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September 20, 2011
Ice try! Ratner now says he wants Islanders at Barclays Center
The Brooklyn Paper
by Daniel Bush
It shouldn't be long now before Bruce says he's "hopeful" that the New York Yankees will play their home games at the Barclays Center of Yonkers Brooklyn™, and the local press will dutifully report it.
Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner said he’s “hoping” that the New York Islanders will move to the Barclays Center once the struggling team’s lease at the Nassau Coliseum expires in 2015 — a reversal of his longtime claim that the Prospect Heights arena would be too small to host pro hockey games.
Ratner's never claimed that. In fact, the arena bond offering danced around the fact that the arena would be grossly sub-standard for NHL hockey.
“I would hope that’s possible,” Ratner said in an appearance on Bloomberg Television’s news show, “The Property Players.” “I certainly think there’s a chance.”
And Geraldo Rivera thought there was a "chance" that he'd find bags full of loot in Al Capone's vault.
There's more than a chance, however, that Ratner's edif-ice will make life miserable for locals.
Arena opponents blasted the idea that the Barclays Center would host more pro games.
“Traffic is going to be insane” on game nights, said Peter Krashes, president of the Dean Street Block Association. “Pedestrians and cars are going to swarm the neighborhood.”
Posted by eric at September 20, 2011 11:35 AM