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July 30, 2011
In an alternate universe, Nets GM Billy King, suburban Philly resident, compares AY arena setting to Chicago's United Center; sports stenography ensues
Atlantic Yards Report
Nets General Manager Billy King, along with paid pitchman Albert King, a Brooklyn native and former Net, hosted basketball writers Wednesday at the under-construction Barclays Center.
King, who lives in suburban Philadelphia and spent a good chunk of his professional career in that city, made a stunningly uninformed comment, equating the Atlantic Yards setting to the setting for the United Center in Chicago, suggesting that the impact of the arena would be similar.
Chicago vs. Brooklyn
The United Center is located on a 46-acre parcel. The Atlantic Yards arena is located on a, what, six-acre parcel?
The United Center is located in a non-residential area west of the Chicago Loop. The Barclays Center will abut neighborhoods that have predominantly low-rise and mid-rise residential buildings.
The arena, yes, will bring changes to Brooklyn, notably event-related retail and entertainment. But there's no comparison to Chicago. (Nor, really, to L.A., but that's a different story.)
Still, the press lapped it up, as dutifully chronicled by NetsDaily, whose chief blogger, NetIncome, perhaps aiming to avoid the "Leni Riefenstahl of the New Jersey Nets" tag, did cite one of the numerous press reports of a protest by disaffected former project supporters.
Posted by steve at July 30, 2011 3:57 PM