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July 2, 2012
Parking Woes Still Dog New Brooklyn Arena
WNYC/Transportation Nation
by Janet Babbin
Residents concerned about traffic and congestion around the new soon-to-be-opened Barclays Center arena in Brooklyn have until Tuesday, July 3, to submit written comments to Empire State Development, the state agency overseeing the project.
“These streets will just be absolutely clogged with on street parking, and the [transportation plan] doesn’t address that,” Gib Veconi said. He is with the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development council and complained there will be a lack of on-street parking for the thousands who will drive to shows at the arena after it opens this fall.
According to surveys conducted by the project’s developer, Forest City Ratner, about 2,500 carloads are expected to drive to each Barclays Arena event — and there are 220 events so far scheduled at the arena during its first year in operation.
Empire State Development extended the comment period to give residents more time to respond. ESD said it’s confident that the neighborhood will be able to absorb the influx of visitors because many will take public transportation to the Prospect Heights facility.
NoLandGrab: As, more or less confident than they were about the whole project being built in 10 years?
Posted by eric at July 2, 2012 10:41 AM