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An Arena Grows in Brooklyn

By Matt Chaban 1/03/12 7:32pm

An Arena Grows in Brooklyn

Rusted and busted. (AY Report)

Tip-Off Tip Over? Barclays Center Facade Maker Goes Out of Business, Possibly Imperiling Opening Day

After years and years and years of delays, debates, lawsuits and left turns, things have been moving along at a favorable clip at Atlantic Yards—at least compared to past history.

Since the Barclays Center broke ground two years ago, construction has continued pretty much unabated, a few rodents notwithstanding. Meanwhile, Bruce Ratner is behind on his plans for new apartment towers, but he is also shaking things up with the idea of making them prefabricated.

It is then a little surprising to learn that the firm responsible for the facade of the new arena has abruptly shut its doors, and the completion of the Barclays Center could hang in the balance. Read More

By Matt Chaban 12/12/11 2:25pm

An Arena Grows in Brooklyn

Raise high the roof beams, Mr. Ratner. (SHoP_

How Invested Is Bruce Ratner In Prefab? Oh, Only a Few Million

Last week, The Observer looked at Bruce Ratner’s plans for a prefabricated Atlantic Yards project—whether he was serious about the project and whether he could achieve the steep 20 percent savings he claimed for the modular building process. A number of real estate professionals were skeptical on both counts, but they all pointed to the developers out-sized investment in prefab technology as an indicator of his seriousness. Now we know just how much of an investment that has been. Read More

By Matt Chaban 10/13/11 10:14am

An Arena Grows in Brooklyn

Crazy for cranes. (Brownstoner

The Mysterious Property Values of Atlantic Yards

Like all NIMBY battles, the fight against Atlantic Yards ultimately comes down to a matter of property values. One of the justifications for the project was that this corner of Brooklyn was blighted. The neighbors already living there certainly took issue with such characterizations—hello, Dan Goldstein!—but now the Post takes a close look at exactly how the new arena and still-born apartments are affecting property values. Read More

By Matt Chaban 10/04/11 4:48pm

An Arena Grows in Brooklyn

About those apartment buildings... (SHoP Architects)

To Prefab or Not to Prefab: Atlantic Yards Design Decision Will Be Made This Year

Prefabricated buildings have not been such a hot topic of conversation since Buckminster Fuller passed away, but that is about all anyone can talk about at Atlantic Yards anymore. On the one hand, it could signal a paradigm shift in how New York City builds, on the other, it goes against many of the employment promises Forest City Ratner made when the project won support from politicians and labor unions. With building plans recently filed, the decision on what to do is getting close. How close? The Observer asked Maryanne Gilmartin exactly that. Read More

By Matt Chaban 10/04/11 9:30am

An Arena Grows in Brooklyn

Roake's roost at center. (Property Shark)

Is Dan Goldstein Really As Bad As Bruce Ratner Just Because He Wants a Renovation?

Daniel Goldstein spent years opposing Bruce Ratner’s outside Atlantic Yards development in his backyard—and on top of his house—until he finally gave in and made an even $3 million on the deal. He has since used that money to buy an $812,000 rowhouse in the South Slope, which was purchased in May, according to property records. (Some deal, a wife and a new house, and all it took was years of strife and threat of eviction.)

Like so many other homeowners in the city, Mr. Golodstein is planning a rooftop and rear-yard addition to his new home. In what might be construed as an ironic twist–the Daily News certainly sees it that way—Mr. Goldstein’s new neighbors do not appreciate his home-improvement project.

It’s NIMBY versus NIMBY. Read More

By Matt Chaban 9/27/11 3:55pm

An Arena Grows in Brooklyn

"H-O-V-A, y'all got to feel the name Nets, cuz I'm keeping it."

Is Keeping the Name 'Nets' a Net Loss for Jay-Z and Brooklyn?

“I asked for two things out of my partners in ownership is that we rename the New Jersey Nets the Brooklyn Nets, and the second one is that I open it with a concert,” Shawn Carter said at a press conference in front of the under-construction Barclays Center yesterday, which made official the team’s name.

Really Jay? One of the best lyricists in hip-hop history, and the best you could come up with was the Brooklyn Nets? Read More

By Matt Chaban 9/26/11 2:03pm

An Arena Grows in Brooklyn

Slam doink. (Getty)

How 'Bout Them Brooklyn Nets?

Brooklyn may be home to a swelling creative class, but all that brain power—or at least that of Jay-Z, Bruce Ratner and Mikhail Prokhorov—could do no better than “the Brooklyn Nets” when it comes to naming the team, which moves to the borough next season. The Observer was really pulling for the Brooklyn Queens Expressways or the BroBos, but our dreams were rejected like a Kris Humphreys lay-up. Read More

By Tom Acitelli 9/14/11 12:10am

An Arena Grows in Brooklyn

Hmmm... do I take the pay cut?

Bounced from Brooklyn? Prokhorov's Prospective Presidential Run Poses Questions

On Sept. 2, Mikhail Prokhorov, billionaire owner of the soon-to-be-Brooklyn Nets, announced he would consider a run for the Russian presidency this winter if the political party he created, Right Cause, does well in parliamentary elections in December. (The Transom first learned of this from a friend who is a journalist in Moscow, and confirmed it with English-language reports of Mr. Prokhorov’s comments.)

So, if Mr. Prokhorov, the central-casting projection of modern muscular Russia, does, in fact, edge out his friend Vladimir Putin or Mr. Putin’s hand-picked successor, Dmitry Medvedev, what will it mean for the borough’s b-ball? Can one man be the leader of a superpower and the owner of a powerhouse at the same time? Read More