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December 28, 2008
Nets executive promotes New Jersey while selling Brooklyn
The Newark Star-Ledger
By DAVE D'ALESSANDRO
This lengthy piece about New Jersey Nets CEO Brett Yormark features plenty of the bluster you might expect when a salesman talks about himself.
"I came for Brooklyn," Yormark openly admitted in a recent conversation in the boardroom at the team's East Rutherford headquarters. "And like everyone, I'm frustrated with the delays. But I'm convinced of this: It will only make the accomplishment grander."
The monomania that surrounds the Nets' planned move to Brooklyn consumes only half of Yormark's long day, which is interesting, because building the Barclays Center -- the centerpiece to a $4.2 billion, 22-acre monolith known as Atlantic Yards -- would be a full-time job for anybody else.
There are also occasional glimpses of reality, including a mention of Atlantic Yards Report author Norman Oder.
Meanwhile, you can define Barclays only one way: inert. Some people -- many of the living around Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues -- like it that way. Organizations have been formed to fight it. Publications such as New York Magazine are increasingly skeptical. And then there are bloggers, such as watchdog journalist Norman Oder.
This lengthy article about Meanwhile, you can define Barclays only one way: inert. Some people -- many of the living around Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues -- like it that way. Organizations have been formed to fight it. Publications such as New York Magazine are increasingly skeptical. And then there are bloggers, such as watchdog journalist Norman Oder.
There's also an anecdote about how Yormark was first introduced to Brooklyn by Norman Oder as tour guide.
NoLandGrab: Today's Atlantic Yards report has Norman Oder's recollection of the time he spent with Yormark. If we have to choose between Yormark's self-serving remarks on behalf of his real estate overlord, and Oder's meticulous service for the truth, we'll choose Oder every time.
Posted by steve at December 28, 2008 9:05 AM