Reuters: Economic growth in NY's Brooklyn holds lessons for cities

Reuter just published an article, "Economic growth in NY's Brooklyn holds lessons for cities." It praises the economic growth of Downtown Brooklyn. Of course, there is no mention of the businesses and residents that were displaced or destroyed to create this economic miracle.

Abolitionist-deniers lose funding

The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, one of the great cheerleaders for demolishing the Abolitionist and Underground Railroad history on Duffield Street, are losing some of their generous taxpayer support. While schools and firehouses are facing massive cuts, Borough President Marty Markowitz came to the defense of the highly-capitalized partnership:

Markowitz indicated the city should continue to help defray the cost of running the DBP.

“I applaud Downtown Brooklyn Partnership’s work, and it is absolutely critical that the City continue to support our vibrant downtown — New York City’s third largest business district — and emphasize economic development here as new hotels, Class A office space, residential developments and retail businesses come on line,” said Markowitz.

But City Council member Lew Fidler feels that DBP salaries are too high, with several members getting fairly high six-figure salaries, including President Joe Chan, who makes $220,000.

“There are other ways of planning for and promoting downtown Brooklyn other than an organization funded with public money,” said Fidler. “There’s already a lot of big developers and BID (Business Improvement Districts) that can contribute.”

Read more at BoroPolitics.

Getting rid of those pesky Abolitionists

The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership

is proud to bring Brooklyn forward by obliterating any bit of history of those pesky Abolitionists. Oh, maybe a plaque or two will be nice, but those homes have to go.

No, they haven't actually said that in words, but they have said this in images found here:

http://www.dbpartnership.org/utils/imgshow.aspx?sid=11

Here is an annotated version of their vision:





Click here for animated version.

AYR: The bonsai Bryant Park and other fudges from the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership's video

Actor Ian McKellen narrates a promotional video for the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, and the Atlantic Yards Report has this to say:

We can figure out why the video doesn't mention that the planned Willoughby Square park (right) is the site of an eminent domain fight, but the claim that it would be "a beautiful public space similar to midtown's Bryant Park" begs for some fact-checking. Bryant Park is eight acres. Willoughby Square would be 1.25 acres. More precisely, it would be a bonsai Bryant Park.

It continues:

The video does a bang-up job of avoiding the news that the Downtown Brooklyn rezoning, intended to spur office construction, didn't quite work as expected. Instead, with the assistance of 421-a tax breaks subsidizing luxury construction, it will make some residential developers a nice return and bring some wealthier people downtown.

The city once expected 4.6 million square feet of office space by 2013, even though the rezoning would have allowed an additional 2 million more square feet. Now the prediction is 1.5 million square feet by 2012, though the DBP fudges it by combining office and retail space--which are very different--and calling it 3 million square feet.

For more, click here.

Brownstoner: Duffield St. Hotel Site Sells for $9.5 Mil

Brownstoner reports on more dramatic developments in "Duffield Street Hotel Site Sells for $9.5 Mil":

Plans for a boutique hotel on Duffield Street appear to be moving forward independently of the contentious eminent domain proceedings that may hit the Underground Railroad houses just a few doors down. A group of investors recently closed on the purchase of 237 Duffield Street for $9.5 million, according to public records.... The forthcoming “seamless blend of ergonomics and urbanity” still has a ways to go before it graces Downtown Brooklyn, though: The DOB doesn’t show any applications filed for the demolition of the VIM building at 237 Duffield.

To read more, including user comments, click here.

The reality of these new hotels flies in the face of the justification for eminent domain in the area. Joe Chan of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership was quoted today regarding the small park that he wants to build after destroying the Duffield Abolitionist homes:

Willoughby Square has always been the centerpiece of the plan, and is an important incentive to attract private investment....

Acquisition of property is critical and necessary for Willoughby Square to move forward — and without Willoughby Square, much of this new investment, and therefore businesses, jobs and housing, will not happen.

Willoughby Square will be 1.15 acres. That's a pretty small "centerpiece" next to all these new hotels.

Brooklyn Eagle: City Gives Downtown Brooklyn Eminent Domain Hearing Another Try

The Brooklyn Daily published an article on the public hearing this morning, "City Gives Downtown Brooklyn Eminent Domain Hearing Another Try":

Track Data Corporation and Amber Art & Music Space — scheduled to open this month before the three Brooklyn entrepreneurs were allegedly first notified that the property they’re leasing was up for eminent domain — are among the occupants on block within the BAM Cultural District. The property on the third block, also within BAM, is a surface parking lot. The city plans to recruit private developers to build high-rise mixed-income housing with ground floor performance and arts space there.

City Councilwoman Letitia James said after the hearing, which she called “just procedural in nature,” that she suspected the blight study was created recently as the result of a legal challenge to first ruling in favor of eminent domain. “I did not see a blighted study in 2003,” she said, referring to when City Council was given the opportunity to consider the Downtown Brooklyn plan, including the use of eminent domain to realize that vision.

The advocates for the destruction of the Duffield Abolitionist homes were brave enough to offer a quote to the Eagle. Joe Chan of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership had this to say:

“Acquisition of property is critical and necessary for Willoughby Square to move forward — and without Willoughby Square, much of this new investment, and therefore businesses, jobs and housing, will not happen,” said Chan.

Mr. Chan, you're such a fatalist! In case you didn't notice, there are skyscrapers going up all around Downtown Brooklyn. Several hotels are even shooting up on the same block as the Duffield Abolitionist homes. Apparently, the real estate developers don't agree with you.

Please, please, if someone is convinced by our friends at the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, let us know.

More proof that eminent domain is not needed on Duffield

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:

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.

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.

We can still have the economic benefits of these buildings without destroying the Abolitionist homes.

Public Benefits and Other Disappointments

Downtown Brooklyn rezoning has been a disappointment to many people. Recently it has been criticized by none other than Marty Markowitz. Here is a quote of the Brooklyn Borough President as reported in the Brooklyn Papers:

“The time has come to revisit [the plan] in order to amend the zoning resolution to include such [affordable housing] provisions, and to fix what was started three years ago,” Markowitz said in a statement as part of an otherwise unrelated rezoning issue in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.

The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, a strong advocate for destroying the Abolitionist homes on Duffield, contends that 3,000 of the planned 17,000 new units in the pipeline will be affordable housing, but the Partnership declined to give details at this point.

Norman Oder explains:

That's because, out of nearly 3200 affordable units listed in a document distributed by the Partnership in April, 2250 of them are attributed to the Atlantic Yards project, which might extend the definition of Downtown Brooklyn, but was not included in the rezoning.

Many New Yorkers get confused the Atlantic Yards proposal and the Downtown Brooklyn rezoning confused. But the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership certainly knows the difference. So it's curious that they are trying to latch on to the benefits of the Atlantic Yards proposal.

Norman Oder has addresses similar issues in The unexpected housing boom in Downtown Brooklyn, some curious statistics, and an Errol Louis misreading:

deMause also points to "the incestuous nature of the planning process," involving public-private organizations led by staffers who worked for Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff or Borough president Marty Markowitz.

All of this raises an important question: What are the public benefits of the Downtown Brooklyn plan? If the plan is not living up to its promises, should the Economic Development Corporation continue with its eminent domain condemnation of private property? Eminent domain is only supposed to be used for some public good.