Sheepshead Bay Marshalls WILL Have Parking

The construction of the Sheepshead Bay Marshalls is moving along, with the steel frame nearly complete and cinder blocks beginning to form the walls. Neighbors, meanwhile, can breathe a sigh of relief, since Buildings Department documents show that the business will have parking.

Sheepshead Bites was the first to report that a new Sheepshead Bay Marshalls department store would be swallowing up four long-time businesses along Avenue Y, between East 16th Street and East 17th Street. At the time, the property owner said the 27,292 square foot, one-story structure might have parking, but that it was not yet definite.

That had some worried that the intersection – already home to Doody’s Hardware Store, Stop & Shop and Petco – would become a traffic boondoggle as shoppers hunt for parking spots.

“I’d think anything that goes there would be a traffic nightmare,” Community Board 15 Chairperson Theresa Scavo told us at the time. “Traffic, traffic, traffic. Go to Petco on a Saturday afternoon – it’s backed up to kingdom come. Imagine something like that where every woman will be flocking over here.”

Those worries may have heightened since September, when the builder began excavating the foundation of 1623 Avenue Y – the site’s formal address – making it obvious the building would sit atop the lot’s entire footprint, and leaving no room for ground-level parking.

However, the building’s Schedule A – a document that explains intended occupancy and use for various parts of a structure – reveals that a parking level is being constructed on the roof. The parking lot will accommodate 89 cars, according to the document.

What do you think? Is 89 spots enough? And – with or without parking – is a Marshalls going to make traffic worse?