Open Thread Wednesday

What’s on your mind? Comment away!

Share this Story:

Connect with BHB

Subscribe to our e-mail newsletter to receive updates.

  • MrPumpkin

    Does anyone know when the Brooklyn Heights kids Halloween parade will be this year?

  • Banet

    Huge breaking news. After only God knows how many years of business, Perelandra is closing at the end of this week.

    The cashier who told me said that they did not lose their lease… but increasing rent was the main cause. The business just wasn’t profitable anymore.

    I lamented that it was a shame they couldn’t hold out a few years until the huge new apartment building across the street opened and he said the closing of Saint Francis was actually part of the problem. Faculty and students shopped there on a regular basis and when the school closed business took a big hit.

    This strikes me as a short-sighted decision by the landlord… With a massive construction site across the street for the next two or three years I wouldn’t be surprised if they struggle to find a tenant and space for years and years. That the NYSC gym next door has been empty for close to a decade now doesn’t help either (different building though).

    Lastly, in looking at the building above Perelandra, I would not be surprised if the entire building gets sold, torn down, and a 40 story apartment building goes up in its place.

  • Andrew Porter

    I confirmed this with the store. The website, for online shopping, is also being closed down.

    This is a great shock to me, as I've shopped there for years. Their prices have always been high, but the selection has always been outstanding.

    Then there's the name: Perelandra is the second book in C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy set on the planet of Perelandra, or Venus. It was first published in 1943. The other books are That Hideous Strength and Out of The Silent Planet.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/762ff507edef517d917a24f5fe01c31003b3303f90ef46d27c46fb2cfaaa9a7f.jpg

  • Red Leader

    Thanks for sharing this devastating news. A true loss for the neighborhood.

  • Banet

    Andrew, as one of the neighborhood’s unofficial historians, can you tell us when the store opened?

    I know it was definitely there 15 years ago. I’m almost positive it was there 21 years ago. And I’m pretty sure it was even there when I first came to the neighborhood 27 years ago.

    Also, it’s a shame the owners didn’t make their struggles public. I wonder if someone else with an overlapping vision might have bought the business and tweaked the business model. Less of this, more of that. There are quite a few very deep pockets in this neighborhood these days. You never know when someone might be looking for a new challenge and isn’t too concerned with profit. :-/

  • Andrew Porter

    Their website says, "Perelandra Natural Foods has been dedicated to bringing you the best in organic and natural foods since 1976!"

    I've sent the news out to people I know at Two for the Pot, Shelsky's, Key Food, the BHA, the Eagle, and lots of locals. The Eagle wrote they'll do a news article about the closing.

    As the poster who broke the news, Banet, we owe you your weight in pixels!

  • Banet

    Knowing the store has been here 48 years, what businesses remain that are older? Off the top of my head, I can only think of:

    – Lassen & Hennigs (1946)

    – The Women’s Exchange (founded in the 1800s and it’s unclear to me what was for sale but definitely had a store in the neighborhood by 1936.)

    Other contenders that I would need confirmation on are:

    Haagen-Daz. They also opened in 1976. But which opened first?

    Tango. They opened in the “late 70s” so likely a bit younger than Perelandra.

    Henry’s End. New owners and new location, but same vibe and menu. They opened in 1973.

    Jubilee Gallery. They opened in December 1973 or early 1974 in the Clark street subway gallery before moving to Henry street, where they’ve been for about 50 years.

    What am I missing?

  • Banet

    “As the poster who broke the news, Banet, we owe you your weight in pixels!”

    Oh please, We’re a community.

    And I encourage all to go to Perelandra’s website and read their About Us page. It’s rare that a business took strong stands on issues. Plus, there’s a groovy photo of the owner from when they first opened on Montague in the 1970s:

    https://www.perelandranatural.com/about/about-us

  • Peter Scott-Thomas

    I'm not being provocative here – at least not wilfully. Yes, there are some advantages to living in a society where something other than profits pretty much dictates how everything goes.

    But this IS the US, and most of us would not rush to trade places with someone in Russia, China or even the handful of "nice" places on earth.

    I routinely pass by what was "the Heights Cinema < 20 years ago. I patronized it, as it happens, and I missed it when it closed, but WHO IS to say ("objectively") that the nabe is worse off with that 4-story building housing 15-20 families?

    Perelandra probably ceased being a "mom & pop" store many years ago, so speculating that the owners were the founders and are now of retirement age is absurd.

    Yes, many customers will miss the store. I miss Teresa's and I could make a long list of other casualties – so could most of you – but the reality is that while MD's and hair stylists are still "necessary," 95% of the Heights' commercial space is – AT BEST – in the "nice to have" realm.

    It's only a few years, so I remember the now ludicrous BHA initiative to make Montague St. great again by someone's opening a fish store (yes, I "voted" for that one) and definitely NOT having a 10-30% vacancy rate year after year. Fourth Ave. may be "ugly," but upzoning worked out well there.

    Montague & Court are "endangered" species in terms of the current mix. Upzoning is long overdue. Remember, it is often in a landlord's best interest to have a good tenant – supermarket or whatever – occuping the ground floor if there are 4-20 floors of apts above it.

  • Banet

    Oh. Duh!

    Sahadi’s moved to Atlantic in 1948.

    Two for the Pot is gettin up there. Pretty sure they were there in 1997.

    I wonder about the Housewares store on Montague. And the little downstairs framing shop.

    Park Plaza Diner: 1982

    Clark’s Restaurant (the Clark street diner): 1986

  • Banet

    I think you’re wrong on a number of counts.

    First, Perelandra is indeed still a mom & pop, owned by the original owner. Not sure how involved he was but it’s not like he sold to Whole Foods or something (which is now owned by Amazon).

    I think Perelandra’s prices are painfully high on many things and that sent me elsewhere for a lot. (I honestly wonder if they could’ve become profitable simply by dropping all the fresh produce. It seems like they threw away as much as they sold) but there’s a small handful of items we loved from there that had us coming back multiple times per week (plus, the location was very convenient to us).

    I just did the math and we only spent 5% of our total grocery store + farmer’s market expenditures there this year but that still added up to a hefty sum (we spend a fortune on groceries – we rarely eat out or order in).

    Second, I too would love a fishmonger closer than Fish Tales, but I do think Montague of all streets can support a lot of “nice to have’s”. Just look at the seeming success of both Books Are Magic and L’Apartement 4F. Both thriving. I think the increase in work from home post-covid will benefit our neighborhood as more of us are here instead of spending all our dollars in Manhattan. I also think all the new apartment buildings on the east end of Montague and Remsen can only help. There are now thousands of additional residents shopping here.

  • Banet

    And yes, I think having the Heights Cinema here definitely made this a better neighborhood. They showed really interesting stuff. They were closer than walking to Cobble Hill or the Alamo. A kid could have their first solo trip to the movies with friends at a younger age because of the comparative safety (I’d let my 9 year old walk to that theater but my kid would have to be 12 to walk down to Cobble Hill).

    What replaced it? 3 or 4 nice apartments which are not in any way special and a coffee shop that seems to be perennially empty as compared to Joe’s 1 block to the west.

    I want the movie theater back.

  • karateca2000

    My wife is devastated. She is a big fan of Perelandra. That places makes her happy.

    Terrible news.

  • Andrew Porter
  • Peter Scott-Thomas

    I meant to check. You ARE right(er than I was) about the # of units at 70 Henry. It's 5, but that was a design decision. It could have been 2-3 times that many.

    But think about it – the Hts. Cinema – like the BPL branch on CPW – was so UNDERUSING precious real estate that it couldn't (& shouldn't) have survived much longer.

    You're right, too, that there's more WFH, but I'm really not sure HOW much more (or how much longer.) It's GREAT that 4F & Books/Magic have taken root, but you didn't engage with my main point. Leave aside their merits as grocery stores. We need MORE like the one across from Citibank (with dozens of households above it) and say goodbye – for public policy reasons – to height-challenged Key Food a couple of blocks away.

    When streets like Henry, Montague & Court have multiple 30-story buildings on them, it's simply stupid zoning that exacerbates our City's housing shortage.

    Build, baby, build!

  • Banet

    Your wife and my wife would probably be good friends. :-(

  • Banet

    Oh, I missed your point entirely. You're saying that the space in this city is to precious to waste, especially this close to so many subway lines. I agree.

    Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the benefits of living in an historic district wit ha 50' height limit. But agree that the Key Food should have 4 floors of condos above it and the movie theater building was a poor use of space. (I actually wouldn't be surprised if the Key Food closed and became a new condo building. Which would have been devastating a year ago but with Food Town up the street it would be managable.)

  • Jorale-man

    PSA: As long as it doesn't rain for weeks on end, I'd encourage everyone to ask their supers to hose down their sidewalks periodically. Large parts of the neighborhood are none too fragrant or tidy looking these days, in part because our four-legged friends do their business on the sidewalks (and probably some two-legged offenders as well). Without rain, nothing gets a cleaning.

  • Andrew Porter

    And I want Theresa's back, and Pic-A-Deli, though the latter has been replaced by several businesses, the current being the excellent Books Are Magic.

    Not gonna happen.

    PS: I want my youth back, too!

  • Andrew Porter
  • Nosey Neighbor

    The Key Food’s rear neighbors have promised scortched-Earth litigation if anything remotely tall is built on that site, and I’m sure the BHA will back them up

    The tiny number of units in 70 Henry was not a design choice, it was an economic choice. It was the only way to make money on a height restricted lot where they also had to preserve a brick wall. See also the designs and number of units in 30 Henry and 325 Henry

  • Peter Scott-Thomas

    Not clear where YOU stand on what sure sounds like NIMBYism at its "finest." (& literally)

    Unions that defend the occasional rotten apples among their membership are doing their job – I guess – but when the BHA puts way too much before what's best for NYC, I think it's betraying its underlying mission. There is something wrong with the whole landmarking thing when a terribly ugly building is somehow REQUIRED at Clark & Monroe. ("Historically accurate" should not strangle growth & development, but it too often does.)

    We don't insist that a new building have an outhouse because it did in 1845. The laws are seldom as asinine and inconsistent as they are in this sphere.

  • Banet

    I know one of those families that backs up to Key Food quite well and I can only imagine the level of wrath they would bring down.

    That said, as long as what was proposed for the Key Food lot was under 50’ and was contextually appropriate they may not win.

    I understand the desire to keep some of the lower buildings on Montague that have a bit of historical interest to their facade – like the corner with CitiChemist. But the Key Food building, as I recall, is a bland brick facade with very little going for it. That the side of the Bossert is windowless for the 5 stories and then windows appear tells me that a taller building was always anticipated (and may have even existed at one point).

  • Peter Scott-Thomas

    St. George Liquor (with a change of location.) The barber shop in the Clark St. station. I wonder about some of the dry cleaners. City Chemist? Weir? Bentley's? And almost for sure, one or the other of those cellphone stores!

  • Peter Scott-Thomas

    Restaurant inquiry – Buon Gusto (reincarnated) and Lillo's, both on Henry St. near Atlantic.

    What's the skinny? Is either worth a visit? In the case of Lillo's, is 30-40 minutes wait (routinely) worth it?

  • karateca2000

    Lillo is fantastic. It is my favorite in the neighborhood. I have been a big fan since they opened. The guy is from Rome. Do not expect prompt service, Lillo is never in a rush. The food is excellent. The prices are very affordable. Cash only.

    You can also call and order for pick up, so you don't need to wait. Get the menu from google maps.

  • Judy Lemonbooty

    Wondering the same!

  • Lauren

    I’m so sad!! Perelandra is my favorite a sad day for the neighborhood

  • RW

    It looks like the virtual golfing club is moving from Remsen to the old Mattress Firm building on Montague.

  • Banet

    Agreed. Lillo’s is an absolute hidden gem. Don’t miss it.