Bruce Ratner now says he’d consider keeping his New Jersey Nets in
New Jersey if he failed to win approval for his contentious $2.5 billion
Atlantic Yards mega-development, which includes a new 19,000 seat basketball
arena.
“I think it would be in a situation, we’d probably re-work the
Meadowlands or re-do the arena somehow,” Ratner told the New York
Times. “I’m not as negative on the Meadowlands as some think.”
Ratner’s comments appeared in the New Jersey edition of the Times
on Sunday and were not published in copies of the Times circulated in
New York City. It was the first time he publicly conceded that he would
consider keeping the team at the Meadowlands if his Brooklyn deal fell
through. Ratner has declined to be interviewed by Brooklyn news media.
The Times interview also contained Ratner’s first acknowledgement
that an impending U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the use of eminent domain
might affect his ability to seize 10 acres of private land in Prospect
Heights’ Atlantic Yards. The project also includes a high-rise housing
and office complex.
After the Brooklyn Papers began asking about Ratner’s comments in
the Times, a Forest City Ratner spokesman responded with a positive spin.
“There’s no reason to think the team is not moving to Brooklyn
for the 2007 season,” said spokesman Joe DePlasco. “Everything
is moving along as smoothly as possible and we anticipate it will be a
tremendous success.”
“It will not fall through,” he said.
Probed further about Ratner’s comments on the possibility of the
Nets remaining in New Jersey, DePlasco refused to comment. He denied requests
for an interview with Ratner directly.
Sports fans and followers of the development are not so sure.
With the loss of four of the team’s six top players from last year,
not to mention the unsolidified plans to move into Brooklyn and a drop
in ticket sales from last year, some say the now-lackluster franchise
is losing steam.
Linda Angerville, site administrator for basketballnyc.com and executive
director of Bingo’s All-Stars Sports Foudnation, which runs after-school
and summer basketball programs for kids, was stunned by Ratner’s
statement.
“Up until now that hasn’t been mentioned; there was this big
emphasis on how he’s so dead-set on bringing sports back to Brooklyn.
That’s really surprising that he would say that.”
An even bigger champion of the Nets move to Brooklyn, Borough President
Marty Markowitz, would likely be even more surprised. Markowitz declined
to comment.
Angerville said she suspects that Ratner’s admission may mean the
project is being derailed.
“The true Nets fans here [in Brooklyn] would love to see the move
happen regardless; they would love them to be here,” she said, but
added, “Brooklynites just want a team. They just want to see a team
and see the stadium built.”
The long wait, however, may lose many fans on either side of the Hudson
along the way. “Jersey fans just feel really disenfranchised and
real messed over,” she said.
“I can’t say it’s a dead project, but I think whoever they
[Forest City Ratner] do have in their camp is probably putting in some
long hours, because it’s a hard sell now.”
Neil deMause, co-author of “Field of Schemes: How the Great Stadium
Swindle turns Public Money Into Private Profit,” said he’s not
so sure the loss of players would cause a financial chokehold, but said
it sounded as if Ratner was trying to keep some lifelines open.
“It’s interesting he didn’t say ‘Well, the Brooklyn
deal’s going to go through.’ It certainly sounds like he’s
not trying to burn some bridges, which makes you wonder if the deal’s
really as sure as he says it is,” said deMause.
