Sheepshead Bay: Venice Marina Redevelopment

[billyblancoNYC]

http://www.nycedc.com/VeniceMarinaScopeOfWork.pdf

[Gulcrapek]

It looks ugly from that side. There's an image of some of the Emmons Ave frontage on Scarano's website somewhere and that's pretty nice.

[Gulcrapek]

Scratch that. Scarano is working on a different development.

[ZippyTheChimp]

This area became cut off when the Belt Parkway was built. Many people who live in Sheepshead Bay don't know that Emmons Ave continues east past the Belt Parkway.

I hope the development respects the nautical character of the area, unlike the very ugly UA Theater box. Decades ago, Jordan's was a quonset hut on Harkness and Knapp (now a convenience store) where everyone went to buy lobsters.

I had planned a photo tour of Gerritsen and Sheepshead this month. In the meantime...

Shell Bank Creek
http://www.pbase.com/image/29772413.jpg

The Jordan Lobsterman. A grim sonofabitch.
http://www.pbase.com/image/29772395.jpg

[brianac]

Renovation of Lundy’s Stirs Dispute in Brooklyn

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/09/30/nyregion/30lundys_600span.jpg Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times
Some residents of Sheepshead Bay say changes being made to the Lundy’s building will compromise the neighborhood’s charm.

By KAREEM FAHIM (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/f/kareem_fahim/index.html?inline=nyt-per)
Published: September 29, 2008

For decades, there have been efforts to preserve parts of Sheepshead Bay as a quaint fishing village in Brooklyn, with plans to make Emmons Avenue the kind of waterfront promenade that would draw visitors to seafood restaurants and a boardwalk on the bay.

Every year, though, the street looks less like Manhattan’s South Street Seaport and more like other commercial thoroughfares in Brooklyn. There are restaurants, but also a Loehmann’s clothing store and a large nursing home. Randazzo’s Clam Bar still draws plenty of seafood lovers, but Lundy’s, the sprawling seafood restaurant and the neighborhood’s most famous site, struggled under different owners for years before closing in 2007.

Now a dispute has started about the future of the building that housed Lundy’s — a Spanish-style colonial with sand-colored stucco and Mission tiles that was made a landmark in 1989. A gourmet food market and cafe is set to open in the space within months, but the chairwoman of the local community board and State Senator Carl Kruger (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/carl_kruger/index.html?inline=nyt-per) say the store owners are altering the building’s famous facade, and in doing so are ruining the neighborhood’s character.

At a news conference outside Lundy’s on Monday afternoon, Senator Kruger had harsh words for the proposed food store, which he referred to as a “fruit stand.” Calling the landmarked Lundy’s building “the crown jewel” in an effort to preserve the neighborhood, the senator said that the store owners were “desecrating” the old building by placing a tile sidewalk out front and removing the old Lundy’s signs, planters and other artifacts.

He said that the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission had issued a stop-work order on construction at the site. John Weiss, the commission’s deputy counsel, said the order was issued last week because no permits had been given for work on the facade or on the sidewalk.

Both Senator Kruger and Theresa Scavo, the chairwoman of Community Board 15, said that Lundy’s should have been rented to another restaurateur. But during their news conference, they were interrupted by residents who said they were happy that someone had finally moved into the old building.

Tim Cobb, for one, said he was looking forward to a new gourmet deli.

“Why attack people when they try to bring a business?” he said.

The original Lundy’s closed in the late 1970s after the death of its founder, Irving Lundy, and in the decade that followed, the area around Emmons Avenue declined. In the late 1990s, the neighborhood, which had become less Italian and more Russian, started to thrive again, according to Paul Randazzo, who runs his family’s seafood restaurant.

On a walk down Emmons Avenue, Mr. Randazzo pointed out the sites of long-departed landmarks — a pub, a restaurant, a comedy club, houses.

The low-slung restaurants had been replaced by bland, modern buildings, but he took it in stride. “We can’t steal time,” he said. He seemed annoyed that the dispute between Senator Kruger and the gourmet market had not been settled in the neighborhood.

For his part, the owner of the new gourmet market, David Isaev, said he was stunned by all the attention. Furious better described his mood when he arrived at Lundy’s after Senator Kruger’s news conference. He led a high-speed tour in and around the dilapidated building to show the effort he was making to restore it. Craftsmen had taken down the iron letters of Lundy’s sign, and were cleaning them with an iron brush, and there were new floors. Alexander Rabinovich, an architect working with Mr. Isaev, tried to explain the resistance to the food store. “They don’t want change,” he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/nyregion/30lundys.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin

Copyright 2008 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html) The New York Times Company (http://www.nytco.com/)

[brianac]

Landmark destruction at Lundy's?

BY ERIN DURKIN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Thursday, October 9th 2008, 7:50 PM

The developer converting famed Sheepshead Bay (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Sheepshead+Bay) restaurant Lundy (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/F.W.I.+Lundy)'s into a gourmet food market has illegally "desecrated" the landmarked building - and kept working even after city officials ordered him to stop, local leaders charge.

City Landmarks Preservation Commission (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/City+Landmarks+Preservation+Commission) officials knew the stop-work order issued late last month was being violated, but didn't enforce it - allowing market owner David Isaev (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/David+Isaev) to continue work for at least a week, the concerned officials said.

Workers at the Emmons Ave. building, landmarked in 1992, have taken down awnings, ripped up the sidewalk to install mosaic tiles, and removed the iconic "F.W.I. Lundy" lettering over the entrance - without the necessary Landmark Commission (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Landmark+Commission) approval, said state Sen. Carl Kruger (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Carl+Kruger).

"They never even filed for a permit," said Kruger (D-Sheepshead Bay).

"They just totally ignored the landmark status like it never existed."

The sprawling seafood restaurant was a fixture in the neighborhood for decades, packing in nearly 3,000 diners at a time in its heyday. Lundy's, which opened in 1907 was shut in 1979. It reopened in 1995, but fell on hard times and was padlocked in 2003. It reopened in 2006, but closed a year later.

"You say Sheepshead Bay, people think Lundy's," said Community Board 15 Chairwoman Theresa Scavo (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Theresa+Scavo). "It's a very important part of our past."

Isaev did not return calls for comment.

After receiving complaints about the illegal work, inspectors issued the stop work order Sept.29.

But construction continued. Three days later, another complaint was filed. Landmarks officials warned the developer to stop. Residents said the work continued until this past Monday.

Landmarks officials said they didn't issue a violation or fine Isaev because the illegal work was done by a subcontractor who may not have known about the stop work order.

Landmarks spokeswoman Lisi de Bourbon (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Lisi+de+Bourbon) also said it was standard agency practice to warn developers without issuing a fine.

On Tuesday, Isaev filed for a permit to alter the facade.

Scavo and other residents say the damage to the famed building is done.

"This community fought very hard to get the exterior of this building landmarked," Scavo said. Now, "everything is gone."

edurkin@nydailynews.com (edurkin@nydailynews.com)

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/10/09/2008-10-09_landmark_destruction_at_lundys.html

© Copyright 2008 NYDailyNews.com.

[TREPYE]

Decades ago, Jordan's was a quonset hut on Harkness and Knapp (now a convenience store) where everyone went to buy lobsters.

Futher down on Harkness ...
Was...
http://www.gerritsenbeach.net/wp-content/uploads/100_4599.JPG

Now...
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1254/544669518_77a26d347b.jpg

Charming :-\

[TREPYE]

Landmark destruction at Lundy's?


Workers at the Emmons Ave. building, landmarked in 1992, have taken down awnings, ripped up the sidewalk to install mosaic tiles, and removed the iconic "F.W.I. Lundy" lettering over the entrance - without the necessary Landmark Commission (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Landmark+Commission) approval, said state Sen. Carl Kruger (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Carl+Kruger).

"They never even filed for a permit," said Kruger (D-Sheepshead Bay).

"They just totally ignored the landmark status like it never existed."

© Copyright 2008 NYDailyNews.com.
The gall.
Landmarks officials said they didn't issue a violation or fine Isaev because the illegal work was done by a subcontractor who may not have known about the stop work order.
NO!! That is not an excuse!
Fine that piece of garbage Isaev, then on top of that have him reconstitute all that destroyed...EXACTLY AS IT WAS.

If the landmark commision cannot enforce these protections what the f--k are they there for?!

Stupid asses.

[ablarc]

A small architectural masterpiece (shades of Irving Gill). Reminded me of a really nice Paris bistro. Should be a restaurant, not a grocery. Take it back and give it to one of New York's celebrity chefs who would know what to do with it.

Landmarks: STEP UP TO THE PLATE FOR A CHANGE ! ! !