Columbia Waterfront District Merchant Association decides on monthly meetings, by George Fiala

Until the 1970’s, Columbia Street north of Hamilton Avenue was a thriving shopping district. Old-timers remember John’s Bargain Store, the Happy Hour Movie House, Pamasano’s and Sokols Furniture.

As the neighborhood deteriorated for a variety of well documented reasons, some stores moved over to Court Street, while others shut. The past 15 years has seen a slow revitalization. While service stores, such as butchers and fruit stores have not returned, there is a host of quality restaurants, food purveyors and even a couple of dry cleaners.

Last year the Carroll Gardens Association (CGA) took preliminary steps to bring back the defunct Merchants Association. One of their accomplishments were the Christmas lights that hung on Columbia and Union Streets. On February 3, a good turnout of local merchants along with a representative from Brad Lander’s office filled the back of Columbia Street’s Brooklyn Collective.

The first agenda item was the selection of block captains. A large map, provided by CGA, filled the center of the table, and volunteers were sought to help serve as information conduits to fellow merchants. Tessa Williams from Brooklyn Collective, Margaret Palca, the baker, Karen Duffy from Jalopy, Paul D’Agastino of the House of Pizza and Calzone, and Victoria Hagman were among the volunteers.

Actually, picking block captains was the only item on the agenda. But Tessa and others felt that discussion was needed on a whole host of other projects and needs of the local merchants.

Everyone was in agreement, and ideas spewed forth fast and furiously.

Information kiosk
Since the Columbia Waterfront District is just a hop away from Brooklyn Bridge Park, merchants feel that visitors to the park should know about the shopping district nearby. A kiosk with a local shopping map has long been on the wish list of the merchants. One sample of a kiosk exists at the Water Taxi landing behind Fairway. The format of a shopping guide with a map was talked about.

The representative from Lander’s office informed the group that the Atlantic Avenue BID is working on a kiosk project, and suggested they be contacted for possible collaboration.

Olivia Lynch from the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative (BGI) spoke of their project – an interactive online map featuring local businesses.

There is a potential future small park alongside Columbia Street. Locals will know the area as being where the cat-feeding Ethiopian spends his days. The group wondered whether a large banner couldn’t be created and put up on the fence that separates the open space from the containerport.

Social Networking was discussed, and everyone was reminded to “like” the new merchant association Facebook page. In addition, members were invited to post information about their businesses and events.

Before ending the meeting, there was a discussion about staging local events to bring shoppers and tourists. Ideas that came up included Day-break parties, a clam chowder fest, a passport day where participants visit shops to have a shopping passport stamped to qualify for a gift.

Next meeting March 3
Finally, it was decided that the group meet on a regular basis. As this meeting was on the first Tuesday of the month, meetings will now be scheduled on the first Tuesday of every month.