May 05, 2008
Brooklyn arena fate still up in air
In the wake of last week's rumor that the New Jersey Nets could be headed to Newark instead of Brooklyn, plus Saturday's neighborhood rally to demand that the state call a halt to the faltering Brooklyn project, Nets owner Bruce Ratner fired back with an op-ed in the Daily News insisting that he's moving ahead with construction. Headlined "Atlantic Yards dead? Dream on," Ratner's essay insisted:
We're still building all 6,400 units of housing - including 2,250 affordable units. We're still building the iconic Miss Brooklyn tower and the state-of-the-art Barclays Center, the future home of the Nets.
Twenty-four hour later, though, Ratner revealed that the Miss Brooklyn tower had been dumped, in exchange for a smaller office-only building creatively titled "B1." (The Brownstoner blog notes that the size reduction has actually been in the works for over a year, but this still represents a significantly new design, which the Gothamist blog dubs "Miss Jenga.")
The real question remains whether to believe Ratner's assurances that the $950 million arena will break ground later this year, or whether this is just a last-ditch effort to attract investors to a project that was designed for better economic times. If the latter, and Ratner falls short and the arena never gets built, I argue iin an op-ed in today's Metro New York, that might end up being the best thing for Brooklyn.
This thing will get bult. He will get more money from new york. They arent going to new jersey even though you guys are hoping the project falls apart.
Posted by: dan on May 5, 2008 07:12 PM
In these politically correct times, I'm surprised the tower wasn't named "Ms." Brooklyn. But then again, it's likely that the Nets will "miss" Brooklyn after all.
Posted by: Jonathan on May 6, 2008 05:03 PM
As architect Frank Gehry explained his name: "When we were studying Brooklyn, we happened upon a wedding, a real Brooklyn wedding. And we decided that 'Miss Brooklyn' was a bride. She's a bride with her flowing bridal veil � I really overdid it. If you had seen the bride, you would � I fell in love with her."
And as novelist (and Brooklyn resident) Jonathan Lethem replied: "Pardon me, but bleeechh. I don't know whether many great buildings have been founded on notions at once so metaphorically impoverished and so slickly patronizing. But somehow I doubt that any have."
http://www.slate.com/id/2143634
Posted by: Neil on May 6, 2008 08:16 PM
Dan, they haven't left NJ yet, and it doesn't look like they will, either. The Brooklyn project is a disaster that Ratner was using to justify his office buildings.
Move over, Devils, the Nets are coming to join you!
Posted by: LeftWingCracker on May 12, 2008 07:51 PM
