Retail Report

01/03/2012 | Comment

A few random observations on the Northside (more or less) retail/commercial front:

Kitten Coffee, a roaster located in Bed-Stuy is opening what looks like its first retail outlet at the former Blackbird spot at North 6th and Bedford.

Evolve Motorcycles, a manufacturer of electric motorcycles, is opening a showroom (its first?) at 155 Grand Street (the former location of East Street Gallery and before that Lawanna’s last outpost). The storefront next door is available – the pizza parlor that had been there was seized by the marshals last month.

Sensation

208 Grand Street (at right, the new building with the best air conditioner grilles in Brooklyn) is getting a restaurant – Sensation – which will serve “new Shanghai cuisine”.

The newly-opened Hotel Williamsburg is changing hands – the potential new owners came to CB1 tonight for a transfer of the liquor license. One of the new owners was involved in the operation of the Barbizon, Ryalton, Paramount and Gramercy Park Hotels, as well as Coco Pazzo on the Upper East Side. The second partner is Meyer Chetrit (coincidentally, the Chetrit Group has just sold 175 Kent to Sam Zell).

Also on the CB1 docket tonight (but not on the Northside), the owners of Traif are opening Xixa, Mexican restaurant, three doors down at the old Aldo’s Coffee Shop space on South 4th Street.

Inside the City’s Ghost Subway System

Moses Gates took WNYC on a tour of some “ghost” subways sites in the city’s transit system.

The piece includes this cool interactive map of the system’s once-planned routes and abandoned stations. Most of the abandoned stations were taken out of service over time – the exception is the South 4th Street station, which was never completed. A few clicks around the interactive map show how different the Southside might have been if the Depression hadn’t stopped this major expansion (the 6th Avenue (F) and 8th Avenue (C?) lines both would have come out to Williamsburg, where they would have hooked up with Crosstown (G) service).