The BulleTin Board

Barclays state of mind

Compiled by Russell Steinberg

Stadium seating

Complex controversy

Brooklyns $1 billion, 675,000-square-foot Barclays Center which is jointly owned by Forest City Ratner and Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov is set to open in September. The arena will seat up to 18,103 fans for Brooklyn Nets basketball games. When it is reconFIgured for hockey, it will seat 14,500, and for concerts, Barclays Center 19,000.

The arena is, of course, the centerpiece of the controversial $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards complex, which will also include two ofFIce buildings and 6,430 apartments. Critics say the project will create chaotic trafFIc and drastically alter the low-rise neighborhood. Forest City hopes to break ground on the FIRst tower sometime this summer.

In 2007, the British bank Barclays agreed to pay the Nets nearly $200 million over the next 20 years for naming rights to the arena. The recordbreaking deal surpassed the $185 million that Royal Philips Electronics paid for naming rights to what is now known as the Philips Arena in Atlanta, according to the New York Times.

The name game

For years, the Atlantic Yards project was stalled by legal battles. In 2008, community groups unsuccessfully tried to block construction. In 2009, a judge dismissed an eminent domain suit that would have prevented Forest City from seizing private property near the complex. And last year, workers FIled a suit against the developer to recover unpaid wages for construction work. That case is ongoing. Forest City Ratner head Bruce Ratner

Legal battles

Inaugurating an arena

Rapper and Brooklyn Nets minority owner Jay-Z will perform AT the arenas inaugural concert on Sept. 28. Jay-Z will also open a 9,000-squarefoot, 350-seat restaurant and sports bar called 40/40 in the arena, according to the New York Post. The club will only be open during arena events and will only be accessible Jay-Z to ticket holders.

The arenas FIRst scheduled sporting event will be an Islanders vs. Devils hockey game on Oct. 2. Teen sensation Justin Bieber will perform on Nov. 12, with ticket prices already fetching up to $10,000 on the secondary market, while Barbra Streisands October concert has tickets listed for $34,000 on StubHub. In total, there are 13 performers scheduled in the next year.

True Beliebers

A suite deal

Getting there

The arena will include about 100 luxury suites. Eleven of those, known as the Vault, cost $550,000 to lease for a year, and come with eight tickets to all Barclays Center Events, access to an exclusive champagne bar, personalized concierge service and VIP parking.

In late May, the number of parking spots at the arena was chopped from 1,000 to just 541, according to WNYC, in order to reduce trafFIc and encourage visitors to use public transportation. Located at Atlantic Terminal, the arena has access to nine subway lines and the Long Island Rail Road. Eleven bus lines will also stop near the center.