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April 27, 2012
Ratner: Wait and see on Isles to Barclays
Newsday
by Roderick Boone
Barclays Center developer Bruce Ratner didn't shoot down the possibility of the Islanders taking up residence at the Nets' new home in Brooklyn once their lease expires at Nassau Coliseum in 2015.
"Charles Wang is a friend," Ratner said of the Islanders owner Thursday at the arena after announcing a plan to fill 2,000 jobs at the new facility with local residents. "I talk to him all the time. We've talked for years and I think the major call is to make sure, first, the team stays in New York State.
"After that we'll see what happens," added Ratner, who is the chairman and CEO of Forest City Ratner Companies.
...New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who attended the event with Ratner Thursday, danced around the idea of whether the Islanders should move from Hempstead Turnpike to the corner of Flatbush and Atlantic avenues. The arena holds roughly 14,500 people in its hockey configuration.
"That's up to the Barclays Center to try to attract people," Bloomberg said. "This is an arena that is built so they can have hockey here, and the more teams that are in New York, the better they are.
NoLandGrab: If by "built so they can have hockey here" the Mayor meant "with awful sightlines and the rink crammed into one end of the arena in such a fashion that no NHL team would ever play anything but exhibitions here," then yes, the Barclays Center was built for hockey.
Posted by eric at April 27, 2012 12:20 PM