The Brooklyn Nets

[muscle1313]

Boro courting the Nets

Beep says 500M stadium focus of talks with owners

By BILL FARRELL
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER


Nets' star Jason Kidd lays one in against the Jazz in January.
Borough President Marty Markowitz hopes the team will move to the
borough.

Is Jason going to be the new Kidd on the block?
It very well could happen now that Brooklyn is in play to become the
new home for the New Jersey Nets.

Representatives of the YankeesNets and Forest City Ratner and Borough
President Marty Markowitz confirmed a published report that a deal is
in the works that could have the Nets playing in Brooklyn.

According to a story in yesterday's Newark Star-Ledger, Nets co-owner
Lewis Katz, has been in talks with Bruce Ratner to build a $500
million arena above the Long Island Rail Road lines on Atlantic Ave.
Forest City Ratner would also build 5,500 units of housing.

Brooklyn came into the picture as talks of building an arena for the
Devils and Nets in Newark became bogged down.

Sources close to the talks said both sides have been in discussions
for several months.

"We won't comment on any negotiation for potential sites," said
YankeeNets spokeswoman Alice McGillion.

"All I can say is there have been ongoing discussions," said Forest
City Ratner spokeswoman Michelle D'Milly.

The borough president however, was much more effusive.

"All I can say is that Brooklyn is in play," said Markowitz. "With
all due respect to the Cyclones, Brooklyn is a major league town and
there is no doubt an NBA franchise in Brooklyn would quickly become
the most successful franchise in the league," Markowitz added.

Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce President Kenneth Adams also cheered the
news and is keeping his fingers crossed.

"They could not have picked a better location. They will create new
land and build in an area that is served by the Long Island Rail
Road, 10 subway lines and who knows how many bus lines," said Adams.

A lot to offer

"Here we have a rich education and cultural district and to add a
professional sports team, and all of a sudden Brooklyn also becomes a
major league town."

Markowitz agreed.

"As a boy, I cried when the Dodgers left in 1957. I'm looking forward
to shedding tears of joy when the NBA comes to Brooklyn," he
said. "Brooklyn has produced some of the greatest players in NBA
history, now maybe some of them will have a chance to play at home."

A move to Brooklyn would be a homecoming of sorts for the Nets, who
came into existence as an American Basketball Association franchise
on Long Island.

As of yesterday, it was not clear if the team, which needed league
permission to move to New Jersey, would once again need league
approval to move back to this side of the Hudson.

Originally published on July 24, 2003

http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/...9p-93432c.html

[billyblancoNYC]

Thought it might be in Coney, but this is really amazing. *PLUS 5500 housing units!

[billyblancoNYC]

Gehry might be the architect...

Nets: Brooklyn proposed as home for Nets



Wednesday, July 23, 2003


BY MATTHEW FUTTERMAN
Star-Ledger Staff

Raymond Chambers, Newark's leading philanthropist, is making a push
for an arena in the state's largest city where only the Devils would
play.

At the same time, his partner, Lewis Katz, is pursuing talks of his
own to move the Nets to Brooklyn, according to four top executives
and investors with YankeeNets, the sports company that controls the
teams.


Chambers declined comment and Katz didn't return repeated calls. If
the talks are serious, it would be the first time YankeeNets has
followed up on a threat to move at least one team out of state.

Officials close to the two men say they continue to work together
cordially despite the competing arena proposals. That leaves it
unclear whether the Brooklyn project is more than a negotiating ploy
to bring four years of talks in New Jersey to a conclusion.

With Gov. James E. McGreevey's blessing, Newark has offered
YankeeNets $210 million in public subsidies for the proposed $355
million arena. But the two sides have been unable to find a way to
close the remaining $145 million gap.

Richard Monteilh, Newark's business administrator, said Monday the
city continued to do everything it could to reach a deal.

"YankeeNets is working on a variety of options and alternatives," he
said. "The city's costs are fixed. We're trying to revive downtown
and create jobs."

Associates of Chambers and YankeeNets officials said Katz is talking
with Bruce Ratner, president of Forest City-Ratner Cos., about an
arena above the Long Island Railroad terminal on Atlantic Avenue in
Brooklyn.

The proposed $500 million Brooklyn arena would include 5,500 housing
units. The associates said Ratner has signed up the noted architect
Frank Gehry to design the project, which would be financed with
roughly $30 million a year in tax revenues collected at the site.

Ratner could not be reached for comment.

YankeeNets officials, who declined to be identified, said Ratner has
also offered to buy the Nets. For now, they said, Katz and YankeeNets
prefer to hold on to the franchise.

The Brooklyn negotiations have forced Chambers to take on a prominent
role in the proposed Newark project for the first time in nearly a
year.

His idea, though -- a Devils-only arena -- faces plenty of hurdles.

The biggest obstacle is money, which the Devils lost a lot of this
year -- some $25 million.

Financing from banks would be far more difficult to get in a one-team
arena. The city also may balk at providing $210 million in public
subsidies unless both teams come. Finally, an exclusive home for the
Devils would have to compete for concerts and family shows with
Continental Airlines Arena, where the teams now play, just six miles
away in East Rutherford.

The state had planned to close Continental Airlines Arena if both
teams moved to Newark.

"We have heard the rumors about an arena for the Devils in Newark,"
said George Zoffinger, chief executive of the New Jersey Sports and
Exposition Authority, the state agency that operates the
Meadowlands. "Our objective is to keep both teams in New Jersey.

"If it's only the Devils moving to Newark, I don't see how we can
force a closure of the Continental Airlines Arena."

Chambers and Katz together own a controlling interest in the Devils,
which allows them to move the hockey team without the approval of the
YankeeNets board.

The board, though, has refused to spend money on the Newark project.
Chambers' associates said he views an arena for the Devils as his
last hope to revive Newark's ailing downtown.

Newark officials said no consideration has been given to whether the
city would continue to offer some $210 million in public subsidies
for an arena without the Nets.

Monteilh said Newark would "absolutely" prefer an arena with two
teams. The city would have to rethink its investment if only one team
comes and a competing building remains in the Meadowlands, he said.

"I have not gotten that proposal yet," he said of the one-team arena
plan. "That has not been the proposal to us so far."

Investors in the two franchises desperately need a new arena. The
value of the Devils has dropped a third since Chambers and Katz
bought the team for $175 million in 2000. A modern arena could
increases revenue by $20 million each year and boost the teams'
values.

YankeeNets executives and investors said the latest push for Newark
is the clearest sign yet of turmoil at the highest levels of the
company.

In February, the YankeeNets board appointed investors Mort Olshan,
Alan Landis and David Gerstein to a committee with the mission of
bringing the meandering negotiations with Newark to a conclusion.

Marc Ganis, a Chicago-based arena consultant, was hired to lead the
negotiations. Business leaders in New Jersey, including Art Ryan,
chief executive at Prudential, and Al Koeppe, chief executive of
Public Service Electric & Gas, were enlisted to rally corporate
support.

In late spring, however, Katz approached developers in Brooklyn.

At the time, the moves angered members of the negotiating committee,
created tension between Katz and Chambers, and helped spark Chambers'
return to the arena talks after nearly a year on the sidelines.

Chambers' associates denied yesterday there was a rift between
Chambers and Katz. The associates said Chambers understood the desire
to seek alternative sites for the arena.

[Gulcrapek]

Ugh. Gehry.

It'll be great to have a melting chamber pot or whatever else he thinks up in the middle of Ft Greene.

[Kris]

Now all we need is Libeskind in charge of the new Yankee Stadium. I can picture him wearing a Yankee cap and proclaiming, "I've been a Yankee fan all my life!"

(Edited by Christian Wieland at 10:04 am on July 27, 2003)

[STT757]

The Newark Arena will get done, this is an effort to close the deal.

Remember the New England Patriots were boasting about how they were going to move to Hartford in '99-'00, Governor John Roland of Connecticut was making all these speeches about what it would do for downtown Hartford.

However it was not a done deal as the Patriots were just trying to squeeze a better deal out of the State of Massachusets.

Breaking up the Nets and Devils does not make sense, an arena in Brooklyn for just the Nets and an arena in Newark for just the Devils is not economically viable.

And the Devils are not going to Brooklyn, especially because of the Rangers and Islanders.

[muscle1313]

Think you are wrong there. Ratner even went as far as offering to buy the team according to reports so he is obviously very interested in building this arena. Looks to me like the Nets are coming to Brooklyn.

[TLOZ Link5]

There's no doubt that there is a good chance. *It also sounds like a serious proposal.

[STT757]

"Ratner even went as far as offering to buy the team"

What good is owning the Nets without owning or sharing an arena with the Devils, neither can make it on there own.

Also the Nets and Devils are part of the Yankees Nets group, pulling the Nets out of the Yankees/George Steinbrenners controll is not good for the new YES network.

The YES network needs the Nets and Devils to fill their programing needs during the Fall/Winter/Spring months.

[STT757]

"Ratner even went as far as offering to buy the team"

If they want to own a team they should buy the Knicks and Rangers, the Dolans and Cablevision are running those franchises into the ground.

Trading Sprewell for Van Horn, not a good deal!

The General Manager, the Dolans, Don Cheneny should go..

If Ratner wants to own a team and build a new arena then they should buy the Knicks and Rangers and build a new Madison Square Garden.

All of which are in desperate need of change.

[STT757]

One more thing..

Ratner could bring in Sean "Puffy" Combs and Spike Lee as partners in the Knicks/Rangers deal, Combs and Lee have been in the papers lately openly offering the buy the franchises.

They are disgrunteled too, as most Knicks and Rangers fans are.

Listen to the Fan, 660Am WFAN and listen to all the disgruntled fans.

[billyblancoNYC]

Well, the Nets have been in the finals the past 2 years and don't even sell out playoff games. Sad. *This transportation is better, the facility will be state of the art and Ratner plans to build a lot of housing to help pay the bills. *I don't think it would be announced if it wasn't a real possibility. *Downtown Brooklyn is booming, not Jersey. *Also, isn't part of the deal with YankeeNets that the guy that wants the Devils in Newark has control, but not of the Nets? *The move and location make perfect sense. *Besides, they started in LI, so it's about time they cam back home. *Same withe Jets (and Giants).

[STT757]

"Downtown Brooklyn is booming, not Jersey"

How's that?..

New Jersey's economy has been booming lately, and it's held up the best during the recent economic downturn of any state.

The Newark Arena would be connected to Newark Penn station with Amtrak trains, NJ Transit Trains and PATH trains. Also Newark Airport would be about 1 1/2 miles down McCarter Highway.

Newark Penn Station offers better connections than Atlantic Ave, you could take a PATH train from the World Trade Center, 33rd Street, and Amtrak from virtually anwhere along the North East Corridor.

Jason Kidd, Byron Scott etc all live in New Jersey. They own big surburban McMansions, and they have easy commutes to the Meadowlands. Downtown Newark is just a couple more miles down the Turnpike, they would not want to play in Brooklyn and commute from New Jersey or Long Island.

[ZippyTheChimp]

Yes, why would anyone want to play basketball in Brooklyn?
It's almost as alien as hockey in Montreal. *

[TLOZ Link5]

And isn't Brooklyn closer to Long Island than Newark? *