Brooklyn Urges Nets Fans to Forgo Driving In Favor of Public Transportation

June 4, 2012

June 4, 2012 — It is not uncommon to crawl down the streets of New York City eyeing parking signs, looking for that lucky spot of gold. Of course, if you don’t have a NYC parking permit, or you happen to be caught in the crossfires of street-cleaning, this quest becomes harder.

Brooklyn is already a crowded traffic hub, suffering from the typical congestion and lack-of-parking issues that plague New York City and urban jungles in general. Of course, with the recent addition of their very own basketball team and stadium, Kings County must now evaluate how to deal with the scores of fans expected to flood Brooklyn on game days in the coming year.

Shown here is an artistic rendering of a parking lot that would meet NYC regulations of parking lot standard; the surrounding neighborhood is expected to surge in traffic on game days.

Barclays Center at Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn is set to open in September with a Jay-Z concert, but many concerns with traffic have yet to be resolved.

Initially designers considered a hydraulic lift parking lot which would allow for stacking numerous cars, but these plans were scrapped after considering how slow the process of hydraulic lifting then. A second proposal has included cutting the number of available parking spots from 1,100 to around 550, encouraging fans to use the numerous methods of public transport that surround the stadium. Of course, this will not deter all of the 18,000 ticketed fans.

Via MyParkingSign.com

While plans for underground parking have also been proposed, nothing has been finalized and parking will be of the utmost concern in the coming season. Signs for nearby parking garages, signs directing to the miniscule Nets Parking Lot and signs prohibiting parking on residential streets are sure to be plentiful. Residents and elected officials have pushed to introduce residential permit parking only in surrounding neighborhoods.

While the opening is still a few months away, fans should plan on arriving and leaving early if they want to avoid the gridlock Downtown Brooklyn is sure to become during events.

– K. Howitt