The
Red Hook StarRevue
JUNE 2017
SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
FREE
POSSIBLE BAR BRAWL ON BEARD by Sarah Matusek
T
he stretch of Beard Street that runs between Van Brunt and Conover is home to multiple families with children.
Since Sandy, new businesses have crept into the neighborhood’s special mixed use district and forced the quiet block to cope with traffic, noise, and litter. Residents now face a fresh threat: a late-night bar on their home turf. The owner of Greenpoint brewpub Keg & Lantern Brewing Company has applied for a liquor license to open a similar establishment on 158 Beard Street.
Beard Street resident Allen Glatter fears a new bar on a mostly residential block. (photo by George Fiala)
Beard Street Block Association member Allen Glatter has lived on the street for 20 years. He said the addition of another neighborhood bar this time on his own block - would be inappropriate. “We have a bar crawl as it is,” said Glatter. “Particularly during the weekends, it’s almost unbearable when you come out of your house on Saturday morning and see the garbage and the trash… When you’re woken up at 2, 3, 4 o’clock in the morning. I’m not going to tell anybody not to have a good time, but we feel [multiple bars] have a largely negative impact on our quality of life.” Brooklyn Crab, Hometown Bar-B-Q, and Sunny’s - all on-premise liquor license spots - appear to flank the block within 500 feet. “I know we’re in a special mixed use zone, but it feel (continued on page 9)
Red Hook cranes could be history by Michael Cobb
T
he cranes at the foot of Union Street may become history next year. The Red Hook Container Terminal (RHCT), which was built in the 1980s to handle bulk shipping, finishes its lease in 2018 and may be turned over by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PA) to the hands of real estate developers. “We’re at a crucial crossroads with the Port Authority,” said an official of the International Longshoreman’s Union (ILA), which has handled hiring and logistics on the Brooklyn waterfront for generations. “They allocated money in the form of subsidies over a five-year period, and now we are reaching the end of our agreement. We don’t know what will happen. But we have a meeting scheduled with the Port Authority soon, and we have a lot of support.” The terminal plays a large role in Brooklyn’s economy, safety, and identity, according to the Waterfront Alliance. It processes more than 40,000 containers annually and provides 1,500 jobs. A letter sent by a group of 14 elected officials including President Eric Adams and Representatives Nydia Velazquez and Jerrold Nadler makes the case that it also “serves as a hub for cross-harbor freight movement, diverting roughly 55,000 truck trips per year that contribute to congestion, pollution, and (continued on page 8)
Est4te Four unloads most of their Red Hook properties by Sarah Matusek
B
y the mid-19th century, the opening of the Atlantic Basin transformed Red Hook into one of the country’s busiest ports. In 2017, a new development mere blocks from the basin might earn Red Hook back its shipping hub status. But this time, the goods will be purchased with the click of a mouse. Italian developer Est4te Four sold five of its Red Hook waterfront industrial properties to a private equity firm for around
$110 million in May 2017. The warehouse spaces will be updated as dis-
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Sitex Group, a New Jersey-based firm, specializes in acquiring industrial real estate to rent out to e-commerce companies. E-commerce - the buying and selling of things online - has played a role in the decline of traditional retail for over a decade. Sitex purchased Est4te
Est4te Four planned to turn Four’s former warehousRed Hook into a fashion hub. es at 68 and 100 Ferris
Table of Contents Happenings .........................................2,3 Opinion ...........................................12,13 Religious News....................................4,5 Arts ......................................................16 Ferry Schedule .....................................10 Society News........................................23 Red Hook Star-Revue
ªRevue Red Hook Star
tribution centers for etailers (online retailers), ensuring the speedy delivery of products to New York City’s online buyers.
Street, parking lots at 44 Ferris and 219 Sullivan Street, and the warehouse at 242-300 Coffey Street. The acquisitions all fall within M2-1 zoning, a subset of manufacturing districts common to the city’s older industrial waterfronts. Est4te Four also owns 160 Imlay Street, which the company is converting into 70 luxury condos. Formerly the site of New York Dock Co., the sixstory building will reserve its first two floors for commercial space. (continued on page 9)
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