Forest City: 9,300 people inquire about Barclays Center jobs

From Crain's Insider today:

ARENA JOBS: In just two weeks, more than 9,300 people have sought jobs at the Barclays Center, the arena opening Sept. 28 in Brooklyn. They were prompted by 21,000 postcards mailed to Housing Authority residents by developer Forest City Ratner, which also visited local churches. About 2,000 jobs are available, though barely 100 are full-time positions. Top priority in hiring is being given to Housing Authority applicants, followed by those from the three nearest community districts. The city Department of Small Business Services will help screen applicants.

So, does this mean the arena's a savior, or that Brooklyn has a lot of unemployed people? (Similarly, Forest City promoted the number of people interested in affordable housing as a sign of the validity of Atlantic Yards.)

Note that very few, if any, of the Housing Authority residents are either eligible for, or seeking, the higher-skilled full-time jobs. There are some 1900 part-time jobs, averaging, according to my calculations, 23.6 hours per week.

The salaries aren't set yet, but the claim that compensation would "be above living wage" doesn't qualify them as living-wage jobs.

Existing legislation defines a living wage in New York City as a minimum of $10 per hour with benefits, or $11.50 per hour without benefits. 

Multiply by 24 hours a week and that's a decent salary only if you have a part-time additional job, or are sharing an apartment with a lot of other people.

Then again, as the flood of applicants shows, that's better than nothing, especially for entry-level workers.