One More Folded Sunset: On the Corner

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

On the Corner

Still on the corner!

I took a stroll on Fourth Avenue from 11th Street to 22nd. On every block except for one (that pesky school at 13th), development troops have secured corners. Some buildings have been around for several years by now, & are even ready for major repairs (those 500 Fifth balcony issues are taking forever to fix), some are under construction, & some still at the planning stage. I'm sure we'll see other corners falling soon enough. Is this our glorious Brooklyn Boulevard? Who would mind so much if development had brought real, affordable housing, but instead it's decreased affordable housing and retail space in the vicinity, & created in its wake overcrowded schools and trains, & a grim architectural landscape. Enhanced retail space in the new buildings? The reality is high price rentals in glassy boxes - spaces too large & expensive for regular small business owners, especially the kind who have run businesses on the avenue for decades, Goodbye supermarket, hello medical office. This is how developers get rich, & a neighborhood is lost.
It's ironic that I took this little walk - a familiar one - on the Jane's Walk weekend.

11th

12th

What's going on with the planned Mercy supported housing?

14th/15th

Above, the proposed new building at 535 Fifth

Early possible rendering here.
The development here is supposed to include twenty percent "affordable" units. The new "affordable" unit is a rare species on Fourth. Is this the only development in this stretch (below 15th) taking advantage of the inclusionary housing zoning?

And we're watching this stretch too, where a string of properties have been bought up, with 541 a missing piece.