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Bloomberg, Markowitz Support New Brooklyn Nets Arena Design
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 6, 2009
Modified Jun 6, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 6, 2009
Modified Jun 6, 2009
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Frank Gehry's design for the Brooklyn Nets Arena at left, Ellerbe Becket's new design at right
Now that Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner has kicked renowned architect Frank Gehry's design for the (potential) future home of the Brooklyn Nets aside for a less expensive design by way of Kansas firm Ellerbe Becket, it's time for politicians to weigh in. Mayor Bloomberg said he understood the economic realities that Ratner was facing; the Post reports that he said on his radio show, "I think Ratner came to the conclusion, in this day and age, you just cannot finance something as complex to build. There's no such thing as a straight wall with Frank. Frank is into curves."
Gehry's design would have cost $1 billion, while the Ellerbe Becket design could be around $200 million less. Bloomberg did pump Gehry up, also saying, "Frank Gehry, who is a genius, designed a spectacular [arena]." The Post also notices that Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz seems to have backtracked on his statement that the Gehry design is "world class"—now the Beep says Gehry's design is "too ultra-modern...I think the new design is actually better for Brooklyn."
And the Post's Steve Cuozzo laments the end of the Gehry design, "SO sad. So irreversible. And so inevitable... The new arena design now on the table bears as much resemblance to Gehry's as a Dumpster does to his Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao." He lays blame (credit?) for the Gehry structure's demise on the "Orwellian-titled" Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn for stalling Ratner's Atlantic Yards development for the past four years. DDDB writes, "While Cuozzo is correct that dumping Gehry could be devastating for the Atlantic Yards project (though his hyperbole that the project is dead is Orwellian), his Orwellian doublethink, newspeak makes milk come out of our noses, full speed. "
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Atlantic Yards
brooklyn
brooklyn nets
Brooklyn Nets Arena
Bruce Ratner
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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