As convention bid goes down to the wire, consider how delayed roof cranes helped Barclays Center appearance during DNC visit

The push is on to promote Brooklyn for the 2016 Democratic National Convention, with the decision on the choice of cities--the other finalists are Philadelphia and Columbus--expected this month.

As the Daily News first reported last Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio's office is recruiting people to appear in short videos supporting the city's bid to snag the event for the Barclays Center.

Kicy Motley, Brooklyn Borough Director of the Community Affairs Unit, wrote:

The DNC team is looking for some volunteers for short, casual, "man on the street" videos of everyday New Yorkers who back the DNC bid. The goal is to demonstrate grassroots support for the bid from a diverse group of residents and small business owners in the immediate vicinity of Barclays Center and from all 5 boroughs.
The videos will be mixed in with celebrity videos that are rolling out later this week.
Video overview:
iPhone videos about 10 seconds long, ideally with the DNC signs but okay if you don’t have them. Here are some examples of things you can say:
· "I'm Lucille, a small business owner of X store three blocks from Barclays Center, and I back the bid because..."
· “I’m Jerry, and I’ve lived in Brooklyn my entire life, and I back the bid because…”

So this is how things get orchestrated.

The delayed green roof cranes

Such orchestration makes me wonder about the delay in the placement of two huge cranes around the arena, used to install the green roof. The one on Atlantic Avenue has significantly narrowed traffic, as Kenneth Adams, CEO of Empire State Development, would attest, calling it a "mess."

Both cranes were supposed to arrive in August, according to the timetable below left. (There was, and remains, a third crane installed to construct the stalled B2 modular tower.)

However, the roof cranes didn't arrive until October.

The delay was never explained.

There may have been a logistical reason for the delay.

Still, had the cranes been installed in August as planned, they would have marred the much-promoted visit of Democratic National Committee delegates on August 11.

So, whether orchestrated or fortuitous, the delay helped the DNC bid.

Also note: the Flatbush Avenue crane was due in January, according to the timeline. There's been no inkling that it's expected to arrive.

Indeed, it was not supposed to be installed until the Atlantic Avenue crane is removed, and that crane could remain until May, a state official said. It was supposed to be gone by the end of October.