As I crossed the road at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Flatbush Avenue (towards the top right of the picture) yesterday morning I wondered who on earth would want to live in the fancy condominiums being built in the Williamsburgh Bank Building (center).

It’s bad enough living up the road near Grand Army Plaza and having to cross Flatbush Avenue almost every day. But the idea of having to pass this noisy, fume-ridden intersection fills me with dread.

If you don’t believe me take a look for yourself at the snarl up yesterday morning at about 11.30am. I couldn’t see why traffic was backing up along Atlantic Avenue. But I wouldn’t say that the resulting mess is not an uncommon site in the area.

If the traffic is bad now, just imagine what it will be like in ten years when the Atlantic Yards project with its twelve skyscrapers, thousands of housing units, 20,000-seater basketball arena, and no doubt hundreds of new businesses, is built? And what will it be like for the thousands of people who will have to live and work down there?

And as for the Williamsburgh Savings Bank residents, unless they’re on a very high floor looking out towards Manhattan they’ll be missing one of the best sights in the borough—the bank building itself.