Freddy's Bar in Brooklyn, down the memory hole
normanoder.substack.com/p/freddys-ba...
An article in BK MAG, owned by arena operator Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, can't tell readers that the bar was ejected to build the Barclays Center and Atlantic Yards.
Much more to remember.
The Tsais' Social Justice Fund garnered big headlines with a COVID recovery loan program for BIPOC small businesses in Brooklyn
It clearly helped.
But was it scalable?
Why does EXCELerate 2.0 get no publicity (& why couldn't I learn any details)?
normanoder.substack.com/p/how-has-th...
2/2
The Tsais' BK-XL accelerator put $4M+ Into 17 BIPOC-led start-ups.
Was this "wealth creation in Brooklyn"?
Most treated the borough as a way station
normanoder.substack.com/p/the-tsais-...
The Social Justice Fund has new priorities, so BK-XL won't continue
1/2 #BrooklynNets #BarclaysCenter
There's been a pattern: publicity without transparency.
How have these programs and initiatives worked?
How do they reflect social justice?
How does the spending compare with the couple's gains from a tax-free arena site?
normanoder.substack.com/t/joe-and-cl...
2/
A series on the Social Justice Fund of Brooklyn Nets owners Joe & Clara Tsai
"Lasting Change" or Strategic Brand Management?
normanoder.substack.com/p/the-tsais-...
Their "family office–led philanthropy" can be innovative, but claims & spending fuzzy.
The parent "Foundation" is a cipher.
1/
Letter largely echoes positions/issues raised by BrooklynSpeaks coalition
(doesn't address scale/density)
Also in roundup:
--partial answers from ESD to my Qs
--a former neighbor's lament about disruption
--a Flatbush Ave. alert
-- six weeks of links
2/2 #AtlanticYards #PacificParkBK #BarclaysCenter
Atlantic Yards roundup: elected officials, led by @joannesimonbk52.bsky.social, press Gov. Hochul on affordability & oversight (+Site 5 design, open space plan, enforcement)
normanoder.substack.com/p/april-roun...
Waiting4 community engagement report, details on developers' $350M subsidy request
1/
When the Liberty Portraits was mounted, it was *not* credited to the Tsais' Social Justice Fund.
Now it is.
The collection is now on view at the Barclays Center's Suite Level, with the purported social justice message ever more distant.
3/3
The promotional "Liberty Portraits," once mounted on the arena plaza, is now credited to the Joe & Clara Tsai Foundation's Social Justice Fund (& is thus part of claimed $5M/year in spending).
Some of the upcoming "Brooklyn Art Encounters" (at Barclays Center), too.
2/2
@hyperallergic.com
Art or advertising?
Behind the tricky "You/We Belong Here" signage outside the Barclays Center
normanoder.substack.com/p/art-or-adv...
The "anthem" of the Tsais' social justice work, or the "linguistic pleasantries of marketing"?
1/
(A new series on the couple's Social Justice Fund)
Barclays Center operating company announces "Brooklyn Art Encounters," a new public and interior art program with big names (& Social Justice Fund claims)
atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2026/04/aren...
Barclays Center releases April 2026 event calendar: 11 ticketed events, and no playoffs for the Brooklyn Nets.
atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2026/04/barc...
Appraisal suggests #AtlanticYards railyard parcels could be worth $1B to developers.
Site 5 compounds value.
normanoder.substack.com/p/appraisal-...
Were public subsidies + more bulk assumed?
Are they merited?
Document shared w/investors assumed project completion by 2036. (Nah.)
@gothamist.com
#AtlanticYards public meetings: Site 5 tower (across from Barclays) to focus on Flatbush; hotel still possible
normanoder.substack.com/p/more-from-...
Lingering questions about streetscape & retail.
Harsh criticism of community engagement. Could Atlantic Yards CDC fund its own financial consultant?
A new, though murky, focus on the $350M that the #AtlanticYards developers seek for the railyard platform
normanoder.substack.com/p/a-new-thou...
Is this the only subsidy request? No. Was a privately-funded platform possible? That's murky.
@davidfbrand.bsky.social
tx @bennkeel.bsky.social 4 graphic
As I wrote nearly 3 weeks ago, they’re asking for a lot more than $350M
normanoder.substack.com/p/developer-...
Little public discussion at yesterday’s mtgs re “public resources” sought by the developers, inc. 1.6M square feet of new bulk, $350M in subsidies for the platform, & tax breaks/housing subsidies. The Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation did go into executive session.
NY State promises 500 (25%) initial low-income Atlantic Yards units.
Critics note it wouldn’t make up shortfall
normanoder.substack.com/p/state-prom...
Shift from earlier plan, but no catch-up.
A $3,071 low-income one-bedroom when buildings open (maybe) in early 2030s?
Project done by 2040?
Former City Planning Chair Garodnick tells @vitalcitynyc.bsky.social: public money a project should trigger "absolute transparency"
normanoder.substack.com/p/former-cit...
With Atlantic Yards, it's a black box.
Subsidies? Tax breaks? Extra valuable bulk?
Atlantic Yards Community Development Corp. agenda: Executive Session should include details of new developers' subsidy request
atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2026/03/atla...
Routine budget approval invites scrutiny of annual spending, given odd failure to draw down budget in past yr
#AtlanticYards
Draft Atlantic Yards community engagement report backs (!?) developers' aim to downplay low-income housing
normanoder.substack.com/p/draft-comm...
Other findings are mostly predictable, as key info was withheld (despite transparency claim)
Respondents to online survey mostly white & well-off
Foregone property taxes on Barclays Center now estimated at $122.7M, tiny decrease.
Other venues see growth. PILOTs pay off tax-exempt construction debt.
atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2026/03/fore...
Nice deal for the billionaire sports team owners/venue operators
Before Draft Community Engagement Report, ESD posts copy of online survey questions: "Help Inform the Future of Atlantic Yards!"
atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2026/03/befo...
Atlantic Yards CDC meeting scheduled for the afternoon of March 19, hours before public workshop.
atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2026/03/atla...
Topics surely will include Draft Community Engagement Report.
Department of Justice allegations regarding Live Nation's business model, including relationship with Ticketmaster.
In aborted Live Nation antitrust trial, the Barclays Center has a key cameo
normanoder.substack.com/p/in-aborted...
Arena's former CEO alleges "veiled threat" from Ticketmaster parent, which later bypassed Brooklyn for certain concerts.
(Role of UBS Arena?)
Trump's DOJ settles; states resist.
Expanding its ambit, the Social Justice Fund from Joe & Clara Tsai Foundation joins Asian-American groups & NY State in funding (w/$1M) new citywide business loan program.
atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2026/03/expa...
Barclays Center/Brooklyn Nets synergy, too.
The passing of the Rev. Clinton Miller, of Brooklyn's Brown Memorial Baptist Church
normanoder.substack.com/p/the-passin...
A big role in BK.
A smaller, but notable, role in challenging Atlantic Yards.
Memorable eulogies from major political figures: Letitia James, Hakeem Jeffries, Raphael Warnock.
#AtlanticYards developer Cirrus seeking $350M in NYS subsidies to build crucial platform over railyard
normanoder.substack.com/p/developer-...
An opportunity to ensure public goods like affordable housing, or a giveaway?
Cirrus/LCOR also seek more bulk (worth $320M?), housing subsidies & tax breaks
Empire State Development schedules fourth Atlantic Yards workshop March 19 (late), promises Draft Community Engagement Report
atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2026/03/esd-...
I'd bet designed to ratify new developer's goals for more bulk