4th Avenue's Walls of Voodoo
Not sure how we missed The Journal story about 4th Avenue yesterday—Curbed and The Observer both picked up on it—but it certainly is worth mentioning. Not because the gist was anything new, but because the gist is important enough to merit repeating. While the 2003 rezoning resulted in 859 new apartments—either built, under development or…
Not sure how we missed The Journal story about 4th Avenue yesterday—Curbed and The Observer both picked up on it—but it certainly is worth mentioning. Not because the gist was anything new, but because the gist is important enough to merit repeating.
While the 2003 rezoning resulted in 859 new apartments—either built, under development or in planning—the design of many of the new buildings have come under attack. They’ve done little to improve the character of the neighborhood or make it more pedestrian friendly because they have parking garages, air vents or concrete slabs at street level rather than shops and cafes, critics say.
We’ve been riffing on this subject for years—as has Streetsblog—but nice to see it getting some ink from Rupert.
Crimsonson, those oily gas stations replaced beautiful residential housing just like in Park Slope that was destroyed when Robert Moses ran the eight-lane roadway through it.
Fourth Ave does not have charm, will never have charm. It is a major traffic artery.
….and what is with all these people that want shops, cafes, (and my favorite) bars in their hood. Like who wants bars where they live, hearing drunks at 4am is seriously not the look, or open cafes where people sit outside and talk and your trying top watch TV……………..
not every neighborhood has to be hip and trendy.
what everyone misses here is the reason why this happened: because of off-street parking requirements in the zoning spec.
any developer in his right mind would have loved to put retail on the street level (at the expense of providing a parking garage), but since they had no choice on the matter, they went with the most economic solution and eliminated the retail.
I know, you are all thinking “let’s regulate zoning further to mandate retail storefronts along with off-street parking requirements”, but this won’t work either. You will either not have the development happen at all (and thus lowering the supply of housing and raising prices of existing housing stock with demand remaining equal), or the more costly development might occur with both parking and retail, but will result in higher-priced housing. Obviously, the latter will only occur if the developer anticipates the ability to sell such high-priced housing.
Otherwise, you’re stuck with a blighted tire shop all because nobody wants to take risks to build according to how the socialist planner wants them to.
“Bored to Death – and it’s not really new. 2nd season just started and it’s filmed all over Brooklyn.”
its not my work. But I do know Zach Galifianakis.
How do you enter this building? Is it thru that red thing to the right of the ‘garage gate’ or do you climb the louvers to the windows?
I love how people dissing all these buildings forgot to mention what they replaced – either an oily garage, a tire shop or some industrial business.
You complain that 4th is a wasteland, yet if something is build it to make it less of a wasteland, you complain it is not some historical brownstone from 1910.
While none of these buildings is landmark worthy, they are better that what was there before.
And without these residential buildings you would not have Michael and Pings, your overrated pie shop beside it, Bar Tano, the new cafes near Union, a dog run, etc. etc.
“Did Brownstoner also miss the NYT video about the new TV show with Jonathan Ames, writer and private eye, set in Brooklyn — first episode in Boerum Hill?”
Bored to Death – and it’s not really new. 2nd season just started and it’s filmed all over Brooklyn.
4th avenue was never pretty to begin with – all those buildings up and down 4th were in disarray and none had “charm”
also there are lots of cute cafes/bars on 4th
I agree though I wish there was a major bank that had a parking lot and a drugstore with a parking lot
“Rob, what is bizarre is that you think “shops and cafes” are yuppie. ”
He lives in Park Slope, it doesn’t get any more yuppie than that.