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January 19, 2007
It came from the Barclaysphere...
Here Be Dragons, Barclays and basketball
A Brit explains:
Barclays is probably one of the best known banks in the UK. My other half still won´t touch them, because he remembers as a student in the eighties "Don´t bank on apartheid" - a campaign to get Barclays to pull out of South Africa. At the time I was working for the bank in London.
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The arena will be part of a $4 billion development known as Atlantic Yards, which has unsurprisingly created vigorous debate as it involves compulsory purchase of existing properties. Barclays makes a lot about its approach to corporate responsibility and especially how it strives to "strengthen local communities in which we live and work" From this side of the Atlantic it is difficult to know whether Barclays´ desire for a global brand has trumped its corporate responsibility principles. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. The arena, if built, won´t be ready until 2009.
The Sports Economist, Record Naming Rights Deal Announced
The Barclays deal exceeds the Phillips deal by a wide margin. In today's New York Times, columnist Richard Sandomir wonders if Barclays overpaid. To which I respond: "Duh!" According to Forbes, the estimated value of the Nets is $244 million. Instead of spending $400 million on the naming rights, why not pull a Red Bull - buy the franchise and rename it?
BlackAthelete.net, Jackie Robinson Loses Out in Brooklyn
We knew it was coming that doesn't make it any Better at all.
The one and only chance Brooklyn will ever have to honor Jackie Robinson as he should be has been lost to Greed. Worse nobody is going to complain about it except us right here in the Black Box. We don't suffer from Silence.
The Brooklyn Record, The Brooklyn Paper Bashes Barclays Center
News of Barclays Bank's history is news to The Brooklyn Record, whose readers are coming to terms with the fact that the bank has roots in the slave trade and ties to the Third Reich and apartheid South Africa.
The Neighborhood Retail Alliance, Brooklyn Kids Triumph in Barclays Deal
Ratner consultant Richard Lipsky is unfettered by the PR problems associated with the Barclays deal now that the money is going to start flowing to programs he is promoting:
The creation of The Brooklyn Sports Alliance, our own concept the was adopted by Forest City, was designed to promote amateur sports in the borough and has been doing so over the past year and a half.
The Alliance now has a chance to really make an impact thanks to the just concluded deal with Barclays Bank. As the NY Post reports this morning, "Barclays will invest another $2.5 million over the next few years in partnership with the Nets on a nonprofit organization aimed at assisting Brooklyn's youth."
Gowanus Lounge, The Barclays Center: What's In a Name?
Of course, one could criticize many financial institutions, especially ones whose history reaches back a century or more, on dealings 50 or 100 years ago. The same could be said of any number of multinational corporations. So, there will be many opinions around Brooklyn about this information and whether it is fair to bring it up. All that said, as information goes, the background on Barclays is fascinating.
Don't Worry It's Just Reality, Brooklyn Edition, Barclays Really is Bad for Your Lungs.
Considering its also the name of a cigarette (not affiliated with the bank), and Barclays is helping bring forward a project guaranteed to increase asthma in Brooklyn children, its rather fitting, don't you think?
Posted by lumi at January 19, 2007 2:39 PM