Brooklyn we go small

Back in 2001 Mayor Rudolph Giuliani left his mark on Brooklyn(for better or worse) when he brought baseball back to the borough in the form of the Cyclones and promised to help revitalize the area with private investment. Well it seems like Bruce Ratner is helping out a little, now 8 years later Ratner is playing into that theory as he is trying to revitalize the downtown area including building a brand new arena for the Nets of the NBA who currently reside in the IZOD center. With the situation on the Island being uncertain and the recent court victory for Ratner, fans have now plotted Brooklyn on their wish lists for alternative homes of Islanders hockey. But the notion that Brooklyn could be the new home for hockey might not be a reality anymore. Today Bruce Ratner announced the dismissal Frank Gehry as the architect of the Barclays center. The reason, the $1 billion design became too expensive and they opted for the cheaper $800 million design by Ellerbe Becket, an architectural firm based in Kansas City, Mo. (isn’t that ironic). The new design is a cross between Consaco Fieldhouse and an airplane hanger(odd very odd). The former arena architect Frank Gehry who was born in Toronto and is a hockey fan himself told the New York Times back in January 2006, while speaking to challenges of the design Gehry said "how do you make it come alive for the game and solve the problem of identity for this basketball team and I hope someday a hockey team." But with Gehry out and Becket in the room for hockey has been subsequently eliminated. According to Norman Oder of the Atlantic Yards Report with Gehry’s design gone for a smaller one has left the room for professional hockey out. Oder later on says in his post “But the failure to leave space, at least, for hockey means one potential source of additional tax revenues--and arena activity--would be precluded. So Ratner's decision might not benefit the city and state in the long-term.” Hopefully not to many fans were banking on Brooklyn too much as a possible home for Islanders hockey because today’s news might just have sent the Barclays center “outta here.” With the economy ruining everything the Atlantic Yards project isn’t immune from it either and the arena size is dwindling along with hope that the Islanders would stay should the Lighthouse fail.