Gothamist: IKEA Red Hook Poised to Open, Like It or Not

cutlass

Wed, 14 May 2008 11:47:10 -0500

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.

starrygordon

Wed, 14 May 2008 09:17:27 -0500

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.

Gothamist_Cynic

Wed, 14 May 2008 08:50:51 -0500

I rather have an IKEA than another expensive poorly built condo popping up.

bornbrednewyorker

Tue, 13 May 2008 23:50:35 -0500

All this fuss for shit furniture.

snowman

Tue, 13 May 2008 21:51:45 -0500

Red Hook Ikea + Ethernet cable = bathtub

Sir Jimbob

Tue, 13 May 2008 19:37:19 -0500

Development FTW. :cool:

starrygordon

Tue, 13 May 2008 18:12:51 -0500

So, can Ikea defeat Gentryzilla? Or will they join forces and drive the Earthling remnant out of Red Hook?

natis

Tue, 13 May 2008 18:04:50 -0500

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.

babyhitler

Tue, 13 May 2008 17:09:12 -0500

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.

slappy

Tue, 13 May 2008 16:33:07 -0500

IKEA. Yeah, I've bought stuff from them. Its like the soviet economy got married to capitalism and they are happy together.

sonyactivision

Tue, 13 May 2008 16:13:24 -0500

Let a thousand dumpsters bloom.

Rocknrope

Tue, 13 May 2008 16:13:07 -0500

Don't worry, it's one Cat-5 away from being a bathtub.

R U Serious

Tue, 13 May 2008 16:04:41 -0500

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.

halik007

Tue, 13 May 2008 16:00:29 -0500

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.