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March 13, 2012
Retail ripples from Atlantic Yards
Nearby eateries see a temporary uptick in business, but not everyone is happy
The Real Deal
by Lana Bortolot
Workers from the under-construction Barclays Center are taking a bite out of the surrounding Brooklyn neighborhood.
Every weekday around noon, the streets around the Prospect Heights site are awash with construction workers heading to their favorite nearby lunch spots. Take-out joints and bodegas, like Gino’s Pizzeria at 218 Flatbush Avenue and AR Coffee Shop on Fifth Avenue and Dean Street, are seeing a steady stream of construction workers come in. At Bergen Bagels, on the corner of Bergen Street and Flatbush Avenue, lines spill out the door each morning, as workers pick up bagels and coffee on their way to the rising arena, which is slated to open in September.
But local business owners have mixed feelings about the temporary uptick in traffic.
Bergen Bagels owner Raj Nandy said the current rush of construction workers isn’t necessarily good for business in the long term, since neighborhood residents may be deterred by the long lines and start patronizing his competitors instead.
“It’s good and it’s bad,” Nandy said. “I’m losing a lot of regular customers.”
...But retail stores aren’t seeing the same boost in traffic — at least not yet. And some say the construction is actually hurting business. Joy Demesa, who works at 21-year-old Furniture House at 170 Flatbush Avenue, said customers have trouble parking near the store as a result of construction. “Parking was always a problem, and now it’s even worse,” she said.
Posted by eric at March 13, 2012 12:40 PM