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Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park infographics: what's built/what's coming/what's missing, who's responsible, + project FAQ/timeline (pinned post)

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Is something brewing? Atlantic Yards Community Development Corp. meeting set for Wednesday, two months after previous one. No agenda yet.

Is something brewing regarding Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park with Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project? Maybe. Less than two months after the previous meeting of the advisory Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC), which is supposed to meet quarterly but has not kept to that schedule, an AY CDC meeting has been set for Wednesday, March 20 at 3 pm. No agenda has surfaced yet--I'll follow up when it's posted--so we don't know if this indicates that parent ESD is looking for feedback on, or a rubber stamp for, any project proposals, such as a revised state posture toward the six development parcels scheduled for a foreclosure sale on April 30. That means discussion of the $2,000/month liquidated damages due--or not?--for the 876 (or 877) units of affordable housing not delivered by May 2025.  Or, perhaps, a new project-specific synthetic substitute for the 421-a tax break that has, for example, re-enabled co

As legislature faces April 1 budget deadline, approval of a successor to 421-a tax break could nudge the future of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park

For various reasons, it's not surprising that the foreclosure auction of six Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park development sites has been postponed twice, most recently to April 30 . The most obvious reason is the complexity of a future deal, since the development rights are attached to obligations to build a costly platform as well as obligations to build affordable housing, which come with liquidated damages for units not built by May 2025. That means the parties include not just the debt holders, funds formed with money from EB-5 investor visa borrowers, and future bidders, but also Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project and could clarify/renegotiate/subsidize the obligations.  Of course, the gubernatorially-controlled ESD shouldn't do that without input from elected officials and the public. The 421-a quandary But there's another issue. By April 1, the state budget is due, and should include new policies to support housing cons

Account of Downtown Brooklyn luxury living ignores failure to require affordability in upzoning. Serhant swivels from promoting "park" to in-building lifestyle.

So, check out  Settling, in Downtown Brooklyn , published three days ago by New York magazine's Curbed, quoting wealthy people who've moved to the new amenity-rich high-rises in Downtown Brooklyn, happy to have gym, laundry, roof deck all within their residence. From the article: Downtown Brooklyn’s rise as a luxury-living destination happened almost despite itself. In the 20 years since its rezoning, 22,000 new apartments have been built with 8,000 more on the way, and each luxury tower seems to function as a self-contained little universe for its contented inhabitants. The benefit is price compared to Manhattan, with a quick commute, as well as a relatively short walk, depending on location, to Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene, or Barclays and BAM. So, while the Williamsburg and Greenpoint waterfronts offer great views and green space, they're far from the subway. It's interesting to hear Ryan Serhant, the real-estate agent whose firm markets Brooklyn Point, saying, “

From the latest Construction Update: nothing's happening, so delayed info delivery not crucial

On Friday, March 8, at 4:35 pm, those on Empire State Development's (ESD) email list for Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park got an email stating: Attached for your information is the March 4, 2024 and March 11, 2024 Atlantic Yards Project construction activity update. As a reminder, please be advised that construction alert emails will be sent once a month until there is a change in construction activity. Bi-weekly construction alerts will continue to update on the Atlantic Yards website: https://esd.ny.gov/atlantic-yards-community-development-corporation-1 . Note that a document that was supposed to be delivered before the first of two work weeks began was instead delivered at the end of that first work week. Then again, since nothing's happening, such slacking is not particularly irresponsible. I was on vacation when I got the document. Had it disclosed anything important, I would have written about it promptly. Instead, I slacked, too. What is pending: the school That said, ESD, th

Now FBI raids Bronx homes of Winnie Greco, longtime Brooklyn BP liaison to Chinese community, more recently an aide to Mayor Adams

Drip, drip drip. It turns out that a person who looked pretty dubious a decade ago (!) may indeed be pretty dubious. (Another one too, albeit with a shorter horizon--see bottom.) As The CITY reported two days ago,  FBI Raids Homes of Mayoral Aide Winnie Greco and New World Mall, Site of Eric Adams Campaign Operations : FBI agents raided two Bronx homes owned by a top aide to Mayor Eric Adams early Thursday morning, along with the offices of a Queens mall that hosted Adams campaign operations. THE CITY previously uncovered strong evidence of potentially illegal straw donations tied to the mall. The aide, Adams’ director of Asian affairs Winnie Greco , was deeply involved in eight separate fundraising events at the New World Mall that generated tens of thousands of dollars for Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign...  Greco, who is paid $100,000 a year for her City Hall job, is already being probed by the city’s Department of Investigation in the aftermath of another story by THE CITY detailing

Barclays Center releases March 2024 event calendar: 23 ticketed events over 20 days, including two basketball tourneys and six concerts

The Barclays Center yesterday released its March 2024 event calendar, with 23 ticketed events over 20 days: six Brooklyn Nets games, seven Atlantic 10 men's basketball events over five days, three NCAA March Madness tournament events over two days, six concerts, and one comedy show. That's a boost from  March 2023 , which had 17 ticketed events over 15 days, with just three concerns and no March Madness.  Could this be credited, at least in part, to the role of Ticketmaster (linked with promoter Live Nation) as ticket provider, to which the arena returned  last year  after a stint with SeatGeek? March 2023 Note that last year, during the Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament, the arena expected a large number of attendees arriving via bus, but no such warning was part of this year's notice.