Weekly Digest: Getting the New York Arena Market Wrong (in Philly)
Weekly Digest: Getting the New York Arena Market Wrong (in Philly)
What lessons does the Barclays Center have for a new arena? Well, context is key. Plus more (low-key) Brooklyn news.
This digest offers a way for people to keep up with my Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report blog, as well as my other coverage in this newsletter and elsewhere.
There’s been a lot to catch up on this week, including a “monster truck” at Ticketmaster Plaza, a restaurant slated to open on Dean Street, and a reminder that the promise to build “family sized” apartments at Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park was not fulfilled.
But my main contribution was a critique of a purportedly independent study, recently released by the city of Philadelphia, that claimed that, if the NBA’s 76ers build a new arena to compete with the existing Wells Fargo Center, the two venues would thrive.
The study was by Conventions, Sports & Leisure International (CSL), which is known for sunny venue forecasts, including for the Barclays Center.
Somehow, the Philadelphia Inquirer took CSL’s report at face value, suggesting, as shown in the graphic, that simply adding arenas in the New York market brought more concerts.
As I wrote, New York didn’t go from two to four arenas. It already had four arenas.
Two closed, and two were added, over time, with New Jersey losing its older arena and Brooklyn gaining a new one. Long Island gained a new arena, while losing an old one.
As I wrote, that shoddy and dishonest New York analysis taints CSL’s report on the Philadelphia market. I’ll have more about the Philadelphia report(s) and their invocation of Brooklyn in future coverage.
No news
By the way, there’s been no news about the pending entrance of Related Companies into the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park mix.
Related is said to be partnering in a joint venture to develop the six parcels over the Vanderbilt Yard—but there are a lot of unknowns.
A new book
Let’s also take note of the new book, The Cities We Need: Essential Stories of Everyday Places, by Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani, about half of which is set in Prospect Heights, with Atlantic Yards as a partial backdrop.
Here’s info on the book tour. I’ll write about it at a later date.
From this newsletter
Sept. 4: Consultant's Dubious Philly Arena Forecast Relies on NY-Area Venue Fictions.
From Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report
Sept. 3: "Build More Homes for Families," urges developer and former Deputy Mayor Glen. Sure, wasn't that the (unenforceable) Atlantic Yards plan?
Sept. 5: Barclays Center's unimpressive ranking of 25th in Pollstar's 2023 ticket sales list may help explain the return to Ticketmaster.
Sept. 6: What happened to the Pacific Park Brooklyn web site, and social media? For now, dead or sleeping.
Sept. 7: On Ticketmaster Plaza for a few days, a new Nets/Liberty "monster truck," promoting a late-September Hot Wheels event.
Sept. 8: Opening Sept. 12 in base of 595 Dean West Tower, Nin Hao, Fujianese "seafood-driven fare." Still waiting on SIMÒ Pizza in East Tower.