Bungle in the Concrete Jungle: The MTA and 370 Jay
Who signs a $1.6 billion office lease when they’ve already got a perfectly good building at their disposal? The same geniuses who’ve managed to rack up a project 2009 budget deficit of $1.2 billion, that’s who. The MTA, which has possession of 370 Jay Street through its master lease with the city, started vacating the…
Who signs a $1.6 billion office lease when they’ve already got a perfectly good building at their disposal? The same geniuses who’ve managed to rack up a project 2009 budget deficit of $1.2 billion, that’s who. The MTA, which has possession of 370 Jay Street through its master lease with the city, started vacating the building in 2001, and since then has let structure and surrounding subway entrance deteriorate into a “disgraceful mess,” according to a recent newsletter from the Manhattan Institute. This despite numerous pleas from public officials. “For nearly five years, this building has been vacant, an empty shell amid the teeming life of the neighborhood and devoid of people, the area around the building has become a magnet for trash,” Borough President Marty Markowitz told the Brooklyn Paper last October. “If people’s initial taste of Brooklyn is a smelly subway stop and a dark, empty, trash-strewn plaza, it can’t help but color their impression.” The MTA now says it plans to renovate the building to the tune of $150 million and repopulate with back-office workers. Downtown Brooklyn Partnership president Joe Chan and Council Member David Yassky would like to see it turned into a small business incubator, a use more in line with the refurbished image of the Downtown area.
Blight by Government [Manhattan Institute] GMAP
No Love for MTA on Jay [Brownstoner]
Downtown to MTA: Sell 370 Jay St [Brooklyn Paper]
Photo from MTA Please Fix Jay
We agree. Including with the choice of the word “bungle” which we ourselves used Wednesday. See: Noticing New York’s Reject the “Bundle†Bungle: Saying “No†to Walentas Dock Street Project Next to the Brooklyn Bridge (Wednesday, February 4, 2009)
http://noticingnewyork.blogspot.com/2009/02/reject-bundle-bungle-saying-no-to.html
Brownstoner, thanks for the photo credit.
Yes, with fares skyrocketing it is unconscionable that the MTA not only has this little vacant building sitting around vacant, it wants to dump $150 million into it. That is a huge problem.
But also, why can’t they treat their riders with a little respect and clean the thing? Put some plants in the planters, scrape all that chipping paint.
Finally, why cant they stop people from parking in the bus stops? Its insane that a bus rider has to wait under a sidewalk shed on top of a subway grate, and then when the bus comes walk around parked cars, over the bike lane into traffic to get on the bus.
Meanwhile the entire street is at gridlock because the bus must stop in the middle of the travel lane to pick up passengers.
So much mismanagement, so little cyberspace.
http://mtapleasefixjay.blogspot.com
g-man…putting the Two Trees middle school at 370 Jay instead of as the carrot for the blight that will be Dock Street is very thought-provoking. How much would it cost to make 370 Jay into the same size vanilla box that Two Trees had promised? Anyone?
I am not kidding. This is an early modernist masterpiece don’t you know? Check out the MAS website.
sam – i assume your kidding
They better tear this down soon, the goo-goos are making noises about landmarking it. I guess it is a world-class example of a municipal eyesore. If it gets landmarked, it will probably sit empty and decay for another twenty years or until it self-implodes.
G-man, First National City Bank became plain ol’ Citibank. It is great to see all of the old signs. I love the Art Deco FNCB building at Canal and Broadway, in Manhattan. The name is prominantly incised on the front and sides. Alas, a Payless Shoes now, but at least it’s still there.
gman – sure if that is cheaper for the city then the 2trees deal why not – and then write a 99 yr lease on the school space and SELL THE BUILDING so as to free up wasted capital.
Petebklyn, I thought the MTA sold the building at Smith and Wyckoff.
MM, it may have become a Citibank, but you can still see (Calling Kevin Walsh!) where it used to say First National City Bank above the door. Also, it’s not a city agency, but a state chartered public authority. That’s almost a prescription for poor management.
denton, the armored trucks go someplace else now.
fsrq, how’s this for another idea? Instead of putting a new middle school in the Two Trees building (or under the House of Detention; loved that idea), put it here. Single floor; separate dedicated entrance; convenient to transportation.