Man on the Street: How're You Feeling About IKEA?
As the under-construction IKEA looms ever larger over the Red Hook waterfront, we asked a few folks how they’re feeling about the store opening in the neighborhood. “Anything different is going to be good for the neighborhood. It’s a small community and you usually need to go out of it to get stuff. So any…
As the under-construction IKEA looms ever larger over the Red Hook waterfront, we asked a few folks how they’re feeling about the store opening in the neighborhood.
“Anything different is going to be good for the neighborhood. It’s a small community and you usually need to go out of it to get stuff. So any time things come to us, like Fine Fare or Fairway, it’s great.” Annmarie; has lived in Red Hook for 10 years
“It’s going to be crazy from a congestion point of view. I used to go to the IKEA on Long Island, and out there they’re equipped for all the traffic going in. But I just don’t see where the traffic arteries are going to come from here.” Jerry; has had a business in neighborhood for 15 years
“I think it’s sad but inevitable. I’m from England so I’m not really privy to the history of gentrification or development here, but it’s sad to me to go and see the blue and yellow where the sugar factory used to be.” Jenny; has lived in Red Hook for 3 years
“It’s going to be a terrific help for this neighborhood. Anyone who’s against the IKEA hasn’t been here long enough to remember the bad old days.” Marty; has lived in the neighborhood for 42 years
1:43 AM
You resent my characterization because its spot on. Maybe for a handful of people, (white, college-educated, canine loving, fancy car driving motorists) Red Hook is some groovy, hipster urban village, but this is not case for the overwhelming majority residents – people of color residing in public housing or on section-8 vouchers. Whatever you may think of them, they supported Ikea and Fairway and will mostly likely back any future national retailer’s arrival on the peninsula. Perhaps you dismiss them as stupid, uninformed Uncle Toms but the bottom line is they outnumber you and your pals 1 to 4. And here’s a crazy concept – shouldn’t majority rule? Simply put, you don’t have much of a constituency for your vision of RH which is inherently myopic, self-serving and elitist. How can you say it’s anything but? Didn’t you shill for luxury condos on Imlay Street?
Moreover, you may sleep here, buy your brownies at Baked and eat at the Good Fork, but do you really fancy yourself a community steward? Do you support any of the long-standing RH institutions (e.g. Good Shepard’s, Visitation Church, the Pool or Red Hook Rise) which are making a palpable difference in people’s lives? Do you even take B61 or do you zip around in your Mini? If you have kids, (highly unlikely since you sound like the quintessential “kidultâ€) do they attend the local public school or do you schlep them to one of the public Ivies elsewhere in the Brownstone Belt?
I know it sounds like I’m just spewing vitriol and maybe I am. Until there’s more empathy, respect and collaboration between the “back†and the “houses†Red Hook is a big bull’s eye for big box infiltration. And yes, the truth hurts.
IKEA is going to screw Red Hook as a place to live, but what the fuck – it’s always been screwed as a place to live.
But to whoever posted that “Trustafarian” thing – look around. Most people that live in Red Hook live there because they work, but they’re broke. And I mean actually work. Like with tools? Where you get callouses and stuff? I’ve seen about as many “Trustafarians” at the Bait and Tackle as I’ve seen unicorns. Or, for that matter, douche bags who stay for a second drink.
Wow. I now know why this city is turning into an outdoor mall for the rich served by the poor…
Everyone just wants to start a fight no matter if their opinions are based on research or hatred of the “other” or suspicion of change.
The kids will get more asthma, the streets will be jammed and within a few decades a big hurricane will wipe out the IKEA, anyway.
Enough hatred, Brooklyn. I’m ashamed of most of your ignorance. I thought better of you. No wonder developers can walk all over us.
10:02, you wrote:
“For a taste of the road improvement expected to follow Ikea in Red Hook, examine the state of the roads surrounding the Ikea store in Port Elizabeth, NJ, ten or more years after that store opened.”
You might not like the connecting road between the thruway and the IKEA parking lot, but it’s a breeze to negotiate. Okay, a few potholes that are easy to avoid. Big deal.
They’re hardly as teeth-jarring as the semi-cobblestoned streets cutting through parts of Red Hook. Turning a car into a four-wheeled vibrator isn’t as much fun as it sounds.
You wrote:
“I expect more potholes, a long line of exhaust-spewing combustion engines, inattentive drivers who are careless of toddlers in nearby streets and the store’s own parking lot.”
Are there similar problems in other IKEA parking lots, or any big-box store lots?
You wrote:
“There will be at least two hit-and-run or other vehicular manslaughters within six months of opening day. Guaranteed.”
Hit-and-run? Vehicular manslaughter? Not involving IKEA shoppers. Maybe a few Red Hook residents, who have a well earned reputation for criminal activity. But I don’t think IKEA shoppers are similarly known. A few shoplifters among them, no doubt. But killers? Sorry.
On Saturday, after driving out on the roadway by the IKEA site, I cut back and went past the Patrick Daly School. Daly was not murdered by an angry or inattentive IKEA shopper.
Anyway, in addition to IKEA, we need Wal-Mart.
to 1:09 we resent the post about “pot smoking trustafarians of the Bait and Tackle.” We dare you to come in any time and see our legions of construction workers, artisans, craftspeople, solid folk, etc., and tie one on in the company of real people with real jobs with real concerns about the hamlet in which they live… and eat your words instead of our peanuts.
The trustafarians you are referring to are the ones posting here, who don’t live here, and herald the arrival of the disfiguring beast called Ikea on our beloved peninsula. Its nearly policy to make them feel unwelcome at our working class bar.
I hope they have them cinnamon buns! Mmmm… I can smell em now.
Like I said, buy the crap online.
thanks, lordy. i mean 10:02.
For a taste of the road improvement expected to follow Ikea in Red Hook, examine the state of the roads surrounding the Ikea store in Port Elizabeth, NJ, ten or more years after that store opened. I expect more potholes, a long line of exhaust-spewing combustion engines, inattentive drivers who are careless of toddlers in nearby streets and the store’s own parking lot.
There will be at least two hit-and-run or other vehicular manslaughters within six months of opening day. Guaranteed.