Barclays Center Changing Brooklyn

Excitement or anxiety is on the rise. It's another six months before the Nets open their new arena with a preseason game, a bit less before Jay-Z stands on stage. On Monday, another milestone: the first seat frames were installed. As both sides predicted at the beginning of the nine-year struggle to get Barclays Center built, the "billion dollar arena" is changing the face of Brooklyn.

For the supporters, the change is about economic development and the glory of a new downtown for the city. For the critics, it's about uprooting and possibly eradicating a sense of neighborhood. But what no one is denying is that the process is well underway and seemingly inexorable. Disputes over liquor licenses, complaints about parking and congestion may continue, but the reality is that the Nets are the vanguard of change.

• Atlantic Yards Project Is Already Transforming Brooklyn - Joseph Berger - New York Times