Blimpie Foes Aim to Deflate Plan
June 29, 2005, NY Daily News — Residents in trendy Fort Greene are waging war against a new Blimpie set to open on a leafy stretch of Lafayette Ave. Home to bistros, brownstones and mom and pop shops, there is something the now high-end neighborhood doesn’t have – national chains. “We don’t want fast food,”…
June 29, 2005, NY Daily News — Residents in trendy Fort Greene are waging war against a new Blimpie set to open on a leafy stretch of Lafayette Ave. Home to bistros, brownstones and mom and pop shops, there is something the now high-end neighborhood doesn’t have – national chains. “We don’t want fast food,” said Zach, 30, leading the anti-Blimpie charge. Zach didn’t want to give his last name. Over the weekend, Zach and his supporters distributed 5,000 flyers asking residents to block the fast-food invasion. “This is bigger than just stopping a Blimpie,” Zach said. “We don’t want our neighborhood to turn into a food court.” The new sandwich shop is scheduled to open by the end of the summer at 64 Lafayette Ave., the former site of a video store.
Blimpie Foes Aim to Deflate Plan [NY Daily News]
i’m a FG resident and I agree with those suggesting to try and work with Blimpie & DD to make their storefronts fit into the landscape. Any suggestions on how to go about doing that? Advice from people who were involved in Slope’s successful Commerce Bank situation?
I agree wholeheartedly with the comment to work with them. I wouldn’t want a Blimpie near me either (I’m in Park Slope) but I think the fight to prevent them from coming is much more difficult than trying to work with them.
If you fight them and lose they will bring in their standard, large, bright signs and not work with the community. If you address the neighborhood concerns like what was done with Commerce Bank, they might actually develop a good looking storefront. There are many towns/malls/etc. that these chains work with to fit into the look that is required, so this isn’t new to them.
I think Blimpie and DunkinD are franchises and
therefore ‘locally’ owned/managed also.
Would I welcome them , hell no.
But only if I owned the building do I dictate the tenant.
Still the tenant must abide by zoning, dept of buildings, DEP, dept sanitation and other dept regs. And if they arent you get on phone to Comm.Bd, 311, councilperson.
If your Lafayette Ave. is that quaint get some special zoning/signage/historic district desig.
Years ago they said Montague St. was going to
be overrun with chain stores and be the death of
Brooklyn Hts.
Everyone thinks the sky is falling with change. (especially the anti-Ratner bunch).
First: Cold Stone Creamery, which just opened in the Atlantic Terminal mall, sells unbelievably delicious ice cream, served enthusiastically by local teenagers, who even sing. Had the coffee ice cream blended with kit kat bars. Amazing. Fun. Friendly. And yet, still local. . . . . . . . . . .
.
Second — completely unrelated to my Cold Stone Creamery experience — I couldn’t find a nice, quality replacement toilet seat at any of the local mom & pop stores. Had to go to Lowes. . . . . . . . .
.
Lesson? There are some things that our mom & pop stores don’t have. Another lesson? There are local people who get employed by the chains.
.. . . . . . . . . . . .
Zach, you should learn from Park Slope’s successful Commerce Bank fight and work with the Blimpie to make it fit more seamlessly into your hood. Craft a wooden sign to hang out front, like an Atlantic Avenue shop. Pick complementary colors. Move the neon inside the store. Name one of the sandwiches after a local hero. No pun intended. . . . . . . . . .
You should WANT local teenagers employed. You should WANT more food choices in your hood.
Who cares if the delis are any good? They’re local! Not everybody can be good at what they do, Mr. Elitist. The guy who makes bad sandwiches — he’s got a family to feed too. If the sandwich isn’t any good… just buy it and throw it away. I bet some of you aren’t that that good at your jobs either.
Most noname deli’s don’t know how to make a sandwich. Blimpie is not that bad.. better than McD.. at least you won’t smell the grease around the block.
Is this a residential or commercial street? For the guy who doesn’t want a “food court”, how is a chain of affordable lunch places worse than a chain of too-expensive bistro’s (e.g. smith street)?
Bad taste isn’t a crime, but when chains move in, the mom and pops can’t compete. Let’s support the local bodegas/delis as much as possible–in a few years they may be as rare a species in Brooklyn as they are in the rest of the country.
Man, I wish we had a Blimpie (and a Dunkin Donuts) on Nostrand near between Eastern Parkway and Park Place. I mean, I like roti and jerk chicken, but a little variety woiuld ne nice.
I hate Blimpie’s too. Not only are their sandwiches the worst of any chain, but who would go to a chain anyway in NY, with all the great delis? That being said, I have the choice to not go, but who am I to tell other people that they can’t? Bad taste is not a crime and I don’t have any right to tell other people in my nabe what to eat.