Andrew Keh of the New York Times wrote a great piece about Barclays Center's newest amenity: a meditation room. Located in the arena's main concourse, the meditation room offers up a space for Nets fans to indulge in some quiet self-reflective meditation. If you haven't head of the meditation room, don't worry, you're not alone.
Very few Nets fans have heard of the room, and even fewer use it, at least not for meditation. It appears to sometimes double as a storage room; several pieces of luggage sat in the corner on a recent night.
The room has been mostly ignored since its official opening last week, but a few fans have stopped to puzzle over it.
You may ask yourself, "why did they bother opening up a meditation room?" Well, as Keh reports, it was part of a promise made by Bruce Ratner's development company, Forest City Ratner, in developing not only the arena but the Atlantic Yards. A goodwill gesture to help garner support from the community, if you will -- one that helped Ratner get the land and, eventually, $305 million in subsidies.
Opponents of the Atlantic Yards development remain disinterested in the "gesture," citing it as yet another "bare minimum" attempt to appease the community, according to Keh's report.
Still, it's yet another amenity within the Barclays Center, and whether or not you decide to use it, well, that's entirely up to you. Meditation isn't for everyone, and it certainly isn't congruous with "I SAID...BROOKLYN BALL!!!!" But, it's there if you want and or need it, Nets fans.
- Arena’s Meditation Room Raises Its Own Existential Questions - Andrew Keh - New York Times
- Inside The Barclays Center's Mysterious Meditation Room - Barry Petchesky - Deadspin