Big Hole on 5th Ave and 1st

I believe that is where the Commerce Bank is being built.

Whats bad??? They have changed the design to maintain the street wall and eliminated the drive-thru. The area needs a bank, Commerce has long hours which makes it convenient and adds to foot traffic/saftey and it is certainly better than the parking lot that has been there for years and years. Seems all good to me

urbandog wrote: Whats bad??? They have changed the design to maintain the street wall and eliminated the drive-thru. The area needs a bank, Commerce has long hours which makes it convenient and adds to foot traffic/saftey and it is certainly better than the parking lot that has been there for years and years. Seems all good to me

And they're open on Sunday.

Nothing bad about what Commerce bank is doing at all. They are a bank, not a real estate developer. Give them a break.

There was recently a posting on Curbed about the construction site:

At the corner of Fifth Avenue and 1st Street in Park Slope, soon to be home of the non-UFO Commerce Bank, a graffiti artist sends a message that The Man apparently doesn't want you to see. Opines blogger CitySpecific, "Was the orange shading over the word 'bank' made by the first disgruntled graffiti artist, a subsequent one, or someone from the construction company? Also, if a bank is the 'last thing,' what is the first thing this corner needs? Affordable housing? An independent coffee shop?"

Follow the link for a photo.

I just walked by last night on my way to dinner. It really is disappointing to see that it's just going to be 1 story. It should be 4 stories with the bank on the ground floor and apartments above.

yea, 98% of the new dev in park slope is horrendously ugly. but the commerce bank isn't exactly a shining beacon of architecture either. some affordable housing would have been nice.

so, we should have just sat back and applauded as commerce bank built the drive-thru because it was better than a parking lot? i mean, it's great that the lot is being replaced, but that doesn't mean we should just accept the first proposal that comes along.

let me clue you in to another part of 'doing business in nyc': our quality of architecture is just about the worst in the nation, property owners get away with the bare minimum in design and construction, and people are content to sit back and accept whatever drek is slapped up simply because it provides housing or replaces a parking lot.

the end result: streets and a city that looks like crap.

urbandog wrote:
Yeah its so easy to build here, real cheap, no rules, no bureaucracy , no regulation - its practically a developers paradise [sarcasm] - have you noticed how much new housing cronstruction there has been in the last 30 yrs= not much, took the greatest hosing buble in history to even make new constructiion viable and then only at the ridiculously high prices - yeah those developers really have it good here in NYc

Yeah, Trump seems to struggling recently. Just the other day I ran into Ratner cashing in his food stamps. Had to stop feeding Gold to his dogs. Sad, really. Those poor guys. When I pay my rent each month I think of it more as charity than rent.

urbandog wrote:
What - NYC residents just sit back??? There isnt a single development virtually anywhere in this city that some group or another isnt protesting, suing to stop, or just genrally bitching about - you cant open a friggin bank w/o someone making a fuss.

And as for the "city that looks like crap" - I think you should move - mabe you'd like Atlanta

Hey now - I grew up in Atlanta, and while the suburban sprawl is monochomatic, the metro Atlanta area does have a lot of character, there's some fantastic architecture, and some really pretty nabes.

And to converge a digressions from another thread (i.e. old-city-things):

http://www.atlantatimemachine.com/

it might not be as cool if you're not familliar with the terrain, but it's still an awesome idea for a website.

8thandPrez wrote: Urbandog, when I say that NYC architecture is some of the worst in the nation, I'm not talking about suburban America. Among the big cities in the US (and I have experience with DC, Seattle, San Francisco, LA, and Miami), New York architecture is surely among the worst.

Well you list 5 cities (notably leaving off the best city for architechture Chicago) and of these that I know - NY is clearly better than Miami, LA and DC in terms of quality architecture. IMO.

But anyway I am not defending all the ugly buildings going up but if its a choice between empty lots or rail yards and new construction that may not be all that attractive - I'll take the construction, and BTW for most sites that is the choice for all the reasons you cited.

Now I am not saying you arent entitled to your opinion ( for example I hate the ridiculou sresidential bldg on So side of Union btwn 4th and 5th - with the weird colored ball accents on the parapet wall) - but the issue is whether our personal tastes warrant the never ending complaints and roadblocks put on private developers, building within zoning on private land.

Take this Bank for example, Commerce Bank decides to build on a horrible chain link fenced parking lot in the middle of a residential neighborhood. You'd thinkl people would be happy to be rid of the eyesore and gain an ammenity, NOPE. People were out with pickets and petitions. OK I agree that a suburban style drive-thru bank might not be a great fit for the spot and amazingly Commerce agreed and have now designed a reasonably attractive urban styled Bank which maintains the street wall and the pedestrian feel of the area. SO now is everyone happy, nope, people spray graffitti on the site, and bitch and moan that the building isnt attractive enough or that it should have apartments above. Its crazy - Commerce should be cited as an example of being a good corporate citizen (remember they could build whatever kind of building they'd like) but not here in NYC.

My point is everyone is entitled to an opinion but our opinions shouldnt stand in the way of needed change and development

Jack wrote:

Also, I grew up in this city, had more than a few gas stations and parking lots near me, and never thought of them as eyesores.

I don't understand the concept of filling every empty lot in this city. You need buffer spaces and empty spaces to balance the other stuff.

So you want Gas Stations? -

I KNOW you dont speak for the 'concensous' but you cant demand contextual development and complain about the suburbanization of the city and then praise gas stations and parking lots in the middle of a residential - pedestrian friendly block.

As for open spaces yes PARKS are necessary, chain-linked parking lots and gas staions or abandoned lots are not the 'buffer' we need

Anonymous wrote: Hmm... so, according to your logic, we'd have no place criticizing the impact of a Wal Mart on 4th Ave bc "they're just a retailer, not a real estate developer?".

I think a Wal Mart on 4th Avenue would be splendid if the zoning allowed for it.