"You/We belong here." New neon artwork planned for Barclays Center subway entrance. But commerce wins, and philanthropy doesn't make up for unfulfilled Atlantic Yards promises.

(Deceptive) official rendering, via CityLab

Forgive me for being a bit cynical about the illluminated artwork planned to be mounted over the Barclays Center subway entrance sometime next week, as a friendly article in Bloomberg CityLab yesterday disclosed, headlined A Charged Message for Brooklyn, in Neon.

Who could quarrel with the welcoming messages, "We belong here" and "You belong here," from (Black, Bahamian-born) artist Tavares Strachan, which reflect the spontaneous use of the plaza for social justice demonstrations starting in 2020?

(The "roughly 45-by-18-feet signs" have not been installed yet--just the brackets--and the official unveiling is supposed to be Oct. 23, part of a 4-7 pm celebration with free food and entertainment. Meanwhile, I'm checking on whether permits or permissions were gained--or required--and for what time period the artwork will be up, as well as its daily schedule of illumination.)

Advertising on subway entrance. Photo: N.O.

Well, it's hard to dissociate anything the arena does from a search for commercial/reputational benefit. Hence the strategic placement of the article with an out-of-town reporter, who didn't do enough homework, and the previous placement of such articles with sports reporters willing to be stenographers.

So the "public plaza" serves the arena operators above all, rather than symbolizes--as the article suggests--a commitment to social justice that negates or erases criticism of the larger Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park project. 

Remember, the significant philanthropic endeavors of Joe and Clara Wu Tsai--who own the arena operating company and the Brooklyn Nets--can't help but distract from Tsai's ugly support for repression in China, the opposite of the social justice push in Brooklyn. 

Commerce wins

But let's stay in Brooklyn. While demonstrations--after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis--converged on the centrally located plaza, becoming what I called Brooklyn's "accidental new town square," that wasn't the Tsais' doing. Rather, it was "totally appropriated," as one protester put it.

And that when the arena was dark, because of the pandemic. More recently, as I wrote, if a demonstration interferes with an arena event, commerce wins.

Branding opposite subway entrance. Photo: N.O.

It always does. The plaza--now the SeatGeekPlaza--is publicly accessible, but privately controlled.

Consider that the rendering up top portrays the subway entrance structure with a bland glass window when, in reality--as the photo (above left) I took two days ago shows--it's wrapped with advertising for the real-estate firm CBRE.

The renderings portray that subway entrance in isolation, rather than show it facing a newly re-branded SeatGeek Plaza, named for a sponsor. 

That plaza leads to new digital advertising and promotional signage, another source of revenue, on the glass windows above the arena entrance, as shown at right.

As to "We belong here," that also could be said about tickets to Nets games, ruled by the market. The original developer promised 2,000 $15 tickets to ensure games were accessible, but they were barely available--and soon dropped. Now, prices have skyrocketed. Of course--it's a business.

Hidden savings, public assistance

The article multiple times described the Tsais as "owners" of the Barclays Center--a common, but telling, error (for which I've requested a correction). They own the arena operating company; the arena is publicly owned.

Why is that important? That fig leaf of public ownership enables tax-exempt bonds to pay off construction debt, saving the arena operator hundreds of millions of dollars over time--and, after the recent re-financing, an estimated $90 million.

What's the verdict?

My main quarrel is with this summary:

Since its opening in 2012, the Barclays Center has gone from being the centerpiece in a community-wide debate about gentrification to a widely adopted public square for people fighting for social justice. That makes Strachan’s artwork a site-specific installation for a site whose meaning has shifted powerfully over the last decade.

Really? It's a lot more complicated than that. 

"Social justice"--focused on police brutality/misconduct issues--does not negate the failure of the arena, and the larger Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park project, to deliver the promised transformational jobs and housing. 

(Remember, as Hakeem Jeffries, then a candidate for state Assembly, said in 2006, “If it’s necessary to create the jobs and housing, then I think we have to take a hard look at the arena.")

@atboston wrote: "For many activists, community leaders, & longtime residents...the arena represents the death rattle of Brooklyn’s homegrown authenticity... the triumph of global capital over local communities and culture." https://t.co/uuEcTnOKTQ

— Norman Oder (@AYReport) October 13, 2021

"We belong here"? Not to the people who marched for low-income affordable housing, only to see the housing delayed, and the required commitment fulfilled with a disportionate amount of middle-income units, aimed at middle-class households earning six figures. Such housing should better be called "income-linked." 

So it was unwise for the article to say the affordable housing numbers "are nothing to sneeze at," without the context.

"We belong here"? Not to the people who expected the promised on-ramp to lucrative construction careers. 

Or those those who expected full-time jobs in the project's promised office tower (B1, aka "Miss Brooklyn"), which, contra suppositions in the CityLab article, will not be built. Instead, the bulk will be transferred across the street. Note that the tax revenue from those purported office jobs was crucial to the calculations that claimed Atlantic Yards would be a winner for New York.

As a reader pointed out to me, the artwork suggests that #BarclaysCenter SeatGeek Plaza is public space, not privately controlled, publicly accessible space.
& that furthers the argument for transferring unused bulk from flagship office tower ("Miss Brooklyn") across the street https://t.co/wNmzzCHuau

— Norman Oder (@AYReport) October 14, 2021

"We belong here"? The article stated, "When it’s finished, the decked-over railway-yard development will deliver..." But that two-block deck, supposed to start early 2020, hasn't started, and the project's developer, Greenland Forest City Partners, has evaded questions about the timetable.

The project could take until 2035--and, who knows, is not guaranteed to be finished at all.

The Tsai Foundation's loan program

From the article:

Wu Tsai is pairing the piece’s message of inclusion with a philanthropic commitment. Back in June, the Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation launched a three-year, $2.5 million campaign to expand local access to capital called Brooklyn EXCELerate... It’s part of a broader Social Justice Fund, launched in August 2020, set to spend $50 million over 10 years on economic mobility and racial justice.

Over its first three months, the program has approved 25 loans totaling $560,000, with most going to Black-owned businesses and women.

...The idea is for the Barclays Center, or at least its owners’ philanthropic division, to help support dozens of Brooklyn business owners who can’t access capital in order to keep them in place. That suggestion would have floored Brooklynites who battled, unsuccessfully, to block the Atlantic Yards development from proceeding.

(Emphasis added)

Such mind-reading is unwise. 

Those 25 loans are significant, but they do not make up for the transformation promised by the project's developers--and doubted by those who battled (or questioned) the Atlantic Yards development. 

They/we believed those promises unreliable, and have been proven right.

The simplest proof: the failure to hire the Independent Compliance Monitor for the (now, mostly moribund) Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement (CBA), which would have reported back on promises of affordable housing, MWBE contracting, hiring of minorities/women, and more. 

Among those promises, from the CBA:

The Developers, in coordination with the New York City Department of Small Business Services, [signatory] BUILD [Brooklyn United for Innovative Local Development], [signatory] NYSAMC [New York State Association of Minority Contractors] and other relevant small- business assistance organizations, will attempt to put together a consortium of lenders to provide a low-interest working capital revolving loan pool to assist Community based small businesses seeking to: perform work related to the Arena and/or the Project; and/or operate franchises or provide services in the Arena. 

That never happened. 

Now the Tsais are, belatedly, making up for--and going beyond--that loan commitment. But the fact that the Tsais, like other sports team owners faced with unprecedented societal pressure in the post-George Floyd era, have instituted a philanthropic program is not just community-minded, it's also savvy.

Yes, it's significantly more than what previous team owners/arena operators ever contributed, but it's far less than the profits and tax breaks the arena can/will generate. (And, of course, the philanthropy gets a tax break.) And it's a lot less than the finagled tax break on the Atlantic Yards condo building.

The arena's oblique announcement

The arena on 10/4/21 circulated a "Special Message from Gregg Bishop":

Good Evening,

For those of you who don’t yet know me, my name is Gregg Bishop. I recently joined the Joe & Clara Tsai Foundation’s Social Justice Fund as Executive Director. I write to alert you about an art installation beginning today atop the Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center subway entrance on the plaza at Barclays Center.

This will be an exciting and important piece of public art by an internationally-renowned artist, and we can’t wait to share more details with you about both the work and the artist in the days to come. In the meantime, we did want to reassure you that the installation of this work should not impact vehicle traffic flow and pedestrian access to the subway station.

We hope that you and your family will join us for the unveiling celebration taking place on Saturday, October 23 starting at 4 pm and ending at 7 pm. This event is open to everyone in the community and will feature a free food tasting from BIPOC- and MWBE-owned businesses, musical performances, and resource tables from city agencies and local organizations. We anticipate it will be a festive atmosphere, especially with the event falling on the evening prior to the first home game of the 2021-22 Brooklyn Nets season.

There will also be the opportunity to get the COVID-19 vaccine and anyone who receives a vaccination will be eligible for one free ticket to a Nets game. 

If you have questions regarding this installation, please feel free to contact me directly at gbishop@bksjf.org.

Bishop in the news

Bishop, by the way, was just in the news, agreeing to pay a $4,500 fine for some dubious official behavior.

The city Conflicts of Interest Board found that, during his five years as New York City Department of Small Business Services Commissioner, from 2015-20, Bishop misused the city vehicle he was assigned to perform his work and to commute to and from his apartment in Downtown Brooklyn. 

As some have noted, this is somewhat similar--though on a much smaller scale--to Mayor Bill de Blasio using public resources (his security detail) on trips during his presidential campaign and to transport his children. 

Just yesterday the Conflicts of Interest Board fined former commissioner Gregg Bishop for similar behavior to what de Blasio is now accused of - $4,500 fine.

— Erin Durkin (@erinmdurkin) October 7, 2021