( 4UMF NEWS ) Protestors Hit Jay Z-Show:
Thousands flocked to Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues Friday for the opening of Barclays Center. Jay-Z christened the arena with a concert, the first of eight sold-out shows.
“No other tickets but the first night,” said one concert-goer. “Inaugural. Inaugural.”
“I’m from Brooklyn, Bed-Stuy,” said another. “We got the first tickets to see the first show for Jay-Z. All day. Brooklyn in the house.”
Many didn’t have even have tickets but came out to take it all in.
“This is legendary,” said one person who came despite not having tickets. “Whether or not we got tickets, we wanted to be here.”
It’s billed as the first billion-dollar arena, the home of the borough’s first major professional sports team in more than 50 years: the Brooklyn Nets.
The complex took nearly a decade to finish because of lawsuits, design changes and the recession. But as the saying goes: build it and they will come. NY1 found concert-goers from Manhattan, Connecticut and Long Island.
“We stayed in a hotel here in Downtown Brooklyn and we took the subway here,” said one concert-goer. “We wanted to experience the new subway connection.”
“The subway commute was really easy,” said another concert-goer. “It was like three stops. We got here in 10 minutes. We avoided rush hour traffic and we got here in one piece with our stilettos on.”
Nets players and celebrities walked the red carpet. There were Brooklynites from Jay-Z’s old stomping grounds: the Marcy Houses.
“Me coming here to see my man representing Brooklyn for the first time here in the borough I grew up in, absolutely wonderful,” said one concert-goer. “I’m ecstatic.”
