1. Respect and integrate with surrounding neighborhoods

As Brooklyn’s biggest development project situated between the borough’s densest corridor and low-scale brownstone neighborhoods, Atlantic Yards has a responsibility to ensure a transition not only of scale and density, but also of traffic and street and sidewalk utilization. The State and the City must work together to foster a safe environment that reflects sound principles of urban design.

• In consultation with the community, NYC DOT should redesign Dean Street between Sixth Avenue and Vanderbilt Avenue, and Pacific Street between Flatbush Avenue and Fourth Avenue, to make each a slow street intended for local use.
• In consultation with the community, following the opening of the school at building B15, the City must prepare a plan for ensuring student and pedestrian safety at the intersection of Dean Street and Sixth Avenue, including a reduction of municipal uses at that location.
• Buildings developed at Site 5 (the block bounded by Atlantic Avenue, Flatbush Avenue, Pacific Street and Fourth Avenue) should be set back from Pacific Street, with a building or building section contextual to the row houses on the south side of the street buffering towers from the residential context.
• Ground floor space along Atlantic Avenue, Fourth Avenue and Flatbush Avenue must be designed  with large windows providing visibility from the street to active uses inside the building  (including retail, community, and non-profit tenants). Static window displays obscuring activity inside the buildings should be avoided.
• The City should designate the Pacific Branch Library a New York City landmark, and the State should add it to its register of historic places, to ensure it is both preserved and receives the necessary protections from the impacts of Site 5 construction. Funding must be provided for necessary renovations and upgrades, including technology.