Coming Soon to Bed-Stuy: The Merchant Quad

“I don’t know if you’ve tried #20, Restaurant? It’s simply fantastic!” said Kenneth Mbonu, director of economic development at .

From his iPad, Mbonu pointed to a tiny yellow pin marked #20 on an enlarged version of a map depicting the new Bed-Stuy Merchant Quad, a quadrangular-shaped area illustrating a cluster of restaurants, lounges and cafes within Bedford Stuyvesant.

Anchored at each corner by the neighborhood’s four wine shops – , , and – The Merchant Quad is a newly developed concept by Bridge Street to inspire new business development in the neighborhood.

“We used the wine shops to anchor, because we can offer tours and wine tastings between the restaurants for those who are visiting for the first time,” said Mbonu.

The new Merchant Quad gives residents, visitors and potential business owners a general starting point for new business development. The online version of the map will give its users the opportunity to add their own “yellow pins,” weigh in and make suggestions of the types of businesses they’d like to see open in the Quad and where.

“The goal is to enhance the whole economic development experience in Bedford Stuyvesant,” said Mbonu. “I’d like to get it to where we’re asking each other, ‘So what’s going on in the Quad this weekend?’ Or ‘Have you had lunch here in the Quad?’ Or 'How many restaurants and bars have you visited in the Quad?’

“As a neighborhood, we need to be able to give ourselves some sort of identity. We deserve it.”

So far, there are 34 businesses listed in the Bed-Stuy Merchant Quad—four wine shops and 30 cafes, lounges and restaurants, all with seating.

Bridge Street printed poster cards of the map, which are available now at all 34 locations. The interactive site is expected to go live by summer. But Mbonu wants to encourage residents and potential business owners to send in suggestions now for what they’d like to see included on the site, to ensure it is as interactive and as robust as possible for the summer launch.

“It’s now up to other businesses pioneers to say, ‘Hmm, there’s a void here and there’s a void there,’” he said pointing to the spaces absent of any yellow pins. “’Let me go in there and see if my business would make sense.’ Or ‘Is what I’m doing complementary to any of these other businesses around me?’ It’s for people to begin to think about how they’d like to see the neighborhood expand commercially, and for residents to weigh in.”

“We don’t need some big hospital to be our anchor tenant. The businesses that are here now, these pioneers are our anchor tenants,” said Mbonu. “Now let’s build a vibrant commercial corridor around these pioneering businesses…

“Hey, have you been to this restaurant? #34 Celestino's? It’s a seafood restaurant. Please, if you have the time… The food is very good. You will be simply amazed.”