Jay-Z’s Brooklyn Nets Project Stalled!

Courtesy of the ultra funny, MouthPiece sports blog:

“Before today, the only thing I could tell you about Atlantic Yards, Brooklyn’s very own stalled stadium/commercial construction project (South Africa feels you, Atlantic Yards), was that Young Hov was planning on bringing the Nets to Brooklyn. I know this because I listen to a lot of rap music by Jay-Z. I’ll admit it: This is probably not the best way to stay up on the business of the NBA. Fair enough.

Which is why I learned today that not only was the project stalled, its finances are all out of whack, and its proposed bulletproof security measures are basically impossible. To wit:

‘The stratospheric cost of protecting the Atlantic Yards from terrorist attacks could be the death knell for architect Frank Gehry’s flashy NBA basketball arena, the Daily News has learned. The bulletproof glass facade proposed for the glitzy arena will cost a mind-blowing $625 per square foot, a source familiar with the designs told The News.

“I think the owners clearly didn’t have their financing tied down for this project, and that’s going to be the biggest hurdle,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity about the sky-high prices associated with securing the 850,000-square-foot arena against terrorism. “With the security concerns at the arena, there’s not much you can do to make it that much cheaper,” added the source.‘

Whoops. Given that “potential terrorist attack” is not exactly something you can gloss over when you’re attempting to pack 20,000 people into an arena every night, that sounds bad. Very, very bad. By my calculations, Jay-Z will have to rap until he’s 86 to make the mortgage on that bulletproof glass. I’m not saying I question the man’s ability, but “30 Something” didn’t really work out. 70 Something seems doubtful, too.”