State Senator Velmanette Montgomery has sent a letter (below) asking New York Police Department Commissioner Ray Kelly for "access to the updated security study" the department has conducted regarding the Barclays Center arena.
She pointed out that streets next to the Prudential Center in Newark are closed during events, and the Atlantic Yards arena initially had similar setbacks:
At a meeting on September 26 with state officials, concerned residents also asked for access to the study, acknowledging that particularly sensitive parts would be redacted.
As Eric McClure of Park Slope Neighbors (and No Land Grab) pointed out, Forest City Ratner was evasive in 2007 when asked how far the arena would be from the street, after Newark decided to close adjacent streets during events.
“We don’t need to know points of vulnerability, but it would really help the community’s comfort level to know, in an ironclad way, we’re not going to close a lane of Flatbush Avenue, or Atlantic Avenue on game nights,” he said.
Kenneth Adams, CEO of Empire State Development, nodded but otherwise gave no quarter.
At a hearing 10/5/11 on plans for bollards, Prospect Heights activist Alan Rosner also called for greater transparency, warning that lanes next to the Brooklyn arena would have to be closed.
Montgomery Letter to Kelly on Arena Security
She pointed out that streets next to the Prudential Center in Newark are closed during events, and the Atlantic Yards arena initially had similar setbacks:
The Arena is now even closer to the street than in earlier designs. There is now an overhang on the section bordering Atlantic Avenue that goes almost completely to the street. There is an attached steel web skin hovering in front of the full glass walls. In sum, this arena design seems a far greater security risk than even the previous design. The public is quite understandably concerned.Previous requests
At a meeting on September 26 with state officials, concerned residents also asked for access to the study, acknowledging that particularly sensitive parts would be redacted.
As Eric McClure of Park Slope Neighbors (and No Land Grab) pointed out, Forest City Ratner was evasive in 2007 when asked how far the arena would be from the street, after Newark decided to close adjacent streets during events.
“We don’t need to know points of vulnerability, but it would really help the community’s comfort level to know, in an ironclad way, we’re not going to close a lane of Flatbush Avenue, or Atlantic Avenue on game nights,” he said.
Kenneth Adams, CEO of Empire State Development, nodded but otherwise gave no quarter.
At a hearing 10/5/11 on plans for bollards, Prospect Heights activist Alan Rosner also called for greater transparency, warning that lanes next to the Brooklyn arena would have to be closed.
Montgomery Letter to Kelly on Arena Security
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