Because of the train station, the intersection of Newkirk Avenue and Marlborough Road is busier than most in Brooklyn’s Ditmas Park neighborhood. Described by real-estate agents as a “secret suburb” inside the city, Ditmas Park is a place where everyone knows your name and your car, and where the house parties end at reasonable hours. Newkirk Avenue—the southern border—disturbs the serenity. During the day, it’s a conveyor belt of impatient drivers; the street corners lack trash bins. In all the years that I have passed that intersection, I have never felt the desire to sit down. Apparently, that feeling was not mutual.
On June 18, 2023, a local artist named Michael Combs began laying wood and cinder blocks on the sidewalk. At first, it was hard to tell what he was making, but it soon became clear that it was a U-shaped bench that wrapped around a small tree. Painted blue, red, and yellow, the bench immediately caused division among residents.
Complaints flooded the Flatbush Development Corporation, which sponsored the bench as well as other art features in the area. Some people worried that it would attract the homeless. “They need a place to sit, too,” came the rebuttal. Safety was another concern. A toddler’s foot got trapped in the gaps between the timber. Combs used one of his three-year-old’s shoes to test and fill in the gaps, putting an end to that argument.
Local- and social-media campaigns in favor of keeping the bench gained momentum. The Daily News and Brooklyn Paper sent reporters to interview bench supporters, who posed for photos with yellow signs that read “#Save the Art Bench.”
Calling some of the complaints against the bench “ugly,” Combs said that hearts would be broken if he had to take it down. “A chair can only hold one person,” he said, but a bench supports many. “It means something to me, but I think it means even more to the neighborhood.”
One resident was shocked that some people opposed the bench. “It’s not doing any harm. It’s actually protecting the tree,” she said. Others concurred.
The Department of Transportation disagreed. The landlord of the building closest to the bench received a violation notice; the DOT allegedly threatened to remove the structure. It was too close to the curb, was not near a park or bus stop, and did not meet other DOT rules. These complaints were rescinded because the building owner was not the one who installed the bench.
After about a week of back-and-forth, it was decided that the bench would remain. Once the press coverage ended and the summer passed, its only users were those who needed to tie their shoes.
This past spring, though, a different crowd began using the bench. One neighbor, returning home, noticed a large group smoking marijuana and playing loud music; the door to the dispensary nearby was open wide. Rumors held that the bench was the place to go for illegal drugs.
A neighborhood meeting was called. I was told that the community organizers who supported the bench were rendered silent. On August 7, 2024, five sheriff’s officers raided the dispensary. They searched the basement, the side yard, the back yard, the AC ducts, and the roof. They found enough to shut it down.
A few hours later, a worker with a sledgehammer stood in front of the bench, contemplating which side to strike first. Two minutes later, the bench was an unrecognizable pile of rainbow rubble. “It was all predictable,” more than one neighbor said. “A nice idea in the wrong place,” we agreed.
That night, I passed by to see if any of the riffraff had shown up. The street corner was quiet, the tree still stood, and any sign of drug activity was gone. The bench could not be saved, but a bit of that suburban feeling had returned.
Photo: Simon McGill / Moment via Getty Images
