Writer Kay S. Hymowitz’s article titled How Brooklyn Got Its Groove Back on City Journal is a fascinating read into what changes took place in the past few decades that brought Brooklyn to the forefront of the creative-class in NYC. Ms. Hymowitz asks, “How did the Brooklyn of the Lehanes and crack houses turn into what it is today—home to celebrities like Maggie Gyllenhaal and Adrian Grenier, to Michelin-starred chefs, and to more writers per square foot than any place outside Yaddo? How did the borough become a destination for tour buses showing off some of the most desirable real estate in the city, even the country?”

She answers them by showing how Brooklyn neighborhoods, including Dumbo, grew from being an industrial area into a creative-class gentrified neighborhood and “one of the wealthiest and fastest-growing neighborhoods in Brooklyn”.

In 1981, though, developer David Walentas took a look at the brick warehouses and factories (most dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries) and, taking a cue from his recent development successes in another former industrial area, Soho, bought 11 of them—almost an entire neighborhood. Or what he hoped might someday become a neighborhood: like Red Hook, Dumbo was still zoned solely for manufacturing, despite manufacturers’ indifference to the area. Walentas had to wait 17 years for the city to pronounce Dumbo “mixed-use” and for the area to come alive.

Walentas’s prescience—and patience—put him in an unusual position. Like many successful developers, he was able to make a lot of money: space in the buildings he bought for $6 per square foot now sometimes sells for $1,000 per square foot. But unlike other developers, Walentas owned so much of a neighborhood that he could play God. Also, since he was making so much money from the properties overall, he could give rent breaks to commercial tenants that he viewed as desirable—for instance, upscale retailers like West Elm, the modern-furniture outlet, and Jacques Torres, a high-end chocolatier—while refusing chains like Duane Reade, which, he felt, set the wrong, down-market tone.

Read the article for more about Dumbo’s digital-media marketing and startup firms, Williamsburg’s gentrification, and Park Slope’s literary center.

The Dumbo Business Improvement District announced last week a $20 million commitment of funds for Dumbo streets by the city for a second phase of reconstruction of DUMBO’s historic Belgian block streets and the centuries-old pipes below them. According to the BID, “The funds will also be used to permanently build out the Pearl Street Triangle to create a world-class plaza space between the Pearl Street Triangle and the adjacent Archway under the Manhattan Bridge. The first phase of work, covering Water and Washington Streets, will be completed this month.”

We have seen some great programming at the Pearl Street Triangle, and it’s good to finally see funding for a more permanent plaza area. The BID held an ideas competition for the triangle last year, which spurred some interesting (and some far fetched) ideas. The BID told DumboNYC that while we may not see any of these ideas become reality, they will continue to solicit ideas from the community to work with the city on a design that’s best suited for the space.

As for the Belgian block restoration, almost everyone we’ve talked to likes the street fixes. However, in a Brooklyn Paper article on Friday titled DUMBO — historyland or Disneyland?, Doreen Gallo of the DUMBO Neighborhood Alliance says that the reconstruction is “historically inaccurate” and too expensive. So we asked her about it. What do most people not know about the restoration? She feels that most people are unaware of what is being sacrificed and what the difference is between restoring the Belgian block in an historic, authentic way and the recent execution on Washington and Water Streets:

“The original Belgian block was replaced with old looking uniform stone and a granite middle car wide bike path and this patterning of crosswalk destroys the original uniformity of the Belgian block with the iconic view of the Manhattan Bridge. It is not a mall, not a renovation but should be a restoration.”

Ms. Gallo reminds us that every street in Dumbo has Belgian blocks.

“[Historically] there was no asphalt. DOT never followed their own HIQA rules and never enforced subcontractors to put the Belgian block back in kind. Gradually, DOT completely paved over Front St, Jay St, Adams St. On Wednesday, at 12:30 pm, Time Warner was cutting through Pearl St parallel with the triangle. When I arrived they’d cut through 20 feet. By 1pm was told that we had a stop work order. Councilmember Levin called the Brooklyn Borough Commissioner and HIQA DOT inspectors showed up assuring that they were there to make sure it was put back exactly how it was under the asphalt. But how can that be if they were cutting through the block? By 2:30 pm 125 feet were cut through. John Weiss, helpful with the permit said that he did not realize that the Belgian block was under 2″ of asphalt. Yesterday Time Warner continued down Pearl toward Plymouth.”

Photos from Friday of the work referenced by Ms. Gallo below:

Clearly there are some differences by preservation groups and the city on how the “restoration” of the Belgian block streets need to be done. There’s no question that Dumbo’s streets need fixing up and more are pleased with it, but according to the DNA, landmark issues must be considered.

More specifics on what the funding will go towards is on the Dumbo BID website.

As proposed in July 2011 by the NYC DOT, the sidewalk along Front Street near York Street is being widened and landscaped neckdown on the corner of York and Front are being worked on according to workers on site. A neckdown is a curb extension at intersections that reduces the roadway width and tightens the curb radii at the corner. This provides a shorter distance for pedestrians to cross and reduces the speed of turning vehicles.

The cross walk at York Street and Front Street will be reduced from 71 feet to 25 feet. This will also improve sight lines for drivers on York Street turning onto Front Street. However, as one of our readers pointed out, semi trucks use York Street to make a right turn onto Front either because they can’t make the turn at York and Washington Streets.

B25 Bus (Photo by Jane Kratochvil)

State Senator Daniel Squadron, Assembly Member Joan Millman and Council Member Steve Levin invite you to a Transportation Town Hall for DUMBO, Fulton Ferry Landing and Downtown Brooklyn. Join in for a discussion about ongoing transportation issues in our neighborhood, featuring representatives from the MTA, the NYC Dept. of Transportation, and NYPD’s 84th Precinct.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 7:30pm – 8:30pm
55 Washington Street, Room 216 Brooklyn, NY
RSVP to belinda@danielsquadron.org

Dumbo has been talking about yesterday’s discussion of new parking signs, and the B25 Bus Route on Main Street. If you have opinions on the tour buses on Old Fulton Street, York/Front Street redesign, lack of parking, enforcement (or lack thereof)?

Have your opinions heard!

A reader sent us this email that the B25 bus route has begun the routing down Main Street:

Did you know that the B 25 buses started today going down Main and Water 7 days a week from morning until late night? Apparently the concerns raised in July about this route and schedule change went unheard.

We previously posted about the B25 bus in July from another resident who thought buses turning into Main Street, then down Water Street would be too much for the cramped streets.

The original post from the resident said this about having the bus turn into Main Street: “it is extremely dangerous, and it is a terrible and unsustainable traffic-flow situation. I have seen fist-fights and many incidences of road rage. Many times busses careen onto the street hardly braking at all as they turn down from Front Street. I am worried no one is going to take this issue seriously until a pedestrian is killed or there is a serious accident.”

Most of the Water Street re-construction has been completed and paved with Belgian blocks.

[UPDATE: Robert Perris, District Manager for CB2 commented this update: CB2 took these concerns seriously and discussed them with New York City Transit (NYCT) and other stakeholders. One alternative that was considered was the viability of moving the bus loop to another street further east. NYCT informed CB2 that it was not able to consider an alternative route at this time but might re-visit the issue following implementation of the 24/7 Main Street loop." Thanks Rob for the update!]

The following is this week’s anticipated construction work schedule (7am – 3:30pm work hours), field conditions permitting for this week. Please note that parking may be restricted in work areas.

• 8/5/11 through 8/12/11 – Washington Street between York/Water Street – Prepare roadway for the reinstalling the Belgian Blocks
• 8/5/11 through 8/12/11 – Washington Street between Water/Plymouth Street – Continue excavation of roadway for installation of concrete base
• 8/5/11 through 8/12/11 – Water Street between Washington/Adams Street – Start the reinstallation of the Belgian Blocks and install Belgian Blocks bicycle lane
• 8/5/11 through 8/12/11 – Water Street and Main Street intersection – Complete installation of Belgian Blocks

For more information, please call Paul Kidder, the Community Construction Liaison at 718-643-2850 or email: waterstreetccl@gmail.com

For prior construction posts, see dumbonyc.com/tag/construction.

The New York Times explains why some historic districts are missing the brown street signs. (They colored them “terra cotta” because they thought that color would blend well with any background). However as many as 37 districts lack the distinctive brown “historic district” street signs, out of a total of 104 districts and 16 district extensions. The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission designates the districts but they do not pay for the signs. The Dumbo neighborhood won its historic desigation in January 2008. However, three and a half years later, Dumbo still does not have these signs.

According to the article:

The signs, where they exist, are paid in part by a nonprofit organization, the Landmarks Preservation Foundation, that works with the commission to underwrite historical markers.

Elisabeth de Bourbon, a spokeswoman for the commission, said the signs do not come automatically as soon as a historic district is designated. “There’s nothing that happens if they don’t get in touch with us,” she said. “We don’t proactively go into neighborhoods to install signs.”

Though some community groups have not yet informed the Landmarks Preservation Commission that they are missing the signs, others, including Douglaston Hill, Dumbo and the extension to the already-designated Greenwich Village, say they haven’t seen any progress even after making the request.

Apparently, the neighborhood must raise most of the money for the signs themselves. The foundation grants each historic district $400 for the signs, which cost $55 each to manufacture, according to the commission.

According to privately run Historic Districts Council, “the initial signs for the then-80-plus historic district were funded by an anonymous donor with the intention that the City would provide appropriate signage as new districts were designated. This was agreed-upon but failed to be kept in practice, and unfortunately now, communities are responsible for providing funds for their own street signs, often through discretionary city council or private funding. This strikes us as a rather sad state of affairs, quite like asked to pay to print your diploma – but we suppose that happens too.”

Based on this, the neighborhood should contact City Councilman Stephen Levin to set aside funding for Dumbo’s new signs.

As one commenter in the NY Times article states, “The Department of Transportation is in the process of changing all City street signs from all-caps to signs with only the first letter capitalized. One would hope that the Landmarks Preservation Commission could coordinate with this fellow City agency to have the terra cotta-type street signs put up in historic districts currently without them at the time that DOT would be replacing the green signs regardless. This would, in theory, save DOT the cost of manufacturing green signs that aren’t needed while also providing these districts with the special signs they desire.” However, we’ve started spotting the new DOT signs in certain areas of Dumbo:

(Photo courtesy of Josh Derr).

More history about the brown historic signs from Historic Districts Council after the jump:
Read the rest of this entry »

As part of the Old Fulton Street redesign presented by the NYC DOT (DOT PDF, 3.42mb), the street leading to Pier 1 at Brooklyn Bridge Park got all of the attention. However, it’s also worth noting that they are proposing to shorten the cross walk at York Street and Front Street from 71 feet to 25 feet. Their proposal will:

• Improve sight lines for drivers on York Street turning onto Front Street
• Shorten cross walk distance from 71 to 25 feet
• Add new bicycle markings
• Construct landscaped neckdowns on Front and York Streets

We’ve seen a bicyclist get hit in that crosswalk and several near misses. Cars seem to zoom by that long crosswalk and swerve around pedestrians and bicyclists, so this proposal would reduce the risk of an accident there.

Previously:
{DOT Looks to Revamp the Streets Near Pier 1 but Not B25 Bus Route, 13Jul2011}

The sidewalk on Washington Street, between York Street and Front Street is being replaced with ‘pigmented sidewalks’. The West side of the street is being completed this week. Repairs will begin on the East side of the street tomorrow, according to the NYC Department of Design + Construction. Ongoing work is occurring on Washington Street and Plymouth Streets with the installation of Auger piles, installing curbs on Water Street between Washington and Adams Streets, and backfilling of trench and placing temporary asphalt on roadway over the trench near the intersection of Water and Adams Streets.

Since many have asked, yes, the Belgian blocks in Dumbo will eventually be repaired as it was on Water Street between Old Fulton Street and Main Street.

For more information, please call Paul Kidder, the Community Construction Liaison at 718-643-2850 or email: waterstreetccl@gmail.com

All construction posts are here: dumbonyc.com/tag/construction

Previously:
{Construction Update in Dumbo (Mar 2011)}
{Construction Update in Dumbo (Feb 2011)}
{Pile Driving on Washington Street, 17Dec2010}
{Two Way Washington Street, 10Nov2010}
{Washington Street Construction (Oct 19 Update)}
{Washington Street Construction (Sept Update), 22Sept2010}
{Asbestos Abatement Project, 27Aug2010}
{Washington Street Construction Update, 13Aug2010}
{Construction Around Dumbo Through 2011+, 10May2010}
{Notice: Cars Parked on Dock Street, 12Apr2010}
{Water Street Reconstruction Update (Mar/Apr 2010), 10Mar2010}
{Water/Washington St Reconstruction Project Update, 03Dec2009}
{Belgian Block Reconstruction to Begin, 04May2009}

The following is this week’s anticipated construction work schedule (7am – 3:30pm work hours), field conditions permitting for this week. Please note that parking may be restricted in work areas.

• 3/4/11 through 3/11/11 – Water Street/Adam Street intersection near the Manhattan Bridge, Continue installation of chambers, valves and manholes
• 3/4/11 through 3/11/11 – Washington Street between Water Street and PLymouth Street, Excavate and prepare sewer trench for Auger piles and final section of sewer pipe
• 3/4/11 through 3/11/11 – Washington Street intersection at Plymouth Street and inside the DEP yard, Continue excavation for the installation of valves, chamber and manholes
• 3/4/11 through 3/11/11 – Front Street/Washington Street intersection between Main Street, Excavation and removal of boulder; installation of the final sewer and water connection at this location

NOTE: The B25 Bus line has been returned to the original route along Water Street.

Looking ahead:

• Water St. from Main St. to Adams St.: Continue the installation of new granite curb, sidewalk and Belgian block roadway.
• Washington St. between York St. and Water St: Continue the installation of new granite curb, sidewalk and Belgian block roadway.

For more information, please call Paul Kidder, the Community Construction Liaison at 718-643-2850 or email: waterstreetccl@gmail.com

Previously:
{Construction Update in Dumbo (Feb 2011)}
{Pile Driving on Washington Street, 17Dec2010}
{Two Way Washington Street, 10Nov2010}
{Washington Street Construction (Oct 19 Update)}
{Washington Street Construction (Sept Update), 22Sept2010}
{Asbestos Abatement Project, 27Aug2010}
{Washington Street Construction Update, 13Aug2010}
{Construction Around Dumbo Through 2011+, 10May2010}
{Notice: Cars Parked on Dock Street, 12Apr2010}
{Water Street Reconstruction Update (Mar/Apr 2010), 10Mar2010}
{Water/Washington St Reconstruction Project Update, 03Dec2009}
{Belgian Block Reconstruction to Begin, 04May2009}