The NYC Economic Development Corporation claims that the destruction of the Duffield Street homes is important because economic development of the area cannot proceed without their proposed parking lot and grassy knoll. The Daily Eagle, a big booster of the massive developments in and around Downtown Brooklyn sums it up in Atlantic Yards Still Largest Project on the Table. The article dutifully publishes the reports of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership:
My! That's a lot of milestones. While most people's eyes will glaze over by these numbers, it is important to understand that a huge new neighborhood is rising.Another milestone project, long in fruition, is One Brooklyn Plaza, a 640,000-square-foot office building at the corner of Fulton Street and Boerum Place. There will also be about 160,000 square feet of retail. This project will completely change the western end of what used to be called the Fulton Mall. A second development called Albee Square Center, a housing development at the old Albee Square Mall site, will change the other entrance at Flatbush Avenue.
Another new development, which could also be a milestone, is a new 923,000-square-foot building scheduled to be built on the site of the Klitgord Auditorium of the New York College of Technology. The plan now is for 600 units of housing, all market rate; 23,000 square feet of retail; and 300,000 square feet for offices and facilities for the CUNY school.
Speculation is that either this building or Albee Square Center could become the tallest building in Brooklyn. One flatters the Manhattan Bridge entrance, the other the Brooklyn Bridge.
We can still have the economic benefits of these buildings without destroying the Abolitionist homes.
