Misinterpreting Marty

04/29/2010 |

Aaron Short must be reading a different version of Marty Markowitz’s Domino resolution. A cursory reading of Markowitz’s resolution shows that it is anything but an “enthusiastic approval“.

Sure, Marty said yes, but he said with conditions. Just as the Community Board’s “disapprove with modifications” was not a complete rejection of the Domino plan, Marty’s “approve with modifications” is far from an endorsement of the New Domino. Both CB1 and Marty said that the current proposal is too big, and both called for it to be scaled back to the level of prior waterfront rezonings. Both resolutions also call for the height of the towers adjacent to Grand Ferry Park to be scaled back and for the height of the towers on the east side of Kent Avenue to be reduced (Marty actually calls for a much greater reduction than CB1 asked for).

In all, Marty’s recommendations, if adopted, would result in a project that is much more in line with what CB1 asked for than with what Domino is asking for (it splits the difference, but does so very much in favor of CB1’s position). The only difference is that Marty said “yes, but” where the Community Board said “no, but”. That’s a difference in tactics, not substance.

It’s also a good example of why CB1 says “no, but” in the first place. When they say “yes, but” everyone stops reading at the “yes” part and never gets to the “but” part. Sort of like what happened when Aaron read Marty’s recommendation, I guess.



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Kent Avenue = Drug Store Alley

The Post is reporting that CVS has signed a 20-year lease for 13,000 square feet of retail space at the Edge on Kent Avenue. The asking rent on the space was $55 a foot, which might be reasonable given the business that Duane Reade is doing a block away – $2.5 million in sales over the past three months according to the Post. Luckily for the folks at the Edge, they won’t have to walk that long block for band-aids and ramen noodles.

For those of you holding out for an Apple Store at the site, you shouldn’t be too surprised. This is, after all, the developer who promised us Enrique Norten and gave us Stephen B. Jacobs. (Though promising us an Apple Store and giving us CVS is a far worse trade.)

[Via The Real Deal

Misinform & Conquer

WG News + Arts looks at local politics, the Church, developer money and how they all come together at Domino. A long article, but worth reading through to the end.

Subway Ridership Down

04/26/2010 |

NYC Transit released its annual ridership report, and to no one’s surprise, ridership is down across the system.

Except in North Brooklyn.

Of the 423 subways stations in the system, only 65 saw an increase in ridership in 2009. More than half (38) of those stations are on lines that pass through Williamsburg and Greenpoint. And it’s not just the trains that pass through that are gaining ridership – more and more people on getting on the train in Williamsburg and Bushwick.

The Lorimer/Metropolitan Avenue stop on the G and L lines had an 11.5% increase in ridership – the fourth highest increase for any station in the system. (The stations in the top three slots all have very low ridership, so a small numerical increase can mean a big percentage increase for them – Lorimer/Metropolitan has a third-again more riders per day (11,707) than that top three stations combined (8,400).)

The Bedford Avenue L station saw a 4% increase in ridership, to a daily average of 18,525 riders. At 6.7 million riders per year, Bedford is one of the most heavily-trafficked stations without a transfer. The other stations ahead of it in this category are mainly along the 6 line in Manhattan.

Bedford Avenue is also one of the top seven-day stations, with only a 15% drop off between the level of weekday usage and the level of weekend usage. And in terms of weekend ridership, the Bedford Avenue station is the 25th busiest in the system (it’s 53rd in terms of total ridership). In other words, don’t expect to get a seat on the weekend, either.

11 of 22 stations on the L line (including First Avenue and Third Avenue) saw an increase in ridership. Over on the J/M/Z line, things are really picking up. Almost every station on the Brooklyn/Queens side of the line (22 of 30) has seen an increase in ridership. The Marcy stop is the most heavily trafficked outside of Manhattan, where most of the stations are hubs), with 8,241 riders per day.

The G train also saw an increase in ridership at many of its stations (9 of 17, by my count). However, both of the Greenpoint stations saw a drop in service of roughly 3%.

Overall, all of the Williamsburg and Bushwick stations on the J/M/Z saw an increase in ridership, as did the Bedford, Lorimer, Morgan and Jefferson stops on the L, and the Metropolitan and Broadway stops on the G.

And all of this is for 2009 – before most of the waterfront developments currently under construction are occupied and before a slew of inland developments came on line. But there’s always room for more.



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There Goes the Neighborhood

Though [Omar,] the 27-year-old [“wild-eyed investment banker”] declines to give his last name, because “my bosses don’t know I party,” he’s less circumspect about his love for crossing the river from his Chelsea condo to drop cash in Brooklyn: “I think Williamsburg is the coolest place in the city now. It’s like the Lower East Side, the East Village — but less obvious.”

I think its time to institute reverse congestion pricing.

Brooklyn’s Killer Boulevard

“It’s deadly,” said Jessie Singer of Transportation Alternatives, an advocacy group that was already studying the fast-moving strip when 28-year-old Web designer Neil Chamberlain was hit last week.

City Awards Greenpoint Hospital Housing Contract to Upstate Company

After 3 years, HPD has finally picked a winner for the Greenpoint Hospital affordable housing redevelopment, and it goes to… no one from North Brooklyn. TNS Development – the winning bidder – has done a fair number of projects in NYC, including a 31-unit affordable housing project on Myrtle Avenue in Bed-Stuy and a bunch of other affordable housing projects in Harlem and the Bronx.

(And by “upstate”, the Brooklyn Paper means Westchester County. Mt. Vernon, actually – about as downstate as you can get without being in Yonkers. And their partner construction firm is based out of College Point.)

Greenpoint Hit-and-Run Victim Dies

Neil Chamberlain, 28, was hit by a car crossing McGuinness on Calyer as he was walking in the crosswalk. The driver didn’t stop.

Local activists say that the McGuinness corridor is one of the most dangerous in Brooklyn. “We’ve been close to begging people to do some sort of traffic calming,” said Ryan Kuonen, an organizer with Neighbors Allied for Good Growth, a North Brooklyn community organization. “It’s a racetrack.”

(BTW – NAG has taken matters into its own hands, working with Transportation Alternatives to document traffic conditions on McGuinness.)