2012: Atlantic Yards is coming
NYT asks “Or will it be a vortex of traffic, trash and other civic headaches, as some residents fear?”
Really NYT, there is some hesitation and doubt in your mind as to what it’s going to be?
We are f$$$d. Brooklyn is f$$$d. Thank you, again, Michael Bloomberg.
When the sports arena that anchors the $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards project finally opens in September, after more than eight years of lawsuits and construction delays, it will undoubtedly transform Downtown Brooklyn. But will the 19,000-seat Barclays Center, soon to be home to the Netsand host to Jay-Z, the circus and 200 other events a year, help its neighborhood become an epicenter of entertainment and commerce, as most officials predict? Or will it be a vortex of traffic, trash and other civic headaches, as some residents fear?
Wedged into the triangle between Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues, on top of a rebuilt transit hub, the arena has already closed streets, bred rats and infuriated neighbors during its construction. And the ribbon-cutting will not be the end. Forest City Ratner intends to break ground this spring on the first of 16 more buildings planned for the area around the stadium: a 32-story residential tower that could make pioneering use of lower-cost modular construction.
The ambition of Atlantic Yards speaks to the flourishing ofBrooklyn development in general: from rental high-rises downtown to boutique hotels in Williamsburg to big-box stores in East New York. Wal-Mart is hoping to muscle its way there this year, having already made donations to the community and the charity of Marty Markowitz, the borough president.
