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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, JULY 7, 2019
BY CHANDLER KIDD
Small businesses across Sheepshead
Bay are going belly up —
and they’re not being replaced —
with some storefronts remaining
shuttered for well over a decade,
according to locals.
“If you were in a spaceship
and decided to land on Avenue U
between Coyle and Brown street,
you would think it is a ghost
town,” said Stuart Brynien, a
longtime neighborhood resident.
The crisis affecting the
coastal community can be seen
in graffi ti-covered brick-andmortar
shops appearing sporadically,
and sometimes one after
the other along Avenue U, where
between Coyle and Bragg streets
the ruins of the family-owned
Hy Friedman clothing store, a
long-shuttered furniture outlet,
and the obsolete Captain Video
— which closed amid the rise of
Netfl ix back in 2004 — all remain
vacant.
As in the case of the former
video store, some shops have remained
unoccupied long enough
to spawn their own urban legends,
according to Brynien.
The situation is not unique
to Avenue U — the Nostrand Avenue
Payless near Avenue Y recently
shuttered — and even nationally
owned retail chains are
struggling, according to real
estate lawyer and local smallbusiness
advocate Steve Barrison,
who noted the Avenue U
storefront near Nostrand Avenue
formerly occupied by a Duane
Reade, which has remained shuttered
for more than a year.
Rather, Sheepshead Bay’s
small business crisis is a symptom
of citywide trends, including
rising rents and property taxes,
which force entrepreneurs to
weather years without turning a
profi t, according to Barrison
Barrison singled out issues
surrounding commercial lease
renewals — which, lacking many
of the same protections that residential
tenants enjoy, can result
in massive rental increases — as
the single greatest threat facing
local shopkeepers.
“The real issue is lease renewals
and dealing with greedy landlords,”
said Barrison.
The real estate lawyer echoed
Council Speaker Corey Johnson,
who last year championed the revival
of the Small Business Jobs
Survival Act, a bill that’s lingered
in committee since its introduction
in 1986.
“Right now, If you operate in
New York City and your lease
comes up for renewal they can
jack your rent up three, four, fi ve
times what it was and the property
sits vacant for a long time,”
Johnson said at a 2017 press conference,
before arranging an Oct.
22 Council hearing to discuss the
bill.
The bill faced massive opposition
Captain Video closed it’s doors 15 years ago, but still remains vacant.
Chandler Kidd
from real estate interests, including
Real Estate Board of New
York President John Banks, who
called the bill “deeply fl awed,” according
to a Curbed report . It remains
laid over in committee .
New York City’s retail crisis
has failed to cripple some longtime
Bay businesses. Nostrand
Avenue eatery Brennan and Carr
is still serving roast beef sandwiches
after 81 years, and coastal
commerce along Emmons Avenue
remains strong, with longtime
favorites like Il Fornetto and
Roll ‘n’ Roaster still managing to
make ends meat, Barrison said.
But something has to be done,
and without action, even those
perennial Sheepshead Bay icons
will fold under the burden of rising
rents, Barrison said.
“The top 1 percent are controlling
every thing, the long term
goal is fair rent or a long term
lease,” Barrison said.
GHOST TOWN
Businesses closing across Sheepshead Bay
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