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Last Updated: Mon., Jul. 23, 2012, 08:37am
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Last Updated: 4:18 AM, July 23, 2012
Posted: 12:53 AM, July 23, 2012
He thought he'd never pull it off.
Bruce Ratner doesn't walk. He bounces.
n a hard hat, rumpled suit and never a
tie, Ratner vibrates giddily amid buzzing saws and deafening drills, before leaping amid never-
sat-in seats covered in dusty plastic.
We're in the brand-new crux of the known universe, Barclays Center, now under construction,
talking about the rise of Brooklyn.
"t's incredible!'' enthused Ratner, 67, the hyperactive developer and CEO of Forest City Ratner.
"We've got Barbra Streisand!'' said Ratner (who lives in Manhattan). "This is like the Dodgers and
Yankees.
"t's going to take people away from all
of the tsuris in their daily lives. 'Disney
on ce!' Completely take you to another
place with the person next to you.''
When Barclays is christened this fall as
home of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets,
Ratner will have pulled off the
seemingly impossible. Almost single-
handedly, he'll have brought the
Borough of Kings, long neglected and
overshadowed by Manhattan, back to
buzzworthy health.
"A young person can go to Brooklyn to
see hometown [rapper] Jay-Z. A family
who lives in the projects will walk here
or take the bus. This is the soul of
Brooklyn.''
We're sitting near "Vom 2'' short for
"vomitorium,'' which architects insist on
calling the entrances in deference to
ancient Rome, not modern beer
guzzling. Behind us is a gigantic
window proudly overlooking the
borough. When La Streisand helps
inaugurate the center with two concerts,
she'll look on her Flatbush birthplace.
That this project was nearly 10 years in
the making speaks to the selfishness of
a gaggle of well-heeled spoiled brats
and celebs. People who would protest
the opening of a drugstore (as they did
in my neighborhood) and care not a bit
about Brooklyn.
" was confident was going to get it done,'' said Ratner, "but there were a few moments when
said to myself, ' don't think this is going to happen.' ''
The low point came in late 2008, when "the world came apart.'' The economy tanked and Ratner
was hit by slow-moving lawsuits that might have stalled the project indefinitely.
LIke 8e the IIrst oI your IrIends to IIke thIs.
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"t was crazy. A lot of newcomers from outside New York'' fought the arena. He tries not to be
bitter.
"t gets to me, in a sense. We were constantly attacked. Our company put hundreds of millions of
dollars into something that many times looked like it might not happen.''
The arena drew opposition from Rosie Perez, Steve Buscemi and the late Heath Ledger, whose
loyalty to Brooklyn was suspect, at best.
But then, the last obstacle, a fellow named Daniel Goldstein, sold his house at the site to Ratner
for $3 million, six times what he paid for it. The project was a go.
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