Too much grit for the neighbors, by Nathan Weiser

The Red Hook waterfront has been a site of gritty industrial activity for over a century. The neighbors of one lot on Beard Street, however, have had enough.

“It seems like they have a lot of clients and tenants,” says David Trimble, who organizes the yearly Red Hook Crit bike race. “I would definitely like to see it cleaned up and controlled a little better.”

The lot is bordered by Beard, Van Dyke, Richards, and Dwight Streets and is owned by One Stop LLC, a company which rents warehouse and parking space.

School buses, charter buses, a trolley, and lots of garbage are visible from the street, as well as dogs in an enclosed area. Neighbors have noted concerns about the animals’ well being and the noise that they make as well as the the eyesore the space creates.

“The dogs make a lot of noise and it doesn’t sound like they are being taken good care of,” Trimble says. “I think the dogs are always there.”

Trimble, whose office is across the street from the lot, thinks the condition of the site has been getting worse recently.

“The area would be nicer if they cleaned that area up a little bit,” Trimble said. “I think they just don’t control what goes on in there.”

According to a local artist who lives in the area, another major cause for concern is that there is no garbage pickup or dumpsters for the businesses in the lot. The result is that a lot of garbage, including full cans of oil, accumulates on the sidewalk. In addition, neighbors have observed workers relieving themselves on the sidewalk, leading to speculation that there are no bathroom facilities on site.

One local resident, who lives across the street, was informed that two men even live inside this space.

Additional complaints include gates of the lot being open 24 hours a day with the attendant noise of truck access, the uncovered state of the sandpit, and the sand bags not being labeled. Further, this neighbor is annoyed by trucks and bulldozers parked on the sidewalk and the street and the apparently continuous use of a forklift.

Another local characterized described the conditions in the lot as being like Mad Max.

Nathan Weiser