Atlantic Terminal Station Starting to Show its Face
The seemingly interminable reconstruction of the LIRR station at the Atlantic Terminal is finally revealing signs of progress. Exterior brickwork for the station, directly across the street from the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower and attached to the Atlantic Terminal Mall, has started going up over the past month or so. While there’s never been much…
The seemingly interminable reconstruction of the LIRR station at the Atlantic Terminal is finally revealing signs of progress. Exterior brickwork for the station, directly across the street from the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower and attached to the Atlantic Terminal Mall, has started going up over the past month or so. While there’s never been much doubt the station will end up looking as generic as the rest of the Atlantic Terminal and Center, the construction (going strong for five years now) has made getting to the LIRR a confusing pain in the ass, and mangled street and sidewalk traffic. A press release from the MTA that came out earlier this year didn’t pinpoint when the revamp’ll finally be finished. Anyone know? We won’t be holding our breath.
Work Continues on Major Renovation Project [MTA]
Chipotle tastes just as nasty as Mickey D’s does, you just think its better because…
a. they make it in front of you,and the guy coughing right next to you in line, so you think its better service.
b. there’s a shitload of people in line ahead of you, therefore, “it must be good”.
c. they serve beer, therefore its all grownup and a bit cultured (don’t let ’em serve microbrews!).
Don’t forget Walmart/developers were considering a spot at Albee Sq recently…be very very careful what you wish for.
Bravo 1:24. It’s true of all major chain stores in Brooklyn. Been to Home Depot or Lowes? Dirty, badly stocked, horrible service – of the likes you would never find in non-minority neighborhoods/regions. Go to Home Depot on Nostrand, then go Home Depot on 23rd.
Take this one step further: The City would never let Ratner build anything like this mall or AY in a non-minority neighborhood in the city. The perception is “It’s OK, the blacks will be happy with whatever we give them. It doesn’t have to be nice like it does for whites.”
sg – let me let you in on an even lesser known secret:
Chipolte was spun off from McDonalds almost 2yrs ago.
Brenda – it is relatively simple, lack of competition.
While all the snobs around here bemoan these stores, the truth is they fill a huge need but since there is so few decent stores management doesn’t need to be as vigilant in terms of keeping the stores well run. The stores hit their annual numbers w/o even trying.
And btw for the most part as bad as some of these national chains are, they are FAR FAR better then the vast majority of ‘local’ stores in similar markets – in price, service, cleanliness etc…. granted this is measuring from a low bar.
Now I am sure no one here wants a Wall Mart but should one open up nearby, I guarantee that Target would need to address some of its inventory issues for example in order to stay competitive.
So much for my hoping to be the Hundredth Commenter on this thread…
…but as a long-time Brooklynite who has long done all my mall-ish shopping in Nassau with my best friend who lives out there, I can assure you feuding parties:
You are both right.
Target, Daffy’s, et al. are indeed in all the standard-issue suburban malls.
And when they get to Brooklyn–or at least to Atlantic Center (I bypass the Lefrak City moon colony as I whiz east on the Belt to greener pastures)–they MYSTERIOUSLY SUCK, in a way that is being here loosely and contentiously characterized as “ghetto.” My spouse has a long-running dispute about my 516-code excursions (carbon footprint, support our local economy, blah blah)…being a male, he is apparently unable to notice that THIS Target sucks, THIS Pathmark sucks, even though these are the very big-box chains I rejoice and frolic in out in the ‘burbs. Here, they manage to be grotty, ill-stocked, badly managed, and (in places, like the hideous garage) vaguely menacing–all the crappiness that is being breezily and not inaccurately tagged “ghetto,” which here may be construed as a form of retail lowered-expectations or even outright disrespect for one’s audience.
I would not set foot in a Chuckie Cheeze if it were the last Cheeze on the planet, but something tells me that, compared to whatever its suburban charms are, this one sucks, too.
The interesting question for this (obviously widely held) perception is–why?
Man I am just so tired of high brow rich/poor/middle income people living so close to me.
Growing up in this city (when my family was middle income), everyone seemed “NORMAL” (I grew up with white/black/latino/asian/catholic/muslim/jew/hindu you name it) that is people didn’t necessarily frown upon one another…probably because it would’ve gotten you mugged or kiled back then.
Nowadays (when we are high income), more and more people in my beautiful, well-off nabe seem more snobby,high brow,etc. and I don’t understand why people, when they achieve a certain income bracket or move to a certain “status” neighborhood feel they need to change or try to change (for the worse)?
Funny thing is, it seems like its mostly the new RENTERS acting like this (not really the buyers)!
I cannot for the life of me figure it out.
Kinda wish NYC would revert to the edgier days so that snobs and biggots, should they dare act like that away from the confines of their home’s wi-fi signal, would get straightened out quicker than a NY minute.
here’s a way to fight traffic congestion into manhattan:
open a larger variety of stores in Brooklyn so that people who dont care for the crap presently in AT dont have to drive to “the city” for decent shopping
To shed some light on this rather absurd conversation…
Up until a few years ago, this area WAS GHETTO.
Whatever that means.
None of you wanted to live in this area and now all the sudden you do and you immediately want all the retail to bend over backwards for you?
The people (yes, lots of African Americans) who shop and keep this center alive lived in this neighborhood WAY BEFORE ANY OF YOU WANTED TO HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT!!!