Monday, March 12, 2012
Tracking the progress of the borough's promised tech explosion.
With $100,000 in new investment to turn DUMBO, Downtown Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Navy Yard into the nation's next tech hub, it seems that something indeed is growing in our fair borough. In many places, there are signs of potentially game-changing developments—NYU Poly's continued expansion at its campus in Downtown Brooklyn, a ribbon-cutting at the Navy Yard's $26 million visitor center and the coming transformation of Admiral's Row. But is Brooklyn the next Silicon Valley? Or is it too early to tell if the borough is on the right tech track?
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Chain's Adams Street location shuttered abruptly yesterday, citing “shifting demographics.”
Morton’s the Steakhouse has closed its Downtown Brooklyn on Adams Street after three years in business, according to the Brooklyn Paper, and the reasons why aren’t entirely known. The Paper says that yesterday the steakhouse chain was purchased by Texas-based Landry’s Inc., and hours later, the company shut down the Downtown Morton’s location, citing “shifting demographics.” Morton’s opened downtown in November 2008, with an elaborate grand opening that included special guests Mayor Bloomberg and Borough President Markowitz, according to Brownstoner. “The arrival of Morton’s The Steakhouse in Downtown Brooklyn is further evidence of the growth and vitality of the entire area,” Mayor Bloomberg had said in a press release at the time. The …
Friday, January 20, 2012
Elected officials help inaugurate 120,000-square-foot facility upgrade at 2 MetroTech.
NYU-Poly officially opened a major expansion of its MetroTech campus—the first in a series of developments that look to transform Downtown Brooklyn into a high-tech educational mecca. "Today's ribbon-cutting is yet another win for Brooklyn as NYU-Poly and the broader tech industry continue to bring students, jobs, and innovation to our community," said state Sen. Daniel Squadron, D-Cobble Hill, at today's event. The ribbon cutting was for 120,000 square feet of classroom space at 2 MetroTech to be used by the school's engineering students, as well as faculty and administrators. Borough President Marty Markowitz, Deputy Mayor for Development Robert Steel and NYU President John Sexton were also in attendance. Squadron, a vocal backer of new …
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Straphanger killed during rush hour incident on No. 4/5 line.
Update, 7:38 p.m.: Two MTA employees at Borough Hall station said the victim was a man in his 40s who slipped in between subway cars while riding on the train. The workers' account could not be immediately confirmed by police. Service on the No. 4/5 line has resumed to and from Borough Hall station. ---- An officer at the scene of a rush hour incident at Borough Hall subway station confirmed one fatality on the southbound No. 4/5 train platform on Thursday evening. Service to and from the station is suspended between Bowling Green and Utica Av./Flushing Av. while police continue their investigation. Heavy delays were reported on the No. 2 and 3 lines, which also serve the station.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Big stores on tap for coming CityPoint mega-development.
Target has recently signed a lease for space in the new CityPoint project on Fulton Street, and discount fashion retailer Century 21 is expected to follow suit, according to the New York Post. The report says that Target made a deal for a 50,000-square-feet space in the building, and sources say a lease has been sent to Century 21 for a 100,000-square-foot spread. Brownstoner notes that the first phase of CityPoint only includes 50,000-square-feet, so the Century 21 deal may come through at a later date. A report last week on the fate of the Fulton Mall in the New York Observer had hinted that a Target may be coming to CityPoint (which is slated to open in the first half of next year). The new CityPoint Target will be only about a half-…
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
MTA's new chairman is on board with the deal to move NYU's new campus into the old office building downtown, but sources say the agency wants more money.
At his confirmation last week, new MTA chairman Joseph Lhota said he was on board with the plan for New York University to open their Center for Urban Science and Progress at 370 Jay St., a mostly-vacant building owned by the MTA, reports the Daily News. The only problem is that the cash-strapped agency needs more money for the building than NYU officials were originally planning to spend. NYU officials planned to build the new center with $20 million in city money, but the MTA wants $30-60 million for the building, sources told the Daily News. The report says that there are communications and systems equipments currently housed in the building that would need to be moved or replaced. When the MTA decided to put the Jay St. building on the…
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
The basketball team will move their corporate headquarters from New Jersey to Downtown Brooklyn's MetroTech center next month.
The soon-to-be Brooklyn Nets are one step closer to living up to their new name, as the team signed a long-term lease for office space at 15 MetroTech Center to serve as their corporate headquarters. The new 35,145-square-foot offices will take the entire 11th floor of the 19-story building, and will be the home base for the 150 employees on the business side of the team, as well as of the Barclays Center. The staff will begin to relocate from its current offices in East Rutherford, NJ next month. “MetroTech is a terrific environment in the heart of Brooklyn’s business district and a convenient location for our corporate headquarters,” said Nets and Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark, in a statement. “We look forward to being part of the …
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Big names are moving into the shopping district, and opinions are mixed on whether it’s good for the neighborhood or not.
With Shake Shack already open, and Panera Bread, Sugar and Plumm and American BBQ and Beer Company on the way, locals are wondering if national chains are gentrifying the Fulton Mall, according to the Brooklyn Paper. “The Fulton Mall is definitely changing to cater to a more upscale crowd,” Lateef Juwara, an art vendor at Gallatin Place, told the Paper. “Is that a good thing? That’s up in the air.” The report says that the Mall was once a busy shopping district for working-class people, but when major department stores shut down their locations in the 1970s, vacant storefronts where the norm, until recent efforts at revitalization. This year, one of out Patch bloggers even called Downtown Brooklyn “the new 34th Street.” So we wanted to …
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
The Fulton Mall location will be the seventh for the chain and the first in Brooklyn.
Shake Shack has finally made its Brooklyn debut, opening on the Fulton Mall today, according to the Brooklyn Paper. The 409 Fulton location is the seventh in New York City for restaurateur Danny Meyer’s fancy fast food chain. Last year, Borough President Marty Markowitz announced Shake Shack’s opening, and mouths have been watering since. According to the Paper, the new Shake Shack will have some exclusive Brooklyn-centric concretes (thick custard with mix-ins), like the Fudge-eddaboutit, featuring a Mast Brothers chocolate-cinnamon sauce, the Urban Lumbershack with bacon-peanut brittle, and the Borough Precedent, featuring Early Bird granola. Eater New York reports that Shake Shack is now offering a sausage dog called The Frisky Dog, …
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
The organization has named a successor to Joe Chan, who left the group in September.
Tucker Reed, Director of Special Projects for Two Trees Management Company, has been named president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, according to the DBP’s Board of Directors. In September, former president Joe Chan left the position to become vice president at Empire State Development, which oversees New York City’s biggest construction projects (such as Atlantic Yards). Families United for Racial and Economic Equality, a local activist group, made waves in October when they demanded that community groups be consulted during the search for Chan’s successor. Reed, 31, a Wesleyan graduate, formerly worked for the State Department in Baghdad, Iraq and served as Chief of Staff of the Baghdad Provincial Reconstruction Team. He was also …
Daniel
12:37 am on Tuesday, March 13, 2012
NYC definitely has the talent and if Brooklyn has the space then it sounds like an equation for success more ›