Roof Lawn Being Installed On Barclays Center
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Barclays Center is going green. Literally.
To complement its famous rust-colored structure, a green mat-like plant will soon carpet the roof of the Brooklyn arena, CBS 2's Tony Langford reported.
Workers will install a green plant called sedum, just like what already can be found on top of the transit entrance outside Barclays, the home of the Brooklyn Nets and future home of the New York Islanders.
"When you think about residents that live around Central Park and look out to a beautiful green amenity, we like to think that this roof is going to be such an amenity for the thousands of people that end up living at Atlantic Yards," said Ashley Cotton, senior vice president of external affairs at Forest City Ratner Companies, the developer that co-owns the arena.
But how exactly do you plant greenery on top of an arena?
Forest City Ratner said the building already has the structural support to handle the natural toupée.
"There'll be a second roof so there will actually be a gap of space between the existing roof that Brooklynites have been seeing for two years now and another roof, and the planting will be done on (top of) that," Cotton said.
Installation of the roof lawn will begin this year. And once planted, it will not need to be watered.
But sorry, no picnics.
"It's not open to the public as an amenity to walk on," Cotton said. "It's really a visual amenity for the neighbors."
Neighbors are split about planting green on the arena's roof.
"Everybody think the building is ugly enough, but the green might give it a little more flavor," said Terry Little, of Brooklyn.
"I think it's beautiful, though," one woman said. "I really think so. And that's creativity."
"That doesn't make sense," said Abdul Ibrahim. "That's a waste of money. Would you put grass on your roof?
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