The Signs They Are a Changin’ – Biv Gives Way to Deli on Montague Street

By on May 12, 2010 7:19 pm in Real Estate

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On the day that Doug Biviano announced his plans to mount a campaign against incumbent NYS Assemblymember Joan Millman, his former NYC Council campaign HQ underwent a facelift.  Welcome…. officially the Heights Deli & Convenience Store!

Nabe blogger Chuck Taylor has more photos at The Smoking Nun.

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  • C.

    Hope they intend on getting a real sign.

  • BH Lover

    I’m sorry. I know people complain like crazy about what we have on Montague Street, but this is worst thing yet. It looks terrible and really tacky and is not befitting of our beautiful neighborhood. A vacancy is better. I will never patronize this place. Ugh. It’s depressing.

  • jim

    I like this place – and love being able to go into to a store where the staff is actually friendly and welcoming! Welcome to the neighborhood!

  • Teddy

    @C.

    It may not be worth it for them to invest in a “real” sign.

  • Jonny

    I agree with Jim! It’s nice to be able to pick up a half gallon of milk and not have to deal with the Key Food cashiers! It’s a welcome addition for me as well.

  • Heightsman

    Enough hate…these are people trying to make a living in our neighborhood at least give them the benefit once….

  • jorale-man

    Yes, let’s try and support local businesses rather than putting them down. I’ll take this over a bank branch/drug store chain/nail salon any day.

  • nancy

    They are very nice to the kids who come in to buy their snacks. Good for them; they see their customer base and they are going after them. What do we need, another overpriced store selling things that no one really wants or needs?

  • David on Middagh

    Speaking of overpriced… is a pack of Trident now $1.50? For real?

    I don’t think I’ll be going back, despite the manager’s solicitousness.

  • EHinBH

    This place looks horrific and sends a bad sign to store owners thinking of possibly coming to the area. These stores sell low quality food and pointless other items. How much are the rents in these places? I just find it hard to believe that nobody can afford it — but you can in Fort Greene and Park Slope?

  • travy

    montague street is for the tourists and lunch crowd. get over it.

  • harumph

    I agree with BH Lover and EHin BH. Why is wanting a decent store option “hate”? and @travy – it doesn’t have to be solely that way…does it?

  • BH Lover

    I am not a “hater”. I spend a lot of money to live in this neighborhood for many reasons – primarily because of its beauty. I would like the commercial street to match the essence of the neighborhood. If this store were on Court Street – no problem but a block from the Promenade? Really? We deserve better.

  • Remsen

    Are there not zoning laws regarding commerical signage? I have a hard time believing this this is anything but a temp sign…30 days max while the real sign arrives?

  • nancy

    Where was/is the beauty of the UPS store, Hot Bagels (which I love) or Key Food, et al.. We used to have the Korean grocery where Starbucks is-beautiful? I think not. When the landlords stop gouging tenants, then the places will come.

  • Jim

    I love the sense of entitlement that comes out in reading this blog…why do people in the Heights feel they deserve better…does someone in Brooklyn Heights deserve anything better (let alone stores) than someone in any other part of the city? ……..the things we all deserve are the same across neighborhoods…drop the elitism…

  • David on Middagh

    “I just find it hard to believe that nobody [better] can afford [the store rent] ”

    @EHinBH: We lost the last bookstore on Montague because, as I recall, the building owner was promising higher rent to the buyer than the bookstore was currently paying. (Heights Books is now on Smith St., and their space is about to occupied by the Crumbs chain. )

  • Jackson

    The term “hater” is imbecilic.
    How weary I’ve become of this idiotic term being tossed about for the unforgivable sin of dissent (of any kind). Get a grip. And erase the term from your vocabulary. It makes you look like a fool.

  • the where

    @jackson are you drunk on h8trade?

  • nabeguy

    BH Lover, I do get your point, and even lean towards it. As a former landlord of a commercial building in the city, I know how important and difficult it is to try and attract a business that reflects the neighborhood values. My family and I always took pains to make sure that our tenants were fulfilling a genuine neighborhood need, rather than simply filling our pockets. Alas, not all of our fellow landlords were as diligent,with the final straw coming when a Salvation Army outlet moved to the block. Nothing against the SA, but it sent a clear message that the commercial strip had assumed a “second-hand” quality.While I fear that the same thing may happen to Montague Street, I’m not convinced that this particular business is a harbinger of worse things to come.

  • cat

    Housing Works sells second-hand and does not detract from the neighborhood.

  • AEB

    One human’s “detract” is another’s “provides opportunity to those seeking a middle-class life or better.”

    It’s not like Montague is a vulnerable jewel: it’s a commercial strip offering middle-of-the-road goods and services. This new enterprise fits right in, and has the virtue, potentially, of answering more needs than many of its neighbors

    Actually, the key to a better BH is non-corporate commercial heterogeneity. Our community is lovely, but it lacks pulse. As, I believe, St. Augustine said (and I’m surely paraphrasing), “The high and low together is greater than the high alone.”

  • http://chucktaylorblog.blogspot.com/ NYstrele

    you cats need to calm down! the store is bright and clean, the staff could not be more friendly. and i rather like the fact that the sign resembles the same font as the old heights books (now in cobble hill). i say a local store that offers a convenience is an awful lot better than another dead space on montague. i wish these guys all the luck in the world.

  • Reggie

    Wow, Homer. I thought my comment that you declined to post was well within reasonable standards for blogs and political discourse in general. It was factual and used none of the language that I am guessing was the reason you blocked a comment on an earlier thread. I’m never one to hang around where I’m not wanted, but you are greatly diminished in my estimation.

  • Homer Fink

    @Reggie – I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re talking about.

  • David on Middagh

    @Reggie: Just recompose & post again. It must have been a glitch.