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Apple is “SCOURING Brooklyn, seeking a home in the 718 area code for a flagship Brooklyn Apple store,” says Racked.com. The blog suggests several of the borough’s hip neighborhoods for its first glossy, white outpost here: Red Hook, Smith Street, DUMBO, Downtown Brooklyn and Williamsburg. But there was one glaring omission: the 10,600-square-foot vacant retail space at Montague and Henry streets in affluent, highly trafficked Brooklyn Heights, within walking distance from almost every train line in the system.

Though residents there are getting sick of chain stores, Bill Ross, director of development marketing for Halstead Property, told the Eagle that the landlord wants to rent both the top and bottom floor space to only one retailer, making it a challenge to find a good fit.

Since many Heights residents own Mac products, and there are several universities and student dorms nearby, a conveniently located Apple store may be a good fit.

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The grand opening of the Whole Foods on Third Street and Third Avenue has been delayed until 2009, according to the New York Sun. Originally, the organic grocer had planned to open its first Brooklyn store this spring. The delay may give the Park Slope Civic Council and Park Slope Neighbors more time to convince Whole Foods to add a green roof to its building (now slated for parking), use solar energy and provide fewer parking spaces, notes GowanusLounge.com.

Apparently, the logic is that if there are fewer parking spaces, those with cars, out of fear that they won’t find a parking spot, would decide not to drive. They would either schlep to Whole Foods from the train station six blocks away; take the bus, which would mean purchasing fewer groceries (why a for-profit business wouldn’t want that is a mystery); or they would opt to pay for delivery.

The more likely outcomes: Drivers would wait in their cars for a parking spot, creating a nightmare traffic jam. Or they would drive to another store that sells organic food, like Fairway, so they can do all their shopping in one trip.

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The city is commissioning a study on Piers 7-12 in Red Hook, largely occupied by a cruise ship terminal and container port operator American Stevedoring, by the same firm that studied the port eight years ago, reports the New York Observer. The $1.2 million contract, approved without competitive bidding, was awarded to STV Inc. at an Industrial Development Agency board meeting.

According to the Observer, the firm in 1999 recommended investing $25 million into the cargo terminal and keeping it for freight. Since then, the city has commissioned at least three other studies, and the Bloomberg Administration launched an effort to transform the piers into a port-of-call for cruise ships and home to a beer garden, bottle distributor, marina, hotel, artist studios and condos. Most of those efforts fell through, and the city (which would acquire the piers once a rezoning plan is approved) appears to be considering keeping the container port there.

So, clearly, another million-dollar feasibility study is in order.

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The fate of Astroland Amusement Park is now solely in Coney Island landowner Joseph Sitt’s hands, the New York Post reports. Lynn Kelly, president of the Coney Island Development Corp., told the Post the city “just couldn’t find the right fit” along the boardwalk to relocate the 45-year-old amusement park’s rides.The Albert family, which has operated Astroland since it opened, sold the land beneath their rides to Sitt last year for $30 million, shocking city officials who thought they’d only have to worry about spurring economic development around the park. Sitt quickly absorbed the land into his proposal for a $2 billion entertainment, lodging and residential high-rise megaplex, which is out of line with what the city had planned for the amusement district (besides the year-round entertainment).

Carol Hill Albert has been trying to negotiate with the city for another spot along the boardwalk (there are parcels of city-owned land near KeySpan Park similar in size, or larger, than Astroland), while at the same time asking for a lease extension from Sitt. According to Albert, he’s offering $3 million for next season, while she pays $170,000.

— By Sarah Ryley

Post Date: 9/17/2007

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