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March 13, 2010
Barclays breaks ground with 18,000-seat basketball stadium in Brooklyn
The Guardian
By Andrew Clark
Barclay's President, Bob Diamond, will become another name in the list of those who claim to improve Brooklyn while they destroy it.
Seated alongside rap star Jay-Z, Barclays president Bob Diamond beamed cheerfully as a soul rendition of the US national anthem was partially drowned out by the din of circling helicopters and noisy protesters.
In a marquee on a disused rail yard in the New York borough of Brooklyn, hundreds of dignitaries including the city's mayor gathered to watch a ground-breaking ceremony for an 18,000-seat basketball stadium to be named the Barclays Centre under a naming deal that has cost the British bank more than $300m (£200m).
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But Barclays' brand-building efforts have not been universally welcomed. One New York City councillor, Letitia James, has suggested the bank's involvement is unwelcome in an area of ethnic diversity because it did business in South Africa during the early 1980s despite that country's regime of apartheid.
And some community activists have railed against the compulsory purchase of properties to redevelop Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards. Protesters outside the ground-breaking ceremony waved placards reading "stop the rape of Brooklyn" and heralding "the destruction of Brooklyn's soul day".
Posted by steve at March 13, 2010 7:42 AM