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August 27, 2008
Game. Sauté. Match.
The NY Observer
by Chris Shott
The "debacle at Atlantic Yards" makes a cameo appearance in this Observer story about the massive catering operation at the U.S. Open, run by Levy Restaurants, the Chicago-based food-service giant tapped to provide chow at Bruce Ratner's Barclays Center — should it ever get built.
In 2010, the company plans to make its second foray into the coveted New York market, after signing on to handle concessions at the forthcoming Barclay Center, future home of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, at developer Bruce Ratner’s controversial Atlantic Yards complex in Prospect Heights.
“I think the building’s going to be spectacular,” said Mr. Lansing. “You know, a lot of the arenas, historically, have been, well, not cookie-cutterish because they’re all a little bit different, but they follow a similar mold. But when you have Frank Gehry design an arena and really break the mold—that’s pretty ambitious.”
He added, “Some of the things that we’re going to do with the Nets are going to be revolutionary.”
Of course, it will also feature the usual Brooklyn staples. Can you say egg creams? “Absolutely,” Mr. Lansing said. “We know Brooklyn pizza, you know, we get it. We understand the locals. We understand what they want.”
NoLandGrab: Hmmm. Not "cookie-cutterish?" They "understand the locals?" So the Nets are hiring a mega-caterer from the Midwest to serve "Brooklyn pizza" and egg creams?
Commenter Norman Oder also points out that Levy might need to rebook those 2010 tickets for, say, 2011.
Posted by eric at August 27, 2008 11:14 AM