This is too perfect: When the controversial Barclays Center opens in Brooklyn, the arena will serve "Brooklyn Water," which is produced in Florida. Norman Oder, a longstanding opponent of Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project, writes on Grub Street that even though Ratner has made a big deal about seeking Brooklyn-based vendors for the arena, the water will be shipped up from Florida, where it's "created" (as the company puts it) in a bottling plant called Brooklyn Water Enterprises Inc.
The plant has the capacity to produce "50,000 bottles of Brooklynized water per day" using a "14-step proprietary water technology to create Brooklynized water." This is the water that's used to make The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co. bagels, which is also based in Florida. You'll recall that the company is also being sued for $2 million by a Boca Raton businessman who bought franchise rights for the store in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.
"The water filtration system is not unique and does not render water equivalent to Brooklyn water," the businessman's obvious lawyer alleges. "You want Brooklyn water, go to Brooklyn. You want a Brooklyn bagel, go to Brooklyn." Still, it's nice to know you'll soon be able to purchase "Brooklyn" water in Brooklyn, an ironic twist that just seems perfectly Brooklyn.
A marketing rep for the Barclays Center did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
