Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

This is the second of five articles on the March 25, 2025 meeting of the advisory Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC), held at the office of its parent Empire State Development (ESD). The first concerned the Pacific Park Conservancy. The third concerned the unusually large plan for Site 5. The fourth concerned the AY CDC budget. The fifth concerned the project's future. Robert Puca, a resident of Pacific Street between Sixth and Carlton avenues, submitted a series of questions (bottom) as public comments. Those comments were distilled from articles I previously published. At the meeting, he also spoke publicly, wanting to raise one issue, regarding the Barclays Center, that hadn't been mentioned. (See upcoming coverage for more, but most of the questions didn't get fully addressed.) If developer Greenland USA is able to move the bulk of the unbuilt B1 tower, once slated to loom over the arena, to Site 5, longtime home of the big-box stores P.C. Ric...

Photos: Norman Oder OK, we (um, BSE Global) really do belong here. That tricky "You Belong Here/We Belong Here" signage outside Barclays Center was unveiled Oct. 23, 2021 for at least three years, as I  reported . It's not leaving, though the documentation apparently was a bit late, according to an explanation I got from Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project. The explanation: ESD, BALDC, the MTA and the NBA have consented to an extension of the "You Belong Here" art exhibition at Barclays Center through October 23, 2026. The parties are currently finalizing the necessary documentation reflecting the consent to the extension. In case you're wondering, beyond the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) and NBA (National Basketball Association), BALDC refers to the Brooklyn Arena Local Development Corporation, the ESD alter ego that actually owns the site but then leases it to the arena operator for essenti...

Every month, neighbors of the Barclays Center used to get an arena event calendar from "Barclays Center Cares." The reality, though, is they care very selectively.  [Update: the current administration no longer uses that slogan, so I added the phrase used to .] Pacific Street and Carlton Avenue, access managed by the Shomrim safety patrol Yesterday, with no public notice, the arena hosted an event for the Satmar Hasidic sect that proved disruptive to neighbors and represented, as I wrote on Twitter/X, "one of the more egregious takeovers of public space in Barclays Center history." Here's a press release for the event, Satmar Barclays Event will Celebrate 80th Anniversary of Rebbe's Rescue from the Nazis, Spearheading the Community's Rebirth in NY , which was circulated by the Satmar community, curiously enough, only today. Political power    This was done surely with the encouragement of the Mayor's office, which likely wanted to meet the needs of ...

So, the "You Belong Here"/"We Belong Here" neon art installation over the Barclays Center transit hub was unveiled Oct. 23, 2021 for at least three years, as I reported . Will Tavares Strachan's artwork, part of "Belong/Brooklyn," an initiative of the the Joe & Clara Tsai Foundation's Social Justice Fund (SJF), stay longer? Well, it's permitted through the end of the year, not 36 months, as I'd supposed. And while state officials told me no renewal request has been received and the SJF didn't respond to my query, I wouldn't bet against it. Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the larger project, told me that, if/when a request for extension is received, approval is an internal matter, not subject to public comment. That suggests an easy process. Upon the installation, the SJF stated , it "will be on long-term view at the entrance of Barclays Center, atop the Atlantic Avenue–Barclays C...

Downtown Brooklyn Partnership growth map; Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park is at right The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership (DBP), the "not-for-profit local development corporation that serves as the primary champion for Downtown Brooklyn as a world-class business, cultural, educational, residential, and retail destination," recently released DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN: 20 YEARS OF GROWTH . It's an interesting project, using maps and graphics to show the remarkable transformation of the area--not just the rezoning area--since the 2004 Downtown Brooklyn rezoning, with 32 million square feet of new development. What shocked me was the claim, discussed further below, that city and state governments have already funded the platform, which I first suspected was an inadvertent disclosure of an upcoming subsidy but turned out to be a bogus overreach.  From DBP report Also, it was surprising that the DBP, rather than trying to minimize--as is typical for boosterish business groups--the public s...

It's interesting to see Andrew Zimbalist, the country's most famous--if not most respected--sports economist, wear the white hat, as the prime source in  HOW AMERICAN TAXPAYERS SUPPORT SPORTS TEAMS AND ATHLETES , as Sportico's Brendan Coffey reported on April 17, Atlantic Yards watchers would recall that Zimbalist, on contract for original developer Forest City Ratner, produced a "study" in 2004, later updated, that predicted that Atlantic Yards would be an economic engine and deliver significant city and state tax revenues. There was much wrong with his analysis. In 2006, I called it the "$6 billion lie." Today, with the project delayed and stalled, it's clear it was even more irresponsible, since it assumed a buildout as scheduled. Today, though, if you follow Zimbalist's current take on amortization, that should lead to the recognition that the rise in the Brooklyn Nets' value is not completely deserved. Some "reasonable" subsid...

The  WNBA's New York Liberty, which until last year's playoffs were selling tickets to the Barclays Center's lower bowl, sold out  (17,735) the entire arena Saturday for their home opener, which featured the Indiana Fever and the star rookie Caitlin Clark.  (The Fever still are weak, and the Liberty won easily.) And, as NetsDaily recently reported , Clara Wu Tsai, who owns the team along with her husband Joe Tsai (and serves as its front person), recently told Harvard Business School’s New York alumni club that, as TV viewership grows, team valuations will rise over a decade, and the Liberty could become “the first billion dollar women’s sports franchise." That would be quite a leap, but consider how the valuation of the New Jersey Nets, once $300 million upon the purchase by Bruce Ratner (and others) in 2004, inflated to more than $3 billion (with the arena company) by 2017, and now could be worth far more. As NetsDaily reported, the Liberty purchase, from New York ...

In May 2022, I reported that foregone property taxes for the Barclays Center continued to rise, reaching $85 million, from $61.3 million in 2017 and, oddly enough, $53.7 million in 2018. Today they're more than double the low point, according to the New York City Department of Finance's Annual Report on Tax Expenditures , reaching $98.6 million last year and $110.2 million this year. That's all a nice gift to arena operators and team owners. FY 2023 In Fiscal Year 2023 , the foregone taxes for the arena reached $98.6 million. Note the larger tax expenditures for the two addresses directly above it, Citifield and Yankee Stadium, which also benefit from tax-exempt land. Also note the oddly depressed tax break, as calculated by the city for MSG Arena, only $42.4 million. Surely Madison Square Garden is more valuable than Barclays.  That's because, as the Independent Budget Office has suggested , the valuation is artificially depressed, given that the city, knowing of the ...

View from Pacific St. Jan. 18 early evening (not after hours) As I've written, the Barclays Center is a remarkably tight fit, which leaves little margin for error. So, what are arena neighbors supposed to do if the lighting at the oval oculus and associated LED advertising wall stays on past their midnight shutoff? Not much, apparently. The issue occurred in mid-December, after a late start to a Madonna concert meant the arena kept the lighting on past midnight so that exiting guests could exit safely. That was a not unreasonable explanation, but the arena rep, who called it a "rare occasion," did not answer a Pacific Street neighbor's question about whether there was "someone attentive to and accountable for this light pollution." A recurring issue For some on Pacific Street, the neighbor told me, the late-night bright lighting penetrates their bedroom windows, despite shades, and disturbs sleep. On Monday, Jan. 8, the neighbor wrote to the arena at 12:25 ...

The bad weather yesterday afternoon might have been good news for the scheduled free "Counterpoint: Steve Reich" new music concert , scheduled for Barclays Center's Ticketmaster Plaza and sponsored by the Social Justice Fund of the Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation, operated by the couple that owns the Brooklyn Nets, New York Liberty, and the arena operating company. Anthony McGill greeting the crowd before the 11-clarinet version of "New York Counterpoint" (Photos/Norman Oder) Instead of having the metronomic, minimalist compositions on the plaza, competing with traffic along Flatbush and Atlantic avenues and other street noise, the concert was moved just into the arena lobby. While that likely stymied some passers-by who might have discovered it, enough passionate fans of Reich had gotten the word, and many of perhaps 200 seats were filled, with numerous standees. And they enjoyed it enthusiastically, so far as I could tell.  I only stayed for the first of the thr...

When I wrote last week about the Barclays Center's June 2023 event calendar, as circulated to neighbors, I noted that they omitted the NBA Draft, scheduled for Thursday, June 2022 and held annually (for a while) at the arena. I also queried an arena rep about the omission, but didn't get a response. I noted that the NBA was already selling premium "experiences," with seats close in, though the past pattern was to sell upper bowl seats as well. Well, it turns out, Barclays is selling upper tickets to the (more or less) hoi polloi, at least those willing to pony up nearly $80 or more for an upper bowl seat. Ticket sales start at 10 am today. As shown in the image below, only selected sections of the arena, mostly facing the stage, are for sale.

The New York Liberty, the anchor tenant of the Barclays Center for the next months, are a WNBA superteam and, based at least on the home debut May 21, have a better chance of selling out the arena's lower bowl. drawing an announced 8,575 . As I wrote, the team, owned by Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai, drew  5,327 last year, a significant improvement over the previous year but still below the midpoint of the league. The Athletic reported that the Liberty tout a 200% increase in season-ticket sales.   When I walked by, shortly before the 2 pm game time, I saw the arena plaza cordoned off with fencing (as shown in the photo at right), limiting access to ticketholders, including a basketball court, various souvenir booths, and photo opportunities. That's par for the course with other major events, so it's not surprising; it's just another reminder that the "public" plaza is not so public when the arena operators need it for business reasons. New players to promote ...

From the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce's 2017 COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY (CEDS) for Brooklyn: The Next 100 Years : The Atlantic Yards development has repurposed former railyards to create a new entertainment center at the Barclays Arena that generated $47 million in gross ticket sales revenue in its first year, positioning it as the top-grossing US venue for concerts and the second globally. The development project will also create at least 2,250 new units of affordable housing by 2025. Well, both sunny statements deserved caveats back then, and red flags now. First, $47 million in "gross ticket sales" for concerts in the arena's debut year, 2012-2013, does not represent profits. The arena (reportedly) made generous deals with performs so it could open big. Madison Square Garden was still under renovation. (The source of that $47 million statistic was apparently the trade magazine Pollstar, as ...

The Barclays Center yesterday released its January 2023 event calendar, with 15 events. The schedule includes six Brooklyn Nets games and nine Disney on Ice performances, the latter over five days. The first Nets game is tonight and, given the team's status as the hottest team in the NBA, all Nets games should be at or near capacity. January 2022 The January 2022 calendar is below, with 17 events--essentially two more Nets games.