Residents Decry Traffic, Parking Problems from Atlantic Yards Project

More than 75 people came to P.S. 9 last night to discuss traffic problems caused by the Atlantic Yards project.

Since several streets including Pacific between Fifth and Sixth avenues was closed Feb. 1, traffic has been brutal along Dean, Bergen, St. Marks, and other streets that still go through, speakers and residents said at the meeting.

"I live on St. Marks Place and it feels like a major highway," said Maggie Williams, a 33-year-old lawyer, before the meeting.

The meeting was organized by the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council. Leaders from that organization made presentations on the current and future impact of the Atlantic Yards Project. Councilwoman Letitia James, Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries and Ryan Lynch, senior planner for the Tri State Transportation Campaign, a non-profit that tries to reduce car use, also spoke.

Peter Krashes, a board member of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council, which organized last night's meeting, told the group that it once took a bus four minutes to travel between Vanderbilt and Carlton avenues on Bergen Avenue, due to the traffic.

The closures have caused not only slow traffic, but also more horn honking, bus delays, air pollution and, according to Krashes, a delay in response time from the Dean Street Firehouse. (An FDNY spokesman said he couldn't respond to the claim because response times aren't tracked by neighborhood.)

Besides the street closures, one of the biggest problems with the Atlantic Yards plan is that it encourages attendees of the 18,000-seat stadium to drive by offering an 1,100-space surface lot that will be open when the stadium opens in 2012, said Gib Veconi, PHNDC's treasurer.  

Lynch, the planner from the anti-car group, suggested that instead of minimum numbers of parking spots, Atlantic Yards have a maximum number to encourage the use of public transportation. He also suggested that Forest City Ratner give discounts on tickets for people using public transportation and be required to pay for traffic calming measures in the area, which drew applause from the crowd. 

Tom Boast, president of the Cartlon Avenue Neighborhood Association discussed the need for residential parking permits, something neighborhood associations have been pushing for, for awhile.

Reached this morning, Forest City Ratner spokesman Joe DePlasco said that Sam Schwartz is in the process of putting together a "comprehensive traffic mitigation plan" and that company is exploring such elements as offsite parking with shuttle busses and discounts or other incentives for using public transportation. He also noted that the plan calls for a large number of shelters where people will be able to lock their bikes.

He expects the plan to be presented early next year, he said.

 "We are looking at everything that would encourage people to use mass transit and also at ways to minimize ways to minimize the impact on the surrounding communities," he said.

Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries discussed two pieces of legislation he is sponsoring that are aimed at providing more oversight and community input in the Atlantic Yards project.

Councilwoman Letitia James said she was in favor of residential parking permits and was in preliminary talks with state representatives and officials about them. She said there is a lack of consensus on such topics as geographic area, rates, whether or not they would be limited to game nights, "and even if it is a good idea," among state officials.

She said she agrees with critics who say such permits would be a tax and an opportunity for the city to raise revenue.

"All of this is true. But the reality is that the number of cars that come into Prospect Heights, that is just going to increase," she said.

During the question and answer period, Lucy Koteen, a former steering committee member of Develop Don't Destroy, suggested that Forest City Ratner should pay the fees for residential parking permits. (Deplasco declined to comment on that suggestion, saying that at this point it was a hypothetical.)

Meeting organizers said that if people want to do something to try to reduce the traffic problems, they should urge elected officials to support an RPP for Prospect Heights, financially support legal challenge to the extension of the Atlantic Yards construction schedule by donating at the Brooklyn Speaks website, and urge city and state officials to implement a residential parking program.

Jay Crockett, a retired commodities broker said she was pessimistic that there was much the community could do to prevent the onslaught of traffic. But she said she came to the meeting to make a statement.

"I feel it's essential to just show up to say: I do care and it is a problem," she said.