Oct 14, 2007 8:00 pm US/Eastern
Opponents Of Brooklyn Arena Raise Security Issues
Want Governor Spitzer To Address Terror Risk
NEW YORK (AP) ―
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Foes of the new basketball arena in Brooklyn for the Nets contend security will be a problem.
CBS
Opponents of Brooklyn's planned NBA arena said Sunday that Gov. Eliot Spitzer should address security concerns connected to the project, citing the decision by officials in Newark, N.J. to close streets abutting a new arena there.
Daniel Goldstein, a spokesman for the group Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, said the terror risk for the planned Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn "is potentially far greater than that faced by the Newark arena."
"The time for a review of the impacts of a terrorist threat against Atlantic Yards and a state hearing on the issue is now," Goldstein said.
He said Spitzer's homeland security czar, Deputy Secretary for Public Safety Michael Balboni, should testify at such a hearing on Atlantic Yards terrorism security issues. On Sunday, state officials said Balboni would be happy to meet with the community to go over security concerns.
Additionally, Goldstein said the Empire State Development Corporation, the state agency using its eminent domain powers to condemn and seize buildings on the Atlantic Yards site, should "learn from Newark's lack of planning and initiate a proper review of Atlantic Yards and terrorism security."
The development corporation said in a statement Sunday that the plans for Atlantic Yards have been thoroughly reviewed by anti-terror experts at the New York Police Department.
Bruce Bender, executive vice president with the developer, Forest City Ratner, said the project had always paid attention to security issues.
"From the start, Forest City Ratner has worked very closely with security experts on Atlantic Yards, and the top police, fire and security experts in the City have reviewed and approved our comprehensive plan. Anyone who has any experience in security knows that you do not discuss sensitive security matters in public for very obvious reasons," he said.
Officials in Newark said last week that the new Prudential Arena there is too close to the street to shield it from a terrorist attack.
With the opening two weeks away, officials are devising a plan to use concrete barriers to close Edison Place and Mulberry Street to keep vehicles from the entrance.
Opponents of the Brooklyn project said the terror concerns in Newark are another reason to question the $4 billion Atlantic Yards project, which is to include office space and as many as 6,400 new apartments in addition to a new home for the NBA's Nets.
"We have consistently said that the proposed Nets arena and high-rise complex poses a significant terrorist risk requiring a public hearing on the merits of this argument, and the impacts of planning for such risks," City Council member Letitia James, whose district includes the Atlantic Yards site. "Newark's situation has validated our concerns, and Brooklyn deserves no less than the same consideration."
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