The New Barclays Center Goes Up In Record Time (2:28!)

Last week, the new Barclays Center opened in Brooklyn marking the beginning of a massive transformation of the Atlantic Yards into a retail/entertainment/housing complex. It took more than 4 years from ground-breaking to Jay-Z's opening night show last Friday. But you can see it all happen right before your eyes in this cool time-lapse of the site's transformation.  They even do a little detour to show the building out of the arena's interior.

New Brooklyn Subway/LIRR Terminal Opens

After more than 20 years, Brooklyn finally has a new LIRR terminal at the busy intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush.  The previous station, a turn-of-the-century fortress opened in 1907, was demolished in 1988 to make way for a new, modern station.  A design was unveiled in 1997 and now, after years of temporary structures, cost overruns and construction delays, the $110 million dollar terminal is finally finished. 

The new station, known as Atlantic Terminal, connects directly to Target and the Atlantic Terminal Shopping Center.  So now a taste of the suburbs is only a subway ride away!  10 MTA lines run into the Atlantic Ave Terminal, in addition to 6 tracks for LIRR trains.  The new terminal looks great on the inside: clean, light-filled and spacious with some striking public art. And the facade is quite nice too.

However, a major blunder seems to have been made with huge slabs or rough rock strewn in front of the terminal's grand entrance. They appear to be some sort of anti-terrorism safety measure but one wonders why the MTA didn't just put traditional bollards around the corner.  These massive slabs practically ruin what should be a handsome cornerstone of the redevelopment of Atlantic Avenue and one can only hope the MTA will realize their mistake and fix it sooner than later.