A Parking Lot Grows in Brooklyn

12:02 PM EST on December 6, 2006

Norman "the Human Tape Rec'oder" Oder , the hardest working advocacy journalist in New York City, has really been digging in to the important but not-particularly-sexy issue of parking policy at Forest City Enterprise's proposed "Atlantic Yards" development in Brooklyn.

In July when the project's Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) was issued it included a plan to limit parking at the arena to vehicles carrying three or more people, except for an unspecified number of suites. The final EIS issued in November clarified that policy: Only about half of the parking space will be for HOV vehicles. "Five hundred spaces would be dedicated to suites and premium seating and would not be subject to the HOV parking requirements." From Chapter 19 of the FEIS:

To encourage higher occupancy in auto travel to and from the arena and to discourage single and two-person auto trips, approximately 600 of the 1,100 parking spaces available on-site for use by fans at a Nets basketball game would have a three or more person requirement after 5 PM on game days. This would be advertised for fans purchasing tickets on-line. The objective is to encourage increased vehicle occupancy by using a location incentive. The remaining 500 spaces would be dedicated to suites and premium seating and would not be subject to the HOV parking requirements.

Also from Oder's Atlantic Yards Report:

Transit-oriented development, except for construction workers

The Atlantic Yards project is being billed as "transit-oriented development," but the project Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) is notably defensive about a big parking lot for construction workers.

Interim surface parking & open space: the road not taken

Less than six months ago, Forest City considered a hybrid of both interim surface parking and temporary open space for the southeast block of the development--at least by 2010, after the lot had been used as parking for construction workers. The idea was rejected as impractical, since parking was deemed more necessary, according to the Atlantic Yards Final Environmental Impact Statement. So maybe it's the road not taken. Or maybe the concept remains, to be proffered as a compromise at crunch time, when the developer and the Empire State Development Corporation need to get Atlantic Yards past Sheldon Silver and the Public Authorities Control Board.

Aaron Naparstek

AARON NAPARSTEK is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparsteks journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. Naparstek is the author of "Honku: The Zen Antidote for Road Rage" (Villard, 2003), a book of humorous haiku poetry inspired by the endless motorist sociopathy observed from his apartment window. Prior to launching Streetsblog, Naparstek worked as an interactive media producer, pioneering some of the Web's first music web sites, online communities, live webcasts and social networking services. Naparstek is currently in Cambridge with his wife and two young sons where he is enjoying a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. He has a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Naparstek is a co-founder of the Park Slope Neighbors community group and the Grand Army Plaza Coalition. You can find more of his work here: http://www.naparstek.com.