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Barclays Center: no more cash at most concession stands, seeks exemption from pending cash-free legislation

Barclays Center quietly stops accepting cash at most concession stands reported the New York Post's Lisa Fickenscher 3/26/19:
Home to the Brooklyn Nets and the Islanders, Barclays has quietly stopped accepting cash at most of its 28 concession stands and eateries, according to lawmakers who have talked with the stadium about the move.
The Brooklyn arena is not the first to phase out greenbacks... All three venues rely on the same food service provider, Levy Restaurants, which told The Post that “multiple” food vendors at Barclays will still accept cash. But neither Levy nor Barclays would provide a number.
It's unclear when this started, or when the total hit critical mass, but the Post found some Twitter users complaining, as reproduced below.

The arena operator, like other "cashless" retail outlets, say requiring cards cuts transaction time and prevents theft, while lawmakers say it discriminates against those who don't have cards. (And if arena attendance might be seen as a luxury, limited to the non-poor, some slice of attendees get free tickets and/or don't have credit cards.)

Barclays would like an exemption from any law banning cash-free businesses, saying it has installed “reverse ATM” machines create onsite debit cards--which, as Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan) told The Post, can lead to both delays and excess value on that card.

Update

NetsDaily published the full Barclays Center statement:
“Barclays Center offers both cash-accepted and cash-free concession stands. We have found that cash-free concession stands are 50 percent faster, which allows guests to spend more time enjoying our events. Guests who prefer to purchase an item at a cash-free stand and don’t have a card can convert cash to a pre-paid debit card, free of charge, at one of five machines located throughout the venue. Any remaining balance left on the cards after the event can be spent outside the venue, or used during a future visit to our arena.”
Commenters were uniformly against the "no cash" policy, with one writing:
This is annoying.
I was at a game recently with my friend who had just lost her wallet. I left my bag in my car thinking no need for extra security screening and forgot my wallet in it. Our tickets were in the nets app so didn’t realize until we were inside that I didn’t have a wallet. So neither of us had one but had cash – couldn’t even get a slice a pizza. Twice at the register, wouldn’t accept cash and issues with mobile payments. So frustrating. We just wanted some pizza.
The tweets




Earlier, a dispute about not accepting credit cards

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