is crying poverty to raise the transit fares. Well the land itself was valued at $215 million and yet they allowed Ratner to buy it for only $50 which he hasn't paid after six years.
the MTA accepted Forest City Ratner's bid of $50 million for the LIRR's rail yard, even though an appraisal valued it at $214.5 million. Extell, a Manhattan developer, later submitted a competing bid for $150 million. The MTA rejected that bid, but did negotiate with Forest City Ratner to get it to double its bid to $100 million. The MTA then accepted Ratner's new bid, even though it was $50 million less than Extell's.
The MTA hasn't seen a dime of the money yet. The opposition has waged a relentless court battle that has halted construction of the arena. Mr. Goldstein, whose condo stands smack in the middle of the proposed arena site, is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit aimed at blocking the state's use of eminent domain to condemn his building.
Currently the project is being fought most intensely by local residents including a group who would be forced out if the project is allowed to be completed as proposed.
The full letter: *************************************************** March 3, 2009 Honorable David A. Paterson Governor of the State of New York The Executive Chamber, State Capitol Albany, NY 12224
Dear Governor Paterson,
We are writing regarding reports that Forest City Ratner is requesting funds from the Federal stimulus package for the Atlantic Yards Project. We request that any application or other submitted documents to the Governor’s office related to the stimulus package be immediately disclosed to the public and the elected officials signing this letter. In addition, there should be a public hearing and opportunity for public comment on any application for funds. We also request a meeting with responsible state officials prior to any decision on the use of stimulus funds for Atlantic Yards.
It is our understanding that neither the M.T.A. nor the Empire State Development Corporation has submitted the Atlantic Yards project to your office as part of any list of projects for the use of Federal stimulus funds. This indicates that Atlantic Yards is not considered a priority by these agencies at this time.
It is regrettable that the State of New York, in cooperation with the developer, chose to override New York City’s zoning and land use laws for the Atlantic Yards project, depriving local community boards, the Brooklyn borough board, and the New York City Council, of what would have been their legal right to vote on the Atlantic Yards project. As a result, the project has never been vetted through the traditional democratic land use processes available to the community and the people of the City of New York.
Many events have occurred which have created uncertainty and risk regarding the 8 million square foot development approved by the State in December 2006. The original economic and financial assumptions upon which the approval was based have dramatically changed. At a meeting with elected officials in December, Forest City Ratner stated that it hopes to be able to finance the arena this summer, notwithstanding the economic climate, if current litigation against the project is unsuccessful. If it is unable to finance the arena, it has not yet committed to proceeding with a residential development. This is hardly a basis for the State to commit additional funds without a full public discussion process.
We hope your office will be quickly forthcoming with the requests we have made. Thank you.
Sincerely,
NYS Senator 18th S.D.Velmanette Montgomery Assemblymember 44th A.D. James F. Brennan Assemblymember 57th A.D. Hakeem Jeffries Assemblywoman 52nd A.D. Joan Millman Councilmember 35th C.D. Letitia James Councilmember 33rd C.D. David Yassky District Leader 52nd A.D. Jo Anne Simon
cc: New York State Congressional Delegations NYC Assembly and Senate Delegations Timothy Gilchrist, Deputy Secretary for Economic Development and Infrastructure Jeff Pearlman, Assistant Counsel, FOIL Officer, Governor’s Office Lee Sander, Executive Director, MTA
After a public expression of non-support from the Mayor, the Commissioner of Buildings has resigned, this in relation to all the poorly supervised construction sites in the city and unfortunately, occasional falling bodies. The video below is from the Brooklyn accident in February:
I wrote about this when the first rumblings were reported this morning and the story didn't stop obviously. Here's the posting I was writing before the commish got sacked: A story in Tuesday's NY Times about criticism of the City Buildings Department and it's commissioner over the flurry of construction deaths and building accidents, 12 already this year.
Included in the article is the crane collapse in midtown that destroyed a neighboring building, the worker who fell to his death at the new Trump building in Soho, there's no specific mention of the worker who dangled from a scaffolding eventually plummeting to his demise in Brooklyn on Clinton Ave.
Also mentioned in the article, the fact that the building who's crane destroyed it's neighbor, was out of scale for it's zoning area and should not have been built. This was confirmed by the Commissioner of Buildings. Makes you wonder if we as a city can increase scrutiny of projects and stop giving up the city to over zealous developers who are tearing down more than they are putting up.
Thursday morning as I was getting ready for work I heard sirens. It took a few minutes for me to realize that instead of going away they were getting louder. So I grabbed my camera, set for video and from that point on recorded what I saw. Sadly, a construction worker with hopes of earning money to support family in his native country, lost his life while laboring on a building project neither he nor his family could afford to live in.
This is the aftermath of that unfortunate incident.
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