Will Retail Continue to Trump Industry in Red Hook?
Roland Lewis, president and chief executive of the Waterfront Alliance, took questions about New York City’s waterfront on the New York Times’ Cityroom blog this weekend, and second up was Red Hook, and the Todd Shipyard, razed to make way for IKEA’s parking lot. He called the loss a “tough blow to the maritime industry…

Roland Lewis, president and chief executive of the Waterfront Alliance, took questions about New York City’s waterfront on the New York Times’ Cityroom blog this weekend, and second up was Red Hook, and the Todd Shipyard, razed to make way for IKEA’s parking lot. He called the loss a “tough blow to the maritime industry in New York,” especially since a study confirmed we need an additional eight ship repair centers to stay in the maritime business. Red Hook’s the perfect spot for such activity, he says, with its deep water, but retail continues to replace industry there. One rumor making the rounds in the neighborhood is that the vacant lots across from IKEA, where once the Revere Sugar Factory stood, are going to be a Sam’s Club. That’s right, Wal-Mart’s stepbrother might be moving in. Anybody else heard such rumblings? Anybody think it’s a little sad that prime waterfront space is being reserved for multinational corporations?
Answers About New York City’s Waterfront [NY Times]
Photo by FrankLynch
agreed that nyc waterfront is no longer the place for industrial uses. the value of the land alone makes such use infeasible.
you know benson- You must be a really stupid person since your only recourse is to resort to insults instead of trying to explain to me what you think is my error. But there seems to be quite a few shortsighted, small minded, money grubbing types on brownstoner who don’t know how to disagree without resorting to spouting all manner of I-know-better-than-you garbage.
I can’t account for why you’re a schmuck without one iota of vision, social conscience, reading comprehension or capability in the realm of civil discourse, I can only attest to it.
You are obviously one of those sit on your ass do nothing slobs who cares about no one and nothing. Don’t put words in my mouth and try again when your IQ goes from 2 digits to 3. I’ll be waiting- probably forever.
Bxgrl;
You have no idea what you are talking about. I work for a major Japanese industrial firm, and I can assure you that one of the last places any heavy industrial facility will be located is NYC. The cost of RE, utilities, labor, etc. just make NYC an unsuitable place for such an activity.
I don’t say this as a knock against NYC – I’m a resident – but as a fact of economic life. NYC has elolved to a different economy, one centered on finance, media, fashion, professional services and other creative, information-intensive services. Get over it.
There is one other factor that weighs against locating an industrial facility in NYC, and that is the local attitude towards such places, and here I am specifically speaking of folks like you, who think they know how to order the world. If, somehow, an industrial company could be persuaded to locate a facility here, no sooner would the opening-ceremony ribbon be cut then folks like you would be taking to the blogs and streets. The noise! The dirt! The way they treat their workers!!
Finally, most businesses will not be convinced to locate such a facility in NYC with the promise of some type of government subsidy. They’re shrewd enough to understand that those dollars would come with mighty big strings attached, as hack politicians would inevitably respond to folks like you.
I could see the local TV news now “We’re here standing in front of the Red Hook Ship Repair plant, and we’re talking to Bxgrl. Bxgrl, what are you demanding?” Bxgrl” “We’re here to demand that they do something about The Noise! The Dirt! The Way They Treat Their Workers!”. “Back to you, Jim”.
Keep dreaming. Most folks who are involved with industry have a job to do, and that job certainly doesn’t involve responding to busybodies.
I am with brxgrl on this. If one were a conspiracy nut one could say the “they” were successfully creating a ever larger underclass that is constrained by debt and kept docile by cheap food and junk. wall-e was so close to the the current state of things… There is a huge market in the tri-state but what has government focused on developing for the past 30 years — back-office jobs that can easily outsourced and retail that can not support an individual let alone families. There’s great job growth in healthcare — but it is actually home care assistants — another minimum wage job.
Unfortunately I am forced to agree with Buttermilk Channel. Nevertheless there is still some minor ship repair in NYC, you’ll find it along Richmond Terrace in SI and at the Navy Yard, where GMD shipyard lives.
The waterfront industry in Brooklyn is more less finished (with a couple of exceptions) because the Port Authority has failed (along with NIMBY help along the way) to build a rail tunnel to connect Brooklyn/LI to the main Trunk Lines in NJ. The PA was created to do this almost 80 years ago.
One day people might wake up to the cost in $, traffic/time and pollution that having to ship everything to LI/Brooklyn/Queens via truck costs. Until then – the only thing ‘industrial’ that can survive is light industry generally in niche markets.
Sam’s Club is coming to Brooklyn?
From your mouth to God’s ear!
Costco’s selection is too limited, and BJ’s out by Starrett City is a little too far away. And both those guys could use the competition.
I’d rather see industry in Red Hook, but that’s unlikely. Every factor from real estate prices to city and state taxes to transportation make other locations more viable for large-scale industry.
And ship repair is not the answer.
Large Ship repair on the Eastern Seaboard is centered in Norfolk and Charleston, and Mobile in the Gulf. The majority of the business has shifted to the Far East, simply because it’s cheaper. Todd Shipyard was not competing, and its facility was ancient in comparison with the newer yards. The days of the ship repair business in Brooklyn have passed.
I didn’t say that. Of course industry is about making money. It’s about making a broad based economy, not one dependent on speculation and the inventive use of more and more fees. As far as industry vs. labor and the environment, I don’t think anyone can say the financial market has been any better. But the point isn’t about that- it’s about being too dependent on one or 2 “industries” for lack of a better word. And the reality that people need jobs and we have eroded the solid manufacturing base that produces them. China, meanwhile, is doing very well. We’re all to blame for it- all across the board from unions demanding more and more to companies wanting to squeeze more and more profit out to funnel to fewer and fewer people. NYC doesn’t need more retail. New Yorkers need to be saving and investing and making money- not spending it on more imported garbage.
the hue and cry for more retail is slapping a bandaid on a gaping wound. I’m not going into my socio-economic theory again- I blistered my fingers yesterday with that 🙂 but with the chickens of bad financial lending coming home to roost, one has to wonder why and to what purpose. Our financial health depends on American shopping? That’s nuts. With what money? Americans are maxed out. The presidential genius comes up with 600$ to “jumpstart” the economy? How about a real plan to bolster industries that will create jobs based on work, not playing with numbers on paper? How about thinking NYC can offer more and higher quality jobs than just waiting tables, cleaning office buildings, or ringing up cash registers for those of us not in real estate, construction, banking or investment? We used to.
so if you can explain to me why it’s better to invest in more luxury condos, H & M’s, and Chinese manufacturing plants, instead of putting some of that money into industry and manufacturing here,I’m here to listen.