bitcruncher
pepperoni roll psycho...
Posts: 61,859
Joined: Jan 2006
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I Root For: West Virginia
Location: Knoxville, TN
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RE: ACC Tourney could move to MSG? (Audio link + weblink)
(05-18-2013 12:28 PM)Melky Cabrera Wrote: (05-18-2013 10:55 AM)bitcruncher Wrote: (05-18-2013 10:33 AM)Melky Cabrera Wrote: (05-18-2013 10:24 AM)bitcruncher Wrote: (05-18-2013 03:32 AM)Melky Cabrera Wrote: I have nothing against Brooklyn. I was born there and grew up there. But Barclay should never be mentioned for a college basketball tournament.
It works for the Nets because it's perfect for commuters, sitting right on top of a LIRR terminal and having easy subway access.
But a conference tournament needs accommodations for out-of-towners. The Garden has hotels right across the street. Brooklyn has very limited hotel space and nothing immediately in the vicinity of Barclay.
Out-of-towners are easily intimidated by NYC. For them, trying to find their way to the arena by subway can be very confusing. The Sheraton is the nicest hotel downtown Brooklyn and its walkable to Barclay, but the walk would be intimidating because it's the busiest part of Brooklyn. Cabs are not as readily available in downtown Brooklyn as they are in midtown Manhattan - especially at 11:00 or so at night when tournament games end. What restaurants are available after a game on Atlantic or Flatbush Avenues at that time of night?
NY is the nation's biggest tourist mecca, giving visitors lots to do as tournament week moves on and there are fewer games - Broadway theaters, museums, Central park, the Empire State building, Ellis Island, Little Italy and China Town, the Financial district, South street Seaport, etc. But all that stuff's in Manhattan. And again out-of-twoners would be easily confused by navigating the city from downtown Brooklyn than from midtown Manhattan.
The first time I went to NYC, I didn't have any trouble navigating my way around the Burroughs via mass transit. But I can read a map. So perhaps I'm different than most...
This is not speculative on my part. Because I'm a native New yorker, I've been asked many times to accompany out-of-towners to The City to help them get around.
Moreover, we're talking about Brooklyn here. I'm guessing that you've never been to Brooklyn. It's very different than Manhattan, which is laid out in a grid and is easier than Brooklyn to navigate. Brooklyn's dicier neighborhoods are closer to Barclay than Manhattan's are to the Garden. Accommodations in Manhattan are all within easy walking distance of the Garden or are a short taxi ride away. This is not true in Brooklyn, which does not have the late night Broadway theaters to keep the taxis running late.
You're talking about your experience in Manhattan. If you've ever been to Brooklyn, talk about that experience. The two are worlds apart.
I visited Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx, as well as Manhattan. I saw the Brooklyn Borrough Hall, the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Historical Society Building, Plymouth Church, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Prospect Park, and other places of historical interest in Brooklyn...
Now I didn't see the Barclay Center. But since it hadn't been built at that time, that's not too surprising. I've got an excellent sense of direction, so I figure I could find it fairly easily. My first visits to big cities were Singapore and Hong Kong. I also spent a few years on the Berlin Brigade Drill Team, traveling all over Europe, before I got out of the military. After that, the NYC area was a piece of cake...
Congrats! You did an excellent job enjoying The city.
I would suggest to that you are unique or at the very least rare.
Again, even for those who get around cities easily, it doesn't change the fact that there are no hotels and restaurants across the street from Barclay as there are from MSG. There are fewer taxi cabs to help you get around. It's just not as visitor friendly a location as midtown Manhattan.
Like I said, I've always had a good sense of direction...
I remember once the wife and I were going to visit her brother while he was living in Pittsburgh, and she wanted to go see this hairstylist that had been profiled in some magazine. I figured while we were in the area, I'd go up to Wexford and visit my uncle. She kept asking me to stop and get directions, but I deferred, saying we'd call them once we got near my uncle's place...
We got off I-79 at Franklin Village, and I pulled up to a phone booth at the post office there. I called the place to get directions and they asked me where I was. I told them, and they asked me which direction I was facing. I was looking at the Post Office, and they told me to turn around. They were in this blue building just down the hill about a block away. It freaked my wife out, and since that day she never bugged me about directions again...
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