« Green Church Goes Educational A Thought on Comments »

December 15, 2008

No Oyster Bar? How About a Methadone Clinic?

299-hoty-1208.jpg
Earlier this year, the Alan Harding-Jim Mamary restaurant empire endured a setback when residents objected to their vision for an oyster bar at 299-301 Hoyt, formerly occupied by a pediatrician. The Buildings Department eventually backed the residents, says PMFA, stating that zoning would permit a Group 4 use: a community facility such as educational, recreational, religious or health would have to occupy the spot. Apparently the landlord, none too happy with the ruling, has decided to advertise, with a tinge of anger, for the still unoccupied space. GMAP




Posted by lisa at 10:04 AM | Comments (22)
Categories: Boerum Hill, Development

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.brownstoner.com/mte/mt-tb.cgi/7620

Comments

A methadone clinic would be perfect! Who can afford oysters these days anyways.... free government sponsored drug use is so much better!

Posted by: areakidsbrooklyn at December 15, 2008 10:29 AM

my tears well up for the landlord and mammary...trying to open a restaurant in a residential block...boo hoo

Posted by: eman1234 at December 15, 2008 10:32 AM

eman1234, can't tell if you're being facetious or if you're saying that you're trying to open a restaurant on a residential block too (and are having trouble) so you're feeling his pain?

This seems like justifiable anger, and is pointing out the irony in the objections. A nice little oyster bar ain't exactly some dive beer bar, serving burgers and chicken wings, where shouting drunkards would be spilling onto the street, smoking and laughing at 2am.

The objections seem odd to me too.

Posted by: Nokilissa at December 15, 2008 10:45 AM

Building Department didn't 'support' anyone.
The Dep. Comm. & Dept. allowed use as oyster bar. Deal done. Then The Boro. commish reversed the decision with no explanation. Did somebody get to him?

Posted by: BK realestate veteran at December 15, 2008 10:46 AM

oh yeah........that block is so quiet and quaint.An oyster bar would have ruined it. I agree, how dare they think of doing such a thing. The bar they have on the corner already is so wild with the wet tshirt contests and all, almost disturbing the quaintness.

A methadone clinic I would vote for!

Posted by: areakidsbrooklyn at December 15, 2008 10:46 AM

It's called justice.

If I were this guy, I would lease for cheap to a non-profit methadone clinic and claim the positive leasehold value of the tenant as a donation!

Posted by: Polemicist at December 15, 2008 10:52 AM

Does using meth give you the same effect as eating oysters??

Posted by: bayridgegirl at December 15, 2008 10:52 AM

Not sure if the effects are similiar, but methadone is almost FREE! So the crowd going there will be more fun I am sure than those asshats with money!

Posted by: areakidsbrooklyn at December 15, 2008 11:02 AM

Makes very little difference what type of establishment theme or idea one initially proposes for a site. Once you have the liquor license - by choice or for profitability - you change it to suit your needs.
So of course proposed idea is nice upscale little nothing - but if that doesn't work - next week another overaged frat boy hangout.
And Mammary is big on outdoor patio business - and some of his places are a real nuisance.
Glad he didn't get his way here.

Posted by: Petebklyn at December 15, 2008 11:05 AM

Really Petebklyn? Nuisance how? We live right next door to two restaurants which have outdoor seating, including one at which people congregate to smoke, and while noxious to walk through for breathing's sake, really isn't a problem. And in fact looks rather quaint and lovely in a Parisian sort of way.

How would this tiny place turn into a frat boy hangout? And wouldn't the owner need to get the okay for that kind of change?

Posted by: Nokilissa at December 15, 2008 11:12 AM

Now that my friends is old school Brooklyn humor. Love this landlord.

Posted by: eastriver at December 15, 2008 11:21 AM

Pete has it right. Once the liquor license is in hand, the "theme" can change. And, ask people who live above and near the Gowanus Yacht Club or the Zombie Hut how "quaint" they seem.

Posted by: very bored at work at December 15, 2008 11:23 AM

But aren't those examples large spaces? Again, how could this little space become such a place? It seems a little dramatic/hysterical. And why would the landlord, who one might assume has an interest in the integrity of his building, and might even live there, want his place to turn into the next Zombie Hut/frat boy central?

Posted by: Nokilissa at December 15, 2008 11:28 AM

I've frequented the wine bar on the corner and its such a well-run establishment, attracting a crowd you actually want to be around. This is a street off the main drag that wouldn't draw the frat crowd at all. There's no reason to think that an Oyster Bar would fail there, or would be a nuisance.

The decision was swayed by stuffy neighbors who assumed the worst and bought into the fratboy ridiculousness, most likely without having even entered the other bar to see how simple the whole thing could be.

I think the methadone sign is brilliant. You want community? Bring on the rehab patients.

Posted by: livesnearthere at December 15, 2008 12:49 PM

I just heard there going to put a homeless shelter thier.

Posted by: harrythehat at December 15, 2008 1:17 PM

Kind of reminds me of the "Christotora Treatment Center" -- Gregg Singers' bizarre bluff about putting a shelter and outpatient clinic in a school building cum Charas community center in the East Village, after residents who'd fought to keep the community center in place challenged his international youth hostel plan.

Charas is still vacant.

I don't know where people get the idea that community zoning (that would be a community facility such as educational, recreational, religious or health facility) is ever going to mean "Oyster Bar" -- the zoning is there for a reason. Developers get these FAR breaks to include community space and they don't just get to turn it into commercial space because no one can think of anything between "methadone clinic" and "oyster bar."

Posted by: amanda at December 15, 2008 1:37 PM

"I've frequented the wine bar on the corner and its such a well-run establishment, attracting a crowd you actually want to be around." (sounds like a snob talking-she 'frequents' places with the right 'crowd')
"This is a street off the main drag that" (which is precisely why should not be a nightime business that serves booze)

Posted by: Petebklyn at December 15, 2008 2:44 PM

I enjoy Gowanus Yacht Club but I would sure hate to live next to it. It is LOUD! (Btw, I lived next door to/over a restaurant with outdoor seating for 9 years. It was kind of fun, actually , because they had a bubbly foundation and I could sit in my living room and eavesdrop on conversations. Didn't mind too much because it was not rowdy in the least and was closed up tight by midnight.

Posted by: Carol Gardens at December 15, 2008 5:41 PM

no reason streets off the main drag shouldn't have nighttime businesses that serve booze. the difference, imho, in terms of degrading the quality of life for nearby residents is the extent to which "booze" is actually central to the mission of the place. whether the oyster bar was really a pretense for a "booze" bar, i do not know, but it does seem that the reaction here was a bit uptight.

i live near to a small restaurant "off the main drag" that serves "booze." it's a really pleasant amenity to have around. i have a kid and there's never any noise that bothers us.


Posted by: i disagree at December 15, 2008 5:55 PM

What lame excuses to protest this place. Mamary's places aren't frat boy hangouts. Nor is this space even close to being large enough to be that kind of loud "booze" bar (like sports bars, the yacht club, etc). Medical offices are depressing. They're an eyesore; they always have ugly awnings and facades. They contribute nothing to community or atmosphere. I don't get why that's preferable.

Posted by: traditionalmod at December 15, 2008 7:11 PM

you don't get why they are preferable 'cause you're a drinker.

Posted by: Petebklyn at December 16, 2008 9:15 AM

I admire how Alan Harding helped put Smith Street on the map. He was a pioneer. But the amount of retail restaurants this guy and his partners have opened seems OCD and destructive. Shnack is gone. Trout and Gravy are gone as well as that bizarre fake/ironic pizza place down the block from it.

Here's an idea. Let the neighborhood NOT have another boutique restaurant.

Posted by: Jack at December 16, 2008 10:56 AM

Post a comment

Please be patient while your comment is published. It may take a moment.

Latest Restaurant Additions