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July 26, 2005

Blimpie Is Coming, Like It or Not

blimpie
The controversial Blimpie under construction at S. Elliot and Lafayette, as captured by Set Speed.
Blimpie Awning [Set Speed]
Blimpie, DD to Mar Lafayette [Brownstoner]

Comments

Why is this controversial? Who gives a shit?

Posted by: JoshK at July 26, 2005 10:28 AM

there was a very long and very contentious thread about this a few weks ago..

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 10:40 AM

Josh, there was an earlier BS thread in which several dozen people argued over whether this Blimpie was a good or a bad thing.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 10:41 AM

http://brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2005/06/blimpie_foes_ai.html

Posted by: me again at July 26, 2005 10:47 AM

Yes but who really cares. They will provide much needed jobs and pay nice rent to the owner. Good for them!

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 10:55 AM

In Williamsburg, there is also a Subway Restaurant moving into a space that formerly had an independant Indian restaurant on Bedford and I believe N. 4th. They just put the sign up for it yesterday, and it hasn't opened yet.

This is the first time a large national chain is moving into Williamsburg. We Williamsburg residents have dreaded this day for years, and I anticipate a lot of controversy surrounding its opening.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 10:58 AM

Anyone have any idea about the mysterious empty white oval to the right of the 2 logos? Is this to leave their options open in case they want to make it Blimpies/Nathans/Starbucks or Blimpies/Nathans/Gourmet Garage?

Posted by: Tom at July 26, 2005 11:07 AM

tom, great attention to detail! maybe it is going to be for a TCBY!!

Posted by: ltjbukem at July 26, 2005 11:19 AM

I totally welcome Blimpie/Nathan/(please let it be)Dunkin Donuts

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 11:24 AM

These chains come because the greedy landlords raise rents when leases up and only these chains can afford it and the landlords love them coz they DO pay the rent

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 11:48 AM

I just bought a video basket t-shirt from the brownstoner t-shirt guy. very funny.. Nothing could ever replace that store.

http://www.pigeonex.com/originals.html

Posted by: Michael K. at July 26, 2005 12:07 PM

"These chains come because the greedy landlords raise rents when leases up and only these chains can afford it and the landlords love them coz they DO pay the rent"

Right.... thats why there is nothing else in West Village, only fast food.
Becouse greedy landlords made it so expensive.

Posted by: malymis at July 26, 2005 12:13 PM

I wish the landlord in the not unattractive pre-war apartment building on the corner of Marlborough and Cortelyou in Ditmas Park had rented his ground floor shop to the otherwise dreaded Dunkin Donuts... Instead, he opted for yet another low-end grocery/beer/24 hour eyesore (there are three on that block now...). Apparantly, he took less money for a longer lease. A Dunkin Donuts would be a blessing compared to this place.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 12:30 PM

I forget to say, the landlord had originally cut a deal with Dunkin Donuts and then took it off the table for the 24 hour grocery with the longer lease (5 yrs as opposed to 3, even though Dunkin Donuts was prepared to pay higher rent).

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 12:32 PM

And what about the place next door? Talk about an eyesore, and the food is utterly disgusting as well. Who eats there? The two times I did (several years ago) both my dining comanion and I felt ill.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 12:38 PM

I give a shit....Hopefully no one well go and they will go out of business. NATHANS? Give me a break....does anyone even eat that shit? Maybe Blimpie, but NATHANS? gross. A sad day for Fort Greene, seriously.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 12:51 PM

"Hopefully no one will go and they will go out of business."

Ha! Ha! Ha! Dream on! Brooklyn Tech alone will probably make them one of the highest grossing chains in America.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 1:04 PM

Just what we need, more fat kids eating hot dogs

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 1:10 PM

"NATHANS? Give me a break....does anyone even eat that shit?"

There's the Brooklyn spirit! They need to replace it with something more indigenous to the borough, like, um, a panini shop.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 1:40 PM

The Cambodian spot next door used to be good. Don't know what happened to it. Seems like traffic is real low last six months or so.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 1:43 PM

Anonymous at 1:40 - ha! Perfect comment on the attitude of gentrifiers.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 1:48 PM

Yes, only the scary "gentrifiers" could possibly not want kids to be snacking on hot dogs everyday. The nerve of those people!!

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 2:05 PM

Im so glad i own a house in Brooklyn Heights so I dont have so see this kinda crap on the block

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 2:18 PM

Anonymous at 2:05, I believe the snarky comments were directed to the guy who said "Who eats that shit" and not the comment about kids eating hot dogs. I don't think anyone objected to that comment - just to the idea that, god forbid, BROOKLYN would have a Nathan's.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 2:41 PM

Not much one can do about this except complain. We thought the Eckerd on Smith Street would be too much for an area that also has a Rite Aid and a CVS, as well as a few independent drug stores within a few blocks (and therefore fail). They all seem to be doing well and all the chains suck, too.

Don't overestimate your neighbor's willingness to patronize chain stores if they are convenient.

To the snot from Brooklyn Heights - What part of the Heights are you living in? Court Street and Montague are awash in national chains including the dreaded Nathan's/Dunkin Donuts combo, a Chipotle (owned by McDonalds), several cell phone stores, 9West, Banana Republic, et al.

Posted by: bored at work at July 26, 2005 2:43 PM

I live on Willow
Lets see...Lets weigh the scale

Banana Republic...Nathans...
Chipolte......Nathans.......
9 West........Nathans

Uh....could be me, but Nathans loses everytime...
Oh! and also, at least those retail stores are on a retail block! Not a brownstone block...PLUS...no tacky wacky awnings!

Didnt mean to cause a fuss...I do love the Greene, just happy the Blimpie/Nathans revolution isnt in my hood. Just being honest

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 2:55 PM

yeah, the bklyn heights guy must be blind or joking.

i love how we are all so attached to our own $ but if anyone else is they're "greedy".

seriously, i hate blimpie's but does anyone really get hurt if they move in? they're not opening a bio weapons lab, it's a sandwich spot, albeit bad. but the moral hysteria on this page and the last thread is terry schiavo-esque. we're not directly affected to the point where words like "dread" are appropriate. if you don't like the food, don't eat there! i know i won't.

Posted by: escap at July 26, 2005 2:58 PM

i have always been fascinated that there hasn't been a celebrated restaurant to come out of brooklyn heights in the restaurant boom- if it is so affluent and filled with foodies why do you have to leave the neighborhood to get to where the buzz is... a blimpies would fit perfectly there

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 3:08 PM

hey, bklyn heights, you beat me to the post.

but there are nathans and worse in the heights as was pointed out. and who's comparing the two anyway? i used to date a girl from the heights who was scared to even walk down the street in ft greene. why would someone from one of the richest neighborhoods in the country feel the need to butt into my nabe's business?

Posted by: escap at July 26, 2005 3:09 PM

The west village??? Fort Greene is not and will NEVER be the West Village!!! My goodness. God Bless Blimpies. God Bless them for filling a void, giving the Fort Greene natives (And I mean those who grew up there and have lived there, no the gentrifiers drinking bottled water) a place they can afford to eat and a place they can work. God Bless you Blimpies at least you are not a drug front.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 3:19 PM

Now, Now, kiddies, lets not start hood bashing. Fort Greene and the Heights BOTH rock.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 3:21 PM

I'll say it loud and without apology: "I LOVE BLIMPIES!"

(Don't care for B'klyn Hghts, though)

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 3:24 PM

Man, we go to the dentist for a couple of hours, and look what happens!

Posted by: Brownstoner at July 26, 2005 3:49 PM

I live around the corner from this...I've heard all the "controversy" and then I actually saw it yesterday...it's no big deal guys...it's not like the Seinfeld episode with the Kenny Rogers Roasters sign...there are a ton of commercial properties around this location and some of them horrible...

Also another article somewhere pointed out that Blimpies are independently owned and operated...this is owned by a small business owner from Queens...just because it's a brand doesn't mean its a faceless corporate monolith...although that is the easiest way to look at it...

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 4:19 PM

I miss the old Video Basket, but Markt tells me he will likely be opening a new Video Basket on Fulton between St. James and Grand for those living in Clinton Hill.

I don't like the idea of junky fast food chains moving in, but it is not like it is in the middle of a residential block, it is at the bottom of Lafayette at the Fulton intersection.

However, I do loathe the idea of all of the additional garbage that will likely be thrown on the ground by all of the teenagers who will undoubtedly keep the place busy.

If Blimpie go rid of the tackie awning an kept it clean, I think there would be less of a concern.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 4:20 PM

To the "native" Ft. Greener who blesses Blimpie for not being a "drug front", the only reason the drug fronting bodegas are folding up is because of the evil gentrifiers. If you want to eat fast food because it is affordable, all the power to you. No one is dictating what you eat, but quit whining about being a native Ft. Greener. This neighborhood has been here for 150 odd years, I'm sure there have been plenty of "natives" over the generations. Last time I checked, the current set of "natives" didn't build the neighborhood in the 19th century. You live in the city, neighborhoods change, get used to it.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 4:26 PM

yeah, 'hoods change. Get used to it (Blimpies).

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 4:43 PM

26 comments on blimpie and 3 on Ratner. Suprising. Ratner project will shape brooklyn and will be there much longer after blimpie is long gone.
I dont like chains as well but there are more important issues.

Posted by: malymis at July 26, 2005 4:55 PM

anonymous, i think that's hilarious that you actually put the word "evil" in front of "gentrifiers". what are you, george bush? i hope you're being sarcastic.

incidentally, i'm a native and a gentrifier at the same time. is that a contradiction?

Posted by: escap at July 26, 2005 4:58 PM

Definitely sarcastic. I'm an "evil" one myself.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 5:05 PM

Y'all drink?

Blimpies are great late night after hitting the bars. I look forward to scrafing a foot long italian sub with all the fixings and then stumbing home.

Ain't nothing wrong with Blimpies. Way better than an expensive t-shirt shop or another crappy sushi bar.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2005 9:17 PM

So the drunks and some fast-food addicted Tech students will love it....Sure to be a hit with owners in the nabe!

Posted by: Anonymous at July 27, 2005 8:40 AM

What a difference a few blocks make. We have a relatively new Subway on the corner of Vanderbilt and Myrtle. Personally, I hate Subway. Their bread is yeasty and undercooked, but the store is always busy. It's clean and well kept. There isn't an overabundance of Subway garbage littering the streets out front. Previously there was an pizza place there, but they didn't last long. The neighborhood decides what stays and what goes by spending their dollars. If everyone refuses to eat Blimpie, it will go too.

I've been following this thread and while I find some of the comments amusing, I'm disturbed by the class mentality that prevails. I find it hard to believe that brownstone dwellers are so high class they never eat fast food. Sure, it would be nice to see yet another french restaurant on that corner, but sometimes what you need a little paper dish of Nathan's french fries, red plastic pitchfork included. Diversity is what makes Brooklyn a cool place to live. The coming of Blimpie is really not the tragedy that some people are making it out to be.

Posted by: Angela at July 27, 2005 10:40 AM

Wal-Mart is trying to come to Brooklyn.
They have a full page ad in the Brooklyn Papers.
http://www.brooklynpapers.com/html/issues/_vol28/28_29/28_29bp.pdf

In Brooklyn, you can get great cheesecake,
enjoy Coney Island,walk the Brooklyn Bridge,
and do just about anything. The only thing missing
is every day low prices. Brooklyn. Where you can find everything from the world’s best cheesecake, to a Beluga whale. The only thing it’s missing is a Wal-Mart, where New Yorkers could find quality merchandise at every day low prices. Wal-Mart has become America’s favorite place to shop by saving people money every day. And when it comes to saving money, what New Yorker doesn't like that? We’d be proud to have a Wal-Mart in the neighborhood. And we’d be just as proud to be your neighbor.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 27, 2005 12:19 PM

I don't understand the gist of your comment. Are you actually comparing Wal-mart to Blimpie? A giant blight of a store that doesn't pay it's employees enough to subsist and forces them to use Medicaid because they don't have health insurance vs. a small fast food franchise owned (as someone else stated below) by a guy from Queens? Aren't you stretching your metaphor a bit too much? All I was saying is that there are much worse things that could happen than the opening of a Blimpie. It seems like there's a whole lot of hysteria over a single storefront shop on a commercial block.

Posted by: Angela at July 27, 2005 12:39 PM

Apologies for the confusing comment on Walmart. The text at the end of the url is taken from the actual ad in the Brooklyn Papers. Not my comment at all as I'm not a fan of Walmart.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 27, 2005 12:47 PM

Oh, I see. I thought you were being sarcastic by saying you would love to be my neighbor, which is silly because I'm actually a really good neighbor to have, since I don't blast my music after a certain hour and I don't clomp around on my wood floors wearing high heels. Btw, I hate Wal-mart too. A Wal-mart in Brooklyn really is a tragedy and something to get hysterical about.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 27, 2005 1:09 PM

whoa! As a 30 plus resident of Brooklyn Heights: all apologies to fellow Brownstoners for my bloviating, myopic neighbor. An innocuous little Blimpie's is a blight on a neighborhood? Has this self-apointed elitist ever taken a hard look at our own, singular retail strip, Montague Street? One of the ugliest, most boring, architecturally uninspired and lame service streets in Brooklyn.
No mystery here: only the biggies (Corcoran, Starbucks, Design within Reach, etc.) can afford the commercial rents (at over $100 a square foot now, Montague Street, along with 86th Street in Bay Ridge and 7th Ave. in Park Slope are the highest commercial rents in the boro) . Among others who can afford the rents: The Key Food, the street's major supermarket which is crowded, understaffed, frequently depleted of mainstream items and often (loading and unloading) a sidewalk hazard; and the new Tasti-Delite (sp?), ,the mostly chemical frozen confection shop just across the street, which is doing gang buster business . As to why there are, and never have been, any interesting/creative/chef-driven restaurants on Montague: It's all about the rents, stupid! Hence the now old Smith St. restaurant revolution, followed by Atlantic Ave., Court St.. 5th Ave. in Park Slope, Red Hook, and CH/Ft. Greene.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 27, 2005 1:47 PM

Blimpies?!?!? Give me a break...Next there'll be a Dunkin Donuts/Baskin'Robbins with a 24hr. Check Cashing next door! They'll make a killing anyway!! That's what's it's all about, right?!$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Not to mention, they make the "soggiest" heroes in the world...Definitely, not a SUBWAYS:)

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Posted by: gambling at November 3, 2005 10:21 PM

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July 26, 2005

Blimpie Is Coming, Like It or Not

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