The Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods, a coalition of community groups, along with several local pols renewed their demands for an independent security study of the Brooklyn Atlantic Yards project yesterday because it was revealed recently the basketball arena would be situated only 20 feet from both Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues.

This fact, which was revealed in a New York Times interview with a Forest City Ratner official last week, is a bit concern to local groups.

So what does Newark have to do with this?

Apparently, police in Newark recently closed two streets adjacent to the Prudential Center arena during events out of concern that a vehicular terrorist bomb could inflict significant damage upon the arena and its occupants. The streets ordered closed in Newark lie more than 20 feet from the arena’s walls.
This is from the CBN press release:

The Newark police department’s decision to close streets after the Prudential Center was approved and built, along with the NYPD-mandated redesign of already-approved plans for the World Trade Center ’s Freedom Tower , which increased building setbacks from 25 feet to 90 feet, are clear evidence that design and security are closely interconnected. The Prudential Center illustrates how security problems can radically alter the surrounding environment, while the Freedom Tower presents an example of significant changes to building design. Both scenarios appear possible in Brooklyn .

“The public must have the benefit of an independent and transparent inquiry into the design of the Atlantic Yards project and its arena, and the management techniques that will be put in place to ensure security at the site,” said Therese Urban, co-Chair of CBN. “Street closures would wreak havoc, and turning the arena into a bunker as a security ‘compromise’ would cheat Brooklynites of the ‘world-class’ design we’ve been promised.”