Newark Mayor Cory Booker says the state must force the New Jersey Nets to play at Prudential Center should a move to Brooklyn fail, after it was disclosed there were plans in the works to upgrade Izod Center.
Newark Mayor Cory Booker says the state must force the New Jersey Nets to play at Prudential Center should a move to Brooklyn fail, after it was disclosed there were plans in the works to upgrade Izod Center.
The issue — a familiar one to Arena Digest readers — is that there are two arenas close to one another in New Jersey, and there’s bound to be some squabbling over limited resources.
In the case of Newark, Booker sees the Nets as a perfect compliment to the New Jersey Devils. But the Meadowlands management is already planning to keep the Nets around should Bruce Ratner’s plans for a new Brooklyn arena collapse, as evidenced by the admission from CEO Dennis Robinson that plans are being drawn up for a renovation of Izod Center — and not the demolition Booker and other local pols want to see.
Still, it’s hard to see Gov. Jon Corzine stepping in decisively here; the thought that Newark has an automatic claim on the Nets is going to be distasteful to many, even among Booker’s allies. The Izod Center/Prudential Center battle will surely be played out in coming months, but the status quo will stick for now.
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