Nineteenth Street is losing its cool.
A Windsor Terrace air-conditioning business is on the move as developers set their sights on 19th Street, where 20 residential units are being planned for a mixed use block across the street from the Prospect Expressway.
The owner of 560 19th St, where air-conditioning business A&W Cooling is located, and Vito Gargano, landlord of an empty lot at 564 19th St. next door, both want to erect similar three-story, 10-unit complexes on the sites, according to plans each filed with the city. Both will use the same architect.
A&W owner Walter Torello will have to scram to make way for the newer complex, and he isn’t looking forward to relocating his heavy machinery — but says he has no hard feelings about being shown the door.
“[My landlord’s] a good guy, and I’ve been here for many years,” Torello said.
SPB Realty, the cooling business’s landlord, just submitted his application on Oct. 6, and the empty-lot owner Vito Gargano filed his last year, though Gargano said the city has been slow to issue the permits he needs to begin construction.
On the other hand, the cooling business owner won’t miss what he described as piles of trash and debris that litter the opposite side of 19th Street, which he claims is a popular place for cab drivers looking to unload some unwanted cargo.
“They just literally empty their cars out onto the sidewalk,” Torello said. “Beer cans, empty beer cases, the occasional condom here and there, papers, newspapers, napkins — whatever’s in their car.”
On a recent visit, the sidewalk held a scant scattering of plastic bottles, paper cups, wrappers, aluminum cans, and a solitary garbage bag abandoned on the sidewalk, although it wasn’t exactly the dumping ground Torello described.
The developers say the cooling guy is making much ado about nothing, and that there is no trash, according to Gargano.
“I haven’t seen that problem,” Gargano said. “I don’t know what they’re talking about.”
The air-conditioning expert also expects parking to be an issue for current and future 19th Street residents.
The new buildings will each feature on-site parking for seven cars apiece, but the area’s location — six blocks from the nearest subway station — means the new tenants may want a car or two, he said.
“Parking is terrible over here,” he said. “In the Slope, you’re closer to trains, nightlife, shopping — you don’t need a car. Over here you’re kind of on the outskirts so to go supermarket shopping, it’s a big inconvenience unless you own a car, or start taking cabs.”
The developer’s believe their on-site parking will be enough to offset the influx of new residents, Gargano said.
“I have seven parking spots there,” he said. “That will be enough.”
