Branding alert: Atlantic Yards now sponsor of Coney beach volleyball

The Atlantic Yards project, the single largest development in Brooklyn's history, remains (mostly) absent from the Summer 2006 issue of Borough President Marty Markowitz's seasonal promotional Brooklyn!! newspaper-ish publication, just as it did in two previous issues. The cover story is about the lighting of the Coney Island Parachute Jump, which is a redevelopment story, in a way.

But the publication is mainly a salute to the artists, athletes, restaurants, and community characters that make Brooklyn the homey place it is. The centerfold is devoted to the summer concert series in Bed-Stuy and Coney Island that Markowitz established as a state senator, and which--now supported steadily by corporate donations--provide the BP with an opportunity to gladhand crowds as the proud progenitor.

The publication isn't meant to be a comprehensive survey of issues affecting Brooklyn. Still, it's striking how the effort at mentioning a cross-section of neighborhoods is not complemented by discussion of the prime issue facing the borough: development, including the upzoning and downzoning of neighborhoods.

AY & volleyball

Actually, there is one mention of Atlantic Yards, though in advertising rather than the text prepared by the Borough President's office. The full-page ad for the August beach volleyball tournament in Coney Island is billed as "A Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment Event in Partnership with Atlantic Yards."

And the press release for the tournament now emphasizes Atlantic Yards, stating:
Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, in partnership with Atlantic Yards, and the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, a wholly owned subsidiary of AVP, Inc., a lifestyle sports entertainment company focused on professional beach volleyball, announced today that they are joining forces... (Emphasis added)

This represents a change, since that press release has been tweaked from the original issued in January, which did not mention Atlantic Yards:
AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, a wholly owned subsidiary of AVP, Inc., a lifestyle sports entertainment company focused on professional beach volleyball, and Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, announced today that they are joining forces...

Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment is a subsidiary (or alter ego) of Forest City Ratner. And so is Atlantic Yards. Why the added and distinct mention of Atlantic Yards? It looks like a new effort at branding.