Nets going green ... atop Barclays Center roof

SHoP, the Barclays Center architect, has released a new image of the arena with a green roof, surrounded by the planned three apartment towers at the eastern edge of the building site, one of which is underway.

Eliot Brown of the Wall Street Journal says Forest City Ratner has confirmed the plan.

"We wanted to do the amenity for the benefits to the community and the residents that this green roof will bring, rather than having that traditional arena roof," said Linda Chiarelli, an executive vice president at Forest City.

Chiarelli denied that the roof garden, whose price tag has yet to be disclosed, was about reducing sound "leaking" from the arena, although she admitted it would help.  Some residents near the arena have complained and the city fined Barclays $3,200 last year for violating the city's noise ordinance.

Today, as Brown reports, the two-acre white roof has a giant Barclays symbol that blimps shoot during events. Barclays declined comment on how the change in the roof would affect their naming rights agreement.

In addition, The Daily News is reporting that there are acoustic improvements inside the arena. In September, the arena installed 1,800 panels, covering 15,000 square feet of the venue’s ceiling. Acoustic engineers believe that the installation will make for a crisper sound ... and solve the issue of leaking.

A spokesman for the arena says the panels will improve the acoustic quality of every event at the arena, even the Brook-lyn chant.

• A Roof Grows on Barclays - Eliot Brown - Wall Street Journal
• Updated acoustics enhance sound at Barclays Center - Jim Farber - New York Daily News