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April 24, 2009
It came from the Blogosphere...
WBGO.org, IF THE NETS STAY, WHERE WILL THEY CALL HOME?
Plans to move the Nets to an 18,000 seat arena in Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards may not be realized in this tough economic climate. Mayor Cory Booker argues the best place for the franchise is the Prudential Center. However, State Senator Paul Sarlo wants the Nets to stay put because of the economic impact it will have on Bergen County.
“We also believe that both the Nets and Devils, the marriage of them two working under one roof may not work. The typical NBA teams don’t want to be second class citizens to an NFL team.”
NoLandGrab: We think he means N-Aitch-L. And based on this silly argument, the Knicks will soon look to have their own, exclusive arena.
Gothamist, Rats Now in Charge at Atlantic Yards
A spokesman for Bruce Ratner's properties naturally blamed the rat infestation on the sorry state of the site before the developer came in and "corrected the problems." If the area around the stalled project follows the course laid out in Life After People, expect the rats to return to the wild in the next few months, only to be replaced by the arrival of wolves.
moleinfoblog, Blue Wolf Capital Management, Politicians and What is Wrong With NYC
I also recently had a confrontation with Marty Markowitz at an IND meeting where I took exception to being called "anti-development" because my opposition is NOT to development per se, but to the overwhelming influence of developers in NYC politics and the lousy policies it buys them that hurts the community but lines the pockets of developers. An example is the city actually BUYING the land for Bruce Ratner so he can build his Atlantic Yards project at the same time fire houses are being closed and schools getting over crowded thanks to funding cuts.
ImprovResourceCenter.com, Prospect Heights
Does anyone live in PH? And if so do you have any issues re: the Atlantic Yards project/ specifically the empty lots on Dean and below. I'm looking to move to the area but hear that there's a bit of an uptick in crime due to the lack of people etc.
The $mart A$set, [Village Voice blog] Cuomo's embarrassment of riches
Maybe if [NYS Attorney General Andrew Cuomo] has time, he might even start investigating the Yankees' suspiciously sweet deals with the city that resulted in huge public subsidies for a team that charges $2,600 a seat. Or the taxpayer bailout money funneled overseas to Barclays that is helping finance the NBA arena that Bruce Ratner's trying to build in Brooklyn.
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, Scarce Lenders, Underperforming Properties
Morningstar also offers a suggestion: "If Forest City were to hand back a few highly leveraged underperforming properties, its overall debt picture could improve materially...." It's not quite what they mean, but when one hears "underperforming" it's hard not to think "Nets."
Posted by eric at April 24, 2009 10:39 AM