Picture is courtesy of the New York Post
And here comes the neighboorhood.... in Sping of 2008 that is.
Monday, May 21, 2007
$15M FOR 'HERALD SQUARE IN B'KLYN' (NYP)
Picture is courtesy of the New York Post
And here comes the neighboorhood.... in Sping of 2008 that is.
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14 comments:
So, just to make sure I have this straight: Willoughby will be the "SoHo of Brooklyn", Metrotech is the "Rockefeller Plaza" of Brooklyn, and Fulton Mall is to be the "Herald Square" of Brooklyn.
They should be really careful. There are only a couple of neighboorhoods left in city that we could be compared to.
Some discussions happening on Brownstoner right now.
http://brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2007/05/big_bucks_for_j.php?comments=10#comments
"And here comes the neighborhood..." Before you start congratulating yourself for purportedly bringing along the neighborhood, you should know that an entire block of people -- residents and businesses -- are being evicted from Bridge St. These are PEOPLE who've built lives and businesses in this community but are being kicked out to make way for high end businesses and luxury condos. Well, even though I have to leave the home I love, I also love it that you belltel people will have to live with the unbearable construction noise that we've been plagued with for months now. Welcome to the hood!
Oh wait, give me a moment to wipe my tears. Let me guess, your a bitter renter. It's unfortunate that you're 1 of the 20 residents being displaced but let's remember something. You choose to rent. When a area changes you might have a higher rent of be evicted. Don't begrudge the people buying luxury condo that you wish you could afford. Why not move to bed stuy. Oh wait, the area might become too good and you might have to move out because of high rents. Here's some advice for you. Save some money and buy your own place. This way you won't have anything to complain about.
As for the store, I hope the hellp them relocate. Especially the bagel shop.
Yours truely
renter hater
anon 10:59
Sorry about your eviction but the construction noise will just sound like money to me.
When did this blog turn into Curbed?
Re: Chan said a "big problem" with Fulton Street Mall - which attracts 100,000 shoppers a day - is its "physical environment is outdated and not welcoming from a shopping standpoint."
How can a place that attracts 100,000 shoppers a day be unwelcoming? That means that approx. 700,000 people stream through fulton mall in a week. His comment flummoxes me. Who doesn't want to go to the mall? Might Chan mean that the "physical environment" would be an unwelcome site to owners of $1 mil lofts in the area?
anon said
"Might Chan mean that the "physical environment" would be an unwelcome site to owners of $1 mil lofts in the area?"
That’s exactly what he’s saying
guyfromdobro: so are you saying that you dislike the "physicial environment" of the fulton mall. what exactly that you dislike about the fulton mall?
"what exactly that you dislike about the fulton mall?"
What is there to like?
Huge ugly looming signs that cover beautiful "Historic buildings"
Lack of diversity in food choices. A lot more people are moving to this area and they will need services like this.
I feel you re: the lack of food choices. There are a ton of fast food places, and not much else
(wait until you have to walk down Willoughby past the garbage from the fast food places every
night). But the fact remains that 100,000 people a day shop in downtown Brooklyn (that's 36
million people a year), and clearly those people keep those businesses up and running. What’s
aggravating is that you act as though those people shouldn’t be there (and let’s be frank here:
those people are black people who aren’t in your income bracket). Black people have made the
Fulton Mall successful when no one else wanted it; the Times referred to the Fulton Mall as the
premiere shopping area for black Brooklyn and Queens, and it is. So the notion that now you get
to come in and tell black people to get out because you don’t like their choices (and/or their
effects your property values) is obnoxious. Why do you get to summarily decide what downtown
Brooklyn should look like (or rather, why do you get to summarily decide what the people who
frequent downtown Brooklyn should look like)? Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be surprised if you
said your money. (Owners at bell tel: think about the type of people you’re moving in with.)
Look, I’m not saying that neighborhoods don’t change, or that no one should own property, or
whatever Marxist agenda you might attribute to me. What I’m saying is that just because you’ve
bought a luxury apartment (and make no mistake about it, since $3,500/month is about the
cheapest mortgage payment at Bell Tel, you have a bona fide luxury apartment) you shouldn’t
have 100% of the say as to what the neighborhood looks like. Other people have lived, worked
and shopped in downtown Brooklyn long before you sniffed out Bell Tel and tried to bestow the
(new and improved! snort) DoBro moniker. And if you think I’m irritated, wait until the people
who’ve been working and shopping there for years discover they are personas no grata. Then
there’s going to be some serious resentment.
12:47, I don't agree with everything you said, but that was a fair response.
My question is - how is this improvement plan a move to oust the current shoppers and businesses? New bus stops/shelters, benches, and green space strike me as the kind of thing that *everyone* should want (do people prefer the old, broken down stuff?).
I think the real issue here is that some people see this as the "first strike" of a much larger scheme, because I can't imagine anyone would be truly upset with the actual plans laid out as mentioned in this article.
In my opinion, Fulton Mall isn't likely to change much - at least not very quickly. The area is clearly successful financially, or else they couldn't charge the rents they do (amongst the highest in the city!). Likewise, because of those high rents, new types of businesses are unlikely to move in there. Just to use an oft used business as an example, Banana Republic is not likely to set up shop in Fulton Mall because the rents are high and so are the risks of being unsuccessful in that location - they don't want to be the so-called guinea pig.
I think the only way Fulton Mall dramatically changes is if the same thing happens there as might be happening on the Willoughby block - the landlord boots everyone out and basically starts over. And I don't see that happening.
So, all that said, what I would like to see is a cleaned up Fulton Mall (and I mean that in the literal sense, not in the gentrifying sense). The idea of putting in green space and benches is most welcome to me. I'd like to see more non-greasy-fast food restaurants. Then I'd like to see the space in the area that *is* underutilized developed into something better. The Willoughby block may be part of that (we have to see what's really planned for it to know).
I'd also like to see Macy's either go or clean up their act. That store is a travesty and it's stunning that Federated allows that shop to sully the brand.
12:47, you're a moron. engine joe gives you too much credit. your response certainly was not fair. what makes you think guyfromdobro or any other owner at belltel "has 100% of the say" as to what the neighborhood looks like? what a completely laughable charge. whether or not you agree with its direction, downtown brooklyn is evolving. new home owners here may have decidely slanted opinions regarding these changes, but they are certainly not dictating them.
if you want to try and paint belltel owners as villains, go right ahead. little effort will have to be made to paint you as a simpleton in response.
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