clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Liveblogging the Barclays Center Ribbon Cutting!

New, 16 comments

After nearly nine years of fights, protests, lawsuits, and delays, the day is here. Bruce Ratner's Barclays Center is officially opening, whether you like it or not. Next week, Jay-Z will take the stage and a month later, the Nets will christen their new home. Keeping with tradition, we're on the scene to give you an up-to-the-minute account of the year's most over-hyped most controversial biggest press event.

8:40: Used the new subway exit. It's like a magic portal to the arena. No more construction out front!

8:45: Whoa super long press line.

9:00 Reporters becoming very agitated at waiting and line jumpers. Let us in!!


[Photo by Will Femia.]

9:05: Small turnout of protesters, but they have clever signs.

9:13: Look who arrived! Reporter to them: "Go get a job!"

9:17: Through the metal detectors and we're credentialed!

9:19: First arena ever with a gluten free food stand?

9:20: Lots of cheery Barclays Center employees keep welcoming us.

9:22: First look at the court! Lights are off, too dark for photos. This place is huge!

9:25 No sign of any of the big players. Where are they hiding?

9:29 Found the food! Enjoyed a mini croissant before being told to take our seats.

9:30 Barclays PR people must like Curbed. We're in section A, right up front!

9:33: Overheard in press section: "Where are the giant scissors, man? I'm going to be upset if there are no giant scissors."

9:34: Nets player Brook Lopez passed by. He is incredibly tall.

9:35: Oh dear. Sat by a speaker. May be deaf when this is over.

9:37: Ratner takes the stage. Big moment when they turn the lights on!

9:40 Talking about the awesome things they did to make this place happen. Calls Barclays "the most architecturally beautiful arena in this nation."

9:41 Calls Mikhail Prokhorov the best partner ever. Lots of self congratulating.

9:42: Ratner says championships will be won here. Hmm, perhaps he's unfamiliar with the Nets. Still, lots of cheers.

9:43: Says community groups "held their heads high and stuck with the dream."

9:43: Bloomberg apparently bought the most expensive tickets in the place. Ratner almost called him Mr. President.

9:45: Bloomberg takes the stage. Shouts "Is Brooklyn on the house?" Starts talking about how great the public transit to Barclays is. They really want people to take the subway.

9:47: They are projecting the speakers on the jumbotron. It's a very crisp picture.

9:48: Bloomie starts talking about how Barclays will kickstart Atlantic Yards...

9:50: Ratner is back on the stage, introducing the "Russian oligarch." Dun dun dun!

9:51: Prokhorov compares the opening of Barclays to the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge. Says Barclays will be the heart of Brooklyn. Everything will happen here.

9:54: Marty Markowitz takes the stage. Calls Ratner "cousin Brucey" Very colorful, classic Marty speech. Also very loud.

9:57: Markowitz compares the last eight years of building Barclays to riding the Cyclone.

10:00: Compares DoBro to Midtown, says it's a center of the city. Tries speaking in Russian. Crowd laughs. "That's Russian with a Brooklyn accent."

10:05: Governor Cuomo sent a rep. More thanking and boring speeches. Yawn.

10:15: Forest City chairman is very long winded. He's getting very emotional.

10:17: Community rep now on the stage. These speeches are getting really old. Can the tours start yet?

10:24: No sign of Jay-Z. Perhaps it's too early for him?

10:30: Barclays Center CEO says Arena employees are being trained by the Disney institute. That explains the super cheery greetings.

10:32: Ratner says the first residential building groundbreaking will be on December 18.

10:33: iPhone pictures don't do the jumbotron screen justice. But it's more entertaining than the speeches.

10:35: Ratner thanking everyone. Voice starts breaking. He's crying.

10:38: Big scissors! Ribbon cut. There was confetti.

10:44: Tours starting soon. Better view of the court:

10:50 The tour starts outside. Group A has Gregg Pasquarelli of SHoP Architects as our guide. Talking about how Barclays tries to match the surrounding neighborhood.

10:54 The oculus is bigger than a basketball court. Talk of how the center's logo looks like a health care logo.

10:55: The digital board can show anything. SHoP has suggested movies and live streaming from prospect park shows. This giant plaza will be open to the public and have cafe-style seating when there's not an event.

10:58: Back inside. Can actually see the atrium now that it's not filled with press people.

11:00: These concessions ate making us hungry: Fatty Cue, Paisanos, Brooklyn Farmacy, Calexico

11:02: Wonder how long the "new building smell" will last.

11:04: Steel panels open up in some areas to let you see out.

11:05: In a suite! Probably the first and last time we'll be in one of these.

11:09: All the way down in the club area. All the important people are enjoying food and partying while the press is herded along.

11:10: On the court level! But sadly we can't go on the floor.

11:13: It's shiny!

11:15: We're being watched by the construction workers.

11:16: Pasquarelli says Jay-Z was very involved, very easy to work with. He really wanted it to feel like Brooklyn. He had lots of opinions, even weighed in on how the silverware felt.

11:18: Passed Marty on the stairs. "Beautiful!" he says.

11:20: Practice court is visible right from an entrance along Atlantic. Currently being used for feeding important people and a violinist. Can be used by local groups, apparently.

11:22: "This is the last stop on the tour. There's the door." Alrighty then. Curbed out!

11:30: Ah, now we understand why the Daily News was fawning over the arena. Dozens of bricks on the public plaza are imprinted with its logo.

· Barclays Center coverage [Curbed]
· Inside the New, Very Empty, Barclays Center Subway Station [Curbed]

Barclays Center

Atlantic Avenue at Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY