Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

The underachieving Brooklyn Nets (here's their record , over ten years) seem stronger than ever, barring injuries and internal tumult, though they haven't yet played together as a full team, and the NBA is wide open, with a large number of contenders for the championship. So, as their season debut Wednesday at the Barclays Center approaches, all prognostications come with caveats. Indeed, Tom Lorenzo's 10/14/22 preview for NetsDaily,  What are the best and worst case scenarios for the Brooklyn Nets this season? , offers an enormous range. The best case, he observed, involves the superstar "trio of Ben Simmons, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant play[ing] 60+ games together in the regular season," getting the team to gel, leading to a deep playoff run and a potential title. The worst case is recurrence of Simmons' back injury, a moody Irving missing games, and Durant reinstating the trade demand he made last summer.  The four-game preseason started poorly and ended ...

I'm coming a bit late to Jeremy Gordon's review-essay published 9/30/22 in The Nation,  A Higher Court , with the subheading "The messy politics of the NBA."  Then again, his combo review concerns books published in June and May of 2021, respectively, concerning the unusual 2019-20 NBA season, from contretemps in China to the response to COVID (playing in the empty Disney World bubble) to the impact of Black Lives Matter protests on a mostly-Black league.  Gordon's summary: Two new books tell the story of the 2019-20 season and its discontents. Matt Sullivan’s Can’t Knock the Hustle is about the [Brooklyn] Nets season that year, but it frequently expounds on the shifting political and economic priorities of the NBA over the past decade and how the players’ ambitions have collided with the realities of the machine. Bubbleball by Ben Golliver is a chronological account of the bubble experience, written by a reporter with a firsthand perspective on how its simmerin...

The latest Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Construction Update (bottom), covering the two weeks beginning Monday, Oct. 17, was circulated at 1:29 pm yesterday (lead time) by Empire State Development (ESD) after preparation by Greenland Forest City Partners (GFCP), which is dominated by Greenland USA. Again, it didn't tell us much. I saw virtually nothing new compared to the  previous update , and the document again excludes the most dramatic change around the project footprint--the work at the arena plaza for revamping of the pavement--nor the ongoing work on the school at B15 (662 Pacific Street, aka Plank Road). A semantic rather than actual change is the only portion indicated in red. We were told two weeks ago that restoration of the median on Atlantic Avenue (at Sixth Avenue) and paving a portion of Atlantic would be completed this month. Now they simply added a few clarifying words: that the median is at Atlantic and Sixth. Might amuse @AYReport https://t.co/SzhqoN4kit — baffled...

Photos by Norman Oder, Oct. 12 As shown in the photos, shot two days ago, some work is ongoing at Sixth Avenue between Dean and Pacific streets, site of the middle-school (I.S. 653, with  806 students) scheduled to open in fall 2025 in the base of the B15 tower (662 Pacific St., aka Plank Road). Part of Sixth Avenue is cut off to accommodate a construction trailer and, perhaps, deliveries, truncating an already narrow street, though, as shown in the photo below left taken through the paper-covered windows, not much has started. That 2025 date is at least seven years behind the once-anticipated schedule and the question--as one neighbor asked me--is why it's taken so long.  My response, as elaborated below, is that the only solution may be for local elected officials--notably Council Member Crystal Hudson, state Senator Jabari Brisport, and Assemblymembers Jo Anne Simon and Phara Souffrant Forrest--to get the responsible parties to show up in public, and answer questions. No an...

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...

After six years or so, the major wedge-shaped ground floor space at 461 Dean Street, at the corner of Flatbush Avenue adjacent to the Barclays Center, finally has a tenant: the local fast-casual chain Just Salad.  The chain's signage is up, and its website says "Coming Soon," though the construction permits last through March 2023. That leaves a smaller retail space (867 square feet) east of the building's residential lobby on Dean Street, with 33 feet of frontage, still available, as shown in this  document  from real estate firm CBRE, also at bottom. That's closer to the arena's secondary entrance, Building changes The building, constructed by original Atlantic Yards developer Forest City Ratner as the nation's tallest modular tower, was plagued by delays, launching in December 2012 and finally opening in late 2016.  Though Forest City had announced it would build all the towers via modular construction, it wound up selling 70% of the project going forw...

Via Basketball-Reference This is part of an occasional series on the Barclays Center after ten years. See  more here . Over ten years, the Brooklyn Nets have never quite reached their potential. They started reasonably strong in 2012-13, then retreated, then rebuilt. There's been a changing cast of players--remember, you're rooting for the clothes--coaches, GMs, and even owners. (Remember: Bruce Ratner, Mikhail Prokhorov, and Joe Tsai, with some overlapping co-ownership.) The Nets' rebuild enabled them to snag superstars in the 2019 off-season to contend for a championship. But the "player empowerment" era has been tumultuous. Kevin Durant was rehabbing in the 2019-20 season. The 2020-21 season--by far their best--was stymied by the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks in a very close playoff series. And Kyrie Irving's refusal to get vaccinated (and his subsequent benching for part of the season) meant a wobbly and unsuccessful 2021-22 season, including the depar...

The Rent Is Too Damn High. Blame the Suburbs. , Sam Mellins wrote for New York Focus 10/6/22: New York City builds less housing per capita than almost any major city in the US, one reason it boasts the country’s highest rents. Like other cities, it relies on its suburbs to ease the strain on its housing market. But when it comes to construction, the suburbs on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley are even less active than the city: They build new housing at some of the lowest rates of any suburban region in the country, trailing the city’s other suburbs in Connecticut and New Jersey as well as the suburbs of Washington, DC, San Francisco, and Boston. What's the problem? Virtually all of New York’s peers try to prevent local governments from blocking new housing. California and Oregon require towns and cities to plan housing around expected population growth. New Jersey’s Supreme Court has required each municipality to develop a plan to build affordable housing, which must be appr...

This seems a bit curious. Three days ago, on Oct. 6, the Municipal Art Society sent an email with this subject line: "Jon Batiste Joins the 2022 Onassis Medal Honoree Lineup." "MAS is delighted to announce that the incomparable Jon Batiste will receive the 2022 Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal alongside fellow honorees, Clara Wu Tsai & Joe Tsai and Earl D. Weiner!" stated the lead sentence, pointing to the Nov. 9 gala . (See more below.) The multi-talented Batiste , perhaps best-known for serving as band leader for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert until August, was honored in June by the Brooklyn Public Library, along with his wife Suleika Jaouad. The citation noted, "He has also spent much of his career bringing music back to where it started —including on the steps of the Central Library in celebration of Juneteenth with Sing for Hope, and in the opening season of BPL’s Dweck Center in 2008." While it's not surprising that MAS might honor Bast...

I wrote earlier this week about the fluctuating attendance for Brooklyn Nets games over ten years at the Barclays Center. Now let's look at statistics regarding concerts, using rankings for tickets sold (and, later, adding ticket revenue) from the industry source Pollstar. Sure, those are not the only non-NBA events--of course there are other sports and family shows--but are another significant metric. I've also cited statistics for other arenas in the tri-state area. Notably,  Barclays was fortunate to start with a bang, while rival Madison Square Garden was under renovation, with a big first three months at the end of 2012. So, after (micro-owner of the Brooklyn Nets and icon) Jay-Z sold out eight shows, the arena also hosted Brooklyn-born diva Barbra Streisand, teeny-bopper fave Justin Bieber; and the Rolling Stones. Barclays, bookers told the New York Times, by then vied with MSG, with its crowded calendar and tougher terms. A musical act might earn $250,000 more in Broo...

At a Furman Center policy breakfast Oct. 3, Bernell Grier, executive director of the nonprofit housing group IMPACCT Brooklyn, made a few observations about "affordable housing" that, if hardly new, deserve recognition, since they reflect on an eternally controversial issue, including the housing planned for Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park. When she speaks to community members, Grier said, the first question is "affordable for who." She recalled a conversation with lobbyist Jacqui Williams who said she called it not "affordable housing" but "income-targeted housing." Indeed, I and others have tried to use that term, as well as "income-linked housing" as synonyms for "affordable housing," especially when it's aimed at middle-income households who are financially better-off than most Brooklynites. So the issue, Grier said, is "the right housing being developed for the households that need it." Leasing at 60% of AMI A...

The Barclays Center two days ago circulated its October 2022 event calendar to neighbors, announcing 13 ticketed events, plus one private event. It includes seven Brooklyn Nets games (two pre-season, five regular season, starting Oct. 19), four concerts, one boxing events, and one pro wrestling show. The Katt Williams comedy show, scheduled for Oct. 8, has been postponed because of a conflict with the star's filming schedule. The Oct. 24 private event, from noon to 6 pm, is not detailed, but it is I WILL GRADUATE DAY NYC , a youth empowerment program and celebration of education aimed at those in grades 7-12. October 2021 The October 2021 event calendar, as I wrote , announced 14 ticketed events, signaling a ramp-up back toward pre-COVID tempos. It included seven Brooklyn Nets games (two pre-season, five regular season), five concerts, and two comedy shows. Also: one Social Justice Fund event, which seemed cryptic but turned out to be the unveiling ceremony for the "You Belon...

The latest Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Construction Update (bottom), covering the two weeks beginning yesterday (Monday, Oct. 3), was circulated at 10:51 am yesterday (late) by Empire State Development (ESD) after preparation by Greenland Forest City Partners (GFCP), which is dominated by Greenland USA. Again, it didn't tell us much. I saw little new compared to the previous update , and the document again excludes the most dramatic change around the project footprint--the work at the arena plaza for revamping of the pavement and other features. A small amount of change is indicated in red. Now that the restoration of the sidewalk on Atlantic Avenue just west of Sixth Ave. outside the B4 tower (18 Sixth Ave., aka Brooklyn Crossing) is substantially complete and open to pedestrians, we now have a date for completion of a restored median on Atlantic and paving a portion of the avenue: the end of this month. Also, outside the B12/B13 sites (aka 595 Dean Street), courtyard fencing bet...

After ten years, let's look back at the Brooklyn Nets' announced regular-season attendance at the Barclays Center, which started with a relative bang (#16 in the 30-team league, after ranking last in New Jersey), then retreated after the team lost stars and had trouble competing, then began to rebound with new stars--well, one who played--in 2019, and last year came back more (#13). Logo from Twitter Note that the rankings are in total attendance, not in percentage full, and that Barclays, with 17,732 seats for basketball, is smaller than many peer arenas. For example, while the Nets were ranked 16th in attendance in their debut season, 2021-13, they would've ranked 12th in percentage full. Similarly, last season, while they were ranked 13th in attendance, they would've ranked 9th in percentage full. Though the Nets recently faced much off-season drama--would Kyrie Irving stay? would Kevin Durant rescind (reported) requests for a trade and to fire the coach/GM? would Be...

As I wrote yesterday, the Barclays Center had another subpar year, in part because the market for live events has declined, and costs are rising. Let's drill down a little. As detailed below, publicly circulated calendars indicated 137 ticketed events over the fiscal year ending in June 2022, There would have been somewhat more, but several concert tours were either canceled or postponed. Note that the tally doesn't include private events, such as nine graduation ceremonies, which surely raise some limited revenue. Below past benchmarks Keep in mind that, as I wrote in November 2019, in response to comments by then-arena/Nets CEO David Levy that the arena would be active 285 days per year, the arena had actually averaged 180 to 200 events annually for the three years after opening in September 2012, and that had increased to over 240 events once the New York Islanders moved in. After that, however, the Isles began to cut their schedule at Barclays and, as I calculated in Novem...

After ten years--the anniversary was Sept. 28--the Barclays Center is still losing money, much less delivering the profits envisioned. Part of that is surely due to the pandemic, and now economic forces like inflation. Part is due to over-optimistic expectations from the start. And from one perspective, the arena is part of a financial success, since the availability of a Brooklyn venue, in the world's media capital, has allowed the value of the Brooklyn Nets--long owned by the operator of the arena company, which since 2019 has been Joe Tsai--to soar. While the Barclays Center's financial performance improved over FY 2021 , when the pandemic severely stalled events and revenues, the arena is still ultimately in the red. The arena's FY 2022 results, released to bondholders yesterday afternoon--a late Friday news dump?--by operator Brooklyn Events Center, indicate that the revenues, while at least exceeding expenses, were still not enough to pay off construction bonds, much ...