Dumbo NYC

Notes from the DUMBO, Brooklyn NY neighborhood


Pearl Street Triangle Moving Quickly

June 28th, 2007

The Dumbo Improvement District has pushed the DOT to move quickly on the Pearl Street Triangle and even worked on the plaza with their own staff. On Tuesday, the Dumbo BID staff painted the plaza area grey, and by this morning, some planters have been put in place. There’s some discussion from Monday’s post about Pearl Street Triangle on whether or not the street furniture will encourage homeless people to linger around. While no one wants to see someone else homeless, we can’t just push them out to another neighborhood. Out of sight, out of mind is not a way to help others in need. As one commenter stated, “Homeless people need SERVICES, not to degrade themselves by begging for spare change.”

The Dumbo BID plans an “adopt-a-street-fixture” program to allow business and residents to dedicate furniture to public spaces. Community-based public art is also in the works for the Pearl Street Triangle. Work on the initial phase of the triangle is scheduled to be completed in early July.


 Pearl Street Triangle, 26Jun2007


 Pearl Street Triangle, 28Jun2007


 Pearl Street Triangle, 28Jun2007


 Sidewalk reconstruction is a parallel improvement by the property owner Josh Guttman, separate from the work with the DOT along Pearl Street, 28Jun2007

{Pearl Street Triangle Plaza Begins Work, 25June2007, DumboNYC}

Filed in Anchorage Place, Dumbo Improvement, Pearl Street, Water Street at 11:59 am
Comments
  • whosincharge?
    we've been bamboozled. Increased parking problems for lame above ground trees. pathetic. the illustrated plan of the triangle looked quaint and grandiose. is someone pocketing money on this one? no one, i repeat, no one is going to sit in that island of DOT trucks, dump trucks and sand-blasting bridge workers to eat lunch, read the newspaper or meditate, especially with all the green areas out of the traffic patterns less than a block away. If the homeless want to seek calm in this new waste of space, let them. I, for one, want to parking back. If i have to circle the neighborhood looking for parking, i might just be tempted to move one of the lovely orange pylons and park in the shade of one of those little trees.
  • The DOT is working on a parking plan to update the Mon-Fri no parking spaces, so hope we can get those spots back. The triangle isn't completed, so let's see how it looks compared to the artist renderings from this post.
  • whosincharge?
    i have no faith in the DOT, nor that the artist rendering will be met. maybe the spots should have remained until new spots were added. and still the new "green area" is underfunded and underplanned. Just because people wear gardener hats doesn't make a concrete patch a garden. To be done right the trees should go in the earth and the triangle should be raised with a curb. Only in DUMBO would this pass muster. I will be watching to see if it much improves, if not those trees are in my parking spot.
  • adam
    whosincharge, do you drive to dumbo for work or do you live here?
  • whosincharge?
    have lived in DUMBO for almost 10 years. adam, will you be lunching in the traffic island?
  • adam
    Maybe on the weekend when I'd be home for lunch. It depends what it looks like when finished.

    Has anyone heard further about the rumor of a greenmarket making its home in the triangle?
  • pal
    picking up on the whole "homeless" question that was raised again in this post, I think it important to distinguish from the "homeless" and "panhandlers." It seems to me that most of the complaints on the previous thread had to do with aggressive behaviors not with the question of where one sleeps every night. To my mind, this triangle (which, I agree, should be raised up and have planted trees) has the potential to be a respite for any number of folks, but will not likely be a center of panhandling activity. Why?

    Well, as one who has worked with the homeless, what most people don't understand is that panhandlers look for spots that have the best chance of being profitable, which are almost always areas of high foot traffic. Thus, the lady outside Peas and Pickles and the fella outside the F are there because they can make money there.

    The Pearl Street Triangle might be a good place (and I stress MIGHT) for someone to sit and rest for awhile, but I doubt it will bustling with foot traffic.
  • But I can imagine that painting the area and placing planted containers could be intentional and not a ruse.

    I see this as simply a temporary garden. There may be lots of good reasons to not make the commitment now to things which will be difficult to change later: raised curbs, in-ground plantings, and so on. We're going through this now on Cortelyou Road, where tree-pits were cut, but nothing can be planted because of utilities running below them.

    I've done much the same thing in my own gardens, using containers and materials which don't require a big investment in infrastructure and hardscape, when the future is uncertain, or when my funds simply aren't available to do more. I've learned to do a lot with salvaged brick, mulch, and a few containers.

    This is just one gardener's perspective on what I'm seeing from just a few photographs. I'm afraid I haven't been following the details of this story, so I'm just catching up. I realize that there's much more going on here, and that the plantings are not the whole story. I just know I'd rather see some trees in planters than barren asphalt. That's got to be worth something, yes? No?
  • Jan
    Yes re. the trees, and here they are, albeit mini ones. A good start. I think more green and natural color is certainly better than less, but remember that good development takes time. I'd say we're not doing too badly for 6 months or so from our first public meeting on the subject. Kudos to the DOT and Mayor Bloomberg for fast-tracking the project.

    But of course, these are just first steps. Many issues to address -- lighting, security, maintenance, horticulture, fountain perhaps, parking, programming, social services -- and it will take time to address them, but we shall, in good time, and with your help! Stay tuned.
  • Peter
    I don't see any street lights being put there.
    as far as relaxing there, with the train rubbling
    by every 5 minutes good luck. I think it will be a summer time hangout for perps. waiting for folks to
    walk home from the F train.
  • DOT
    Even if it turns out that people don't use it as intended... the space already makes the block look a million times better with the greenery. I like it. It's a great start.
  • whosincharge?
    i think it is the lamest looking collection of container trees and shrubs ever. paint the asphalt grey and it is an improvement. DOT needs to remove the M-F parking restrictions up the block on Pearl St., which must be a relic of a time when the neighborhood was more industral or something. I think benches, lamps and, come on now, a FOUNTAIN will never happen. Most of all, no one is going to relax on the painted asphalt where cars used to park and which is contstantly circled by garbage and delivery trucks. Guttman better be planting trees in the new sidewalk he is putting in, but something tells me he is happy that he doesn't have to spare the expense now that he has the little free grey garden across the way. It is all a big smoke screen for us to pay to "beautify" his area. Guttman better give us in the ground trees and not just more sidewalk.
  • whosincharge?
    Guttman, where are the trees? Did Jan of JLA and other business tenants of Guttman implore him to put trees around his monsterous 68 Jay St. building? The trees in the planters in what used to be parking spots (which were useful for both neighborhood residents and people visiting the neighborhood to shop and gallery hunt) should be placed in the sidewalk around Guttman's buildings. This is ridiculous.

    Parking is ironically worse on weekend days when people are more and more coming down to the neighborhood to shop. A phenomena that would have never happened years ago.
  • adam
    whosincharge, I read that each of the 9 (?) parking spots removed from the triangle are being added elsewhere. I'll try to find more on that detail but for the sake of argument let's assume that it's true. Do you have any other problems with the new triangle?

    Regarding your 12:58 post, how much did you pay to "beautify" Guttman's area? And why the quotes? Do you think the triangle was more attractive as a parking lot?
  • whosincharge?
    not more attractive but much more useful, since parking is increasingly going to be a problem. adam, i suspect you might be new to the neighborhood, making your questioning of my provenance so ironic and mildly infuriating.

    why trees in the middle of the street and not in the sidewalk? why a half-ass job when, i partially agree, if done right (trees in ground, fountain, benches) the area could be decent. although never a quiet relaxing respite or lunch spot.

    adam, do you know who Guttman even is? he owns all the buildings surrounding the triangle where the neighborhood paid for the trees.

    All the while, he put in new sidewalk, but no trees. In the meantime, the neighborhood needs more parking spots, not the same amount or less.

    being new to the neighoborhood, albeit an enthusiastic newbie, doesn't make you an authority. don't bother hunting details on new spots for me, i wouldn't want to interrupt your busy Manhattan schedule, enjoy the container plants on evenings and weekends, apparently the only times you are even in the neighborhood. i suspect no one else will be enjoying the space as much as my car used to. when i see the throngs relaxing on the painted grey asphalt, i will consider myself proven wrong.
  • adam
    I never questioned your provenance, if you want to call it that. I did ask you if you lived or worked in the area but only to understand your parking needs.

    I don't know why Guttman (owner of 68 Jay -- condescension unnecessary) didn't plant trees in the new sidewalk. Was he supposed to? Jan?

    Also you didn't answer the question. You mentioned a smoke screen and asserted that we are all paying to beautify Guttman's area. How much did we pay? How much did Guttman pay to build new sidewalk?

    You think the neighborhood needs more parking spots. Fine, that may be true. You'd know better than me; I gave up car ownership. But again, if all the spots from the triangle are being moved rather than eliminated, what's the problem?

    I certainly never claimed to be an authority on any matter surrounding the recent construction. Does your longer tenure make you an authority or your opinions worth more? I gladly step aside and give weight to the words of longtime residents in matters where I think tenure lends wisdom. You probably disagree with me, but I don't think this is one of those times.

    Who says I work in Manhattan? Now you're just being presumptuous and snide. Let's not do that. I'd much prefer to be on good terms with my neighbors regardless differences in opinion. Maybe as a newbie I should just shut up.
  • adam
    Y'know, we could probably continue this debate for longer than it's worth. Instead, I'm just going to call out what I think is behind it all and if you agree with me, let's leave it be.

    I'm anti-car and you're anti-change.
  • whosincharge?
    this is not a case of pro or anti anything. and you are right, i could care less about your opinion specifically. i love change and i drive. and you are right, the point is getting lost. the island better served the neighborhood as a place for cars. plan and simple.

    i am all for trees and think they should be in the ground like mother earth would want. not enslaved in containers flanking Guttman's buildings when apparently he could care less about trees. as evidence, i implore everyone to count the trees adjacent his buildings. get back to me on that one, adam. and again, count the amount of people in the island, i bet more people used it as parking spots than will find respite there as a lunch or meditation location.
  • Rascal
    Apologies for the following repost of my 'Stoner comment, but this is a worthy discussion for our neighborhood and I wanted to be on record:

    This is an odd initial project for BID funds. In addition to the legitimate critiques by others, this represents a rather explicit lurch in the direction of prettifying a neighborhood whose appeal is based largely on its industrial past. This is not an argument against trees or public spaces or even baby strollers and bankers, but why try to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear when our modern sensibilities find unique and significant artisitic merit in the sow?

    A major challenge to usage of this space will be that no food or beverage vendors currently populate this triangle. A cafe or coffee shop seems an essential anchor; maybe this will provide an incentive for such an establishment.

    I wish the DNA had made the opening of the bridge archway their first priority with the DOT rather than this, although this was probably easier to facilitate, a faster route to evidence of action.
  • T
    The changes to the Pearl Street triangle, while small, are a boon to the neighborhood and do nothing to take away from DUMBO's original industrial appeal, nor do they significantly impact the nabe's parking situation. The nine spaces were an eyesore and if it's true that they've been added elsewhere, then what is the problem?

    It has been proven that by adding flowers and trees to otherwise barren streets increases safety because it communicates civic pride and sends a message that the neighborhood folks care, are watching, and will call the police if there is a disturbance. You can read more about this phenomenon in the book 'The Power of Place'.

    I'm happy to see any efforts towards beautifucation and greenery and hope there will only be more of this to come in DUMBO.
  • adam
    I really didn't think this development would consume so much of my time but here I am a week later still thinking and writing. I'm posting again because I find my opinion (which at least one person apparently could[n't] care less about - haha) shifting.

    Rascal's clever metaphor eloquently gets to the point of some thoughts I've had but didn't share because they would've come out awkwardly and they would've partly undermined my argument (which I admit I sometimes love too much for its own sake).

    I latched onto the triangle project quickly and perhaps prematurely for its "people over autos" side. Old habits I guess.

    And it adds green to my window view -- sounds great! But it's not as though we're particularly starved for greenspace here, with one of the most beautiful parks in the city just blocks away. I like the rough-hewn quality of this neighborhood (speaking mainly of the east side). Actually it may be what I like most. How much beautification do we want?

    I'm being redundant now (again, Rascal said it so well) but blabbering on helps, believe it or not, to organize my thoughts so I can more easily come to a conclusion.

    By the way, thanks for this forum Hideyoshi! And whosincharge, ad hominem comments aside, I appreciate your contentions. If we ever meet in some Guttman building bar, first round's on me!
  • whosincharge?
    it's all good. rascal is my hero. he eloquently got adam and hopefully others to see my initial argument that this is a smokescreen. painting sidewalk grey and plopping down some container trees and DUMBO is instantly beautified and improved.

    I love trees. probably more than most people, and think there should be more all around. these landlords who are not planting trees should be hounded and until parking becomes less of a problem, we should all be concerned as the new folks moving in will bring more cars rather than less.

    I just think this neighborhood should think big, not small. be prepared for the future and be realistic. the triangle will not be used as it is now intended. it now looks like someone is baracading it in some post 9-11 security fashion. if it continues to improve (raised curb and this aforemention FOUNTAIN) great, if not, let's keep it real and keep DUMBO semi-industrial not some new wannabe tribeca.

    and, yet, still, GUTTMAN why no trees?
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