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August 15, 2011
A Visit to 620 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn: What Dwight Howard Saw Friday
NetsDaily
The pseudonymous Net Income pays a visit to Prospect Heights.
Now that the roof is racing across the arena's 350-foot-long trusses, the impression from ground level is that how enormous it is. It is much larger and grander in scale than the brownstones to the south but for the most part it's in sync with the downtown feel of the area between the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush and the bridges to Manhattan.
...Already, the clubs that will serve the arena are going up, indicating other smaller-scale, arena-motivated commercial activity is starting to rise as well. Prime 6 and Machavelle have renovated their properties. A mattress store where the largest of the new clubs, Players GastroPub, will go is having a going-out-of-busines sale. Bark, an aptly named hot dog restaurant nearby, is doing well in anticipation of the opening. It's where the Nets often bring guests.
There didn't seem to be any outward opposition. No graffiti or protest signs on the construction fencing we saw. In fact, we spotted two other fans snapping pictures of the construction. Traffic even on a late Saturday afternoon was heavy and we had to skirt a fender bender at the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush. We anticipate once the arena is open, that intersection is bound to get even messier for a variety of reasons, not all of them anticipated. The stop line for westbound Atlantic Avenue traffic at Fort Greene Place is just opposite the VIP Entrance and Practice Facility curbside viewing point. "Was that Kim Kardashian!?!" Rubber necking galore.
Down below street level, we walked the soon-to-be renamed Barclays Center station, linking the new LIRR Atlantic Terminal station with nine subway lines. Game days, it's going to be jammed down there on the concourse.
Posted by eric at August 15, 2011 10:19 AM