Storefronting: This is Billyburg, This is The Edge!

1.

I think NYC's first Wal-Mart would fit that space, I mean avante garde demographic perfectly.

If nothing certainly a Home Depot is in the works.

2.

Williamsburg is simply douchetastic!

3.

Rufus is simply douchetastic.
I am opposed to a Wal-Mart but a Target would be AWESOME!! and how about a movie theater!

4.

hilarious....so much for the little that was actually remaining of Williamsburg's "edge"

5.

I love how they have the subway and the park sketched in. As if there weren't enough folks crammed on the L going into Manhattan. Also, the "park" is currently a weed strewn, cracked out industrial site--will be interesting to see how many decades it takes to grow grass there!

6.

[gag]

www.forgotten-ny.com

7.

How does recycling every lame trend from the 60s-80s qualify one as avant-garde. Douchebags.

8.

almost as absurd as the toll brothers add at the building by the bedford L stop...

9.

I think if most of us were honest with ourselves, we'd have to admit that we get swayed by ads not much more sophisticated than this all the time.

10.

Waitaminute -- take a look at the boundary lines for the 1.5M sq. ft. development: is a good half of that area, oh, I don't know, submerged under water? Dude, putting on scuba gear for your underwater Keds outlet is so cutting edge. But, damn, trying on those Keds with flipper feet is a real pain.

11.

craptacular!

12.

Cutting-edge quaintness? Sure.

13.

Who made that pathetic ad? It has all the sophistication of a 2 year old. Even hipsters can do better than that.

14.

You gotta to be kidding me. I guess the chick morphing different colors is literal proof of someone "thriving on the avant garde."

Who ever put this together played themselves, This ad is Staight Corny!

15.

They should put the Brooklyn Ikea there, not in Red Hook. Much closer to Manhattan.

16.

poor sad williamsburg. she is mamed and sick and blind in one eye. its time to take the 'ol girl and the double barrel behind the barn for a meeting. she shouldnt suffer like this. it is inhumane. just build the Ikea and the Starbucks and the Wholefoods and get it over with. we'll always have great memories of being young and carefree together, playing in the trash strewn field by the river. sniff.

17.

I'll assume my idea to create a chic, avante-garde storefront designed from freeze-dried bovine fecal matter and liposuction waste material might fail to garner "developer's approval".

What a bunch of squares.

18.

If only they had used a "grunge" font, then I would really feel like they were speaking to ME!

19.

the only way this wont suck is if those guys behind the sunshine movie theater on houston buy it and we can all finally watch films without taking the jmz to houston

20.

the only way this wont suck is if those guys behind the sunshine movie theater buy it and we can all finally watch films without taking the jmz to houston

interesting to note how many of these comments blame "hipsters" for this kind of shit as though there's a single person under thirty at all involved in this entire plan

21.

Stores in the waterfront blocks are limited to 10,000 square feet per establishment. So, at least no Wal-Marts.

22.

change the shape of 1.5mill and walk to that other borough

23.

Williamsburgh was so ovah the moment the bridge and tunnel moved in.

24.

could this be the brainchild of the developers group? the wanna-be-hipsters/dilettantes?

25.

You can literally hear the real estate scum cumming in their pants. Someone please put a bomb in the Corcoran office.

26.

When did Curbed put up the "Williamsburg is over" post?

I have to agree with the above. Its time for Williamsburg to go the way of DUMBO. Turn the whole thing into condos and chain stores. At least we will still have our memories and will see less of the place in its current sad state.

27.

anon - at least along bedford, that's slowly but surely happening.

28.

Propertygrunt posted: "Williamsburgh was so ovah the moment the bridge and tunnel moved in."

Huh?? B&T was coined from Manhattanites complaining about Brooklyn, Queens, LI, SI, and NJ folk... How did B&T folk invade B&T area? Or are we soon going to define B&T as anyone not determined to be a hipster? Lame-o personified IMO.

29.

Haha - glennQ - you are so right. How can b&t invade a place where b&ts actually live? People that live in brooklyn that come to manhattan to hang out are, by definition, b&t.

30.

glennQ and kristin - you guys are clueless

31.

I think the B&T term is a general umbrella to desrcibe late comers to a formerly cool club or neighborhood. I've lived in the E. Vill for 8 years, and I'd probably be considered B&T to some. :-)

32.

#25. Yup, that's the guy. He's a 40-year-old wannabe hipster chasing all the 19 year old art school girls in the burg with the line, "Wanna see my loft?" or "I'm a photographer. Want to model for me?" He's total scum.

33.

Yeah, uhhhh B&T =Bridge and Tunnel. i.e. you get to Manhattan via a bridge or tunnel. Includes ALL OF BROOKLYN. If you live IN Manhattan you can't be B&T #33.

34.

"B&T" = term created by self important pricks from Manhattan, that forget they live off of the hard work and sweat of people that live in the outer boroughs. Personally, anyone that originates west of the East River is suspect... Vote NO on consolidation!

35.

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK 2007!!!

36.

"interesting to note how many of these comments blame "hipsters" for this kind of shit as though there's a single person under thirty at all involved in this entire plan"

Maybe they're not directly drawing up the blueprints, but they are certainly creating the demand. So many of these kids are all about consumerism (mind you, a "hip", "edgy" consumerism- you know, the cool kind) that developers and their ilk know they're making a wise investment when they come up with these crap ideas. No one is going to spend a bunch of money to build something if they don't think they'll get a return on it.

37.

give me a break

what person under 30 is able to afford an 800k apartment on the riverfront.

the developers are building the crap out of wburg because they paid nothing for the land ( aside from bribing the fuck out of the city council last year )

they're not building for today- they're building for 20 years from now

building is dirt cheap in the bush economy. vertical building is even cheaper ( the plumbing / electric lines are super easy to lay going vertical vs horizontal )

all of the real estate analysts ( read crains ny ) are expecting wburg to have a vacancy rate of 60% + over the next 20 years. the land cost nothing, the materials / labor aren't that expensive, and the price of housing goes up higher than standard inflation.

hipsters barely even live in bedford-stop williamburg anymore. most people near the L train have been evicted. a new building gets torn down every day. entire blocks are emptied routinely.

you just see hipsters on the weekend. try going out on a weeknight - 5 years ago any bar was packed. the past year every bar is dead empty and offering crazed drink specials for anyone to come in.

viva la corrupt fucking developers and nyc politicians

38.

You will have to forgive me. My definition of B&T has expanded in the past couple of years from big hair douche bags from out of town who trolled the streets of NYC at night trying to get into the Palladium or the Limelight. Aww the 80’s. I now use that as a general term to describe the wannabes who exhibit an attitude of "Yeah, we cool. We're from New York City." When they are clearly from some other part of the world.

However to prevent further confusion from the teeming masses, I will use the term poseur. Or in this case, Williamsburg poseurs. These are the dunderheads who proclaim their trendiness becasue they live in Williamsburg even though they have probably lived there for a week.

They try to act counter culture by making comments about gentrification and how everything is corporate and think of themselves as non-conformists which is laughable since all they are doing is conforming to another lifestyle.

What is really pathetic is when these expatriates proclaim themselves h******s. When I hear that word I cringe and automatically think of that Huey Lewis and the News song “Hip to be Sqaure.” Not that there is anything wrong with the News.

That word reeks of such vomit inducing pretension. You think you are cooler than the rest of the world because of your clothes? Because of your zipcode? Because of the fact that you have to share a two bedroom with ten other people because your sales job at the boutique barely covers your subway fare? Where I come from its called starving.

Williamsburgh is ground zero for the poseur epidemic, which means more tourists and more expatriates moving in. It has become way too mainstream and too damn expensive to live there. And with more corporate giants moving in, Williamsburg is so ovah.

39.

the word avant garde used to mean something

40.

I have to poop

41.

poop away!!! i heard its the new shit

42.

Propertygrunt you obviously have us all figured out. Congrats.
I went and saw Huey Lewis in concert a few years ago and the way he sings it now is "I'm too Hip to be Square". Just thought you would like to know.

43.

Hey curbed go to this website... http://www.sunassociate.com/page-3p.htm

Then go to Current Work. Then click on project 060203 and then you will have more detailing renderings of the Edge.

44.

haha that was funny "poop its the new shit" ha,ha,ha

45.

hahahahahahaha

46.

I live in manhattan and work in the industrial "edge". I hate Williamsburgh so much, but I still love my commute. I wish all these developers would go away and leave us industrial workers alone. Nobody cares that these news businesses are driving us old businesses out of town.

47.

Since the "bridge and tunnel" moved in. We used to BE bridge and tunnel.

48.

Proud to be Bridge and Tunnel. Back in the days, when williamsburgers wouldn't get into a night club in the l.e.s. because they wouldn't cross Tompkins Square Park in a cab, there was a place called Williamsburg.
Now it's anytown U.S.A.
Luddite, in Brooklyn

49.

did anyone take a BRONX bridge to the UES side ten years ago? i think we were totally B&T. anyway these days i would love to see a glass tower on the shore of the south bronx or a water taxi to hunts point. i'd love for the city to start creeping up this way...