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Roughly six years have passed since the controversial Red Hook IKEA was first proposed, further dividing an already fragmented community. Next month the 346,000-square-foot store, the first IKEA in New York City, will finally open on Beard Street, and, you guessed it, the community is still divided. John McGettrick, co-chair of the Red Hook Civic Alliance, insists IKEA is a waste of 22 acres of prime waterfront property and will create a traffic nightmare on Red Hook’s quaint back streets.
In attempt to mitigate the traffic problems, IKEA has arranged for New York Water Taxi to provide free service to and from Pier 11 in lower Manhattan every 40 minutes during store hours. The store will also run shuttle buses to the three closest subway stops, and the MTA will be extending the B61 and B77 bus routes to stop directly in front of the store. And for bigger purchases, IKEA will offer a courier service, starting at $39.99, with deliveries made by the following day.
Other community activists have favored the plan's new job potential, but how many locals IKEA’s hired is anybody’s guess because the company refuses to release its hiring numbers. Of course none of this will matter to consumers once the doors open on June 18th–some are even planning to camp out in front of the store to get their hands on unspecified “opening morning” prizes. And Gowanus Lounge and Racked have taken tours of the unopened store, which, you know, looks a lot like every other IKEA, despite the maritime motif subtly incorporated into the design.
Photo of burned truck outside IKEA courtesy jpchan.
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The corporations sit there in their... in their corporation buildings, and... and, and see, they're all corporation-y... and they make money.
I forgot that the people that write for gothamist are still going through their respective teenager angst phases.
HA! so yeah, when IKEA comes to town it's bad. I'd much rather some piss-ant local politico/ "neighborhood advocate" wrangling with everyone for years to get their 15 minutes, and leaving the "prime" space to decay all the while.
*The preceding message is drenched in sarcasm. Respond appropriately.
Don't worry, it's one Cat-5 away from being a bathtub.
Let a thousand dumpsters bloom.
IKEA. Yeah, I've bought stuff from them.
Its like the soviet economy got married to capitalism and they are happy together.
Ikea Furniture is like paris hilton. SOrt of good looking but hollow inside. You know how much of that Ikea shit gets broken? a lot.
Oh no! Someone is going to take the blight away from the Brooklyn waterfront and provide jobs! What is this world coming too?
Look, forget about whether or not you like the furniture and all that jazz. Ultimately this is a good thing for Brooklyn and if community "leaders" can't see that, then they're dopes. There has already been a "oh noes!" reaction that Red Hook is "de-gentrifying" after the minor surge it had a few years back. And why does it seem like when Fairway was opening up there, people were nearly creaming their pants and with IKEA, it's a good portion of piss and vinegar?
IKEA faced pretty much the same thing in the Boston area when they tried to open a store in Somerville. The officials were all up in arms, ranting and raving and doing everything they can prevent them from opening up (because an old mall with a ghetto K-Mart is worth the preservation effort). So IKEA opens up in Stoughton, MA, the area sees a boost in traffic initially but then a longer boost to the area's economy and now Somerville pretty much begged IKEA to open up a store there. But it's not called begging. It's called coming to an agreement with IKEA to plant some trees and help clean up the waterfront.
So, can Ikea defeat Gentryzilla? Or will they join forces and drive the Earthling remnant out of Red Hook?
Development FTW. :cool:
Red Hook Ikea + Ethernet cable = bathtub
All this fuss for shit furniture.
I rather have an IKEA than another expensive poorly built condo popping up.
I have a Costco not far away. Vastly to be preferred over another upended ice cube tray full of bland, clueless upper-middle-class suburbanites. I'm just wondering how long my neighborhood will last before the infestation starts.
Whether you like IKEA or not, don't fool yourselves about the following:
1. They sell furniture, and nobody takes a bus/water taxi/subway-shuttle bus to buy furniture. They drive.
2. Red Hook is hard to get to, even in a car. This is not Stoughton, MA, with a dedicated freeway off-ramp. You will hit at least 3 stop lights, and at least 3 stop signs, before getting to IKEA from the BQE or Battery Tunnel, no matter where you come from. Make up all the excuses you want, but for IKEA to be viable, traffic HAS to be bad in the area.
3. There is no way to measure the job numbers involved, or to police IKEA on this issue. The whole "local jobs" thing is a red herring, for practical purposes. However, infrastructure improvements (free ferry, sidewalk repair, etc.) are valid improvements.
4. IKEA may very well open the gates to a batch of other Red Hook big-boxes, with the ensuing problems they attract.
5. There are some perfectly reasonable, capitalism-inclined people that find the suburbanization of NYC to be, um, aesthetically displeasing.
6.If you like living in Red Hook, IKEA sucks, because it makes living there worse. But if you like shopping in Brooklyn, IKEA is fine, because who gives a crap about other people's neighborhoods, anyway.