370 Jay Street Has Become A “Blight On The Face Of Downtown Brooklyn”



B.B.P. Marty Markowitz & other borough leaders at today’s press conference on the MTA’s mishandling of the property in & around 370 Jay St. Photo courtesy of the Brooklyn Borough President’s Website.

This strong statement was made by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz in response to the MTA letting their property at 370 Jay Street sit & become an eyesore in the community. Lets first look at the report on this issue which comes from New York Daily News reporters Pete Donohue, Rachel Monahan, & Bill Hutchinson:

It’s become a piece of Jay-unk!

Fed up at having to live in the shadow of a decrepit eyesore, Brooklynites are demanding officials stop dragging their feet and give the Jay St./Borough Hall subway station and building a major overhaul.

Despite promises to spruce it up, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has let 370 Jay St. and its subway hub become a “blight on the face of downtown Brooklyn,” said Borough President Marty Markowitz.

“This section of Jay St. is an embarrassment – and our commuters, residents and local businesses deserve better,” Markowitz said.

He plans to join other elected officials and downtown Brooklyn boosters Monday at a press conference to demand the MTA fix up the station and turn the building over to someone who will finally give it a proper face-lift.

The subway station is even worse, with columns that are missing tiles, lots of chipping paint and large sections of the platform sealed off with plywood.

MTA officials insist they are going to invest $106 million to rehabilitate the station and that funds to fix the building above it are in the next capital improvement plan.

Click here for the complete report.

Now lets look at the press release from the Brooklyn Borough President’s website which talks about the press conference that was held:

On Monday, October 20, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Downtown Brooklyn Partnership (DBP) President Joe Chan were joined by elected officials and community leaders to protest the deplorable conditions in and around 370 Jay Street—one of the most neglected MTA properties in the city—and at the Jay Street/Borough Hall station. Participating in the press conference were Council Member David Yassky, Assembly Member Joan Millman, Sam Ibrahim, general manager, New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, Michael Gold of Sid’s Hardware and Michael Nill of Brooklyn Friends School.

The city-owned, 400,000-square-foot building is vacant and littered with trash, and has been surrounded by unsightly sidewalk sheds and scaffolding for nearly a decade. The MTA has budgeted $150 million toward renovating the building for its back offices, but says it won’t be fully occupied until 2016. According to BP Markowitz and DBP President Chan, 370 Jay Street could be sold or leased to attract one or more major corporate tenants, including retail, and the savings used to close the MTA’s budget shortfall.

The New York City Transit Riders Council recently ranked 50 subway stations in need of improvements and Jay Street/Borough Hall, which serves nearly 30,000 riders daily, garnered the fourth lowest rating. It received a grade of “F” in the categories of odor, leaking ceilings, clean ceilings and leaking walls. It received a grade of “C” for lighting, clean floors, clean walls and litter.

Click here for the complete report.

For starters let me say that the Jay Street stop is in pretty decrepit condition & in need of major repairs. I do happen to agree with Marty in that this is not the condition a stop of its importance should be in but that goes for any stop in the borough or better yet system. While it is ridiculous that the MTA has yet to maximize the potential of this property, I think it is equally ridiculous to act like they can just flip a switch & come up with the cash needed to overhaul it.

Where is the same passion that was used to come down on the MTA about this, towards our elected officials who regularly shortchange the MTA in the funds they deserve? You know the same funds that would help them upkeep & continue to grow our transit infrastructure. While the MTA is no angel in all of this, it is not all on them as I have stated numerous times in the past. Instead of calling the MTA out on what they already know, use this same intensity to fight for better funding which will help our desire for a better system & in this case the better use of the property at 370 Jay Street.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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[…] are frustrated with in how the MTA manages it is 370 Jay Street. This property was called a “blight on the face of downtown Brooklyn” by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz a little under two months ago. Julia Vitullo […]

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