I just read a little article by The Brooklyn Paper's reporter Ariella Cohen entitled: CRYING IN THEIR BEER IN RED HOOK. It sure seems that businesses in Red Hook are having a tough time making a go of it. Some of the more established places are closing one by one. Too bad! I was hoping that some of the Brooklyn "tourists" and night revelers would make the trip over the Gowanus Expressway instead of congesting Smith Street every week-end evening. But Red Hook's lack of public transportation is a big drawback.
So instead, the F Train stations at Carroll and Bergen spew out wide-eyed hipsters from god-knows-where, eager to pay Manhattan prices for a meal and a drink.
Smith Street is still buzzing, especially last week-end when the sun was shining and there was no trace of humidity. But the formerly sleepy street, turned hip Restaurant-Row (phrase coined by real-estate developers) is not so hip any more. Due to greedy landlords, the first wave of little restaurants have closed and have been replaced by restaurateurs with deeper pockets as well as by national chains. American Apparel, Lucky Jeans, Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks are the big players now. Sure there are still some really cute boutiques along the street, but I always wonder how many $ 125 pillows and $30 candles they have to sell each week to cover the rent. What I believe we are seeing is the first wave of leases coming up for renewal . Ten years ago, Smith Street landlords were glad to get a paying commercial tenant to sign a lease. Now, they have smelled the money and are hiking up the rents. Some of these smaller restaurants will no doubt have a tough time coming up with the extra rent, even if they cram an additional 10 tables into their ( mostly illegal) back yards.
I have been living around the corner from Smith for 22 years. What has been happening over the last 10 years has been disheartening to say the very least. What started with wonderful businesses such as Marquet Pastries and The Refinery, two of the truly first pioneers on the street, quickly turned into a circus. And now, Smith's over-crowded sidewalks, drunk patrons bar-hopping as though they were on Bourbon Street is now being re-incarnated as a strip mall for big chains. Not good.
So is Smith Street passé? I would say it is well on its way. Manhattanites will no longer make the trip to Cool Smith if they find the same stores and eating-places as in their nabes. Maybe then, things will normalize and residents will get some peace and quiet. Now that would be a welcome development.
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18 comments:
That's the nature of "gentrification" unfortunately. Change is inevitable....Carroll Gardens hung tough for a long time compared to the other Brooklyn neighborhoods.
As far as Red Hook is concerned...location, location, location....the fact that it is not reached by any convenient means other than a car keeps the customers away...i am amazed that the fancy restaurants have lasted THIS long..wish it could have of remained it's little unique hideaway, the artists, the shipyards, the manufacturing and the original community who have hung on there. Too bad TimeOut NY kept insisting that it's the next hot neighborhood, so hot that they knocked down the history and are putting up box stores now..(they DO have a VERY popular methadone clinic however that i don't see moving anytime soon! It does a great business!))
I find it weird that "Rocky Sullivans" which was located on a conveniently located area in Manhattan with lots of foot traffic, has decided on such a REMOTE location in Red Hook, I wish them luck, it will be a totally different crowd than what they were used to....i would like to go there but i don't have a car and car service r/t even from Carroll Gardens is 20 bucks! Red hook is a day destiination for me, cause i have to bike there.
ah well...don't get me started!!!!
I love the Tini wine bar on van Brunt. Is that even still open?
I met a friend at Abelene's on Court on Friday. what a mistake. it was soooo incredibly loud. I felt bad for the neighbors. I wouldn't like to live near that place.
I understand everything changes and change is inevitable. But turning Brooklyn and Smith Street into a strip mall is so sad. It will look like Long Island soon. I wonder what chain store will open next? Victoria Secret, Gap, Banana Republic?
The same thing happened to Montegue Street.
Sorry i kind of sounded like i was dismissing Smith Street there, didn't really mean to...i used to walk that whole Smith St. corridor alot when i shopped at THE ONLY SUPERMARKET in the neighb all the way down by the Bergen stop but now as i mentioned before we have K&Y between them and Mastellones i can get what i need fairly locally. It's worse down in that area, WAY worse...the gap between the haves and have nots is getting wider and wider.......
I have been doing a lot of shopping at Good foods, a small little supermarket on Court between 3 & 4th. They have some great imported italian stuff and it is good enough for small shopping trips.
I completely agree that the gap is getting wider. Where will our moderate and low income neighbors shop for basics? Not Lucky Jeans. I have also wondered if the vandalism at Chop Chop on Smith and Pacific was some kind of statement.
Where do the people in the Gowanus Housing Complexes shop? I wonder what they think of the "new and improved" Smith Street.
But the reality is that with the new apartment building on Atlantic at the corner of Smith and the one at the corner of Court and with more coming, Smith Street will just keep on getting more strip-mall-like.
It does not seem to matter anymore where you live, what city or what boring bedroom community, you will find the same 4-5 chain stores in rotation.
Whatever happened to individuality in this country.
Anon at 11:13 here.
That is what I wonder too. My kids go to school with kids from the Gowanus Houses and lower income apartment buildings and I know of several families that have been displaced because the building has been sold or a developer of an adjacent building has created a dangerous condition.
No idea about clothes - I go to Fulton for the kids but it must be rough when a store where you could get anything becomes a Starbucks or a corner store becomes another restaraunt. I am waiting for some type of backlash because there must be some incredibly strong resentment.
I know I won't be buying clothes at Lucky Jeans. I got a pair of those at TJ Maxx a while ago, before anyone knew the brand. Nice Jeans, but I am not the $100 jean person anyway, though I used to be a fashion designer. I guess as I get older, I know that my Confidence-Meter does not go up exponentially if I wear expensive clothes.
And yes, I bet the little Bodegas on Smith are missed by many. And Met Food has raised its prices so much that I refuse to go. Ah, what's a Brooklynite to do?
There's a supermarket on Bond St. across from the projects, i go there occassionally, it's actually a LOT cheaper than the supermarket on Smith but not much selection, that's where most of the people in the Gowanus Houses shop ...i guess its Fulton Street or the city for everything else....that's how i shop too!
We just rebuild our webpage to make it more interesting.
Add your reviews and send us your feedback.
Every single menu in your neighborhood is now available in our web
I noticed that the last time we talked about food was more than 20 days ago, and the people are responding very well to that (no less than 20 posts all the time)
We should talk about food a little bit more!!!
Salute e Buon Appettito
Gianluca Martorelli
As rents along Smith Street (and north Court) go up, the cute little boutiques and restaurants will flow south (see Frankie's Sputino, Leo's Corner, and various little shops). This is good for those of us who have invested in the southern end of Court or Smith south of 4th St (SoFo baby!), an area most people turn up theirs nose at. See us in two years...
I will come and visit your end of Court. But be careful what you wish for. Having all these restaurants in your back yard is not fun. The exhaust fans are loud, and the back yard diners are loud, with the clanking of dishes till sometimes 1 AM when the staff cleans up.
Sleepy Smith was better than
Disneyland Smith, I say.
A new wrinkle in the trickle-down effect of high rents for North Carroll Gardens businesses -- rumor is that B.R. Guest (owners of Blue Fin, Fiamma, Ruby Foo's, Dos Caminos, etc.) has purchased Cafe Scaramouche, deep in the heart of SoFo Carroll Gardens. It begins....
It sure does. Let us all know how that will change everything on your end of Court
From Katia in France
Bah-ring it!!
I bought on the Southern end of Court knowing that I was buying just before the bang of expansion and spill over from Smith Street, there by making a prudent real estate investment deal in an area which will develop more but wont become Smith street.
I dont mind the old Italian nab flavor and wouldn't mind if it stayed how it is(I stay away from Smith on weekends) BUT..
Goodbye Cafe Scara-douche, hello B.R. Guest
Goodbye polluted dump, hello Public Place Park
Goodbye un-rented store front, hello Frankies expansion sandwhich shop, etc, etc, etc.
Its called progress people, Bring it.
I am glad you are glad. Lets hope that your end will retain some of its character. I wass talking about the fact that a neighborhood without individual character is pretty sad and sterile. Lets hope chain stores don't make it all the way down to Court, unless you want an American Apperel too.
I do not particularly want an American Apparel near my house. But from what I have read or heard on NPR about that company, the owner started with one store and simply delivered a great product. He also employs "low income" and non English speaking workers and pays them a relatively good wage.
I understand the joys of a 'mom and pop' store vs a 'chain store' but aren't some chain stores just successful mom and pop stores?
I love the little Italian butcher / cheese shop / pasta joint near my house. Its a wonderful example of a mom and pop store that fills a niche perfectly.
But if they were Wallmart, I would still go there because its about getting the products and services that I want, not who owns it.
I love Starbucks (when is one going to open down here?), I love fairway, I love many "chains" which seem to proliferate because they provide a good service, right? Otherwise, why would people go there?
The only thing I ever bought from American Apparel was a recent baby jumper which I sent to Paris for the newborn of our half French / half American friends.
It was the perfect gift; cute, cheep, a perfect name on the label, and made by recent immigrants trying to start a better life in America.
I'm sure B.R. Guest must have started with one restaurant. I don't disparage him for having several restaurants now. I admire him and welcome him to the neighborhood.
Of course chains are not all bad. I shop at some myself. The problem is that all of a sudden, Downtowns all over the U.S. look exactly the same.
You have your Starbucks, your Gap etc. We are loosing the unique character of our neighborhoods. What made carroll Gardens great was the fact that we still had stores where the owner took pride in his home-made Mozzarella and his tomato sauce. I loved that and will miss it when it is all gone.
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