The Downtown Brooklyn Thread

Trance event Sensation America is coming in October 2012.

bottom line is I'm priced out of all the nice parts of brooklyn that don't take an hour to get to my job and this is just another nail in the coffin. So wah.

Weren't there supposed to be all those Gehry-designed high-rises and public walks and stuff as part of the stadium complex? I haven't followed the saga that closely but it was going to be a lot more integrated iirc? Has all of that just not been done yet b/c it wasn't the driver for the schedule?

You know what else though? I hate that it's called the Barclays Center. Barclays. What a stupid-sounding word. Citifield has such a nicer ring to it for a bank-named sports complex.

gehry stuff went away w/ the recession

Barclays, leading Brit banking institution for generations, was a linchpin in the fight to impose meaningful sanctions on South Africa in the '80s. (they were eventually persuaded after many years of activism of course)

boom

I think stadium naming right deals are always stupid and dependent on make believe ROI numbers

first residential building now scheduled to break ground in December. It's going to be right next to the footprint of the arena, and the big plaza in front of it is where another of the towers is going to be.

i saw someone with a sign about Barclay's role in the slave trade on Friday night.

Barclay's center sounds so much better than a lot of naming rights stadium. Dick's Spoting Good Park, Quicken Loans Arena, FedEx Forum

Dick's Sporting Goods played a major role in the Armenian Genocide

where are the stadiums that are actually properly integrated into the city? yankee stadium?

my only other point of reference is, like, the philadelphia ring of stadiums that just sort of sits by itself in south philly, surrounded by parking lots.

also I vaguely recall seeing the century link field rise up at the end of a city street in seattle.

at&t park is a pretty good one

yankee stadium is like "in" the city but it doesnt really feel "integrated" at all. only sports bars and memorabilia shops for blocks and blocks

fenway

That's the thing - most stadiums are not properly integrated into the city, they're just plopped into some part of the city that already looks like garbage. Not that Atlantic Center Heights/PC Richardsville is beautiful, but the abutting neighborhoods are nice.

I do remember that Coors Field felt very nicely integrated into downtown Denver, like it was really pleasant to grab food and a beer across the street and then just stroll over.

I been to yankee stadium one time

I get the impression that that was more the 70s/80s model of stadium building: "Argh, the city is falling apart, maybe if we put a stadium here it will at least bring in some crappy bars and shops"

There's been a half-hearted effort to "integrate," particularly with the baseball stadia of the last 20 years, but more often they've been integrated into tourist/shopping/biz-hotel/nightlife areas: Baltimore, Denver, Minneapolis.

stadiums generally aren't gonna be well integrated because they are enormous buildings that you can't walk through and are rarely used. the best ones are walkable from downtown but not in the center of everything.

fwiw I wholeheartedly approve of the barclays center because it gives new yorkers one more thing to complain bitterly about, also I don't have to experience its ill effects... yet

it's just sad when these things get recession-pwned and then we have to live with the results for decades -- penn station is an example

stadiums generally aren't gonna be well integrated because they are enormous buildings that you can't walk through and are rarely used.

Yeah, the obvious problems seem like the mis-match of scale between the stadium and everything around it, and also that apart from a few main entrances, the back and sides of the building are kind of faceless and monolithic and have nothing to give to the street side except a huge blank wall. Both of which seem so stupidly obvious that there must be reasons no one bothers to design to those issues...? I don't know, not my bag. But yuck.

it's just sad when these things get recession-pwned and then we have to live with the results for decades -- penn station america is an example

― has important things to say about gangnam style (Hurting 2), Monday, October 1, 2012 12:03 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

the bigger problem w/ the area is flatbush and its hard to imagine the roads in that area getting uh, 'necessary renovations'. maybe after enough people die.

why couldn't they just have built the stadium in central park, I mean like nobody uses that gigantic waste of space

barclays has a small amount of street-facing retail along atlantic, currently occupied by a restaurant and a metro pcs store i think

Tbf that is how I feel about Central Park but I'm not a park person.

I think Laurel just won challops.

I guess it's nice that it gives rich people something to look at out their hi-rise windows.

it's not like you need a key for it

I like prospect park better

You can't drink or smoke in city parks, getting to the places in them requires walking, and bathrooms are too far apart and liable to be out of toilet paper and/or have lines. This rules out just about every comfort that's relevant to my life. Wilderness areas, I'm all for those as long as I don't have to go to them, but really big parks? Eh.

You can't drink or smoke in city parks, getting to the places in them requires walking, and bathrooms are too far apart and liable to be out of toilet paper and/or have lines.

most of this could refer to the rest of the city

It's hard being me.

I agree that New York in general and Manhattan especially is ill-set-up for loitering, which is probably my favorite pastime.

central park is a truly great work of art

I don't think it compares to the beauty of mccarren park

or Paley Park

I wonder how long it woulda taken me to figure out who in orbit is w/out this thread

Hi, sweetie.

the new condos around mccarren park have really meant that the vision is finally being realized. especially that beautiful one with the sun-god logo on it.

"vaccuum pie chest"

looool wrong thread

that is a good condo name

"vaccuum pie chest"

― has important things to say about gangnam style (Hurting 2), Monday, October 1, 2012 2:42 PM (25 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^

GIS for "vacuum pie chest" turns up several things that would be positive interventions in New York:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IdwlZBnsiWE/Tl3DZ1ycwTI/AAAAAAAABoo/TlQI42eta0k/s1600/backsheeshorlife00knox_0405d.png

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rsu5CUepWOM/Tl3DO_sf9YI/AAAAAAAABok/1sPs658wKkw/s1600/playmateapleasan00cundiala_0163b.png

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1103/5124198668_4a66616ae9.jpg

Posted this last night on facebook and for some reason nobody responded at 4am on a sunday morning. It was mentioned here so I thought I'd give it a shot. Anybody know anybody who's taught at 3rd Ward?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/nyregion/drug-arrests-at-a-brooklyn-bodega-rattle-a-neighborhood.html oh ralph

lol joe