New York Wanders: Atlantic Yards & Brooklyn Flea Wander

In case you haven't been following it, there is a huge 5-billionish dollar development called Atlantic Yards planned on Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn,where the neighbourhoods of Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Fort Greene and Boerum Hill intersect. The centerpiece is the new Barclays Center, where the New Jersey Nets are supposed to move in 2012 (is it just me or is this the least talked about, most uncontroversial professional sports team relocation ever?). Basically an uber-rich developer (Bruce Ratner) wants to tear down a bunch of old dilapidated buildings, 1 bar, 1 nice brownstone, and a homeless shelter, cover over a rail yard, and build the stadium along with a mixed use facility on top . As they always seem to do here, the locals have freaked out about the plan; gentrification of the railyard, box store squeezing out mom and pop, no parking during games, streets unsafe for park slope kids, etc. They sued Ratner about 478 times and tried to perform a citizens arrest. There is an insane amount written about this project, so take your pick if you want to get the details. Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn seems to be the biggest organized opponent.

I'm a bit torn as to how I feel about the project. On one hand, I love the idea of a professional basketball team being a 20 min walk from my apartment (even if it is the 4-48 Nets). Also, as you can see from the wander pictures below, most of the land is a complete shit hole. My wife yelled at me for 3 blocks for making her walk there on the way to the Flea. Another interesting point is that this is the site that the Brooklyn Dodgers wanted to move when Ebbets Field couldn't accommodate the huge fan base. The plan was blocked by Robert Moses and the 2 sides couldn't come to an agreement so the Dodgers moved to LA, marking the beginning of modern sports where money trumps all.
On the other hand, the other buildings Ratner has put up in the area aren't very inspired (see below), he's changed the design completely from the original approved Frank Gehry design, he has a reputation for installing box stores like chuck e cheese in his retail spaces, and it's pretty questionable weather he's going to put up all the buildings in the plan or if he'll just throw up the expensive condos and a parking lot for them.
I worked in the construction industry for a bit, so I generally don't have a very high opinion of developers. More often than not they build to minimum standards and cut innovative aspects of design to maximize their profits
Anyway, a few blocks of Pacific Street were supposed to be demaped on Feb 1, 2010, so I wanted to have a look at what was there before it was all gone. I missed the Feb 1 weekend, but luckily for me Ratner got sued again -delaying construction - so I got my chance on the 6th.

New York Songlines has this quote on their main page:

"No matter how long you have been here, you are a New Yorker the first time you say, That used to be Munsey's, or That used to be the Tic Toc Lounge.... You are a New Yorker when what was there before is more real and solid than what is here now."

--Colson Whitehead, The Colossus of New York

I know this isn't Munsey's, but I thought having a look at a street that won't exist on the map next year would make me feel a bit more New Yorkerish.

The Brooklyn Flea is being held in the old Williamsburg Savings Bank which is supposed to be beautiful inside, and is adjacent to the proposed development, so I wanted to see that too.

Click here for the wander map.

Start in Prospect Heights at Dean and 6th. Here's Freddy's Bar, slated for demolition as part of the project, where the patrons have vowed to chain themselves to the bar when the bulldozers come as part of the final 'drink the bar dry' party. I hope it will be warmer than it was when I went by.

Walking east on Dean. This block on the north side of dean won't be torn down, but I feel for anyone who decides to buy one of these condos and lives in a construction site for the next few decades - there was an open house on the day we went by:

By Dean and Vanderbilt. This block looks rather 'blighted' to me:

Although I do love the Hot Bird advertisements:

Walking west on Pacific now. This is the section of Pacific that is slated to be demaped for the development.

This family seems to be a bit late on the move out, this street was supposed to be permanently closed the week before:

The railyard:

The Atlantic Center, filled with Target and Chuck e Cheese across the railyard isn't the most inspired piece of architecture.

This building is actually quite nice. See the detailed trim below:

Pacific was still open when I was there, but barricades were up by 5th and it looked like construction crews were starting to mobolize.
From 5th, looking east down Pacific:

Here's what its supposed to look like:

Looking east on Atlantic:

Now for the pretty part of the wander, the Brooklyn Flea, which is at the old Williamsburg Savings Bank at One Hanson Place on Saturdays and Sundays for the winter (until March 28th). The bank was built in 1927 and was the tallest building in Brooklyn from then until last year when it was overtaken by a couple of feet by the new apartment building The Brooklyner in Downtown Brooklyn. The bank was more recently turned into condos