Facts

High Traffic Volumes
Counts from the Ikea Elizabeth store show 2000-3000 cars per hour during peak periods. This store is the second largest traffic generator in the state -- Giant stadium is number one, but only on game day. We can assume similar or even higher volumes for a Brooklyn store.

Poor Highway access
Successful big box stores (read Home Depot) are located directly off the highway so folks don't get lost. This site is a dead-end street located over a mile away from the nearest highway ramp. The Red Hook/Carroll Gardens street network is simply not equipped to handle a generator of this magnitude. Access is horrible - it's a series of narrow one-way streets through a residential neighborhood.

Land Use
Simple put why would you ever locate a windowless big box store on the waterfront especially one that has no intention of barging in any freight? Plus allowing a commercial variance in a M2 zone would result in the loss of potential maritime development and would kick the door wide for future commercial developments - big box stores on the waterfront from Atlantic Avenue all the way to Erie Basin.A maritime use like the FedEx transfer station would create jobs with very little traffic.

IKEA was thwarted in Boston, Chicago, Springfield Mass, and New Rochelle
Seven IKEA stores have relocated
24 hours a day. Seven days a week. That's when trucks at the Hicksville, N.Y. IKEA make their deliveries, against the wishes of residents, city officials - and against the law.

Myths

There used to be a lot of traffic in Red Hook and it can handle a lot more than it currently has.
In fact, many of Red Hook's streets are quite narrow and ill-equipped to handle the quantity and size of the vehicles that IKEA would elicit. The kind of traffic that Red Hook used to have is not the kind of traffic that will be generated by a big box store. What's more, if any of the other planned developments for the waterfront (such as the Carnival Cruise Line) go through, the composite traffic - with coinciding weekend peaks - will completely overwhelm the streets of Columbia Street District, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and Red Hook.
Many trips will be by mass transit and ferries.
There isn't an Ikea on the planet where cars don't make up the majority of trips. The Elizabeth shuttle accounts for fewer than 2% of trips to the Jersey store. Even in super transit-friendly countries like Holland, Denmark and Sweden, people drive to the IKEA. If you can't get a Dutchman to bike or take the train to the IKEA, then it probably won't fly in Brooklyn.
IKEA will generate enough jobs to put all unemployed Red Hookers to work.
In reality, IKEA offers a relatively low number of jobs per square foot of development. The proposed Fairway and Loews (also in Red Hook) will generate more jobs together in less space. Without IKEA, they will probably generate more jobs than there are current Red Hook residents seeking employment.

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