Sunday, September 06, 2009
Williamsburg businesses fear eminent domain will steal their livelihoods for Broadway Triangle
If the city's controversial plan to develop Williamsburg's Broadway Triangle goes forward, at least six small businesses will get the boot - and others will be left with an uncertain future.
While the loudest battles over the plan to build 1,895 low-rise apartments on the 31-acre Triangle site have been over the allegations of political corruption, little attention has been focused on the fate of the existing small businesses in the area.
Sara Gelb, 52, started Excellent Bus Service, on Bartlett St., with her husband 25 years ago with one bus. She now has 18, and recently started running service between Brooklyn and Toronto.
She said that while the neighborhood does need affordable housing - 905 of the new apartments would be affordable to low and middle-income tenants - it needs skilled jobs just as badly.
"I don't know what we're going to do. I still can't believe that they could actually take away somebody's property," Gelb said.
Michael Retek, 35, runs Smartek, which makes irons and other garment-care products, at another threatened Bartlett St. property.
"It just doesn't make sense," he said. "When business is so tough, in a time when everybody's cutting jobs and downsizing, let these few businesses live."
He rents the space from his father, Abraham Retek, who also rents to a printing shop next door. "I'm not willing to sell it. Why should I sell it?" Abraham Retek said.
Aaron Jacobowitz, 44, said it took 14 years to build up a customer base at his Bartlett St. flower shop, Floral Expression. Losing the property and relocating would mean starting from scratch.
"It's a back-room deal," he said. "We're determined to fight it all the way to the end."
Opponents charge the land was handed over to two politically connected nonprofits without a fair bidding process. They say Ridgewood-Bushwick Senior Citizens Council and the Hasidic group United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg used their ties to Brooklyn Democratic boss Assemblyman Vito Lopez (D-Williamsburg) to be tapped as developers. Lopez and the groups have denied the allegation.
http://www.nydailynews.com/real_estate/2009/09/06/2009-09-06_businesses_fear_eminent_domain_will_steal_livelihoods_for_good.html
While the loudest battles over the plan to build 1,895 low-rise apartments on the 31-acre Triangle site have been over the allegations of political corruption, little attention has been focused on the fate of the existing small businesses in the area.
Sara Gelb, 52, started Excellent Bus Service, on Bartlett St., with her husband 25 years ago with one bus. She now has 18, and recently started running service between Brooklyn and Toronto.
She said that while the neighborhood does need affordable housing - 905 of the new apartments would be affordable to low and middle-income tenants - it needs skilled jobs just as badly.
"I don't know what we're going to do. I still can't believe that they could actually take away somebody's property," Gelb said.
Michael Retek, 35, runs Smartek, which makes irons and other garment-care products, at another threatened Bartlett St. property.
"It just doesn't make sense," he said. "When business is so tough, in a time when everybody's cutting jobs and downsizing, let these few businesses live."
He rents the space from his father, Abraham Retek, who also rents to a printing shop next door. "I'm not willing to sell it. Why should I sell it?" Abraham Retek said.
Aaron Jacobowitz, 44, said it took 14 years to build up a customer base at his Bartlett St. flower shop, Floral Expression. Losing the property and relocating would mean starting from scratch.
"It's a back-room deal," he said. "We're determined to fight it all the way to the end."
Opponents charge the land was handed over to two politically connected nonprofits without a fair bidding process. They say Ridgewood-Bushwick Senior Citizens Council and the Hasidic group United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg used their ties to Brooklyn Democratic boss Assemblyman Vito Lopez (D-Williamsburg) to be tapped as developers. Lopez and the groups have denied the allegation.
http://www.nydailynews.com/real_estate/2009/09/06/2009-09-06_businesses_fear_eminent_domain_will_steal_livelihoods_for_good.html
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