The Barclays Center Is Officially Open
After nine years of planning, protests and construction, the Barclays Center opened today. Mayor Bloomberg, Borough President Markowitz, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov and developer Bruce Ratner were there to sing the praises of the Atlantic Avenue development project in front of a sizable crowd. (As McBrooklyn pointed out of the four men: “That’s about $41…
After nine years of planning, protests and construction, the Barclays Center opened today. Mayor Bloomberg, Borough President Markowitz, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov and developer Bruce Ratner were there to sing the praises of the Atlantic Avenue development project in front of a sizable crowd. (As McBrooklyn pointed out of the four men: “That’s about $41 billion dollars worth of humanity.”) There was plenty of self-congratulation to go around. “This is a great day for Brooklyn and a great day for New York City,” said Mayor Bloomberg. Ratner and Prokhorov praised each other, each saying they were “the best partner” they’ve ever had. Bloomberg told the crowd he bought a season pass for the Nets and arrived today “by subway, naturally,” apparently in an effort to convince other arena-goers to do the same. Outside the center, protesters — three dressed as Bloomberg, Governor Cuomo and Markowitz puppets — gathered and passed out fliers about not-yet-met promises of 10,000 jobs and 2,250 units of affordable housing. Representatives from the union also stood outside the arena calling for “good-paying union jobs,” while one protestor said, “They won’t even return our calls.” Protesters will be holding pop-up actions outside the arena until 4 pm today. After the jump, you can see a few interior shots of the arena, the protesters, and the crowd attending the ribbon cutting. As for other future plans for the center, quite a few local food vendors will sell at the arena, including Brooklyn Farmacy, Fatty ‘Cue and Calexico. Jay-Z will be the first performer at Barclays with a series of sold-out concerts starting next Friday. The Nets’ first game will be Nov. 1 against the Knicks.
LOTS OF PHOTOS FROM INSIDE THE ARENA ON THE JUMP…
The press line for this morning’s event.
The entryway.
The halls.
The arena.
Protesters dressed as puppets.
Union members.
Walked by the arena yesterday. From a purely aesthetic standpoint, the design isn’t bad. But it is out scale for the spot it’s in, and it looks out of context. The signage, now that it’s up, is too large and bright. It kind of wrecks the whole rusty can effect. Plus, they’re putting signage (branding) on the roof, which opens up a whole new can of worms.
I would rather the arena not be here. I’m no fan of sports, and I agree with megazoid’s opinion on the choice of acts that will be performing here. Besides, even if I did like the entertainment options, I couldn’t afford them.
Basically, the point that the supporters seem to be missing over and over is that opposition stems from lack of oversight and favors given by our elected officials to their super rich buddies. It’s just wrong and not supposed to happen in a so-called democracy. All of us average people are supposed to follow the rules, but then the rules just don’t apply for the elites. The next time someone tries to convince you that a billionaire businessman will make a great mayor or president, remember the lessons of Atlantic Yards.
Walked by the arena yesterday. From a purely aesthetic standpoint, the design isn’t bad. But it is out scale for the spot it’s in, and it looks out of context. The signage, now that it’s up, is too large and bright. It kind of wrecks the whole rusty can effect. Plus, they’re putting signage (branding) on the roof, which opens up a whole new can of worms.
I would rather the arena not be here. I’m no fan of sports, and I agree with megazoid’s opinion on the choice of acts that will be performing here. Besides, even if I did like the entertainment options, I couldn’t afford them.
Basically, the point that the supporters seem to be missing over and over is that opposition stems from lack of oversight and favors given by our elected officials to their super rich buddies. It’s just wrong and not supposed to happen in a so-called democracy. All of us average people are supposed to follow the rules, but then the rules just don’t apply for the elites. The next time someone tries to convince you that a billionaire businessman will make a great mayor or president, remember the lessons of Atlantic Yards.
would those be opposing teams? so what are you saying?