...And What If It Doesn't Work?

Will Leitch, writing in New York Magazine, questions whether the Nets will work in Brooklyn and whether any of it matters.

Leitch doubts the quality of the roster, which he says is "at least a respectable team, and possibly playoff caliber," and focuses on the Nets' inability to land Dwight Howard. But he writes that, for Bruce Ratner and Brett Yormark, Barclays Center doesn't necessarily need the Nets to be good, because there are so many other events filling the calendar, and because it's all about elevating Brooklyn to "super-premium status."

Is that what Brooklyn wants to be though? "Even in Brooklyn Heights," Leitch writes, "the borough's most expensive neighborhood, no one fetishizes being ostentatious with one's wealth; they're all spending their money on the illusion of healthy food, and preschool. Jay-Z may be Brooklyn's own, but the Loft Suites are Manhattan in every way."

Bottom line: the arena is real and coming soon. "And yet, and yet … dammit, I can’t help but be excited, regardless," he concludes, seemingly having second thoughts about his own critique. "It is cool that there’s a new NBA team in town, one that’s a twenty-minute walk from Brooklyn Heights, a ten-minute walk from Park Slope, a fifteen-minute subway ride from Wall Street. LeBron James will play more games here. There will be an All-Star game here; there might be an NBA Finals here."

• What If Bruce Ratner’s Barclays Center Isn't a Success? - Will Leitch - New York Magazine
• Nets–Barclays Center Story: The DVD Extras - Will Leitch - New York Magazine