‘People Who Live Here Feel They Are Part of the Community at Large’
By Linda Collins
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Some residents of Concord Village, the seven-building, 1,025-unit co-op complex at Adams and Tillary streets in Downtown Brooklyn, think of it as an island in the middle of a sea of courthouses, college buildings and traffic.
Others view it as an integral part of the Downtown Brooklyn community and still others see it as a haven.
Maybe it’s all three.
“I’ve always said Concord Village is a residential island surrounded by a sea of traffic,” says Mark Zimmerman, a former president of the Concord Village Board of Directors, noting that “Flatbush Avenue Extension, Tillary Street, Adams Street with its Brooklyn Bridge entrance and the BQE — all with very heavy traffic — basically really define the area.”
Zimmerman acknowledges that people at Concord Village are involved in a lot of local community issues and activities and they certainly feel part of the larger downtown area.
“But geographically and residentially we’re an island. There’s no other — or very little other — residential buildings in this little enclave, except for a few apartments on Concord Street,” said Zimmerman, who says he has actually walked each block and checked mailboxes.
Some of its current board members choose not to look at Concord Village this way.
“An island sounds as if we’re isolated or exclusive but we’re neither,” said Catherine Woolston, a director.
Commented Jeff Douglas, board vice president, “We’re less an island than an oasis. You have all these new apartment buildings going up around us [at Flatbush Avenue Extension] and none of them has the grounds, the gardens, the lawns that we do.”
Indeed, one longterm resident who declined to be named, told the Eagle by phone that he is often asked when he mentions he lives there, “Is that the place with the gardens?”
“The grounds and the gardens make it very desirable to live there,” he said. “Plus there’s parking when you can get it, we have 24-hour doormen in each building, our security is pretty good and our apartments are well built and our walls are thick.”
He then added, “Are we treated as stepchildren sometimes? Yes. Have we ever been accepted as part of Brooklyn Heights? No. But we are a vibrant community and very very much a part of the whole downtown.”
Board director Helen Pearlstein, a 25-year resident, agrees with that concept.
“People who live here feel they are part of the community at large,” she said, adding, “We are a very active group and very involved in things that happen in the greater community.”
She cites residents’ involvement with Community Board 2 (one resident is a board member, another sits on its transportation committee); the MTA, working to prevent the A train’s High Street station booth from closing and to protest bus and subway service cuts; the DOT, working on Tillary Street improvements (“You now don’t have to sprint from the Celeste Diner all the way across to the courthouse; you can make it in one traffic light, walking,” said Woolston) and bridge entrance improvements; the OEM, when the organization was working on its exterior design; P.S. 8, working on restructuring (Concord Village has 120 kids, many of whom do or will attend P.S. 8); and with a Congestion Pricing Committee, convened by JoAnne Simon, and including Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill and Cobble Hill neighborhood groups.
“We were all fearful that people would park here and take the train one stop to Manhattan to avoid paying the bridge fee,” said Woolston.
Residents also have concerns about Brooklyn Bridge Park, Atlantic Yards and developments in DUMBO, but the board cannot take a stand on these issues.
“Our policy is if it doesn’t directly affect Concord Village, we can agree to keep our members informed, but we can’t take a stand,” said Woolston.
Douglas, also a 25-year resident, noted that residents are also connected to the larger downtown area by virtue of their employment.
“We have a lot of individuals working as faculty at City Tech and St. Francis. We also have several lawyers and judges at downtown courts,” he said.
Regarding Concord Village as a haven, Pearlstein points out that “the grounds and pathways and benches and rooftop terraces provide getaway places for residents, for respite, for a little peace from the hustle and bustle, a place to stroll.”
She also notes there are a number of activities for seniors, including regular meetings and presentations — lie those with the 84th Police Precinct, plus shopping trips to Fairway sponsored by Assemblywoman Joan Millman.
Woolston, who lived at Concord Village as a child and has since returned with her husband and child, points out that there is support for the youngsters and their parents, citing an indoor playroom, a regular playtime for the youngest kids, an outdoor play area, babysitting pool, Yahoo group for sharing information and an occasional pizza night.
And, as Zimmerman points out, there are yoga and karate classes, a gym, and three retail stores on the property — meaning that residents have access to all the essentials without ever having to leave home.
The three retail stores, all facing Tillary Street, are the Celeste Diner, Concord Cleaners and the recently-opened Concord Market.
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