The first step in a winning strategy is for the neighborhoods to accept the fact that the Atlantic Railyards is a good spot for serious development and a big-events venue. An urban arena atop a mass-transit hub is infinitely better than the Nets' Continental Arena, adrift in its asphalt sea of parking, generating thousands of car trips every time it opens its doors. Likewise, everyone living in a tall, mixed-use, residential tower is one less person clamoring for space on former farmland in the suburban fringes. Car-oriented American sprawl is one of the most destructive forces at work on the planet today. Urban density is its antidote.
The next step is for the developer to acknowledge that density on the scale proposed at Atlantic Yards only works if neighborhood quality of life is placed at the top of the agenda, and the biggest threat to urban quality of life is traffic. To protect neighborhoods, FCR's new development should be completely transit-oriented. The arena must include minimal parking (like Toronto's SkyDome) and event tickets should include discounts and incentives for transit users (as is being discussed for Staten Island's new NASCAR track). Second, to discourage through-traffic, the city should establish residential parking permits and traffic-calming measures in the neighborhoods adjacent to the arena. Finally, Atlantic Yards should be the impetus for congestion pricing—London-style tolls for those who wish to drive on the gridlocked streets of downtown Brooklyn. A significant portion of the funds collected must be used to improve mass transit and cycling access, to make it even easier to get around the city without a car.
The community can win because these quality-of-life improvements benefit the city and profit FCR as well. In pressing their case, the neighborhoods must remind Mayor Bloomberg that each of New York City's European competitors for the 2012 Olympics is making quality-of-life and automobile-reduction strategies a centerpiece of its sales pitch. Transportation Alternatives executive director Paul Steely White reports that Madrid, Paris and London are all developing major expansions of mass-transit and bicycle networks as key components of their Olympic bids. Madrid is planning a completely "car-free Olympics." It's no wonder residents of these cities are more enthusiastic about the games than New Yorkers.
Enhancing urban quality of life isn't just a Brooklyn neighborhood issue. It's one of the critical global environmental missions of the 21st century. Atlantic Yards is an opportunity, not just a threat.
—Aaron Naparstek
naparstek@nypress.com
