By Friday, the media and political frenzy over developer Bruce Ratner’s deal to buy the New Jersey Nets and move the team to a new complex at the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues in Brooklyn had become more sober, forecasting an array of hurdles and challenges the project will face.

Several major transportation considerations should be part of the public debate over the project. First, before Governor Pataki decides to make the MTA give away the air rights over its Atlantic Avenue yard and foot the bill for moving storage tracks to make way for the Nets arena, the impact of the residential and office tower elements of the plan on Brooklyn’s capacity-challenged subway lines should be evaluated. If it is found that the project will worsen rush hour subway crowding, and that the cash-strapped MTA will have difficulty providing these subsidies, the air rights and other costs should be exchanged for a significant contribution from the developer toward better transit in the area.

Second, the city should insist that parking in the development be kept to a bare minimum. Much additional arena and workplace parking for a site near many subway lines and a Long Island Railroad terminal is simply unnecessary, as Manhattan office buildings and Madison Square Garden demonstrate very well. Conversely, constructing a lot of parking there will inevitably make the project less transit-oriented and generate more traffic than would otherwise be the case.

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