Nets Clear Last Major Legal Hurdle Blocking Brooklyn Arena

Bruce Ratner won't own the Nets much longer, as Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov is set to take the reins soon. But Ratner's long-held dream -- to move the Nets to Brooklyn, as a cornerpiece of his massive Atlantic Yards development -- looks to become a reality within a few years, as the New York Court of Appeals today dismissed what is seen as the final major legal hurdle standing in the way of the project. Opponents of the project had sought a ruling that the state's use of eminent domain to free up land for the project had violated New York's consistution.

Ratner had been crunched for time, as a state-backed plan to sell tax-free municipal bonds to fund the construction of the project expires on Dec. 31. The New York Times reports Ratner's firm will sell those bonds next month. The arena -- dubbed the Barclays Center -- is expected to be completed in 2012, which means the Nets have two seasons (in addition to the current one) to kill, either at their current home, Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J., or at the Prudential Center in Newark.