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What Nostrand Avenue needs.... — Brooklynian

What Nostrand Avenue needs....

davidb
davidb
edited November -1 in Crown Heights/Prospect Lefferts Gardens
(with all credit due to a topic post on the Prospect Heights board)

This is not an academic exercise - there are several storefronts for rent on Nostrand Avenue North of Eastern Parkway - and I am interested to know what's on folks minds that they'd like to see/shop/try and start....

Comments

  • anonymous
    anonymous
    Gym
    Movie Theatre
    Internet cafe/coffee bistro
    Citibank/Bank of America (I know ... beyond the scope of this post)
  • daver
    daver
    jesus christ, it's the apocalypse.
  • am
    am
    Gym/Yoga/Pilates type place
    Really good supermarket
    New laundromat with cheap, trustable drop-off (like the one on Atlantic Ave and Nevins St)
    Really good sushi place
    Post Office

    Now, with all that said, I'm not sure I think any would be profitable ventures but that's what I would want...
  • daver
    daver
    Dude, I'm going to beat y'all with a gentriconfrontation bat.
  • sweet tea
    sweet tea
    am wrote:
    Post Office
    isn't there already a P.O. on Nostrand and Atlantic or Fulton or something like that?

    realistically, there isn't much that I'd be likely to walk to Nostrand for (since many amenities in PH are just about as close in the other direction for me), BUT -- if you open a good butcher shop (ala Los Paisanos in CG), i will beat a frequent path to your door.
  • homeowner
    homeowner
    There is a post office on Atlantic between Nostrand and Herkimer Pl. There also used to be an annex PO in Restoration Plaza on the 2nd Fl that had PO Boxes, stamp machines and scales but I'm not sure if its still open
  • daver
    daver
    sweet tea wrote: [quote=am]
    Post Office
    isn't there already a P.O. on Nostrand and Atlantic or Fulton or something like that?

    realistically, there isn't much that I'd be likely to walk to Nostrand for (since many amenities in PH are just about as close in the other direction for me), BUT -- if you open a good butcher shop (ala Los Paisanos in CG), i will beat a frequent path to your door.
    RE PO- Nostrand and Atlantic. New York and Fulton. St. Johns near Troy.

    As a veggie eater I wouldn't patronize a butcher, but that is something I could accept far more readily than fucking gyms yoga pilates, sushi, fucking B of A or Citibank, or internet cafes. Aren't there enough of all of those all over? Why would someone want to bring that crap to Nostrand? I *like* living in a place where all that crap doesn't exist, and if I want it I can travel a couple miles over and get all I want and more.

    I like Ital Shak and Glenda's just fine, thank you very much. Honestly, I've adjusted my eating habits more to what the Met and other locals carry. That has worked out just fine.
  • homeowner
    homeowner
    What Nostrand needs is for some of the really good take out spots- (Gloria's, Glendas, Sunshine, etc) to morph from take out to full restaurants with wait-staff and ambiance. That would make Nostrand come alive.

    And I agree with Daver- most of that other crap can stay off the Avenue. Sure a shiny bank with an ATM kiosk would be convenient, but the WaMu is just a short walk, and the Citibank and Chase banks are only slightly longer.

    Besides where would we buy fake hair and nails if Nostrand really switches over :lol:
  • davidb
    davidb
    About the Banks and their ATM's...they will come in time...it is inevitable...we are an underbanked neighborhood by all accounts...now a gym/dance/yoga is an interesting idea - could be something that is opened for youth exercise as well for adults. Not to compete with the St. Johns rec center up on Albany Ave, but that is quite a walk away for folks closer to Nostrand. And to defuse any tension, and to keep this on point - its not about displacing the exisitng merchants - there are vacant storefronts - so there is room for these new ideas.

    by the way - anybody know any good computer repairs folks - the Avenue could sure use an independent computer repair shop.
  • daver
    daver
    davidb wrote: And to defuse any tension, and to keep this on point - its not about displacing the exisitng merchants - there are vacant storefronts - so there is room for these new ideas.
    I don't care if it displaces current merchants or not. My point is that the thought of Pilates, Citibank, internet cafes and sushi along Nostrand makes me vomit a little in my mouth.

    OK, A LOT!

    Does that help clear things up for you?

    THIS IS GENTRICONFRONTATION. THIS IS THE FRONT LINE. THIS IS SPAAAARTA!!!

    Why would someone looking for Citibank, Pilates, Yoga, and internet cafes move onto Nostrand? It doesn't compute. Why not move to the places where those things exist, rather than trying to change the whole city into one homogeneous never ending line of crap?

    I laugh at your tension. Ha. Ha ha. How about spending a little more effort on enhancing the neighborhood how it is. Which includes lowering crime and appreciating the things that are here. Rather than longing for B of A and local Yoga and fancy coffee bistros. Ew.
  • sweet tea
    sweet tea
    some non-nyc style yoga would be welcome. (not by me -- yoga makes me a little crazy -- but by the gf for sure).

    by non-nyc-style, i mean yoga that is not about looking just so and having the latest trendy equipment and doing the classes you just read about in some magazine. ...i don't know exactly how to explain it, but the yoga scene in this town is MESSED. somehow it got caught up in a money/fame/style thing that is yucky and not particularly yogic.

    (shambala is nice, from what i hear, but their class schedule is not so great.)

    heck, throw in some non-competitive dance classes -- more flamenco/west african/non-broadway tap than ballet, at least for me -- for adults in a laid-back environment, and i'll come, too. a little live music, a cafe, some community get-togethers.... (really, i just miss chicago's Old Town School.)

    daver, i know why you associate those things with crazy yuppie-dom, but it doesn't have to be that way.
  • alafairnadia
    alafairnadia
    the martial arts place on washington has a very neighborhood/youth-centric vibe. I can see the studio from my window and can always tell by the voices what class is going on - youth, womens, mens, mixed-gender. they seem to get a lot of business and the mix of folks using it appear to be from a cross section of the neighborhood. sorta like shambala.

    I think, if folks want a work-out spot on nostrand, that is the kinda place that would fit in best - some place that works with the neighborhood, charges fair prices, and has a nice cross-section of the population participating.
  • davidb
    davidb
    Okay, cool...anyone know freelance dance instructors of all stripes/styles that have somewhat of a following and can pull together enough followers for a class...I'm thinking of having an independent dance space where instructors "rent" the space for there classes. That way, they don't need the overhead of the space, and we can get a good groove going in one of these vacant storefronts...and the "rent" will be on extremely favorable terms - say some % of all students that show - so if none shows, then only a nominal fee for the block of time....let's strike while the iron is hot, the stores are vacant and the landlords pockets are cold for some kind of cash...
  • justplainzach
    justplainzach
    homeowner wrote: There also used to be an annex PO in Restoration Plaza on the 2nd Fl that had PO Boxes, stamp machines and scales but I'm not sure if its still open
    It's still there and open, but I think it's on the main floor (is it the second floor you can just walk up to?)
  • anonymous
    anonymous
    Gee, I love Nostrand simply because there is nothing to buy, so you save alot of money. 99cent stores, liquor stores, nail salons and beauty salons. West Indian food gets tiresome, the best pizza (Ricardo's) just north of Fulton is going on vacation for a month. Now I'll really need to start cooking.

    what about a good deli/prepared food place? Gee and if you could get breakfast there! Boy I wish Kdog & Dune Buggy from lincoln Road in PLG had an outpost here. Neighbors, Coffee food. Hmmmm....
  • drkman
    drkman
    Nostrand Avenue needs Saunder's(?) to reopen or something like it. It is really hard trying to find a good fish and chips place in the area.
  • st. johns place
    st. johns place

    Subject: Re: What Nostrand Avenue needs....

    A veterinary office would be nice. There used to be one on Nostrand Avenue near Sterling. It's a pain to travel to Park Slope or downtown with my dog and/or cat. There are so many pet owners in this neighborhood I'm amazed it's so underserved. No pet supply here either.
    I used to shop in CH exclusively, been here for 22+ years. I stopped looking for things in CH when the shooting got so bad I was afraid to take my kids outside, and now only shop for bread, milk and eggs locally. I either shop in Manhattan on my way home from work, or shop in PS or at Fairway on days off. Lots of CH money leaves the neighborhood.

    I hear Trader Joe's is coming to Atlantic and Court St. sometime soon. Not local enough for me.
  • homeowner
    homeowner
    There's a vet on Thompkins between Hancock and Halsey. Not exactly in the nabe, but better than schleping to either PS or downtown. There's is also a groomer across the street. As for pet supply I use Acme on Vanderbilt and they will deliver to CH if the order is $25 or more.
  • lucille
    lucille
    Sweet Tea, you are so right about NYC yoga. It really is messed. I love the practice but have discovered that, like most other human endeavors, it is riddled with predictably human behavior. Trouble is, when teachers and studio owners pass themselves off as somehow above the fray or above reproach or whatever. I once worked at a place where we were specifically told not to "demystify" ourselves. As in, don't be too real. Never admit to a hangover or a personal glitch. One teacher actually got scolded for telling her students that she was applying for graduate programs. The scolding was couched in a barely intelligible lexicon, but the underlying message was "don't threaten our studio with losing your students!" However, yoga can be done and taught well and Shambhala (sp?) is a great studio. In fact, it's the only one I've been to that actually practices what it preaches. So, yes, something like that along with movement classes in general would be a great addition to Nostrand. I belong to the Bedford Y, but since moving to CH have found it difficult to get there to do my thing.
    Prepared foods, yes. Gloria's with ambiance, hooray. Really? I want a Chavella's and a Sushi Tatsu and an Indian joint over here on Kingston.
    Oh yeah, and books. But the idea of a profitable,privately owned bookstore seems to be all but dead.
  • anonymous
    anonymous
    wait service restaurant.. mexican (similar to chavellas)
  • davidb
    davidb
    Bookstore economics are tough...especially in this wireless and digital age.

    Wait service restaurants - well there is one across Eastern Parkway - Tavern on Nostrand, and I understand there will be another eating establishment across from it coming soon.

    Was thinking of some sort of Mailbox/UPS type center as well. Perhaps a franchise operator rather than holding out for a new US Post Office branch.

    All good ideas - and ones that reaffirm a survey done in 2006 by the local Business Association. Will try to see about posting it somewhere. It was a census of the shops along the Avenue, and then a sampling of a survey of local residents as to what they felt were desirable retail amenities.

    Many of the ideas expressed already, as I said , reaffirm the results from that time.

    Will see what can be done to attract such types of businesses to the Ave.
  • littleredmenace
    littleredmenace
    I was just at the Gowanus Arts Center yesterday for the first time. What a great space! I think we need something like that here.
  • lucille
    lucille
    Is that the huge place across from Fairway, right on the water? Probably not, as that huge art space is pretty decidedly Red Hook proper. But yeah, that would be great. Anyone know what's up with the big buildings around Bergen and Franklin? I remember reading about a couple buying them and developing them into some kind of artistically related thing, but that was a couple of years ago. Have seen new doors (not so new, really) and signs of apartments in one of them, but it's been a while since I've walked by on foot.

    Mentally ticking through spots on Nostrand and not quite coming up with anything big and loft-like, but then, it is late, and I am only avoiding writing a paper.
    Who says it must be loft-like, anyway.
    Art would be great.
    Won't someone please buy and restore the Kingston Lounge to its former glory? Big, red, round Naugahyde booths, Decco fixtures, men with Zippos...ah, but my paper calls!
  • homeowner
    homeowner
    Actually the theater on Nostrand between Park & Sterling would be perfect for an arts space. But that's still beling disposed of by the judge's estate, so it will probably go to a developer instead.
  • ben
    ben
    Lucille wrote: Anyone know what's up with the big buildings around Bergen and Franklin? I remember reading about a couple buying them and developing them into some kind of artistically related thing, but that was a couple of years ago. Have seen new doors (not so new, really) and signs of apartments in one of them, but it's been a while since I've walked by on foot.
    This is the IceHouse lofts, I believe they have been complete for some time.

    The site next door was recently sold and may have a brew pub in the works. See this thread on brownstoner and the comments including one from the new owner/developer: http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2008/03/on_the_market_9.php
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