If you haven't been following, I realize that's a lot to take in. It's all documented in the archives here on the ol' tyme blogge, so if you have any doubts, it's all there for the perusing (search Cornell Realty for instance). Here's Boyd's poster that blatantly misrepresents the projects, but, I for one am glad the public is being warned of the impending new micro-neighborhood being planned in SoCro (no, I didn't just write that, and I never would). The project won't look as ominous as this, but yeah it'll change the view from the garden considerably, though you can pretty much ignore the nonsense about shadows. It really won't make much of a difference - not even noticeable except in early mornings when the garden isn't even open, and only at certain times of the year. (If you'd like to see the entire rezoning application and environmental study, just shoot me an email.)
And if you haven't met the charming man running against Yvette Clarke in our district, by all means come out to see and hear Adem Bunkeddeko at my dear namesake Q at Parkside from 7:30 to around 8:30 tomorrow (Thursday) morning. These rush-hour train handshakes 'n' flyerings are a big part of Adem's strategy - to hook every un-beholden-to-Clarke voter and convince them that a) Adem's not a creepy serial killer type and b) he might actually DO something with his gig in D.C. And c) he's young, and it's time to give the next generation their chance, cuz god knows MY generation fucked things up royally in just about every category. But what can you expect, when we started out jaded and listening to Grunge? Or more damning, dancing to Public Enemy and NWA and not doing a damn thing to improve racial justice. Terrible track record. And don't give me that 9/11 changed everything line. If anything, it should've galvanized, not hypnotized.
8 comments:
I'm trying not to laugh at the gross misrepresentation of those shadows. What time did they try and reference, 8 AM on the December solstice? They will rarely, if ever, be long enough to stretch the hundreds of feet into the garden shown, and even when they do, it would be in the way of maybe one or two hours of sun at the most. But don't just take my word for it, if you want to fact check this non-sense for yourself there is a hand tool: https://www.suncalc.org/#/40.6656,-73.9604,16/2018.06.20/12:02/40/0
Assume about 3.5-4m per story of building and you'll be plenty close to guessing it for any building or even tree you might ever want.
Sure, it will change the view from the gardens, but pretty much any development over 6 stories has the chance to do that. And good luck finding a single view in the city that hasn't changed over the course of it's history of building up.
There's plenty to dislike about these proposed new developments, but I see no point in going to any event sponsored by the odious Boyd, or her "MTOPP" and "FLAC' fronts. IMO Boyd has done as much as anyone to ENCOURAGE out of scale development.
Agree with Mr Marvin. Lending even an ounce of credibility to MTOPP does us all a disservice in the long run.
But beyond that, if the issue of blocking sunlight from the Botanic Garden is wildly exaggerated, then what is the major objection here? Are we looking at yet another round of NIMBY-ism masquerading as "anti-gentrification"?
Yeah, sure, vote for Adem. Why not? Can't hurt. But he's unlikely to defeat Clarke. Voter apathy will do him in. Meanwhile, when nitwit Yvette ran for the office, she was described in glowing terms, too. Even though she lied when she claimed she'd graduated from college, and her lie was revealed, her supporters voted her in.
Shirley Chisholm is undoubtedly turning in her grave.
As for real estate development in the area, well, it's continuing without let-up. Are the critics having any impact? Very little. At most, their opposition is inching things a little this way, and a little that way. But, in the aggregate, the neighborhood grows taller every day.
A decade from now, when people look back on their efforts to "resist" (oh, how this word annoys me), they'll have to admit to themselves that they accomplished nothing, though they'll probably credit themselves for being noble and fighting the good fight. As if any of the occupants of the new buildings will care about the silly opposition to the places in which they live.
Its not so much the buildings as it is the size of the ones going up. The new head of the MTA has not even attained the funds necessary for his 10+ years plan to fix part of the signal problems and we're already bursting at the seams. Our Mayor wants to build and build with no thought as to how all these people are going to move through the city day to day. It also seems - and I'm probably making assumptions - that much of the new flow coming in are also bringing their cars with them. I guess I was just too broke when I moved here to even consider trying to maintain a vehicle in the city.
I checked out that forum Wed night. Pratt and City College were there to present their separate shadow study results. Both had similar results showing that the shadows would be significantly detrimental to the garden as well as to Jackie Robinson Playground. I feel like two major universities are more trustworthy than a shadow study conducted by the City or real estate company. A professor from Hunter also spoke named Tom Angotti. Gonna research him a little more but he seems legit. Everyone who spoke didn't come off as batshit crazy. I don't know...
Shadow studies? Oh yeah, as if people don't want some shade on hot summer days. Of course, shading is a morning and late-day thing. Not a factor at noon.
Thomas Angotti is generally on the losing end of these debates. He got pretty frothy over Barclays Center. But, in the end, no one cared what he had to say.
The position of the sun isn't open to debate. If astronomers can tell us the exact moment of the next solar eclipse (June 21, 2021 at 4:38:32AM — but in NYC it will only be 90% eclipsed; full eclipse upstate) I would think that this shade question is answerable.
If different studies are giving different results then someone—and I don't know who—is either using faulty data, cherry-picking their data, misinterpreting their data, fudging their data, or lying.
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