Some day, a train ticket may not only take you to a Brooklyn Nets game, but get you inside, too.
Developer Forest City Ratner told the Post last week that it is working with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to devise a MetroCard that can be swiped for entry into the $1-billion Barclays Center arena, or a game-day ticket that can be used to enter the subway system.
The goal is to cut down on car traffic that critics fear will overwhelm the residential neighborhood near the rising arena at Flatbush Avenue and Dean Street.
MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said the plan offers “intriguing possibilities” similar to those that the agency already offers Mets fans discounted tickets if they ride the No. 7 train or the Long Island Rail Road to a game. That program does not involve specially encoded tickets, and no such discount is available for fans traveling to Madison Square Garden.
It has not been yet been determined if the MetroCard will be free to ticket holders, or prepaid.
Atlantic Yards critics threw their support behind the ticket deal.
“Forest City should honor its commitment to make a project that is transit-oriented, as opposed to a massive parking lot in the community,” said Councilwoman Letitia James (D–Fort Greene). “I don’t think it’s too early to talk about it — we need to begin discussions now. The façade of the arena is almost completed.”
The specialty card/ticket had been discussed as far back as 2005, but its development was shelved as a $4.9-billion Atlantic Yards mega-development lagged because of opposition lawsuits, and the Great Recession.
