AY opponent opening party space across from Barclays Center

The nearly football field-size property across the street from the under-construction Barclays Center in Brookyln may soon become a large party space, and the chief beneficiary is one of the early opponents of the project, according to the Brooklyn Paper. The property, on Pacific Street just across Flatbush Avenue from the Barclays Center, is being marketed online as “perfect for ‘Dave and Busters’ type” entertainment (although Dave and Busters appears off the list) by owner Henry Weinstein, a former foe of the $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards development. It is currently the home of an American Mattress & Furniture Warehouse of Brooklyn and a proposed sports bar/gastropub. The ad boasts the prospect of “80,000 customers a night,” although the $1 billion arena only holds about 18,000. Weinstein claims that he has already received interest from national chains, which he would not disclose. Residents said the transformation of the neighborhood is precisely what they were afraid of since the beginning of the Atlantic Yards project, which overrode city zoning laws to permit the arena and up to 16 skyscrapers in an otherwise low-rise, quiet residential area. “This is what people feared when the state overrode zoning laws that ban the construction of an arena within 200 feet of a residential neighborhood,” said Eric McClure, co-founder of civic group Park Slope Neighbors. [Brooklyn Paper] 

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