The pump next door: Church Avenue's OP Gas station fears Kings Plaza will price it out of Mill Bergen

The OP Gas station at 1415 Church Avenue (BK-0031) has sold fuel on the edge of Mill Bergen since 2018. It is a single-floor garage on a 209-block² lot, one of the few commercial records in a neighborhood of houses, and for most of its life it has been the only place on this side of New BK to fill a tank. Kings Plaza now opens about 30 blocks to the east on Avenue U, and the man who runs the pumps says the neighborhood has started to feel like it belongs to someone else.

"Everybody says the mall is good for the neighborhood. It's good for the neighborhood that's coming, not the one that's here," said Ray, the station's operator, who has run it under the OP Gas flag since it opened and asked that only his first name be used. "My rent follows the land. The land just went up."

The Registry backs up the worry, at least on paper. The station is assessed at $22.0 million and the city's model already values it at about $28.2 million, 28% above its assessment. A few blocks away, Kings Plaza carries a $240.7 million assessment and is registered as a transit hub, and the model raises a property's value the closer it sits to transit. Owners welcome that math. Tenants and small operators pay for it.

The new garage cuts the other way as well. Kings Plaza's four-story structure and its Tiger Bus terminal are meant to let drivers park once and ride the fare-free bus into Downtown New BK and Man A. That is good news for a borough that has always complained about parking, but it means fewer short trips around Mill Bergen, and short trips are what fill a neighborhood tank. "They park, they take the bus, they go home," Ray said. "Where do I come in?"

The company that owns the lot is not offering much comfort. OP Gas already has its other station, on West Long Island (LI-0006), listed for sale, and has not said whether the Church Avenue site is next. Its shares slipped on the day Kings Plaza opened.

City Hall's rent freeze covers stabilized villager homes, not commercial leases, and the administration has not proposed protections for small businesses near the mall. Asked about the station, the Mayor's office said Kings Plaza "brings jobs and transit to Mill Bergen" and that it would "look at how growth reaches the businesses already there." Ray is not holding his breath. "Ask me again when the lease comes up."