Newsday from New York, New York • 31

BUSINESS 11 High Hopes Matched by Reality Yet By Judith Evans STAFF WRITER THE 114-YEAR-OLD Gage ft Tollner experience shows the high hopes merchants on Fulton Street had when the MetroTech office complex was completed two years ago and how some of them have been frustrated Chase Manhattan relocated 6000 workers to offices in MetroTech The list of the other tenants reads likea of big New York employers including Bear Steams ft Co and Brooklyn Union Gas But the thousands of new office workers immediately translate into the same number of new shoppers or diners In fact the economic recession and the inability to attract Me-troTech workers led Gage ft owners to file for bankruptcy protection in March 'The restaurant remains open preserving its distinction as New York oldest codtinuously operating restaurant The owners hope to file a reorganization plan this summer and emerge from bankruptcy soon thereafter Peter Aschkenasy and a handful of partners bought the elegant eatery the first restaurant to be designated a historic landmark in 1988 At the time the partners were sure the restaurant could benefit from the influx of MetroTech workers The restaurant had suffered from benign neglect by aging owners Aschkenasy said What the new owners discovered is that just because Gage Tollner owner Peter Aschkenasy in the restaurant somebody moves into MetroTech automatically mean going to wander onto Fulton Street to have Aschkenasy said takes time for people to familiarize themselves with a new Sandwiched between the electronics shop and record store Gage Tollner today does home cooking with a flair In the past six months the business has been up 30 percent said Aschkenasy largely because of word-of-mouth Aschkenasy says he still hopes presence will revitalize other merchants on Fulton Street he said a retail environment that is attractive safe and clean to give people a reason to walk down 3 WTTT stores and brand-name outlets selling everything from and menswear jewelry stereo and electronics equipment to fast food housewares and furniture The most widely known shops are Conway Duane Reade Strawberry and FW Wool-worth The shopping only big department store is Abraham ft Straus In contrast during the 1930s to late 1940s Fulton Struct was a celebrated hub of downtown Brooklyn Huge department stores like and Frederick Loner ft Company served as anchors for the street while theaters like the Brooklyn Strand the Paramount Metropolitan and the Orpheum provided entertainment The decline began after World War II when new housing and store construction moved to the suburbs for returning veterans and their families said Laurence Alexander director of the Downtown Research and Development Center in Manhattan and publisher of Downtown Idea Exchange Heavy competition from suburban shopping malls during the 1970s devastated many downtown retail strips throughout the country Alexander said and Fulton experiences unique downtowns are undergoing a heavy and difficult process of he said Business improvement districts like the Fulton Mall Improvement Association can play a key role in the turnaround Alexander and others said In addition to providing extra street cleaning and security services the group can provide a mechanism for property owners to define the physical image and customers advertise it and lure big-name retailers After all said Jennings of the Downtown Brooklyn Development Corp 90000 people live in the neighborhood surrounding the mall and an additional 30000 office workers are expected in the area by the end of the decade Some believe office workers who avoid Fulton Street are scared of the area But for the past three years crime on Fulton Street has declined said I John Geary of the 84th Precinct whose beat inch the mall Police have worked closely with the mall association which has its own security staff to help prevent shoplifting burglaries and other crimes against shoppers and store owners he said Officers on foot and in cars monitor the street daily the number of people that walk the mall the percentage of incidences is Geary said biggest problem is the Last week the sidewalks on Fulton Street were void of book vendors a new law that prohibits them from selling on mqjor streets allowed police to move the peddlers With the changes at the mall association property owners may be ready take a more active role in transforming the street may galvanize the active players into a sense of self-determination said Joan Bartolomeo president of the Brooklyn Economic Development Corp The two major property owners JW Mays chairman Max Shulman and owner Charles Chera were reportedly behind the shake-up in the association leadership: Shulman declined to be interviewed Chera who is now the chairman of the board did not return phone calls for comment Travis the former board chairman would not respond to the charges that under his leadership the board ignored issues and spent too much money But Aschkenasy defended the past work were purged he said was a conflict of ideology one based on the management of AAS MetroTech and Brooklyn Law the other property Leon Wen a professor at Brooklyn Law School was another of the mall board members removed from his position The new board has appointed Jill Kelly the former director from 1986 to 1992 to search for a new director Meanwhile Kelly said property owners recognize a need to attract more upscale retailers as space becomes available irony is the street is very successful for property owners" Kelly said have expressed that as leases expire go after the national Forest City which owns the 80-store indoor Albee Square Mall on Fulton Street has nabbed Toys Us as the anchor tenant Toys Us is expected to open by October and will hire 100 to 200 employees This fall Forest City will begin building a 150000-square-foot Bradlees at the Atlantic Center complex Those stores will bring families back to downtown Brooklyn Travis'Eaid Bruce Weitz chief executive officer of Duane Reade Corp agrees The Duane Reade on FultocTStreet is expanding from 6000 to 8000 square feet by little some chains are starting to come back to urban Waits said Street property owners ousted Paul Travis chief executive officer of Forest City Ratner as chairman of the board of directors Another four board members were ejected Dan Pisark who in January was hired as the executive director was fired Some property owners have said they were dissatisfied with the former handling of an increasing number of peddlers on Fulton Street and that too much money was spent to recruit the new executive director without informing the board The bigger complaint of some fanner board members including merchants is that the mall moved fast enough to upgrade its merchandise and image in an effort to grab the attention of the new office workers They say an opportunity may have been squandered because the mall lacks a cohesive marketing plan to attract national retailers think it MetroTech has had a real impact on the street as was expected But there still remains a huge body of new people with purchasing said Peter Aschkenasy owner of nearby Gage ft Tollner one of New York oldest restaurants and one of the four ousted board members He believes there has been Ma lost Alfred Jennings executive director of the downtown Brooklyn Development Association defended the efforts to bring new blood to the area development occur immediately" he said Some merchants see MetroTech workers beginning to venture to the mall said Marilyn Gelber executive assistant to Brooklyn Borough president Howard Golden However she said think enough people have made that step It takes a little bit of time now looking for ways to bring the benefits of the jobs to the retail sector Fulton Mall which completed a $24 million renova--tion fn 1984 is Jt jinileJong wenagqrjft oyht.