Atlantic Yards Nets Arena: From "World Class" to Provincial Crass

The new design for the Nets arena by architectural firm Ellerbe Becket.

After news broke yesterday that developer Bruce Ratner had officially replaced starchitect Frank Gehry's striking design for a big, $1 billion arena in downtown Brooklyn, the Times released a rendering of what the new arena would look like. And wow, eat your heart out, Indianapolis! To save $200 million, Ratner enlisted Kansas City design firm Ellerbe Becket to completely redesign the stalled arena, which he needs to begin building by the end of the year, when his right to use tax-exempt financing expires.

So redesign it they did, if by redesign you mean a banal homage to any number of unremarkable "field house" arenas across America; places where you can watch college ball, check out weekend flea markets, and sometimes see Ice Capades. But that last diversion won't even be an option for New Yorkers, because unlike Gehry's design, the Ellerbe Becket reboot doesn't include a rink. Of course, there's nothing inherently wrong with a modest, utilitarian hangar like this, but after all Ratner's talk about Gehry's "world class" designs, and all the legal battles and controversy and threats, this is best they could come up with for Brooklyn?

It's tempting to call it a joke, but it's on taxpayers and Brooklyn residents and businesses the city has been trying to relocate for years. In a press release announcing the new design, Ratner blames opposition groups for delaying this boondoggle for so long that the "slowing economy" finally made the more ambitious designs untenable. Develop Don't Destroy, the developer's main foe, fires back, and sees the whole debacle as a bait and switch:

[Forest City Ratner] should blame themselves for their arena going from really bad to worse... Here's our explanation: Forest City Ratner's reckless incompetency as a mega-developer, leading to an inability to manage costs. Because if incompetency is not the reason, then it is very likely that Ratner never intended to construct a Gehry-designed arena, but rather used the starchitect for publicity to gain respect and applause from cultural critics and media elites, and get the project approved. And then, throw the Gehry design under the bus.

Later this month, Ratner will need the MTA to approve a deal wherein, instead of buying that nine-acre railyard in the footprint of the Atlantic Yard's site for $100 million, he'll pay the cash-strapped MTA a $20 million down payment while he delays construction of a permanent replacement railyard for at least several years. (The land was originally appraised at over $200 million.) And the Empire State Development Corporation will need to approve the new arena. In a statement yesterday, the Municipal Art Society said, "The replacement of Gehry further reduces the public benefits of the project, which urgently needs re-evaluation and oversight." And Atlantic Yards Report wonders what happened to the planned tower that used to be called "Miss Brooklyn." Also, where did "the much-touted Urban Room, a large, glass-enclosed public space" go?

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By John Del Signore in News on June 5, 2009 10:25 AM

Comments [rss]

tsol

"artisinal bahn mi stand"! LOL, nice one, Ronnie Dobbs!

matty

So first you hated the original plans and now the guy turns it in to something that he can actually build and you hate that too and call it uninspired.

What's your solution, Mr. Del Signore (if that is your real name!).

jaycjay

"Why the city will bend over backwards for a crummy franchise is astonishing."

The city's not "bending over backwards" for the Nets, but for Ratner -- as it does for any big-bucks developer.

whitecastlerock

they ARE bending over backwards for the Nets-whether the team was owned by Ratner or any other developer.

whitecastlerock

The Nets should move to Kansas City or Las Vegas. No one cares about them here. No one bothers to go to the games at the Brendan Byrne, Continental Airlines, Izod Center arena. This was a team that went to the finals in 2002 and 2003-barely drawing flies to witness those runs. Sure you might pick up a few thousand fans by moving them to Brooklyn-but in the end, who gives a shit? Let them play in an armory somewhere. Why the city will bend over backwards for a crummy franchise is astonishing.

Ronnie Dobbs

It's a basketball arena, not the fucking Guggenheim. Actually, New York would do well to follow the examples of those awful backwaters like Indianapolis, St. Louis and the like. They have much better sports facilities than New York. You must not go to many basketball games. Your idea of banality is actually classic design. Fieldhouses are what basketball looks like.

Why exactly does New York deserve something much more inspired? Have you ever been in a sports area that met your criteria of inspired? Giants Stadium? The Garden? Both shitholes.

If this place doesn't have a artisinal bahn mi stand, you're really going to flip, aren't you?

tsol

90% of the buildings erected in NYC since the 1950s have been pure shit. At least it's prettier than the toilet bowl that the Knicks play in.

brandonz

East Coast Snob much, Mr. Del Signore?

I thought all the Develop Don't Destroy people didn't like Gehry's goofy contemporary architecture and might like something more traditional better to fit-in with the oldtimey Brooklyn neighborhoods around it. I kind of like this design. But I like field houses. And am from the Midwest, yes, I said it.

John Del Signore

No, more of a NYC snob. But I grew up around Albany, and we have places that look just like this. I obviously have my doubts about whether an arena is the best idea for this part of Brooklyn, but at the same time, if they are going to build it, New York City deserves something much more inspired.

Outter Burrougher

which Gehry's design was not; it was ugly

barryap

Ugly trumps boring every time.

NannyState

True to a point, but one wonders why Ratner didn't ask Gehry to adjust his designs so that they would be more palatable. Literally, the difference between a good Gehry and a lousy one are a few folds, creases and shiny bits. His arena was awful because of the icky rotund glazing and dull proportions. And his towers were even worse, a dull, repetitious ensemble of tattered looking spandrels and corrugations. He could have saved it but that shitty ego got in the way. Screw him. This fieldhouse garbage belongs in Grand Rapids, not Brooklyn. It all goes to show that sports arenas and great architecture rarely intersect...

Peter

places where you can watch college ball, check out weekend flea markets, and sometimes see Ice Capades

Not the last of those ... the Ice Capades went to that great rink in the sky several years ago.