ATLANTIC YARDS CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

ATLANTIC YARDS CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

Weeks of July 20, 2009 through July 27, 2009

In an effort to keep the Atlantic Yards Community aware of upcoming construction activities, ESD and Forest City Ratner provide the following outline of anticipated upcoming construction activities.

Please note: the scope and nature of activities are subject to change based upon field conditions. All work has been approved by appropriate City and State agencies where required. In addition to the activities described below noise attenuation and vibration monitoring measures are underway in connection with the Memorandum of Environmental Commitments dated 12/08/06.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact our project Ombudsperson at: 212-803-3233 or AtlanticYards@empire.state.ny.us

Long Island Rail Road/Vanderbilt Yard Work

• Assembly and launching of Trestle Bridge (BL1121)

• Installation of conduit and cable within Yard (BL1120 and 1121)

• Installation of underground water line (BL1120 and 1121)

• Work is anticipated to continue through the end of the year.

Environmental Remediation

• Previously installed rigs have been replaced by small crew and pick up truck.

• Sampling on Block 1118, lot1 and Block 1119, lots 1, 64, continues

Infrastructure

• Required Maintenance and Protection of Traffic (MPT) has been installed

• Infrastructure work related to installation of new sewer chambers at the intersection of 6th Avenue at Pacific Street has commenced. This work is part of the first of three phases of upgraded water and sewer installations previously commenced at the site. Chamber work is expected to take 12 weeks from commencement.

IMPORTANT ATLANTIC YARDS INFO AND DATES…

To submit public input:

If you have time to make a written statement, please let us know.  We are working as a group so that our concerns are expressed clearly and completely.  It is essential you give us copies of your input! Email: pkrashes@earthlink.net

Email: atlanticyards@empire.state.ny.us

Mailing address:

ESDC

Attention: Steve Matlin, Senior Counsel

633 Third Avenue, 37th Floor

New York, NY 10017

Our block association is coordinating submissions to maximize effectiveness.  Please consult with us.  If submitting via email, please indicate in subject line: “Public Comment for Atlantic Yards MGPP.” Deadline for all submission for comments is August 31, 2009 at 5:30pm.

IMPORTANT MEETINGS:

1).  Atlantic Yards Community Forum

TIME:  July 22nd from 6:00 –9:00

PLACE:  Long Island University’s Zeckendorf Health Sciences Center, Room 107  (enter Dekalb Avenue, off Flatbush Avenue).

Please join Brooklyn Community Boards 2, 6 & 8 at an Informational Meeting to hear an updated presentation on proposed modifications to the Atlantic Yards Development General Project Plan. At this meeting proposed modifications to the plan will be presented by representatives for the New York State Empire Development Corporation and Forest City Ratner Companies. Following the presentation there will be an opportunity for questions (to be submitted in writing) and answers.

2).

The two scheduled Atlantic Yards hearings are as follows:

TIME:  July 29th, 2-5 PM and 6-8 PM

&

July 30th  2-5 PM and 6-8 PM

PLACE:   Klitgord Auditorium at New York city Technical College

(285 Jay Street near Tillary)  (A/C to Jay Street, 2/3 to Borough Hall)

These hearings are to accept comments on the modifications to the general project plans.

Written comments will receive equal consideration to testimony received at the hearing, and can be submitted via email or U.S. mail.

The ESDC has just posted protocols on their website for the hearings.  Talks will be three minutes and the mike will be turned off for ANYONE who goes over.  Speakers will be alternated between pro and con.  Sign up will start one hour before each session.  Any attendee who disrupts the hearing will be escorted off the premises.  http://www.empire.state.ny.us/pdf/AtlanticYards/HearingProtocol.pdf

In addition, if you have time to make a written statement PLEASE let us know.  We are working as a group so that our concerns are expressed clearly and completely.  IT IS ESSENTIAL YOU GIVE US COPIES OF YOUR INPUT! Email: pkrashes@earthlink.net

Please note a demonstration against the project has been arranged by DDDB on July 29th at 1PM outside the auditorium.

Atlantic Yards Meetings – July 22, 29 & 30th!

Atlantic Yards Informational Meeting on Wednesday, July 22, 6 – 9 pm &

Public Hearing on Wednesday, July 29, 2 – 5 pm

& Thursday, July 30, 6 – 8 pm

Please join Brooklyn Community Boards 2, 6 & 8 at an Informational Meeting to hear an updated presentation on proposed modifications to the Atlantic Yards Development General Project Plan. At this meeting proposed modifications to the plan will be presented by representatives for the New York State Empire Development Corporation and Forest City Ratner Companies. Following the presentation there will be an opportunity for questions (to be submitted in writing) and answers. Visit:

Click to access 2009-07-22%20Arena%20Meeting%20Notice.pdf

Meeting will be held 6 -9 pm on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 at Long Island University’s Zeckendorf Health Sciences Center, Room 107 (enter Dekalb Avenue, off Flatbush Avenue).

Also …

Atlantic Yards – Public Hearing July 29 & 30

An Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) legal notice (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mJPzxRaCL64/SkiUjfZ8YwI/AAAAAAAAHpQ/TxqMA7yWU2w/s1600-h/ishot-1490.jpg ) announced a public hearing on the Atlantic Yards Modified General Project Plan to be held on Wednesday, July 29, 2-5pm & Thursday, July 30, 6-8 pm.

Location:

Klitgord Auditorium of New York City Technical College, where the epic 8/23/06 hearing on Draft Environmental Impact Statement and General Project Plan was held. The address is 285 Jay Street near Tillary; take the A/C to Jay Street or 2/3 to Borough Hall.

More info: http://www.nolandgrab.org/archives/2009/06/public_hearing_3.html

Important Meeting- Monday, July 20th at 7:30 – Spread the word!

Learn what you can do for the upcoming public hearings on Atlantic Yards – join us!

When: Monday, July 20th at 7:30-9:00

Where: 535 Dean Street #313 (Newswalk)

The Atlantic Yards Project is about to proceed through a set of important hearings and new approvals.  What is Atlantic Yards now? The city, the state and the MTA have changed the structure of their agreements with Forest City Ratner so that the only parts of the project guaranteed to happen are an arena designed by an architecture firm from Kansas City and the start of two more buildings within five years of the vacant property being delivered to the developer.  As of this moment no official illustrations of the site plan of the project exist.  With the exception of the addition of some interim open space, images produced last year show the most likely outcome in our lifetimes:

www.atlanticlots.com

The state continues to argue the project will be built in full, although they concede it will take decades.  No independent feasibility studies of the project have been released to the public, and nothing obligates the developer to cover the remaining 2/3 of the rail yard, build underground parking, create the lion’s share of the affordable housing or create any permanent public outdoor space. The environmental analysis of the project still assumes a ten year timetable to full build out and no additional impacts, even though we will almost certainly live within an incomplete or abandoned project for decades.

Please attend this very important meeting to discuss the concrete things each of us can do for our community.

Also to be discussed:  Dean Playground reopening now delayed until mid-October.

Your Input Is Essential – Please Invite Your Neighbors

2009 Block Party

The block party on June 27th was a great success!!

The 3rd Annual 2009 Dean Street Block Party was great fun for everyone who attended.  By most accounts, it was the best yet!  Highlights for the kids included the firehouse tour, face painting, the dance competition and rampant play on the streets – check out the pictures below.  For the adults, eating and cooking and eating was the main activity.  Photos prove the spontaneous Electric Slide was more than a rumor, and that some Dean Street residents have clearly been practicing!

Thanks to everyone for their hard work — the event would not have been a success without the generosity of the many volunteers who contributed food, energy and time to make this year so special.  Special thanks to the families who contributed and cooked enough food to feed both a neighborhood and some pretty hungry basketball players, as well as the face painters who did not stand up for nearly five hours straight.

The event could not have happened without contributions from the following neighborhood businesses.  Please thank them for their support!  They include:

Met Foods at 632 Vanderbilt Ave

Christie’s Jamaican Patties at 387 Flatbush Ave at Sterling Place

Bodega at  Dean & 6th Ave

Sushi Tatsu at 347 Flatbush Ave  between Carlton Avenue & Sterling Place

Dean Street Fire Station – Engine 219 – Ladder 105  at 6th Ave & Dean St

DJ Felix

For more pics visit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/deanstreet11217/sets/72157621321012219/

Have pics? Email them to inawillers@gmail.com to have them posted here.