Car-Free Montague a Bust?

prob bc it was a long weekend and the whole nabe was dead.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 11:10 AM

yeah, kinda.

where was the astroturf and the tables and chairs shown in the rendering? they shut off the street and put up 3-4 tables and some chairs. Pffft.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 11:13 AM

Montegue has so little of worth for shopping -- noit like Court in Bobble hill, or Smith Street or Atlantic -- and it is certainly not difficult to cross the street. This was a really dumb idea. Yes, the neighborhood was dead-- but it always is excpet for tourists walking down to the promenade. DUMB.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 11:16 AM

I'll do the rare thing and comment as someone who actually went.

Wife, baby and I went to the promenade to check out the waterfall. We were pleasantly surprised to see Montague Street was closed. It was dead, but nice, with the closed street giving us some more room to move about.

I didn't see a lot of retail activity. Can't say if it was due to weather, holiday or what.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 11:17 AM

bad idea. a bikini car wash would have been better.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 11:17 AM

It was kinda weird, like one of those B horror flicks where the entire population disappears and the streets are dead. I swear all that the scene needed was some tumbleweed.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 11:20 AM

Besides, Montague street is dead. A lot of bad sushi joints, bad Chinese joints, a lot of real estate offices, and so on. Only time I'm in the area is to walk through it.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 11:21 AM

People in Brooklyn Heights are rich. They are NOT in town over July 4th weekend. OR any weekend in the summer. Puh-lease.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 11:22 AM

i've never seen the city so dead this weekend.

i live on a north park slope block and there was one point on saturday where there were literally 5 cars parked on the entire block.

TOTAL.

what about the bad economy? i thought no one was going away?

if things are so bad, wouldn't all these people have to sell their beach homes, the What??

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 11:26 AM

You guys are missing the point the whole point of this excerise was to annoy the people who live on Montague Street.
Key Food was almost empty on Sunday, I mean no food. I asked the manager and he said "we couldn't have deliveries today".
Not a brilliant idea.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 11:26 AM

I live in Brooklyn Heights and wouldn't be caught dead here on a weekend. Although, if they had done that bikini car wash, I would have changed my plans.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 11:29 AM

Are you sure you didn't pick up a photo of the Flea by mistake?

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 11:32 AM

yep as others have said. no good shopping on montague.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 11:38 AM

11:22am

Yeah, those that pay market rates, the other 6,000 to 8,000 people are a mix of jehovah's witness (they don't contribute to the local economy) and rent stabilized and rent controlled tenants.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 11:40 AM

My favorite part was the design within reach store put out some of its chairs -and they looked just as crappy as the one the BID had out.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 11:45 AM

Rodeo Drive it wasn't.

Closer to Fulton Mall, but less interesting.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 12:06 PM

"all that the scene needed was some tumbleweed"

For any performence arty people.

THIS WOULD BE AWESOME!

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 12:07 PM

Yes, there's a short time when shopping options on a street improve, and then in a few short years it becomes too East-Village-boutiquey, and useless to all but a certain segment (young, rich, skinny) of the population. And the time it takes from dead shopping to too twee seems to be speeding up.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 12:43 PM

I don't sell fat clothes. You want them, you get them. I sure as hell won't.

No fat people.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 12:52 PM

i'm sorry 12:52, but what? strange...
i like the concept but not the best of weekends to use as a measure. i think it can work and i think it's a nice relief from all that traffic (noise and pollution too) but since M st is not a major shopping destination i'm not so sure this is a necessary measure to take.Maybe on stretch of it (like clinton to henry or just henry to hicks).
as for key food: i don't think they get shipments on sunday and if they did, they would have had the truck go up hicks. i just think it was really poor planning on their part or something is up....

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 1:08 PM

We live right off of Montague and were there around noon on Sunday. It was totally dead and kind of silly - there were like 5 tables set up and maybe one was occupied. Needless to say, we chose to eat our bagels on the promenade instead. There is some decent take-out on Montague: 1. Montague Bagels, 2. Lassen & Hennings and 3. Five Guys. Thats about it. Otherwise shopping is abysmal - I could do without every other place being a real estate storefront.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 1:33 PM

Wasn't the city going to do this on Bedford Avenue also? Not sure of the dates? If so, it would be interesting to compare Montague with Bedford. One is in a old-money neighborhood, the other new-money, and Bedford actually has street life on the weekend without any incentive.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 2:07 PM

You people that says there isnt any good shopping on Montague are just plain wrong. They have a great Banana Republic there with some great looking slacks, some great shoe stores to shop in, a Connecticut muffin restaurant where I can get a nice blueberry muffin and a cup of coffee, but there's also a Starbucks for the younger crowd. Plus, if you would like to, you can browse the local real estate listings at the real estate agents on that street, there are several of them. Who says there's nothing to do on Montague Street? I would love it, though, if they did have a bikini car wash there, VA-VA-VOOM!

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 2:55 PM

Montague Street is fine, it is a real street with real people walking and driving to and fro. I think city streets look so odd without car and truck traffic. It is as if we are trying to bring back all the failed "ped only" experiments (like Fulton Mall) from the 1960's. Those experimetns mostly were giant failures. I do not get any pleasure in sitting in the middle of a deserted street. In fact it gives me the creeps. If I wish to sit outdoors, there are several very nice places on Montague that have sidewalk seating. And if I want to buy take-out I can sit on a bench (under a tree)on the promenade, like a proper city person. Sitting in the middle of a hot asphalt street is just odd.


Please do not cut off traffic from our streets, it makes the place look depressing and abandoned.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 3:14 PM

yes James fresh air for Montague stree!

Umm what about the residents in the adjacent streets that saw more traffic because of this dandy idea?

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 4:06 PM

I really believe that folks like James Patience who have trouble with cars and with city traffic and city air should move to Vermont rather than live in the city and seek to close off other people's streets and eliminate other people's cars.
Ha! fat chance!!

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 4:11 PM

I live on Pierrepont, about as adjacent as it gets and there was no traffic impact at all because there was no traffic. It was July 4th weekend, in Brooklyn Heights. There were about 20 residents in the entire area. There were parking spots galore too -- and that NEVER happens.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 4:46 PM

I just want to say that staying in Brooklyn Heights over the long weekend was really great. It was so quiet, there were parking spots everywhere, the fireworks were terrific. People who go away on these long weekends are missing out.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 4:57 PM

Let's address the real problem here - Montague Street is not doing so well. Perhaps they need an improvement district. The street could really benefit from improved link to the commerical revitalization on Court and Atlantic. For being in the middle of wealthy Brooklyn Heights, the commercial quality is really low grade. The streets and sidewalks are often filthy too. Montague Street needs a major destination to draw more people.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 5:19 PM

yeah, bring back the Burger King!

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 5:55 PM

Really, who are these Montague Street bashers? The same people who would rather DIE than have granite counters in their kitchens?..... because it is sooo last year darling...
Montague Street is an old established commercial street. it was always a bank and realtor street. always. but it is also a place with grocery stores, and take out places and clothing shops and shoe shops and a book shop, a liquor store, a laundremat, i mean you name it, it's there almost. As a prior poster noted it is not twee, it is real life.
having said this, I thought the closed off street thing was a dismal failure. It made the street look strange, kind of like an emergency of some kind was underway, Montague street is fine, leave it alone, all we do not need is brownstoner types telling us what type of weird nepalese/yemeni cuisine is a "must have".

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 7:28 PM

Amen, but let's at least bring back the Blimpies. I love Montague St.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 9:37 PM

No traffic clogging the street.

No exhaust spewing into kids' faces.

No jerks honking their horns.

Sidewalks more crowded than I usually see them -- especially on a dead holiday weekend in summer.

Looks like a big success to me.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 9:52 PM

A bikini car wash? In Brooklyn Heights?

Clutch pearls!

Just be sure to import the bikini babes from a younger, sexier neighborhood.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 11:13 PM

9:52... Move to Vermont. Or Poland. Or back to Indiana. And still be miserable.

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 11:18 PM

9:52
If you live in the city, you better start thinking of moving to the exurbs because you don't sound like someone who likes an urban environment.
Without the cars, the horns, the traffic, and the congestion you've got the boondocks, so go there, and stay, and leave us alone.

Who are these people who move to New York and expect the Outback? Let me guess, you are the guy with the gigantic wilderness backpack on the R train -right?

Posted by: guest at July 7, 2008 11:29 PM

7:28 - Key Foods is horrible, the take out food places (Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese) are akin to Mid West mall food, the laundry mat is a dump. The liquor store is ok, but certainly far less appealing than the store on Atlantic. Of course there are too many real estate and offices and banks, but also too many crappy women's shoe stores and make up stores. Overall, the quality of the stores simply does not match the level of the neighborhood. Some blame high rents, but that does not make much sense. Real reason is that the street is geared towards govt/ court workers at lunch. But with so many choices nearby (CH and Dumbo), I do not have to tolerate the embarrassment that is Montague Street!

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 8:52 AM

"But with so many choices nearby (CH and Dumbo), I do not have to tolerate the embarrassment that is Montague Street!"
So sensitive. Is it really that bad for you?

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 10:08 AM

"...For being in the middle of wealthy Brooklyn Heights, the commercial quality is really low grade...."

Well, that says it, doesn't it? In tandem with the comment that the street is predominantly geared to the shopping needs of nearby workers.

But as BH's main drag Montague should really offer more that's in keeping with the area's live-in demographic.

Unfortunately, that demographic lacks the kind of "food-culture" to support more ambitious restaurants; "clothing culture" to encourage more boutique-y shops, and so on.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 10:12 AM

"Unfortunately, that demographic lacks the kind of "food-culture" to support more ambitious restaurants; "clothing culture" to encourage more boutique-y shops, and so on."

That's a very naive and snobbish view. The commercial rents on Montague Street are simply far too high for new, independently owned restaurants and boutiques to open. The trend is for national chains to take over the street-level storefronts once occupied by mom and pops. Eventually, this could happen to Smith Street and the main avenues of Park Slope.

The shaping of the street is mainly driven by commercial landlords, not by the culinary-and- wardrobe-challenged hillbillies of Brooklyn Heights.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 11:31 AM

11:31, Montague Street store rents are higher than similar Manhattan rents, which seem to allow for the very "independents" you claim to be shut-out of the BH drag?

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 11:40 AM

If you build it, they will come...

When tenants try to cheapen up their product (food quality, service, decor, etc) to balance out a high rent is a surefire way for the business to quickly be out of business. There are too many other options in the city to accept Montague's collective sh*tbox of stores

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 1:44 PM