Brewing in a Flooplain
Hoyt Avenue is Hit. Again.
Hoyt Avenue in Mamaroneck, New York flooded yesterday. Again. The street is the current home to Half Time Beverage and New York Craft Coalition (NYCC) (a new venture that includes Marlowe Ales and Barclay Brewing.) Without change, this won’t be the last time it floods.
But what level of change is needed and who is responsible? Do they need to install some detention basins to capture the water on the Hoyt Avenue property? Does the region need to implement green infrastructure measures to naturally cope with stormwater runoff? Does the world need to take actions that will meaningfully fight climate change? For a small brewery, there’s a lot that you simply cannot control.
One might say you can choose where to open your business, including areas not prone to flooding, but that’s easier said than done. For starters, there are local zoning regulations that dictate where land uses can be located. That immediately eliminates a substantial amount of land, and in areas that developed before the advent of rail and truck shipping, it often means being near a waterbody where industrial development was historically located.
Flooding in front of Half Time/NYCC September 29, 2023 (Image: Reuters).
In the case of Halftime and NYCC, it’s in the floodplain of the Sheldrake River. Not surprisingly, it has flooded in the past, including the four feet of water it brought into the space in September of 2021 thanks to Hurricane Ida. Back then, Decadent Ales occupied the NYCC space.
The recent storm didn’t bring as much flooding to the Sheldrake floodplain. And while other places in the area like Brooklyn were hit hard, to my knowledge, Strong Rope and Wild East in the low-lying Gowanus neighborhood were the only breweries that reported flooding.
Marlowe Ales hasn’t had it easy lately. After contract brewing with Twelve Percent Beer Project, the business found a home in Nyack, New York, but it was short-lived after one of the oddest closings the industry has likely seen. In the middle of service one night, the landlord had the business shut down after just six months of being open, leaving them without a home. But that’s another story.
Marlowe Ales posted these images on their Instagram account showing the clean up after the flooding.
A new opportunity sprung up with Barclay Brewing to take over the Decadent Ales space in Mamaroneck and the New York Craft Coalition was born. It’s in a location carved out of Half Time, which is a retail beer emporium with another location in Poughkeepsie, New York. The two breweries share the space, which includes a small brewhouse, as well as a taproom with a restaurant.
Securing space for a small brewery that is affordable and allowed by zoning is not easy. Just like when people search for their personal home, there are some tradeoffs. Half Time’s space has a lot of positives going for it. The flooding was likely something NYCC was aware of, but accepted knowing that you will never find the perfect location.
It’s unclear what’s next for Half Time and NYCC. Half Time has already reopened, but what are long-term measures they are thinking about to avoid future flooding on the site? Marlowe noted on their social media that the flooding damaged equipment, finished products, and raw ingredients. They’re closed until further notice, except for sales of products to go. For the time being, support for them/NYCC can be given by buying their beer and merchandise. You can do that here.