Pete’s Downtown restaurant at 2 Water Street (next to Ignazio’s Pizza and across The River Cafe) has closed, according to a worker who has emailed us. Brooklyn Eagle first reported that the restaurant is not only closed, but it has cleared its space, after being open since the 1980s. It’s too bad for a restaurant that has been a fixture in the neighborhood for a long time. Pete’s served Italian food with popular dishes like penne vodka, baked ravioli, veal parmigiana, and shrimp scampi, according to online review websites.

Calls were not returned, and there are no updates on its Twitter (@petesdowntown) or Facebook pages, and their website, petesdowntown.com is offline.

According to a Fulton Ferry resident, Pete Thristino the owner has told patrons that the lease was not renewed, and the landlord is seeking a high end restaurant to take over the space. The location is a prime space, given the view of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan skyline, and would attract a higher lease. A restaurant there would make a lot of ‘friends’ from residents in the area if the food quality is high, but is also a destination location for outer borough visitors.

The Brooklyn Eagle writes: “Pete’s was one of the first businesses to move into the area after it began to be redeveloped. The first signs of this redevelopment came in 1977, when BargeMusic and the River Café opened. Pete Thristino, owner of the restaurant, told this reporter in a 2008 interview that even in the early 1980s, “This was known as an area that when it snowed, there were no footprints…The building, on the corner of Water Street, was known as the Franklin House Hotel in the mid-1800s. It was an important hotel and restaurant in the days before the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, when the ferry area was the gateway to Manhattan and visiting merchants, clerks, seamen and farmers needed someplace to stay.”

Pete’s Downtown (Closed as of Dec 29, 2011)
2 Water Street (at Old Fulton Street), Brooklyn, NY 11201

[UPDATE from CB2 (Dec 20): As previously announced, Community Board 2 (CB2) will hold its monthly transportation and land use committee meetings this week, both of which are scheduled for 6:00 pm. However, the Department of Transportation (DOT) is not fully prepared to present its interrelated plans for an entrance ramp to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, two-way Furman Street, and improvements in Fulton Ferry Landing. This presentation, therefore, has been laid over to January 17, 2012.]

Community Board 2 (CB2) will hold its monthly transportation and land use committee meetings on Dec 20/21, both of which are scheduled for 6:00 pm.

Transportation and Public Safety Committee

Tuesday, December 20; First Floor Board Room, St. Francis College, 180 Remsen Street (between Clinton and Court streets) in Brooklyn Heights

Christopher Hrones, the downtown brooklyn transportation coordinator for the Department of Transportation (DOT), will present interrelated plans for the entrance ramp from Atlantic Avenue to the Queens- or eastbound Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, two-way Furman Street, and traffic calming, streetscape and other improvements in Fulton Ferry Landing.

The image above is from a June 21, 2011 presentation by DOT to the transportation committee, which will be superceded by next week’s presentation.

Read the June presentation for background information about issues in Fulton Ferry Landing (PDF)

Mr. Hrones will also brief the committee on plans by DOT to prohibit left turns on to Fulton Street from westbound Greene Avenue.

The committee will also, as part of the community board’s annual review of the citywide statement of needs for facilities, consider plans by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the New York Police Department (NYPD) to relocate facilities. DOT proposes to move the Brooklyn Highway Inspection Quality Assurance (HIQA) office, currently located in Community District 2, to Sunset Park, in Community District 7. NYPD proposes relocating its central record/property clerk warehouse from 540 Kingsland Avenue, in Greenpoint, within Community District 1, to an unspecified location in Brooklyn. Based on a meeting between Council Member Stephen Levin and District Manager Robert Perris and the police department, there is strong reason to believe the warehouse may be moved to 11 Front Street, in DUMBO.

Land Use Committee

Wednesday, December 21; Room LC400, Dibner Building, Polytechnic Institute, 5 MetroTech Center (off of the MetroTech Commons) in Downtown Brooklyn

Lish Whitson, a planner in the Brooklyn office of the Department of City Planning (DCP), will present a zoning text amendment—that is, proposed changes to the written text in the New York City Zoning Resolution—”to remove zoning impediments to the construction and retrofitting of green buildings.”

Major features of the proposed zoning text facilitate construction of energy-efficient building walls, sun-control devices, solar panels, greenhouses, wind turbines and other roof-top installations.

The committee will also review the following Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) applications:

• 256 Cumberland Street – Fort Greene Historic District – Application is to restore the front façade and construct a 10-foot by 12-foot, three-story extension on the back of the building.
• 224 Henry Street – Brooklyn Heights Historic District – Application is to convert a rear window to a door leading to a new exterior stair giving access from the parlor level to the rear yard.

Previously:
{Front and York Street Redesign Proposal, 14Jul2011}
{DOT Looks to Revamp the Streets Near Pier 1 but Not B25 Bus Route, 13Jul2011}

[UPDATE Sat Dec 17: Grimaldi's has opened at 1 Front Street.]

We saw yesterday that Grimaldi’s Pizza is now closed. But there seems to be a lot of activity on 1 Front Street (now that the stop work order has been resolved) to prepare for the opening of the new Grimaldi’s location. Meanwhile, a Juliana’s Pizza sign is in the window of 19 Old Fulton Street. A placeholder for Juliana’s website is live at julianaspizza.com.

(Thanks to reader Kathleen for the photo.)

Grimaldi’s move to 1 Front Street is delayed due to an untimely death in the family and the Department of Buildings has issued a stop-work order at the 1 Front Street location. According to the BOD website, the stop work order issued on 11/28/2011 is for “illegally installed coal burning oven @ 1st floor done w/o propper approvals & presents a potential danger to patrons”.

Russell Ciolli, son of Frank Ciolli, both owners of Grimaldi’s Pizza, died last Wednesday at 39. Our condolences go out to the Ciolli family.

Related:
{Patsy Grimaldi’s Coming out of Retirement to Take Over Original Pizza Location}
{Grimaldi’s Move POSTPONED Due To Death In The Family, Gothamist}
{Grimaldi’s Coal-Oven Troubles At New Location, HuffPo}
{Tragic News for Grimaldi’s, Grub Street}
{City blocks new Grimaldi’s from opening over illegal oven, Brooklyn Daily}

A commercial building with 3 loft units at 46 Old Fulton Street just came on the market on Friday. Brownstoner featured one of the 5,000 sqft lofts for rent last month for $12,000 per month, still listed by Awaye Realty. This 1925 built building is 41 x 98.58 sqft with 8 full baths and 16,000 sqft was sold for $2,900,000 in August 2010, according to Everyblock.

There are two commercial spaces on the ground level and 3 floor through lofts, one per floor. The Fillmore listing says that the “side wall has a billboard which can be rented for $15,000 per month.” For 20% down ($1.4MM) and loan amount of $5.6MM, that’s roughly $30k per month of mortgage (at 5%). If half that can be paid for by the billboard, leasing 3 lofts for $5k covers the mortgage.

Is there a hitch? Unless there isn’t an updated Certificate of Occupancy on the NYC.gov website, the listed C of O of the building states that it cannot be used by more than 2 families. Are we reading this wrong? Either way, it’s an attractive building (for investment potential) across the street from what will be Grimaldi’s new home at 1 Front Street, next to the Eagle Warehouse coop building, but with plenty of traffic passing it.

[Update: A reader pointed out, "If you look closer at the C of O pdf, you will see that there are actually 2 distinct properties included in the 4 pages. The latter half, with the 2 families notation, is not for this building."]

(Photos from Awaye Realty)

{NYC.gov BIS: 46 Old Fulton St}
{Propertyshark.com listing for 46 Old Fulton St}

[UPDATE: Patsy Grimaldi to take over the original Grimaldi Pizza location, to open in March 2012.]

According to a story by The Brooklyn Paper, Grimaldi’s pizza will be moving next door to 1 Front Street next week. 1 Front Street was built in 1869 as Brooklyn’s first safety deposit bank. The cast iron building currently houses a restaurant/bar on the ground level and a dance floor on the second level.

As The Brooklyn Paper noted, last year, the landlord of Grimaldi’s tried to evict them for falling behind on rent and city taxes. “Instead, a judge ordered her to accept late payments and keep Grimaldi’s open. Waxman’s son Mark, who handles the property, vowed to boot the beloved joint as soon as its lease expired on Nov. 30.”

Grimaldi’s will serve its final pie at its current location on Nov. 28, then open one day later open in 1 Front St. The 1 Front Street location is bigger and will no doubt still attract a lot of tourists. What do you think about the move?

(Photo by New York Big Apple Images)

For more info on current restaurants, go to grimaldisnyc.com and no1-frontstreet.com.

One Front Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
(at Old Fulton Street in Fulton Ferry Landing)

Here’s a new listing for a 2100 sqft triplex co-op at the Eagle Warehouse building in Fulton Ferry Landing. It’s listed as a 1 bedroom, 2 bath but says that it can be “easily converted to a 3-4 bed, 3 bath”. The upper level features a 14 ft ceiling and the lower level is open/flexible but no windows. Price is $1,495,000 ($711 per sqft), $1,569/month maintenance. This seems reasonable given the building and location, but there’s another listing for a triplex in the same building for a 1,675sqft, 1 bed, 2 bath, but is lower cost at $699,000 ($417 per sqft), $1,558/month maintenance. Big difference in price per square feet.

Also, here is a general market snapshot of the real estate in Dumbo (from Streeteasy.com):

Previously:
{Dumbo Is One of the Most Expensive NYC Neighborhoods (Q2 2011)}

[+]

The high resolution photo, courtesy of Shorpy, from 1903 of Brooklyn Bridge is full of rich detail. The view of Brooklyn from the Manhattan side shows the Brooklyn shore between Navy Yards to Brooklyn Heights. Above is a detailed portion of the photo of what’s now Dumbo. You’ll see some Gair Buildings (one on Washington Street that says “Robert Gair: If it’s made of paper we have it”), the 167 Sands Street building, which was completed in 1902, the Tobacco Warehouse, and the two and three story wood frame buildings where 1 Main Street now sits (built in 1916). Not pictured in the above detail, but is shown in the original photo is the Eagle Warehouse building, Old Fulton Street, and the original Fulton El Terminal (which was demolished, and now is Cadman Plaza) with trolleys crossing the bridge.

For the original full res photo, go to shorpy.com/Brooklyn_Bridge_1903?size=_original. What else do you recognize?

(via @joshderr)

{Dumbo Then and Now, series, DumboNYC}

As Streetsblog pointed out in late June, the NYC Department of Transportation presented plans for expanded pedestrian areas and upgraded bike markings on Old Fulton Street, which serves as the primary gateway to the recently opened Pier 1 of Brooklyn Bridge Park. As part of the reconfiguration, the B25 will be re-routed to avoid performing a U-turn on Old Fulton on weekends, most likely by following the same circuit it takes on weekdays. That means all buses will be rerouted down Main Street in Dumbo, an already cramped street. A resident of Main Street sent us the below letter to CB2, which he says has not been responded to. With the bus schedule on Main Street as many as 9 times an hour on this now busy residential street, it would make sense to route the bus down Front Street and left on Adams Street, a less busy street, then turn left on Water Street as it does now. Makes sense to us, but are there other considerations? Read the letter to CB2 below (as originally sent but with names removed).

Read the rest of this entry »

On Monday, June 13, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz joined Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and other officials to launch the new East River Ferry service, connecting E. 34th Street/Midtown, Wall Street, Greenpoint, North Williamsburg, South Williamsburg, Dumbo and, in the summer, at Pier 6, Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

The year-round ferry service began today and will be free of charge for all customers through June 24, 2011. The service will cost $4 for a one-way ticket, $12 for an unlimited all-day pass, and $140 for an unlimited monthly pass. Ferries will accommodate bikes on board for one dollar. Ticketing machines will be available at all commuter locations along with staffed ticket agents at some stops.

Ferries will be in service from 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM on weekdays, and 9:00 AM to 8:30 PM on weekends. During off-peak hours, the service will be operated every 30 minutes during the summer and every 60 minutes during the winter. During weekday rush hour, approximately 7:00 to 9:30 AM and 4:30 to 7:00 PM, ferries will operate every 20 minutes and commuters can connect to a free shuttle bus service at the East 34th Street ferry landing.

From Dumbo, board the ferry from Fulton Ferry Landing (Old Fulton St and Furman St). For more details, go to the NY Waterway’s website.

Photo by Spencer Tucker, Office of the Mayor