From Quality of Life meeting: illegal parking by arenagoers, free tickets question, arena announcing private events?
This is the fourth and final article about topics raised at the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Quality of Life meeting 3/5/19. The first concerned the plans to meet the 2025 deadline for 2,250 units of affordable housing. The second concerned plans apparently percolating for the project at Site 5. The third covered police parking, returning tenants, demolition, and more.
The Barclays Center came up a few times.Resident Steve Steve Ettlinger of the Barclays Center Impact Zone Alliance (BCIZA) asked reps from the Barclays Center how they are addressing illegal parking.
“We can talk to our security and our traffic director,” said Heather Hall, senior director of Community Relations for BSE Global, which operates the arena.
Since the arena opened in September 2012, Ettlinger said, “many of us have made studies, complaints, recommendations that have pretty much gone unheeded. On certain events… we have found as many as 125 illegally parked cars, many in bus stops and at fire hydrants,” during events.
Ettlinger noted that the traffic enforcement arm of the NYPD has foot patrols typically only through 8 pm—well before many arena events end—while after that, “they have one or two cars for all of Brooklyn.” (No one from NYPD was there to confirm or deny.)
“We should probably talk about that with the 78th Precinct,” Hall said. Ettlinger, a longtime officer in the 78th Precinct Community Council, said it’s an issue beyond the precinct, and he’d be happy to provide more details.
Later in the meeting, Tobi Jaiyesimi, representing Empire State Development (ESD) and the Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation, noted that it was a mayoral responsibility and that she’d follow up with the Mayor's office. “ESD's not in a position to allocate additional resources.”
Free arena tickets
Peter Krashes of the North Prospect Heights Association (formerly Dean Street Block Association) asked about the protocol for distribution of free arena tickets.
Hall said it’s through the Downtown Brooklyn Neighborhood Alliance (DBNA), which is designated in the Community Benefits Agreement to distribute them to community groups, and does so through a regular lottery.
“You don't give any other tickets out, even if there’s a last-minute thing?” Krashes followed up.
Hall said the arena does have a relationship with some groups—“schools”—but the DBNA comes first. “A lot of the schools are after-school programs.”
What about people that the arena does business with?
Hall said she didn’t know, since that was outside her and Ballard’s departments.
“If it’s schools, or local civic organizations, or even government agencies, none of that—that wouldn’t happen?” Krashes asked. (Later he said, “My questions are transparency-related.”)
“We do a lot of just our school relationships,” Hall said.
Government agencies are not allowed to accept free tickets because of ethics laws, added her colleague Jordan Ballard, manager of government of affairs.
The monthly calendar
I asked why the arena was no apparently longer announcing on its monthly calendar private events, since they didn't appear, for example on the March 2019 calendar but they did on the calendar a year earlier.
It’s worth announcing them, because they can bring in significant crowds, especially for events like graduations, so neighbors could be alerted. Hall said she didn’t know; I followed up with the arena p.r. office and will update when I learn more.
The Barclays Center came up a few times.Resident Steve Steve Ettlinger of the Barclays Center Impact Zone Alliance (BCIZA) asked reps from the Barclays Center how they are addressing illegal parking.
“We can talk to our security and our traffic director,” said Heather Hall, senior director of Community Relations for BSE Global, which operates the arena.
Since the arena opened in September 2012, Ettlinger said, “many of us have made studies, complaints, recommendations that have pretty much gone unheeded. On certain events… we have found as many as 125 illegally parked cars, many in bus stops and at fire hydrants,” during events.
Ettlinger noted that the traffic enforcement arm of the NYPD has foot patrols typically only through 8 pm—well before many arena events end—while after that, “they have one or two cars for all of Brooklyn.” (No one from NYPD was there to confirm or deny.)
“We should probably talk about that with the 78th Precinct,” Hall said. Ettlinger, a longtime officer in the 78th Precinct Community Council, said it’s an issue beyond the precinct, and he’d be happy to provide more details.
Later in the meeting, Tobi Jaiyesimi, representing Empire State Development (ESD) and the Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation, noted that it was a mayoral responsibility and that she’d follow up with the Mayor's office. “ESD's not in a position to allocate additional resources.”
Free arena tickets
Peter Krashes of the North Prospect Heights Association (formerly Dean Street Block Association) asked about the protocol for distribution of free arena tickets.
Hall said it’s through the Downtown Brooklyn Neighborhood Alliance (DBNA), which is designated in the Community Benefits Agreement to distribute them to community groups, and does so through a regular lottery.
“You don't give any other tickets out, even if there’s a last-minute thing?” Krashes followed up.
Hall said the arena does have a relationship with some groups—“schools”—but the DBNA comes first. “A lot of the schools are after-school programs.”
What about people that the arena does business with?
Hall said she didn’t know, since that was outside her and Ballard’s departments.
“If it’s schools, or local civic organizations, or even government agencies, none of that—that wouldn’t happen?” Krashes asked. (Later he said, “My questions are transparency-related.”)
“We do a lot of just our school relationships,” Hall said.
Government agencies are not allowed to accept free tickets because of ethics laws, added her colleague Jordan Ballard, manager of government of affairs.
The monthly calendar
I asked why the arena was no apparently longer announcing on its monthly calendar private events, since they didn't appear, for example on the March 2019 calendar but they did on the calendar a year earlier.
It’s worth announcing them, because they can bring in significant crowds, especially for events like graduations, so neighbors could be alerted. Hall said she didn’t know; I followed up with the arena p.r. office and will update when I learn more.
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