SMACK!....What wuz we thinkin'?

Today's "oops" comes by way of Newark, where the New Jersey Devils will christen their new palace -- The Prudential Center -- on October 27th.

The "oops" comes in the form of what you see below, from the Devils' web site:

You've probably noticed that the arena is cheek-by-jowl with several thoroughfares. Apparently, this hasn't escaped notice of some officials in the city. Said Newark Police Director Garry McCarthy:

"You can't construct an arena and put it right against a street in a post 9/11 world. So, we're playing catch up and taking measure to make sure it's safe."

One would think that if there was any place in the country that would be sensitive to such concerns, it would be the New York metropolitan area. Having broken ground on this facility four years after 9/11 -- October 2005 -- the lack of adequate security planning (implicit in McCarthy's comments) seems incomprehensible.

I suppose one could make the case that Verizon Center is similarly situated among a host of surface streets, but that facility was opened in 1997. You can't construct an arena and put it right against a street these days?...oh, yes you can. It doesn't make it look any less bizarre.