From Steve Politi of The Star-Ledger:
Barclays president Bob Diamond called the delays on the new Brooklyn arena for the Nets “agonizing and frustrating,” but he said the banking giant remained committed to the controversial project.
Diamond said that he had seen the new design of the arena – which has yet to be revealed to the public – and while he preferred the original Frank Gehry-designed project, he was satisfied with the plans.
“Would we have preferred for everything we had originally decided to go through with the Gehry designed building being up and running for this season? Of course,” Diamond said. “The reality is, it ran into one hurdle after another.
“As it finally resolved all the hurdles, then it was tough to get any construction money from the banks,” he said. “I think we’re in a good place now, but absolutely, it was frustrating and we would have preferred it to be accelerated. But as a partner, we think (owner) Bruce Ratner did everything he possibly could do, and we’re very strong partners with him.”
