On February 24, City Council members Letitia James, Brad Lander and Steven Levin held a town hall meeting at which representatives from NYC DOT, Forest City Ratner, and the Empire State Development Corporation discussed planned street closures related to the Atlantic Yards project and answered questions from attendees. Jane Marshall of FCR, Sam Schwartz of Sam Schwartz Engineering, and Chris Hrones of DOT discussed the revised plan for street closures. (A copy of the plan is available online here. Among the points made were the following:

• Closing of streets, originally announced for February 1, is being delayed pending a ruling in the condemnation proceeding necessary for ESDC to acquire property for Atlantic Yards through eminent domain. The judge's ruling is expected shortly.
• Should the judge rule that condemnation can proceed, the street closings can take place immediately. It is not known how much advance notice, if any, the surrounding community will receive prior to closing.
• FCR plans to quickly ramp up construction activities following a favorable ruling by the judge in the condemnatio proceeding.
• The original plan was modified at the request of the Community Board 8 transporation committee to allow Carlton Avenue between Dean and Pacific Streets to remain one-way.
• FCR's Marshall stated the Carlton Avenue Bridge is expected to be opened in 2012, more than two years later than originally promised.
• ESDC's Forrest Taylor explained that the ESDC has not followed through with its May 2007 commitment to maintain a Transportation Working Group composed of State and City agencies, Community Boards, and community representatives. Instead, ESDC plans to establish a committee of a reconstituted Community Advisory Council (now under negotiation with elected officials) to address transportation concerns.

More coverage of the February 24 meeting can be found at the Atlantic Yards Report.