INDUSTRIAL AND BUSINESS IV SUBAREA INDUSTRIAL AND BUSINESS SUBAREA EXISTING CONDITIONS The Industrial and Business subarea is roughly is bordered by the residential neighborhood of East found throughout the City, and one of six in Brooklyn. bounded by the axes of East New York and Atlantic New York to the south and east, and Brownsville to This designation serves to support industrial Avenues to the north, Sutter Avenue to the south, the west. businesses by providing services to area firms and Powell Street to the west and Sheffield Avenue to the tax incentives for businesses locating there. The east. Broadway Junction lies to the north, though The Industrial and Business subarea generally portion of the East New York IBZ south of Sutter the Atlantic Avenue viaduct and LIRR tracks form a follows the boundaries of the East New York Avenue, the southern boundary of our study, was barrier between these two subareas. The subarea Industrial Business Zone (IBZ), one of sixteen IBZs not considered in this analysis. As well a number of blocks zoned for manufacturing use which do not fall into the IBZ boundary were included in this study. The East New York IBZ is home to over 4,000 jobs. Nearly half of these are in the transportation and warehousing sector. Between 2002-2011 the area saw the number of jobs increase 33 percent. The number of manufacturing jobs, however, shrank. As the manufacturing sector has declined, jobs in semi-industrial uses including warehousing and transportation and have proliferated, and now make up almost half of jobs in the IBZ. As well, a number of homeless shelters have opened in former industrial loft buildings, generating job growth in social services. Left (photo) Belmont Metal factory in the IBZ has been located in East New York since 1896. 60 NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF CITY PLANNING INDUSTRIAL AND BUSINESS SUBAREA INDUSTRIAL AND BUSINESS SUBAREA - AERIAL VIEW Jamaica Avenue East New York (LIRR) Alabama Ave Pedestrian underpass connecting Broadway East New York Avenue Junction and the vehicular underpass CYPRESS HILLS industrial area Atl antic Avenue Atlantic Ave Viaduct Former LIRR substation Powell Street Powell East New York Avenue Liberty Avenue Liberty Ave Mother Gaston Blvd Mother Gaston BROWNSVILLE Pitkin Avenue SCENY Study Area Bay Ridge IBZ boundary freight line Above Grade Subway Line Avenue Snedicker Belmont Avenue Below Grade Subway Line EAST NEW YORK Below Grade Sutter Ave Railroad Line Sutter Avenue New York City Avenue Pennsylvania Subway station Orthophoto Base Map Copyrighted by the New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications. All rights reserved. SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES EAST NEW YORK 61 Land Use Zoning Semi-industrial uses such as open vehicle storage, The Industrial and Business subrea is largely vehicle repair shops and warehouses make up zoned for industrial uses with the majority of the over half of the land use in the subarea. When area contained within a low-density M1-4 district enclosed, these low-intensity uses often occupy which allows light industrial uses, as well as offices, buildings with no windows to the street and do not hotels, retail uses and some community facilities. generate significant foot traffic. Manufacturing uses In these districts, open industrial uses must comply comprise about one quarter of current land use in with performance standards. Seven blocks in the the industrial area. Such uses include metal works, northwest corner of the subarea are zoned M3- food processing facililties and construction-related 2, a heavy industrial district which allows open or businesses. Open heavy industrial uses comprise a enclosed industrial uses and only a limited range small portion of the land use and primarily consist of commercial uses. New residential uses are not of scrap yards adjacent to the Bay Ridge rail line permitted in either of these manufacturing districts. along Junius Street. In recent years, a number of Although the area is mostly zoned for industrial homeless shelters have opened in former industrial uses, semi-industrial uses are prevalent throughout loft buildings, concentrated in the northern portion the area. In fact, no heavy industrial uses are found of the industrial area. Residential and commercial in the M3 district and the few open industrial uses uses make up a small portion of land use and are are located within an M1 district. found mostly along the edges of the subarea. Above (photo): Bus parking is a common semi- industrial land use in the subarea. Above (photo): A scrapyard on Junius Street is an example of an open industrial use. 62 NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF CITY PLANNING INDUSTRIAL AND BUSINESS SUBAREA BROADWAY R5 HERKIMER STREET INDUSTRIAL AND BUSINESS SUBAREA - CURRENT LAND USE ANDR4 ZONING EN AVENUE KMAN STREET NE PLACE PLACE SAC JARDI ATLANTIC AVENUE JAMAICA AVENUE HAVENS PACIFIC STREET VAN SINDER M1-2 FULTON STREET WILLIAMS PLACE M1-1 R6 EAST NEW YORK AVENUE C4-1 R5 ALABAMA AVENUE WILLIAMS AVENUE DEAN STREET SHEFFIELD AVENUE SACKMAN STREET ERN PARKWAY EASTERNEAST PARKWAY C8-2 BERGEN STREET ATLANTIC AVENUE M1-1 MOTHER GASTON BOULEVARD JUNIUS STREET WILLIAMS AVENUE ST MARKS AVENUE SHEFFIELD AVENUE VAN SINDEREN AVENUE LIBERTY AVENUE M1-1 M3-2 M1-1 ALABAMA AVENUE NEWJERSEY AVENUE GLENMORE AVENUE R5 SCENY Study Area M1-4 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE IBZ boundary Zoning Districts Elevated Transportation Infrastructure POWELL STREET PITKIN AVENUE LAND USE SACKMAN STREET C4-Residential3 (R) C8-2 Commercial/OfficeWATKINS STREET (C) Mixed Use Com-Res R6 Manufacturing (M) VERMONT STREET Community Facility (CF) GEORGIA AVENUE OSBORN STREET Open Space BELMONT AVENUE Transportation Infrastructure HINSDALE STREET Parking SNEDIKER AVENUE CHRISTOPHER AVENUE Vacant Building Vacant Land MOTHER GASTON BOULEVARD R6 Semi-Industrial Mixed Use M-R Mixed Use CF-R SUTTER AVENUE Mixed Use CF-C C4-3 M1-1 SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES EAST NEW YORK 63 WHAT WE HEARD Residents and business owners reported that the Local employers highlighted the difficulty of Industrial and Business subarea is an essential attracting skilled new employees because of the “The industrial area economic driver in East New York. The area poor access and poor perceptions of safety, as brings jobs to the area” employs thousands of workers, including many well as a general lack of basic services, such as who live in East New York. Business owners value lunch spots or banks to cash paychecks. Business “Businesses have the affordable industrial space that the area has to owners also report that the narrow, one-way roads offer and appreciate the convenient access to the are difficult for trucks to navigate and that there are been based here for city truck routes and close proximity to JFK Airport. few places for trucks to enter the industrial area. many generations” Surveys of both business owners and community Residents as well as business owners expressed a “The IBZ divides the members revealed concerns over streetscape desire for additional job training and employment residential neighborhoods conditions in the industrial area. The lack of placement services in the neighborhood. of Brownsville and commercial activity at street level reduces the Community members suggested that a university amount of foot traffic through the area, making or other educational facility be located in East New East New York” the district feel deserted and unsafe, particularly York in order to bring jobs and educational services at night. Because of this, the industrial area can to the area. Business owners also requested more “Mismatch between feel like a barrier between the neighborhoods of incubator spaces and flexible building styles to building stock and modern Brownsville and East New York. Additionally, the meet the evolving needs of modern industrial industrial needs” Atlantic Avenue viaduct presents a physical barrier businesses. between this area and Broadway Junction, cutting “Corridors feel unsafe and the industrial area off from a major transit hub. desolate; many buildings have no windows” “Transit options are isolated from residential areas, feels unsafe” “LIRR underpass is in deplorable condition” “Littering and illegal dumping are common” INDUSTRIAL AND BUSINESS SUBAREA CHALLENGES Changing employment patterns Limitations of curent buildings, sites and location In past decades, manufacturing has consistently seen its share of the labor force in New York Few sites in the Industrial and Business subarea City decline, as the sector shrinks nationwide in provide the types of space that are sought after response to global economic conditions. While the by most larger industrial firms – large, column-free IBZ has added jobs in the past ten years this growth spaces with excellent freight access to wide streets has largely been in social services, transportation and ample loading facilities. The fact that there are and warehousing, while manufacturing employment few connections between the subarea and nearby has declined. Transportation and warehousing now commercial centers limits the locational advantages make up nearly half of all jobs found in the subarea. of the area. The limited amount of new construction suggests that industrial rents are unlikely to support construction of modern space. The uses that have gravitated to the subarea include semi-industrial uses such as warehousing and vehicle storage, as well as community facilities such as homeless shelters. Right (photo): Storage center on Pitkin Avenue in the industrial area. Opposite Page (photo): Local residents and representatives from the Regional Planning Association discuss issues and opportunities in the industrial area at the Town Hall meeting held in February 2012. SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES EAST NEW YORK 65 Limited availability of loft-style buildings for adaptive reuse Loft-style buildings and other former industrial buildings can provide a flexible shell for adaptive reuse as commercial and office space, community facilities or residential use. A number of such properties are found in the subarea, located mostly in the north close to Atlantic and East New York Avenues.