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Queue Up The Rocky Music
 We seem to have a competition.
NY1 Reports: Also, ltjbukem relays a message from Develop Don’t Destroy: Extell responded to DDDb’s call. We met with them along with Marshall Brown of the AYDWS, and went over the UNITY plan with them. We explained to them why the community was opposed to the Ratner proposal, and urged them to put in a proposal to build as per the community guidelines: http://dddb.net/principles/ We know there are many many questions. What type of bid? How high are they building? How much affordable housing? What process will they go through? How will they work with the community? Extell will be putting out a Press Release at 5pm today when many of these questions will be answered. " Has anyone seen the press release from Extell? Update: Much more info plus a mock up for the Extell proposal from Newsday. |
Miss Brooklyn: Meet your Maker
The NY Times goes on a date with Atlantic Yards architect Frank Gehry. Meanwhile, area residents wonder “Why is it crooked?” in the Daily News.
"’Why are the buildings crooked?’ asked Manfred Pastrano, 36, a real estate investor in Prospect Heights, when he saw the latest renderings of the project.
‘That looks like downtown Manhattan,’ said Frederick Nixon, 46, a Transit Authority employee who lives on nearby Vanderbilt Ave. ‘I don’t want to be anywhere near that.’
‘It looks great, but not in Brooklyn,’ agreed Joe Pastore, 61, who lives at 473 Dean St., which would be razed to become center court at the Nets arena, if Ratner has his way.
‘Brooklyn should be Brooklyn, and people should live there with no skyscrapers and office towers. This is a place where people live,’ Pastore said………
But some Brooklynites were impressed by the grand plans for reflecting pools, walkways and sleek high-rise towers that may include up to 7,300 apartments along Atlantic Ave.
“Wow, that’s nice,” said Alex Debranche, 30, who owns an ice cream company in Flatbush.
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, one of the plan’s earliest and loudest cheerleaders, called the latest designs “exciting” and “awe-inspiring.”"
It is interesting that there are plastic slip covers draping some of the buildings- an homage to my Brooklyn grandmother? In any case, Ratner’s bid is expected today. [NY 1]
NYC 2012: Get on with your life
More amusing t-shirt ideas at .
DisasterTube Does Birthday at Beast
PET PEEVE: NYC photobloggers… I’m calling you out. I’m saying this because I love you like brothers and sisters. This hurts me more than it hurts you.
You all can do AMAZING THINGS with your digital cameras. And you have clearly reinvented the way people look at the city. But cities are not about things – they are about people. People like Best Friend of DisasterTube, pictured in this “Birthday at Beast” photo uploaded to the rapidly expanding Prospect Heights Photo Pool!
Clear Skies. Healthy Forests. Community Benefits.
Seriously… to paraphrase the Unity guys: what kind of a project has “community benefits” so vague and dubious that you have to get it in writing that there will actually be some kind of benefit to the community?
From WNYC: “Under the Community Benefits Agreement, Ratner pledged half of the 45-hundred apartments he plans to build for middle and low income residents, and promised to set aside 45 percent of the project’s construction jobs for minorities and women.”
And this is different, how? Brooklyn is a city of minorities. Don’t most of the construction crews you see on the streets of Brooklyn have at least 45% minority representation? Seriously, I’m asking here.
[Seriously, DeeDee is answering here: “the agreement will mean set-asides for minority- and women-OWNED contractors to do the work. This is a very important distinction…”]
And while we’re at it… “affordable housing” sounds suspiciously like one of those terms designed to make you think the exact opposite of what they really mean. Affordable to who? Does the “CBA” define price points for “affordable”? Can obscenely rich people like Mike Bloomberg actually have a realistic concept what “affordable” means?
PHOTO: Billionaire Mike Bloomberg vouches for Bruce Ratner, Real Estate Developer with a net worth exceeding $400 million: “You have Bruce Ratner’s word, and that should be enough for you and for everybody else in this community.” [New York One]
Lifestyle Issues of The White and ProHo
In response to Forbidden Phrases: Do Not Use Them, hollywood_african asks: “I agree that some of these phrases [“my bad”, “dawg”] are the kind of talk we hear from undesirable neighborhood non-whites all the time. isn’t that why this blog exists? to secretly whisper about the lifestyle issues [of] newly relocated non-non-whites face in ProHo [Prospect Heights]? I’m really glad that you’ve created a safe space here where the King’s English can thrive…three cheers for keeping our utopia blog-garden WEED-FREE!!!”
A. Thank you for your thoughtful feedback! However, DAILY HEIGHTS is not entirely convinced that overuse of the phrase “my bad” is endemic to neighborhood non-whites.
We have undertaken a careful investigation of the etymology of “my bad” and the cultural forces behind its popularity. Our research suggests the following: “my bad” may possibly have roots in games of “spades” played among prison inmates, and in Neighborhoods of Lower Socioeconomic Strata (NoLSS, or colloquially, “Hoods”).
However, multiple authoritative sources agree: overuse of “my bad” is directly attributable to “Clueless,” a 1995 movie that focused on the values and lifestyles of white, upper-class society. The fires of “my bad” were further stoked through inclusion in subsequent Hollywood screenplays and television programs, including at least 7 uses between 1998-2002 on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Example: “She killed him! Oops, my bad. It’s just dust I forgot to sweep under the rug.” [Cordelia]
While a thorough investigation of the term “dawg” has not been undertaken, anecdotal evidence suggests that this term, too, may have roots in NoLSS, but has become old and tired through repetition, ad nauseum, in mass media channels that celebrate the values of middle- to upper-class (and often white) suburban society, including American Idol, and most “reality” programming on MTV.
DAILY HEIGHTS thanks hollywood_african for the opportunity to clarify this matter.
Other Shoe: Dropped
Pack your bags, Dan…
DeeDee writes: “Just saw on CNN that the Supreme Court ruled in the eminent domain case in Connecticut. The Court ruled that local governments can seize private property (homes and businesses) for private economic development. This ruling would support the proposed Atlantic Yards development plan.”
Links:
Supreme Court Rules Cities May Seize Homes [Associated Press via Yahoo! News](Thanks to Ben for the tip)
Chaos Ensues in Daily Heights Forums [Daily Heights Forums]
[Curbed] Hoodwinked Finalist #4: FLATenD
Candicissima writes: “Today on Curbed.com, a funny entry in the Hoodwinked contest that definitely relates to Daily Heights:”
“Name: FLATenD
Submitted By: ‘asdasd werett’
Boundaries: Starting at the the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic, ending at Dean.
Description: Site of Ratner’s arena. Populated by scrappy contrarians and stubborn hotties who believe that developers can go to hell. Where they can block all the light in hell. Block all the light from the flickering flames of hell.”
LINK: Curbed.com
