barclays-sign-0609.jpgAll you Atlantic Yards fans out there in the blogosphere are gonna love this one. Now, not only will you get to (maybe) have an arena with the name Barclay’s plastered all over it, you’re also going to have a subway station with the name Barclay’s plastered all over it. The Times reports that the MTA has reached a deal (finally—they’ve been looking to do this kind of thing for five years) to sell the naming rights to the Atlantic Avenue station right next to where the arena would be to Barclay’s for $4 million. No word on whether Barclay’s will be able to pay $800,000 upfront and then take 15 years to pay the rest. Like Ratner, Barclays was able to stretch its payments out over 20 years, making the present value far less than $4 million. Hey, we hear McCarren Park is up for sale too—though the bank will have to get past NAG, Poolaid and its petition first.


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  1. “the deal that the MTA made with Ratner is irrellvant”

    fsrq,

    I nominate this for the single most brain dead statement ever made about Atlantic Yards.
    No one would be arguing about a $200K a year deal for anything if it weren’t for the $200M fleecing that Ratner pulled off.
    The point is what the public gets and what the public gives up, not whether Barclays or Ratner claims to be paying this tiny slice.
    If you don’t get that, i can’t help you.

  2. I agree with WonTon. Atlantic Station belongs to the public. Selling naming rights disgusts me. Once they do one station they will have to do them all at which point NYC will have sold its soul.

    4 mil isn’t enough to sell your soul. Who even knows if Barclays will be around in 20 years.

  3. the Times missed the story here. the story is that Barclays bought naming rights for a Gehry arena. they are not getting that. so FCR has to scramble to find other incentives for Barclays to hang on to the arena naming rights deal. this is one of them, as in:

    Bruce to Barclays, we know you are displeased that we’re building an airplane hangar now, so how about we put some of your money towards calling a subway stop Barclays Station or whatever shite they choose.

  4. denton- ESPN has a list of pricing for the naming rights paid to various stadiums. thei ghest on that list seems tp be Inverness Field for the Broncos. The corporate sponsor pays 6 million a year. Ratner is getting 20 million from Barclays for the next 20 years.

  5. Barclays did not take TARP funds, they are a British bank. It makes sense for them as they are intent on expanding rapidly into the US investment banking market. They grabbed much of what is left of Lehman Bros, including its former HQ at 745 7th Ave. They have kept a lot of Lehman employees. They have just divested themselves of two major businesses in order to raise capital for their expansion, and they are aggressively hiring investment bankers from competitors.

    I’m with fsrq, being a free markets kinda guy myself… I’m sure if Ratner/MTA could have gotten more for the rights from someone else, he would have.

  6. fsrq- since you seem to assume I know nothing- and you know nothing about me, I’d say we even. And you should read better- I actually said only a moron would have agreed to the deal. Asking you if you recognize yourself is not the same as calling you a moron (see your “if not modifier agrument).As for the MTA- do you not think the board negotiated all of these plans? Please. And now I think we’re finished.

  7. FYI- Barclays is paying Ratner 20 mill per year for 20 years for naming rights. 4 mil to the MTA over 20 years- laughable. Especially considering how much public funding ratner needs. Care to tell me who is the bigger fool here? MTA or Ratner?

  8. I seriously doubt that the people in the MTA ad/naming rights area are the ones who negotiated the sale of the railyards.

    And I am not sure why you are alluding to me as a “moron” when you just so bitterly complained about “insults”. As for me you may note that I rarely criticize people for things that I admittedly don’t know about (recognize yourself?)

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