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March 07, 2005
Atlantic Yards (opinion)
Recently someone I respect was overheard saying that I was Marty Markowitz's chief nemesis. This statement surprised me because I have always treated Marty with respect. While it's true I don't agree with everything he does, I don't recall ever saying anything negative about him. But it was brought to my attention that I have stated that I am opposed to the Atlantic Yards project. This also surprised me because, like most of our local elected officials, I have no firm position on a plan whose scope and detail I don't know. In fact, no one does as far as I know. And I have asked a lot of people and all our elected officials.
At a recent meeting at IND, Mayoral candidate and City Council Speaker Gifford Miller commented that he had not taken a position on the Atlantic Yards Project because he has not seen it. He also stated that he has asked to see it.
Here is what I have said publicly about the Downtown Brooklyn Rezoning Plan.
"If you add 500 cars to Flatbush Ave. at the height of rush hour, how much longer would your trip take? The answer is 3 seconds. That was the answer I received when I asked one of the planners of the Downtown Brooklyn Rezoning Plan that question. The answer was then, and is now, laughable. The person who gave me that answer was Philip Habib. The same person who will be doing a traffic analysis for Brooklyn Bridge Park.
If the Downtown Brooklyn Rezoning Plan is completely built out there will be an additional 854 inbound trips during the morning rush hour, and over a thousand outbound trips in the evening. We’re taking about cars, and lots of them. The intersection of Adams and Tillary Street will have four unmitigated impacts in the morning rush hour. The last time I went through that intersection, it only had four corners. Atlantic and Fourth Avenue will have two unmitigated impacts in the evening. If you’ve ever gone through that intersection after 4 pm, you know that it is currently almost impassable. Just imagine what another few hundred cars an hour will do. There is no mention of spillover - but we all know what happens when traffic starts backing up and it’s not a 3 second delay.
The planners write that the project will be the “third largest business district after Midtown and Downtown Manhattan”. The question they have not asked is if Downtown Brooklyn can support a project this large or more importantly, if the residents want it. From reading through the Executive Summary, it is clear that the project is too large. On page 37 they state that to avoid the unmitigated impacts the overall program size would have to be “reduced by approximately 95%”!"
That's what I said at Boro Hall. I stand by those comments. What I have said about the Atlantic Yards project is that if they cannot find a way to mitigate the problems caused by the Rezoning Plan, then what can we expect from the Atlantic Yards? Filling the streets with cars is not what the people of Brooklyn want. Filing every subway car to capacity is not healthy, fun or realistic. All I ask is that if you plan something, you do it correctly. I have not seen the full plan for the Atlantic Yards. But I know that the MTA is broke and not expanding subway service in Brooklyn. So where does that leave us?
And I still have nothing against Marty Markowitz.
Posted by klowy at 10:56 PM | Comments (0)