Botched Sidewalk Widths Could Mean Crowd-Control Nightmare for Barclays Center

Atlantic Yards Watch has published a report showing that the sidewalks in the vicinity of Atlantic Yards have significantly less capacity for pedestrians than the project's environmental analysis anticipates.

A critical measurement used in the formula to assess sidewalk capacity was regularly used incorrectly in the FEIS, according to AYW. As a result, the capacity of more than 86 percent of the sidewalks in the 2006 Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) are overstated.

For example: The sidewalk on Dean Street that will be used by arena patrons to walk from the arena parking lot to the arena has an effective width of 3.2 feet instead of the 11.5 feet disclosed in the FEIS. This margin of error is typical, not the exception.

If these figures are correct, a crowd-control nightmare could be brewing: Sidewalks created to accommodate local residents and small scale retail businesses "will now have to handle the surging crowds of an 18,000-seat arena."

See ATW for full details, including a chart of sidewalk widths and a map showing the misrepresented sidewalks.

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