With the Grand Opening of Barclays Center scheduled for September 28, it looks like things will be a little tight. The latest report by engineering consultants for the arena bondholders is projecting a completion date of September 5, a little more than three weeks before the Jay-Z concert.

The next significant milestone in the construction timetable is installation of the arena scoreboard and video boards which is expected to start March 6 and the installation of ice rink systems starting 10 days later. Metal deck roofing is also expected to be completed the first two weeks of March. Meanwhile, the Empire State Development Corporation, which is working with Forest City Ratner on construction noted, "Yard construction hours have the potential to extend until 3:00 AM Monday through Friday".

• Barclays Center completion date pushed back a week - Norman Oder - Atlantic Yards Report
  

The NBA on Wednesday awarded the 2013 All-Star Game to the Houston Rockets. The mid-season classic will be Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013 at the Toyota Center, which will also host the NBA Rising Stars Challenge and NBA All-Star Saturday Night, which includes the dunk and three-point shooting contest and skills challenge.

So who gets the 2014 game ... and accompanying weekend? Since the NBA often rewards teams and cities that have made big financial commitments to new arenas, word is that Barclays Center and the renovated Madison Square Garden will be at the top of the list.

"We are in the big event business, and the All-Star Game certainly would be classified as a big event," Brett Yormark recently told Big Lead Sports. "Our goal is to be aggressive to host every big event that we can."

But a league source reports that New York may have already told the NBA it cannot support the All-Star game. It would come only two weeks after the 2014 Super Bowl, which will be held in MetLife Stadium.

• Houston Gets 2013 NBA All-Star Game; Will Brooklyn Or Madison Square Garden Be Next? - Barry Janoff - Big Lead Sports
  

This may not be the best time to talk about the future, with the present so ugly, but Thursday the Nets will introduce ""The Vault at Barclays Center,", the 11 Jay-Z designed party suites that will retail for $550,000 a year. Previously known as the "Event-Level Suites", they will be courtside and the place where they hope the "who's who of New York" would congregate.

It's all part of the Nets' increasing promotion of Jay-Z's role with arena and team. Brett Yormark described his contributions to the Wall Street Journal, saying he's involved in the logo ("He's refreshed it"); designing new uniforms ("His fingerprints are all over it"); and coming up with a new color scheme ("A bold redirection"). The Journal reports the team plans to unveil all this spring.

• Jay-Z Determined to Make the Nets Stylish - Scott Cacciola - Wall Street Journal
• Suite life at B’klyn arena sure is sweet - Erin Durkin - New York Daily News
  
• A Sneak Peek Inside Barclays Center (Video) - Patch.com
  
• Barclays Center - The Vault - BarclaysCenter.com
• Jay-Z Won't Settle For Anything Less Than The Best Champagne And Forks - Deadspin
  

B.D. Gallof, who broke news of the Islanders ' preseason appearance at Barclays Center, now reports that sources in the NHL and arena management believe the chances of a Brooklyn move are good.

Barclays is making an "aggressive sales pitch," Gallof wrote for WFAN. In addition he quoted his league source as saying, "the chances of the New York Islanders to Brooklyn are actually pretty good". Gallof says that Islanders would not have to ask the Rangers for permission to move into the city, that agreements signed in 1974 and 1986 permit the Islanders to re-locate to Brooklyn or Queens. The Islanders are stuck with a lease that will keep them at Nassau Coliseum until 2015.

• Sources: Brooklyn Going After Islanders Hard, Making 'Aggressive Sales Pitch' - B.D. Gallof - WFAN
• Report: New Brooklyn arena really wants the Islanders - Jason Brough - NBC Sports
• Developers to offer new Nassau Hub plan - Robert Brodsky & Randi F. Marshall - New York Newsday
  

Lost in the construction alerts, critics complaints and other minutia is the reality that Barclays Center's opening is going to signal a new era in Brooklyn. The borough --and the city-- are likely to push September 28 as a touchstone in Brooklyn's revival. So much so, it's now being discussed as a tourist attraction.

amNY quotes the operation of a Brooklyn tourist bus tour. "When all is said and done, it will be another jewel in the crown of Brooklyn," Tony Muia, who runs "A Slice of Brooklyn" bus tour, said of the arena. Others spoke of how the arena will help spur the construction of Brooklyn hotels and other development nearby.

• Brooklyn 'courts' more tourists with Barclays Center venue - Erik Ortiz - amNY
• Photo Galleries: Barclays Center Update - Tom Kaminski - WCBS Chopper 880
• Photo Gallery - A Tour Of The Atlantic Yards Arena - Dan Geiger - New York Observer
  

In an interview with the New York Observer, Bruce Ratner said that games at Barclays Center will be partially visible from the entrance plaza in from of the arena.

"It’s going to be the only court in the league where you can literally watch the game from the street outside," Ratner said. Previously, arena officials said the scoreboard will be visible from street level, but not the games. The court (or rink) will be 25' feet below street grade.

The below-grade aspect of Barclays will also permit arena managers to break up the flow of traffic as fans enter. When fans enter from ground level, depending on where they sit, they will be split between heading up or down to their seats.

"At a place like MSG, you have everybody heading up at the start of the game and then down at the end," said Ratner. "It creates a jam and it’s confusing. You’re forced to kind of follow the crowd just to know where you’re going."

Hockey will be played at Barclays Center. The Nets officially announced Tuesday that the New York Islanders will play a preseason game in Brooklyn on Oct. 2, just four days after the official opening of the Nets' new arena.

The Islanders, not the Nets, will play the first pro sports game of any kind at the new arena.

And the Islanders' opponent for the game will be the Nets' current landlord at the Prudential Center, the New Jersey Devils.

"We already have some of the most passionate fans in the league supporting our young team, and we are looking forward to expanding our base into Brooklyn," said Islanders GM Garth Snow. Brett Yormark left no doubt that this is an audition for a permanent move when the Islanders lease at Nassau Coliseum runs out in 2015. In a phone conversation with the Times Tuesday, Yormak said, “We would love for [Islander owner] Charles [Wang] to consider Brooklyn.”

• Islanders to play first NHL Game at Barclays Center in Brooklyn - New Jersey Nets
• Islanders-Devils to play at Barclays Center - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York
• Testing the Ice Where Hockey Was an Afterthought - Liz Robbins - New York Times
  
• Islanders to Play Devils in Preseason Game at New Arena in Brooklyn - Jeff Z. Klein & Chris Botta - New York Times
• Islanders, Devils to play at Brooklyn arena next preseason - Rich Calder - New York Post
  
• Islanders head to Brooklyn - for one game - New York Newsday
  
• Islanders-Devils to Be First NHL Game Played at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center - Eben Novy-Williams - Bloomberg News
• Devils and Islanders will play 2012 preseason game in Brooklyn - Rich Chere - Star-Ledger
• UPDATE: Islanders to play in Brooklyn! - Don McLeod - Brooklyn Paper
• The Islanders Are Coming! The Islanders Are Coming! - Neil deMause - Village Voice
  
• Islanders To Play Preseason Game in Brooklyn; Ironic Glasses Optional - Dominik - Lighthouse Hockey
  

Following recent rumors that the Islanders will play a preseason game at Barclays Center this fall, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz hinted Monday that he will be making an announcement about hockey and the arena in his State of the Borough speech Wednesday.

"It would be great to see some hockey at the arena," Markowitz told the Brooklyn Daily. ""In Brooklyn, there should be an NHL team, no question."

The Islanders remain locked into a lease at the increasingly decrepit Nassau Coliseum through 2015. A failed referendum on a new $400 million arena in Nassau County has led to speculation that the Isles want to move in with the Nets once Barclays Center is complete and Bruce Ratner and Brett Yormark have met with the NHL.

• Marty’s goal: Hockey in Brooklyn - Dan McLeod - Brooklyn Daily