Car-Free Montague a Bust?
Was the first “summer space” Sunday on Montague Street really as underwhelming as this photo from Brooklyn Heights Blog makes it out to be? Crowds Throng Montague On First Piazza Day [BHB] ‘Summer Space’ Coming to Brooklyn Heights? [Brownstoner]
Was the first “summer space” Sunday on Montague Street really as underwhelming as this photo from Brooklyn Heights Blog makes it out to be?
Crowds Throng Montague On First Piazza Day [BHB]
‘Summer Space’ Coming to Brooklyn Heights? [Brownstoner]
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!!
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?
This works when there is some ACTIVITY tied to the street closures. I have never been to a street fair (no matter how crappy) that wasn’t packed, even on summer weekends.
Too many people seem to be missing the point here. The success of such an experiment shouldn’t be measured in immediate retail receipts, but in the cleanliness of the air.
If the street is comparatively quiet for footfall (I find it ever busy, personally), it can be attributed to many reason, high among them, the terrible fumes. Montague is a narrow street. It’s a street that gets jammed with traffic. In other words, I am sure that the traffic is high on the list of deterrents for people passing through.
Therefore, give this a chance. Let the people hear about the initiative. They will come. And please, measure not in dollar bills. Better to ask, “How much easier was it to breathe?”
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.
I encountered it unsuspecting on my way to the R train. It was bizarre. Several hours later when I returned it was no less bizarre, but the trash blowing around the street added a desperate quality to the experience. Strange. Better to do it in early fall I think, because people are around then.
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!
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.
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.