On New Arena\'s Big Night, a Rebuttal Down the Street

September 12, 2012, 4:41 pm

By ELIZABETH A. HARRIS

After years of conflict and construction, the Barclays Center will finally be open for business Sept. 28, and Jay-Z, a part owner of the Brooklyn Nets, will perform a sold-out show to christen the arena his team will call home.

But at that very moment, less than one block away, some of the people who opposed the project hope to put on a show of their own.

A documentary called “Battle for Brooklyn,” which follows the multiyear fight against the Atlantic Yards development, will be screened by the filmmakers at 8 p.m. on the arena's opening night, just about as close to the action as they can get without buying a scalped ticket.

The documentary, which premiered last year and was short listed for an Academy Award, focuses on Daniel Goldstein, founder of the opposition group Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, and one of the last people living in the footprint of the project before he agreed to move out. (The Barclays Center developer, Forest City Ratner, paid him $3 million to leave his Pacific Street condominium two years ago.)

“The goal was to make a movie that could present a counternarrative,” said Michael Galinsky, who directed the movie with Suki Hawley. “A side that was not supported by millions of dollars in P.R.”

The filmmakers have applied for a permit to show the movie at Dean Playground, just down the block from the Barclays Center. Vickie Karp, a spokeswoman for the parks department, said the permit is under consideration, and if approved, it will move on to the Police Department for a sound permit.

If the permit is rejected, Mr. Goldstein said he and the filmmakers hope to show the documentary in one of two locations nea rby, both on private property - thus requiring no city permit - and both less than half a block from the arena. The use of those locations had not been confirmed, Mr. Goldstein said. Admission will be free, wherever the screening takes place, he said.

Though the arena is now a reality, and the battle the movie tracked has long been lost, Mr. Galinksy argues that his documentary remains relevant.

“There's a real tendency to want to forget,” he said of the contentious process. “But that's how these things repeat themselves.”

A spokesman for the Barclays Center declined to comment.