Ratner's Un-Fab Towers

Only days after being sued by disgruntled construction workers for undelivered jobs and wages, Bruce Ratner throws another shrimp on the fuck-you-Brooklyn-barbie pit he calls the Atlantic Yards. Representatives of Ratner's firm released some stank ass pictures by SHoP architects revealing the first of a few towers planned around the Barclay Center. And here's the kicker: they're all pre-fab modular towers. That means they're made in smaller modular units in a factory, then transported to the Atlantic yards, where they will be bolted into place. Sort of like Legos, but not nearly as cool. 

The first of the towers will be 32 stories tall and made up of 930 of these modular boxes. One of the later towers could raise as high as 50 stories, making it the tallest modular tower ever built -- or the tallest middle finger to all those who initially backed this project because Bruce promised A) Frank Gehry, and B) Union jobs. Let us address each of these factors.

A, Frank Gehry: This is shit architecture that doesn't even look good in the renderings. Just take a look at The Avalon on the Lower East Side and picture it taller. So definitely no high-end Frank Gehry business there (you may remember that he was fired from the project in order to save some money-cash).

B, Union Jobs: Since these pre-fab buildings are built off sight in factories, their construction cuts down on labor costs and the number of people it takes to assemble them. So yeah, no jobs for the locals. Outspoken opponent to this project, Councilwoman Letita James, was quoted in the Brooklyn Paper as saying:

It’s another despicable slight to the community surrounding the project by eliminating more crucial jobs for residents. 

Ratner claims that construction on this new phallic wonder will begin early next year, but since he has not secured funding yet it's not a hard and fast date. 

I'll leave you with yet another image of the architectural splendor that awaits us.

[Via Curbed, Brooklyn Paper]