With a worsening economic picture and no end to its legal entanglements, the chances of Forest City ever building the Frank Gehry-designed vision it sold to the public are growing increasingly slim. Recognizing this reality, one of the project's biggest supporters, Marty Markowitz weighed in yesterday with his own call for modifying the project to reflect the new realities. "I am asking Forest City Ratner and the Empire State Development Corporation to give Barclays’ design a second look," the borough president said in a statement, "and conceptualize a sports and entertainment venue that is more economically feasible but provides the modern amenities our residents and visitors to Brooklyn demand and deserve." In a sign that the final outcome, if built, could be a nightmarish architectural hodge-podge of mediocrity, Markowitz also said that, "There may be a chance to incorporate design and construction changes that will lower the bottom line and celebrate the ‘Brownstone Brooklyn’ architecture that makes our borough unique." Just what we need: New faux brownstone-y buildings mixed with diluted modernism.
Markowitz Calls for Paring Cost of Atlantic Yards [NY Times]
Marty: AY No Longer ‘Economically Feasible’ [Brooklyn Paper]
Markowitz on Barclays Center [AY Report]
Photo by Tracy Collins
