You Mean New Yorkers Take Subways? Get Outta Here!

We haven't been down to the much talked about Gateway Center yet, but most of the media coverage thus far has revealed that folks are happy to be able to do their shopping locally as opposed to heading to Westchester.

Well, Streetsblog had an eye-opening piece yesterday detailing the actual layout of the development and pointing out its awkwardness and anti-pedestrian qualities. It quotes the developer, Related Companies, as saying that they thought most shoppers would arrive via car (even though the complex is served by subways, buses, and even the Yankee Stadium Metro-North station). The lack of use of the retail center's accompanying parking garage suggests they were WRONG. Many people are indeed arriving by foot, and this is how they are welcomed:

Photo courtesy of the fabulous Streetsblog

Yikes! I can imagine many an elbow getting thrown on weekends to secure one's pedestrian spot on this plank-like ramp. Here's what one Streetsblog commenter (vnm) who lives in the area around the Gateway Center had to say:

Wow. I've got lots of comments on this mall, which I shop at a lot because it is within walking distance.

1) James, unfortunately, this is an example of "transit-adjacent development," as opposed to "transit-oriented development." Streetsblog could do an entire post on this fact alone. The mall places a blank wall and its truck shipping bay right next to the entrance to the Metro-North station. There are no signs at the station or the mall pointing to the other. To get from the rear of the station to the rear of the mall, you have to walk through at least one door through a chain link fence and through a parking lot/truck bay. Absolutely no thought was given to the fact that a train station was within a few hundred feet of a major retail outlet. I imagine some retail employees would take the train if they live in the northwest Bronx or Westchester County, but I can't imagine any shoppers using this alternative because of the way it has been presented. Hopefully, some of this will be remedied if and when they build "Phase II" of this mall project, which is a hotel on the site of the parking lot.

2) The photographer must have visited on a weekday. If you go there during the peak times on weekend you will see many more people jostling for space in that walkway.

3) Re parking, the city needs to install parking meters on the streets just outside the entrance. Right now everyone parks for free on E. 151st Street and Gerard Avenue and walks across the street to avoid the parking fee of $2.40 per hour. Generally, the city installs parking meters in retail districts. This area is now a retail district and should be treated accordingly.

Very insightful points. I certainly hope that if Related's plans for the Kingsbridge Armory move forward, similar mistakes are not repeated. I mean, the Marble Hill Target/Marshall's/etc. shopping center (another Related project) doesn't even have bike racks. How do you not install a couple of bike racks after you spend millions of dollars creating something?

Click here to check out the Streetsblog piece.

~ErLu

Gateway Center in the Times

Nothing much to report on, but that the Gateway Center is almost completely full and open for business.

The Times' article by Jane L. Levere explores the bad economic timing for the opening of the Gateway Center and that the parking fee ($2.40/hr.) is a bummer for shoppers, but a boon for Yankees fans on game days.

It is nice to hear that the Gateway Center's retailers have filled over 1,500 jobs with 65% being held by Bronxites.

Understatement of the year:

...[I]n light of the current economic doldrums, the Gateway Center was fortunate that its focus was on big-box stores as opposed to luxury stores.

"Retailers Take a Chance on a Mall in the Bronx" [Jane L. Fevere, NY Times]

~ErLu

Bx Gets No Love from Chain Retailers... YET

Our friends over at the Daily News are reporting that the Bronx has the fewest chain stores of any borough. The most shocking part of the report: the BoogieDown has only FOUR Starbucks! In a city where Starbucks franchises reproduce like cockroaches, that is truly insulting. Thankfully Dunkin' Donuts has seen the opportunity for success in the Bronx and has opened 49 stores here. So Starbucks can keep pandering to the yuppies in Cobble Hill, because Dunkin' Donuts has better coffee anyway. Suck on that Starbucks - boo yeah!

Perhaps even more interesting than the actual report was the comment made by a particulary unintelligent Bronx resident:

BronxGalG Sep 9, 2008 7:29:31 AM It must be because the Bronx really is a zoo. I'm from the Bronx but I don't shop in any stores in the Bronx except supermarkets for groceries. For clothes, shoes, electronics or things other than groceries, I'll shop in New Jersey or Yonkers. I had the misfortune of going to the Target store on 225th street. What a catastrophe! Clothing items on the floor, security guards up and down the store and at the entrance, it's just plain nasty to shop there, and don't get me started on the stores on Fordham Road! It will be the same if chain stores open in the Bronx. Thanks, but no thanks!

Seems BronxGalG doesn't really understand the very simple concept that the very reason that the stores we DO have in the Bronx tend to be overcrowded is that we don't have enough stores. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to complain about overcrowding in the stores and then say, "Thanks, but no thanks!" to new stores coming to relieve the overburdened ones.

I think most residents would agree that chain stores are a necessary evil of sorts... it's the whole "Not in My Backyard" theory. You certainly don't want a Target opening up next door to you (well, actually this Target gal would because I do basically all of my shopping there), but the minute you need a Rubbermaid storage bin, or a 12-pack of Bounty paper towels you probably hop in the car and head for a big-box retailer.

Hopefully the advent of the Gateway Center Mall to SoBro in 2009 will serve as a convenient and diverse new shopping district for the BoogieDown.

*Creepy anti-Starbucks pic courtesy of http://lehomeroom.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html*

~ErLu

Gateway Center Set to Bring Convenient Shopping to South Bronx

From the same developers who brought the shopping complex to life at Marble Hill (with my beloved Target) comes the Gateway Center.

Situated on the banks of the Harlem River and riding the coattails of the new Yankee Stadium, Gateway center takes the place of the long neglected Bronx Terminal Market.

Not only will this project bring jobs and an economic boost to the Bronx, but it will add a sense of normalcy to an area that has sometimes felt forgotten or hidden away. The major retailers such as Target, Toys 'R Us and Best Buy realize that the Bronx is an untapped market for customers.

Area of the new Gateway (for anybody who doesn't know where Yankee Stadium is- gasp!). map from http://www.streetsblog.com/

I just hope that this development takes some of the strain away from Marble Hill, which can be horribley crowded on even a weekday afternoon! Although you can bet the new Gateway Center will be very crowded with Bronx residents and all those uptown transplants living across the river in Harlem jonesing for the Boogiedown's amenities.
Video About Gateway Center [BX12 Tv]

~ErLu + Jay O.