When IKEA opened on June 18, 2008, an estimated 10,000 people scoured the Swedish furniture buying everything from sofas to kitchen utensils to beds. It was a consumer madhouse – a scene the residents of Red Hook, Brooklyn never expected to see. This isolated community on Brooklyn’s southern was in the midst of rediscovery, much to the displeasure of those who fought to stop the store’s development.
This project started on the day IKEA opened its doors to New York City. I, along with a senior editor and cameraman from TheStreet.com, boarded the IKEA ferry and headed to Red Hook. We spoke to local business owners, customers, and IKEA employees in an attempt to find out if this department store really was bad for the neighborhood, or if the opposition was simply overexaggerated. For some reason we were surprised to discover that residents didn’t mind having the store around – it would attract tourists to the neighborhood and provide ferry service to and from Red Hook.
I never visited Red Hook before that day and couldn’t believe a community like this existed within New York City. With little public transportation, Red Hook is practically cut off from the rest of the borough. Yet, it’s filled with people, stores, and reminders of a rocky past.
My site documents the three aspects that have contributed to the evolution of this neighborhood:
From the 17th century on, Red Hook’s proximity to the water made the community dependent on the shipping industry. The multimedia timeline illustrates key points in the waterfront’s history, in addition to brief video clips of David Sharps and Maureen McNeil discussing the impact these events had on the neighborhood.
From 1980 to the early 1990s, Red Hook the nation knew Red Hook as the “crack capital of America.” During this troubled period, a well-known elementary public school principal was gunned down causing the neighborhood’s reputation to worsen. This section revisits this dark period and the events that led up to the community’s slump.
Since IKEA’s opening, the golden question seems to be, “What effect will it have on the business community?” After visiting various businesses, I chose three business owners to tell how IKEA’s arrival impacted their stores.