According to ESDC Atlantic Yards Project Director Arana Hankin, the generators used for the rebuilding of the Carlton Avenue Bridge will not return to Pacific Street at Carlton Avenue "in the near future."  

Ms. Hankin informed us, "The generator was placed on the street because there was no space in the yard where the generator could have been placed to do the necessary work on the south abutment of the bridge.  If there is a need to use the generator in this area again, the contractors will be required to use noise attenuating blankets."

The generators were placed in that location without any noise attenuation, apparently in violation of the Amended Memorandum of Environmental Commitments.  The MEC details the use of noise barriers, equipment enclosures and perimeter fencing made of 3/4 inch plywood to mitigate noise impacts.  None of those measures were implemented in this case.  The generators were located approximately 50 feet from residences and only a short distance from the construction offices housing FCRC's contractors.

The floodlights  in the Vanderbilt Railyard are being used to extend construction work hours to as late as 11:00 PM many days of the week.  In the spring of 2010, LIRR told community members the lights would be used infrequently to enable work that could not be executed in the day while the railyard was operating.  At that time there was no mention the lights would be used for construction.

The policy for use of the lights has apparently changed.  According to ESDC Project Director Arana Hankin, LIRR and the FCRC contractors working on the Carlton Avenue Bridge are negotiating an agreement for the use of the lights that includes extending construction work hours.  The rebuilding of the Carlton Avenue Bridge is not a LIRR project, although its completion is dependent on various elements of railyard construction being finished.  The lights are planned to be used until reconstruction of the Carlton Avenue Bridge is complete, which must be prior to the time the arena opens in September 2012.  It is unclear to what extent the lights will be used when construction in Vanderbilt Railyard continues with the replacement of the permanent railyard.  It is anticipated to be complete in 2016.

Generators adjacent to perimeter fencing across from residences, and the absence of barriers to shield the residences from the noise they generate, appear to violate both the spirit and the letter of the Amended Memorandum of Environmental Commitments. The generators are apparently being used to facilitate construction of the Carlton Avenue Bridge.  

They are situated directly across the street from residences on the north sidewalk of Pacific Street at the location of the Carlton Avenue Bridge.  They are in a highly visible location close to the construction offices and along the walking route between the construction offices and the arena construction site.  

A recent incident report declaims, "Their generator is making me crazy !!!!"  It asks, "Is there any way we can have them "plug" their damn equipment in instead of using the damn generator ALL DAY EVERYDAY?!?!!?  It is really starting to drive me nuts!"

A resident with a decibel reader registered 98 decibel level outdoors in the vicinity of one generator Saturday, December 17th at 6 pm.  According to the Guide to the NYC noise code, a train has a decibel level of 100dB(A) and a lawnmower has a decibel level of 85 to 90 dB(A).  The guide explains a decibel is a logarithmic unit, "which means that a noise measuring 30 decibels is actually 10 times louder than a noise that registering at 20 decibels."  A measurement of 45 dB is recommended indoors and should not exceed 65 dB.  Outdoor walls and windows are anticipated to reduce noise levels by 15 dB.  Residential units are located roughly 50 feet from the location of the generators.

Illegal parking on sidewalks, primarily by 78th Precinct employees, has replaced street trees on 6th Avenue between Dean and Pacific Streets.  The photos above are one example of how Atlantic Yards construction has reversed the development progress of some areas of the community adjacent to the project site.  The photo on the left was taken in December 2007.  The photo on the right was taken November of 2011.

For the last several weeks railyard flood lights installed in 2010 have been used to extend construction hours.  They have also been used intermittently during the very early morning hours either for construction or LIRR maintenance.  

The lights are bright enough to cast shadows to neighborhoods outside the project site.  The residents most impacted live at the same height as the light fixtures. One incident report describes the condition in some residences in 700 Pacific Street as blinding at night.

The construction alerts outline the use of the lights to extend construction work hours starting at 6:00 am and from dusk to 7:30 pm weekdays.  But incident reports state the lights sometimes come on at earlier times weekdays like 4:30 am and  5:00 am  and weekends at 6:30 am.  The construction alerts do not describe the lights being used during the weekend at all.  

It is unclear at this writing whether the work outside the construction hours detailed in the construction alerts is associated with LIRR operation or with construction. Although the full yard is illuminated, often the work taking place is by a small number of workers in one location.  According to nearby residents, the lights have been turned on more frequently in the early mornings recently than in the past.  This coincides with the announcement in the construction alerts the lights would be used for construction.

Video submitted with an incident report shows dust being blown into the air this morning in the railyard near the work reconstructing the Carlton Avenue Bridge.   The video above is one of four submitted.

The incident report accompanying the video reports "this has been going on for the last few days."  

The report notes that the dust was so significant the worker using a water hose to suppress dust moved away, stopping his task.

As yesterday’s Wall Street Journal article The Horses Will Jump in Brooklyn announced, beginning in 2013 the Barclays Center will be the third site for the Gucci Masters, an elite show-jumping event that attracts the world’s top riders.

The announcement is a reminder that while most of the press around the Barclays Center opening is focused around the Nets, professional basketball games will be only 40 of the 220 or so events anticipated for the arena. The range of programming - from the horse show to the three performances a day for Disney on Ice - have traffic and operational impacts that were never outlined in the FEIS.  In this case, where will the horses go?

According to the article:

For the New York Masters, about 70 to 80 horses will be stabled inside the building, with more than 200 horses in tents just outside, and 1,500 tons of special silica sand will be shipped in from Europe.

The Paris Gucci Masters is held at the Salon de Cheval, a dedicated horse show facility that includes warm-up rings and trailer parking in addition to stables and show rings. Instead, the Barclays event will resemble the International Horse Show at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., which closed three city blocks around the arena this October.

An incident report from November 28th contains two videos showing trucks departing the construction site quickly and stirring up dust into the air.  The location of the incidents shown in the video is Pacific Street at Carlton Avenue, where a dispatch is supposed to stop all trucks and only let them advance when the designated entrance is ready to receive them.

Air quality in the community near the site is affected when trucks speed and/or dirt is spread from the work site by the wheels of construction trucks.  While coordination of trucks associated with project construction has improved since incident reports and stories posted on AYW began drawing attention to violations of truck rules and NYC law, there has never been wheel washing stations at each exit as promised, and dirt and mud is often tracked from the site. Further, the number of exits/entrances currently in use at the site far exceeds what was anticipated in any environmental analysis.

Inside the construction site trucks are required to obey a 5 mph speed limit.  The video shows trucks apparently traveling too fast on the public section of Pacific Street; an area where the 5 mph speed limit may not apply, but where community life must co-exist with the designated route of Atlantic Yards construction delivery trucks.

According to incident reports 395 and 399, more violations of the Barclays Center Delivery Truck Rules and Regulations, the Amended Memorandum of Environmental Commitments and New York City law by Atlantic Yards-related construction trucks took place on Thursday 11/17/11 and Friday 11/18/11.

Trucks are shown idling for more than the 3 minutes allowed by NYC law, parking in travel lanes, and blocking traffic. 

There are currently approximately eleven entrances to the project footprint used by construction-related vehicles. A system set up this summer and fall was designed so that a dispatcher prevents trucks from crossing Carlton Avenue on Pacific Street until the construction entrance designated to receive the trucks signals it is ready.  This protocol apparently broke down, leading to numerous instances of trucks queueing and idling on the public section of Pacific Street between 6th Avenue and Carlton.  This is a violation of the Barclays Center Truck Rules. 

The incident reports describe the dispatcher allowing trucks into the public section of Pacific Street even though it was already obstructed by double-parked cars, one of which turned out to be the illegally parked car of a construction worker.  The construction worker's car contributed to a one-hour blockage of the street.

The impacts described in the incident reports include less safe traffic and pedestrian conditions, blocked traffic, honking, and the air and noise impacts of idling engines.  The reports illustrate a public street in essence turned into an extension of the construction site.

In September 2011, ESDC served FCRC with a "notice of violation" for non-compliance with truck protocols.  Upon serving a notice of a violation, ESDC apparently allows the developer one month to resolve the violations before fines of $1,000 a day are imposed.  The status of the resolution of the September violation is not known at the time of this writing.

The New York Times has unveiled pictures of what may be the first residential building to be built at Atlantic Yards.  If this design is used for what is called Building #2, the 350-unit building will be the tallest using modular construction in the world.  

At the last several District Service Cabinet meetings FCRC Vice Presidents Jane Marshall and Bob Sanna have stated alternate plans using modular and conventional construction are being prepared by FCRC.  The Times notes that "the developer ultimately may instead decide to build the first tower conventionally."  

According to the Wall Street Journal, FCRC will build using modular techniques if an agreement can be reached with the construction unions.  The Journal cites Bruce Ratner that existing incentives for developments where half the units are priced for middle and low income tenants "don't work for a high-rise building that is union-built." Norman Oder in Atlantic Yards Report calls this a "stunning contention" and "astounding admission" because in both 2006 and 2009 the State found plausible the developer's argument it could build the residential development with existing incentives within ten years.  Evidence to the contrary was ignored when those findings were made. 

The Times states FCRC hopes to begin construction early next year.  This information is consistent with statements made by FCRC at the November 3 District Service Cabinet meeting.  The start date for construction has been delayed several times by FCRC.  When the 2009 Modified General Project Plan was approved, Building #2 was expected to start in the fall of 2010. In the fall of 2010, FCRC stated they hoped to start construction in early 2011.  

A lot may have to be accomplished to start construction in the spring of 2012.  The Wall Street Journal states that FCRC does not yet have construction financing in place.  The developer is negotiating with union leaders who had anticipated members would receive higher hourly rates associated with on-site construction.  In order to build using modular techniques, FCRC apparently intends to build a factory to manufacture components, but a location for that factory has not been chosen yet. And other questions with implications for the existing community and the future residents of Building #2 remain unanswered.