A Brooklyn neighborhood embraces a new bench, but the city may order it torn down

A new, colorful bench was built in Brooklyn — but city rules threaten its future.

The bench was built as part of weekly Open Streets programming run by the Flatbush Development Corporation. Michael Combs, who lives in the area and says he always dreamed of being an artist, was recruited by the organization to lead the Father’s Day workshop.

But the pirate bench was built without a permit from the city — and now it’s under threat of being taken down.

The Ditmas Park community is up in arms, saying the bench has brought vibrant joy to an intersection that has a history of being one of the most dangerous to pedestrians in the area. An online campaign has formed in support of the bench under the hashtag #savetheartbench.

“They have a job to do,” Combs, 36, the artist, said of the city. “And it would be sad to me if our cries to save the bench just fell on deaf ears, and it was disregarded.”

Approval for the bench would involve the Department of Transportation, the Parks Department and the Public Design Commission, according to a DOT spokesperson.

“This is a feel-good situation and there is always city bureaucracy, and there are always people who, you do something beautiful in this work and there always will be people who block you,” said Genevieve Stamper, who lives nearby and helped the artist start the campaign to save the bench. ” … Don’t we all want our dangerous community corners that are relatively blighted … to be filled with brightness and beauty and color and community?”

Combs painted the big bench red, blue, yellow and green. It’s right under a big, leafy tree, providing shade on a hot day. But before he put the finishing touches on it, the notices and complaints started to roll in.

The Flatbush Development Corporation received a complaint about the potential for homeless people to sleep on the bench, and the dangers to young children who might climb on it.

The landlord of the building closest to the bench had received a violation notice from the Department of Transportation, which oversees the sidewalks, before the bench had even been completely finished. The building allegedly was given 30 days to remove the bench, but the DOT has since backed off on that.

“DOT rescinded the Notice of Encroachment to the building owner because it wasn’t the owner who installed the bench. We will reach out to the Flatbush Development Corporation and work with them to determine if the bench can be approved by the city to remain in place,” a spokesperson for the DOT said.

The bench has two active DOT violations.

On Thursday afternoon, residents from all walks of life stopped to enjoy the bench. One resident was beaming with excitement when she saw it, taking pictures of the bench to send to her friends. Another stopped to make a phone call, excited he didn’t have to walk to his car to find a place to rest. A third chomped on a sandwich from a nearby deli.

“I like the bench personally, especially the colors on it, but other than that I really think it’s a good bench,” said Leon McPhie, 20, who grew up in the neighborhood. “Ever since they put it up, I’ve seen a lot of random people sit there They drink their coffee, eat their food. I saw one lady out there for like 40 minutes.”

Newkirk Ave.n is like the “stepchild” of the diverse, family-friendly neighborhood — it feels a little forgot about, Combs said. The bench feels like a long-overdue investment in the area.

“They’re making the community look way better than how it was before that grew up, so I really support it,” said McPhie, who lives just a couple blocks from the bench and works at the pharmacy across the sidewalk from it.

Combs responded to safety concerns by adding extra wooden supports in gaps on the bench so that young children wouldn’t slip through.

Neighbors said that the homeless issue hasn’t come up so far.

“It’s a place to sit and relax. I pass by every day and it doesn’t seem a detriment or anything like that. I haven’t seen homeless people sleeping on it or anything like that. … It seems like a good thing,” said Andre Alleyne, 34, a Grubhub driver.

Arbor Watt, co-owner of Wattli Bar and Kitchen just a few feet from the bench, said he thought the area was too crowded to be that useful to anyone looking to sleep on it.

Albert Zibak, a pharmacist at Liberty Chemists, had some hesitations about the safety of the structure.

“We have different walks of life walking on this corner, and we want to make sure everybody’s safe,” Zibak said. “So we want to make sure that bench is safe, for old people to sit down, with the kids to sit on it. So it’s a very good idea and I like it, but I don’t know how to assess the safety of it.”

Still, he wanted to beat rumors that the business was anti-bench.

“The pharmacy supports the bench,” said Zibak, 26. “I don’t want people thinking we don’t support the bench.”