MTV Video Music Awards return to Barclays, rely on shutdown of plaza, adjacent streets and sidewalks

Well, MTV's Video Music Awards returned to Barclays Center last night, and in contrast with the event in 2013, they didn't close down residental Dean Street behind the Barclays Center for a red carpet and performance at the corner of Sixth Avenue.

Rather, the pre-show was held on the Barclays Center plaza, which was cordoned off significantly, and the red carpet for celebrities, as shown in the tweet below, was along the Atlantic Avenue sidewalk.

I walked by in late afternoon, around 5:40 pm, and again about two hours later, so I missed the post-show pile-up of celebrity pickups.

Celebrity wins

And, at least according to press accounts, the event was a hit.

NY Daily News, Madonna makes surprise appearance at VMAs in Brooklyn as Justin Bieber wins big award; CBS New York, New York City Feels A Bit More Alive, As MTV Video Music Awards Return To Barclays Center; NBC: Photos: Top Moments From MTV's 2021 Video Music Awards; Rolling Stone, Check Out All the Action on the MTV VMA 2021 Red Carpet; MTV's own coverage.

But the photos and videos I took show that, at minimum, the event relied on not just a takeover of the purportedly public arena plaza, but also a significant shutdown of adjacent Atlantic Avenue, used as a limo holding area and limits/barriers at neighboring street.

(Plus a significant number of cops, as well as arena-paid traffic agents.)

That caused regular traffic jams and detoured buses--but not nearly the chaos that some felt in 2013.

(My videos and photos below)

But hey, it's the VMAs.