Image Of The Week: Markowitz, Bloomie & Ratner Embrace Barclay Center’s Creation Of ‘2,000 Jobs’

By on April 26, 2012 9:12 pm in Brooklyn Heights, Commercial Real Estate, Downtown Brooklyn, Government

On Thursday, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz joined NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Forest City Ratner Cos. Chairman/CEO Bruce Ratner to rally around the 2,000 jobs they insist will be created by the fall opening of Downtown Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

Markowitz said, “Bringing the Nets to Brooklyn means more than exciting in-your-face basketball with a Brooklyn attitude: It will create 2,000 sorely needed full- and part-time opportunities for jobseekers, with priority placement for Brooklynites in the neighborhoods and NYCHA housing surrounding Barclays Center.”

Scheduled to open September 28, the Barclays sports and entertainment venue across from Atlantic Terminal will offer 18,200 seats for basketball and 19,000 seats for concerts. It also boasts 100 luxury suites, four bars/lounges, three clubs and a restaurant.

Pictured from left: Department of Small Business Services Commissioner Robert W. Walsh, Markowitz, (a typically grim) Bloomberg, NYC Housing Authority Chairman John Rhea and Ratner.

(Photo: Kathryn Kirk)

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  • http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com Norman Oder

    C’mon guys, look behind the press release… only 1240 FTE jobs:
    http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/04/bloomberg-promises-2000-jobs-at-arena.html

  • Quinn Raymond

    As of Sept 2009 the total official public cost of the project was going to be $412.8 million.*

    That’s what, $206,400 per job?

    Worst public return-on-investment ever.

    *http://www.ibo.nyc.ny.us/iboreports/AtlanticYards091009.pdf

  • Clampdown

    Hey, don’t worry that the benefits aren’t even remotely close to what was promised, because Brooklyn now has a professional sports team. That really was important. We may now finally be able to let go of the Dodgers. Sniff. Sniff.

  • Quinn Raymond

    It’s a good thing we all get free tickets though, otherwise this would have been a total rip-off.

  • Robert

    I guess none of you whiners have been to the site lately. IT IS BUILT AND IS NOT GOING AWAY. Get over it. Talk about “sniff sniff.”

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/13189502@N02/ Eddyenergizer

    Yes it’s built and it looks like crap.

  • http://molliedash.blogspot.com Mollie

    What is the “Small Business Services Commissioner” doing there?

  • Quinn Raymond

    Robert:

    Whether it’s built already or not is not the point. The point is that the crooks who built it have the gall to stand tall in public and brag about the so-called job creation that is dwarfed by the cost of the project.

    The public resources wasted on this could have gone to so many other, more useful projects.

    What a waste.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rate_of_return

  • PJL

    Would be nice to see some real financial statements/costs. “Opportunity Costs” are typically not considered under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

    Seems that the IBO follows the same logic as those who believe that tax deductions/taxing income at less than 100% ‘costs’ the government money….

    What’s done is done; I just hope that some affordable housing materializes from this project as promised/agreed and that this is just far enough from our neighborhood that the inevitable traffic nightmare this mis-located stadium will cause does not affect us too negatively….

  • resident

    I’m as opposed to public funding for essentially private pro sports stadiums as the next guy. But the IBO stat’s aren’t exactly fair. A large portion of the public financing would have been necessary for ANY development on the site. Looks like $200M for the platform over the tracks alone, and another $50M, at least, for additional infrastructure to support the development. Bitch all you want about the rest of the public money, and I’ll be right there with you. But if we wanted anything there besides a whole in the ground, it was going to cost public money.