Vacant Lots Today, Eyesores Tomorrow?
When we were tootling around Bed Stuy last weekend we were keeping an eye out for vacant lots that could be the future sites of architectural travesties. The sheer number of vacant lots are perhaps the neighborhood’s greatest vulnerability going forward. We offer up a few of them here, in various points in the development…
When we were tootling around Bed Stuy last weekend we were keeping an eye out for vacant lots that could be the future sites of architectural travesties. The sheer number of vacant lots are perhaps the neighborhood’s greatest vulnerability going forward. We offer up a few of them here, in various points in the development lifecycle.
1089 Fulton GMAP
1185 Fulton GMAP
794 Lafayette GMAP
117 Lexington GMAP
I live in a ticky-tacky box house (row-house condo) in eastern Clinton Hill, built in 1989. One thing I have learned over the years is that anything that breaks can be fixed. Our roof leaked after 5 years, and we got the developer to replace it (by lobbying hard with the NY Housing Partnership).
Yes, I live in a Styrofoam house, but you know what? It was what I could afford. I will never afford a brownstone or even a brownstone condo. My condo is worth 4x what I paid for it. And it’s a lot better for the neighborhood and the 48 families that live here than the ugly empty lot (former playground that sunk into the ground; before that, derelict brownstones that were demolished). It’s affordable housing.
i like brownstoner’s idea… let’s get together and picket affordable housng sites in Bed-Stuy.. this would really make it clear what ‘we’ stand for… this thread is so depressing…
Check out if federal money is involved in these projects? Are you kidding me?! These are AFFORDABLE HOUSING projects, people! Your tax dollars at work! Don’t you understand anything?
Check out who is doing the financing and if any state or federal money is involved with these projects. Why does most new development become so adversarial? It’s because the developers never even take the time to knock on their neighbors door and introduce themselves. To come before the community and say, Hey I’m going to build new housing on your block, before I start is there anything this community is in need of?
What about picketing some of these props under development? Get some media attention? We’ve all been wanting to get together somewhere, right? Granted, a bar has its appeal, but this could be quite a bonding opportunity!
I forgot to sign in. I wrote anon. 11:36.
I am also quite serious about doing something here. I don’t want Bed Stuy, or Crown Heights to be pockets of gentrification surrounded by ever increasing poverty. Nor do I like the idea that developers can swoop in from somewhere else, build crap using outside workers, materials, etc, make a nice profit, and leave. This helps no one but them, and brings no economic help to the community.
I agree that there is no quick fix here. 40 years of redlining,absentee landlords, racism, joblessness, poverty and drugs has ghettoized much of Bed Stuy well beyond the physical bounderies of the neighborhood. Of course, building pretty buildings is not going to fix everyhing, or anything. I lived there for 17 years, and for all intents and purposes still live there, as I am just over the border in Crown Heights, and am in BS every day, if only to get to the subway. I don’t think any fix of the situation can be achieved without the participation – no, leadership of the community. WE have to want things changed, and then work with those who can affect those changes. Bedstuyer, I would work with you and anyone else who had a solution. Maybe we could figure out a way for developers to work with the community, not just make a profit from it. Hiring skilled local people would certainly be a start, as well.
Contrary to what some may think, there have always been people here who have worked for change, and have been here for decades holding BS together. Love of this community did not happen when new people fell in love with the buildings and started to move in 5 years ago. These are the people who have preserved and protected those buildings we drool over today. Let’s not make the mistake of thinking everyone here is poor, ignorant, or stupid. (which I am not accusing anyone of – I just think that needs to be said.)
Um, just a “outside the box” thought: Is anything built today, whether Manhattan, Brooklyn or otherwise honestly well thought-out to match the character of the neighborhood / buildings around it? Its today’s modern construction to build cheap b/c the cost of construction is too overwhelming. Why do you think Manhattan has these new “glass towers”? B/c of China’s development and the US surge in construction, there is a strain on resources such as steel, concrete and other building materials. Therefore, construction today only reflects the times that we are in. It doesnt mean that it is or isnt right but just the sheer economics of it. If materials/cost to build was cheaper, dont you think some develops would opt to build Gothic skyscrapers in midtown which would match their surroundings? No, they build economical glass towers b/c the materials are cheaper and the techonology of those materials allows for cheaper building operating costs.
It would take some kind of government incentives (i.e. either tax breaks or subsidies) and some kind of oversight board a la landmarks. We’re not suggesting the bar be set anywhere near landmarks standards, but a handful of guidelines about (1) building materials and (2) contextual exterior alignment (i.e. facades and rooflines aligning with neighboring buildings) would go a long way. And while we’re at, we’d push for concealing those nasty utility meters.