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October 13, 2009

Streetlevel: Lafayette Grocery Overhaul

lafayette-grocery-1009.jpg
We noticed last week that the Lafayette Grocery at the corner of Lafayette Avenue and Cumberland Street in Fort Greene was getting a much-needed major overhaul. We were a little surprised when we couldn't find any record of the renovation filed with the Department of Buildings. Turns out we weren't the only curious ones: The Local blogcalled the Landmarks Preservation Commission to see if the project was LPC approved. The answer? Nope. As a result of the call, the work has been stopped until the owner successfully files plans with the commission. You'd think the grocery folks would have learned a lesson from the experience of the Nigerian restaurant across the street that originally flouted the LPC only to get bogged down in a multi-year mess. GMAP




Posted by Brownstoner at 2:01 PM | Comments (22)
Categories: Fort Greene, Streetlevel

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Comments

What was he thinking? On a corner no less.

Posted by: Maly at October 13, 2009 2:16 PM

Great! So, instead of letting the proprietor/owner fix that place up on their own terms the neighborhood is now going to have another useless eyesore (and giant rolling dumpster on the street) because of the usual tatletale mentality in this area.

Good job hall monitors - you get extra credit and everyone in class hates you.

Posted by: dptyrevere at October 13, 2009 2:35 PM

stupid government...i wonder how much the permit would've cost? maybe it's just a bitch to get the permit itself?

are those guys lebanese? i never had the courage to ask...but they def speak arabic.

inshallah!

Posted by: ftgreenepark at October 13, 2009 2:36 PM

They've probably never even heard of the LPC. Love the way the grocery looks now. They shouldn't change a thing.

Posted by: mopar at October 13, 2009 2:44 PM

On the blog thread, you learn that it wasn't as a result of the blogger's call that work was stopped. A complaint came in independently 6 days earlier.

Posted by: dreamking at October 13, 2009 2:47 PM

fine. so who's the rat?

Posted by: ftgreenepark at October 13, 2009 2:52 PM

There must be some middle ground between letting property owners do whatever they want to in landmarked areas and ratting folks out so nothing gets done. I have been on both sides of this equation and feel like too many people have an investment in getting in other folks' business and yet I am sympathetic to landmarking and safety. Can't common sense win out once in a while?

Posted by: wasder at October 13, 2009 3:00 PM

Love the retro grocery sign. I hope they keep it.

Posted by: italiana71 at October 13, 2009 3:01 PM

let me guess what they are going to do... they will slap on the word organic or natural to the signage and paint it some neutral benjamin moore-ish color and jack up the prices to appease the new residents.

*rob*

Posted by: Butterfly at October 13, 2009 3:14 PM

I'm sorry, but the guys were gutting the place and they expect no complaints?

Read the link, they did a similar thing to the old dry cleaner space across the street, and got in trouble with DOB and LPC then too. They know what they're supposed to do, but chose not to. Silly, and a waste of time.

The local didn't dob them in anyway, there were already complaints filed by neighbors before the local noticed it... though I'm sure their calling pushed DOB and LPC as well...

Posted by: 1842 at October 13, 2009 3:15 PM

Basically, they could have caused a building collapse across the street at the old dry cleaners, but luckily DOB caught wind of things and emergency repairs were made. I don't understand the sympathy here. We're not talking about quibbling over paint colors, but gutting a store located below several residential apartments in a 150 odd year old building. Permits are needed for safety's sake.

Posted by: 1842 at October 13, 2009 3:21 PM


You can't break the rules and expect to get away with it. They gambled and lost. Those are the breaks.

I agree - great retro sign!

Posted by: East New York at October 13, 2009 3:24 PM

ahhhh they're not gonna cause the building to collapse..are you nutsoids? and even if it did i'm willing to gamble it...do ya know how far i have to walk to get a 40 these days? every once and awhile they sell 6 packs of colt 45...love it.

Posted by: ftgreenepark at October 13, 2009 3:38 PM

ftgreenepark, if the owners are the same people as years ago, they're Palestinian.

Posted by: bessie2 at October 13, 2009 3:44 PM

I'm referring to what they did to the dry cleaner space they bought across the street. When they went to convert it to a restaurant they cut a main beam in the interior during their unpermitted gut renovation. They had to do emergency repairs in that situation. They had all sorts of headaches with DOB and LPC that time. I find it odd they'd do the same sort of thing again, and no, wouldn't trust them to do things correctly, safely or carefully considering their track record.

I liked the sign too, like most people, but they've ripped it down and damaged it so it will not likely be put back.

Posted by: 1842 at October 13, 2009 3:46 PM

ftgreenpark, i hear ya! i have to walk so far to find a 40 lol. all the lame stores around here sell those specialty beers that all taste the same except people print out some silly colorful sticker, think up a quirky name, and then sell them. boooooooo

*rob*

Posted by: Butterfly at October 13, 2009 3:56 PM

Unfortunately they've already scrapped the really cool old Lafayette Grocery & Dairy sign. Which is really a shame.

I was also very dismayed to notice this morning that the white & tabby cat that they've been keeping in that deli for a long time has been given no place to live during the renovations. They put a cardboard box with a towel in it out front, and left out some canned cat food. Apparently they think this is sufficient - but it certainly isn't!

Posted by: diana2mo at October 13, 2009 4:32 PM

1842,

Thank you for highlighting that story but you didn't get your facts quite straight.

The corner store guys didn't buy the building across the street and louse it up. They signed a lease that stipulated this that and the other...all good things...but then launched into, as you point out, a non-permitted messy demolition job done by non-professionals who cut the main beam causing a near catastrophe.

It was the building owner, former drycleaner, still living upstairs who had to foot the high expenses the emergency work entailed and live upstairs while this all went on. Can you imagine the horror as your floors suddenly all sag down when a beam is cut and joists start falling in?!!! Ugh!!!

Well, yes, apparently someone in the neighborhood called this in to the DOB immediately. The NY Times Local people apparently called for info. I guess the corner store guys were trying to be very discreet what with the huge dumpster, a gutted interior, etc. I didn't see any permits posted but figured some new restaurant was coming in.

Is it just me or has Fort Greene become a noticeable dining destination? Can't find parking 4 nights per week until 10-10-01:30 when people start leaving restaurants and toddle to their cars.

Posted by: BrooklynGreene at October 13, 2009 4:33 PM

Thanks BrooklynGreene.

Posted by: 1842 at October 13, 2009 4:50 PM

i wanna kitty!

Posted by: ftgreenepark at October 13, 2009 4:59 PM

I think a neighbor may have put the carton for the cat. I wonder why the corner store guys didn't bring the cat home. Poor thing.

Posted by: BrooklynGreene at October 13, 2009 5:12 PM

Sometimes in downtown Brooklyn it feels like you're living in the height of Stalin's red terror. On the other hand, this guy should've known better.

Posted by: Crownlfc at October 13, 2009 11:25 PM

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