Starchitects Die For Our Sins

Robert Scarano, Brooklyn’s “bad boy” architect should really get a Spitzer-like position with one of the local papers (Brooklyn Paper — where this interview was published — or the Observer or whatever) . . . with no new commissions, he’s chastened, and is now calling it like he sees it:

Gehry’s designs, as magnificent as they are, are not for the faint of heart. They’re only for those with an unlimited budget. When they’re wildly overpriced to begin with, the real drama comes later when there are 80 percent cost escalations. [Forest City Ratner] brought him in to be the main star guy and he had a shelf life, as did Daniel Liebeskind at the World Trade Center. When that shelf life was up, they let him go.

Smart Strategy!

Wow people with Frank Gehry designs, thus building support — either explicit or tacit (i.e., “looks nice . . . maybe that eminent domain battle is worth it”) — then pull out the rug from under everyone only after you start tearing stuff down, thus making Nicolai Ouroussoff cry:

The recent news that the developer Forest City Ratner had scrapped Frank Gehry’s design for a Nets arena in central Brooklyn is not just a blow to the art of architecture. It is a shameful betrayal of the public trust, one that should enrage all those who care about this city.

Location Scout: Atlantic Yards.

From Bilbao To Indianapolis For Just $200 Million

But we’ll always have Miss Brooklyn:

Citing financial concerns, the developer of the long-delayed Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn has scrapped plans for a Frank Gehry-designed $1 billion glass-walled basketball arena for the Nets in favor of a less expensive arena. The new design, which will cost about $200 million less, comes from Ellerbe Becket, an architectural firm based in Kansas City, Mo., that specializes in convention centers, stadiums and arenas and designed Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, where the Indiana Pacers play. Officials who have seen the design say that while it resembles Conseco Fieldhouse it also bears a likeness to an “airplane hangar.”

The new design, which will cost about $200 million less, comes from Ellerbe Becket, an architectural firm based in Kansas City, Mo., that specializes in convention centers, stadiums and arenas and designed Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, where the Indiana Pacers play. Officials who have seen the design say that while it resembles Conseco Fieldhouse it also bears a likeness to an “airplane hangar.”

. . .

“The current economic climate is not right for this design,” Mr. Ratner said of the Gehry design in a statement released Thursday afternoon, “and with Frank’s understanding, the arena is undergoing a redesign that will make it more limited in scope.”

Mr. Ratner has said he is eager to get started with what he says will be a world-class project.

Mr. Gehry, the award-winning architect behind the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, added that while he regretted the demise of his arena design, he remained “extremely proud of our work on the Atlantic Yards master plan and on the original arena.”

Location Scout: Atlantic Yards.

Have You Heard About The Mayor’s Five Borough Economic Plan?

You know, the one you keep getting phone calls about? It’s even got a 450-foot-long pedestrian bridge:

“For decades, residents of the South Bronx have sought rail service to increase their transportation options and limit the number of people who drive to Yankee’s games,” said Bloomberg. “Today, it has finally arrived. The new Yankee-E. 153rd Street MTA Metro-North Railroad station is the first railroad station open anywhere in the Bronx in decades.”

The new addition to the Hudson Line, a $ 91 million dollar project, began service to the public on Saturday, May 23, and will remain in operation 365 days a year.

A 450-foot-long, 25-foot-wide bridge will connect Bronxites and visitors to the new Yankee Stadium and parks currently under construction along the waterfront, being built as part of the City’s Five Borough Economic Opportunity Plan.

A Brand New Season, A Brand New Stadium And A Really, Really, Really Obstructed View

New Yankee Stadium is the best of the old and the new:

With a concrete wall turning much of right field into a mystery, Picone and McNevin were far from thrilled with their seats [in Section 239, one of two blocks of seats, along with Section 201, that flank the Mohegan Sun Sports Bar in center field, leaving a heavily obstructed view of the outfield with regular season ticket prices of $5]. “But for that price,” Picone said, “it was definitely worth it to be here.”

They were helped out by three televisions bolted to the wall of the sports bar that showed a live feed of the game, though many fans said a few extra screens would have been appreciated, particularly in the glare of the sun. Still, they could make out enough of Jorge Posada’s long drive to know it was a home run once it disappeared from their own view of the game.

For the fans in the bleachers who did not have ticket plans, the afternoon was more expensive. Earlier this week, tickets for Sections 239 and 201 were selling for over $200 on StubHub, without the sellers’ necessarily mentioning that the view was obstructed. Though the Yankees had previously recognized that these seats were not ideal and lowered the price for them, independent marketplaces like StubHub and eBay leave it up to the sellers to disclose whether or not a view is obstructed.

That is how a visibly upset Adrian Rea, a Yankee fan from Binghamton, N.Y., wound up spending $1,200 for four tickets in Section 201. Rea had no idea that he would not be able to see right field.

“If I’d known, I wouldn’t have bought them,” he said. “I would have even paid more if I could have had seats that weren’t obstructed.”

Sitting in the row in front of Rea, Scott Placona, 26, jumped in. He had bought his ticket for $250 from a scalper 10 minutes before the game and insisted that it was worth every penny — just to be able to tell his grandchildren he was at the first regular-season game at the new Yankee Stadium. What did it matter that he couldn’t see left field?

Location Scout: New Yankee Stadium.