"Atlantic Yards" project will shrink the yards themselves

Since we're on the subject of central rail terminals and track capacity...

Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project was supposed to benefit everybody: he would renovate and expand the Long Island Railroad's Vanderbilt Yard, build the tallest building in Brooklyn (designed by Frank Gehry!), bring pro sports back to the borough, build condos for the rich and affordable housing for the poor, and provide millions for the MTA.

Some people were skeptical, and it turns out that almost all of those promises have been broken. If you needed another reason to oppose this stinking heap of corruption, the Atlantic Yards Report tells us that the latest iteration of the plan would not actually enlarge the Yards so that they could store 76 cars instead of 72; instead, it would shrink them down to 70 cars or less.

LIRR president Williams let that slip in a Senate hearing in May, in which she said that it was settled on as part of a "value engineering exercise" with Ratner's staff. Gee, I'm so glad she's in control of the entire MTA now. Thanks, Senator Smith!