via Getty

Rihanna brought down the house at her concert at the Barclays Center on Sunday night, taking the entire neighborhood with her, according to Prospect Heights residents.

But the loud, booming bass rumblings that disrupted the neighborhood on Sunday night were nothing new for people who live in the direct vicinity of the Barclays Center. These complaints come less than a week after Barclays Center developer Forest City Ratner Companies was ordered to pay the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) a $3,200 fine for violations after a Swedish House Mafia concert in early March.

The Barclays Center has faced many noise complaints and several potential fines since it opened in September. Residents have complained of noise pollution after major concerts including Jay-Z in September, the Sensation dance concert events in October and the Swedish House Mafia concert. Until last week, the complaints were dismissed on technicalities.

According to city records, inspectors recorded a reading of 55 decibels (dB) for low noise frequency inside a nearby apartment the during the Swedish House Mafia show on Saturday, March 2. The 55 dB rate is about twice as loud as the 45 dB limit, as stipulated by the New York City Noise Code, section 24-231:

“No person shall make or cause or permit to be made any music origination form or in connection with the operation of any commercial establishment or enterprise when the level of sound attributable to such music, as measured inside any receiving property dwelling unit: … is in excess of 45 dB in any one-third octave band having a center frequency between 63 hertz and 500 hertz.”

According to the NYC DEP, noise complaints are the number one quality of life issue for New Yorkers. The agency updated the Noise Code in 2007 to “…balance the important reputation of New York as a vibrant, world-class city that never sleeps, with the needs of those who live in, work in, and visit the city.”

The Barclays Center has not yet returned The Observer’s request for comment.

The Atlantic Yards Watch, a community-based blog that reports on the neighborhood impacts of the Barclays Center and construction from the Atlantic Yards project, cited several texts and phone calls made to 311 on Sunday night reporting excessive noise during Rihanna’s concert. Prospect Heights residents were outraged that the noise pollution continues, despite the fines. The Atlantic Yards Watch provided the following transcripts from the calls:

“Rihanna is as loud as SHM or Sensations!!”

“Are you f****** kidding me, why can’t the police do something?”

“YIKES!! Why are they starting so late?”

“It woke us up!”

“Guess they haven’t done anything to minimize the noise!”

“[Past] midnight and they’re still going, when will it end?”

“Why are these noisy types of concerts allowed on Sunday nights?

Peter Krashes, who runs the Atlantic Yards Watch Blog and serves as a member of the Dean Street Block Association and secretary of the Prospect Heights Heights Neighborhood Development Council, said noise complaints have come from east, west and north of the Barclays Center, as far as a block away from the arena.

“The solution is probably structural,” Mr. Krashes told The Observer, citing the original plans for the arena, which were not anticipated to produce noise problems. The original design by architect Frank Gehry was replaced in 2009 by the design from Ellerbe Becket and SHoP Architects.

“For the short term [The Barclays Center] can put stipulations on the contracts of performers to limit noise levels, which it clearly hasn’t done,” Mr. Krashes added.

Mr. Krashes further noted that the DEP will continue to measure the noise level from the Barclays Center, and that the arena is conducting its own inspections.

“We’d like to know to what end they’re working,” Mr. Krashes said of the Barclays Center inspections. “If this was a bar or a restaurant, they could be shut down because it’s illegal.”

The Atlantic Yards Report noted last week that the fine may not be enough to solve the problem.

“For a neighborhood bar, a $3,200 fine for a noise violation can cause pocketbook pain. For an arena earning millions from concert tickets and concessions, it may be the cost of doing business, especially if they can fend off some fines with procedural arguments,” blogger Norman Oder wrote.

Rihanna will perform her second Barclays Center show tonight, around the same time the Atlantic Yards Quality of Life Committee will convene at a local YMCA to discusses quality of life issues with representatives from Forest City Ratner, the Barclays Center and Empire State Development, which is overseeing the Atlantic Yards project.

Several residential buildings will be constructed next to the Barclays Center as part of the Atlantic Yards project in the coming years.

“I think a lot of people are assuming they’re going to solve this problem by the time they build the residential buildings adjacent to the arena,” Mr. Krashes said. “But are we to wait two years for them to fix this?"

Ms. Gilmartin.

Even though Forest City Ratner made sure to tout the groundbreaking of the first housing tower at Atlantic Yards late last fall, few would have described the developer's approach towards housing, particularly affordable housing, as passionate. Forest City Ratner itself has made no secret of the fact that its focus was on the arena, the linchpin of the development site and the first and only building to be completed up to this point.

Apparently, though, newly appointed president and CEO MaryAnne Gilmartin is now thrilled about affordable housing. As she told a crowd of urban planning gurus, developers and real estate powerbrokers at a CURE. (Center for Urban Real Estate) dinner at Columbia University Wednesday night, while all of the positive feedback on the arena had been nice, "it is the housing component that will truly revolutionize the project."

Ms. Gilmartin raved about the Forest City Ratner's decision to go with modular, conflating the cost-saving measure with much higher-minded ideals than cheapness. It was about innovation, Ms. Gilmartin said, and the developer's commitment to affordable housing—the much-delayed component that helped Forest City sell the controversial project to political leaders and community groups. (While the first tower, at 32 stories, will be the world's tallest pre-fab building, there was likely more afoot than trailblazing in the developer's decision to go with modular, which promises cost savings and speed for a project that has been plagued by delays and financial woes.)

After speaking about the undeniable influence of Robert Moses, Ms. Gilmartin also expressed her admiration for Jane Jacobs, praising her focus on mixed-use development and declaring that: "It may surprise some given my developer DNA, that I identify more with Jane Jacobs than Robert Moses."

The developer ended her presentation by boasting about her decision to move from Westchester to a $3.85 million Brooklyn brownstone with her three children, three dogs, a bird and a fish—earning applause from the evening's very supportive audience.

But then, Ms. Gilmartin was not the only one to extoll the altruism and selflessness of real estate developers. CURE. director and SHoP partner Vishaan Chakrabarti opened the evening with rather lavish praise for those in attendance, proclaiming: "heroes, heroes, you are heroes."

Ms. Gilmartin's new home is as classical as Atlantic Yards is modern.

When Forest City Ratner executive vice president—and soon to be CEO, once Bruce Ratner steps down—MaryAnne Gilmartin spoke to Westchester Magazine, she was asked for "the most baseless criticism" leveled against her. She responded, "That I don’t really know Brooklyn, so I’m not qualified to develop a project there. I lived in Brooklyn from 1988 to 1993."

That criticism is about to get a little more baseless: Ms. Gilmartin and her husband, James, just bought a townhouse in Park Slope, according to city records. The couple paid $3.85 million for the four-story, 20-foot-wide brownstone at 113 St. John's Place, and will presumably be moving from their home in Edgemont, New York.

Situated between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, Ms. Gilmartin's new home is close enough to Forest City Ratner's Atlantic Yards development that Ms. Gilmartin can walk to Nets games (1 MetroTech, where she works, is a bit of a slog), but not so close that she'll have to compete with arena-goers over parking, or deal with the Barclays Center's booming bass or the sudden outbreaks of Bieber fever that have been known to grip the neighborhood.

And while Forest City Ratner normally chooses modernist architects for its projects—Renzo Piano for the New York Times building, Frank Gehry at 8 Spruce Street and SHoP at Atlantic Yards—Ms. Gilmartin's new abode is thoroughly classical. The interior doorways are still framed by elaborate wooden pilasters, pediments and other classical architectural elements that we're not sophisticated enough to identify, and the wooden fireplace and staircase remain intact.

Ms. Gilmartin unfortunately could not use the power of eminent domain to seize the six-bedroom, 4,160-square foot home from sellers Paul and Chandra Graves, and in fact had to pay $100,000 over the asking price of $3.75 million. The sellers were represented by Libby and Maria Ryan of Brown Harris Stevens, and the buyers by James Cornell and Leslie Marshall at Corcoran.

What about the Yards part of Atlantic Yards? (Dope on the Slope, flickr)

In the last few months, the battle cries of the Atlantic Yards opponents have quieted—or been drowned out by the hubbub of basketball games and concerts at Barclays. There has been a subtle shift in tone and subject matter, with the conversation turning away from Atlantic Yards and the bitter debate that has characterized so much of the development's history.

But despite the shift in focus, the eastern end of Downtown Brooklyn remains scarred by an open railyard—an 8.5-acre tear in the urban fabric that Forest City Ratner is supposed to someday heal.

The platform over Vanderbilt Yards, as it's known, is the difference between a highly challenging "blighted" development site—arguably deserving of special subsidies, tax breaks and the seizure of private land through eminent domain—and a prime development site in a plum location.

The Atlantic Yards Report—the tireless, fine-tooth comber of all documents related to Forest City Ratner—has unearthed what appears to be confirmation that the deck over the 8.5-acre Vanderbilt Yards will not be built until after four other towers are completed on Southeast Block 1129.

Quoting from the annual report that Forest City Enterprises filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, AYR accuses Forest City of shifting around its sequencing and phases, moving the construction of four towers on Southeast Block 1129 from Phase I to Phase II, effectively prioritizing the easier, terra firma construction over the thornier deck building, and thereby delaying it. Delays are a rather touchy subject, as wobbly deadlines (ahem, 10 years) have been a problem for the project.

"That leaves the below-grade railyard waiting for an expensive deck and furthering development on the main piece of terra firm beyond the arena block," writes the Atlantic Yards Report.

In other words, Forest City would not be getting to that "scar that divided the neighborhood" anytime soon.

But Forest City denies that anything has changed in the timeline or the phases.

"The four buildings on Block 1129 are still, as they have always been, part of Phase II," spokesman Joe DePlasco told The Observer. Sequencing for Phase II, he added, had yet to be determined and would be discussed as part of the environmental impact studies.

But what of the seeming discrepancy between Block 1129 being designated as part of Phase I in the annual report?

Mr. DePlasco cited a tangle of legalese, but the takeaway was that different documents "have different descriptions for different purposes."

So Block 1129 is sometimes part of Phase I and sometimes part of Phase II, but it has always been part of Phase II and its sequencing in relation to the deck has yet to be determined. Got that?

As for a timeline on when the platform would be completed, Mr. DePlasco pointed The Observer toward the penalties outlined in the SEC report if Forest City does not commence construction on the Permanent Railroad by December 31, 2013 and "substantially complete" construction by September 30, 2016: "[I]f we do not commence construction on the Permanent Railyard by December 31, 2013 we will be in default of various MTA project agreements and the MTA will have the ability to draw down our $86 million letter of credit. We would also lose approximately 3.3 million square feet of development rights for Phase II of Brooklyn Atlantic Yards."

kvelsey@observer.com

[Ed. Note: The Observer has removed the characterization of "sometimes conspiracy theorist" from a description of the Atlantic Yards Report published in an earlier version of this story. The Observer had used the description to characterize the tone—and suspicious worldview—that the blog occasionally takes. This was incorrect and we did not intend to impugn the accuracy or quality of either AYR reporting or of Norman Oder's work.]

Would a library in a private developer's high rise be the same? (Brownstoner)

The City of New York, like many other large landowners, has been selling its land for centuries. However, these last few months have brought what many consider to be a disconcerting flurry of real estate transactions as the city, citing a cash crunch, moves to sell off a number of schools, libraries and municipal buildings.

The city and others have lauded the sell-off as a way to bring much-needed monies to institutions that are in dire need of help. Trading in valuable real estate, we are told, will keep the city's civic institutions afloat. If only it didn't have the vaguely desperate vibe of a pawn shop swap.

Is the city is making bad—or at least short-sighted—deals in exchange for a little cash right now? As The New York Times, which examined the sudden spate of sales argues: the decision to sell certain properties and keep others is being driven by the logic of developers, not the virtues and the problems of the library branches and schools themselves.

And when private, rather than public interest dictates the city's real estate decisions, that's a real cause for concern, even if those sales will ultimately benefit the public, as the city claims.

For example, the 52-year-old Brooklyn Heights branch requires a $3 million overhaul of its air conditioning system, as well as other repairs, but it's certainly not the oldest or most dilapidated library in Brooklyn, according to The Times. The parcel just happens to be in a posh neighborhood where developers are eager to build luxury housing for the kinds of residents who can afford to do without libraries.

(The Brooklyn Public Library, via a spokesman, has contacted The Observer to say that while it does not dispute that the value of the real estate is a huge factor in the decision to sell the branches, it does feel that the Brooklyn Heights branch is among the system's most dilapidated and was closed for 30 days last summer because of air conditioning problems.)

The same could be said of the Beaux Arts library branch on Pacific Street, located just steps from Barclays Arena. Library officials say that selling the land would allow the branch to build out a more modern space.

While the Pacific Street branch will increase slightly with the move, from about 15,750 square feet to 16,500 square feet, according to the Brooklyn Public Library, the 60,000 Brooklyn Heights branch will shrink considerably. (The library argues that the part of the library that houses the local branch will remain nearly the same, given that much of the of the space is used for storage and the business library is being relocated off-site.)

There's a tendency, in these situations, for both the city and the developers to focus on what is being given, rather than what is being gained by private interests—and what is being gained, rather than what is being given, by the public.

In the case of the Brooklyn public libraries, it's not all that much—while the two libraries are said to need repairs totaling $9 million to $11 million each, most of the proceeds of the sale would go to building the new spaces out. Moreover, whatever money is gained would be just a one-time infusion, rather than a strategy for supporting an under-funded institution in the long run. There's a real question as to why, if New York's economic development during the last decade is benefiting the city as much as Mayor Bloomberg has claimed, such sell-offs are necessary.

The public has been generous to private developers—particularly in the case of Barclays, with city and state subsidies granted on the basis that their developments would be enriching the entire community, rather than just the developer. If that's the case, why is it that the local public library by Barclay's can't afford to stay in its long-time home? What can we expect of even more public-private partnerships that transfer public property to the private sector, relocating to inferior spaces on property that was once theirs in exchange for a one-time windfall?

kvelsey@observer.com

Correction: The Observer previously misreported that the square footage of the Pacific Street branch. It is 15,750 square feet, not 60,000.

Photo courtesy Brooklyn Eagle, Bob Scott

The Brooklyn Public Library is looking to sell off two of its branches near downtown Brooklyn to developers, the New York Daily News reports, and what do you know—both of them are right next to Forest City Ratner-owned properties.

The first library on the block is the Brooklyn Heights branch, a squat 1960 building. It sits on a triangular parcel directly north of Forest City Ratner's One Pierrepont Plaza, a late '80s skyscraper that pierces the Brooklyn skyline with its green faux-mansard roof, virtually indistinguishable from those of la Ville-Lumière.

Lawyer and urban planner Michael White pointed out the coincidence on his blog, Noticing New York:

"Brooklyn development, especially when government officials are involved, is considered Forest City Ratner's turf, to the virtual exclusion of all others. Whether by coincidence or not, both of these sites (library sites are unfortunately city-owned) are immediately adjacent to property the government has previously put in the hands of Forest City Ratner pursuant to no-bid deals and with special terms and subsidies."

Modular construction has long been a dream of architects, for its efficiency and control, and now it could be a boon for New York City developers as well, since prefab methods can save 20 to 30 percent from traditional design methods. The only issue is for construction workers. Because the projects are built in factories, even when using union labor, the jobs tend to be less skilled and thus lower paying. Many labor unions had bridled at this, especially since Mr. Ratner had made extensive promises about the well-paying jobs Atlantic Yards would provide. But today the Building and Construction Trades Council announced its support for the development, saying that the prefab builders will get their own division within the labor group.

Gary LaBarbera, president of the council, suggested that without this agreement, nothing would have been built (never mind promises by Mr. Ratner with the state to start building at some point), and so this deal was acceptable.

"Today, we move forward with an innovative approach to development that will allow us to realize the vision of the Atlantic Yards project and create traditional construction jobs that may otherwise have been at risk," Mr. LaBarbera said in a statement. "And as we bring training, skill, quality and safety to modular construction through a strong labor-management partnership on this project, we see the potential to have this approach improve our competitiveness elsewhere in the local market and expand into an export industry to create even more sustainable union jobs that pay good wages and benefits.”

Indeed, Mr. Ratner and others have touted modular construction's ability to be a boon for the entire development industry, particularly on the affordable housing front. This is an area of development the unions have not typically occupied—though they are also increasingly trying to horn their way in in other ways—and if it can corner the prefab market, many projects employing it in the future would have to deal with the unions. Even with higher wage rates, the cheaper costs—from controlled environments of the factory floor and streamlined construction processes, plus cheaper union jobs—could entice many developers across the city.

In other words, Atlantic Yards might not simply revolutionize this corner of Atlantic Yards, but also housing across the city.

Or even across the world. B2, as the apartment tower is known, would lap many times the current record holder for prefabricated construction, a 20-story hotel in England. And the involvement of SHoP is meant to suggest that prefab can be sleek and design-y as well. "With modular, we are also transforming how housing is built in New York City and, potentially, around the world," Mr. Ratner said in a statement. "And we are doing it, as we do with all of our construction, in partnership with union labor, the best labor, in the best City in the world."

Part of the reason for building modular is because the return on the first tower is limited, following a commitment by Forest City Ratner to make the building 50 percent affordable. Of the 363 unit in the building, half will be affordable, though there have been complaints of just how affordable they will actually be.

Working with SHoP and engineers at Skanska, Forest City Ratner developed a system that will allow some 930 modular units, known as mods, to be assembled at a factory in the Brooklyn Navy Yards. They will be trucked onto the site, at the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Dean Street, hoisted into place and connected. There are more than 30 different mods that can be combined to create apartments ranging in size from a studio to a three bedroom. The project will also be green, seeking a LEED Silver rating.

"Two years ago, due to the financial environment and other issues, we undertook intensive research and development to explore the feasibility of modular and to infuse technologically modern means of construction in our design and construction methods," said MaryAnne Gilmartin, Ratner executive vice-president. "We believe we’ve achieved a significant break through that will allow us to create world-class design and keep our commitment to union labor and deliver a significant amount of affordable housing.”

There was no mention of whether or not there is a special tax break for building modular housing.

The yards as they once were.

The battle over the Atlantic Yards has been a punishing experience even for the most dedicated community activist. It has been long and unrewarding and now, with the opening of the arena, many are finally calling it quits, The New York Times reports.

Losing the fight over eminent domain was the first straw and after years of sifting through documents, plans and financial filings, many saw Jay-Z's first concert there as the last straw. The arena is a fait accompli and while the huge housing towers that helped Forest City Ratner secure so much government funding have yet to materialize, nitpicking the plans for the next half-decade is not something a lot of the opponents can stomach.

Nor do they want to.

“I never realized how angry I was during those years,” musician Scott M.X. Turner told The Times. “Now my life is not being angry all the time.”

People neglected careers, friends and families to devote 20 or more hours to the battle against Barclays. Opposing the project became an all-consuming passion for many and one that they no longer want to devote themselves to.

Candance Carponter, the real estate lawyer behind Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, admitted to exhaustion, but said that she was proud for fighting for what she believed in, even if she hadn't won the fight.

Many who plan to, or have already thrown in the towel, have also moved on physically, taking up residence in new neighborhoods or states. Others, particularly those who must live with the new arena, vow to continue.

“The fight isn’t over,” graphic designer Jon Crow, who is involved with a nearby community garden, told The Times. “We’ve got a neighborhood to protect.”

kvelsey@observer.com

Making a killing on ticket sales.

While searching around the Municipal Bond Database (as is our wont)The Observer stumbled upon the quarterly cash receipts of ArenaCo, subsidiary of Forest City Ratner Corporation and the owner operator of Barclays Center.  The reports revealed a whopping $46,866,337.14 in sales from tickets, suites and sponsor installments between April 1st, 2012 and September 30th, 2012.

All of which amounts to just a drop in the bucket of the total $510,999,996.50 PILOT Revenue Bond issue currently being paid off by ArenaCo in payments in lieu of taxes to the city or state. This is good news for the bond holders, who presumably need all the help they can get. After all, their bond holdings are currently being given a BBB- rating, the lowest rating a bond issue can have while still being considered investment grade and one which ranks Arena Co and Barclays Center in the same investment strata as the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority.

Bond details.

It must be difficult to hold onto that kind of debt, especially when your bond issuer is busy in court trying to devalue the very property you're investing in. An action which Forest City Ranter called a mistake on Friday, according to DNAinfo. It appears that the Atlantic Yards property was inadvertently clumped in with other Forest City Ratner properties. Ones that must still be overvalued by the city finance department but which don’t have any of those pesky bond payments tied to their tax valuations. It all goes to show just how aggressive FCR is when it comes to challenging tax assessments.

So the next time you’re lining up in the Geico Atrium to buy tickets to an event, think of the city, the IRS tax laws it skirted and the hundreds of millions in tax revenue it sacrificed to get you there. A sacrifice that helps all of us, or at least some of us, by buoying a series of barely investment grade bond holdings.  It’s a ticket worth the money when a game this great is being played.

Those towers? Still on except for one. (SHoP Architects)

Some good news for Bruce Ratner today, but probably not for the neighborhood or the folks who want to move into the developer's promised apartment towers at Atlantic Yards. The Islanders will mean more crowds roaming the streets of Prospect Heights and Fort Greene before and after games, and more revenue for the Barclays Center, but this will not help speed up construction of the long-delayed apartments, according to Mr. Ratner.

At a press conference inside the Barclays Center's trademark Geico Atrium this afternoon, an NPR sports reporter (rather than all the assembled metro hacks like us) was the only one to ask Mr. Ratner about the impact of the deal on the rest of Atlantic Yards, and what Mayor Bloomberg thought of the project's development, or lack thereof.

"This deal doesn't affect the housing, and I announced at our last press conference opening this place up that on December 18th we will have the groundbreaking for our first building, which is 50 percent affordable," is all Mr. Ratner would say.

The mayor then stepped up to the mic and let 'er rip. "Of course we want to get things done quicker, but given all of the angst that Bruce had to go through, the fact that the housing is a little behind schedule isn't the least bit surprising," Mayor Bloomberg said.

He then proceed to place the blame on everyone but Mr. Ratner, most notably with the locals who sued Forest City to prevent the seizure of their homes. "Those people that tried to stop the project or delay the project are the ones that really caused all of that," Mayor Bloomberg said. "The marketplace also wasn't terribly helpful."

A post on Norman Oder's Atlantic Yards Report reminds us, with this handy graphic, that at the outset of the project not only was the arena due to have opened three years ago but also six of the 13 apartment towers would also be finished. As recently as fall of 2010 Mr. Ratner was promising construction of the residential buildings to have commenced by some time last year. He is finally dead set on this year, but it seems as though he has arrived at that point of his own choosing, no one else's.

Mayor Bloomberg believes that is just fine. "There's a lot of good indicators that say that Bruce will be able to build and get it done reasonably expeditiously," he said. "Would it have been nice if it was done earlier, sure? But the real world is what it is."

After the press conference, reporters tried to ask Mr. Ratner if he had made a final decision on whether the first apartment building would be built modular or not. "We're not talking modular today," he responded curtly. Maybe that is because he still does not have financing for the tower, as Mr. Oder reported.

Welcome to the real world, indeed.