Future of Fulton Mall Crystalizes Race Issues
NY Observer writer Matthew Schuerman, who also contributes much of The Real Estate, had a piece in the paper last week that spoke with unusual frankness about the issue of race in the borough’s process of gentrification and commercial revitalization. The future of the Fulton Mall, he points out, is forcing these issues out on…
NY Observer writer Matthew Schuerman, who also contributes much of The Real Estate, had a piece in the paper last week that spoke with unusual frankness about the issue of race in the borough’s process of gentrification and commercial revitalization. The future of the Fulton Mall, he points out, is forcing these issues out on the table. There is a lot of pressure from business leaders and residents of neighboring Brownstone Brooklyn to “improve” the mall–despite the fact that it commands some of the highest retail rents in the city and draws heavy foot traffic in its current state. At the same time, however, side streets are deserted and the upper floors of many of the historic buildings are underutilized as well. Community planners and landlords are confronting the reality that it’s going to be hard to attract cute cafes to those side streets and young professionals to buy lofts in an area whose anchor tenants include a “forlorn Macy’s, a Conway, three Payless Shoe Sources, two Foot Lockers and a Kids Foot Locker.” And forget about Class A office tenants: “It’s hard to lure Fortune 500 companies to downtown Brooklyn with people selling penis-engraved tooth caps next door,” writes Schuerman. Indeed. What to do?
Fulton Mall Fights for Existence [NY Observer]
Upscale Lofts in Mall’s Future [Brownstoner]
these discussions are growing tiresome. funny how people assume that the mostly black shoppers on fulton street mall wouldn’t want improvements to their shopping experience.
great article…puts it all out there for discussion.
fulton street works economically, but it needs to be “improved”?
of course, the area could be a little cleaner, but what shopping district couldn’t?
would i want to live next door? of course not, but i also don’t want to live in times square, 34th street/7th ave., fulton street (downtown manahattan), fordham road (the bronx) or jamaica avenue (queens). all of these areas are shopping districts and with the exception of times square and madison square garden, become desolate after 8PM and do not offer services for residential folks.
if the residents of bklyn heights and boerum hill want new stores, etc. then why aren’t they opening them up? i used to live in bklyn heights and i can’t count the number of bad meals i had from the sub-par restaurants in the neighborhood. if there are shops, services, etc. that residents feel they don’t have, then tell them to get an SBA loan and go for it.
Wait a minute — “the…s&m gentrification crowd”? Maybe these are the ideal consumers for those tooth caps mentioned above. I never realized that fetishism was a part of that whole lifestyle, but I guess there is a definite income/bondage accessories correlation…
And who said anything about “seeking the power of the state to confiscate private business”? If anything, Fulton Mall in its current state is a creation of the state, perhaps in order to contain a supposedly less-desirable population in this area and not have them spill over into surrounding, increasingly gentrified areas. “Yeah, that’s the idea — we’ll draw them all down here, and they won’t scare the white folks in Cobble Hill or Brooklyn Heights and they’ll even leave Fort Greene so we can gentrify that too…”
I like fulton mall. It has wide sidewalks and many interesting buildings if you look up above the ground floor. The old dime savings bank should be on a tourist map for photos.
I generally dont shop in any of the stores other than occasionally at Macys.
Probably because the merchandise is geared towards black people (who are of modest means) and I’m white. Thats all good there are plenty of shopping districts to choose from. Not every location needs to geared towards white people or wealthy people (regardless of race).
There are plenty of people who do shop at Fulton Mall. This place does not need gentrification. Gentrification should be targeted in areas that have many empty storefronts.
Fulton mall can be improved without displacing.
I think that this dialogue has taken a wrong turn. The issue with downtown Brooklyn is architectural preservation, not gentrification. One does not necessarily lead to the other. The Municipal Arts Society, in conjunction with the Brooklyn Heights Association, has catalogued 28 buildings that desperately need protection. (See the Municipal Art society website). With development pressures raging these buildings are in jeopardy. Downtown Brooklyn has a collection of buildings that represent one of the best “main streets” in America. Whether or not you want the mall to be more upscale is beside the point. The risk here is that these incredible buildings will be razed for tall buildings,or modified irreperably. Landmarking is not expensive to the landlord, and the landmarks preservation commission seems to bend over backwards to help landlords accomodate economic decisions.
I am one of the (white) Boerum Hill residents who wish this mall would “improve.” I would like Macy’s to open more cash registers and fix the chronic computer problems. At Christmas, why do you have to stand in a long line to get a gift box? If this mall is so profitable – the Macy’s is always crowded – how come it isn’t staffed properly? Why is it always a mess? I shop there all the time and, after each visit, I say I’ll never go back. With Target around now, I don’t go there as often as I used to but it still the only game in town for a lot of things. The black shoppers don’t like the service at Macy’s any more than I do.
I am not a fan of chain stores, but the ones that are on the mall are packed. Have you ever looked at the line at the Children’s Place? The line, like most of the mall, is mostly African American. Black shoppers are also looking for a better selection a few natural fibers.
This shopping area has the potential to be much more than it is without driving out the businesses that are there. The sidestreets are awful with few businesses on them. A lot of the buildings nearby house state or city offices and are poorly maintained.
The discussion shouldn’t have to be an either or since there is already a lot of underused square footage in the immediate area.
Meaning what — Bed Stuy, Brownsville/Ocean Hill? I agree Fulton St all along Fort Greene east could use some new businesses, but this is sounding a little segregationist. In the meantime it is a definite shopping/dining (yes, some people do consider BBQ’s and TGIF dining, particularly if you have teenage kids) destination for a goodly number of people, and if traffic here is indeed among the busiest in the city, there’s no reason for any business here to leave, unless it can no longer afford the rent — which will eventually happen.
At that point you’ll have chains like The Gap, Old Navy (same parent co) and Starbucks (an ideal half-way point between Court & Joralemon and Atlantic Terminal) moving in. Fulton Mall will once again be “safe” for white people and its suburbanization will be complete.
The initial error was isolating this area as a mall, thus effectively cutting it off from both Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene. Landlords, instead of taking any tenant they could get, could have wooed neighborhood businesses and restauruants from the Heights, Cobble Hill, etc., and had people from these areas been encouraged to continue to patronize institutions like Gage & Tollner the area would have evolved differently.
Once again I see the hand of Bruce Ratner in all this — create a suburban-style mall to go with his suburban-style office complex and add a suburban-style multiplex on Court St.
Unfortunately, most “new” (read affluent, educated, but not necessarily white — I maintain this is more about class than race, the sad reality being that this does cause racial imbalances within the classes) Brooklyn residents are not attracted to a suburban-style experience, many of them having grown up in that environment and moved here to escape it. For the “underclass” however, it does represent something new, and also better than the disaffected areas in the neighborhoods mentioned above, for example.
I thought the free market did decide and rents in fulton mall are the highest psf in Brooklyn. Now, why does that need gentrification?
Landlords there make a ton of money. Now sure, I can think of more charming tenants. But this is someone’s livelihood. What does it matter what I think?
My own work life is not especially charming. But it pays my bills. If some people on blogs told me it would really be cuter if I dressed up as a cobbler or a candlestick maker and made money in a more charming fashion, I would tell them something right back!
There’s no need to gentrify Fulton Mall. It will soon be extinct. Ratnerville will soon provide the ultimate in living/shopping experience.