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Ratner amps up the Jay-Z claim: "He is the one that is not only designing the suites, but the lounges, the restaurants, giving the thing a whole feel."

Bruce Ratner gives a tour of the under-construction Barclays Center to the ever-unskeptical Fox 5.

"Everything in this arena is related to Brooklyn. What do I mean by that? The exterior has a certain toughness to it, a certain grittiness to it. It's made out of a kind of steel that hasn't even been painted. It's beautiful, on one hand, but tough on another hand."

(Just like the "Brooklyized" water? Or the celebration of "Brooklyn's industrial heritage," as Marty Markowitz claimed, to the derision of those who know better?)

"It's built to be basketball-centric," Ratner says, but of course isn't asked why that was so: the developer shrunk the building to save money, and preclude (they thought) major league hockey.



The Jay-Z puffery

"As a matter of fact," says the reporter, "Jay-Z, who's not only part-owner of the Nets, has been very hands-on in the design of this building."

"The most amazing thing about Jay-Z," Ratner picks it up, "is not only that he's an attraction, but he is involved on a day-to-day basis with a lot of this arena and of course the team. He is the one that is not only designing the suites, but the lounges, the restaurants, giving the thing a whole feel."

Wait a sec. Jay-Z has influence and input, especially on the subset of most luxurious suites, according to the Wall Street Journal. But he isn't "designing the suites," and Ratner knows that.

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