After Red Hook Walks, Van Brunt becomes an obstacle course, by George Fiala

Less than two weeks after Van Brunt was closed to traffic for Red Hook Walks – allowing for leisurely strolling and enjoying the fruits of our business community – a huge fence on a construction site at 307 Van Brunt Street forced walkers to make their way through garbage and a truck infested street simply to get to the corner.

A few months earlier, a construction site just south of the King Street site annoyed residents with a half week of bone shaking pile-driving. There was not much that could be done, as 311 complaints went unheard. This time residents, led by John McGettrick, made their complaints heard to a host of city agencies as well as the office of Council Member Carlos Menchaca.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a permit to the developer, Sammy Abouzid, of Infinity Design in Caldwell, New Jersey, to block off the entire sidewalk.

According to the posted building permits, the sidewalks on Van Brunt and King Streets will be fenced off until at least October 5.

One of McGettrick’s complaints to city officials was the lack of proper barricading to allow pedestrians to negotiate past the construction area. Menchaca’s office made inquiries. They were told that DOT had sent an inspector who issued summonses with the threat of a stop-work order if the violations were not corrected by the beginning of August.

As Red Hook continues to attract affluent home-buyers, more and more of these vacant lots will be developed. According to plans that are publicly available, 307 Van Brunt will become a three story residential building. There are other projects sprouting on Red Hook’s commercial strip, and none of them seem to include storefronts.

Est4te Four’s Massimiliano Senise explains that for now, this makes sense. Without having any specific knowledge about 307 Van Brunt, he says that “in the case of Red Hook where retail is generally not high-end yet I would agree with the approach of the developer not to have any.”
McGettrick is a long time advocate of more housing in the neighborhood. He does agree that retail development will eventually be important, but without a zoning change, developers are free to build first floor residential on Van Brunt. He does not foresee any movement towards any zoning change in the near future.
Susan Povich of the Red Hook Lobster Pound agrees with McGettrick. “I encourage any residential in Red Hook!” she told the Star-Revue. Monica Byrne of Roquette Catering says “I’d personally prefer more commercial ground floor space along Van Brunt.”

St. John Frizell, who operates Van Brunt Street’s Fort Defiance, goes further: “Generally I think that the neighborhood is better served when development on Van Brunt Street includes commercial space on the first floor. Red Hook is not a bedroom community, or at least it shouldn’t be. “
“Its main commercial corridor – Van Brunt Street – should be a bustling avenue, filled with shops that serve the needs of Red Hook locals and Brooklynites in general. That’s difficult to achieve without an unbroken string of retail shops that extends for several blocks—the kind of thing that you see in virtually every other Brooklyn neighborhood.”

gbrook@pipeline.com