A look at arena plaza revamp suggests area closest to doors will be ready for Nets home opener Oct. 19, but zone with benches for public likely will take longer.

Yesterday, when I approached the Barclays Center from corner of Flatbush Avenue and Pacific Street, as seen in the photo at right, two separate  parts of the plaza were still cordoned off with fencing, allowing replacement of the 10-years-and-worn pavers.

But only one area had workers: the segment closer to the arena doors, which already had shown improvement from a visit the day before--the fence had been truncated.

Deadline Oct. 19

In other words, I'd bet that the part of the branded SeatGeek Plaza where visitors gather will be all clear by next Wednesday, when the Brooklyn Nets open their season (with a full house, or nearly one), while the area behind the transit entrance, which serves the general public with benches, will not be ready.

Note: both escalators at the transit entrance were working yesterday, though the down escalator was not working the previous night. Why can't they offer real-time updates on the service level?

Also, it's hard not to notice how discolored the sidewalk remains, from ten years of dripping from the prerusted metal of the arena oculus and facade. See photo at left.

Looking at the scene

As of yesterday, when the arena was gearing up for a show by the virtual band Gorillaz, the available part of the plaza was fenced off to manage visitors, as shown in the photo below.

A crew was busy filling in the area of the plaza closer to Atlantic Avenue, as shown in the photo below, taken from a part of the fence where a view in was possible.

In a view from the tip of the plaza, below, it's clear a lot of work is necessary on the pavers there. It seems to be used for storage.

That means, as shown in the photo below, that people walking to and through the plaza still don't have benches available.

Also, as shown bottom left in the photo below, the digital sign/map is not yet functional, and presumably must be reactivated.