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Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park infographics: what's built/what's coming/what's missing, who's responsible, + project FAQ/timeline (pinned post)

Kidd, Carter, and the flexibility of the AY permanent campaign

One key to the Atlantic Yards permanent campaign is flexibility. When developer Forest City Ratner launched the Brooklyn Standard "publication," company head Bruce Ratner announced in the debut June/July 2005 issue that it would be issued "every month or so."

It lasted one more issue, perhaps because it was ridiculed by even the New York Times (O.K., the Whole Paper Is Basically an Ad), a contributor to the second issue (Fall 2005) forcefully requested corrections regarding stories attributed to him that he did not write, and lingering questions remained about the issue.

Still, the developer has been able to deploy many other options, including brochures.

Basketball stars and scandal

New Jersey Nets stars Jason Kidd and Vince Carter have been front and center in promotional efforts to support the Atlantic Yards project. At the press event held before the 8/23/06 public hearing on the project, both stars appeared, and Carter offered this bromide: “I feel it’s all about unity in the community.”

Both also appeared on the dais for the Barclays Center naming rights extravaganza held a month ago, on 1/18/07.

Now, however, the value of Kidd and Carter as props may be outweighed by the cost of losing Carter without a trade and the cost of bad publicity surrounding Kidd. (On Saturday, news that , in her divorce filing, Kidd's wife Joumana had accused him of serial adultery and further physical attacks made the front page of both the Daily News and the Post.)

The Times reported yesterday, in a story headlined Nets Working to Find a Way to Trade Kidd:
According to one Eastern Conference official, the Nets’ owner, Bruce C. Ratner, was concerned about the negative publicity surrounding Kidd’s contentious divorce from his wife, Joumana. But Ratner is said to be close to Kidd. He also has an affinity for Carter, who helped rescue the Nets two seasons ago in the wake of the franchise’s letting go of Kenyon Martin.

Carter, after this season, is expected to opt out of the final year of his contract to seek greener pastures, so a trade might allow the Nets to gain some compensation.

Rebuilding, and building

The Times offered some hopeful spin:
With the Nets expected to move to Brooklyn as early as the 2009-10 season, this could be the time for them to start rebuilding.

That may well be pragmatic sports management. After all, Kidd and Carter have already served their purpose in the cause of building the Atlantic Yards project.

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