The marketing is unending, with a new "lifestyle apparel program" dubbed (and trademarked) "Brooklyn Cool" from a partnership between Brooklyn Nets owner/arena operator Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment (BSE) and a company called Rank + Rally. “Brand Brooklyn is about more than basketball,” said Brett Yormark, CEO of BSE. “By partnering with local designers with a finger on the pulse of the borough’s style, we can further integrate the Nets into the lives of our fans, from the die-hard loyalist to the casual spectator.” And, er, sell stuff at the "recently re-designed Swag Shop," aka team store. Thing is, Brooklyn had cool unrelated to large companies selling overpriced goods with a name that somehow got trademarked. (Quick, someone should trademark "Brooklyn" accompanied by any commonplace but positive word. Maybe they have.) The 9/28/17 press release from the Brooklyn Nets states, "BROOKLYN COOL exemplifies Rank + Rally’s mission t...
This watchdog blog, by journalist Norman Oder, concerns the $6B project to build the Barclays Center arena & 15-16 towers at a crucial site in Brooklyn. Dubbed Atlantic Yards by developer Forest City Ratner in 2003, it was rebranded Pacific Park Brooklyn in 2014 after the Chinese government-owned Greenland USA bought a 70% stake going forward. In 2018, once the arena & four towers were built, Greenland bought out most of Forest City's stake, then sold three leases to other companies.