We’ve covered a lot of the negative emotions around the development of a giant tower at 80 Flatbush, right across from Atlantic Terminal, including neighbor protests and a CB2 vote against.
With a public hearing hosted by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams happening tonight, why not take a look at the reason people are for the new building?
There’s some intense construction happening at Schermerhorn and Bond, right across the street from the upcoming Chelsea Piers Fitness. No, it’s not more luxury apartments. This time, it’s a fancy new hotel.
I mean, look how fancy:
Image via Broadway CG
We’re getting a fancy gym. Chelsea Piers Fitness is coming to Downtown Brooklyn. The “showroom” is now open for new members. I heard through the rumor mill that “founding member” prices are about $150 per month, and that price will go up once the gym actually opens. That puts this gym in roughly the same category as Crunch, Equinox, or (RIP) David Barton.
Image via 80 Flatbush
The community has spoken. Well, the Brooklyn Community Board 2’s Land-Use Committee has spoken at least. And they’ve voted against the giant construction project at 80 Flatbush Ave at a meeting held Wednesday.
Unlike other, approved development projects in Downtown Brooklyn, the planned tower at 80 Flatbush met a wave of backlash from the community. A group called Block 80 Flatbush Towers formed to fight against the construction project. They’ve been vocal online, as well as covered the neighborhood with their message. With this vote, it appears as if their vote has been heard.
Construction appears to be at a standstill at 9 Dekalb Ave, the giant skyscraper coming to Downtown Brooklyn that will be twice as tall as any current building in the neighborhood.
The image is an aerial view of the construction site, with the old Dime Savings Bank in the lower right-hand corner of the image. Construction crews were hard at work removing floors of the attached building last summer/fall, but it seems like no progress has been made since then.
Image via 80 Flatbush
Not everyone is happy with all the high rises coming to the neighborhood. Members of our community have banded around stopping the two towers coming to 80 Flatbush Avenue, right across from Atlantic Terminal.
The main argument against this building, as far as I can tell (the official Block 80 Flatbush Towers website is currently down for me, is it working for you?) is that this giant tower will drastically alter several neighborhoods. The tower will be imposing to Boerum Hill, Ft. Greene, Park Slope, Gowanus, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, and Carroll Gardens, all of which consist mostly of brownstone buildings.
_Photo by _Eugene Zemlyanskiy
Scaffolding at a Starbucks on Court Street and Joralemon collapsed on Saturday, April 14th. Three people were sent to the hospital with minor injuries — fortunately nothing more. The NY Post has the full story.
I recently downloaded the Citizen mobile app, which sent me an alert shortly after it happened. A user had submitted a picture of the scene, but unfortunately I didn’t have the foresight to capture it for this website. I’m finding Citizen pretty useful though. It reminds me of Gothamist’s (now-defunct) Maps, but with much better UI.
The Bridge, on the plethora of chain stores opening in NYC (emphasis ours):
Last year, Brooklyn saw the biggest percentage increase in the number of chain stores of all the city’s boroughs, with 1,587 locations, a 3.1% increase from the previous year, according to a December report from Center for an Urban Future. The greatest concentration of these stores is in zip code 11201 (Brooklyn Heights/Downtown Brooklyn), which has 145 national retailer locations including City Point’s Target, Fulton Street’s H&M, and Sephora on Joralemon Street.