Fulton Mall: Death By Compromise?
The Pratt Center for Community Development has released its full report–analysis and recommendations–on the Fulton Mall. Here are the five “strategies” the report recommends following. Clearly, they are trying to walk a very fine line balancing all the class and racial sensitivities that are all rolled up in the issue now. 1. Address the physical…
The Pratt Center for Community Development has released its full report–analysis and recommendations–on the Fulton Mall. Here are the five “strategies” the report recommends following. Clearly, they are trying to walk a very fine line balancing all the class and racial sensitivities that are all rolled up in the issue now.
1. Address the physical appearance of the Mall with innovative and culturally sensitive facade improvement (huh? sounds like politically-correct jibberish to us), building conservation and new building design techniques that embrace the aesthetic theme of “old meets new.” (We have no idea what this means but it sounds like a recipe for confusion and mediocrity.)
2. Better utilize buildings by activating vacant upper stories and carefully planning a mix of uses that supports the dynamism and diversity of the Mall and makes it more of a 24-hour place. (No quibbles with this one.)
3. Promote and enhance the current retail themes found on the Mall: urban wear, Hip Hop fashion and music, uniquely Brooklyn. (What, no Banana Republic? What about that diversity?)
4. Improve the public realm and enliven the side streets to enhance the experience of shoppers and visitors on Fulton Street, as well as workers and residents to the north and south. (Ah, so this is where they throw the gentrifiers a bone. The only problem is it sounds like they’ll have to wade through the penis-engraved tooth caps to get to their precious cafes. Not gonna work in our opinion.)
5. Engage a broad and diverse group of stakeholders in the planning process from this point forward. (We’re all just one big happy multi-cultural family!)Fulton Mall 2006 Report [Pratt Center]
Photo by f. trainer
So Tired – fret not, despite brownbomber and others stated desires, no one is “taking” the FM; and given the high rents and low vacancies, the LLs arent selling it either. The article (and most of the posts) reference evolutionary changes that could make the mall better for ALL.
America is the land of opportunity. The reason why some fail to take advantage of this opportunity is because it’s often disguised as hard work.
and I’ve lived in brooklyn on and off for the last 10 years (Cobble Hill, Ft. Greene and Boerum Hill)
and I’ve noticed that over the years,
there are a lot of choices when it comes to shopping if you don’t want to go to the Fulton Mall.
Court St.
Montague Street and its environs
(now) Smith Street
(I lived at Smith & Wyckoff when it was decidedly unhip)
(now) Atlantic Avenue (again I lived there when it was mostly bail bondsmen and antiques stores — now it’s a totally different story)
Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Avenues
THERE ARE A MYRIAD OF CHOICES FOR PEOPLE who for the most part can spend $200 -$400 on a pair of jeans! Or go out to eat every night. Or can afford a nanny for their child. Or take a sabbatical because they are lucky like that.
do you have to have FULTON MALL, TOO?
Thank you Chairman Mao
it burns me up how
the privileged delusional people of this country
consistently use language, commissioned studies and brute legislative force
to continually cut minorities and working class Americans
off from their fair share of the American pie.
Because people in power don’t want to share.
They prefer to steal, denigrate, lie, shuck and jive
but sharing is not a part of their American life
unless of course,
terrorists attack and then
we are all one big scared country of brotherhood.
Share the sacrifice but none of the spoils.
BOLLOCKS, I SAY!
The navy yard, brooklyn bridge park or areas of red hook that’s off the waterfront would make better venues for upscale shopping with park and river views. It would make a great ‘boardwalk’. But you know how that goes, the majority of the waterfront is taken up with industrial uses.
Montague is a weird retail street – the properties are often configured badly for retail (step ups, step downs etc…), they are often small and major renovation is not possible given the historic district – additionally the Court crowd brings in huge crowds at lunch which results in overall high rents, but doesnt translate for many retail stores that cant due the volume per sq ft that a restaurant can. Which is also the reason that most of the restaurants stink, since they must gear toward a high volume lunch crowd (to pay rent) vs. a more quality dinner oriented restaurant.
Nice post Anon 10:53. I agree with much of the above. I just think that Brooklyn doesn’t need to play second fiddle to Manhattan on any level. In this regard, it would be nice to have a high end shopping district, i.e., our own SoHo, 5th Ave or Madison Ave. I don’t think that such a desire makes you an elitist but to each his own. It’s only a matter time before it happens whether it’s at FM or somewhere else in Brooklyn. The free market will make the necessary provisions to better align the available good and service mix with the changing demographics of Downtown Brooklyn.
I live 2 blocks from the mall and either walk by it or through it to and from the subway everyday. If i had my choice I’d bulldoze the whole damn street (figuratively). The stores are tacky, the store owners do not keep their properties clean. There’s litter everywhere. I don’t need to hear people screaming out free cell phone offers (does anyone not have a cell phone anymore?) You can’t sell sneakers and sweep the sidewalk? You can’t have a coffee shop mixed in with starter cap shops? Coffee comes from south america. that’s pretty ethnic. I moved to Brooklyn because of its diversity. But the fact is that the current Fulton Mall is an eyesore.