Nets game tomorrow without full subway service, but arena CEO promises some transportation news; expect NYPD to again prioritize traffic flow over ticketing scofflaws, despite promises of enforcement

In spite of the worst damage in the history of the New York City subway system after the storm Sandy, the Brooklyn Nets "historic" home opener tomorrow night against the New York Knicks will go on as planned, likely because the temptation--for the NBA, team, and arena brass--of a nationally televised debut was just too great.

Ticketholders will be challenged to drive, carpool, take the LIRR, ride buses, and perhaps use limited subway service to reach the arena, which was sited to rely on subway service. Nets CEO Brett Yormark tweeted that a plan would be announced today on the Barclays Center web site, though there's nothing yet.

Many Nets fans cheered, though one understandably groused that the Nets "don't care about the NJ fans." One commenter on Twitter called it "NBA hubris at its worst." WFAN's Craig Carton said,  according to CBS, "First off, half of us don’t have power, not gonna be able to watch the game anyway on TNT, number one. Number two, it’s offensive. It’s offensive to everybody that doesn’t have power, that’s displaced from their homes or far worse.”

Official push

But it seems clear that those behind the transit system, surely with a push from Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Mike Bloomberg, will do what they can to make things work, even if the expenditure of resources detracts from more pressing needs. (Perhaps a few subway lines will be open, at least as shuttles within Manhattan and Brooklyn, and there may be some express or charter buses. But the subway system could be out four to five days, Bloomberg said yesterday.)

Does anyone believe that the New York Police Department, which answers to Bloomberg (a backer of the team and the new Barclays Center, and who said he's going to the game), won't do its best to ensure traffic runs smoothly, even if that means residents in the blocks surrounding the arena will continue to face idling livery cabs and illegal parking?

Expect a lot of business at the official arena lot, and other lots associated with the arena, via ClickAndPark, as well as others services, such as ParkWhiz. In fact, anyone with a lot will likely be promoting it--maybe even people with driveways to rent out.

Atlantic Avenue, Wed. 8:41 am

And expect some heavy traffic by 6 pm Thursday. The arena itself was mainly unscathed. But the fear will be gridlock like that at about 8:40 am today, in the photo at left of traffic on Atlantic Avenue near Downtown Brooklyn, via Aaron Naparstek.

Markowitz support 

Even before the decision was made yesterday, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz was on board.

"Right now, our biggest priority in Brooklyn is helping with the recovery from this terrible storm," Markowitz told ESPNNewYork.com. "I am confident that the NBA, in conjunction with the MTA, the NYPD and all of the necessary city agencies, will make a decision that represents the best interests not only of sports fans but of all of our citizens in New York City."

"If the game is played Thursday, I certainly encourage fans to carpool and to take city buses -- which will begin running with limited service at 5 p.m. today," Markowitz continued. "I expect that adequate numbers of traffic agents will be employed to move traffic swiftly, as has been the experience with the previous events at the Barclays Center."

How can anything Markowitz says be taken seriously, after he's proven his willingness to shill for arena developer Forest City Ratner? And how can there be "adequate numbers of traffic agents" when the situation--likely without 10,000-plus people taking the subway--is different?

Media coverage

The Times (which didn't get the news into its print edition, right, for which the page closed at 7 pm) reported:

Rescheduling the Knicks-Nets game would have been challenging, given national television and arena commitments. On the plus side, the league would not have had to factor in travel schedules.
Any delay would have been a blow to the Nets — who are set to host the first major sporting event in Brooklyn since the Dodgers left in 1957 — and to their fans.

Not all the fans, I'd bet. It was a business decision.

In the New York Post, Brooklyn-born Knicks star Carmelo Anthony stated, “I hope they don’t [postpone it]. That would be a monumental game for Brooklyn as an organization, as a borough."

USA Today reported:

The decision was made to play because players and referees will be in the New York region, and the NBA consulted with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office and the Nets, a person familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports.

That doesn't sound like a full accounting of the interests at play. Will Leitch of New York magazine enthused:

This might turn into one of those "can't keep New York down!" nights, and hey: The game's cheaper to go to now too.

From the New York Daily News

A predictable shill

But USA Today found a predictable shill:

A choked public transit system, streets blocked by debris and scattered power outages are doing little to shake public confidence in a timely recovery.
"It's New York," says Eddy St. Louis, co-owner of Machavelle Sports Bar and Lounge, nestled across the street from the new arena. "The trains will be back on schedule, the buses will be running. Everything will fall back into place. We prepare for stuff like this."

No, the trains won't be all back on schedule, though the buses will be running. If they're going to interview someone whose business depends on the arena, why not talk with residents down the block?

A Yormark defender

Note the debate on Twitter between Daily News beat reporter Stefan Bondy, who often seems in sync with Nets/arena CEO Brett Yormark (Bondy tweeted, in Yormarkian style, "Sandy can't keep Brooklyn down"), and Brooklyn activist Daniel Goldstein.

Bondy cited a post-9/11 Yankee game as part of bringing people together; Goldstein suggested this was about TV revenues. Bondy suggested it's "right decision for more than money," and Goldstein responded that it "seems tone deaf." I'd add that the effects of 9/11, though enormously traumatic, were concentrated in one section of the city, and did not cripple the transportation system.

What will the cops do?

At the 10/16/12 first meeting of the Atlantic Yards Quality of Life Commitee, neighbors near the Barclays Center cited rampant illegal parking by livery cabs and limos, as well as idling illegally and in driving lanes. 

They were told that the solution was less enforcement than finding a place for those vehicles to queue. But that wasn't what they were told two months earlier, as described below.

“We know there's a big issue with black cars and limos,” said Arana Hankin, Director, Atlantic Yards Project, Empire State Development who added that the agency was “working closely with Forest City [Ranter], NYPD, city DOT to find an area where black cars can queue legally... We’re in the process right now of finalizing that location.” (It hasn't been announced.)

Captain Michael Ameri of the 78th Precinct said the Taxi and Limousine Commission had, at the second Barbra Streisand concert, “confiscated 27 illegal livery cabs.” The second solution, he said, is to find a location for such cars.

Promises of enforcement

However, Gib Veconi of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council observed, people were talking “if black cars were invented for the opening of the Barclays Center--they weren’t."

"The answer, to all of this, was: enforcement: the NYPD was simply not going to allow these cars to park and queue and idle,” Veconi continued. “It’s great to hear we're working on a location for these cars now that the arena has opened, after the eight years of study.. but at some point, we’ve got to get enforcement."

“Enforcement is part of the answer, but it's not the solution,” Ameri responded. “The solution is to give them a place... There’s no reason to expend resources on issuing summonses when the long-term solution is to find a place for them to queue."

The issue will come up tomorrow night, surely. And it will be discussed at the next meeting of the 78th Precinct Community Council, which was supposed to be held Oct. 30 but has been rescheduled to Nov. 13 at 7:30 pm, at the station house, at 6th Avenue and Bergen Street.

The promise of enforcement

This past August, ESD issued a RESPONSE TO PUBLIC COMMENTS regarding the proposed Traffic Demand Management Plan. The document referred repeatedly to enforcement:

34. Frustrated drivers, finding the search for free on‐street parking fruitless, will be inclined to park illegally: in curb cuts, at hydrants, in sidewalks, in no‐standing zones, or anywhere parking is not allowed but the curb is accessible. We do not doubt the NYPD and other forces will ticket, boot, or tow these drivers. But the fact that such lawlessness will occur in the first place, and that such enforcement will be needed, is a direct consequence of arena patrons driving to the Barclays Center.
The TDM Plan is intended to reduce the number of vehicles driving to the arena and will encourage off‐street parking to the extent feasible for those who do choose to drive, thereby minimizing the number of drivers seeking on‐street parking. As the comment states, parking regulation enforcement will be handled by NYPD.
41. Will no honking signs be installed and enforced?
As part of an effort to reduce excessive and ineffective signage on our streets, DOT no longer will be installing No Honking Signs. DOT has found that signage does not act as an effective deterrent to excessive honking, which can be enforced in any part of the city.
64. Who will monitor double‐parking in front of the Atlantic mall? Patrons currently use Atlantic Avenue across from the arena for drop‐off and pick up.
NYPD is responsible for enforcing parking regulations.
65. Who will monitor traffic violations and how?
NYPD is responsible for enforcing parking regulations and traffic laws.

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In friendly "Inside City Hall" interview with Errol Louis, Ratner predicts two years for construction of first tower, claims "we've already bought all the land"

The headline in NY1's Inside City Hall segment last night was Barclays Center Developer Discusses Affordable Housing, but it was really "Bruce Ratner Takes Another Victory Lap," interviewed by host Errol Louis, who couldn't stop beaming.

"Thank you for joining us, and congratulations," Louis led off. While Louis did not aggressively cheerlead Atlantic Yards as when he was a columnist at the New York Daily News and Our Time Press, he offered not scrutiny but cocktail-party chatter, albeit chatter uninformed by even the New York Times's belatedly semi-tough profile of Ratner.

The one piece of news--maybe--regarded Ratner's casual mention that the first subsidized tower would take two years to build. Maybe he was aiming for misdirection, maybe not, but if his firm builds the first tower with modular technology, they'd aim to cut that time in half.

So they're either not building modular or not expecting the first building to move quickly--or, perhaps, Ratner was just speaking casually.

Ratner, never the most reliable narrator, also claimed "we've already bought all the land" for the housing, which, as I explain below, just isn't so.

And the main piece of insight at the end, when both Louis and Ratner gloated over the New York Times's treatment of Atlantic Yards opponent Daniel Goldstein.

Leading off

"I don't want to dwell too much on the past, but: you had an idea about what this going to look like, and physically, it's quite different," Louis suggested. "But is the underlying idea what you had in mind?"

"Very, very much so," responded Ratner. "It's an arena. It was going to be a beautiful, beautiful arena, and a great addition to Brooklyn, whether it was the old design or this design, it is that."

Hold on. The arena was supposed to be nestled in four towers. Now the renderings show three, which don't exit yet. The office tower is forgotten.

Ratner then said it was going to draw from the whole borough, employ local people, and entertain people. OK. Movie theater don't get tax breaks and eminent domain for that.

Arena as venue

"I'm not nearly as much of a sports fan as I am a music fan," Louis said, observing that "This may come to be seen more as a music venue... I'm really struck by how many very high-level acts there are booked."

"I actually realized that some time ago," responded Ratner, "that the area would be as big as the basketball.. It turns out that we got very fortunate: one, the acoustics turned out to be excellent." (Neighbors even feel the bass!)

 "It turned out that Brooklyn is looked at as a separate venue from Madison Square Garden," he said.

Ratner went on to say he'd "dreamed" about the arena serving people.

Louis asked about the booking. Ratner cited three bookers.

Eminent domain

"I don't want to dwell too much on the past," Louis repeated. "You went through dozens of lawsuits." (No, not dozens. Less than a dozen.) "Is it your understanding that the law... has changed, or were you always in the right legally?"

"Eminent domain in this stated had never been seriously questioned on a constitutional level," responded Ratner. "Along came a U.S. case [Kelo v. New London] ... while we were in the middle of our approvals... 5-4.. the fact that it was a close case made every state look at eminent domain.... We kinda got caught in a situation where people began to look at eminent domain in a different way. What happened was, because the law was on our side... it wound up getting upheld... but what did happen the rules kinda, they didn't change, but they almost changed."

Actually, law professors across the ideological spectrum have slammed the Atlantic Yards eminent domain ruling.

Silver lining in timing

Louis asked if Ratner would have been exposed had the project moved faster.

"There's a silver lining to the delay," Ratner acknowledged. "Had we not gotten delayed, we would've opened up a giant arena in the middle of a recession... So what happened was... lawsuits cost a lot of money, but in terms of the market it probably helped."

Affordable housing

Louis referenced "a promise for lots and lots of units of housing."

"We have a groundbreaking on December 18," Ratner responded. "That first building will be 50% low income and middle income."

On the Dean Street side, asked Louis. Ratner said yes.

Over what period of time?

"That'll take about two years to build, and then we'll start building our second building and our third building," responded Ratner. He didn't mention modular.

"People said we wouldn't build the arena," Ratner continued at about 6:30 in. That's one of his new mantras. (They were always going to build the arena. They needed a new home and identity for the money-losing Nets.)

"They're wrong about that. Now they're saying, we're not going to build the housing. Of course, we're going to build the housing, that's my business."'

Housing has been Ratner's business only in the past few years. Otherwise it's been office and retail space.

"Two, we've already bought all the land," he continued.

Not true. Ratner's renegotiated 2009 deal with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority gave his firm 22 years to pay the equivalent of $80 million (at a gentle 6.5% interest rate) for remaining railyard development rights. And there are still several buildings not owned by either his company nor condemned by the Empire State Development Corporation.

"It is going to be as important as the arena," Ratner declared of the housing. "In terms of the architecture, in terms of our ability to create community: think of Stuyvesant Town brought to today's era, in terms of the middle-income and lower."

"It's going to be a very special community," Ratner declared. "Frank Gehry designed the undulating skyline, and different architects will go ahead and do the housing."

That's interesting. The skyline wasn't so much undulating as the buildings, and if they build modular, it will be hard to get them to undulate. SHoP, which did the arena redesign (on top of the Ellerbe Becket plan) is supposed to do the first three buildings around the arena.

"People of course have their doubts. But the housing's going to start. It's going to be architecturally beautiful," Ratner continued. "I've been doing this for 25 years.. .you learn after a while how to build things that are architecturally beautiful... how to do things that create community."

Louis asked if "all of the affordability provisions" are in place.

Ratner said yes, citing regular city subsidies and federal tax-exempt financing.

Louis didn't bother to ask about how the developer tried to muscle the city or about the actual configuration of the building, with only nine units for low-income families.

Jobs

Louis asked about jobs created.

"There are 1800 jobs at that arena, and they're union jobs, and they're great jobs," Ratner said, disregarding that he promised 2,000 jobs, 1,900 of them part time. But he stressed the 30,000 applications, with one-third of those hired from public housing.

"In terms of construction jobs, you hear the number, 10,000 jobs," Ratner continued.

(Actually, no. That was the permanent office jobs, which never came to fruition. Most would have been relocated rather than new, despite the promotional graphic at right.)

"Well, the 10,000 jobs was in the environmental impact statement," Ratner continued. "It includes people not only on the job... it includes all the offsite jobs related to construction... .. what they know, and they're not saying, it includes all the hundreds and hundreds of people that it took, to do everything to cut steel, to make steel. So, when calculating by the method in the Environmental Impact Statement, we've done I think a very very good job."

Actually, it's a little more complicated. The EIS did predict jobs regarding construction, but I've never heard people cite the predictions for just Phase 1. And the Socioeconomics chapter of the EIS (p. 4-89) does contain the chart below, which predicted 9,240 job-years from the arena and infrastructure.

But the arena was 25% larger, and it's highly doubtful those numbers were met. That would be a job for an independent authority, like the Independent Compliance Monitor Ratner was supposed to hire as a requirement of the Community Benefits Agreement.

The look of the building

Louis asked about the building's exterior: "Is that an illusion or is it rusted steel."

"I's called Cor-Ten steel," Ratner responded, using the brand name of a similar product. (This is a new process.) "That is... considered one of the most beautiful materials to work with... The reasons architects have not used it is because they have not been able to stop it from rusting... We came up with a methodology where we pre-rusted it for months at a time... Now that we were able to do that, I think you're going to see Cor-Ten steel used throughout the world... it has different colors, different textures... it has a lot of movement to it."

"I'll get used to it, I'm sure, at some point," Louis allowed.


A moment of gloat

"We're out of time," Louis said in closing, "but I've got to ask you real quickly: Your main legal antagonist in all of this, Daniel Goldstein.. took the $3 million you paid him to move away and build the arena... and recently been in the news for putting some extension on his house in Park Slope that caused two neighbors to move away... you have any advice for him for what happens when people start attacking your design plans?"

(Hold on: what about the nearly $280 million Ratner took from taxpayers, as well as the enormous amount of other government help? And the difference between as-of-right construction and state override of zoning?)

"I read the article," Ratner responded. "Look, he's persistent in what he did with us, and stuck with it. I don't have any comment, really. The article speaks for itself."

As does the photo the Times shot of Goldstein's extension.

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