Newcomers Find Crown Heights Retail Lacking
North Crown Heights may be luring more affluent buyers with its gorgeous—and recently landmarked—rowhouses, but some of the newbie homeowners think the area’s shopping scene leaves a lot to be desired. According to an article in today’s Sun, as more buyers see the neighborhood as an affordable alternative to Prospect Heights, they’re also anxious to…
North Crown Heights may be luring more affluent buyers with its gorgeous—and recently landmarked—rowhouses, but some of the newbie homeowners think the area’s shopping scene leaves a lot to be desired. According to an article in today’s Sun, as more buyers see the neighborhood as an affordable alternative to Prospect Heights, they’re also anxious to see a retail renaissance on thoroughfares like Nostrand. A Wall Street worker who recently closed on an $870,000 Hampton Place home, for example, says he’s ready to see more restaurants in the ‘hood: “If there was something to patronize, I’d willingly spend money there. I’d like to see more amenities. People have money here. Somebody has to be the pioneer and open up something. It’s just a matter of time.” Think he’s right?
Retailers So Far Fail To Follow Homebuyers to North Crown Heights [Sun]
Photo by ultraclay!.
11:22 – that worked out great for Seinfeld and Babu.
The crime in Crown Heights is concentrated in the Albany Projects, which are nowhere near Nostrand Ave or the areas we are discussing, so get over the crime obsession. You missed the boat with Crown Heights.Get over yourself and quit trying to insult it.
Ahh looks like crime’s rising in Brooklyn Heights. Gasp.
http://www.nysun.com/article/66092
Actually, Nostrand Avenue is a very good looking street. Here’s what you do. Take your left and right index fingers and cover the storefronts in the photo. Notice the handsome facades above, the good proportions of the street, and the grace note of the church tower. Intrinsically, this is a better looking street than Seventh or Fifth Avenues.
Fifty years ago, this was a vital retail center with bakeries, supermarkets, druggists, flower shops, and soda fountains. (My favorite place was a shoe-box sized toy store near St. Marks Avenue so crowded with colorful packages that the owner, a little old man who always wore a jacket and tie, was barely visible behind the counter.)
Nostrand Avenue is still vital. Cleaned up — and I don’t mean tossing out retailers who’ve held on for years, good times and bad — it will be one of the most atractive shopping streets in the city.
Nostalgic on Park Avenue
I am someone who grew up in Fort Greene, lived and met my wife in Crown Heights, moved back to Fort Greene, and now own property in both locations. I was very active in community work when I lived in Crown Hts. and I can tell you that most of the mixed-use property along Nostrand Ave (atlantic to eastern parkway)is owned by the same family for decades. Several years ago when I was managing a merchant improvement grant for this area, this family was approached about neighborhood concerns with rampant drug sales and other illegal activities coming from these properties. According to one of our surveys, there was two (2) known drug locations on every block along the entire strip. We distributed questionaires and neighborhood surveys to influence the owners on the type of businesses that were needed. But, they were receiving so much money from inflated rent from these activities that our recommendations went on deaf ears. Fort Greene was experiencing the same level of illegal activity. The difference was the owners also lived on these properties. So they had a vested interest in seeing positive changes. I joined the community advisory board, made some of the same recommendations that I made in Crown Heights, and the commercial strip began to cleanup. My point is gentrification should not be viewed as a negative (i.e. whites moving out blacks, or yuppies moving out the elderly) because the fact is: It will take many years before we see latte shops, and connecticut muffin on Nostrand Ave. But until than, Crown Heights will belong to the people that OWN…period. You will see the changes come to Nostrand Ave when the ownership changes come to Nostrand Ave.
I think many of the posters are missing one great thing about CH. There are several yummy bakeries on Nostrand. These are Carribean bakeries but they have some of the best raisin bread and dense whole wheat bread that we’ve had. It’s not served up in yuppie shops (which I do enjoy) but there are many kinds of sweet breads etc. in the bakeries along Nostrand between Atlantic and Eastern Pkwy. Just go inside. In one shop near Sterling, people line up out the door for the warm fresh bread. It’s goooood.
Also David who opened up Tavern on Nostrand, Asian Jazz, a coffee shop and upscale spa/salon, has been investing in the neighborhood but he needs more customers to thrive.
Good eats:
Asian Jazz – support it.It’s good
Saje – Franklin
Tavern on Nostrand –
Sky Cafe – (although I wish they would sell Bergen Bagels.)
I’d rather live in a studio in Manhattan or even Park Slope than in a home in Crown Heights.
At least there I can walk around outside past dark.
There will be no significant retail coming to Nostrand until they do something to improve the crime situation. It is still not safe to walk around at night alone.
Having taste and asking for an upgrade of the quality of food and services doesn’t mean that there is no space for authentic Caribbean Food. There are some places in the hood that are doing well and will not simply be pushed out.
I don’t agree with the previous poster that development is only about the power of the purse. Just staying away from new restaurants in CH without getting the message across why you don’t appreciate their food makes development more unpredictable. Let them know what you would like to see changed on the menue, how the quality of food needs to be improved in order to give the new business owners a second chance.
“Newcomers Find Crown Heights Retail Lacking”
We moved here five years ago from a small Union Square studio and were well aware of the status of retail compared to Manhattan. We chose to sacrifice those amenities for a beautiful, spacious home. We had no expectation that we would soon have upscale markets and restaurants. We have a real kitchen that makes it a pleasure to cook, a modest, quiet and lush garden, a place in the cellar that stays cool enough to keep a few bottles of wine, and warm, generous and friendly neighbors. Our quality of life is improved from living in that tiny Manhattan studio.
The Wall street guy complaining about lack of amenities is not typical of the people we have met who are ‘newcomers’.
i don’t like crown heights.