160 Imlay Street: A Sacrificial Lamb?
Driving past 160 Imlay Street in Red Hook last weekend, all we could think to ourselves was, “What a waste.” Here’s a site that was sitting unused generating no tax dollars for the city or revenues for neighboring business when its owners received a variance in December 2003 to convert it into a mixed-use building…
Driving past 160 Imlay Street in Red Hook last weekend, all we could think to ourselves was, “What a waste.” Here’s a site that was sitting unused generating no tax dollars for the city or revenues for neighboring business when its owners received a variance in December 2003 to convert it into a mixed-use building with residential on the upper floors and retail on the lower. Within weeks, however, a coalition called the Red Hook/Gowanus Chamber of Commerce, whose ostensible raison d’etre was to preserve and promote the industrial character and usage of the neighborhood, sued to reverse the BSA decision and squash the project. Why? Hard to say exactly. Some believe the group’s heart is in the right place; others charge that it’s basically a front for certain players in Red Hook to protect their own interests. One thing’s for sure: The fact that one of the Chamber’s leaders and largest land owners in the area, Greg O’Connell, has since leased out the floors above yuppie-mecca Fairway as market-rate apartments while the competition on Imlay Street is tied up in litigation hasn’t exactly strengthened the group’s credibility. Meanwhile, the politicians have been too chicken to do anything that could possibly be perceived to be anti-industry in the area, though we can’t see why the debate has to be reduced to an unnuanced either/or choice between jobs and housing. While there are certainly residents who don’t want the neighborhood to change, it’s hard for anyone to argue that the status quo is either working or the best allocation of scarce resources in an overcrowded city. So what of 160 Imlay? Another round of appeals was heard in October but no decision has yet to come of it. In the meantime, the building and the surrounding lots continue to sit undeveloped, derelict and not doing anyone any good—not the longshoremen, not the tourists arriving on cruise ships and certainly not the nearby restaurants and shops that could use the extra business generated by a couple hundred more units of housing in the area.
Crumbling Hopes for 160 Imlay Street? [Brownstoner] GMAP P*Shark DOB
I’m still waiting to give you that big hug Carol.
This is s great thread. What a relief to learn something I didn’t know. Discussion without name-calling. Thanks!
I heard there was talk of converting it to a luxury hotel to service Queen Mary passengers? What ever happened to all the jobs promised?
By the way, was just down on Pier 41 on business. Red Hook, at least in the 15 years I have been going down there, has always seemed like it wanted to be off the grid. There definitely are a bunch of pirates living down there.
Hey 2:36, I think you were responding to me (2:28). I never meant to compare Soho and Red Hook in terms of their diversity or character. I think you’re right. I just meant that if you’re going to use the space as retail, small industry, commercial etc…. it’s gonna really suck for the neighborhood. (So long diversity here comes MORE OF THE SAME CRAP that’s been invading red hook in the last few years).
Why don’t you do affordable housing organizing anymore? I’m actually curious, not being facetious (“what, you just gave up?”). I have this perhaps naive thought that affordable and a-list can actually co-exist maybe even in the same building. (I grew up in mitchell lama, we had a huge mix of incomes.)
For more than a year, I ran past this building several times a week (the German shepherds behind the fence always scaring the crap out of me). What an utter waste. This place could help anchor Red Hook in a big way. Red Hook needs a serious infusion of quality development (the other stuff being built is hideous). This could be it. Otherwise, I think Red Hook will retreat back into the shadows, with folks only going there to buy groceries, furniture or whiskey until LeNell’s moves from that location. LeNell’s is moving too. One of the employees told me that about two weeks ago but the owner hasn’t secured a new spot.
12:14,
As few years ago, I was asked to testify in favor of the Imlay Street BSA and I couldn’t do it. As a former affordable housing organizer, I could never shill for luxury housing. That said, Red Hook may not be as pretty as parts of swanky Manhattan, but it is a hell of a lot more diverse and interesting than Soho. No doubt it is Red Hook’s state of limbo that keeps it that way.
Oops, I meant “to retain their ARCHITECTURAL heritage”. Any other heritage has been wiped out — in all parts of New York, glamorous or not.
12:14 — These are meatpacking district-type buildings, and hence hold not only a historic appeal, but a huge aesthetic one. They’re simply cool. Building new condos can’t compare to the kind of value (price wise and community wise) of having buildings like this (think Dumbo or Soho) as residences. I know people hate what happened to Dumbo, Soho, Tribeca, but when you walk through those areas, you have to admit that for all the gross wealth and glamour, that kind of money permitted those areas to retain their heritage.
Unlike, say, most of brooklyn.
Except for the pj residents, I think most red hook residents are bit schizo when it comes to land use. They desperately claim they want more residential buildings, but they also want all the perks of an industrial neighborhood – easy parking, little traffic, cheaper housing costs, more sky, and no uptight block associations blowing the whistle on any unruly activities, illegal or otherwise. However, as the community matures, hopefully residents will realize that there is a quid pro quo (more residents=no more easy parking) and be far more strategic in obtaining their goals.