Photos: Nets Break Ground, Protester Arrested for Drumming

Beyonce looks GOOOOOD!!

NIKOGDA!

This whole thing stinks and it's terrible for the neighborhood. And yeah I live in that neighborhood just 5 blocks from the yards.

More to the point: There is almost no evidence that using massive tax breaks to build stadiums is a sustainable way to support a neighborhood. And what sort of low wage employment will this bring? How about using that tax break money to lure small companies to set up shop in that area - how about some light manufacturing of, e.g., materials for green building? And so on - there are a lot of ways in which the yards could have been intelligently developed without this monstrosity.

And, if there is a reason to hate ACORN it's because their leadership got bought off by a rich white guy from Jersey. I freaking hate ACORN for this and will never forgive them for this betrayal. Who owns ACORN?

And yeah - the MTA is screwed: the trains at Atlantic terminal are already crowded _at 6:30 AM_ when I commute to work.

"6,430 apartments"

Add that to all the other shite high rises pimpling up in Brooklyn and I have to wonder HOW THE HELL IS THE MTA GOING TO HANDLE SUCH A DRASTIC INCREASE IN POPULATION.

Never been to the neighborhood, definitely never going to go now. It'll be a hole in the ground for a few months, then it'll be a nets stadium (ewwww) then it'll be a poorly built, crumbling, unsafe nets stadium (Example: every baseball stadium we have).

Let the fogeys or hipsters or faux-old-school hipsters or real working people or Oprah or anyone who actually live there have a shitty bar. Eminent domain as enforced by foreign Russian Oligarchs is way closer to "socialism" than anything the teabaggers blame Obama for doing.

Traffic concerns and land-grabs aside, this is the best thing that's happened to Brooklyn since the Dodgers. I don't see how this stadium is different from the hideous mall filled with national chains at Flatbush and Atlantic. But now a professional sports team will destroy the "soul" of Brooklyn? Give me a break.

Tax revenues and an influx of 10,000 people on game-nights are definitely a good thing, not to mention a sweet venue for other performances throughout the year. Additionally, unlike Yankee Stadium, people have a reason to stick around before and after games and contribute to all the businesses in the surrounding area.

The argument that the Nets "suck" and you don't want them is also without merit. People still like the Mets for some reason, after all...

The argument that the Nets "suck" and you don't want them is also without merit. People still like the Mets for some reason, after all Really? The Nets have never won a world championship. As a matter of fact they have made in to the NBA finals twice-even then their attendance figures weren't that healthy. They were in the bottom third of the league. Since the ABA folded and they got rid of Dr J, they have done absolutely nothing. There is no rivalry whatsoever with the Knicks. No one gives a shit about the Nets. The NY Mets filled a huge void for diehard Giants and Dodger fans who lost their teams to California. Even though they were atrocious people wanted to see National League baseball. There is a built in rivalry with the NY Yankees. Attendance in the lean years has not been an issue. The NY Nets played out in Long Island over 30 years ago and no one really ever missed them. Will this arena ruin Brooklyn? Probably not. But is it as essential as these crooked politicians are portraying it? Unlikely

you totally don't get it. the nets will play in that arena 40-odd nights/year. what will that area be like the other 325 nights/year? let us suppose that there are 100 other events that happen around there: now its 225 nights/year without any business. who the hell is going to risk opening a business that will get customers AT MOST 140 days/year? probably some crappy chain that pays terribly.

so yeah: i am so excited for all the low-wage, unsustainable jobs coming to my neighborhood. that'll be just great. and this is what we get for the giant tax break and other incentives that they are giving to ratner and that russian guy.

do you even know a damn thing about business?

As for tax breaks for "light" manufacturing, tax breaks don't get businesses off the ground, loans do. Good luck finding and angel investor, let alone a venture capitalist to help you out on that one for, hmm, idk the next 2 years at least, considering that there have been 5 public offerings in 2010. Additionally, manufacturing green materials is not green itself. Making batteries for hybrid cars, as an example, produces more carbon emissions than any hybrid car can ever offset in its lifespan. I'm sure you'd love to live 5 blocks from the increased pollution that would stem from that.

The nights when the Nets don't play and there isn't a performance booked, at least it wont be a rail yard. This is the plan that has the funding and is actually underway because we like sports and the Nets are willing to build.

Do you even know a damn thing about anything, idealist?

@howyadoin -

get a grip on your wallet, you unimaginative moron.

the state is sinking tons of cash into this arena and development. so, the question is: what if the state spent that money on something else? for example, what if the state spent that money on improving the MTA or if the state set aside that money for a public-private partnership with a private investor to incubate new business in the area? or if you are a conservative, what if the state spent that money on retiring debt? or, if you are still a conservative, what if that state spent that money on building high performing new charter schools in that area?

point is: the options aren't Ratner/Arena or Nothing.

with $200 million in state money and a thoughtful development plan, wrangling private investments wouldn't be impossible. i can point you in the direction of several excellent developers in Los Angeles, for example, who work with the city to develop excellent spaces that aren't stadium boondoggles. (e.g., even a controversial group like the CIM group does a better job than ratner and his pals).

But that is what you seem to think it was. why? because you are a freaking know-nothing moron!

but let me continue to write as if you weren't an ass-for-brain low watt bulb.

that area actually cannot support a bunch of new businesses. how do we know this? who is one of the largest renters at the atlantic terminal development across atlantic avenue from the yards? the state of NY!!! that's right - that development, which was supposed to be a renaissance for fort greene was 50% vacant and so the state had to step in and rent space in it in order to make it *seem* like a good deal for the taxpayer. and the other renters? national chains that pay poorly, are not locally owned, and that do not add much value to the neighborhood.

yes - we need construction jobs, but we'd get those no matter what we decide to build in that space.

yes - we need jobs - any jobs - so something is better than nothing. but that's not exactly true. we need good jobs - jobs that can support the neighborhood and on which we can build sustainable middle class communities.

so, we can conclude that it's pretty unlikely that ANOTHER 10 LOW-WAGE PAYING CHAINS will move in and last for a meaningful amount of time after that george foreman grill of an arena is built.

hey howyadooin - don't open your trap / type on your keyboard when you're this stupid. better to keep quiet and keep people guessing.

Anonymous internet name calling! You're real tough mns. Capital letters prove your point!

As for all your proposals, they weren't built because if a politician backed those, he or she would be voted out of office. They did what politicians do and served those who provide them with cash.

A "public-private partnership with a private investor to incubate new business in the area?" WTF is that? Investors invest to turn a profit, not for whatever weird outcome you're hoping for here. They practice your kind of idea in one country on this planet, Cuba. Go there. See how you like it.

As for your California friends, I see how their operations have left that state - unsustainable. You and your imagination can go there and roll around in the grass without shoes on, strumming on your guitar.

On planet Earth, those with money get to make decisions. You don't have any, so you don't get to make them. Keep enthusiastically proposing them on message boards, though. Change the world!

mns FTW

dont fall for the okie doke. along with the stadium they'll be 16 towers of luxury apartment buildings with 20K new people moving to the area.

20k new people and

no new trains, schools, hospitals, parks, streets, or parking.

the developers and politicians will walk away with the money and leave the people whose area they just fcked to deal with it.

GIGGA!

Gotta love the bloated Net fan poured into his Brooklyn Nets polyester jersey... The number 9 either signifies the number of Brooklyn Net fans or how many wins they will have this season. That is dedication. His forefathers must have watched the Nets play at the Nassau Coliseum. The Nets should stay in New Jersey.

This is disgraceful. Your property can be taken away from you by the government if a wealthy investor wants to build a business where you live.

And I'm glad that the only Jay-Z CDs I have are bootlegged ones I got from street vendors. He doesn't respect the rights of working people; I don't respect him.

I wonder how many protestors who claim that the history and character of Brooklyn are being destroyed have actually lived in Brooklyn for more than a few years...

I've been here for generations and generations longer than you have and I fcking hate it cause it will ruin through congestion of 20K new people the surrounding areas.

It doesnt matter if you've been here forever or if you vote or protest or if you have the moral high ground, the ONLY thing that matters is money.

money trumps all.

I

I feel like their signs should be saying "Gentrify BK OUR WAY! More Coffee Shops!!!"

It shouldn't matter; Brooklyn is the people who live there now.

Actually I kind of disagree with my own comment, nevermind.

a pox on all their houses.

the careers of Jay-z, bloomberg, ratner have all been built on 'look out for number 1', 'get money' at any cost necessary.

they can save more money, but stopping these sham elections and faux 'govt run by the people' bs too. The community was AGAINST it, 110%, but a man with money is worth more than all the votes in the world.

Thats the moral of the story, here. Celebrate that.

chalk up another stadium for the bloomberg administration. i guess we plebes should all be grateful, right?

Let them eat cake,it isnt the development that is so disagreeable, it is the land grab...

It isnt the un-needed arena that will flop, it is the public money being used for such..

It isn't like your killing Brooklyn, just waterboarding it....

you are witnessing first hand the way corruption works here in the United States...Only Politicuans can be steal (land) and have you arrested for beating your drum,....

Yeah...the drummer boy will get a 160.50 (dismissed in the interests of justice) but a good 1st year will get 50gs for a his troubles ..and thus a band is born...

yeah...

there goes (my) neighborhood....

FINALLY