Gorjao Business

Minggu, 24 Maret 2013

The costs of the circus at the Barclays Center: ticket fees, expensive programs, and children "gasping and crying"

Prices for the Ringing Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus at the Barclays Center may seem reasonable--they start at $24 but group tickets go for $16, and kids' tickets for weekday performances go for $12.

Oops. That's where the gouging starts. Would you believe that, at least via Ticketmaster, those $12 tickets come with $8.90 in fees, so they actually cost $20.90?

Then come the concessions.

While other Barclays Center events sell t-shirts and other souvenirs outside on the plaza, none display quite the hucksterism as displayed in the video below.

You've got to get your program now, before you go inside the building," the man at the yellow booth barks. " Each family must have a program.... They do autograph signing with the program."

Programs cost $15. (Update: this video suggests they're doing what they can to downplay mention of the $15 price. Perhaps this post had an impact.)

Inside, I'm told, the souvenirs are quite costly. But parents don't want to disappoint their kids, do they?

It's all a reminder of how Nets/arena CEO Brett Yormark famously claimed, in a December 2008 Newark Star-Ledger profile, that he'd never heard of P.T. Barnum.

A blogger's take

Most everyone loves the circus, right? This 3/20/13 review on the Brooklyn Mama's network is an interesting counter to some of the hype, especially since the reviewer did get free tickets:

Despite a $9.3 million dollar win in court last year, the circus’ treatment of animals is questionable at best. That is made even more apparent while watching the show from the 5th row of an arena where parents can clearly see how aggressively the animals are handled. That combined with the blatant gender and racial stereotypes within the performance like the exclusively African American basketball unicycle teams, and the 30 minute long “boys against girls competition” (announced as such) that involved girls dressed in pink and boys in blue, made this an “amazing” experience for all.

The highlight however, happened only 10 minutes into the show with white bunny rabbits being aggressively handled and shoved by the neck into a box with a boa constrictor. Yes, there was most surely a secondary box to protect the little bunnies, but this did not stop children in the audience from gasping and crying. The underwhelming performances, loud music, and all around poor production combined with the branded elephants, bad American Idol spinoff skit and crying children makes this a definite miss for you and your family.

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Kamis, 21 Maret 2013

Ringling Brothers elephants: star of the promotion and focus of the protest; also, circus operations extend arena perimeter

Instagram/dadarocks

The Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey circus arrived yesterday in Brooklyn, and the elephants were the highlight--both for circus-watchers and protesters.

First came a staged walk-through DUMBO in the morning. As NY1 reported:

To celebrate its arrival Wednesday, a parade of eight elephants and their handlers marched across Old Fulton and Old Water Streets, wowing school kids and adults who came out to see the unusual sight.
....Borough President Marty Markowitz also proclaimed it Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus days while they're in town.

Protesters were kept a block and a half away, according to Gothamist.

A New York Post article headlined Jumbo in dumbo cited the arena developer:

“I have been waiting for this moment for 10 years!” Barclays Center developer Bruce Ratner yelled to the crowd of bystanders that gathered, referring to the time it took to get the arena built.

An evening protest

Before the 7 pm show, however, perhaps 150 activists from Animal Defenders International, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals gathered at 6 pm to walk around the arena, carrying protest signs like "Built to Enslave," a parody of the show name, "Built to Amaze."

The number was somewhat more than the 100 maximum police predicted; smaller groups are expected through the end of the circus on April 1.

The treatment of elephants was key to their protest, given the use of bullhooks to guide/control/scare the bests. For a defense of the circus, see links from Ringling and industry allies. For a critique, see material from animal rights advocates and a zoo director.

The extended perimeter

Meanwhile, evidence suggests that the lengthy term of the circus requires some unusual accommodation for participants.

For example, as the photo at right from Atlantic Yards Watch shows, not only was there late night activity Tuesday night in the loading dock, there appear to be a residential trailer and generator in the "pad" next to the loading dock.

And, as other Atlantic Yards Watch photos and video show, delivery and construction trucks have both used residential streets rather than approved truck routes and idled on those streets.

In some way, the delay in building residential towers adjacent to the arena is a boon for arena operators; if there were a tower in the space immediately next to the trailer, above, some residents likely would be lodging complaints.

More from the protest