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The Barclays Center, the 18,500 seat arena at the center of the still-contentious Atlantic Yards project, is slowly taking shape in Brooklyn. Last week, the New Jersey Nets management announced September 28, 2012, as the opening date for the arena — the team's future home in Brooklyn.

That's promising for some teenagers like Isaiah Richberg, who's been a Knicks fan but sees himself changing his allegiance.

"I think it's cool. I like the Nets. So the first game, I want to go see it," said the 15-year-old Richberg, who goes for the occasional Knicks game but thinks he'll be putting up a poster of former Nets star Jason Kidd in the future. "Because it's Brooklyn, it's across the street, down a block from my house. It's my team now."

His thoughts were echoed by a couple other teenagers walking past the Barclays site to the mall across the street.

"It'll bring more attraction to the mall," said Justin Patterson. "And they'll end up fixing the streets more."

The $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards development is set to include thousands of units of housing as well as retail but has been set back by delays. According to filings made by the Atlantic Yards developer, Forest City Ratner, to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the entire project could be scaled back if further delays are incurred.

But a spokesman for Forest City said the filings represent worst-case scenarios and that the arena is on schedule.

"We’ve invested hundreds of millions of dollars in this development," said Joe DePlasco, "and remain 100 percent committed to building out all of Atlantic Yards."

The Empire State Development Corporation said it's still committed to the project.

"The developer has not been in default of any of their contractual requirements," said Elizabeth Mitchell, a spokesperson for the ESDC, "and we are not aware of any definitive plans to change the scale of the project. The Barclays Center arena is on schedule to open in 2012, and construction on the first residential tower is expected to begin by the end of this year."

For some residents, the construction of the Barclays Center represents a mix of day-to-day nuisances and long-term concerns.

Edwin Barreto lives next to the construction site and wishes the arena had been located further out in Brooklyn, perhaps closer to Red Hook. He's been frustrated by the loss of parking spaces, but is even more worried about what will happen, once the arena opens and thousands of outsiders start streaming into the neighborhood.

"What's going to happen too is all those people that go in there and drink that beer, they're going to be coming out here, peeing all over the corners, peeing on people's cars," said Barreto. "I've seen it happen in Newark."

His friend, Sean Carnegie, walking to his son's basketball practice, saw pros and cons in the location of the arena.

"All in all, it's cool," said Carnegie. "It's good for Brooklyn, bad for the neighborhood."