Dumbo NYC

Notes from the DUMBO, Brooklyn NY neighborhood


Dock Street Dumbo Plans Revealed

June 27th, 2007

When we first broke the news on the proposed Two Trees building in April on Front and Dock Streets, most comments opposed the scale of the project (15-20 stories). We didn’t have much more information on Two Trees’ plan, but early this week, they’ve come out with more detail on the building with a mailer campaign. The revision of the original 2004 plan now includes a redesign of the 400 unit rental building (80 of them ‘affordable rentals’) to build the taller floors away from the Brooklyn Bridge (see rendering above), plus approximately 10,000 square feet of street-level retail spaces and off-street parking. The building is designed by Beyer Blinder Belle and will be the first green building under the LEED Certification Program in Dumbo. The plans include a 40,000 sq ft middle school for 300 children, which is much needed in Dumbo, where 3000+ people will be moving to by the end of the year. While I applaud The Walentas’ for the inclusion of the middle-school and the affordable rentals, the scale of the building shouldn’t crowd the iconic image of Brooklyn (and I’m not talking about the view from those $million dollar apartments) for visitors, pedestrians, and residents of Brooklyn. Also the building that houses St. Ann’s Warehouse will be demolished to make way for the project. Two Trees has said to be committed to find a new home for them.

{dockstreetdumbo.com}
{Two Trees Plans Mixed Use Building Next to Bridge, 22Jun2007, Brownstoner}
{Goodbye Nova Clutch Building, 20Jun2007, DumboNYC}
{Two Trees Seeking Approval for 15-20 Story Building Abutting Brooklyn Bridge, 18Apr2007, DumboNYC}

Filed in Dock Street, Front Street, Real Estate, Water Street at 4:14 pm
View Comments
  • harborrat
    dear vinegar hill res:

    mr. w is counting on us to be politically correct or to be so stupid that we don't realize what his proposed school would mean....more white flight to private schools w/ kids whose folks can't afford private school in a lovely new ghetto in his expensive & highly profitable eyesore. & it isn't going to help the kids from the projects who really need it. it took p.s. 8 many years to get where it is now &, ultimately, i don't know many folks whose kids go there beyond the lower 4 years if at all.
  • harborrat
    thank you thurston.

    & maybe people ought to spend some of this critical summer in the trenches here in brooklyn instead of at their country/beach places.

    do the 70 washington street folks have the famous walentas hold-me-harmless-for-blocking-your-view clause? i hope so. may they twist on their own gyre.

    i have no view & my grandchildren (poor little tykes)live in the suburbs. & i've begun to dislike people w/ views and an outlook that's not interested in anyone or anything besides themselves. no reason for me to fight the good fight for them.
  • thurston
    What harborrat is trying to say..

    Do we really want marauding hordes of children swarming over from the Farragut houses to our precious new school?

    What would be the physical boundaries for admission into the school? Maybe we can ask Walentas to make a private school, that would certainly suit the DUMBO demographic better.
  • harborrat
    dear vinegar hill res:

    you got my message clearly. tell that to the dumbo residents who support old dave. or his pal amanda burden on the city planning commission. they'll chuckle at us over their louis roederer cristal out in the hamptons. i did not mean to suggest that the VH children were deprived. keep going east.

    HR
  • Vinegar Hill res.
    Just to clarify your post, Harborrat, the most of the kids in Vinegar Hill are hardly disadvantaged, and the tiny neighborhood will only continue to gentrify more over the next few years. It is an historically protected brownstone neighborhood where most of the existing housing has already flipped over to single family owners, condos, well-heeled renters and artists.

    In an ideal world, I would love to see more integrated schools, integrated neighborhoods, and true mixed-income housing rather than clusters of project towers. Such an integrated school in Dumbo, to truly be successful, would have to be incredibly well planned and run or the Dumbo / Vinegar Hill residents will simply turn to private schools for their children's education and safety.
  • harborrat
    i just want to flesh out my prior comment:

    altho i fought hard against walentas's last proposal for water street because of my concerns about its impact on this once gritty old neighborhood, i don't know where i come out this time.

    the vanilla-ization of the neighborhood into a bastion of the privileged with new construction towering above the old gair buildings is pretty advanced. the construction of the 2 towers near the manhattan bridge, the desecration of the old foundry on water street (remodelled to house ms. walentas's carousel as an EXHIBIT for children--how pathetic) and the arrival of the chains (west elm & its fancy sibling & starbucks) & of over-priced UES businesses is a done deal. the smaller businesses that remain (including the poor struggling galleries) on the walentas teat will have their plugs pulled when he finishes his recreation of the neighborhood.

    change happens. i didn't really spend a lot of time walking the mean streets of the old, pre-walentas dumbo. the original artists who found a home in dumbo are long gone. i don't have a view so my vision plane & property value won't be impaired by the new building & the improvements in the park give me much pleasure.

    perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad thing to bring teens from vinegar hill & east into the neighborhood & let them mix it up with kids of a different social background in a decent school with a parent body that's committed to good education for everybody. it would probably be good for both groups of kids. of course that presumes that the dumbo and BH kids don't all end up in private school.....

    the fact that the skyline of brooklyn as seen from the brooklyn bridge will be further blemished by another big modern block no longer seems such a big deal....another ugly pimple joining several others on the face of the new neighborhood.
  • harborrat
    does the school district that will be served by the proposed middle school include the farragut homes? hopefully it does as it would be good to have such a diverse school population in our neighborhood.
  • sue
    Two words: Eminent Domain.

    Why doesn't the government invoke eminent domain against a DEVELOPER for a change and gain control of this property for a green, sustainable, architecturally-appropriate, 3-4 floor middle-school -- and day care center, please -- instead!?! The officials who took on that charge would have my vote forever.
  • dumbostreets
    The Brooklyn Bridge is to Brooklyn as the Eiffel Tower is to Paris. As tourism increases, Brooklynites need to recognize the economic value of respecting the Bridge area.

    Additionally, Walentas' plan is designed to increase scarcity of Bridge views, which he will monopolize and use to drive up rental prices over time.

    It is a sort of breach of contract to buyers in his other Dumbo developments (which includes views he sold at premiums and now intends to block). It seems to me there could be legal grounds to challenging this.
  • Rudy
    Tell all your neigbors about this and encourage them to contact Yassky, Markowitz, the BHA and DNA as well and voice thier opposition. Distribute flyers. Post signs "Save the Brooklyn Bridge" "No New Dumbo Tower" "Dumb for Dumbo" on lamposts all over the Heights and Dumbo. Wear "Mens Suits" style placards while marching back and forth in front of 1 Main chanting "Hey-Hey, Ho-Ho, this big-ass building's got to go." Whos got the web design skills and some passion and time? Lets get a petition site up and running ala the F express and anti-Scarano movement in Carrol Gardens and present that to Yassky.

    He wants to blanket the neighborhood with glossy veiled truths, we can make him look the ass in his own hood. This Dock Street plan is just so greedy, contrived, sacreligious and out of context that it has to be stopped.
  • Concerned
    I couldn't agree more with these comments and I appreciate that this blog exists and allows for feedback to issues concerning the neighborhood. I would suspect that there are many folks who read these posts and feel the same way. If so, please take your concerns one step further and give our Council Member David Yassky a call [(718) 875-5200] and simply state your opposition. His office is aware of the situation but change only comes when there is critical mass.
  • dumbostreets
    Currently, the building heights decrease relative to the proximity of the bridge. This should be preserved. The tallest building in this footprint was 3-4 floors. A four story building over this footprint would still represent a lot of square feet.
  • dnicebk
    agree with the above 2 comments...anything that impedes on the views from the brooklyn bridge footpath would be criminal..the real beautiful developments erected many moons ago by robert gair (sweeny building, one main, 70 washington) are truly a majestic sight when you enter brooklyn. every look that way?? anyone??

    look up the 2004 times article please..about gair

    let us be reminded of an article in the times...and a little history on the man and why these landmarks are significant, and why a middle school (can you imagine hundreds of teenie boppers running around) and a 400 behemoth monster of studio and one-bedrooms (can you imagine williamsburg??#@) are not only inappropriate, but ridiculous.

    bottom line- the brooklyn bridge is historical, and gorgeous and many many things to many many people, it's nothing short of splendor. and it does mean many things including, advancement, consolation, rememberance, strength... walking towards manhattan you are also fortunate enough to see the other bridges, views of midtown etc...all of which would be sight reduced if such a thing went up.

    all of dumbo must support advancement, but not ego. there are ways to compromise, and ways that change can bring good in our very small but very cultured and significant neighborhood. let's not end up like williamsburg please. ps...aren't there many other opportunities further towards vinegar hill?? wouldn't it be a grand idea to have one of those massive beautiful buildings converted keeping the identity of the entire neighborhood? how about a school in a converted warehouse? leave the surrounding areas by the bridge alone, but develop them in a way that keeps old fulton street architecture in mind..think south street seaport..without abercrombie (and others)
  • low bmi
    Scaling back is all that needs to be done here. The portion of the building that occupies the St. Anns area should be dropped to no more than 40 feet. The taller portion that occupies Nova Clutch and the "carousel building" should be dropped to no more than 80 feet. This would keep the project below the level of the bridge's roadway and footpath.
  • anonymous
    Let's gear up now to fight this (until the very end if needed). We, the residents of Dumbo, can come together and create a single, unified voice that is heard loud and clear.

    If Two Trees wants a school, fine. If they want more rental units, fine. They just need to respect the location and keep their building below the height of the bridge. Let's add value here, not partake in greedy development practices. Anything taller than 5-6 stories and there will be outrage, and years of bitter hatred cast upon anyone associated with Two Trees. Walentas will go from loved by Dumbo residents to hated overnight. We are fickle. We love you know, Dave. But that love is slowly fading. Don't make us hate you. We don't want to hate. We want to keep loving you. But it's up to you.
blog comments powered by Disqus
Other Posts of Interest