Pearl Street Sidewalk Update

July 9th, 2007

Pearl Street

We received a few emails to update readers on the sidewalk reconstruction on the Pearl Street side of the 68 Jay Street building. Well, here it is (above photo). Earlier commenters were asking the building owner, Mr. Guttman (who is paying for the sidewalk paving) for planted trees to ‘beautify’ the area next to the new Pearl Street Triangle. There are no in-ground trees on the sidewalk, but why “prettify a neighborhood whose appeal is based largely on its industrial past”? As commenter Rascal stated eloquently:

“…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.”

Yes, we need a food/cafe in the plaza that will bring people to the triangle. If 155 Water Street is going to become the rumored hotel, the ground floor area will be perfect for a cafe.

{Google StreetView of Pearl St.}
{Pearl Street Triangle Moving Quickly, 28June2007, DumboNYC}

Filed in Dumbo Streetscapes, Pearl Street at 12:23 am
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  • wowzers
    Just tapping into this blog ... what an exciting and passionate debate-- over a slap of concrete!


    I think it's interesting that some people think the new space is sufficient offering to 'the people'- trees in pots, concrete, and green paint. Why no community garden? Why no community involvement? It feels like the BID just threw it together to appease the throngs of prospective home owners touring the area. The space isn't inviting or warm, for a local at least, it more feels like the last nail in the coffin to what once was ....a different neighborhood.


    I advocate for parking spots.... let the poor, the homeless, the working class and the nouveau and old rich enjoy their lives by the river. And plant those poor trees in the ground for god sakes... how about on York street between Gold and Bridge?


    Beyond the joys of online banter, I'd love to start a petition. advocating for the return of the parking triangle and the planting of more trees in the ground!
  • adam
    Could be. Or algae in a puddle. I'm not sure; go check it out Pete.
  • Pete
    adam - whats that lovely brown stain in the middle of the triangle? Did one of the bums mistake our new park for a sewage treatment plant?
  • adam
  • ?
    I did not write that YOU or ANYONE ELSE should get rid of your cars if you can't afford to park in a garage. I wrote that I -- ME PERSONALLY -- would decide not to keep mine if I had to rely on street parking in a neighborhood as tiny as Dumbo. There is never any parking anywhere in the neighborhood, if the spots aren't all filled up with fancy cars, they're blocked off for another film shoot. But nice kneejerk response based upon only partial comprehension, 'whoisincharge?' at least you're consistent.

    And who are the many 'we' you're referring to as the ones who love to hate the 'elite' like me. The majority of Dumbo is chockablock with incredibly high-end apartments and their owners and it's only climbing higher.

    Just because we have the lovely waterfront park doesn't mean that this is a subsitute for trees and greenery in the streets of Dumbo, regardless of whomever is (or is not) supplying them. Trees, flowers, and public spaces are a big part of what makes a neighborhood great. I am no apologist for Guttman. He and all of the rest of the developers should do their part to plant greenery and not create general eyesores in the neighborhood, but I'm not going to advocate for the removal of the triangle simply because Guttman didn't do his part.

    And if you're going to whine about the developers who kicked out all of the artists, you are forgetting the part where they (Walentas Bros.) invited a great many of them in in the first place with low rents and were very clear about the fact that the units would only be available for a finite period of time. I question a lot of the ethics here while I'm simultaneously bowled over by the business acumen.
  • adam
    Gosh, you must be challenged. Are you doing anything to affect the changes going on around you? Or is lashing out and complaining on the internet your primary m.o.?

    One last thing regarding cars and SoHo, and only because I pity your lack of comprehension... You claimed that more parking is vital to local businesses (not to residents like you, to BUSINESS) so I cited a study that suggests you're claim could be false. Like you said, you take the subway to SoHo (to shop). Do you think it might be possible that others take the subway/bike/walk here to shop? That was my point.

    The shame of this is that I basically agree with you on a lot of this stuff. Seems you miss that though since I'm not completely inline with your myopic perspective.
  • whosincharge?
    ? is the new adam. i am for trees. they should be in the ground and the developers and landlords should plant them. why do so few, especially those new to the neighborhood, accept that it is our responsibility to keep them honest.

    there was never a parking problem in DUMBO, it is a growing problem now and should have been addressed before spots were taken away. the neighborhood has some of the most glorious green areas in Brooklyn, let alone the city, along the river between the bridges.

    Very few people are going to use the container garden, traffic island as a place to relax or eat lunch. It is so noisy and floods after even the lightest summer shower.

    adam what is your point? people take subways to SOHO? who cares, you were right, DUMBO, is in fact, not SOHO. in addition, i too take the subway to SOHO and still have to park my car in DUMBO.

    the barriers do look post-9/11, you know what would have been better, a raised curb and trees in the ground (check the artist rendering, does it look like that?) you need friends, adam, i know, not gonna find one here.

    ?, you are the new elite we all hate. park your car in a garage or don't have one, so very elitist and privileged of you. your comment id is a reflection of the cluelessness of your perspective.

    let's attack the developers and landlords, who have kicked out all my artist friends, pulled the rug out from people that built this neighborhood and refuse to plant trees. Guttman where are the trees. money and painted asphalt are not the only green.
  • harborrat
    people who live in glass houses should dress in the cellar. i'll bet there are lots of old dumbo-ites (you know, they've been here for at least 8 years) who have cars & dogs that ammonia shower every tree, piece of green or wood-chip in sight.

    the vanilla-ization of the neighborhood into a bastion of the privileged with new construction towering above the old gair buildings is well 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 and they're no longer useful to him to testify at public hearings about what a good guy he is..

    as for the new water/dock street building, perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to bring teens from east of eden 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.
  • L.E.
    what I find humorous is that some people in Dumbo actually think that Dumbo is the only neighborhood in NYC that is undergoing "gentrification" with new expensive buildings and new residents and babies, etc. and high rents - commerical & residential. As if all of NYC - esp. Manhattan - isn't experiencing ridiculously high increases in commercial & residential rents and as if prices on sales of apts. aren't increasing all over NYC so that the avg. apt. in Manhattan isn't over $1 million and at ridiculous new prices in the boroughs and as if there isn't a baby boom all over NYC with families staying in NYC as opposed to moving out and as if new buildings and new improvement projects and new BIDS aren't happening all over NYC. You're right, it's only DUMBO and that's because it's all a Walentas conspiracy to ruin your neighborhood - make it less "authentic" - and certainly to make it unaffordable for you.
  • ?
    Yes, let's keep Dumbo treeless and barren and let's use all potential public spaces for parking. Let's not do anything to make the neighborhood more pedestrian friendly or safe lest we wind up with a Gap Kids. Do you not realize that the neighborhood went this way years ago when it got crappy West Elm and Bo Concept shops?
  • Publius
    Hear, Hear!

    Couldn't have said it better myself, Bozo.

    What Dantean irony that the aims of the BID and the DNA are precisely to obliterate the "neighborhood."

    The "improvements" are resulting in the inevitability of Dumbo becoming a carbon-copy of every other homogonized upper-class white neighborhood. Force out anyone who doesn't look or dress like "us"---we have our Starbucks; Gap Kids can't be far behind.

    Dumbo will not be a neighborhood if it has no character. It will just be a place on a map.
  • Bozo
    5:53 wrote: "people should call the BID with their concerns or get involved with the neighborhood organization to help with restoration efforts."

    The BID couldn't care less about your or my concerns. They are run by the developers who own the politicians. They will do as they like, when they like. Ergo, getting involved with a neighborhood organization to help with anything, has become an act of utter futility. (I know, I tried.)

    And so, Adam, when someone (presumably someone from the DNA) encourages people to approach the BID and get involved, they are either ignorant or disingenuous. I believe the latter.

    The DNA is a sad joke. People who have worked with the DNA are now working with the Park Conservancy and a number of them live in One Main and are Walentas friends and associates.

    In the future, cars will be exiled from Water Street between Main and Dock. The main access to Dumbo will be from Old Fulton Street on Front, where a car will have the option of parking in the Dock St. Garage, the 45 Main garage, or travel over to Jay Street and park in the garage at Jay and John. Once the Dock St. project is done, and once the Empire Stores is developed (and it will be and it will be done by Two Trees), Water Street will be akin to the South St. Seaport. Once the area beneath the Manhattan Bridge is reclaimed, Water Street between Jay all the way to Dock Street, will be car-free. And every weekend there will be a street fair or a festival with mommy and daddy and children children children. With balloons and bubbles and bouncy castles and . . . Ahhh, the suburbs.
  • shumera matashaki
    one small word "Guttman". everything that guy does is a fake shortcut that is all smoken 'n mirrors. i am very pleased to see something done to the triangle rather than use it for parking which adds nothing to the neighborhood. ask yourself, 'what would i have done to develop the triangle to reflect DUMBO?' the benches add to the historical feel. but other than that... you get a nice view of the ugly replacement windows Guttman is putting in the bldg next door. i guess he's the 'Trump' of DUMBO in the worst taste but is the tightest wad there ever was...
  • ?
    I really don't care if anyone sits in the triangle, I'm just happy to see some trees in Dumbo. Griping about losing 9 parking spaces, especially with hundreds of people pouring into new neighborhood condos seems entirely futile. I have a car in Dumbo, too, but if I couldn't afford to garage mine I'd get rid of it. There was never any parking to be had in Dumbo before the removal of the triangle!
  • adam
    whoincharge? - You refuse to debate, refute, or seemingly to even consider my points and you call me names. Sigh... you clearly have the superior intellect and a righteous cause. You win.


    Bozo - anon 5:53 wasn't spouting ignorance or being disingenuous because anon didn't say the BID is working tirelessly for landmark status. anon was speaking of the DNA.


    Where did you guys learn your debating style? Right-wing talk radio?
  • whosincharge?
    bozo speaks truth!
  • Bozo
    Actually, whosincharge?, I witnessed two guys sitting at the triangle -- oh, excuse me, The Triangle -- today at about 11 am. It was hilarious. The IND was raging above (it must have been 30 decibels), there was garbage in the street, a funky smell was wafting out from beneath the bridge, and there was a dead (squashed) rat by the side of the curb. Maybe Adam would like to meet us all there for lunch.

    As to 5:53, who suggests we solicit the expertise and wisdom of the Dumbo Bid. The Dumbo Bid is run by the developers, most notably Walentas, and his cronies and other assorted affiliates and lapdogs. They have office space in a Walentas building (rent free?) and the people involved are Walentas lawyers and Park Conservancy drones, all of whom are associated, in some shape or form, with building development. It is the height of ignorance or disingenuousness to say these people or that group is about the greater good of Dumbo or that they are working tirelessly to achieve landmark status. Some of these individuals are, or have been, Walentas legal counsel on the St. Ann's-Nova Clutch project. The Dumbo BID will only succeed at garnering preservation status, predictably, after Two Trees erects a tower on Dock Street (the antithesis of preservation).

    The Triangle plan, at least for now, is intended to remove automobiles from the street into for-profit parking garages, almost all of whom are in Walentas space (45 Main, 55 Wash.,
    20 Jay), and to increase foot traffic, in general, so that the local small businesses, who are also renting from the developers, can stay in business, and to increase the yearning in the hearts of visiting pedestrians (read: condo sales).

    Any way you paint it, I prefer the old rats to the new.
  • whosincharge?
    adam, i have never seen any one to ask. i have yet to see one person sitting there, ever. next time take a picture as proof. we can post it with photos of the Loch Ness Monster and Big Foot.

    i am not parking my car to visit businesses. i live in the neighborhood and need a car. i take the subway to work and most other places, so get off your high horse and live in the real world.

    The green paint is horrendous. the parking is missed and guttman should be planting trees in his new sidewalks. disagree with any of that, you twit.
  • anon
    For the record - the Pearl Street Triangle is a BID project. DNA has been trying for years to open up Water Street under the Manhattan Bridge - which was open for years before the DOT claimed the space for bridge repairs and then for security reasons.
    People should ask the BID, which has an operating budget in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and represents business interests in DUMBO, to help by working with the DOT to get the Water Street underpass open.
    The DNA is working very hard at the moment to stop the illegal destruction of bluestone and beligian block streets and sidewalks, as well as policing unsafe and polluting building practices in demolition and construction. They are also working on achiving historic designation for the neighborhood in the hopes of maintaining DUMBO's unique character.
    While the trees at Triangle are better than parking, and it is certainly a nice idea, the DNA requested that the BID restore the belgian block in the Pearl Street Triangle, instead of the awful green paint. The BID has replied that this will only come when the DOT approves the restoration and takes that on themselves.
    Perhaps people should call the BID with their concerns or get involved with the neighborhood organization to help with restoration efforts.
  • adam
    I made a suggestion (did you think it unreasonable) and stated two facts. How can you be so ignited by that?

    "Security-measure-looking barriers" are to protect pedestrians from drivers. If you're interested in a discussion over why someone would choose to sit in your former parking spot, I think the best course of action would be to talk to someone doing just that. I haven't hung out in the triangle but it seems like others have.

    Also, I'm not sure about your assertion that all businesses need (more) parking. I don't believe that a study has been done for DUMBO and I know that SoHo isn't a perfect comparison but I find the following stat interesting. From a survey of shoppers on Prince Street:

    "89% of the people who use Prince Street are arriving by subway, bus, walking or bicycle. Only 9% arrive by car."

    I know the neighborhoods aren't the same but where do you think DUMBO business patrons come from? Most Manhattanites don't have cars. There are more in the outer boroughs; maybe people are driving from Queens to visit our galleries and furniture stores?


    Bozo - The area we're discussing has three uninterrupted sides. Why is calling it a "triangle" so laughable? It's shaped like... a triangle.
  • whosincharge?
    Bozo, finally some sense among the disillusioned. When should we consider the Triangle finished? Adam, always trying top catapult on my post. Are you my stalker? Obsessed with a real DUMBO-ite? Come with constructive ideas, not only answers to my somewhat sarcastic musings.

    Let's open the discussion on why people would sit on the "ad hoc benches" aka post-9/11 security-measure-looking barriers rather than along the river, quieter, more beautiful, real grass as opposed to painted asphalt.

    and please, even if you don't drive, lobby for parking. the cafe you all want will need it. all businesses do. and lobby for trees, not in parking spaces, but every where. the handful of people who own buildings in the neighborhood, need to do more than replace sidewalks.

    Guttman, why no trees?
  • thurston
    the panhandlers of Bumbo deserve better
  • Bozo
    "The Triangle," as it is now laughingly referred, is, for me, a stunning metaphor for Dumbo itself. Small in size, small in vision, a veneer, a paint-job, run by small people with small ideas.
    Could the train be any louder?
    What a F#*%'n joke.
    They painted the street green.
    THEY PAINTED THE F#*%'n STREET GREEN!!!!!!
    LOL
  • Resident
    I have sat on the ad hoc benches - more than once!
  • adam
    Cafe-style seating and tables arrived in the triangle today. Maybe someday there will be a cafe to match? It's clear that caution tape and DOT pylons aren't part of the final plan. Perhaps some critiques -- those concerning aesthetics at least -- should be reserved until work is finished.

    Josh - I've seen people sitting on the ad hoc benches.
  • whosincharge?
    The Triangle is a mess and a waste of space. The point is getting missed. GUTTMAN needs to plant trees, in the ground, instead of having the neighborhood suffer significantly worse and growing parking problems. Parking just this last weekend was a disaster. To let Guttman off the hook, by saying we should keep DUMBO industrial, is asinine. Why change the triangle if the goal is preservation of an industrial time of a DUMBO past. Again, I implore people to count the trees adjacent to a Guttman building. The man does nothing for the neighborhood.

    I still the trees from the triangle should be placed in the sidewalk and parking should be restored.

    Painted green, the triangle is an insult, as if you can paint black asphalt green and the world is a lovelier place. Did people notice the flooding that took place in the triangle? There is no drainage there. How about the hideous orange pylons and caution tape, like what was once parking is now a crime scene? So many problems. Just paint it Green.

    and now we wait for the DOT to relax some of the parking restrictions elsewhere, maybe the BID should have waited for this to be done. Are they really looking out for the neighborhood's residents or participating in a rushed attempt to beautify an aesthetically challenged neighborhood? BID should be actively campaigning the DOT and seriously rethink any other half-ass "improvements" they have planned.

    Before we have to circle for 30 minutes like in other Brooklyn neighborhoods, every one comment on DUMBO parking here:

    http://nyc.gov/html/mail/html/maildot.html
  • Josh Reisberg
    Is any more work being done on that triangle. To me, it's just a green-painted triangle with some planter pots. And, I've never seen anybody walking through it or sitting on the concrete slabs that double as rudimentary benches.
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