Herkimer Street Lot a Messy Mystery
Last week, nieghborhood blog Bed Stuy Gateway, took a look at two vacant lots on Herkimer Street. The lot at the corner of New York Avenue is currently listed by a local Bed-Stuy real estate agency. The other lot, however, at the corner of Nostrand Avenue however is a mystery to BS Gateway: It lay…
Last week, nieghborhood blog Bed Stuy Gateway, took a look at two vacant lots on Herkimer Street. The lot at the corner of New York Avenue is currently listed by a local Bed-Stuy real estate agency. The other lot, however, at the corner of Nostrand Avenue however is a mystery to BS Gateway:
It lay there fallow, sitting just one block south of the A Train, teasing passersby with its vacant-ness, and more often than not, unsightly weeds and trash. We don’t really know any of the details on this lot other than that it tends to become an overgrown, trash-strewn mess that periodically requires the local Community Board to request that the Department of Sanitation clean it up on behalf of the property owner.
Can anyone shed any light onto the situation?
More Herkimer Vacant Lot Action [Bed Stuy Gateway] GMAP
The lot on New York and Herkimer is for sale but the catch here is someone else owns a very small part of that lot app 30 x 20 and they do not want to sell. Developers are interested in the property but need that 30 x 20 to merge with the rest so they put up their condo or whatever. The other lot on Herkimer and Nostrand from what I understand Restoration is trying to acquire it and want to put up an Outback restaurant.
I don’t know anything about its legal status, or what’s up with the lot, but it has been there for many years. In fact, I don’t remember when it hasn’t been an empty lot. I have to walk past it on my way to the subway for the last 5 years, and about a year ago, they tried to set up an outdoor fleamarket/vendor thing, but they must not have been able to get vendors, or permits or something, because they cleared out the lot and marked off spaces for vendors/booths, and then nothing happened. They had a big banner advertising the market and asking for vendors, and after a while, it all disappeared and the grass grew back.
The Gateway article is correct, when the grass grows too high, or people use it as a dumpster, sanitation will come in with a back hoe and clean it up. During the winter, no one removes the snow from the sidewalk, and it becomes a skating rink. I often had to cross the street to avoid taking a spill.
It’s too bad, it is only a block away from the A train at Nostrand, and would be a good place for some kind of commercial venture. I hope someone with vision does something, and it doesn’t stay fallow, or become the home of another dollar store.