Atlantic Yards Project

Atlantic Yards, also known as Pacific Park, is a multi-use residential and commercial development project which consists of 17 high rise buildings located in Prospect Heights located next to Downtown Brooklyn, New York City. A major component of this project was the Barclays Center, opened in September of 2012, the sports arena currently serves as the home for the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Islanders. The project is being developed by Forest City Ratner of Cleveland Ohio and was architected by Frank Gehry who was later replaced by Ellerbe Becket and the SHoP Architecture firm in 2009.

The community benefits agreement for this specific project, which was based upon that of the Staples Center in Los Angeles, was signed on June 27, 2005 between Forest City Ratner and several community groups to provide a range of benefits for the community. This legally binding agreement will serve to create affordable housing, jobs for minorities within the community, senior housing, a health care center within the project and open space for public use free of charge. According to the Project Developer, the purpose of this project is to “create a vibrant community of all ages and income levels and provide the enhancement of life for the residents of the Project by providing needed community benefits which will include a community health center, a senior citizens center, parks and open spaces and Arena related programs.” (Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement, pg.16) The project manager and the DBNA, the Downtown Brooklyn Neighborhood Alliance, plan on joining forces with an appropriate health care provider with the hope that they will operate within the community health care center. This center will include a health care clinic, a health promoting center which will serve as an educational tool for patients, a health library as well as a screening and wellness center. The project developer must include six acres of open space for public use free of charge, which will consist of plazas, walkways, terraces, fountains and lawns. In addition to the physical construction of the parks, “the Project Developer shall assist local community groups in obtaining public or private financing for the improvement of local parks and recreation areas throughout the community. “(Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement, pg.30) In regards to the construction of the Barclays Center, the Arena Developer will seek to make the arena a major part of the already existing community. This will include event availability, discounted tickets to members of the community, meditation room, the creation of a fund raising foundation, a project gallery to serve as an educational tool and parking open to the public when the arena is not in use.  The Developer and the Coalition will work together with the common goal to include long-term affordable housing in the residential section of the project, the project developer “will make 50% of the residential units built at the project affordable to low and moderate income families.” (Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement, pg.22) In regards to senior housing, the project developer “intends to provide for 10% percent of rental units at the project to be available to senior citizens.” (Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement, pg.24) Although this CBA looks like it aims to help the community surrounding this massive project there is much controversy over the fact that the projects adversaries believe that they have been wronged in more than one way.

In a Huffington Post blog, Daniel Goldstein, founder of Develop Don’t destroy Brooklyn, referred to the Atlantic Yards Project  as “a corrupt land grab, a taxpayer rip-off, a bait and switch of epic proportions, and a complete failure of democracy.” (Goldstein, Daniel) Goldstein even had a movie made about him titled, Battle for Brooklyn. This movie highlighted his experiences as the last remaining homeowner in his building during the period of time when he battled Bruce Ratner’s Forest City real estate company. The film documents that the land was obtained by the Atlantic Yards developers through various means including the controversial declaration of the buildings in the area as destroyed as well as the use of eminent domain to take land from businesses/homeowners in the affected community. (About: Battle for Brooklyn) The use of eminent domain was just one of the many controversies surrounding the Atlantic Yards Project, there were also wastewater management issues as well as lawsuits issued by community groups in the area. In regards to the negative environmental impact that this project proposed, the sewage that would be created from the development will overload the already existing waste treatment system. This could result in billions of gallons of untreated wastewater which would drain into waterways around the city each year. Since the creation of this project there have been community groups filing lawsuits against Bloomberg, Governor Pataki, and Bruce Ratner with the intention of stopping the project. These community groups are attempting to charge these individuals on the grounds that the Atlantic Yards project does not serve public use, which is one of the requirements of their CBA.

Norman Oder, the journalist who has been covering the story of the Atlantic Yards development on his blog, was asked in a 2012 interview if he felt that entire project development has been shrouded in deceit? In his response he highlighted the fact that “The Community Benefits Agreement promised an independent compliance monitor (to monitor the project) but they’ve never hired one and instead Forest City Ratner [the developer] self- reports.” (Oder, Norman) In 2010, Bruce Ratner was interviewed by Matthew Schuerman, a local news channel reporter, and said 10 years had never been the timeframe for completing Atlantic Yards when in fact Schuerman said that was the time they had always projected. (Oder, Norman) In his interview, Norman sheds light on the fact there are only 2,000 arena jobs, but these opportunities are not full-time jobs. Over 32,000 people applied for jobs which shows the deep need for jobs in Brooklyn. The community in the area surrounding Atlantic Yards feels like they have been misled and deceived, even lied to.