The sponsors of BrooklynSpeaks believe that the current Atlantic Yards Plan won’t work for Brooklyn. It must be changed substantially or rejected. To view a popup slideshow about the proposal, click here.

The sponsors of BrooklynSpeaks believe that development on the site must:

1. Respect and integrate with surrounding neighborhoods
2. Include a transportation plan that works
3. Include affordable housing that meets the community’s needs
4. Involve the public in a meaningful way

1. Respect and Integrate with Surrounding Neighborhoods

The current plan would overwhelm surrounding neighborhoods with enormous towers and create deadening superblocks with private-feeling open space. To work for Brooklyn, the design must:

• Be substantially reduced. Click here for more info.
• Maintain view corridor of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank from Grand Army Plaza.
• Keep Pacific Street and Fifth Avenue open, and create new streets to connect surrounding neighborhoods. Click here for more info.
• Create public parks that feel public. Click here for more info.
• Reuse existing buildings such as the historic Ward Bakery. To read more, click here.
• Ensure lively street life by having continuous streetwalls and small, local retail.
• Be a model of sustainability given the enormous environmental impact of the project.

2. Transportation Plan that Works

Downtown Brooklyn is already congested, and the existing proposal would generate over 20,000 additional new vehicular trips everyday and aggravate mass transit crowding and delays. But the proposal offers no real plan to avoid gridlock or improve subway and bus service. To find out more, click here.

To work for Brooklyn, the developer and the City must:

• Minimize traffic-generating aspects of the project, such as large-scale arena parking.
• Implement residential parking permits and traffic calming measures in neighborhoods around the project.
• Develop a robust Brooklyn mass transit improvement plan.
• Implement roadway pricing to relieve traffic congestion in and around downtown Brooklyn.

3. Include affordable housing that meets the community’s needs

The current Atlantic Yards proposal is commendable for including 2,250 units of desperately needed 'affordable' housing. However, two thirds of the units in the development will be sold or rented at market rate, and 60% of the affordable units would only be affordable to families making in excess of the Brooklyn median income, which is $35,000. This means that the project could actually accelerate the gentrification and displacement that is already in progress. It is also unclear how much of the affordable housing would be built in the first phase of the project. For more info click here.

To work for Brooklyn, the developer and City must:

• Include a significantly greater proportion of affordable units for those those earning $35,000 annually or less, with particular emphasis on creating units for large families earning less than $21,000.
• Ensure that the proportion of affordable units built in the first phase of the project is the same as the overall proportion of affordable units in the whole project.

4. Involve the Public in a meaningful way

The Atlantic Yards proposal was conceived by the developer and the political decision-makers behind closed doors and has moved forward with no significant input from New Yorkers. No Brooklyn official will get to vote on the project. To find out more about the public process, click here. Click here to read the governance document prepared by the sponsors of BrooklynSpeaks.net.

To work for Brooklyn, the state must:

• Redesign the project with public input.
• Create a subsidiary with local representation to manage future decision-making and an ongoing public process for the site.

Please note that these principles are not intended to be a full accounting of the issues arising from the project. Click here for more information.

Several people have also asked us to clarify how our principles relate to the proposed construction of an Arena and the potential use of eminent domain in the project. Click here for our response.

Tell us what you think of these principles by clicking here.