Junkyards on Bergen Near Washington About to be Scrapped?

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Junkyards on Bergen Near Washington About to be Scrapped?

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notsayin
getting it
Joined: May '10
Posts: 117

From our perch in the Notsayin offices, we've noticed the two dueling auto parts yards on either side of Bergen just east of Washington are not long for this world.

In fact, the one on the north side at 767 Bergen has been cleared for at least the past several weeks. The lot was listed a year ago on Loopnet under the headline "Development site in hot new neighborhood" (ha, apparently Crown Heights is not only hot but also "new"!). The listing goes on to say the 15,000 sq ft lot has "approved plans for 43,000 sq ft residential. 42 units!" - but the listing is now "Off Market".

On the south side at 760-766 Bergen (Bergen Auto Parts - last mentioned on Brooklynian five years ago for the awesome new street art on its facade), in the past two weeks, the owner has cut up a cargo container (likely the cause of a couple of small fires Friday evening) and removed most of the neatly-stacked car doors and other parts. Could just be spring cleaning, but this off-the-cuff mention of the lot over on BK to the Fullest last month would suggest otherwise:

"It's hard to find this same value in Prospect Heights, even towards Crown Heights, when even the junkyard at 760-766 Bergen Street goes for $1.5M."

So while CB8 and the BSA (or DCP or whomever) go back and forth on potential variances for residential conversions in the zoned-industrial blocks east of Grand, it looks like the move from auto repairs to home improvements is already underway right next door.

# Posted 2 mos ago
newguy88
what am I, new?
Joined: Aug '12
Posts: 183

Thank god! They seem to like to use the bike lane as work space.

# Posted 2 mos ago
ehgee
getting it
Joined: Dec '12
Posts: 66

There are many better uses for land with great subway access than storing parts of broken down cars, so this counts as good news to me.

# Posted 2 mos ago
whynot_31
Former Lurker
Joined: Mar '06
Posts: 16,089

Once the junkyards go, the autobody shops won't be far behind.

They tend to have a co-dependent relationships...

P.S. Those who hate the word co-dependent can substitute symbiotic:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/symbiotic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiosis

For better or worse, the change on Nostrand is going to make the change on Franklin look minor.

# Posted 2 mos ago
notsayin
getting it
Joined: May '10
Posts: 117

Can we take this moment to talk about WHY "Western Crown Heights" is chock-full of scrapyards and auto-body shops?

Many neighborhood newcomers are unaware that from the 1920s until at least the early 40's, Bedford Avenue between roughly Fulton and Empire Blvd was considered "Automobile Row". The beautiful Studebaker Building at Bedford and Sterling is a great remaining monument to that era - but the legacy of those times plays out in the blocks and blocks of remaining support businesses (and their empty shells): the scrapyards, body shops, parking garages and former dealerships, especially on the blocks bounded by Bedford, Atlantic, Bergen and Washington.

Note what were almost certainly grand car dealerships on the south side of Atlantic - from Grand to Franklin, now parking garages and vacant warehouses - and you can start to envision a shiny, bustling automotive mecca when cars were still a happy new luxury. Indeed - the original C of O for 762-766 Bergen as a "vacant lot" dedicated to "Car Wrecking and Junking of Parts of Old Cars" dates back to 1937! (attached below)

Even what's perhaps the harbinger of the "new" Crown Heights - Jon Butler's '1000 Dean' development - was once a Studebaker factory service center; thankfully he's seen fit to restore the old Studebaker logo above the entrance - preserving a relic of that era that will likely outlast the remaining auto repair businesses that served and supported it, and ultimately outlived it.

# Posted 2 mos ago
whynot_31
Former Lurker
Joined: Mar '06
Posts: 16,089

Yes, the history of the area is pretty cool.

The Urban Planner "Jane Jacobs vs Robert Moses" in me kind of likes that the automobile industry was vital to creating areas such as ours, and is now being pushed out.

The times, they are a changin'

For better or worse, the change on Nostrand is going to make the change on Franklin look minor.

# Posted 2 mos ago
ribbons
rookie newb
Joined: Dec '11
Posts: 49

Door Store

# Posted 2 mos ago
booklaw
admin
Joined: Nov '07
Posts: 2,408

Brilliant, Ribbons, just plain brilliant!

# Posted 2 mos ago
notsayin
getting it
Joined: May '10
Posts: 117

Door store no more. They were dismantling the big parts racks today.

Anyone know who bought the lot(s)?

# Posted 2 mos ago
whynot_31
Former Lurker
Joined: Mar '06
Posts: 16,089

I don't have time to do this at the moment, so I will tell you how.

Go to this site: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/property/rolling_sales_data.shtml

Download PDF or excel file

Use Search function to find address.

....impress your friends and/or create mini article with photo for Curbed or Brownstoner.

For better or worse, the change on Nostrand is going to make the change on Franklin look minor.

# Posted 2 mos ago
notsayin
getting it
Joined: May '10
Posts: 117

Genius. Thanks whynot.

The time-suck vortex / rabbit hole deepens...

# Posted 2 mos ago
Urbanexplorer
ProCro Ono
Joined: Dec '10
Posts: 116

760-766 Bergen has a sign out saying it's relocating also provides a number to call for car parts. Looks like the cool mural's days are prob. limited.

# Posted 1 mo ago
notsayin
getting it
Joined: May '10
Posts: 117

Gone baby gone.

# Posted 1 mo ago
whynot_31
Former Lurker
Joined: Mar '06
Posts: 16,089

I can only imagine how many rats are now without a home.

I predict a blue plywood construction fence and an excavator to prep a foundation is in our future.

For better or worse, the change on Nostrand is going to make the change on Franklin look minor.

# Posted 1 mo ago
newguy88
what am I, new?
Joined: Aug '12
Posts: 183

While I'm sorry to see the murral go. That block just got a bit safer for my commute.

# Posted 1 mo ago
whynot_31
Former Lurker
Joined: Mar '06
Posts: 16,089

To the right of the minivan in notsayin's photo is a wooden shack, which seems to be part of the property. When I walked by today, a man seemed to be doing one of the final brake jobs.

For better or worse, the change on Nostrand is going to make the change on Franklin look minor.

# Posted 1 mo ago