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June 16, 2006
Nerts to Nets
The Municipal Art Society has become the first citywide group in New York to oppose developer Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards development plan (which includes a Brooklyn arena for the New Jersey Nets), saying that as currently constituted, the project would violate five basic urban design principles: respecting existing neighborhoods, retaining existing streets, keeping parkland accessible to the public, promoting street life, and reducing traffic. (The MAS specifically didn't address the question of public subsidies, which depending on who you ask would be anywhere from $200 million to well north of $1 billion.) For more on the MAS critique and the public response, see my article on the Village Voice's Power Plays blog, or Norman Oder's 3,000-word blow-by-blow at Atlantic Yards Report.
I don't recall the Municipal Art Society speaking up about the Yankees' stadium, which would seem to violate those same principles. I guess there are different standards for different neighborhoods.
Posted by MIB on June 20, 2006 12:59 PM