Arena Rejectionists Eat Anyway?

A business owner bullied into changing his new bagel store’s name resorts to an ominous-sounding acronym:

Arena Bagels — the Atlantic Yards–area bagelry that ran afoul of Bruce Ratner’s opponents because the shop’s name suggested that the mega-development was inevitable — is now officially A.R.E.A. Bagels.

Owner Ravi Aggarwal agreed to change the name several months ago after Ratner opponents complained, but the altered sign — with its missing “N” and periods — only went up this week.

Aggarwal said the periods between the letters were not just space-holders, but abbreviations of the names of his family members. More than that, he wouldn’t say.

“I am so happy how it all worked out,” Aggarwal said at Wednesday’s grand opening. “Now, people are coming in and saying, ‘Thanks for changing the name.’ They don’t need to thank me. I gave in because I want to be part of this neighborhood, this community.”

. . .

The good news is that the sign-maker agreed to change the design for free. And Aggarwal says he intends to hang the absent “N” on the wall of his shop, surrounded by newspaper clippings of the controversy.

Maybe the “N” stands for “nonsensical,” “needless” or “neofascist” . . .