New Nets owner throws Brooklyn coming-out party

By LARRY McSHANE, Associated Press Writer
January 23, 2004


Brooklyn developer intent on moving them across the Hudson River -- a move immediately hailed in New York for returning big-time sports to the borough.

Duke Snider, meet Jason Kidd.

``It's taken 47 years, but today we can finally say we've corrected the great mistake of '57,'' said Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz, referring to the Dodgers' defection to California.

New owner Bruce Ratner was joined at a gala news conference by an assortment of politicians, Brooklyn-born ex-Knicks star Bernard King, and rapper Jay-Z, a fellow investor. At King's invitation, all donned ``Brooklyn Nets'' jerseys.

``It's a great day for all of us,'' said Ratner in his first public comments since the sale was announced Wednesday. ``It's a great day for Brooklyn.''

Ratner spoke shortly after the Nets' former owners, YankeeNets, voted in a teleconference to approve the deal. The rest of the NBA owners must approve the deal as well.

NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik, at the Nets-Heat game Friday night in Miami, said the possibility of a team in Brookyln was interesting.

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``There certainly isn't any predisposition against it. Obviously we don't like to see teams moving around a lot, but on the other hand this is a move within the same territory. In those cases franchises are usually given a fair amount of latitude,'' he said.

While best known as the spurned home of baseball's Dodgers, Brooklyn has produced a fair number of basketball stars: coaches Lenny Wilkens of the New York Knicks and Larry Brown of the Detroit Pistons, current Knicks guard Stephon Marbury, and ex-NBA greats Chris Mullin and Billy Cunningham.

But lurking behind the celebration were threats from neighborhood groups regarding the construction of the proposed arena. Ratner estimates about 150 homes would be affected, although neighbors fear the number will be closer to 1,000.

``Until meaningful discussions with the community are granted, we cannot wholeheartedly support this proposition,'' said the Rev. Herbert Daughtry, a veteran activist whose church sits two blocks from the proposed site. ``We know that all that glitters is not gold.'

Ratner promised that he would involve local residents as the $2.5 billion project, with its 19,000-seat area, moves toward completion.

``It is about the community, and listening to the community, and involving the community,'' Ratner said.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the project would generate an estimated $400 million in annual economic activity, and create 10,000 new jobs during its construction. The project would also include 4,500 units of residential housing and 2.1 million square feet of commercial office space.

Work on the arena would begin next year and finish in time for the 2006 NBA season, leaving the lame duck Nets to play the next two seasons in New Jersey.

The presence of Bloomberg and Gov. George Pataki signaled city and state support for the Frank Gehry-designed arena. Ratner needs approval from both for infrastructure changes, tax breaks and condemnations of neighboring homes that could end up costing hundreds of millions of dollars.

But such roadblocks took a backseat to the announcement that the sale had gone through, and the first hurdle to relocating the Nets had been cleared.

``Its a proud day for Brooklyn,'' said Jay-Z. ``I never got a chance to experience the Dodgers. This is the new Dodgers -- the Nets.''

the other side of the coin

Group Protests Nets' Sale Outside Arena

TOM CANAVAN
Associated Press

EAST RUTHERFORD N.J. - Some 30 people protested the proposed sale and move of the New Jersey Nets to Brooklyn, N.Y., on Sunday outside the team's home arena.

The protest came two days after the Nets' current owners agreed to sell the franchise to Brooklyn developer Bruce Ratner for $300 million.

"Until they tell me this is not going to go through, that's how long I'll be out here," said Mike Kozlowski of Waldwick, who helped organize the demonstration at the Nets' first home game since the sale was announced. "Anybody who is willing to keep the Nets in New Jersey is my friend."

Kozlowski hung a banner that said "Keep the Nets in New Jersey" on a fence around the outside of the arena. He also had posters for distribution, including "Brooklyn Fuhgettaboudit" and another with "Brooklyn" inside a circle with a line scored through it.

Inside the arena, there was no discernible negative reaction from the near-sellout crowd when the Nets were introduced. There also were no banners or signs, because security members confiscated them as people entered the building.

The Nets can't move until Ratner builds an arena in Brooklyn, and many protesters hope he runs into the same problems that the current Nets ownership encountered in trying to build an arena in Newark.

Chris Suswal, a former New Jersey native now living in Brooklyn, called the plan to move the team to Brooklyn ridiculous.

"Like many of the residents of Brooklyn, we want Brooklyn to be as it is, Brooklyn," Suswal said. "We don't want people's homes demolished. We don't want a multiconglomerate $2.5 billion complex to come in. That's not what Brooklyn is about. It's about a neighborhood, a community."

You know what this does for New York Basketball.....SPEAK!!!!

Where you been????

look here swish, broolyn will be lookin' to challenge the mecca for bragging rights. if the nets moved to long island, then yeah, i would agree, things on the island are a little relaxed similar to meadowlands.....BK is whole different arena dawg