Brooklyn - Nets Gehry Stadium + Development

[bagel]

As a New Jerseyan, I'd be sad to see them go, but if it means we get a bunch of Brooklyn talls and a Frank Gehry building, then I'm all for it!


NYTIMES

A Grand Plan in Brooklyn for the Nets' Arena Complex
By CHARLES V. BAGLI

Published: December 11, 2003

The developer Bruce Ratner unveiled his plans yesterday to build a Frank Gehry-designed arena for the Nets basketball team near Downtown Brooklyn. He detailed his ambitious $2.5 billion commercial and residential project at a theatrical presentation attended by the mayor, a former basketball star and a best-selling rapper.

Whatever political juice and street credibility he gained — from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the former Nets and Knicks legend Bernard King and the performer Jay-Z — Mr. Ratner's presentation at Brooklyn Borough Hall was aimed mainly at the owners of the New Jersey Nets, who are selling the two-time Eastern Conference championship franchise.

A group led by Mr. Ratner of Forest City Ratner Companies has the highest bid, $275 million. But the sale of the National Basketball Association team has gone through many twists over the last six months, and another round of bidding is in the offing. The news conference was also a response to rivals who questioned whether Mr. Ratner could deliver on his promises.

Showing how pitched the battle will be, Gov. James E. McGreevey of New Jersey upped the ante after the Brooklyn news conference yesterday by saying that his state had secured $150 million to build a rail line to Continental Arena at the Meadowlands, the Nets' current home.

Mr. Ratner has a track record with such projects, having built, among other things, the seven-million-square-foot MetroTech Center complex nearby in Downtown Brooklyn. For the Nets project, he has assembled a group of well-heeled investors with Brooklyn roots, including Vincent Viola, chairman of the New York Mercantile Exchange, and Jay-Z. (Forest City Ratner is The New York Times Company's partner in developing the new Times headquarters on Eighth Avenue in Manhattan.)

Speaking of the Brooklyn project, Mr. Ratner said: "We are real. This is going to happen." He added, "If we don't get the team there will not be a project."

Mr. Bloomberg lent City Hall's support to the project, saying, "We're rooting hard" for it to succeed.

Outside the news conference, about two dozen residents distributed cookies in the shape of turkeys, an edible reference to their view of Mr. Ratner's proposal for the arena, office towers and apartment buildings. But the Brooklyn Borough president, Marty Markowitz, said the project would fill the hole left when the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles after the 1957 season, a moment that he said still reduces him to tears.

"Brooklyn is a world-class city, and it deserves a world-class team in a world-class arena designed by a world-class architect," he said. "This plan goes even further, creating thousands of apartments affordable to Brooklynites of every income and producing thousands of jobs."

Mr. Ratner said his effort began after Mr. Markowitz called urging him to buy the Nets and move the team to Brooklyn. The 21-acre project centers on the Long Island Rail Road yards at the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues. Under the proposal, the tracks for the train storage yard would be moved to the east, allowing the developer to build the $435 million, 19,000-seat arena for basketball, topped by a park with a running track that could be converted to an ice rink in the winter.

The arena, which will be linked to the Atlantic Terminal subway and train lines, would be embraced by four tall office towers totaling 2.1 million square feet, with up to 4,500 apartments in buildings to the east.

Rather than walling itself off from the community, Mr. Ratner and Mr. Gehry said, the arena would be sheathed in glass, allowing patrons a view of Brooklyn night life and passers-by a look at the interior.

"This started with basketball, a Brooklyn sport," Mr. Ratner said. "This was always the site. But it became clear it was not economically viable without a real estate component. And Frank Gehry was the perfect architect for this site."

Mr. Gehry, who designed the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and the Mighty Ducks hockey training facility in Anaheim, Calif., said he had never had an opportunity "to build a neighborhood from scratch in an urban setting."

He said the renderings and models on display yesterday were merely the first steps in the designs. "Don't worry about these funny shapes at this point," Mr. Gehry said. "These are just blocks, and we'll make something out of it."

Even some sports economists who have been critical of stadium and arena projects elsewhere are intrigued by Mr. Ratner's plans.

"It has all the ingredients to be successful," said Prof. Mark S. Rosentraub, a sports economist and the dean of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University in Ohio. "It's a very attractive market. Add in the kind of housing that's being talked about and the retail opportunities, you have something that could work."

Mr. Ratner said that the project "will be almost exclusively privately financed," although taxes derived from elements of the project will be diverted to help pay for it. The developer also wants the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to turn over some of its land and the state to condemn the rest of it. Only one block, he said, had apartment buildings, with about 100 residents.

Mr. Ratner must also survive a grueling environmental review and community opposition.

Despite the developer's pledge to conduct a public review, Patti Hagan, a member of the Prospect Heights Action Coalition, said she was "appalled by the secrecy surrounding the project." She questioned why the city was intent on giving Mr. Ratner exclusive rights to public property without a review.

[Mike in TO]

Are the NJ Devils moving as well?

[New Jack City]

This site has alot of pictures and info:

http://brooklynnets.net

Here are some models and captions from some newspapers:



Architect Frank Gehry, (far right), along with Bruce Ratner (far left), joined Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz to unveil a vision for a basketball arena and mixed-use complex in downtown Brooklyn. They hope to woo the New Jersey Nets.



Scale model of a design by architect Frank Gehry for a basketball arena and mixed-use complex in downtown Brooklyn. The presentation on Wednesday was part of a bid to woo the New Jersey Nets to Brooklyn.



Scale model of a design by architect Frank Gehry for a basketball arena and mixed-use complex in downtown Brooklyn. The presentation on Wednesday was part of a bid to woo the New Jersey Nets to Brooklyn.



HOOP DREAMS: Designer Frank Gehry's concept for a downtown Brooklyn arena includes a roof garden that could be frozen over in winter to create an ice-skating rink.

Good article:

Group unveils plan for arena and housing

By Glenn Thrush
December 11, 2003

If only Nets home games were as well-attended, star-studded or boisterous as Brooklyn's bid to woo the team from the swamps of New Jersey to the corner of Flatbush and Atlantic avenues.

At an event that was part planning session and part pep rally, developers yesterday unveiled a $2.5-billion proposal to build an arena and housing complex above the Atlantic Avenue rail hub in Fort Greene.

Superstar architect Frank Gehry joined Brooklyn-bred rapper Jay-Z, who is part of the project's investment group, ex-Knick and Net Bernard King and Mayor Michael Bloomberg to sell the Nets on relocating to Brooklyn.

"I'm in love with the whole thing," said Jay-Z, who wouldn't disclose how much he'll invest. "Let's get the Nets."

So far, Ratner has outbid a New Jersey-based partnership that includes developer Charles Kushner and Sen. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.).

Gehry's preliminary plans for a 19,000-seat arena would not require public financing, city officials said. Instead, the project would be funded by Ratner, his investors and tax revenue from 4,500 residential units and more than 2 million square feet of commercial and retail space.

[New Jack City]

NY1

Brooklyn Residents Say Proposed Sports Arena Threatens Their Homes



JANUARY 14TH, 2004

Brooklyn residents living near a proposed sports arena say their homes are being threatened.

Developer Bruce Ratner's proposal for a 20,000-seat arena over the MTA rail yards near Flatbush and Atlantic avenues drew resistance Wednesday from a group of protestors opposed to the plan. Protesters accuse Ratner of trying to take over private homes and businesses to complete his plan.

“Mr. Ratner is expecting the state to condemn as blighted and seize private property – the homes, the businesses - of more than three blocks of Prospect Heights in order to convey this land over to one private developer,” said Brooklyn resident Patty Hagen.

Former New York Yankee pitcher Jim Bouton says the same thing happened in his Massachusetts hometown when a new arena was built. He says residents will not reap any lasting benefits from the venue.

“The jobs that are attracted by sports arenas are very low-level jobs like popcorn salesman, Zamboni driver or ticket taker,” said Bouton. “The real money made at the stadium or the arena is made by the players and developers, and they take their money with them when the season is over.”

Top city and state officials have supported a plan to lure the New Jersey Nets to play at the proposed $2.5 billion arena in Brooklyn. A decision on the team's future is expected later this month.

[New Jack City]

DAILY NEWS

Say Nets deal near
But builder's rivals set for fight to death

By OHM YOUNGMISUK and LEO STANDORA

A city real estate developer is "extremely close" to buying the New Jersey Nets, sources said last night - but his dream of bringing the team to Brooklyn is still far from a slam dunk.

Builder Bruce Ratner is expected to soon ink a deal in which he would shell out about $300 million for the basketball franchise, sources familiar with the negotiations said.

"No papers have been signed yet, but it should be very soon, possibly within a few days," said a source close to Ratner. "The money is about right, but they're extremely close to a deal."

Another source said Ratner already has told government officials he's getting the team.

Both Ratner and Nets owner Lewis Katz declined to talk about the negotiations.

"If somebody is going to make a comment, it is not going to be me," said Katz, who has been seen with Ratner more and more in recent days.

Ratner upped his offer for the Nets from $275 million to $300 million last month after rap impresario Jay-Z joined forces with him. Two other groups are vying for the team, including one led by Sen. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.), who wants to keep the team in Jersey.

If the Ratner deal comes off, Brooklyn will have its first big league sports team since the Dodgers left in 1957. The Brooklyn Nets could be a reality by the 2006-07 season.

But Ratner's interest in the team is directly hinged to building an arena in downtown Brooklyn - a project that faces a number of hurdles:

Ratner can't write a check until 21 of the 28 other NBA owners approve the sale and the move from the Meadowlands to Brooklyn. There have been rumblings that the Knicks may lobby hard against the plan.

The city also would have to give Ratner the okay to build the proposed 20,000-seat arena. The Frank Gehry-designed stadium is part of a controversial $2.5 billion development that also includes Manhattan-sized office and residential towers.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority must grant Ratner air rights to build the arena over the Long Island Rail Road yard at Flatbush and Atlantic Aves.
If everything comes together, Ratner has said, construction on the stadium would begin next year.

Last month, Mayor Bloomberg hailed the plans as a way to revitalize Brooklyn, saying, "This is the place for a professional basketball team."

But critics contend the arena complex would overwhelm the low-rise communities of Fort Greene and Prospect Heights.

And while Ratner has estimated 100 people would be displaced under his plan, foes put the number at 1,000, and say more than 400 small-business jobs would be lost.

"Ratner doesn't give a damn about the neighborhood," said Patti Hagan of the Prospect Heights Action Coalition. "He's never walked around this community to find out who would be affected."

[bagel]

Nets Are Sold for $300 Million, and Dream Grows in Brooklyn
By RICHARD SANDOMIR and CHARLES V. BAGLI

Bruce C. Ratner, the developer who wants to move the New Jersey Nets to downtown Brooklyn, reached an agreement yesterday to buy the team for $300 million, defeating a similar offer by Charles Kushner and Senator Jon S. Corzine, the team said.

There is no guarantee that Mr. Ratner will be able to fulfill his vision in Brooklyn, where sports fans are still haunted by memories of the Dodgers' departure to Los Angeles after the 1957 season. The arena would be built on the same site the Dodgers were rebuffed from buying.

Mr. Ratner faces numerous obstacles, including having land condemned and having railroad tracks moved, before he can move the Nets to Brooklyn when the team's lease at Continental Arena expires in 2008.

But the first step in building a new arena for the Nets is complete: the purchase of the team. Without the team, Mr. Ratner has said, the $2.5 billion commercial and residential complex designed by Frank Gehry, with the Nets' arena as the centerpiece, would be dead.

Edwin Stier, president of the Nets' ownership group, Community Youth Organization, said: "We're in the final stages of negotiating an agreement with Bruce Ratner. The contract terms have been finalized and we're putting the paperwork together."

For most of the past week, Mr. Ratner and Mr. Kushner were able to examine long-withheld and detailed financial records about the team, allowing them to form substantial, final bids.

On Monday, Mr. Ratner formalized his month-old $300 million bid and negotiators began to clarify the elements of his offer, including the long-term salary obligations he would assume.

On Tuesday, Mr. Kushner presented two offers: one, of $267.5 million in cash, and a second, consisting of $200 million upfront and $100 million over several years, one official involved in the negotiations said. But that was considered inadequate, and the decision was made to complete the deal with Mr. Ratner.

Despite Mr. Kushner's willingness yesterday to raise his offer to $300 million upfront, the Nets and their negotiators decided that they had finished their contract with Mr. Ratner and chose not to consider Mr. Kushner's final bid.

"He just wasn't there," one executive who has been briefed throughout the talks said of Mr. Kushner. "Ratner wanted this thing so bad, he did what it took to get it."

Bob Sommer, a spokesman for Mr. Kushner, a Florham Park, N.J., real estate developer, said, "Charlie Kushner bid $300 million in cash today to keep this team in New Jersey and is disappointed in the result."

The C.Y.O. board agreed to the deal's terms, and the contract now goes for approval tomorrow to YankeeNets, the holding company for the Nets and the Yankees, which is on the verge of being dissolved. Approval is also needed from three-quarters of the teams in the National Basketball Association to buy the franchise and a simple majority to move it.

A move to Brooklyn would mean another move for the peripatetic franchise. It began life as the New Jersey Americans of the American Basketball Association in Teaneck, N.J., then played in Commack, N.Y.; West Hempstead, N.Y.; Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y.; Piscataway, N.J.; and finally found permanence in 1981 when it became a tenant of what is now Continental Arena.

The Nets have often struggled on the court but won the Eastern Conference championship the past two seasons. Still, the Nets are next to last in average attendance among the N.B.A.'s 29 teams this season.

The team's value has exploded since Roy Boe paid $1.1 million for the A.B.A. franchise in 1969. At $300 million, the price is double what Community Youth Organization, led by Raymond Chambers and Lewis Katz, paid for it in 1998, a year before they merged it with the Yankees into YankeeNets. But it ranks behind the record $360 million paid in 2002 for the Boston Celtics.

The sale to Mr. Ratner, whose company is also the development partner of The New York Times Company in a new building for the newspaper's headquarters, culminates a six-month process.

First there were three bidders: Mr. Ratner, who started at $275 million; the Kushner group, which includes Mr. Corzine, the United States senator from New Jersey, and which opened at $250 million; and Charles B. Wang, the co-owner of the Islanders, at $265 million. They were later joined by Stuart Feldman, a venture capitalist who never publicly discussed his $257.5 million offer or his intentions for the team. Mr. Wang dropped out in frustration with the process, and Mr. Feldman was never a serious competitor.

The effort to sell the Nets has been marked by recriminations between owners of the Yankees and the Nets, as well as among Nets owners themselves.

"It took so long because the personality clashes at YankeeNets created an untenable situation," said Joseph Ravitch, a managing director of Goldman Sachs, one of the team's investment bankers. "The agreement reached in December to separate C.Y.O. from Yankee Holdings was a critical step in expediting the sale of the team."

Community Youth Organization bought the Nets with the idea of moving them to Newark to help revive its economy. Mr. Katz and Mr. Chambers pledged to pour the profits into a newly formed charity. But the team lost tens of millions of dollars and failed to complete a deal for an arena in Newark, leading to a split between Mr. Chambers and Mr. Katz and ultimately the decision to sell.

Earlier this week, George Zoffinger, president of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which owns Continental Arena, criticized Mr. Katz and Alan Landis, another Nets owner, and vowed to block Mr. Ratner from taking the Nets name to Brooklyn.

"We think a lot of N.B.A. owners are going to want to be in this market," he said. "I suggest Ratner name the team after himself: the Brooklyn Rats. Katz and Landis will fit right in."

In the final stages of their partnership, Nets owners refused to provide bidders with access to financial information necessary to assess the team's value until they were assured last month that YankeeNets would adopt a plan to dissolve, an official involved in the negotiation said.

The Ratner group, whose partners include the hip-hop entrepreneur Jay-Z and Vincent Viola, chairman of the New York Mercantile Exchange, has been trying to create a proposal that would encounter little resistance from government officials and community opponents. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has been an enthusiastic supporter of the project, but the administration of Gov. George E. Pataki has been been relatively quiet.

A top state official said the governor did not want to be accused of poaching on New Jersey assets and was concerned about the growing list of teams seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in state subsidies for new arenas and stadiums, including the Jets, the Yankees, the Mets, the Knicks and the Rangers.

The project has been embraced by many Brooklyn politicians as the antidote to the loss of the Dodgers and as the crystallization of the borough's economic comeback.

But Patti Hagan, a leader of the Prospect Park Heights Coalition, said the project would eliminate 237 jobs and homes for 864 people.

"This is an example of developer imperialism," she said. "The emperor has decided to take over 10 acres of private property and abolish all the jobs and homes that exist here. Mr. Ratner should know he has a fight on his hands."

In addition to community opposition, Mr. Ratner faces extensive attendance and revenue losses while the team stays in New Jersey before the move to Brooklyn.

Dean Bonham, a sports industry analyst, said: "There is no magic solution to keeping fans in the Meadowlands when you're potentially heading for Brooklyn. But I would deliver the message that a new era for basketball is dawning in New York, he's building a state-of-the-art facility and if you want to be part of something new and fun, come participate with us."

[3tmk]

everything is coming to NYC, after the Jets, now the Nets!

If Nets go to Brooklyn... are they going to be called Brooklyn Nets or New York Nets??

[New Jack City]

They'll be the Brooklyn Nets most likely, since the Knicks already got the New York title.

[bagel]

They'll be the Brooklyn something. NJ is fighting to keep the "Nets" name in the state in case there will ever be an expansion franchise in NJ (the way Cleveland was able to keep the NFL Cleveland Browns name even if the organization was moved to Baltimore and became the Baltimore Ravens). But I find this weird since the NJ Nets were at one time the NY Nets.

We'll see. It all depends on whether NYC is able to rezone the land that they hope to build the arena on and on whether the NBA approves the move.

Originally posted by savethewtc

They'll be the Brooklyn Nets most likely, since the Knicks already got the New York title.

Yes, but there're LA Lakers and LA Clippers! hehe I'd prefer NY Nets rather than Brooklyn Nets...

[bagel]

Ask any Brooklyn resident and they'll tell you they're Brooklyn first, New Yorker second. Calling their team NY Nets will be a nod to the "imperialist" Manhattanites.

[New Jack City]

Huge floorplans and map:

http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/...TS_stadium.gif

[New Jack City]

NY1

Nets Owners Approve Sale Of New Jersey Team To Brooklyn Developer



JANUARY 23RD, 2004

The owners of the New Jersey Nets have formally approved the sale of the team to Brooklyn developer Bruce Ratner in what could be the first step in returning major professional sports to the borough for the first time since 1957.

The decision, made by the Nets' ownership group Friday morning, was trumpeted in an afternoon press conference attended by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Governor George Pataki, Senator Chuck Schumer and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.

"It's about time people not just here in New York but all over the world think of Brooklyn as a destination, and that's what this will do," said Pataki.

"It is also about values," said Ratner. "It's about the value of inclusion and diversity and housing for all incomes. It's the value of something as simple as affordable tickets so everyone can go to basketball games."

Ratner wants the Nets to become the centerpiece of a $2.5 billion complex in Prospect Heights. A 19,000-seat arena would sit amid thousands of apartments, hundreds of thousands of square feet of shopping space and more than two million square feet of offices.

Ratner's plan still faces major hurdles. The Nets' move would have to be approved by the NBA, and the construction of the sporting complex would require the approval of numerous government agencies.

Most of the project would sit atop a Long Island Railroad yard owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a state agency controlled by Pataki.

From the state, Ratner needs both air rights and a condemnation power to take nearby homes and businesses. The developer estimates about 150 homes would be affected, although neighbors fear the number would be higher.

The complex is already facing resistance from a number of area residents who would be forced out of their homes.

Among those who would be displaced are residents of a converted warehouse that has become home to many artists. Right now they're living on what would be center court.

“We believe it's entirely possible for him to build his arena on land he already owns,” said Prospect Heights resident Joel Towers. “He does not have to condemn our homes. He owns something called the Atlantic Center Mall on the other side of Atlantic Avenue. He himself has told us as recently as October that he's not particularly proud of that building and he could do us all a favor by condemning his own land as opposed to our land.”

Area residents were out Thursday to protest the potential construction of the new complex. They say they will take their fight to the courts if necessary.

Meanwhile on his radio show today, Mayor Bloomberg said he understands why people are concerned.

"I'm sympathetic to people who don't like something like this moving in to their neighborhood," he said. "Generally speaking, this guy Ratner is a very responsible developer. If you go back and look at his track record when he developed MetroTech, which made an enormous difference in this city, he treated people very well. People that get a lot of money to move or better apartments tend to say, 'Oh, well I didn't think it would be this bad. It's good. I'm happy to do it.'"

The Nets were founded in 1967 as the New Jersey Americans of the now-defunct American Basketball Association. They changed their name to the New York Nets when they moved to Long Island in 1968, then become the New Jersey Nets when they moved back to New Jersey to join the NBA in 1976.

The team has played in the Meadowlands Sports Complex since 1981. After a number of lean years in the 1980's and 90's, the Nets have made consecutive trips to the NBA Finals in the last two years.

Brooklyn has not fielded a major professional sports team since the Major League Baseball Dodgers left the borough for Los Angeles in 1957.

--------------------------------
NY1 also has a poll asking what the name of the team should be:

http://www.ny1.com/ny/Polls/index.ht...tionintid=1283

[New Jack City]

Huge pic:

http://www.bball.net/documents/jpg/09_urban_room.jpg



By Derek2k3:

[bagel]

NETS MAY BLOW KEY BANK $HOT

By BRAD HAMILTON

NY Post

February 15, 2004 -- The Nets to Brooklyn? Not so fast.

Developer Bruce Ratner is up against a formidable foe in his bid to bring the NBA title contenders to Atlantic Avenue, said sources close to the deal:

His own bankers.

Ratner is preparing a full-court press to get JPMorgan Chase to loan him the hundreds of millions in investment capital he needs for the 10-building megaplex, which includes an arena for the team, offices, shops and apartments.

His game plan for the $450 million arena features a report now being worked up by two notable critics of sports facilities, experts Andrew Zimbalist and Richard Lipsky, whom Ratner hired to show that New York City would come out ahead if the Nets crossed the Hudson.

So far, Chase has committed just $150 million toward the $300 million purchase price of the Nets. Goldman Sachs crunched numbers on the sale but hasn't become a lender.

A bigger issue is getting bank bucks for the rest of the site.

And that's no slam-dunk, since Ratner hasn't yet inked any prospective tenants for the 3 million square feet of office space he plans to construct, sources said.

"No one wants to lend on a speculative project," said one commercial real-estate source who knows Ratner.

All the new proposed cubicles, corner offices and executive boardrooms - a vast array of office space larger than that at the Empire State Building - don't come cheap.

The offices alone at Atlantic Avenue could cost up to $1.5 billion to build, and they make up the biggest piece of Ratner's $2.5 billion development.

Meanwhile, Ratner has struggled to find occupants for other projects, including his stalled Times Square tower and an unfinished high-rise above the Brooklyn Long Island Rail Road terminal, which sits across the street from the proposed arena.

The stakes could hardly be higher - the project costs are half the total value of Forest City Ratner, his $5 billion Cleveland family business.

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking. Within the next three months, Ratner will get a grilling from the NBA's Board of Governors, a group that represents all 29 franchise owners and can veto any proposed sale, one source close to the Nets said. Rattner, who needs the support of 22 owners to win approval for the move - and the Knicks' Jim Dolan is firmly against it - faces tough questions about paying for the 19,000-seat arena.

The team's mounting losses will also spur concern.

Their average attendance this year, just over 14,000, puts them second to last in the league (above only Atlanta), prompting losses estimated at about $20 million a year.

[New Jack City]

NY Post

QUEENS POL TRIES TO MAKE A STEAL FOR NETS

By GERSH KUNTZMAN

February 19, 2004 -- Yes, in his back yard.

A Queens councilman showed up unannounced yesterday at a rally against a Brooklyn arena for the New Jersey Nets, and promptly offered his Long Island City district as the team's logical new home.

"We would welcome this team in Queens," said Councilman Eric Gioia, upstaging an announcement by Nets opponents that they had hired noted civil-rights lawyer Norman Siegel to fight Bruce Ratner's plans to build a $450 million arena for his newly purchased basketball team.

Ratner's plan would require the condemnation of several buildings and displace hundreds of people. Yesterday, many of those homeowners carried posters reading "Develop, Don't Destroy" and "Stop Illegal Eminent Domain."

Supporters of Ratner say opponents are simply suffering from the NIMBY - Not In My Back Yard - syndrome. But Gioia disagreed: "It's an awful burden to ask people to move out of homes and something you should only do if there's an extraordinary public need. A basketball arena is not that."

Gioia said he will ask city and state agencies to consider putting the Nets in an arena built over the Sunnyside rail yards or next to Shea Stadium in Flushing.

A spokesman for Ratner, Joe DePlasco, said, "We thank the councilman for his support, but we are confident that we have the best location possible in Brooklyn."

[Labtec]

New York Giants / New York Jets, New York Yankees / New York Mets, New York Knicks / New York Nets(?)

[bagel]

Originally posted by Labtec

New York Giants / New York Jets, New York Yankees / New York Mets, New York Knicks / New York Nets(?)

They call themselves the NY Giants, but they're in NJ. Same with the Jets but maybe they'll really be the New York Jets in a few years.

Mets, Yankees, yes.... Islanders and Rangers too.

The New York Knicks.... but should the Nets move to Brooklyn they should be the Brooklyn Nets. No other way to call them. If they're in Queens, they should be the NY Nets. But if they're in Brooklyn, Brooklyn's got to represent.

[New Jack City]

NY1

Opponents Of Nets Arena In Brooklyn Plan Alternative



MARCH 08TH, 2004

After months of protesting, opponents of a new arena for the Nets in Brooklyn that would displace hundreds of residents have adopted a new tactic, drawing up development plans of their own.

“We are not against development,” City Councilwoman Letitia James said at a rally on the steps of City Hall Sunday. “But we are for development that makes sense – development on a human scale.”

James announced she will hold a planning workshop later this month to gather community input.

In addition to the arena, developer Bruce Ratner's plan calls for four office towers and 13 residential complexes. It hasn't proved popular with local residents. One of the main objections is that it's been a closed process, without any public hearings or any meaningful input from Brooklyn residents.

“The scheme, the plot for this whole arena plus buildings has been developed in a way to shut people out,” said Congressman Major Owens. “It comes from the top.”

“We should and must demand that we be part of the process of the process of determining what will be there,” said state Senator Valmanette Montgomery. “We want a public process from top to bottom.”

Many residents say the complex simply isn't needed, and they object to being kicked out of their homes by the government to make way for a private development.

“I think the simple point is the use of eminent domain for something like this is just not right,” said Ross Bonadonna, who faces eviction. “It's not democratic, and it's not about people.”

Details of the alternative development haven't yet been decided, but the plan would not seize private property and likely won't include an arena. However, Representative Owens said an arena could go elsewhere.

“The Brooklyn Navy Yard is the ideal place for an arena,” Owens said. “Fine, bring the Nets to Brooklyn. Put them in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. We own that.”

Whatever the alternative plan looks like, proponents say it will be reached by community consensus.

“People want to be at the table,” James said. “You cannot go forward. Democracy does not call for the development of a community without input from the community.”

- Bobby Cuza