NEW YORK, NY January 22, 2004 — An official announcement of a deal to sell the New Jersey Nets to Brooklyn developer Bruce Ratner could come as early as today. But even news of a tentative deal already has politicians and residents making plans. WNYC's Amy Eddings has more.

In New Jersey, any anger over the loss of a major basketball franchise to Brooklyn came with a dollop of New York attitude, a sort of don't let the door hit you on the way out kind of mood. George Zoffinger, head of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, the landlord for the Nets, says his staff did everything they could to prevent the team from leaving everything, that is, except give it even more subsidies.

Zoffinger: The proper role of the government is to encourage economic development, not pay it directly.

With the Nets gone, New Jersey will stop losing two million dollars each basketball season. But Zoffinger insists pro sports teams can still thrive in the Meadowlands, and he says the state will try to lure another team here, maybe even baseball.

In Brooklyn, the thought that the Nets were one step closer to becoming the borough's own was changing the dreams of fifty-two year old Dominic Tanteo. He's a construction worker who looks forward to the jobs and another team to root for. Tanteo is wearing the baseball cap of the minor league Coney Island team, the Brooklyn Cyclones.

Tanteo: Well, it brings another professional team to Brooklyn. And it'll help this area here, the development and everything, it'll help.

Tanteo gestures toward the barbed wire that surrounds the Long Island Rail Road yards. Most of developer Bruce Ratner's project would be built over them. There will be an arena, as well as office towers, apartments, and open space. But the 21-acre plan would also require the state to condemn three blocks of apartments and businesses a move that could affect between 600 and 800 people. One of them is Sam Zygmuntowicz.

Zygmuntowicz: This is built like cockpit of a plane, but without the dials. I've got knives, gouges, chisels, all arrayed in arm's length.

Zygmontovich has handcrafted violins in this large, airy, loft for twenty-five years.

Zygmontovich: Well, I don't begrudge Mr. Ratner his proposal or Brooklyn its stadium. To me what's terrifying about it is the disruption. People wait for three years for a violin. They will not get their violins in three years.

Arnold Steinhardt, first violinist with the Guarnari String Quartet, is in the market for another violin. He points toward the high ceilings of the studio.

Steinhardt: You can try a violin here, it's got the height, so that it's, in a way it's like a mini concert hall.

Yesterday's announcement of a pending deal sent scores of television cameras and reporters around this block. Residents such as 38-year old Daniel Goldstein proudly offered journalists a peek at luxury apartments that could soon be condemned as blight.

Goldstein: I don't believe there's a price on my home that I can accept. And I certainly don't believe that the government can tell me that I can move.

Goldstein says that while he's not thrilled at the idea of an arena outside his front door, he's willing to see it go up if his home is spared. But Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, a big supporter of the arena, sees this development package as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and says residents must keep the big picture in mind.

Markowitz: The objective of building this arena, and the housing, and the jobs, and the office space, and the retail, is not to hurt anyone, it's to help and boost the economic vitality and strength of this borough, as well as the pride and spirit. And I'm hoping that when all this is completed, there will be minimum, minimum, disruption on anybody's life in Brooklyn.

But even though a single person has not been forced to move and may not have to be in a final plan...just the thought of Brooklyn netting the Nets is clearly already causing disruptions. For WNYC, I'm Amy Eddings.