The New York Times real estate writers Charles V. Bagli and Joseph Berger assesses the long Barclays Center saga, which officially ends Friday night, not as architecture or cultural addition, but as a business project, specifically as a typical Bruce Ratner project. The Nets minority owner and arena developer has changed the face of Brooklyn and Times Square, but controversy and even a touch of scandal have been part of the process.

But in spite of completing 22 projects in the city, Ratner acknowledged in the Page 1 article that Atlantic Yards, with Barclays Center at its core, had been "the most difficult, bruising development project I’ve done, or could even imagine doing." Bagli and Berger write at length about how the arena, built on railroad tracks that had defied other builders efforts for 50 years, typifies Ratner's style: big risks, big promises, controversial delivery.

• For Developer Bruce Ratner, Nets Purchase Aided Atlantic Yards Project - Charles V. Bagli & Joseph Berger - New York Times
• Barclays Center set to dazzle at Brooklyn’s new Crossroads of the World - Reuven Blau - New York Daily News
• Bruce Ratner Previews Barclays Center (Video) - Roseanna Scotto & Dave Price - Good Day New York