DailyHeights

“Great urban planning incorporates many different uses into a cohesive neighborhood, and truly great urban planning invites the public to participate in the space, whether they work there or live there or they’re drawn there to visit.”

– Bruce Ratner, 2003, quoted by executive director of group (PICCED)that produced independent study finding that Forest City Ratner (1) has not made provisions to integrate the Atlantic Yard project into the surrounding neighborhood, and that (2) has eschewed the public review process.

“The Project does not appear to utilize street-level design to incorporate the project into the community.” – PICCED researcher

“The process so far has not been participatory or accountable.” – PICCED bottom-line finding.

HIGHLIGHTS:

The PICCED report will be updated with new information on the “Memorandum of Understanding” (MoU) signed between Forest City Ratner, the City and the State last Friday.

The MoU puts the Atlantic Yards project on the map. “Until last week, the project had no official formal existence” beyond press releases and websites, the PICCED executive director said. Now it’s “an official relevant public project” as of last week: “in some ways, the formal public process is just getting started.”

ATTACK ON PRATT Several people are calling Pratt’s “objectivity” into question, partly because black residents were underrepresented in a Prospect Heights neighborhood survey on community concerns about the Atlantic Yards project. PICCED’s executive director is urging people to read their report, which they claim is “probably the most objective document” written about the project. With regard to the survey, they say they helped a neighborhood conduct a voluntary survey and they didn’t represent it as anything else.

UPDATES CONTINUE…

"Hear what the Ratner project could mean to our neighborhood in terms of:

• displacement of residents
• impact on schools, police and fire services
• effect on small businesses
• transportation issues"

"The presentation will also include a discussion of the project’s
claimed community benefits as well as its financial impact to city and
state taxpayers." Monday, March 7, 7:00 PM; P.S. 9, 80 Underhill Avenue (between St. Marks Ave. and Bergen St.); Invited officials: Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz; Councilmember Letitia James

Danae writes that the PHNDC is hosting a meeting Monday, March 7 at PS 9 (80 Underhill Ave.). The Pratt Institute’s Center for Community and Environmental Development (PICCED) will present findings from the Environmental Impact Study they conducted on Atlantic Yards.

Full details next week…

The Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council, Inc. (PHNDC),
formed in the spring of 2004, is an umbrella group representing
Prospect Heights block associations and civic organizations. Some of
the group’s stated goals are to "guide development" and "preserve the diversity that is the hallmark of this vibrant community." PHNDC is probably best known for commissioning an independent neighborhood development study predicated at least in part by concerns over the potential negative impact of the Forest City Ratner Atlantic Yards Project on the neighborhood. Recently, the PHNDC has been meeting with the Borough President’s office in an effort to keep the residents of Prospect Heights involved in the development of the Environmental Impact Study (EIS). The founder and chair of PHNDC is Gib Veconi.

OK. There’s the first draft.