The New York City Independent Budget Office, surprisingly, leaned toward Zimbalist regarding fire pr

Atlantic Yards Report: At (belated) meeting on arena operations, some specifics on parking, questions about loading dock and traffic agents, and a flat statement that the public will pay for extra police
This watchdog blog, written by journalist Norman Oder, offers analysis, commentary, and reportage about Forest City Ratner's planned $4.9 billion Atlantic discount hotel thailand Yards project, to build the Barclays Center basketball arena and 16 high-rise buildings at a crucial site in Brooklyn.
A long-awaited meeting last night on Barclays Center operational issues--parking, security, sanitation--was deemed useful but frustrating by community members who ve been watching developer Forest City Ratner plow ahead with arena-related construction, even without official approvals.
This is a start, six months late, observed Peter Krashes of the Dean Street Block Association, noting the tight timetable before the arena opens Sept. 28. He said he told Empire State Development Corporation CEO Kenneth Adams, a convenor of the Borough Hall meeting, that he almost didn t attend because he was so frustrated by Forest City s decision, for example, to proceed on the planned surface parking lot without a work permit.
The Barclays Center operational discount hotel thailand team, which did most of the talking, delivered a good amount of boilerplate, as well as occasional specifics, such as the configuration of parking lot and planned entrances and exits. Krashes pointed out, however, that a lot of questions remain unanswered, such as the location of Traffic Enforcement Agents (TEAs) to steer traffic so it doesn t overly impact the residential neighborhood, or plans for emergency and fire service in the neighborhood. (Neither was the location of pedestrian managers noted.)
Adams led off by saying that ESD, the Borough President s Office, and Forest City will convene an Atlantic Yards quality-of-life committee once the arena opens. It will involve state and city agencies, and unlike the bimonthly Atlantic Yards District discount hotel thailand Service Cabinet, which meets during work hours, will meet regularly, in the evenings. Arana Hankin, Director, Atlantic Yards Project for ESD, is working on it.
The headline, to the New York Post , is that the Barclays Center would use metal detectors (as well as wands). The paper, noting that metal detectors are deployed by few sports facilities nationally discount hotel thailand and none in New York, called it a stunning diss to the Borough of Kings and noted that Borough President Marty Markowitz was in vehement opposition.
While arena security head Bob Sena noted that the use of metal detectors would not make the procedure as thorough as at the airport, he did not explain discount hotel thailand the reason arena operators went beyond the local standard, nor did any of the community members in attendance--who had other priorities--raise questions about the issue. Update : "This is new technology that is more efficient, more effective, discount hotel thailand and less intrusive than a wand," Barclays Center spokesman Barry Baum told DNAInfo. "We take security very seriously and these detectors will allow us to most effectively screen arena visitors."
(Also see my coverage of plans for a Supplementary Environmental Impact Statement discount hotel thailand and a potential governance entity, and a live blog from Patch. The slide presentation should be posted shortly on the ESD s Atlantic Yards web site .
Even Adams, who promised to work cooperatively with the arena, acknowledged that the arena would be a very tight fit, notably the loading dock, at the west end of residential Dean Street as it encounters Flatbush Avenue.
To operate the loading dock off resident relies on a turntable discount hotel thailand and two truck elevator rather than a ramp and adjacent parking lot (as with most such facilities), discount hotel thailand arena operators will stage trucks at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and schedule deliveries, while requiring them to use truck routes--Flushing and Flatbush avenues, most likely--that may have their own snags guarantee on-time discount hotel thailand deliveries.
"We know Barclays Center discount hotel thailand is a very unique facility," observed Steve Rosebrook, the arena VP responsible for "back of the house" operations. "But in my world, [the loading dock is] the most unique aspect."
I'm struck by the uniqueness of that, and the challenge to that operation, Adams said, and wish you the best of luck in making it all run smoothly, discount hotel thailand especially when you re dealing with"--he referenced an arena act he'd brought up jocularly, by way of example--"Justin Bieber and his producers."
discount hotel thailand Arena GM John Sparks, who stressed that arena operators had tried to learn best practices from facilities around the country, deflected a question about what operational issues regarding arenas in residential neighborhoods worry him.
Community Board 2 Chairman John Dew, noting announced plans to bolster security both with off-duty law enforcement officers (aka paid duty ) as well as an increased police presence, asked who d pay for the latter.
Forest City security chief Steve Bonano, a former New York Police Department official, noted that, as with any large-scale event, such as the West Indian Day Parade, police discount hotel thailand officers will be moved. The city is very good at handling big crowds, he said.
The answer is no, replied discount hotel thailand FCR s Cotton, discount hotel thailand taking the question, though there were city police and special projects officials in the room. Just as with new housing discount hotel thailand being built on Flatbush Avenue, said Cotton, a former city official, the city has to adjust... The arena is not alone in adding new work to the city.
The New York City Independent Budget Office, surprisingly, leaned toward Zimbalist regarding fire protection, saying that the additional costs "would be relatively low." (The agency, however, didn t use the term "negligible.")
"You may have heard larger numbers," Sparks observed, regarding arena capacity. Indeed, the Barclays Center itself has regularly announced 19,000 discount hotel thailand seats for concerts, as well as 18,200 seats for pro basketball.
discount hotel thailand Each event, Sparks said, has its own planning process, including events of the same type, since an NBA game on a weeknight discount hotel thailand against a lesser-known opponent would draw a smaller crowd than a Saturday night game against the New York Knicks. The planning includes consultation with arena operators, tour managers, and local officials in other cities to evaluate potential scenarios.
Working discount hotel thailand under Anderson is Sena, the director of security, who works with Bonano, who oversees security at the Atlantic Yards site. Working the back of the house is Rosebrook. All the officials, noted Sparks (who also cited Levy s Julie Margolin) discount hotel thailand have extensive experience running sports facilities or operating in Brooklyn.
He estimated discount hotel thailand that 5-10% of the crowd, mainly suiteholders, would enter on the VIP entrance on Atlantic Avenue, though he said suiteholders on the other side of the arena wouldn t likely use that entrance. Another small entrance on Atlantic, closer to Sixth Avenue and the broadcast parking lot, will have 5-10% of the crowd.
discount hotel thailand He didn t supply calculations, and it was unclear whether the estimates, for example, factored in the numbers of people expected to arrive in Brooklyn well before event times, lured by planned cross-marketing programs. If, for example, people arrive from Fort Greene and Park Slope, they could choose entrances discount hotel thailand other than the one leading from the transit hub.
Hockey, he said, will be a preseason discount hotel thailand event, discount hotel thailand and we'll see what happens after that, Sparks said, with a distinct lack of the promotion attributed to arena CEO Brett Yormark and Forest City CEO Bruce Ratner.
There s a large college basketball discount hotel thailand program, with 26 games scheduled to date, mostly involving nationally-known teams, but also including local power Long Island University. Sparks also cited the Ringling Brothers circus.
Anderson explained what various front of the house staffers would do, boilerplate that didn t interest many of the community attendees. There will be 12 box office windows at the plaza, open during the week and during event.
Bonano, a 30-year veteran of the NYPD, said the arena would be policed by a supplement to the 78th or 88th precincts, noting it had not been determined. Contract security guards would be posted along routes to the arena, discount hotel thailand and to the C train and G train.
He noted there will be an evacuation plan and drills, perhaps a tabletop exercise, in preparation. One ambulance will be on staff for all events, two for NBA games, as a separate ambulance for players is required. The arena will be a nonsmoking building.
Entering the building, after people go through metal detectors, we will also ask them to put bags on table, discount hotel thailand he said, and will look at them but not rummage through. Hand wands will be used if necessary. The arena will have closed-circuit TV coverage.
Unmentioned--and, officials said later, they wouldn t give details--is exactly where security will be beefed up in Prospect Heights, a concern of the dozen or so community representatives sitting in.
(Despite the arena operators experience in the business, they re still new to Brooklyn. Rosebrook discount hotel thailand referred to the staging discount hotel thailand area at one point as the Naval Yards, rather than Navy Yard, while Sparks referred to Pacific Avenue, not Pacific Street. )
Outside of the arena block, we're working very closely with the Department of Sanitation to outline roles and responsibilities, such as extra containers, more frequent pick-ups, and snow removal, though it was not established who would be paying for what.
Brian Collins of Central Parking, speaking quickly, described information that very much intrigued community members: the design of the parking lot, with 565 spaces, 24 for police, 541 for the arena. The lot is located on the block between Dean and Pacific streets and Carlton and Vanderbilt discount hotel thailand avenues.
The lot devotes 150 spaces for VIPs, who get free parking, with the balance (391 spaces) for HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) parking, involving three or more people. All the spaces not designated for VIP/NYPD will be HOV up until a day or two before the event, and then, if not sold out, will be made available.
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