Results tagged “brooklynnets”

So let’s get this right. If you're a Moscow mogul looking to buy the New Jersey Nets and move them to Brooklyn, you don’t have to do any of the legwork that comes with finding an apartment in the bustling borough?

       

Ideally every good summer music festival is filled with one or two moments where everyone there can't help but shake off the cobwebs of cynicism and think to themselves, "Now this is what it's all about." It's pretty safe to say that Jay-Z did just that for a few thousand people last night at All Points West, performing the takeover just as the rain cleared to begin his first American festival appearance with a cover of "No Sleep Til Brooklyn." We admit to needing a video like the one below to do just that for those of us stuck listening to APW coverage on rock radio stations suddenly caring about Jay, accompanied by DJs using it as a chance to show off their emcee skills and explain the rapper's importance due to his collaborations with The Killers, Jack White and Linkin Park. Alas, Jigga to the rescue:

Just a week after announcing it was ditching plans for the Brooklyn Nets Arena from world-renowned architect Frank Gehry and instead taking a more pedestrian and less expensive approach, developer Forest City Ratner has confirmed to the NY Times that Gehry will no longer be involved with any part of the Atlantic Yards. Joe DePlasco, spokesman for Bruce Ratner, said, "We do not anticipate that Mr. Gehry will be designing any of the individual buildings." Why? Because Gehry's designs, though dazzling in 2005, are expensive (which is exactly what Times critic Nicolai Ouroussoff was worried about last year!).

Now that Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner has kicked renowned architect Frank Gehry's design for the (potential) future home of the Brooklyn Nets aside for a less expensive design by way of Kansas firm Ellerbe Becket, it's time for politicians to weigh in. Mayor Bloomberg said he understood the economic realities that Ratner was facing; the Post reports that he said on his radio show, "I think Ratner came to the conclusion, in this day and age, you just cannot finance something as complex to build. There's no such thing as a straight wall with Frank. Frank is into curves."

Last week, the Daily News reported that Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner had hired Kansas City design firm Ellerbe Becket to revise the Brooklyn Nets arena designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry. Now the NY Times confirms that Gehry is out.

After a state appellate court rejected a lawsuit stopping his Atlantic Yards project, developer Bruce Ratner says that ground will be broken sometime this year (maybe this summer, maybe this fall). He told the NY Times, "I’m honestly overjoyed. This is a weight off my back." A group of property owners in the footprint of the massive project had claimed eminent domain was improperly used to obtain land; the appellate court unanimously rejected the challenge, finding, "It cannot be said that the public benefits which the Atlantic Yards project is expected to yield are incidental or pretextual in comparison to the benefit that will be bestowed upon the project’s private developer." Still, the opponents, who believe Ratner will profit much more than the public will benefit (and who have helped stall the plans for two years), vow to take their case to the Court of Appeals. The Daily News notes, "The decision allows Ratner to qualify for tax-free bonds to build the arena and the go-ahead to purchase the MTA-owned rail yard on which it will be built."

Hey, New York Magazine's words "If you like Downtown Brooklyn you'll love Newark" are true when it comes to the NJ Nets. The team, which was supposed to move to Brooklyn for the 2009-2010 way back when, has been negotiating with the NJ Devils to play three pre-season games, according to the Star-Ledger. Nets CEO Brett Yormark only said, "We're exploring many different options, continue to regionalize the franchise. Preseason games afford us the opportunity to do this." An anonymous Nets official adds, "With Brooklyn still up in the air, the question is whether they're warming to the idea of moving to Newark, even though it's clear that getting to Brooklyn is best for the long-term health of the franchise." Over the weekend, City Councilwoman Letitia James told the Daily News the Atlantic Yards project was on its "last legs, and the wicked witch is almost dead" (she opposes the plan), but we bet Bruce Ratner loves zombies.

While the (now) NJ Nets act like they are headed to Brooklyn, what with new player Yi Jianlian visiting the Chinatown YMCA--and meeting Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver--earlier this week, there has been no shortage of news suggesting the Nets won't be NYC-bound any time soon.

There may be March Madness in the air, but East Village Idiot has the cure for New Yorkers who can't get behind the NCAA: March Radness, which take 64 disparate NYC moments/ people/ objects/ stores/ trends/ nonsense and sees who will reign supreme.

It's official: Barclays Bank has bought naming rights to the Brooklyn Nets' future arena in the Atlantic Yards project. Naturally, there's a website: Barclays Center - Planned Home of the Nets. Cute how it says "Planned," right? And this map showing how all routes lead to the "Barclays Center" is pretty funny.

The Atlantic Yards Project's public meeting last night was packed with Brooklyn residents wanting to have their say. WNBC reported that hundreds of people were waiting outside the New York City College of Technology, since the auditorium was full, and inside, "the crowd became unruly, cheering wildly for their cause until security was called in to remove a few of the audience members." That sounds about right - and they had lots of signs for and against the project! About 300 people had signed up to speak, and since 3 minutes is allowed for each person, that would mean a public meeting that would go on for more than half a day.

- The state political party logos are pretty lame

Nets player Cliff Robinson has been suspended for five games after violating the NBA's drug policy. What the violation was exactly is unclear, but what is clear is that the suspension is effective tonight's Game 3 against the Miami Heat and that it wipes him out for the rest of this series. Which sucks, because the Nets needed him to guard Shaq and take those fouls. Robinson was suspended for violating the drug policy in 2005 when he was with the Golden State Warriors, right before he was traded to the Nets. Oh, Uncle Cliffy!

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn showed her anti-Wal-Mart colors during a Crain's business breakfast forum. Though she may be overruled, should zoning allow the retail behemoth to move in, Quinn said:

"I don't want Wal-Mart in the City of New York unless they change their corporate behavior...It is well documented across the country that Wal-Mart frequently uses the public insurance programs of the cities they are in as their own health insurance programs. We can't put that additional strain on our Health and Hospitals Corp., which is working as hard as it can to take care of uninsured New Yorkers."

Fighting words from Fernando Ferrer. He tells the Daily News Editorial Board that he would scale down the Brooklyn Nets arena plan "dramatically," noting that there were "apparent abuses of eminent domain." Mayor Bloomberg's campaign says that the Brooklyn Yards plan will bring more jobs and housing to the community, but even Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz says the plan should be scaled back, because that's what the community wants. Interesting! And in a speech in Stuyvesant Town, Ferrer invoked his two New York theme: "The average price of an apartment in Manhattan is well over $1 million - that may be affordable in Mike Bloomberg's New York, but not in the New York where the rest of New York lives." Amen. But is Ferrer's plan to take control of rent control from the state going to work? The Times says Bloomberg once supported that strategy, but the administrative costs were too much for the city to bear. Which makes Gothamist wonder how big would those costs be - like, are they that staggering that the city would have to raise taxes for residents that much? Anyway, the Mayor had it both ways when he discussed the Iraq War and MTA discounting, vaguely seeing both sides of situation. We call that the "I can't take a stand unless it involves knocking out Larry Silverstein"-12- days- before- election dance.

Crain's reports that Frank Gehry will be designing jewelry and tabletop items for Tiffany & Co. This is a big deal, as it's the first new designer Tiffany has "hired" in twenty-five years (Paloma Picasso was the last), but Gothamist is thinking one thing: Uncomfortable. While we expect Gehry to design something pretty awesome-looking like a hammered metal necklace or a warped vase ("Mr. Gehry...will work with precious metals, stones and wood"), we're not so sure it'll be practical. But that's not the point is it? Well, Gothamist would certainly buy a titanium Guggenheim-Bilbao shaped salt-and-pepper shaker set. Maybe the salt could be the Bilbao and the pepper could be the Disney Concert Hall!

It will be the first look for many fans at new Dolphins head coach Nick Saban, who was smart enough to not take the job unless getting a larger share of the control over personnel.

- Three New Yorkers have been diagnosed with West Nile Virus; remember: no standing water on your property

Various public interest groups are protesting the MTA's likely acceptance of Bruce Ratner's bid to develop the Atlantic Rail Yards into a glittering complex of luxury apartment, retail space, and a Brooklyn Nets arena. Their constant, consistent complaint has been that the Ratner bid won't put enough back into the community and will just line his pockets. Ratner's bid was recently doubled to $100 million, only after the MTA had to ask for more because a dope would be able to understand that a cash bid of $50 million is less than Ratner's rival bid of $150 million in cold hard cash money. So it's likely that the bid will go through, as the MTA's real estate division recommended the Ratner plan yesterday.

Aw, Gary Barnett is making sure Jay-Z might still get to wear a Brooklyn Nets jersey: The rival bid from Extell for the Brooklyn railyards is offering a compromise to give Bruce Ratner's team a chance to build the Nets arena if the Extell plan (a considerably less extensive complex) can get built. The NY Times reports that Extell would sell the arena land to Ratner if the Extell bid wins, which is a nice PR move for Extell to combat the people who dislike their plan since it keeps a sports team from coming back to Brooklyn. According to reports, Ratner is saying that his plan offers more transit infrastructure support, jobs, and housing. In the meantime, it seems like Mayor Bloomberg's people on the MTA board will vote in favor of Ratner's plan. What's interesting is that even if the MTA votes to accept a bid at tomorrow's vote, the MTA can still further negotiate with the winning bid on a price. Gothamist loves that, but given that the MTA was willing to accept $100 million for the worth-at-least $300 million West Side railyards, it doesn't seem like the MTA is very good at negotiating.

- And the London explosions have shocked the world

The plans for the proposed buildings around the Brooklyn Nets arena have been revealed by architect Frank Gehry, and they show a dazzling group of skyscrapers at various angles. The NY Times calls it an "instant skyline" and notes that the plan is far from a sure thing, given that developer Bruce Ratner still faces a bit of community antipathy for his plans. But the excitement is best summarized by the first paragraph of Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff's glowing appraisal:

Frank Gehry's new design for a 21-acre corridor of high-rise towers anchored by the 19,000-seat Nets arena in Brooklyn may be the most important urban development plan proposed in New York City in decades. If it is approved, it will radically alter the Brooklyn skyline, reaffirming the borough's emergence as a legitimate cultural rival to Manhattan.

This is no small miracle. Even in this early stage of development, the design proves that Mr. Gehry can handle the challenge better than most. His approach is a blow against the formulaic ways of thinking that are evidence of the city's sagging level of cultural ambition. It suggests another development model: locate real talent, encourage it to break the rules, get out of the way.

NYC 2012 released the design for the Olympics Stadium in Queens yesterday. It's at the point where New Yorkers will soon need a crib sheet of all the stadium plans being proposed: Brooklyn Nets Arena, new Yankee Stadium, even the old West Side Stadium. The proposed Olympics Stadium would be the new Shea Stadium, but expandable to fit 80,000 visitors. The NY Times makes the point that it's not "high-tech" looking like the West Side Stadium, and Gothamist has to say, thank God (we really hated the West Side Stadium design), since something super high-tech would probably look slightly incongruous in Queens - though the World's Fair monuments are holding up well.

The Supreme Court ruled, in a 5-4 decision, that the government can seize private property and turn it over to developers, under the auspices of eminent domain. The Daily News points out that this probably warms of the hearts of developers, taking, for instance, projects like Bruce Ratner's Brooklyn Nets arena or Columbia University's development of 18 acres in Harlem...or any projects that have a "public purpose" element. In the end, it's up to the state government to determine whether or not the property should be seized, so many local lawmakers are pleading with the State Legislature to review eminent domain.

For better or for worse, there is too much to say about the fight over the MTA railyards on the West Side, the possible home of a West Side stadium for the NJ Jets or just a big commercial-residential development or maybe even a power plant. NJ (Acting) Governor Richard Codey made a point to show how it would only cost $450 million for the Jets to build a new stadium in NJ, versus the $1+ billion NYC plan. The NY Times notes that the NJ overture has put the Mayor on guard, but the Mayor pooh-poohed it, saying it was just a publicity ploy. Gothamist has to agree: Even though the NJ plan might make economic sense, we can understand that the Jets would want their own stadium - we just don't know where, if not in the media capital of the country/world. To make things more complicated, the NFL has suggested that NYC might be Super Bowl country in 2010, if there is a West Side Stadium. And the Post is reporting that Jets owners Woody Johnson may bid to buy the Rangers and Knicks, so Cablevision butts out of the bidding process.

Gawker summarizes the salient points of New York magazine's as well as the NY Times Magazine's end-of-the-year pieces (hint, the NYTM's focus, The Year in Ideas, is less NY-Y).

- Riverbank Skating Rink (at 145th Street and Riverside): $4.50 for adults