The Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project was awarded $200,000 in the fourth round of New York Main Street (NYMS) program funding from the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR). This is the third time MARP has been awarded a NYMS contract, having been awarded $105,000 in 2005 for the first round of NYMS funding, and $195,000 in 2006 for the third round of funding. The NYMS program allocates funds to organizations working to improve historic commercial corridors in order for them to distribute matching incentive grants to owners of mixed-use buildings looking to restore their properties.

The NYMS Program is funded by the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) and its Housing Trust Fund Corporation (HTFC). The program aims to strengthen local economic development throughout New York State by rebuilding downtowns and main streets by providing matching grants for façade and interior building renovations, as well as streetscape enhancements such as improving lighting, landscaping, signage, street furniture.

To date, MARP has rehabilitated five building facades, with before and after photos viewable on our site's Program & Projects area. This work restored historic elements such as cornices, masonry, cast-iron details, doors, windows, storefronts, and brownstone. We also enhanced the streetscape by expanding 97 tree pits to make them all consistently sized 8 feet long by 5 feet wide, 40 square feet in size. Before the expansion, they were much smaller and inconsistently sized. The tree pit expansion project removed over 1600 square feet of concrete to give the trees more access air, water, and nutrients, and the tree pits were lined with Belgian blocks to give them an ornamented edge.

Having completed five building rehabilitations and streetscape enhancements from the first award, we are making significant progress toward rehabilitating Myrtle’s historic character. The additional funds from this fourth round of funding will allow us to continue providing financial resources to help property owners to renovate their buildings and restore historic detailing, thereby improving Myrtle Avenue's building stock, making it more beautiful and better for business.

As a result of the NYMS program, by the end of 2007 we will have brought about façade improvements to seven buildings and improved the street's tree pits, totaling over $230,000 in private and public investment.

The next façade rehabilitations that are just starting work are located at 413 and 478 Myrtle Avenue.

If you are a property owner of a mixed-use building on Myrtle Avenue between Flatbush and Classon and are interested in making restorations to your building, please contact us.

We have all seen the many signs outside restaurants that advertise coffee and lunch: sandwich boards, or A-frames as they’re sometimes called. We recently got some questions about the laws that govern these advertising signs. Are they legal? Do you need a permit to put them up? How far can they extend onto the sidewalk?

So here goes: the answer is that sidewalk signs are legal and do not require a permit but they must be kept away from any obstruction that could impede pedestrian traffic. The city agency that oversees this policy is the Department of Sanitation (DOS). In the DOS's “Digest of Sanitation Codes” it states that structures for merchandise or advertising displayed on the sidewalk may extend “no more than 3 feet into the sidewalk from the building line and no higher than 5 feet.” And, fortunately for us, Myrtle Avenue is not a “zero sidewalk display” zone, which, if it were, would not allow for any sandwich boards.

To go to the Department of Sanitation’s Digest of Codes, click here. Page 17 discusses Sidewalks & Streets and the sandwich board topic.

Myrtle's cell phone store has a new look. The shop is called Cell NY, located at 475B Myrtle Avenue (Washington/Hall). Marat Shadkhin opened Cell NY five years ago, but only moved to Myrtle Avenue two years ago where he shared a space at 478 Myrtle Avenue; six months ago he moved the store to its current location.

The store offers services with T-Mobile, Sprint, Boost, and AT&T. They also sell phone accessories and do phone repair. Plus, you can even pay your phone bills there. Store hours are Mon-Sat 10-7; closed Sunday. For more info on Myrtle Avenue businesses, view our shopping guide.

If you're a business on Myrtle and thinking about a new storefront look, give us a call. We encourage merchants to design storefronts that are transparent, clean, and creative. Best part: we provide matching grants to pay for half the cost of the work, up to $1,000.

In a few weeks you can expect new eats at 527 Myrtle Avenue (between Grand & Steuben). The new restaurant is called Tamboril. The interior is new, clean, simple, and the spot will serve a sort of Nuevo Latino cuisine. Lounge included.

We worked with the business owner on the storefront by providing design assistance through our storefront improvement program. Through the program we collaborate with merchants to share best practices to help them make a creative, cost-effective storefront, and our in-house designer creates concepts and complete renderings. Merchants are also eligible for a matching reimbursement grant through the Business Improvement District.

If you're going to open a new store on Myrtle or are thinking about changing your storefront's look, give us a call.

When fixing up a historic building, it can be tricky knowing what the thing looked like 50-100 years ago, especially if it's been significantly altered. An historic photograph can help.

In the 1930s, the municipality of NYC took photos of all its buildings as a way to track properties for taxation. These photos were archived and are available for purchase at the Municipal Archives for $30. The building pictured here is 469 Myrtle (Washington/Hall), which is currently undergoing a rehabilitation with our support through the New York Main Street (NYMS) grant program.

We order these photos to help guide our facade improvements. Landlords really like them, too. Some are framed and on display in stores.

If you're thinking about making changes to your building, you may want to see your own building's historic photograph because it can reveal a detail that you previously didn't even know existed. Check it out.

In the spring of 2006, we had a Japanese Pagoda tree planted at 177 Vanderbilt Avenue (one of my favorites). The restaurant owners at Luz have been great stewards of the tree, which was exceptionally healthy until about a week ago. Now it's dead (shown in the photo here). Without speculating what caused such a sudden death (one person claims "sabotage") we would like to reiterate our commitment to greening the community and we hope that you understand and appreciate the hard work and financial resources that go into planting and maintaining each and every tree.

As you know, we've been working to get more trees planted and to keep them watered during the hot summer. Tree care is very important because these trees help to cool the city, to clean the air, reduce noise, reduce storm water runoff, and provide a pleasant surrounding. In fact, as part of Mayor Bloomberg's PlaNYC 2030 initiative, NYC has begun a campaign to plant 23,000 trees every year. (To read more about the PLANY 2030 initiatives that deal with air quality, click here.)

Unfortunately, urban trees get a lot of abuse, such as physical damage caused by cars and bikes, soil and root contamination from salt, animal waste, and other pollutants (intentionally applied or by accident).

Please, if you have any concerns or questions about street trees, we urge you to contact us to share your thoughts.

Do you have a historic building that's been painted over? Restoring the original condition can reveal beautiful bricks, which is what we're doing at 469 Myrtle Avenue.

Wondering what the white paper on the facade is about? The product is called Peel Away 1, it's an environmentally-friendly paint removal product that's used for historic restoration projects.

Peel Away 1 allows for the paint to be kept damp. When the product is removed, the paint doesn't get all over the street; rather, it sticks to the paper for easy disposal.

You may have noticed the sidewalk bridge at 469 Myrtle Avenue (it was put up on Friday, June 22nd). The owners of the building have decided to undertake a facade rehabilitation. We're supporting this project with funding through the New York Main Street (NYMS) grant program, which provides us with resources to promote historic improvements on the avenue in order to maintain the rich building stock and to strengthen the economic vitality of traditional "Main Streets" throughout New York State.

Work will include the following:

Re-pointing
Rehabilitation of cornices
Restoration of cast-iron columns
Removing paint from bricks
New brownstone sills and lintels

The project should be complete in about a month. Once it's finished, we'll begin work on the storefront to expand the front part of the store and to give the building a consistent, fresh look.

On the ground floor is Move with Grace, an exciting place where you or your family can do yoga or take all kinds of dance lessons. Visit the website here.

Have you noticed that some storefront are a lot taller than others? Well, they're not. In fact these buildings all tend to be from the same period (late 19th/early 20th Century) and built similarly--all ground-floor units were built with tall ceiling heights. The reason some storefronts appear taller is because the business owner has chosen to remove the clutter, usually the exterior gate box and excessive signage, in order to expose the original design.

By simply uncovering the storefront, the look can improve overnight.

If you're wondering, "well, what about security?" That answer is you can get just as much security from an alarm system and/or an interior gate.

The exterior gate box is just not necessary and it makes for an unsightly storefront.

Have you ever walked a commercial street at night? They can be dark and creepy.

Here's a pic that shows how a single light that's left turned on after hours can improve the neighborhood's night-time atmosphere. If you own a business, please leave a light on. It may deter crime and definitely makes people feel safer.

(Of course, this requires that you have either a see-through security gate or no gate at all.)