Frank Gehry Calls Frank Gehry a Liar

By JOSH ALPER

Updated 9:00 AM EST, Thu, Mar 26, 2009

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Frank Gehry is backpedaling faster than a male politician caught in bed with a dead woman and a live man. The architect released a statement retracting his earlier claim that the future of a Nets arena in Brooklyn was in doubt.

"My comments ... are being misconstrued as a prediction of the future of the Atlantic Yards development," the statement said.

Gee, why would anyone take "I don't think it's going to happen" to mean that something isn't going to happen?

Actually, as we said on Wednesday, there's a good chance Gehry was just talking about his own role in the project. That would be a lot clearer if he'd said something to that effect during either of his pronouncements, but all indications are that Gehry's no longer involved.

Sure, the Nets' CEO said he's still the architect and that Gehry was "just venting, probably," but that doesn't explain why he fired the two dozen staff members he had working on the project. Nor does it explain why he'd give an interview to a trade publication, say that the project was a regrettably unrealized work and then wait until it went public to try and rectify his statement.

The arena can get built in Brooklyn without Gehry, but the Nets' reaction makes it clear that they don't want anyone to think that he's off the project. They need him to sell it to sponsors and financiers in shaky times, but eventually they're going to have to come clean and admit that anything that gets built will get built without the help of their "starchitect."

Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com.