BY KHADIJA BATUTA

After a contentious and protracted period of stops and starts, the Barclays Center at Atlantic Yards officially broke ground yesterday in a ceremony that included Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Governor David A. Paterson, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Forest City Ratner Companies Chairman and CEO Bruce Ratner, Barclays PLC President Robert E. Diamond, Jr., and NETS investor Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter.  The developer for the project, Forest City Ratner Companies, underwent site preparations for construction last year and now will begin in earnest to complete the sports arena portion of the project, expected to open in 2012, which will include the 18,000-seat stadium for the NBA's relocating New Jersey NETS basketball team as well as a concert venue, restaurants and other facilities. 

The project also will include 16 buildings slated for residential, office, and retail uses.  The residential units will be a mix of market rate condos and rental apartments of which 50% will be a combination of low-, moderate- and middle-income units.

The city contends the Atlantic Yards project "will create tens of thousands of construction and permanent jobs, thousands of units of affordable housing and billions of dollars in economic activity."

Click here to read the City's press release and watch the video.