No metal detectors at Babs concert leads to charge of racial profiling

Barclays Center abandoned metal detectors for the Barbra Streisand concert Thursday night, claiming it was done to speed things up at arena entrances but one Brooklyn councilwoman suggested the use of wands rather than magnetometers smacked of racial profiling.

"There shouldn’t be a double standard; there should be one rule of law," Councilwoman Letitia James said Friday. "If you have metal detectors for people coming to see Jay-Z, the same should apply for Barbra Streisand. It shouldn’t matter if you come by limousine, subway or your own two feet."

Barry Baum, chief communications officer for Barclays Center and the Nets denied there was a racial component to the change. "We’ve only been open two weeks and are trying to make things go as smooth as possible," Baum said, denying the charge.

Barclays Center has been plagued by delays at all their entrances at virtually every event. Metal detectors were used at the ribbon-cutting, the season ticket-holder open house and Nets Media Day as well as the concerts and the Harlem Globetrotters. The worst delays came last weekend when the start of the Globetrotters performance was delayed an hour.

• Outcry over metal detectors at Jay-Z concerts, but not Streisand at Barclays Center - Rich Calder - New York Post