The Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) has announced that the surface parking lot for the Atlantic Yards project has been scaled back. The lot for the northern Prospect Heights development—home of the Barclay’s Center—was initially going to accommodate 1,100 spaces, but it is now slated to have fewer than 550. The BrooklynSpeaks coalition has previously advocated for the reduction of parking by 50% and the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council called for the lot to adhere to New York City Department of City Planning regulations for surface parking lot design.
Critics have contended that ESDC and Atlantic Yards developer Forest City Ratner, instead of focusing on adding more parking to the area, should develop a more comprehensive transportation plan for the arena site and surrounding neighborhoods. This message was reiterated at the recent Brooklyn Gateway transportation workshop, which was sponsored by New York City Council Member Tish James, Tri-State, the Boerum Hill Association, the Park Slope Civic Council, and the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council. Workshop attendees expressed concerns about traffic congestion, parking, pedestrian safety, and cyclist safety in their neighborhoods, along with the need for better transit options in the Brooklyn Gateway area (pictured below).
At least with regard to the need for more transit service in the area, newly released station ridership data from the MTA confirms the groups’ concerns. Within the workshop’s focus area, subway ridership grew by 11% from 2007 to 2011.
Over the same time period, Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street’s annual ridership grew by 1.08 million, representing an 11.23% gain. Given its close proximity to the Barclay’s Center, Atlantic-Pacific will likely see further ridership pressures in the coming years as arena events and further development draw even more people to the area. In fact, assuming the continuation of current growth levels, a Tri-State calculation indicates that annual ridership could double (to 21.4 million) by 2044. Commuters using the Long Island Rail Road station at Atlantic Terminal will also add pressure to the existing subway, bus, and street networks.
Other stations in the Atlantic Yards footprint have grown as well. C train stations have seen ridership increases and will likely see more with the arrival of new rolling stock, and G train ridership has risen by 26% at the Fulton Street station over the past five years. This comes as no surprise, since G ridership is up dramatically throughout Brooklyn, a reality that has led to efforts to keep the G train’s five southernmost stops in service.
Despite the clear need for improvements, neither Forest City Ratner nor the MTA has identified how the Atlantic Yards’ transit network will maintain existing levels of service under increasing strain to the system. In fact, the developer has yet to release or finalize the long-delayed transportation demand management plan, which should outline how the area will handle increased traffic and other transportation challenges (the plan is due out on May 22). While an additional subway entrance is being built by the arena, more remains to be done.
