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May 2, 2008
The Star-Ledger follow-up on Nets to Newark talks
This morning, The Star-Ledger followed up on yesterday's article by Ian Shearn, covering the existence of behind-the-scenes meetings between NJ Nets owner and Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner and politicians and parties interested in moving the team to Newark.
Corzine wants Nets to stay in New Jersey
By Ian T. Shearn
Gov. Jon Corzine said yesterday he would like the Nets to stay in New Jersey, be it Newark or East Rutherford, but sees no need for his involvement at this point.
"It would be encouraging to have the Nets stay here, whichever venue," Corzine said. "I would very much prefer they be in New Jersey as opposed to Brooklyn, and we will wait to hear whether there are propositions that the state has a role to play in," the governor told reporters following an appearance in Piscataway.
It's time to bring Nets to Newark
Columnist Steve Politi visits Brooklyn and finds...
A busy rail yard. An abandoned house. Several empty lots. Oh, and traffic. Lots of that.
What's missing from this scene, however is much more telling. No cranes lifting steel girders. No bulldozers moving dirt piles. No construction foremen barking orders.
...
Nets officials insist they still are targeting the 2010-11 season as their first in their new home, but even they have to know that's silly talk. Ratner, who loved to glad-hand reporters after games when his project was on track, turned down multiple interview requests over the past month."We are going to Brooklyn," his CEO Brett Yormark said. He has bragged in recent interviews about a recent trip to Europe to meet with eager corporate investors about the project.
The Nets can't sell tickets in Paramus, but now they're going to sell sponsorships in Paris?
The truth is, this franchise is closer to winning an NBA championship than to playing games near the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush in Brooklyn.
...
Most troubling for the team? You can't find many people outside of Ratner and his minions who think the arena in Brooklyn makes any sense now. The cost for the arena alone is quickly approaching $1 billion, which would make it twice as expensive as any in U.S. history.The financial markets have stalled. The neighbor opposition is still strong -- residents filed yet another lawsuit this week. The team is already hemorrhaging money and writing its owners love letters requesting checks to cover those losses.
Brooklynites will appreciate Politi's riff on the absurd:
Moving the team to Newark makes sense on so many levels, which is probably why it hasn't happened.
Posted by lumi at May 2, 2008 6:20 AM