Big box wins first round in Brooklyn.

It's one step forward and two steps back for IKEA Furniture store's plan to build a big box outpost in Brooklyn.

A City Council panel has given unanimous approval to a new IKEA store in the Red Hook section of the borough.

But opponents of the development say that if IKEA succeeds in getting all of the necessary approvals for the project, they will file a law suit. Eager to create its first New York City location, IKEA would like to build a 350,000 s/f store in Red Hook, complete with a 5.5-acre waterfront esplanade and a new ferry terminal.

The store claims it will create at least 600 permanent jobs for the neighborhood residents and is ready to take steps to prevent extra traffic in the area. Despite IKEA's efforts, the plan still does not sit well with many of Red Hook's community groups, who feel that the store would bring undue disturbance to the area.

The opposition has already forced IKEA to revise its desired groundbreaking date from the summer of 2004 to some unspecified date in the future.

"There are other regulatory bodies that the plan has to go through, including the State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Army Corps of Engineers," said John McGettrick, of the Red Hook Civic Association. "And if they persist in pushing this environmental disaster on our community, we will sue. It guarantees gridlock traffic, more pollution, more accidents, loss of parking and degradation of our main park. There are other, better development proposals out there."

McGettrick hopes to get the word out on the streets. "We are hoping that news and real estate organizations will analyze the facts and report them. Most of the information right now comes from the highly-paid lobbyists hired by IKEA." For the moment, though, IKEA's representatives are enjoying their moment. "We are very excited at the strong showing of support and endorsement that the City Council showed with its approval of our project," said Joseph Roth, a spokesman for the store.