After Bieber-related chaos, cops say they'll have a better plan for crowds; frustration remains over black cars plaguing neighborhood streets; enforcement vs. free parking?

The chaos around the Justin Bieber concert two nights ago--fans gathering outside the Barclays Center in the afternoon and chasing a bus down Dean Street in the evening--was an "anomaly," declared the commanding officer of the 78th Precinct, who promised that police would have a better plan in place to tamp down on boisterous fans.

(Video by Peter Krashes, via Atlantic Yards Watch)

However, Deputy Inspector Michael Ameri (recently promoted from Captain) acknowledged that there's still no solution to the problem of black cars and limos, which plague streets around the arena when there are special events (less so for Nets games).

While an "experiment" is planned to give them a place, the problem derives from an inherent tension in the Transportation Demand Management plan prepared by arena consultant Sam Schwartz and accepted by Empire State Development, the state agency overseeing the arena.

That plan states that the solution is "enforcement," but they apparently didn't consult with the NYPD, which is reluctant to devote resources to that effort and thinks education is the solution.

“Make them go to the parking lots or give them huge fines,” one resident suggested at the meeting last night of the 78th Precinct Community Council, in what might be seen as a common-sense solution but one not promoted either by the police or arena management.

Meanwhile, neither the police nor an arena spokesman responded clearly to a question asking for a comparison between the numbers of personnel devoted to arena events when it opened and the numbers now.

Loading dock progress

Barclays Center Community Relations Manager Terence Kelly reported progress on issues raised at the 10/16/12 Atlantic Yards Quality of Life Committee meeting.

Regarding the loading dock on Dean Street, “we’ve been working with our internal security and arena operations... to educate a lot of security to make sure a lot of protocols that have been are acted on every single day for every single delivery,” he said.

Aiming to coordinate with the staging area at Navy Yard so trucks are not idling on Dean Street, he said, “we've been rather successful, I’ve got to say, in terms of slowly getting better,” though he acknowledged “there's certainly room for improvement.”

Or not

Kelly got an immediate response from Peter Krashes of the Dean Street Block Association, who pointed out that, on the previous night after the Justin Bieber concert, two trucks had queued outside the arena on residential Dean Street, with one idling for half an hour, “so problems continue.”

“Unfortunately, there was a lapse in communications,” Kelly responded, adding that “I'd object to a half-hour” characterization. “It was something we certainly want to improve on.”

Indeed, after the meeting, I walked over to Dean Street with Krashes and we saw a delivery truck idling for about ten minutes, first on the curb, then outside the loading dock, sticking out over the sidewalk.

Also, parked in a “No Standing” zone was a bus, which, before the Brooklyn Nets game ended, turned on its engine and, a minute or two later, accommodated a dozen well-dressed people, who had to walk out into the street to enter the bus from the right side.

Kelly noted that the arena has hired a new director of security after the previous one left, which should help improve protocols.

Limo parking problems

One resident asked if drivers are being aware of parking availability, given that some drivers on residential streets apparently don’t know of the options.

Kelly said the operator of the surface lot has placed larger signs on Atlantic and Vanderbilt avenues, and “there's been more active use of the parking lot.” (Indeed, it was nearly full for the Bieber concert.) Still, he noted, the arena is stressing public transportation.

Regarding black car parking, he said, “if anyone wants to pay for parking on the site itself, they're more than welcome to... We're working with Inspector Ameri and DOT [Department of Transportation] and TLC [Taxi and Limousine Commission]. We're in talks about offering whatever we can to educate drivers about staying off side streets and residential streets.”

Precinct Council President Pauline Blake said she saw such cars parked “all over” Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Flatbush avenues. “Tthe issue still exists,” she said, “as far as these cars not adhering to any rules or regulations.”

NYPD perspective

“Black cars are a problem,” Ameri acknowledged, saying it’s a bigger issue for one-time events, such as the Barbra Streisand and Bieber shows, less so for Nets games. “Those are the events we really have to work on go get a place to stage these black cars,” he said, adding “we're looking to stage the black cars offsite.”

One resident asked a natural question: why can’t the limos simply go to the surface parking lot.

“Black cars aren't going to pay for parking,” Ameri responded. (Wouldn’t they do so if the alternative were paying a fine?)

Gib Veconi of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council raised an issue already floated on Atlantic Yards Watch: “we've been told by Empire State Development Corporation and from DOT [Department of Transportation], via our local City Council person, that there's a plan being implemented to have black cars stage between Sixth and Vanderbilt.”

Ameri acknowledged “we are experimenting” with doing that.

Veconi asked about the role of arena traffic consultant Sam Schwartz. “We hear that you're not encouraging people to drive,” he said. “I do not understanding how giving over public space on Atlantic Avenue is a discouragement for people to drive. I'd like to see Sam Schwartz explain... because it's clearly a miss in the TDM.”

Kelly said Schwartz is “certainly in these conversations, yes.”

How, asked Veconi, would the parked cars pick up passengers.

“The goal is just to leave them on Atlantic,” Ameri said, and have patrons walk to the cars. Or they could make a U-turn on Atlantic Avenue at Vanderbilt.

A simple solution?

One resident asked why the black car issue wasn't anticipated and why the arena can’t provide parking space for black cars.

Kelly said that, with only two months on the job, he couldn’t speak to why it wasn't addressed, but said he’d “do everything in my power” to find common-sense solutions.

“It was included,” piped up Newswalk resident Wayne Bailey. “It was enforcement.” Indeed, it was; apparently the police were not consulted.

The plan to offer space on Atlantic, suggested Veconi, is just giving limo drivers free parking.

Bieber-related tumult on Dean Street

It was funny, but not so funny. Dean Street resident Tracy Collins pointed out that, after the Justin Bieber concert, the “tour bus came down Dean Street, followed by hundreds of screaming teen girls.”

Ameri raised his eyes; several people laughed. “It was funny, but kind of dangerous,” Collins observed.
“Live and learn,” Ameri said, acknowledging that, while the police had handled other high-profile events at the arena smoothly, this was different.

In hindsight, he said, the police could’ve planned differently, either having the bus go a different route, or have pens set up to limit fan activity. “I had teenagers running in front of a large tour bus,” he said. “Thank God nobody go hurt. I apologize for the quality of life that it impacted on Dean Street. So next time Justin Bieber comes into town, I'll have a better plan. I was confident in my Jay-Z plan.”

Fewer police and security personnel?

Krashes suggested the problem was related to “a significant reduction in numbers of police and Barclays security.” For example, on the previous night, a T-shirt seller was planted on Dean Street.

Regarding the reduction of police and security personnel, he asked for a comparison between the numbers for the Justin Bieber concert and the Jay-Z concert.

Ameri didn’t quite answer: “Well, I had plenty of officers there last night... it was just the way we handled it, when it came to the crowd. I didn't expect all those teenagers at the Dean Street end of it at 2 o'clock in the afternoon... or thousands of them, hanging around afterward... Last night was an anomaly.”

Kelly responded, “Regardless of contract with Securitas [the former security company], there’s been no reduction in numbers.” He said the arena would try to better anticipate “situations like this.”

ESD take

Derek Lynch, ESD's Community Relations Manager, said "we take these issues very seriously," including limo parking, vibrations from concerts, and flashing lights from the oculus.

"We haven't solved all your problems, but we're definitely moving in the right direction," he said.

And while we "appreciate their service," he said of Atlantic Yards Watch, he encouraged people to reach out directly to ESD.

Tailgating

Bailey said residents of his building wanted clarification on whether tailgating is allowed, as several noticed people attending the last college basketball event to be tailgating at Dean Street and Carlton Avenue.

"There's no policy, there's zero tolerance," Ameri said. One officer said six or seven summonses were issued for drinking in public."

Changes on Carlton

Several residents pointed to an impact from the opening of the arena, the reopening of the Carlton Avenue Bridge, and congestion on Flatbush Avenue: Carlton Avenue has become a shortcut, including for dollar vans, and many drivers ignore both speed limits and stop signs at St. Marks Avenue and Prospect Place.

“I'm going to dedicate some resources to that location,” Ameri responded.

Related is gridlock at St. Marks and Flatbush during rush hours, making it difficult to cross the street using the crosswalks.

The proliferation of bars

Noting the proliferation of bars in the area, Blake observed, "We will accept the bars we have on Fifth Avenue compared to the bars we had 20 years ago."

Still, she suggested that the State Liquor Authority has enabled a "serious problem," given the proliferation of liquor licenses along Flatbush, Fifth, Seventh, and St. Marks Avenues.

"We have to realize that it is here," she said of the arena and its spillover effects. "We have to fight hard to make sure they maintain quality of life that we can live with."

Urination near arena

Referring to reports that arena-goers had been urinating nearby on the street, notably on Pacific Street between Flatbush and Fourth avenues, Kelly said an arena security guard and a police officer had been patrolling one hour before events through one hour after events. 

Also, Modell's has been asked to do more washing of its site; the store is planning to install more lights, a project that was delayed because of the storm.

Who pays?

As the meeting closed down, one resident asked an innocent question: "Are we paying for these [increased] police, or is the Barclays Center paying extra money?"

She didn't get an official answer, but the mutters from the better-informed crowd were clear: "We pay." (Another resident muttered that ESD's Lynch should answer.)

Indeed, the issue came up last June, as I reported. Community Board 2 Chair John Dew asked, “In this particular instance, is there an opportunity to bill back to Forest City Ratner?”

“The answer is no,” replied FCR’s Ashley Cotton at the time. Just as with new housing being built on Flatbush Avenue, said Cotton, a former city official, “the city has to adjust... The arena is not alone in adding new work to the city.”

Overall crime down

Overall crime in the precinct is down, Ameri said last night, though there’s have been “some issues” in the last month with robberies and grand larcenies. The increase is not related to the arena, given that most reports are toward the southwest portion of the precinct in the South Slope.

He acknowledged, however, that the precinct “inherited” some non-violent crime from the Atlantic Center and Atlantic Terminal malls, now within the boundaries.

Next meeting

While representatives of several city agencies were expected to attend the Precinct Council meeting as scheduled for Oct. 30, the Sandy-related delay meant they couldn’t return last night.

Because the October meeting was delayed, there will be no Precinct Council meeting in November. The December meeting is typically skipped, so the next meeting will be 1/29/12, the last Tuesday of the month.

Outside Barclays Center, trucks wait, idle on Dean Street, unable to enter loading dock (despite promises of tight scheduling)

Yes, trucks are still waiting on residential Dean Street outside the Barclays Center, even though they're not supposed to. They're supposed to be tightly scheduled. That doesn't quite work, as shown in video from last night showing trucks unloading from the Justin Bieber concert.

Remember how New York Magazine critic Justin Davidson, in his 9/21/12 essay Barclays Center Is Brooklyn’s Ready-Made Monument, wrote:

For all its swagger, the arena makes nice to the neighbors in various ways... To avoid clogging roadways, trucks swing into the Dean Street loading docks and ride elevators to a massive underground turntable that positions them in their respective bays.

Or how New York Times critic Michael Kimmelman, in his 11/1/12 review, wrote:

No, this isn’t a beautiful or ingratiating building, but it’s technologically smart, with an underground turntable for trucks that may sound eye-rollingly dull but makes traffic engineers like the city’s transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, swoon because it reduces the number of backing up and double-parked 16-wheelers on nearby streets like Dean.

It's not supposed to reduce the number of 16-wheelers, it's supposed to eliminate them--at least if they follow the rules.

On AY Watch

Well, in an incident report on Atlantic Yards Watch, Peter Krashes wrote:

Two trucks queued on Dean Street waiting for entry to the loading dock for at least half an hour. The second truck turned off its engine, but the first idled for up to half an hour. Only when NYPD asked the driver to turn off its engine did he turn it off. The first driver did confirm that he came from the Navy Yard. He wasn't happy he had to wait at the arena. The trucks finally entered the elevators when two other trucks in the loading dock emerged.

In the first video, the trucks arrive and queue.



In the second, they continue to queue; the first truck, Krashes reported, continued to idle despite a request to turn the engine off.




In the third video, the trucks in the loading dock exit and the waiting trucks finally enter the elevator. There are still Beliebers trying to get a glimpse of their idol.

Bieber fever at the Barclays Center, in photos

Some photos from yesterday's Justin Bieber event at/outside the Barclays Center. Note that the initial set of barriers were removed at the request of the police.

Before the concert, on Dean Street, waiting for Bieber; photos by AYInfoNYC

Before the concert, on Sixth Avenue, waiting for Bieber

Before the concert, on Sixth Avenue, waiting for Bieber 

After the concert, on Dean Street, 10:40 pm

After the concert, on Dean Street, about 10:40 pm; note Peter Krashes of the Dean Street Block Association
(in the checked shirt, under jacket) talking with Derek Lynch of Empire State Development

An eyewitness to Bieber fever, on residential Dean Street: "hundreds of girls screaming and running after the bus"

Last night, photographer and Prospect Heights resident Tracy Collins tweeted:

OMG. [Justin] Bieber's bus just rolled down my block after Barclay concert. 100s of tween girls screaming.

I asked him to elaborate. Collins, a resident of Dean Street between Sixth Avenue (southeastern border of the arena block) and Carlton Avenue (southwestern border of the parking lot), told me he was walking home at about 10:30 pm from Fifth Avenue below Flatbush and the arena, around the time the concert let out.

"Traffic was backed up for several block south on 5th Avenue and throngs of tween girls and their parents/guardians were streaming down the sidewalks, trying to get cabs, getting on buses, walking to and getting to their cars," he recounted. The result: "gridlock and honking horns."

The fans wait

Collins walked up to Flatbush, then east along Dean Street past the arena. At the corner of Sixth Avenue and Dean Street, several hundred fans massed, "apparently waiting for Bieber to get in his tour bus and leave."

"I kept walking home, embedded in a crowd of fans probably heading toward the surface parking lot," he wrote. "I went into my house. At about 10:45, I heard lots of screaming coming from Dean Street (if you've ever seen the girls lose it for the Beatles, this was very similar) and I could clearly hear all of this with my double-paned windows closed."

Collins, to his regret without camera in hand, went to his front door and saw what seemed to be Bieber's "tour bus roll by with a police car with lights on trailing it, and the girls all screaming and running down the sidewalk.... There were literally HUNDREDS of girls screaming and running after the bus."

Pre-event traffic

I'm sure there will be more reports today. Before the concert, one Brooklyn resident (of what I believe is Boerum Hill southwest of the arena) tweeted:

Traffic nightmare in my 'hood magically cleared up at 8:20. Then it hit me. Concert at @barclayscenter. Guess Bieber fans don't ride #MTA.

Transportation plan for the Nets game tomorrow: Barclays Center will charter buses; MTA will add buses (special help for arena?); LIRR, parking to get much use; no-idling laws said to be enforced, finally

Get ready for more crowding on the streets around the Barclays Center tomorrow afternoon and evening for the Brooklyn Nets home opener, as the arena and the MTA--that's public resources--provide more buses in the wake of a partial subway system shutdown.

Also, far more people will be taking the Long Island Rail Road, given no subway service between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Will the 400 bicycle spaces finally be used?

Special shuttle buses from Manhattan, near Port Authority

Newsday reports, citing the Barclays Center, that there will be six buses, though it's not clear whether they will make multiple round-trips:

Special Free Shuttle Buses: The Brooklyn Nets have leased a fleet of Best Trails and Travel buses to offer fans free round-trip transportation on a first-come, first-served basis from Manhattan, at 9 th Avenue between 40th and 41 st streets, to Barclays Center. The first bus will depart at 4:30 p.m., with five additional buses arriving for pick-up approximately every 15 minutes. After the game, passengers can re-board the buses on Atlantic Avenue, directly across the street from the arena, near South Portland Avenue, to return to Manhattan.

Atlantic Avenue directly across the street from the arena has already been quite crowded when events sell out. This also implies that event-goers will be tempted to crowd into the street and stop traffic.

The MTA is stepping up:

MTA Buses: All MTA Brooklyn bus routes have been restored with limited service, however the MTA will be providing additional buses to the routes serving the arena as necessary for both the pre and post game periods. Eleven bus lines stop near the arena: B25, B26, B38, B41, B45, B52, B63, B65, B67, B69, and B103. In addition, the MTA will continue to offer free buses from Manhattans East Side, with pick-up at 54 th Street and Lexington Avenue and which will be stopping at 4th Avenue and Pacific Street, one block west of the arena. The trip will make six stops.

Emphasis added. So Fourth Avenue might be more congested.

LIRR & Parking

Expect a lot more use of the Long Island Rail Road:

Subways/LIRR: Some subway and LIRR lines are working and will bring fans to Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center or LIRR Atlantic Terminal. The D, R, 4 and 5 trains from Brooklyn stop at Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center and the A train is stopping at nearby Lafayette Avenue. There is currently no subway service between Manhattan and Barclays Center. LIRR service will be operating hourly between Atlantic Terminal and Jamaica only.

Also expect more use of parking:

Parking: Ticketholders are encouraged to utilize the Barclays Center pre-paid parking system, operated by Click and Park, at www.BarclaysCenter.com through which they can reserve parking spaces in a specific lot located within easy walking distance of the arena. There are 18 parking facilities with approximately 3,500 parking spaces available within a half-mile radius of the arena. There are also five remote parking facilities within a mile of Barclays Center, with more than 1,200 spaces.

There are surely more spaces than in the prepaid inventory. Still, there likely will be far more people driving tomorrow than for any other event previously.

Will cops crack down?

The announcement also states:

Black Cars: For patrons utilizing black cars, drivers must be notified that no-idling laws will be strictly enforced. A drop-off/pick-up zone is available on the east-bound side of Atlantic Avenue between Fort Greene Place and 6 th Avenue.

That's a very small drop-off zone. Black cars have been idling across the street and in the neighborhood. The no-idling laws have not been previously enforced.

The full release

Brooklyn Nets Barclays Center Transportation Plan, announced Nov. 2, 2012

After storm, city/region/MTA face recovery; delay in subway reopening places cloud over Nets' planned home opener Nov. 1; Albert, Prokhorov offer optimism about Nets (updated)

There's been no word yet about the impact of the huge storm Sandy on the Barclays Center, other than the predictable (and early yesterday) announcement that tonight's Journey concert would be canceled.

On Dean St. side of the arena; photos by Raul Rothblatt

However, given that the subway system "has never faced a disaster as devastating as what we experienced last night," according to Chairman Joseph Lhota, and the city faces enormous challenges after power outages and flooding, as reported by the New York Times, it will take days, perhaps more, for the city and region to recover.

So I'm not going out on a limb to predict that tomorrow's Smashing Pumpkins concert at the arena will be canceled. (Update: it was postponed.) Last night, the first in a week of Jimmy Kimmel shows at the Brooklyn Academy of Music--a series keyed to the Brooklyn Nets season--was canceled. It's not clear whether tonight's show will go on.

The Nets opener

What about the much-anticipated Brooklyn Nets home opener Thursday, Nov. 1, against the New York Knicks? The Times's Howard Beck confirms "no definitive word" from the NBA.

Another view of Dean Street

But the prospect seems less likely, given statements this morning that it could take "four or five" or "three or four" days to get the subways up and running.

It still remains possible that, if subways are functioning by Thursday afternoon, the game could go on.

If it does go through as planned, even if billed as a salute to the resiliency of the city and of Brooklyn, the excitement surely will be muted, given that New Yorkers have been forced to recognize that sports fandom, and entertainment, however a part of the fabric of life, run well behind survival of the city and its systems.

The Atlantic Avenue side

That would also put a damper on plans to bring back some Brooklyn Dodgers for a ceremony to install the flag from Ebbets Field (and a plaque) on the arena plaza.

There were reports on Twitter that some construction materials on the Dean Street side of the arena were flying away in the wind.

As seen in the photos, part of the construction fence was lost.

Also, one small tree outside the arena was downed (left), and some metal fencing at the parking lot was overturned (below right).

Run-up promotion

Meanwhile, in the run-up to the anticipated home opener, the New York Times offers a bit of synergy, an essay by new Nets play-by-play announcer Marv Albert, Back Home in Brooklyn, Marv Albert Welcomes a New Resident:

On Pacific Street east of Carlton 

The Nets have come to Brooklyn, where I grew up. And even after nearly 50 years of calling basketball games, I can’t wait.

But when I call their first regular-season game at Barclays Center, on Thursday night against the Knicks, I will not be curious about whether the move from New Jersey will go well. It will. I will want to know if a hard-core Nets crowd will be at the arena. One of my measuring sticks for the success of the Brooklyn Nets will be their ability to overwhelm the sound and ppresence of Knicks fans.
Around the city, people keep asking me about the Nets — at a rate that I never thought possible. Fanatics from New Jersey used to be the only people who wanted to chat me up about the Nets. Sometimes, you hardly knew they had taken the court at Izod Center. Far more often, people wanted to talk to me about the Knicks — and kept asking after I left the Knicks’ TV booth to call Nets games.
The Nets are a likable group, and even without playing a game they’ve become popular. I think they’ll win over kids who haven’t developed loyalties yet.

He closes with a reference to one of Brett Yormark's favorite terms, "relevance":

Back then, of course, there was no pro alternative in New York to rooting for the Knicks. Now, the Nets can challenge them as they never did from Long Island, Piscataway, the swamps of New Jersey or Newark. They are finally relevant, and it should be fun to watch.

The New York Post offers Serby's special P&A with Mikhail Prokhorov, in which the Nets' owner tells Steve Serby (conversation or written back-and-forth?) that he expects the Nets to win an NBA championship in June (highly unlikely) and offers numerous ripostes:

Q: Why did you want to own an NBA team so badly?
A: I have a lot of experience with basketball, having owned CSKA in Russia. We made it to the Euroleague semifinals every year during the time I was there, and won the championship twice. Plus, this was just a wonderful opportunity — a down-and-out franchise about to make a historic move to Brooklyn, a new arena, a chance to really build something and make my mark. I wasn’t interested in buying any team at any price. I really wanted a big market, and when this opportunity came along with a great partner in Bruce Ratner it was obviously the right thing to do.

I suspect that making a big profit and buffing his reputation might also have been part of the equation.

The 78th Precinct Community Council

The next meeting of the 78th Precinct Community Council was supposed to be held tonight but has been rescheduled to Nov. 13 at 7:30 pm, at the station house, at 6th Avenue and Bergen Street.

It will give neighbors an opportunity to discuss arena impacts--at least those that the police can deal with, such as traffic and parking. (The cops can't do much about arena noise, but I bet they felt the bass from Sensation in their building, too.)