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Health & Fitness

Barclays Center Transportation Perception Management, Part 2

Hoopla about the success of Forest City's traffic plan masks some inconvenient facts.

Tonight, the Empire State Development Corporation will be hosting a meeting on "The Effectiveness of the Barclays Center Transportation Demand Management Plan," to be held at the Brooklyn Hospital Center beginning at 6:00PM. Readers may remember this plan as the one presented to the public by transportation engineer Sam Schwartz in May of 2012, after several months of delays.

As if the title of tonight's meeting is not suggestive enough, today's New York Times provides a preview of what we can expect to hear. Everything is great. The traffic onslaught predicted by naysayers hasn't materialized. A lot fewer people drive than were expected due to the preparations of the professionals hired by Forest City Ratner. Mission accomplished.

As one of the people who expressed concern about a traffic nightmare following the arena opening, this is certainly cause for some reflection. I live several blocks southeast of Barclays Center. Traffic impacts on my street are not as bad I thought they would be. But the main reason I was concerned in the first place is because of the traffic predictions contained in the 2006 Atlantic Yards Final Environmental Impact Statement, which were prepared by Mr. Schwartz. His projections stated that nearly 3,000 cars could be added to local streets as a function of the Atlantic Yards project during arena events. Parking for 1,100 cars was going to be provided in the project footprint (next to a block with residential buildings), but even so, arena-related parking demand would consume all available on-street parking. Fifty-eight intersections would have "significant adverse impacts" as a result of increased traffic, and impacts at 35 of those intersections could not be helped. None of that sounded good, and one might be forgiven for getting alarmed.

Fast forward to today. Mr. Schwartz is about to make a presentation of findings demonstrating the success of a program designed by Mr. Schwartz to counter traffic problems projected by Mr. Schwartz. Does anyone see a pattern here? I do not question Mr. Schwartz' transportation expertise, but this is somewhat of a closed system. What would we say, for instance, if a local police precinct commander projected a dramatic increase in street crime, announced a sweeping stop-and-frisk program in response, then months later reported on how successful his efforts had been in averting the expected muggings that never happened?

Hoopla surrounding Mr. Schwartz' success in overcoming his own theoretical projections at least should be tempered by a discussion of what to do about problems that have actually occurred in reality. However, the Times reporter did not even bother talking to the arena's neighbors about their experience since Barclays Center's September opening. If he had, he would likely have heard about the chronic problems with limos illegally idling and blocking bus stops, fire hydrants and curb cuts—an issue that Mr. Schwartz' plan underestimated and never tried to address.

The Times also uncritically repeats the suggestion that on-site parking at Barclays Center was reduced from 1,100 to 540 as a demand management measure. This is nonsense: Forest City realized that parking 1,100 cars on the block between Carlton Avenue, Vanderbilt Avenue, Pacific Street and Dean Street would have required so many stackers that it would have taken hours after an event for all drivers to exit.

Mr. Schwartz proudly explains to the Times that even on the arena's busiest nights, only half of the lot's 540 spaces are used. Is that the whole picture? Mr. Schwartz' analysis shows a quarter of the 15,000 fans at a Nets game arrive by car. That's 3750 people. Ask residents of the blocks near the arena where those folks are parking, and you'll understand why they're still clamoring for residential parking permits.

But the real story of the Barclays Center parking lot is a much darker one. Block 1129 was condemned for arena parking. The historic Ward Bakery was demolished. A homeless shelter was removed. Local businesses were displaced, and apartments housing dozens of working families were lost. This, from a project that was approved largely on its promise of providing affordable housing.

Now, Mr. Schwartz informs us that the parking lot justified by his traffic projections might not really have been necessary after all. Terrific. And what news do he and his clients at Forest City Ratner have for us about what to expect next?

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