Brooklyn's Progress
February 2004

Bruce C. Ratner, President and CEO of Forest City Ratner Companies, an affiliate of Forest City Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: FCEA and FCEB), announced on Jan. 23 that his investment team’s bid to buy the Nets basketball team has been successful.  Governor George E. Pataki; Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Senator Charles Schumer; Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz; Assemblyman Roger Green, who represents the neighborhood where the Arena will be built; hip-hop entrepreneur and Nets investor Jay-Z; and Bernard King, Brooklyn native and four-time All-Star professional basketball player, joined Mr. Ratner for the celebratory news conference at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. 

“Today is a great day for Brooklyn,” Bruce Ratner said. “I look forward to rooting for the ‘home team’ in our spectacular new Arena, designed by the great Frank Gehry.  Now that Brooklyn has its own professional basketball team, we can continue to implement the vision of a re-energized downtown Brooklyn.  This project will be a part of the unique urban fabric of Brooklyn – a dynamic commercial and recreational destination complementing vibrant residential neighborhoods.” 

At the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues, the Arena will be the focal point of Brooklyn Atlantic Yards, an urban complex of housing, commercial and retail space, and public open space – including a park on the Arena’s roof, ringed by an open-air running track that doubles as a skating rink in winter (and offers spectacular views of Brooklyn and Manhattan year-round).  In addition to the 800,000 square-foot Arena, Brooklyn Atlantic Yards is expected to include 2.1 million square feet of commercial office space; 300,000 square feet of retail space; 4.4 million square feet of
residential space, in approximately 4,500 units of affordable, middle-income and market-rate housing; and six acres of parks and areas for passive and active recreation designed by noted landscape architect Laurie Olin, who will also turn Atlantic Avenue into a tree-lined boulevard as it flows past the site.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, “We are thrilled for Bruce Ratner and the team at Forest City Ratner Companies for successfully bringing the first major-league sports franchise back to New York City in over 40 years. As I said in my State of the City address, Downtown Brooklyn is experiencing a remarkable revival. We’ve made the area into a place that’s able to win in the competition for residents, businesses, and workers, and now to compliment all that, Brooklyn will have the Nets and a spectacular arena designed by one of the world’s great architects, Frank Gehry. New York City put on a full-court press to show that we were serious about winning, and our work to transform Brooklyn and all the boroughs is paying off. This is just the start of great things to come in our City’s future.”

“Brooklyn is a world-class city that deserves a world-class sports team like the Nets,” Governor George E. Pataki said. “This project will add to Brooklyn’s revival by bringing a spectacular, new urban complex of housing, commercial, retail, and open public space. We are delighted that Bruce Ratner and Forest City Ratner Companies are going to make the Nets at home in Brooklyn and continue the borough's rich tradition of sports.”

“I remember going to Ebbetts Field with my Dad,” Senator Charles Schumer said, “and I’ve taught my daughters about the glory days of the Dodgers.  Brooklyn has been on its way back for a long time now, and bringing pro sports to the borough – along with more than 4,000 units of desperately needed housing for all income levels and 10,000 new jobs – shows how far we’ve come.”

Borough President Marty Markowitz said, “This is a dream come true for Brooklyn and for me.  We have waited too long to correct the great mistake of ‘57.  And I’m excited by how we are returning to the national sports stage: with an arena and a development that will become an attraction in itself, by creating jobs, affordable housing, and even more economic opportunity for Brooklyn.  It makes me feel like ‘dem bums’ are back!”

The site for Brooklyn Atlantic Yards is adjacent to the third-largest transportation hub in New York City – Atlantic Terminal, where nine different subway lines and the Long Island Railroad converge.  These modes of transportation will make visiting the Brooklyn Arena easy for fans, whether they’re coming from other boroughs or from the surrounding suburbs – drastically reducing the vehicular traffic that might be expected at a site that lacked mass transit. 

Some arenas shut themselves off from the outside world, but Frank Gehry has designed an arena that invites the outside in: the Arena’s Atlantic and Flatbush Avenue façades will be made of glass, allowing patrons on the concourses inside the Arena to glimpse the vibrant life of downtown Brooklyn and flooding the inside with natural light during the day.  At night, the pedestrian experience on the street will be enlivened by what’s going on inside the Arena, with the lights and the excitement clearly visible to passers-by.

Inside, fans will have excellent sightlines from all locations, whether the Arena is configured for a professional basketball game (19,000 seats – including 2,000 club seats and 125 luxury suites) or other events (the maximum seating capacity will be 20,000).  The seating bowl transitions from the rectangular shape required for basketball and hockey into an oval as its sides rise, bringing the corner seats closer to the action. 
 
“The diverse group we’ve put together to own the Nets is committed to the broader goals of this project – including economic development, a wide range of housing options and significant job creation,” Mr. Ratner explained, noting that between the Arena and the commercial and retail space envisioned, Brooklyn Atlantic Yards will bring tens of thousands of new jobs to the area.  “And we are all committed to having ticket prices that will be affordable for all of the people of Brooklyn,” he added.