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.

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.

As precinct council meeting approaches tonight, reports that police will allow limos to queue on Atlantic Avenue in what was once public parking space

Guess what, limos are getting public parking space--an issue that surely will come up at tonight's postponed meeting of the 78th Precinct Community Council, at 7:30 pm.

From Atlantic Yards Watch, yesterday, NYPD to allow limos to stage on Atlantic Avenue during arena events:

AYW has been informed by a representative of the Empire State Development Corporation that the NYPD intends to allow limos to queue during arena events on the south side of Atlantic Avenue between Carlton and Vanderbilt Avenues. The section of Atlantic Avenue is currently available for public parking except during overnight street cleaning hours. On Friday, November 9, use of the area was reserved for vehicles registered with TLC license plates, consistent with the NYPD proposal.
Idling of limos in unauthorized locations in Prospect Heights, Park Slope and Fort Greene has been a major concern for residents since the arena's opening. AYW incident reports filed include 945, 947, 969, 970, 971, 972, 973, 989, 991, 997, and 998. 311 closed reports for many of these incidents noting "police action was not necessary," or "no evidence of violation." Idling of limos has also been documented by Atlantic Yards Report.

However, as AYW points out, "[t]he issue of unauthorized limo parking appears to have been unanticipated by the Transportation Demand Management Plan (TDM) prepared by Forest City Ratner Companies to address traffic congestion and pedestrian safety following the Barclays Center opening...

Further, the proposed "solution" of staging limos on Atlantic Avenue in effect allocates additional public space for the benefit of Barclays Center without public review."

For more, see Atlantic Yards Watch.

Nets debut tonight, as planned media hype resumes; will subways be back later? what about those $15 tickets?

The Brooklyn Nets debut at home tonight against the Toronto Raptors, and apparently there will be a new mascot, new anthem, t-shirts, and other hullaballoo, maybe some Dodgers nostalgia. It won't be Nets vs. Knicks as planned for Thursday, but it's still going to get noticed.

Will the transportation plan work? Well, the reliance on buses and cars--as well as LIRR--announced yesterday suggested lots of challenges, but this morning there's word that the MTA is testing the renewal of Manhattan to Brooklyn subway service. If it's live by mid-afternoon, that will be a huge help to event-goers.

Update 1:30 pm: The 4/5 trains are back, and the Q train is expected to be back later this afternoon. That will ease the burden on other forms of transit.

The Knicks and the Marathon

Some people don't even think the Knicks should have played last night. Mike Lupica in the Daily News, Mayor Bloomberg's decision to cancel marathon right step in nick of time: The mayor came under heavy attack from critics for going forward with the marathon in a week where over 40 New Yorkers were killed and thousands more left homeless.:

They certainly are going to play a football game in New Jersey on Sunday, Giants against the Steelers. But at least they are not going to play it at the Jersey Shore. And by the way? If that game had been postponed, nobody would have argued with that decision. And the Knicks should not have played a basketball game at the Garden on Friday night, another show that just had to go on.
But why?
There are millions without power in this whole area we think of as New York, and people sit in lines forever to buy gas, where they are still able to buy gas, and then go home and live in the cold and the dark.
Life in Breezy Point will never be the same because of this storm, all those houses lost, gone, like a book of matches catching fire, that fast.
Life in the ravaged parts of Staten Island will never be the same.

Opening hype

The cliches about Brooklyn continue. Writes Lisa Olsen in The Sporting News, Brooklyn Nets opening night: A borough, a team and a dream:

“Walk around and you’ll hear all about how that broke Brooklyn’s heart. Everyone has their story,” the coach of the Nets tells shooting guard Joe Johnson, who nods and says he hopes to hear all the tales. To hear about the Dodgers’ integration of baseball when most other teams refused to budge, about Jackie Robinson’s dignity and grace, about the majesty of Ebbets Field and the hole left when Walter O’Malley moved the team to Los Angeles in 1958, after his dream to build a ballpark along the Atlantic Railroad Yards failed. The spot is where the $1 billion state-of-the-art Barclays Center now stands.

It's not the spot, and it's not $1 billion.

More from the article:

Adam Salazar, a native Brooklynite who produces and films a docuseries called City Hardwood about NYC public school hoops (Lincoln High and Ethan Telfair were featured in Season 1), says bluntly: “Brooklyn is the coolest borough, and we’re going to have the coolest team. I mean, who would you rather root for—Jay-Z’s team or Dolan’s?
“The Knicks are so frustrating, there’s no way the Nets don’t cut into this. Pretty much all of Brooklyn is going to be Nets fans if they aren’t already,” he adds. “You’re going to see people wearing Brooklyn Nets gear more than Knicks gear worldwide in pretty short order. It may take a little while, but within a generation of sports fans the Brooklyn Nets will be the dominant team in NYC.”

Not sure about that, but it is true that the Knicks' ownership has repeatedly sabotaged the team's relationship with fans.

The brand new start

Tbe Star-Ledger reported, in Nets looking for a `brand' new start in Brooklyn:

This is certain: The Nets, replanted across two rivers, are a cosmic leap removed from the place they held in the imagination only a few months ago.
The experts in name equity (another bit of lexicon lifted from the facelift handbook) agree that the first decision was the critical one, to gain the cachet that comes with Brooklyn. And the Nets have another asset, and this may come as a revelation.
They have the Knicks.
If the Knicks are establishment, the Nets are cutting edge. If Madison Square Garden is an opera house, the Barclays Center is street theater. In effect, the Knicks enable the Nets to tell a story, of the underdog lifting up from the shadow of the giant.
...The Nets have their high-end side, with the priciest tickets going for $1,500, but of the arena’s 17,734 seats, the club says 2,000 each game will go for $15.

Actually, those 2.000 tickets represent more hype than anything else. They haven't put 2,000 tickets on sale for fans; rather, there was some limited amount available yesterday on Facebook. Maybe today there will be a few more.

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

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.

Times says Barclays Center serves as magnet for yellow cabs; "clear ripples" from arena, but no mention of impact of black cars, livery cabs idling on residential streets. That's part of "new normal," too.

Update: in print, this article takes up 3/4 of the front page of the New York section. Contrast that with the five paragraphs devoted to the June 2009 renegotiation of the MTA deal, when the Times buried a story that suggested developer Forest City Ratner might be getting a sweetheart deal from a government agency.

Would you believe that the opening of the Barclays Center has doubled pickups by yellow cabs in the vicinity?

The New York Times explores that phenomenon in an article published tonight on the web, in print tomorrow, headlined Yellow Taxis, Rare Brooklyn Sightings, Multiply on Event Nights at New Arena.

It's a fairly sunny portrait:

Interviews with drivers, residents and traffic guards nearby, combined with city data, suggest that a pattern has emerged: throughout the evening of an event, drivers become more willing to perform drop-offs in the area, or even cruise in adjacent neighborhoods, because they can reasonably expect a return fare to Manhattan. And once an event ends, they descend on the arena to greet the crowd as it leaves.
...So far, though, the arena appears to have created some clear ripples. Mo Mullen, 32, from Clinton Hill, said that while she often used for-hire vehicles, she had in recent weeks stumbled upon yellow taxis on Atlantic Avenue on weekend afternoons. “I’ve been about to call a car service and then a taxi drives by,” she said.

The rest of the story

I tweeted to the author, Matt Flegenheimer, pointing out the failure to mention some other clear ripples: black cars and livery cabs idling on residential streets.

noted that a reliance on consultant Gridlock Sam Schwartz, TLC Commissioner David Yassky, and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz missed the rest of the story, which includes video of idling limos and frustration expressed by the police, who don't have a solution.

Flegenheimer replied:

Hear ya, but story doesn't make a quality of life argument. Just laying out what appears to be a new normal for yellows.

My response:

 Ecosystem = public transit, yellow cabs, black cars, etc. Why not address rest of the story? Video is glaring. Cops are frustrated

Another new normal

I also pointed him to another "new normal," with some concerts: pounding bass *inside* people's homes. He said he'd pass it on. Will the Times portray this as residents "finding another reason to complain"?

Or will the paper recognize the failure of design, operation, and oversight? Heck, I couldn't get acknowledgments, much less responses, from the purportedly 24/7 representatives of the arena and state, Terence Kelly and Derek Lynch.