Nice view, huh? Once available only to the airborne, soon the panorama pictured on the left will be available to anyone who can pay $500,000 to $2-million for a condominium in One Northside Piers.
One Northside Piers is the first phase of a mixed-use development that will ultimately include retail space, parking, a waterfront esplanade, a 400-foot-long pier, more than 800 units, a full-time concierge, SubZero refrigerators, marble countertops, the whole bit, in three towers and several “townhouses.” It is one of several projects now in the works that will bring thousands of new residents to the hot north-Brooklyn waterfront.
Now under construction just west of Kent Avenue near North Fifth Street, One Northside’s 29-story tower was shown off at a recent party held on the unfinished 20th floor.
Yet from this lofty perch, several onlookers considered notes from underground: In other words, how are the people who will be living here get to the Manhattan jobs they will certainly need to pay the mortgage?
The bus? Not likely. There are currently no express commuter buses serving the area.
The subway? Well, there is an L-train stop three blocks away, in the heart of hipsterville on Bedford Avenue. The downside is that this station is just a teensy bit crowded, especially during commuting hours.
Yearly ridership on the L line has skyrocketed from under 17,000 in 1994 to more than 30,000 in 2005. In that year, Bedford Avenue was rated the line’s second-busiest station, after the First Avenue station in Manhattan.
Residents of Greenpoint and Williamsburg might want to demand a recount. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it increased the number of L trains this spring, but the sight of filled train after filled train going by during rush hour mocks that promise.
“It gets worse,” says Williamsburg resident Chris Calabrese, “I’ve had mornings where I could barely find room to stand on the platform.”
The only other trains are the J, M and Z trains at the remote Marcy Avenue stop and the G train, which is known for perversely refusing to go to Manhattan.
Ferries? While the One Northside Piers sales brochure does not mention the “f” word, two speedy-looking ferries appear in its illustrations. The mayor is also a believer. His much-ballyhooed PlaNYC promised that “the city will seek to [a] ferry system along the East River that would connect ferry landings at Queens West, Greenpoint and North and South Williamsburg with landings at Pier 11 (Wall Street) and East 34th Street in Manhattan.”
New York Water Taxi currently runs a similar East River route, making stops at the Fulton Ferry Landing in Downtown Brooklyn (though not all year), Schaeffer Landing at South Sixth Street in Williamsburg, Hunters Point in Queens; and East 34th Street and Pier 11 (Wall Street) in Manhattan.
Two key drawbacks with water taxis are their dubious profitability — historically, extensive water taxi systems have not been able to survive without government subsidy — and relative expense.
“If you work on Wall Street and the boat drops you right there, great,” said Greenpoint activist Joe Vance. “But if you work in Midtown and you pay five bucks to be dropped off at 34th Street and the East River, where you have to ride the bus, it’s not so great.”
But maybe I’m a killjoy. Transportation concerns don’t appear to be discouraging anyone from buying into the Greenpoint-Williamsburg waterfront. Units at the still-unfinished One Northside Piers project are going quickly — even if the future tenants aren’t going anywhere fast.
Tom Gilbert is a writer and historian living in Greenpoint.
The Kitchen Sink
You can’t say Attorney General Andrew Cuomo isn’t true to his word, even if it takes him five months to live up to his promises. This week, Cuomo sued ExxonMobil in federal court to force the petroleum giant to clean up a 17-million-gallon oil slick beneath Greenpoint. Cuomo had announced his intention to sue back in February. …
Confounding local opinion, Starbucks has opened its first north Brooklyn store — not in Williamsburg, but on humble Manhattan Avenue, near Greenpoint Avenue. …
The mighty Polish & Slavic Credit Union, which boasts 68,231 members and assets of $1.1 billion, is going ahead with plans to build a new branch in Maspeth, then renovate the old headquarters at 140 Greenpoint Ave. Both new branches stand a good chance of being an esthetic improvement on the PSCU’s “Transylvanian Euro Disney” building on McGuinness Boulevard which looks like a left-over set from the Marx Brothers film “Duck Soup.” No offense to the folks who made “Duck Soup.” …
McGolrick Park has been looking up in recent years, with the restoration of the Shelter Pavillon, the WWI and Monitor memorials and some lovely plantings. It would be even nicer if the jerks who vandalize the tulips and other flowers would find something else to do, though. …
Long a subject of neighborhood speculation, the Parish Diner has opened on Richardson Street near North Henry, with an upscale (for Greenpoint) menu (carpaccio yes, Belgian waffles, no). It is not connected in any way to nearby St. Cecilia’s Church. …
The community organization Town Square is presenting SummerStarz 2007, its third annual outdoor music and dance series in McCarren Park (there’ll even be movies like “Happy Feet” and “My Cousin Vinny”). It will run on Wednesday evenings through August 29th. For information visit www.townsquareinc.com.
