Re-publishing Post: Ten (10) Reasons to Oppose Ikea-Red Hook

Opponents argue that Ikea-Red Hook is a bad idea not just for Red Hook, but for New York City.

Red Hook, Brooklyn, is a peninsula reaching into New York Harbor, with spectacular views of the Statue of Liberty and lower Manhattan. The Red Hook waterfront is more than a mile from the nearest highway off-ramp, it has no subway, and it has narrow cobblestone streets.

Here are ten reasons, not all of them included in the Ikea-Red Hook lawsuit, why the far-reaching consequences of Ikea-Red Hook will damage not only Red Hook, Brooklyn, but the City of New York.

1. Ikea – Red Hook will create bad precedent for New York City’s future dealings with big box stores. It will encourage big boxes to pick inappropriate sites and to insist on building blank-walled warehouses, without sidewalk entrances, without show windows, and without any attempt to fit into New York City’s traditional neighborhoods and urban streets.