Media Coverage - 2003

Gotham Gazette, November 11, 2003
By Brad Lander

Letitia James, who succeeds James Davis on the City Council representing district 35, which covers Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, and Fort Greene, has a long history of supporting community development. Even before she officially took office, she was able to score two victories for affordable housing, including a promise by Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Jerilyn Perine to support the transformation of "The Brig," a former prison on Flushing Avenue, into an apartment building.

But James also faces a significant challenge: how to deal with "development, development, development," as Jennifer Gerend, executive director of the Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project puts it. A series of major developments are taking place throughout the district. (Read more at Gotham Gazette).

Myrtle Avenue LDC Assists Wallabout Neighborhood Preservation
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, September 17, 2003

The Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project LDC (MARP) will conduct a reconnaissance level survey of Wallabout, the historic blocks north of Myrtle Avenue and south of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The project is funded by Preserve New York, a grant program of the Preservation League of New York State and the New York State Council on the Arts.

While Fort Greene and Clinton Hill have established historic districts, no such protection currently exists in Wallabout. Last year, the erection of a tall transient hotel on Clermont Avenue spurred local concerns about future development's inconsistency with the low-rise historic rowhouses on the residential blocks. A group of Wallabout residents began to actively look for ways to protect what is there, and avoid new development that is not contextual. (Read more at The Brooklyn Daily Eagle).

Only Three Retail Spaces Left at Renovated Myrtle Avenue Strip
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 28, 2003
By Linda Collins

Only three retail spaces remain unleased at the revitalized shopping strip along Myrtle Avenue just east of Flatbush Avenue Extension in north Fort Greene.

Red Apple Real Estate, the Manhattan-based firm that owns the property, has been modernizing the commercial strip which extends from the Duane Reade Pharmacy at one end to a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant at the other. (Read more at more The Brooklyn Daily Eagle).

Clean Spin Newest Tenant on Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 21, 2003
By Don Evans

Equipped with 120 "high-tech" washers and dryers plus a free parking lot, the Clean Spin Laundromat has opened at 190 Myrtle Ave. as the newest tenant of the revitalized shopping strip between Price and Navy Streets.

Red Apple Real Estate, a Manhattan-based firm, has been modernizing commercial space in the area, which now includes a Duane Reade Pharmacy, an Associated Supermarket, and several other established stores. (Read more at The Brooklyn Daily Eagle).

New Faces, Places on Myrtle Avenue
New York Newsday, July 7, 2003
By Leon Lazaroff

Carols Aguila, more than a year removed from resigning as a bank executive, recalls the day he stumbled upon his new life. It came in the middle of winter about 18 months ago when he saw a "For Rent" sign on a storefront on Myrtle Avenue in the Clinton Hill area of Brooklyn.

A former vice president at Bank of America in Manhattan, Aguila had been looking for a way out of what he calls the "rigidness of corporate life." (Read more at New York Newsday).

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