Apple working 24/7 to finish downtown Brooklyn store as giant glass pane shatters

Crews are working around the clock to put the finishing touches on the first Apple store in downtown Brooklyn, but they recently suffered a setback — a massive pane of glass has shattered.

It's unknown exactly when the store will open — Apple itself hasn't even confirmed that it is, in fact, an Apple store, though a quite obvious company logo adorns the storefront and is wrapped to conceal its identity.

Crews at the site, located steps away from Atlantic Terminal, have been working night and day to complete the project, according to Steve Giralt, who provided photos and details to AppleInsider. Given the mad dash to finish, it's likely that Apple is working to open the store before Black Friday and the lucrative holiday shopping season.

A broken window pane at the front of the new store. Photos courtesy of Steve Giralt.

It's unclear whether the shattered glass might affect those apparent plans, however.

Apple was said to have signed a 10-year lease for the prime location in Fort Greene earlier this year. In addition to being next door to a transportation hub, 300 Ashland Place is also near the Barclays Center, home to the Brooklyn Nets, New York Islanders, and countless concerts and other events.

The Apple logo is covered, but not exactly discreet. Photos courtesy of Steve Giralt

Apple's first retail store in Brooklyn opened in Williamsburg in July of 2016, a few miles north of downtown. The company has a total of ten stores in New York City, all but three of which are located in Manhattan.

Though the year is drawing to a close, Apple still has two high-profile product launches scheduled for the month of December to draw customers into stores — HomePod and iMac Pro. Driven by the blockbuster iPhone X, it's expected that the 2017 holiday season will result in Apple's best quarter in company history, making it a prime opportunity for the company to cash in with a new store in New York's most populous borough.

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33 Comments

Soli 9 Years · 9981 comments

About 7 years ago

I hope they bought AppleCare+.

morky 18 Years · 200 comments

Awesome, an Apple store close to home, finally! Brooklyn has been severely neglected. Fourth largest city in America if not part of NYC, and just one Apple store.

cgWerks 8 Years · 2947 comments

Soli said:

I hope they bought AppleCare+.

Priceless! LOL :)

I've been wondering - given the smash and grab break-ins - does this stuff shatter like a car windshield? (can't tell if that's plastic or the broken window in the pic) I was just thinking if it shatters in huge sharp chunks (like more normal glass), if there is a lot of danger involved. Like are we going to find some criminals sliced up one of these days? Or, in earth-quake prone places? I used to wonder about that while walking up that first glass stair-case in the original SF store.

cgWerks said:
I've been wondering - given the smash and grab break-ins - does this stuff shatter like a car windshield? (can't tell if that's plastic or the broken window in the pic) I was just thinking if it shatters in huge sharp chunks (like more normal glass), if there is a lot of danger involved. Like are we going to find some criminals sliced up one of these days? Or, in earth-quake prone places? I used to wonder about that while walking up that first glass stair-case in the original SF store.

I assume it's all laminated, by law, but also makes it hard to break through for security reasons. Hopefully we'll get some store window glass expert in here to educate us.