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June 27, 2012
At meeting on arena operations, the shadow of today's court decision; also, while state agency seems open to new governance entity, developer Forest City Ratner remains opposed
Atlantic Yards Report
There was a slightly surreal air to a long-scheduled meeting tonight regarding Barclays Center operations, notably security, parking, and sanitation, held at Brooklyn Borough Hall. (I'll have a full report in the morning.)
After all, Forest City Ratner External Affairs VP Ashley Cotton, a recent hire, led off by asserting that “we have learned that transparency and sharing details as we go is the best policy,” only hours after the state Court of Appeals rejected leave to appeal--filed by the developer and the state agency overseeing Atlantic Yards--of a decision saying that the defendants had failed in such transparency.
No one mentioned that case until Gib Veconi, who as a leader of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council and BrooklynSpeaks was a prime mover behind the suit, brought it up near the end of the two-and-a-half hour meeting.
“At this point, when we can see a draft scope of analysis for an SEIS?” Veconi asked Kenneth Adams, CEO of Empire State Development (ESD). He was referring to the Supplementary Environmental Impact Statement ordered by a lower court to analyze the worst-case impacts of a 25-year project buildout, as opposed to the long-professed ten-year schedule (and the alternate delayed scenario, covering 15 years, that ESD considered when it re-approved the project in 2009).
“Obviously we have to obey the court's order,” Adams said. “We'll start working on it.”
Given that it’s been nearly a year since state Supreme Court Justice Marcy Friedman initially ordered the SEIS, Veconi countered, “our hope would be to see the scope of analysis”--the precursor to the actual study--in the very near future.”
Related coverage...
Park Slope Patch, Live Blog: Barclays Center Operations Round Table Discussion at Borough Hall
Welcome to the live blog of Tuesday night's round table meeting between state and Barclays Center officials and community organizations on the subect of the plan for security, sanitation and parking once the 19,000-seat arena opens Sept. 28.
6:23 p.m.: Empire State Development Corporation head Kenneth Adams says that he will soon create a Barclays Center quality of life committee.
6:35 p.m.: John Sparks, Barclays Center's head, is going over the season calendar: 82 NBA games, 41 at home. Starts in mid-October. We're forecasting to do 225 events. There will be hockey at a pre-season event. There will be two ice shows, about 50 concerts, and 26 games of college basketball including the "Barclays Classic" triple header. The Ringling Bros. Circus will also perform. There will be between 14 and 25 boxing events.
6:40 p.m.: Barclays officials are working with the Department of Sanitation to make sure the area around the arena will be kept clean. Sparks also notes that they take security very seriously because one bad patron can affect the experience of all the "guests."
NoLandGrab: Much the same way one bad arena can affect the experience of all of the neighborhoods' residents.
Posted by eric at June 27, 2012 12:07 AM