Larry Silverstein’s Got 99 Problems, But Jay-Z Ain’t One

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How did you last?
The concert was supposed to start at 8:00 p.m. 9:45 p.m. is when it started. By 10:00, 10:30, I’m usually getting ready to go to bed. My granddaughter is sitting there with me and she said, ‘Poppy, are you going to be all right with this?’ I said, ‘I may be deaf when I walk out of here, but I want to stay for a little bit, so let’s see what it’s like.’ As it turns out, we watched Jay-Z perform and  I thought it was fascinating. First of all, he’s a superb performer, really a first-class performer, and he controlled that audience so beautifully. But he worked them up into a frenzy, because first he talked about the fact that he was born, what, three blocks away from the stadium, and the area was nothing like what it is today. He said, ‘frankly, I am so fortunate to be here, I am so fortunate to make it out of that, and to be able to come through all this and to be here today and to be able to do this, and to recognize that we are doing this in Brooklyn, in the city of New York…’ The place went wild! I mean, 20,000 screaming fans went absolutely wild. I watched him control this, and I thought ‘good God, this guy is really superb.’ He’s a superb performer, and it was all by himself. I saw the video of the Monster Ball, Lady GaGa’s Monster Ball, and she’s got a cast of thousands. She has a whole entourage, dancers and musicians and the singers and you name it, all kinds of stuff. He was there by himself, and he handled it spectacularly well.

What didn’t you like about the concert?
Of course what I couldn’t appreciate was the language. Why does he have to use this? I couldn’t understand that. It doesn’t make any sense to me. Why this language? It was horrendous language. Look, I’m 81 years of age, so I can’t relate to that. It’s impossible. But I did appreciate him enormously as a performer, as an eminently successful businessman, and as someone who had enough humility to understand where he came from and the long road from where he started to where he is today. I really thought it was a uniquely wonderful experience, and I came away just hugely appreciative to Bruce for what he’s accomplished there, for all of us, all of New York.

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Did you end up meeting Jay-Z?
We were invited to the party afterwards. The concert started at 9:45, so my hunch was that it will probably go to 11:45.

Then I said ‘by the time he gets downstairs and so forth, and probably gets to the 40/40 club by, what, 12:30?’ I asked [Arielle] ‘would you like to go?’ She said “Poppy, I don’t want to put you in this spot. It’s late enough. If you want to leave now, I am happy to leave.” This is [at] 10:45 p.m.

What was your impression of the Barclays Center itself?
I think it’s a beautifully-done arena. I think it’s going to be a concert hall that many will enjoy. Look at the bookings that he already has out there. I mean, the Barbra Streisand concert, for example. There’s all kind of good stuff coming. Let’s face it, until now, there’s been one venue, and that was Madison Square Garden. Now you have a second venue that is really spectacular and powerful and good, with first-class transportation right to the door. It’s a new opportunity here in New York, and a positive one.

You are a Brooklyn native yourself. Does that mean you will now start rooting for the Brooklyn Nets?
Well, honestly, I haven’t thought that far ahead [laughs]. Listen, this has such a great story to it, it’s hard not to appreciate it become a part [of the city].

Did you recognize any of Jay-Z’s songs?
No, not at all, or could I understand any of the lyrics. I couldn’t possibly understand the lyrics. The one thing that I could hear was the horrible language. I said to myself ‘why? Why is that necessary?’ I could never understand that.

Mary Ann Tighe thought the food at the Barclays Center was the best stadium food she’s ever had. Did you eat anything while there?
She’s in my conference room right now. So I came out to just chat with you. She said she was amazed, and the truth of the matter was I was concerned about that. I made sure we had dinner beforehand and then came [to the concert]. But then I was amazed, because the food looked lovely. It was wholesome, it was plentiful, well-presented, and obviously well-prepared and very tasteful.

What kind of food was it?
Oh, it was burgers and shrimps, you name it. It was a potpourri of things. You know, fingerfood that’s easy to eat. Pizza, it was really very well done. I take my hat off to him, because I think Jay-Z is going to have a very successful food venue here. It’s going to be first class, he’s going to do very well here.

drosen@observer.com