Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In

Whatever you think of the idea of a highrise cluster in Downtown Brooklyn, you have to worry that the sponsors of the Atlantic Yards project suggest that creating jobs and housing justifies the kind of planning that discourages street life. Among the lowlights of the marathon August 23 "public hearing" on the draft Environmental Impact Statement covering the Atlantic Yards, consider these signs:

Project supporters invoked jobs, healthcare facilities and affordable housing. One said she'd accept skyscraper shadows to get social services and affordable apartments where they're lacking. But what kind of urban environment will the Forest City Ratner plan create?

You heard nothing from supporters about sidewalks, cool retail sites or places for kids to play ball. You heard project opponents warning that the site would close Pacific Street and keep open space between towers, functionally making it into a backyard for condo owners. And you heard no agreement between the camps that you could create jobs and affordable housing while, simultaneously, creating a great public realm. Indeed, the discussion of quality of life hinged on the question of how tall the buildings could get. Even if the buildings in Ratner's proposal all get a ten-story haircut, project opponents warned, this area could become more attractive to gaze at from a terrace than to walk around after a game. Consider:

The plan, in tallying open space near the site, includes Grand Army Plaza, which one testifier called one of the "least accessible and least used" open spaces in the country. (Of course, some people are trying to change that.) It also includes an indoor "urban room" that the developer envisions as a glassed-in atrium with a ticket window.

The plan would close a piece of Pacific Street, making the already lonely walk from Fort Greene to Park Slope even more of a moonscape.

The plan ignores rush-hour traffic, projecting a peak car volume in the first hour of NBA games rather than in the hour before they start.

And it envisions a limo-dropoff lane on Flatbush Avenue which, according to civic groups, would clash with the MTA's potential use of Bus Rapid Transit on that street.

Overall, the plan justifies desolate streets by promising jobs and affordable housing. Isn't that like justifying a team that can't pass by promising lots of slam dunks? And does anybody remember how Team USA did with that strategy in the 2004 Olympics?

Whatever happens from here, project opponents and project supporters will have to share these streets.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

New Bill Would Block Apps From Deactivating Workers Without Cause

A Brooklyn Council member wants delivery app companies to be more human and less robot.

July 18, 2025

Friday Video: Is Berlin a Great Biking City?

Have recent moves by anti-bike, pro-car legislators ruined the experience in the capital of a unified Germany? Sort of!

July 18, 2025

Eyes on the Street: Meeker Avenue Bike Lane Is a Failure

The Department of Transportation still hasn't finished a critical bike lane under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway that the agency has been stalling for over four years even after identifying the strip's danger and lack of proper signals.

July 18, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: Cuomo’s Road Rage Edition

Why does Andrew Cuomo drive so recklessly? Plus other news.

July 18, 2025

Fixing Third Ave. Was Once ‘Top of List’ For Eric Adams — But as Mayor He Backed Off

Mayor Adams has delayed a redesign of Brooklyn's Third Avenue despite once saying safety fixes there should be "at the top of our list."

July 17, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines: Jerry Nadler Edition

U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler faced off with Sean Duffy on Capitol Hill. Plus more news.

July 17, 2025
See all posts