Food Co-op May Lease Space on Putnam
This would have pretty major implications for a longtime troubled corner of Clinton Hill: The Clinton Hill Blog is reporting that the Greene Hill Food Co-op, a nascent food co-operative that has been in the works for a couple of years now, is considering renting a row of small storefronts at 10-16 Putnam Avenue for…
This would have pretty major implications for a longtime troubled corner of Clinton Hill: The Clinton Hill Blog is reporting that the Greene Hill Food Co-op, a nascent food co-operative that has been in the works for a couple of years now, is considering renting a row of small storefronts at 10-16 Putnam Avenue for its permanent headquarters; this stretch includes the mysterious and infamous Putnam Candy Store, profiled last year on The Times’ Local Blog. Combined with the new bar that’s in the works at 8 Putnam Avenue, this could set the stage for the kind of turnaround for the drug-addled corner that law enforcement has been unable to fully bring about (though big strides have certainly be made in the last five year). (Full disclosure: We live in the neighborhood.) There’s a meeting tomorrow night to discuss the idea at 138 South Oxford Street at 7 pm. We’re not members yet, but consider this a vote of support! Update: We just got an email from a reader saying that he thought it was only the two spaces on the left, not the candy store itself, that were being considered by the co-op. Anyone know for sure? Update #2: A member of the Co-op’s lease location committee emailed to confirm that the space under consideration is 18-30 Putnam Avenue. Regardless, this would be incredible for the area.
Great for Clinton Hill, but I suggest taking the Fort Greene out of the name (although it’s cute for green marketing)…as a member of the Park Slope Co-op and a Fort Greener, I would have loved to support this co-op. With this location, I’ll keep going to Park Slope on the train anyway. I was as definitely looking forward to a more central locale, I don’t really have any issue with safety in this space…just not convenient to me, but wish them the best. I agree with Zinka.
For all those who think this location is great, have you taken safety into consideration? Just over a year an innocent female bystander was shot in a drive by shooting at 10:30pm.
What will the Coop hours of operation be? If it’s anything like Park Slope’s, shifts end as late as 11pm and start as early 5:45am. I would be very worried if my loved one pulled one of these late night/early morning shifts.
Plan and simple that area is NOT safe at those times. I fail to see how the mere presence of a Coop is gonna change that.
Zinka, most people here have cars. You and I may not, but most people have them, drive them to Fairway, and complain about Fresh Direct trucks.
I would suspect that the vacant retail options in Fort Greene proper are considerably more expensive, and the nature of Fulton street’s geography actually makes this location pretty good for everyone– almost all of Fort Greene is within 4 blocks or so of the 25 or 26: take the bus.
I think Fulton Street is a fine location (although DeKalb or Lafayette would be more central). The problem is that if they’re trying to serve Fort Greene, placing it at the far end of Clinton Hill doesn’t do that effectively.
Anyone who lives near BAM will be no closer to this location than they are to the Park Slope coop. Some will be further.
That laundromat sign is the same one they had over a laundry near my home in East New York more than 30 years ago. Brings back memories. If anyone catches them throwing it out please send out an alert and I’ll pick it up. Would work well as pop art.
This would be wonderful news for our neighborhood. I live a few blocks away and have lamented these vacant storefronts. In addition to helping Putnam Avenue improve, Fulton Street will experience significant benefit, too. I really hope it happens. I do hope the owners of the MET won’t try to scuttle the deal. They’ve long resisted allowing any other food based businesses to open in the many many buildings they control on Fulton and Putnam.
I think this is a great Idea.
Great location.
First of all, to say this has mediocre public transport options is a bit melodramatic. Washington and Fulton is right around the corner from here. And to say that the Park Slope Coop is closer is also a bit of an exaggeration. Certainly not ideal for Ft Greene residents thats for sure but I would imagine that the rent on a space like this is hard to beat in Fort Greene. For my own sake I am definitely pleased to think of any kind of retail going into that block of Putnam.
“Sorry, boys and girls. This won’t stop your appraisals from caving.”–Don’t know why you are going here on this one BHO but to engage you here it certainly won’t hurt anyone’s appraisal in this neck of the woods.
So zinka, you don’t think Fulton Street, or Putnam, is a good location for the coop generally? This is near the Clinton Washington C subway stop. From a public transport perspective from those living in FG and CH, if you placed the coop near the Lafayette Avenue C subway stop in FG on Fulton, it would be effectively the same thing, just a different stop on the same subway. I think this location is good because the rents a likely lower, and this end of the neighborhood can use some more retail. The Fulton Street corridor has better public transport access for those living in FG/CH than most other parts of the neighborhood (I’m talking about public transport options for travel in the neighborhood, not travel from FG to other parts of the city, where Atlantic terminal obviously has the most options).
If you mean that this is not the best walk for those in Fort Greene, then sure. But I think having it close to public transport and on a commercial corridor in the neighborhood is the best bet.