Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

New York Magazine's May 28, 2024 feature  New Jackpot City  is well worth the read. Note the subheading, "Eleven rivals. Countless billions. One prize: the right to build a casino in the heart of New York." Noah Shachtman writes: The Encore [Boston Harbor], which is operated by Wynn [Resorts], is considered a relatively strong performer among recent big-city casino projects, not all of which have proved profitable. A recent report by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst found that the site has generated nearly 10,000 jobs and is netting the state $1 billion a year in new economic activity. But Chicago’s casino experiment has been a disaster, pulling in less than half the revenue promised... In New York, Resorts World is one of three companies operating casinos upstate, and none of them have hit the revenue projections they initially promised. Several have renegotiated with the state to substantially cut their tax rates. One source with deep gaming-indust...

Workers for Barclays Center food concessionaire Levy Restaurants rallied outside the arena on June 22, the day of the NBA draft, as part of the effort by the hospitality workers’ union UNITE HERE Local 100 to gain a new contract to pay better wages and ensure healthcare benefits. Hey,  @LevyRestaurants  it’s about time! What you pay is a crime! Levy workers at Barclays Center have an expired union contract - so workers took to the streets to demand a new one with wage increases and healthcare.  pic.twitter.com/ZiST7EGAdb — UNITEHERE! Local100 (@unitehere100)  June 23, 2023 Of the 650 workers represented by UNITE HERE Local 100, only 66 of them qualified for health insurance, according to union rep Alyssa Pollard. She said they aim to get at least 200 qualified under a new contract. Depending on when the worker started, they either have to work 900 hours in the previous contract year--that's 17.3 hours a week--or average 30 hours a week. So it's plausible that some co...

Beyond the dozens of jobs, mostly part-time, listed for the Barclays Center food service by Levy Restaurants, cited yesterday , arena operator ASM Global, a major venue and event managment company , lists eight job titles, with four of them part-time and presumably with multiple openings. Unlike with the Levy jobs, these (with one exception) do not have wages attached, though presumably the union scale will be made clear to applicants. (In August 2021, the arena operator listed eight part-time job positions and one full-time.) Also, unlike with the Levy jobs, which stated that a COVID-19 vaccination "may" be required, in this case, "ASM Global requires that all individuals, subject to certain limited exceptions, be fully vaccinated against COVID-19." Perplexing. Notably, the jobs, including the part-time ones, require a flexible schedule to accomodate events on evenings and weekends.  That is understandable but also a challenge, because the arena adds (and sometime...

A little more than a year ago, on 8/24/21, I wrote that the Barclays Center, recovering from the pandemic and requiring that workers be vaccinated against COVID-19, had a lot of job openings. Let's take another look, first at the food service component from Levy Restaurants . As of 2021, Levy jobs included Attendant, Catering ($31.80); Attendant, Warehouse ($17.80); Administrative Assistant ($21.50); Bartender ($14.55); Club Supervisor ($21.50); Club Server ($??); Catering Supervisor ($21.50); Suites Runner ($16.30); Suite Pantry Coordinator ($19.80); Cook ($19.80); Concessions Lead Stand ($17.80); Supervisor, Concessions ($21.50); Bar Back ($16.30); Cashier ($16.30); Concession Attendant ($16.30); Cook Supervisor ($24); Suites Supervisor ($21.50). Today, there are even more job listings, but unlike last year, a vaccination is not a must; the listings state that positions "may require a COVID-19 vaccination." (That's a little confusing; either it is or it isn't.)...

Yesterday the Barclays Center announced a $25,000 prize for non-management vaccinated employees, with an entry for each shift they're available to work, which was saluted--see this post --by Mayor Bill de Blasio. A message from Adina Erwin, General Manager of Barclays Center. pic.twitter.com/hbDcfpYR8w — Barclays Center (@barclayscenter) August 23, 2021 And while it seems an enlightened gesture, it also signals that the arena--for the first time--needs workers.  Rather than having large pools of part-time workers to choose from, sometimes generating frustration and protests , the arena now has a significant number of job openings . That seems likely related to general wariness about working in a crowded indoor environment, given the lowered but still existing risks among fully vaccinated visitors, as well as the options for other jobs that may be paying higher salaries than before. As I wrote earlier this month, a significant percentage of Barclays Center employees have been youn...

So, according to a recent podcast interview with John Abbamondi, CEO of the Brooklyn Nets and the arena operating company, the Barclays Center has job openings--sort of. As indicated below, I couldn't find any link on the BSE Global site, which does not list hourly arena jobs. Hey @barclayscenter is there a link for arena jobs (ushers?) w/BSE? (not here yet https://t.co/8SHn78E5M8 ) In the podcast, @JAbbamondi said they paid "very competitive rates" but said he'd "have to get back 2you" on specifics Prev, I'd heard workers grouse they got too few hours https://t.co/LpUnPpgRlh — Norman Oder (@AYReport) June 11, 2021 Levy Restaurants, which runs the food stands, *is* hiring hawkers/vendors https://t.co/DN9fHeMDMp no pay rate cited, tho some other jobs here https://t.co/Z6UPGBxzjB — Norman Oder (@AYReport) June 11, 2021 At least as of December 2015, the last time there was a union protest presaging contract renewal, employees complained that they got...

City, construction unions strike deal to hire low-income workers , The Real Deal's Kathryn Brenzel reported yesterday, citing a (for now) under wraps "project labor agreement with the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York that guarantees unions will 'prioritize referral' of workers who live in areas where 15 percent of the population lives below the federal poverty level or are residents of public housing." So that could mean up to 26,000 construction jobs on city owned properties as well as "selected future projects," and help further integrate construction unions, some of which are long clannish.  But the devil will be in the details, including questions of enforcement and even whether the qualifications can be gamed. After all, hiring of minority and women workers in projects like Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park has been treated as a goal, not a guarantee.  That's in both the non-governmental Community Benefits Agreem...

Given the tight fit of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, a 22-acre site nudging into an existing community, the margin for error is small. Neighbors regularly express concern about incursions from construction or arena operations, even as state overseers point out that the project is monitored more than most. That--and the oversight under questions--should be a topic at tonight's bi-monthly Atlantic Yards Quality of Life meeting , at 6 pm, at 55 Hanson Place. And one issue may be the need to regularly make public a quarterly document that details the project's compliance with environmental commitments. (The obligations are listed in a 2014 Second Amended Memorandum of Environmental Commitments , issued by Empire State Development, or ESD, the state authority that oversees and shepherds the project.) Discussion at the AY CDC: need for transparency At the 1/17/18 meeting of the advisory Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC), departing board member Jaime Ste...

In a column yesterday for City Journal headlined De Blasio’s Misrepresentations , Seth Barron's subheading was "The mayor is hardly New York's first chief executive to care about outer-borough job growth." His argument is reasonably well-founded, pointing out, for example, how Mayor Mike Bloomberg also looked at the outer boroughs. But this line struck me as deserving much more analysis: "Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, including the Barclay’s Center, has its detractors, but is nevertheless an important Bloomberg-era development having a major impact on central Brooklyn." As it happens, de Blasio and Bloomberg share something else regarding Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park: a failure to pursue accountability. They might like the fact of the arena, or the (not-so-affordable) housing, but certainly have never assessed it regarding the promises of jobs. My comment, as posted (relying in part on this analysis ) Well, I can't deny "important" or ...

Bloomberg BNA reported 8/7/17,  Barclays Center Flouts ‘Criminal History’ Hiring Law, Suit Says : The Barclays Center, home of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, unlawfully denies employment to job seekers with criminal records without giving them required notice of their rights or a chance to explain their convictions, a proposed class of workers alleges ( Kelly v. Brooklyn Events Ctr., LLC , E.D.N.Y., No. 1:17-cv-04600, class complaint filed 8/4/17 ). The actions of Brooklyn Events Center LLC, which owns and operates the arena, and two companies that provide food services at the venue also violate laws prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of race and national origin by improperly relying on applicants’ criminal past to deny them employment. This “imports the racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system into the employment application process,” the class lawsuit, which was filed Aug. 4 in federal court, says. The case is one of the first class actions under N...

Maybe the economy is improving, or maybe they're trying to keep a step ahead of the annual increase in fast-food wages. The Barclays Center, in its latest effort to replenish its pool of workers--though not necessarily to increase overall hours--has raised compensation, in a few cases significantly. It's still not living wage, though. While in July 2015 I reported that wages started at $10.50 per hour for food service jobs, $12 for ushers, and $15 for cooks or dishwashers, now they start at $13.25 per hour for food service jobs, $13.30 for users and security officers, and still $15 for cooks or dishwashers. The minimum fast-food wage in New York City was set at $10.50 for 2016 and will go to $12 next year and $13.50 in 2018. See the website BrooklynBarclaysCenterJobs  and the screenshots below.

Ah, Rosie Perez. From a funzy New York Post interview, Rosie Perez: ‘I see food and I turn into Oliver Twist!’ : "Barclays [Center] is literally in my backyard. I was apprehensive at first, but then I saw they were hiring people from the neighborhood." She was more than apprehensive, she spoke at a rally opposing the project and in 2006 joined Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn's Advisory Board . (She left or was bounced, at some later point.) Perez didn't just see that the Barclays Center was "hiring people from the neighborhood." She was hired--or at least had some business arrangement--to make taped announcements on the arena public address system. She appeared on an NBA-TV series about the Nets. Now she's on an arena advisory board . Also, "then I saw they were hiring people from the neighborhood"--pretty much Spike Lee's line, too--is just a bit too pat. After all, it doesn't mean people get sufficient hours to earn ...

So, how many people actually work on Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park construction? Forest City Ratner's Ashley Cotton was quoted in a 4/11/16 New York Daily News article  regarding plans to create a sticker system to identify construction workers: “At any given time we could have 1,700 construction workers out there. I need levers in order to create accountability for these workers." However, at the Community Update meeting 4/13/16, Cotton said, regarding that sticker plan, "I have a thousand workers to ID." That suggests that there are currently 1000 workers. That's tough to believe, just based on the eyeball observations that I and others have made of the site. But if there were more oversight, as well as the Independent Compliance Monitor required by the Community Benefits Agreement (but never hired), maybe we'd know. Could additional construction on the project site ultimately mean more workers? Possibly. But again, let's have a neutral party e...

There's some significant news in today's New York Daily News article, Promises of full-time jobs at Atlantic Yards has turned into part-time reality for Barclays employees . Not only Nathaniel Vinton report on problems facing ushers and security guards seeking a new contract after being unable to secure more hours and thus benefits, as I reported last December,  he reveals a change coming: So too is the union representing the conversion crew, which transforms the facility between Nets basketball games, Islanders hockey games, and other concerts and events. Disgruntled workers from that group voted 54-23 in December to ditch their union for a new one, which is also seeking new terms with [arena operator Mikhail] Prokhorov. The conversion crew, it goes unmentioned, in 2013 tried and failed (but came close ) to decertifying their union, aiming for more compensation. Today's article offers some statistics: About 300 of the arena’s approximately 2,500 employees work fu...

Unofficial mockup of planned building at Site 5 I've previously written skeptically about two of the three justifications for shifting the bulk of the tower planned over the arena plaza and creating what I've dubbed the " Brooklyn Behemoth," a giant tower of 1.55 million square feet at Site 5, now occupied by Modell's and P.C. Richard. The notion of "activating" the Atlantic Avenue corridor is pretty thin , and the idea of keeping the arena plaza as permanent open space positions it as a public amenity, rather than a branded business deal . But what about the the third notion, "delivering jobs," to quote Forest City Ratner spokeswoman Ashley Cotton, representing the developer, Greenland Forest City Partners? Building an office tower delivers space for jobs, and the jobs come if there's a market for it. And the market depends on, among other things, the cost of construction. And building the tower at the site originally approved, n...

The Barclays Center is again recruiting workers , this time Concessions Counter Servers and Cashiers, with a starting pay of $11/hour. This represents a slight bump up from the $10.50/hour pay revealed last June , which is now the minimum wage for fast-food workers. Previously, there was a larger gap between the arena's $10.50/hour wage and the minimum wage of $8.75 (now $9). Note that hiring does not at all mean there is an expansion of jobs, just an expansion of the labor pool. And an expanded labor pool is not necessarily good for workers.  SEIU 32BJ, which represents he security guards, ushers, ticket takers, and event staffers, seeks a renewed contract that guarantees more hours for workers so they can qualify for health insurance. Presumably the concessions workers would also like more hours From the web announcement

We've had more than a few moments of Atlantic Yards circularity, in which opponents or supporters of the project have wound up in an opposite position. Consider Rosie Perez, once a prominent speaker at a rally opposing the project, now an official ambassador of sorts , or Umar Jordan, a powerful speaker in favor of the project, then  pronouncing  that "they played Brooklyn." (In only one case is there a financial/professional benefit or advantage associated--not hard to guess which.) We almost had another on Tuesday, when SEIU 32BJ held a rally to protest the Barclays Center's "Broken Promises That Keep them from Steady Work and Benefits." Very few get enough hours to qualify for health insurance, despite a generalized intent to reach that goal. One union supporter mentioned in the press advisory, who didn't actually show up, is Bishop Orlando Findlayter of the New Hope Christian Fellowship. A CBA signatory You may remember that, in Febr...

Since the Barclays Center opened in 2012, arena developer Bruce Ratner has regularly talked up "2000 workers," with 80% from Brooklyn and a significant fraction from public housing. Uncritical supporters like film director Spike Lee and actress Rosie Perez have expressed enthusiasm about the presence of people of color working at the arena. The New York Times called it the "happy arena," pointing to Disney training for friendliness. Few have pointed out, as I've done for years, that most jobs are part-time and most workers don't get benefits. The rally: "Broken Promises" Now, as a push for a new union contract has begun, it's clear that the arena's regular replenishing of the worker pool offers a crucial advantage to arena operators: the more workers hired, the less likely existing workers will get enough shifts and hours to qualify for health care benefits, as they once expected. A column Monday in the Daily News explained t...