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February 2, 2012
State of the Borough: Markowitz's overstuffed tribute to Brooklyn, with only mild enthusiasm for the new arena
Atlantic Yards Report
Well, maybe next year, once it's open, the Barclays Center will make a bigger splash. As in past years, the diverse crowd at Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz's typically overstuffed State of the Borough address was only mildly enthusiastic to mentions of Atlantic Yards and the new arena.
Then again, he brought it up 38 minutes into a speech (full text) that went more than 95 minutes, and that's a lot of speech.
...The arena mention
Just after that "ink" remark, Markowitz transitioned this: "After years of struggle and false starts, 2012 is the year that the Barclays Center will really come to fruition. With the new arena nearly complete, it's clear this area will be the hub of a new city center, creating the jobs in and around the arena that we desperately need."
There was no reaction. It's not at all clear that the area will create jobs "that we desperately need," since most jobs, it seems, will be in the fields of restaurants, entertainment retail, and arena services, which generally don't pay well.
But Markowitz found some applause lines. "For an old-timer like me, it feels like Brooklyn has gone 'Back to the Future' —to the days when Downtown was teeming with nightclubs and dancing halls — when we rocked — and we rolled — our way to the Fox Theatre, the Paramount, and back," he continued, generating some claps from old-timers.
"I can't wait to sit in the arena watching the Brooklyn Nets mop up the floor with the 'Manhattan Knicks,'" he continued, provoking more enthusiasm with a line that always works by appealing to reflexive borough pride.
"And I'm filled with hope that the Nets will get Dwight Howard, someone I really 'look up to!,'" he added, as a photo illustration of the diminutive Markowitz and the itching-to-leave Orlando Magic center appeared on the screen. "In fact, my ultimate dream would be Dwight Howard on the Nets — and Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand on stage."
The Dwight Howard mention didn't do much for a crowd that apparently included relatively few basketball fans. Then again, it didn't have time to sink in. In a rather bizarre interlude, a Streisand impersonator then entered the stage, serenading the crowd and, Babs-like, began shaking hands, as if at a bar mitzvah or wedding, with the diverse group of honored guests on stage.
Posted by eric at February 2, 2012 1:42 PM