FanPost

Hockey in Brooklyn


The 2nd game ever at the Barclays Center takes place on Sept. 26, vs the Devils. I was at the first Isles/Devils pre-season game there as well as many Nets games and I wanted to let you in on what to expect.

Getting there from LI - the LIRR off peak is about $14 round trip. It stops across the street from the Arena, which is great, unless you have a bunch of people going......it adds up. There are plenty of trains and you probably have to "Change AT Jamaica!" Driving is not that bad - you take the LIE to the BQE (leave early as there is always a log jam where they merge). I give myself 2 hours from Plainview. Or from the south shore, take the Belt Pkwy into Atlantic Ave & take that all the way down. Parking on the street is very difficult. There is a $35 lot across the street at the Mall or Google Barclays Ctr parking, you get a map of the lots, the prices and how far. There is a 20% discount for HOV! There are a few places a 10 min walk away for $15 or less. My favorite is on Ashland Pl. Easy to get to from the BQE and a straight walk to the arena. There is also one on Bond St. which is harder to get to and the area is sort of creepy at night when walking with a bunch of kids. They dressed up the neighborhood, but it is still Brooklyn.

Eating - Lots of pricey concessions at the Arena with a great variety of food. The 40-40 club has a top notch buffet for about $65@, not including drinks or dessert. But Applebees is across the street, some pizza places behind the arena and a grocery store provide cheap eating and snacks. There are also some interesting restaurants around there for the adventurous. Sometimes I would get a very cheap Nets ticket and watch the game from the bar nursing my $10 beer.

The Arena - new is nice! But this place was designed for Basketball and "Muppets Meet Beyonce". The first thing you will notice is that the scoreboard for the Hockey game is off center!!! It is a great big scoreboard, but it is over the blue line! And you can't see the goal from one section of end zone seats! Yikes! For now they don't sell those but they may be obstructed view seats with lots of TV sets like in the Yankees bleachers if they must. The other side of the end zone is good. I got a good view from row 3 of the end zone last year for about $30. The end zones do not go up as high as the sidelines. The arena is very steep - like Nassau Col - so if you have row 20 at center ice on the 2nd level, you will be waayyy up there. Center Ice is section 207 and the blue line is section 206 (which looks like it may be the corner if you look at the wrong seating chart). Once I sat in row 21 on the 2nd level for a Nets game and they said "while you're up there, do you mind changing a light bulb?" Really high! The lower portion of the 2nd level is better and the upper corner seats near the sidelines should be reserved for Devils' fans. Not my favorite.

I am hoping for some Brooklyn attitude with the new team. They got a year to get in shape. Living on Long Island has made the Isles soft over the years. I'd like to see some Black & White home uniforms that make them look like they are ready for business. Citrus orange jerseys and fish sticks don't bring out the killer instinct.

I stopped getting the season tickets when my kids lost interest and I found I had trouble giving them away. I now prefer to buy a bunch of tickets at the group rate and make a special day of it with 25 of my closest hockey friends!

I hope some of you join me at the game at the Barclays on Fri Sept 26. The last game had way too many red jerseys from Jersey there. If anyone is interested going to Brooklyn for that game, to scope the place, the neighborhood, the travel, the eating and this year's Islanders out, let me know. The more the better. I'll get a group of tickets - better and cheaper than stub-scrub. - Hockey-boy Gene.

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