« It Came From the Blogosphere... | Main | Here's that grain of salt you ordered... »
May 17, 2009
Speculation Of A Nets Sale
Rumors of the Nets being put up for sale are spread by Newark Mayor Cory Booker, despite the recent ruling by a New York state appellate court favorable to the proposed Atlantic Yards project.
By John Brennan
Newark Mayor Cory Booker predicts that a sale of the Nets is imminent — but he worries that investors in Kansas City and Seattle may prove fierce competition to his goal of seeing the Nets move to the Prudential Center.
Speaking on Newark radio station WBGO-FM last night, Booker took a call from “Bob,” a former Teaneck resident who inquired about the likelihood of the Nets moving to Brooklyn. The Nets have insisted, in the face of widespread criticism based on the shaky lending environment, that they will break ground on a Brooklyn arena this summer and move into it in the fall of 2011.
Booker — saying he was “going to go way out on a limb here and let you know maybe more than I should” — replied that he is “confident now more than ever that the deal in Brooklyn is just not going anywhere. I think there’s going to be a comeuppance very soon where the team is going to go up for sale. That’s my prediction. I really do believe it.
“I’ve watched the deal very closely. I know people involved in the deal, and it does not look like it’s going anywhere in Brooklyn.”
...
Opponents of the Brooklyn Atlantic Yards project — which includes the Nets’ proposed arena as a cornerstone — suffered a legal setback in the ruling today that Ratner cited. A four-judge Appellate Court panel unanimously denied the opponents’ petition to prevent New York state from using eminent domain if necessary to acquire the remaining land parcels at the 22-acre project site.
...
Candace Carpenter, attorney for the Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn activist group, agreed with Booker about the prospects of the Nets moving to that borough.
“Forest City Ratner may claim, like the boy who cried wolf, that they will break ground soon,” Carpenter said. “But they won’t — they are unable to do so.”
Newark and the Nets have an uneasy relationship right now. The Nets, waiting for Brooklyn, play in the contemptible IZOD Center, a cavernous, inconveniently located mess, up in East Rutherford. Newark has a shiny new gym, the Prudential Center, home of the Devils and (occasionally) the JoBros. Newark would like the Nets to spend some time at Prudential until Atlantic Yards in the BK is ready. The Nets don't like that idea.
As such, the folks in Newark -- particularly mayor Cory Booker -- have fired cannonballs at Bruce Ratner and the Nets franchise, pushing the "Brooklyn ain't happening, so move to Newark!" storyline hard. Booker turned up the dial quite a bit this week by publicly predicting Ratner will be putting the Nets up for sale soon.
Posted by steve at May 17, 2009 7:39 AM