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Deck is stacked against stack-parking plan for Barclays Center

A top official for the developer building Brooklyn’s Barclays Center said today it’s her “mission” to reduce hundreds of spaces at a parking garage going up next to the NBA Nets' future home to avoid using controversial stack-parking spaces there.

Jane Marshall, an executive vice president at Forest City Ratner, told community leaders and city officials at Borough Hall yesterday that the company “is doing everything we can to avoid it” and the potential traffic problems such a system could bring.

As the Post reported in February, stack parking spaces -- which use hydraulic lifts to stack anywhere from two to four cars atop one another -- are currently in FCR's playbook for operating the 18,000-seat arena. But these spaces are a huge concern of neighborhood residents, who fear they would slow the entry and exit of cars from the lot and create major traffic jams.

No current New York pro-sports venue uses stack parking.

The concern, neighborhood residents say, is that hydraulic systems and valet service associated with stack parking slow the entry and exit of cars from the lot, potentially creating bumper-to-bumper traffic on surrounding streets and sending antsy drivers to seek the area’s few remaining curbside spaces.

With nearly a square block— bordered by Carlton and Vanderbilt avenues, and Dean and Pacific streets— designated to be the only on-site event parking lot for many years, at least half of the lot could be covered with stack-parking spaces if the developer has to fill a state-mandated 1,100 spots there.

Forest City Ratner is currently studying other options.

Following the meeting, Marshall told the Post that Forest City is also trying to ensure the parking lot relies on as much prepaid parking as possible to help ease traffic congestion.

When asked if the company would incorporate a system now used at MetLife Stadium’s parking lots for Jets and Giants games in which only season-ticket holders have access to on-site lots, Marshall said she would like to in the future but doesn’t know if it would work well early on.

“What happens when someone tries to enter [the lot] without [pre-paid parking passes] and they are asked to back out [of the lot]? We would need to educate the public first because that could create more traffic problems,” she said.

Nearby private lots expected to cater to arena events have also been asked by the developer to participate in a prepaid parking system.

A permanent underground lot is supposed to be built as part of the larger Atlantic Yards project. But with the development’s 16 residential and commercial towers on hold because of the slumping economy, the surface lot is expected to exist at least a decade.

About the Author

  • Rich Calder

    Rich Calder has been a staff reporter at the New York Post since 2004 and has been covering Brooklyn politics and real estate since 2006. Some of his biggest stories have been about the city's Coney Island redevelopment plan, the New Jersey Nets anticipated move to Brooklyn, and the long-stalled Brooklyn Bridge Park development. He lives in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.

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