The economy is at an all time low. The dollar is dweeby and milk costs more by the gallon then gasoline. What’s up? One would think in a desperate time like this people would be scared to open up their wallets let alone open up a business. Not in Greenpoint! New stores are going up left and right, but the most surprising store to open as of late is a Sleepy’s Mattress store.
Why is a Sleepy’s store so surprising you might ask? Well, when times are desperate people usually live with what they got.
“A bed would be nice, but my futon is fine for now,” James Potiez, a Brooklyn resident said peering into the new Sleepys store. “I have bills to pay and other things to buy for the time being, you know,” he smiled.
Potiez asidem there must be people interested or Sleepy’s would not be setting up shop. The most apparent reason for a new bed, (Not including Bed Bugs), is new residents. People move and many times its an excuse to get a new bed. New apartment, new life, new bed…and so on. The opening of Sleepy’s in many ways means that Greenpoint is doing OK, despite the current recession.
The mattress store has a one year finance free plan that will also attract many people who otherwise wouldn’t be splurging on new springs. ( I should have told James about it.) The opening of Sleepy’s in Geenpoint is just one more example that New York is financially separated from the rest of the country.
Greenpoint residents understand the importance of going green. On Saturday April 19th Greenpoint will hold, for the first time an Earth Day celebration spectacular. The celebration will be held at McCarren Park and there will be much to do like a scavenger hunt, live music and recycled artwork will be featured as well. There will also be health and wellness vendors, yoga, granola, tree hugging and a bunch of vegans….I bet. One thing for sure it will be interesting if you have never been to an event at McCarren Park before. Quite a crowd gathers.
Our planet is in pretty bad shape and Earth Day should be seriously celebrated across the globe. You never know, if people get a little more interested and learn what they can do themselves to better the world maybe, just maybe they will get out of their Hummer and into a Prius.
What I think is important about this celebration spectacular is that they will be giving lessons on what individuals can do to make a change. Teaching environmentally sound ways of life is what will truly help change, people will no longer have the excuse that one person can’t change the world or that they don’t know what they as an individual can do to change.Say NO to plastic bags at the bodega!
Manhattan Avenue, the main street in Greenpoint Brooklyn has been experiencing more store closures than ever before. On my usual walk from the L train on Bedford Avenue to my apt. located just off Manhattan Avenue, I counted four dollar stores that were in their final days of closing or were already closed.”I think that they are just not making money anymore. I mean how many dollar stores do you really need on one street anyway,” said Phillip Osher,23 a Greenpoint resident.Last year while walking from one end of Manhattan Avenue to the next I counted a total of 13 Dollar stores. Now, this number has certainly dwindled. Since the dollar is at record lows wouldn’t it make sense for dollar stores to be doing better then ever as just a few bucks can go a long way in these shops?I guess the answer is no. Store owners can’t afford to stay open selling their cheap laundry hampers, discount sodas and paper towel dispensers. My question is what will open in their place? This quickly changing neighborhood has already experienced the opening of half a dozen banks and a Starbucks; what kind of store will it take to prevail through the declining dollar?I hope one of the discount stores is replaced by an American Apparel.
This just in….a hotel is now open in Williamsburg Brooklyn with all the amenities of a Manhattan hotel at a fraction of the cost. A significant perk this hotel offers is it’s view of Manhattan, one you certainly can’t get in the 212 area. Many Brooklyn residents have had a recent cloud of confusion form over their heads after the late 2007 opening of Le Hotel Jolie. Located just above the BQE’s Metropolitan exit, the hotel is being referred to as, “Williamsburg’s first hotel”, by Robert Gaeta the general manager of a sister hotel called Le Hotel Bleu, which is also located in Brooklyn. Le Hotel Bleu has found a great deal of opposition since its inception as it is a little more high end then Jolie and rooms are going for almost $500 a night. Of course many Brooklyn Bloggers had their opinions about the pricey hotels skyrocketing up in their neighborhood. Gaeta, however, had a come back, “I think some of these people writing these blog sites may not be able to afford $400 a night.” Brownstoner: A brooklyn inside and out website/ blogsite who was reporting on the issue concurs with Gaeta that the locals will probably not be able to afford the rooms, but this is not the issue at hand. Locals don’t want to stay in hotels; they have their own homes in the neighborhood. One thing for certain, the erection of a hotel in Williamsburg means that a.) it is a neighborhood where people from out of town might potentially want to stay. b.) It is a hip neighborhood with a great culture and great late night spots and c.) change in this neighborhood is inevitable.The hotel when first opened had rooms ranging from $200-$350 a night. Looks like business is not doing so well because now you can reserve the nicest room, The Elite King suite for just $207, after taxes. It’s amazing what just one bridge can do to the price of a hotel room. It makes sense to me tho. When visiting a foreign land or city, don’t you want to be right in the center of it all? You want to be right where everything is going on.
A hotel is opening on the border of Greenpoint and Williamsburg. The hotel is located on the BQE at Withers st.. Not the most attractive of sites, but bottom line is some company be it a Days Inn or a Motel 8 has decided that there is money to be made in the area as they believe people from out of town would like to stay in the neighborhood.
The hotel is 7 stories tall and will have 54 rooms, its still early on but very exciting as it will surely raise opposition and some eye brows.
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After the May 30th opening of Starbucks in Greenpoint many residents are torn between the new consistent brew that can be found anywhere in the city or to stick with their local caffeine drip.
Brooklyn Label,a hip organic coffee shop attracts many residents because of the laid back artistic atmosphere and the tofu potato breakfast specialty it provides. Assistant Manager of the coffee shop Jessica Higgins believes that her shop does not have to worry about the new coffee house in town she said, “What they have to offer does not compare to what we have at Label. If anything, especially in this neighborhood I think it will encourage people to come here for anything different.”
Although the outlook is positive at Brooklyn Label, which is just one of the local coffee houses in competition with Starbucks. Some residents can’t help but wonder if the new coffee giant chain that entered the neighborhood will bring down some local flavors.
(above is a photo inside Brooklyn Label)
Greenpoint, once a working class neighborhood has recently become home to many young professionals who made the voyage across the East River due to Manhattans soaring rise in rent. The changes in this North Brooklyn neighborhood have never been as clear as they are now, after the April 9th opening of a Starbucks coffee shop in the heart of Greenpoint.
Starbucks means a lot more than just another coffee shop opening in the neighborhood. It means competition for private coffee businesses. Starbucks is a corporation that stands for none of the artistic, vegan, and anti-Manhattan vibes that many residents of Greenpoint thrive upon.
The coffee shop opened in what was once a Polish theater called “the American”, and in an attempt to hold true to the history of the neighborhood, it features a marquee adorned with Hollywood movie bulbs and reads “Starbucks coffee now open”
Starbucks welcomes a rise in rent as it gives prospective residents reason to believe that the neighborhood is just a cheap and convenient 15 minute train ride to the city. Many fear that the neighborhood will lose the middle class feel of the once highly populated Polish neighborhood where kielbasa is being replaced with venti mocha lattes. Bottom line, Starbucks welcomes gentrification.
For a full article on change in Greenpoint click here,Times
On May 2nd of 2006, a dramatic seven alarm fire blazed through and virtually destroyed the Greenpoint, Brooklyn warehouses. The warehouses which occupied just over 3 blocks along the East River were mostly vacant at the time of the tragic fire, there were no casualties. The culprits of this great blaze were 2 homeless men that claimed to have been igniting copper cabels with gasoline.
Today, the warehouses are an eyesore to say the least. With property values and the growing desire to move to this north Brooklyn neighborhood on the rise, what will become of the old burnt down warehouses? As the one year bench mark since the fires approach many residents have grown curious as to when work on the dead buildings will start and when apartment complexes will arise. However, when the new apartments are built will they take away the beautiful views of East Manhattan that many Greenpoint residents love about their neighborhood? One thing for sure is that controversy and disagreements regarding the aftermath of the fires will follow for the inhabitants in this up and coming neighborhood.
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A hotel is opening on the border of Greenpoint and Williamsburg. The hotel is located on the BQE at Withers st.. Not the most attractive of sites, but bottom line is some company be it a Days Inn or a Motel 8 has decided that there is money to be made in the area as they believe people from out of town would like to stay in the neighborhood.
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