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July 10, 2008
Nets definitely coming to Brooklyn in... (um) 2010-ish, during the season, we think
Bruce Ratner's Nets organization has been doing an elaborate dance for years, trying to keep fans stoked for a move to Brooklyn, though the big day keeps getting pushed back.
NY Daily News, Yi helps Nets matter again
Yesterday, in a fit of honesty, Bruce Ratner placed the date during 2010-2011 season, perhaps close to the end, as NY Daily News reporter Julian Garcia reports on the paper's blog:
Owner Bruce Ratner revealed that the team is still scheduled to move to Brooklyn after two more full seasons in New Jersey but that the move may not occur until the middle of the 2010-2011 season, perhaps even toward the end of it. He said groundbreaking on the new Brooklyn arena is to begin in November.
NY Daily News, Nets' move to Brooklyn may not happen until 2010-2011
In Garcia's follow-up report for today's paper, Ratner's PR henchman Barry Baum tries his best to explain what his boss meant to say (perhaps for the benefit of investors?):
The Nets are still scheduled to move to Brooklyn. But as for exactly when that will happen, not even owner Bruce Ratner can say.
At the press conference to introduce new players Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons Wednesday, Ratner acknowledged that the move, which in recent months had been pushed back to the start of the 2010-2011 season, may not occur until that season is already underway. Ratner said that the move could occur late in the year.
Ratner's spokesperson, Barry Baum, clarified the remarks, saying that the team has acknowledged for awhile that the move may not occur until the 2010 "calendar year" as opposed to before that season.
"When (Ratner) says late in the year, he means late in 2010," Baum said.
Atlantic Yards Report, "Brooklyn is happening"? Nets brass now promise 2010-11 season
Back in mid-May, Norman Oder of Atlantic Yards Report had already predicted that 2010 probably meant December 31, 2010. In the wake of Ratner's fumble, Baum's recovery attempt, and an increasingly tight construction timeline, Norman Oder thinks that 2011 makes more sense:
Less than two months ago, Forest City Ratner promised an opening during the 2010 calendar year. So team officials continue to hedge. Given the three-year bridge reconstruction schedule, 2011 still looks to me like a reasonable best-case scenario.
Posted by lumi at July 10, 2008 7:10 AM