NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — A roof grows in Brooklyn.
One of the nation’s biggest green roofs on a sports arena is taking shape atop Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, where cranes are hoisting tons of steel beams and decking that will provide the base for an urban prairie in the sky.
Some sections of green are already sprouting. And when the project is complete by the end of September, the 3-acre curving rooftop is expected to be a hardy, verdant dome of grasses, flowers and plants.
Planners say the roof will not only make the hulking arena look nicer, it will also dampen noise from loud concerts and basketball games, and act as a sponge to capture about 2 million gallons of stormwater to keep it from draining into city streets and waterways.