Gowanus Lounge: Serving Brooklyn

Entries from May 2007

More Heavy Metal Backlash in Carroll Gardens

May 31st, 2007 · 4 Comments

That sound you hear at the on Smith Street near the Carroll Street subway stop? It’s the noise of the community organizing to try to seriously change a building planned for Smith Street and Second Place. The image above is a rendering someone in the neighborhood created and put on a flyer showing how what […]

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Tags: Architecture · Carroll Gardens

New Gowanus Signage: Toll Ahead

May 31st, 2007 · Comments Off on New Gowanus Signage: Toll Ahead

No, not the bridge & tunnel kind of toll. This kind of Toll. A Gowanus resident sent along this photo of signage that has appeared on Bond Street and First Street, which would be close to the epicenter of the roughly 400-unit luxe development the Toll Brothers would like to build on the shores of […]

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Tags: Developers · Gowanus · Rezoning

The Smell of Coney Island: ‘Tangy and Citrusy’

May 31st, 2007 · Comments Off on The Smell of Coney Island: ‘Tangy and Citrusy’

This is just too good to pass up, particularly since the official launch of Bond No. 9’s Coney Island fragrance is Friday. To us, Coney Island on a hot summer day is one part ocean, one part fried food, one part assorted suncreens and tanning products and one part trash marinating in the sun. Bond […]

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Tags: coney island

Manhattan Chocolate Building Getting Ready to Go Bye Bye

May 31st, 2007 · Comments Off on Manhattan Chocolate Building Getting Ready to Go Bye Bye

Back in March we posted about major changes coming to Union Avenue between Havemeyer Street and Richardson Streets around N. 9th and N. 10th Streets. Change is definitely in the air, as can be seen in the photo taken by our favorite Brooklyn advice blogger dabbing in real estate development news, Bad Advice. She writes: […]

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Tags: Williamsburg

Bay Ridge Blogger Doesn’t Dig Brooklyn Museum Feminist Art

May 31st, 2007 · 2 Comments

This post over at the Bay Ridge Blog jumped out at us because it raises the always-provacative issue of museums and the art they display. The museum in question is the Brooklyn Museum and the blogger takes issues with the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art. There is background here. The blogger had almost […]

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Tags: Bay Ridge

Quadriad: From Williamsburg to a Neighborhood Near You

May 31st, 2007 · 1 Comment

Quadriad Development, which is building on the block bounded by Bedford Avenue, Berry, N. 3rd and N. 4th Streets in Williamsburg, made a presentation to Community Board 1 this week and fleshed out a bit of its vision for the parcel. It confirmed that it wants to build a 24-story tower at the corner of […]

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Tags: Uncategorized

Brooklinks: Thursday Garden Variety Edition

May 31st, 2007 · 1 Comment

Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and images: Judge Fines Ratner Contractor for Unsafe Demolition [AYR] Housing Authority Land Sale Will Test East New York Development Popularity [NYT] Petition Drive for a Prospect Park Pool [Metro] Coney Island History Project Center Opens Today [Kinetic Carnival] Former Coney Island Hospital Exec Fined for Triple-Dipping […]

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Tags: Brooklinks

Another Important Gowanus Planning Meeting Tonight

May 31st, 2007 · Comments Off on Another Important Gowanus Planning Meeting Tonight

The next meeting in the series of community sessions leading up to rezoning proposals for Gowanus takes place tonight against the background of a purge of nine CB6 members that is believed to have been, in part, motivated by a desire to diminish opposition to allowing taller, bigger buildings in the neighborhood. The Community Board […]

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Tags: Uncategorized

GL Analysis: Will the City’s Huge Building Scandal be Addressed?

May 31st, 2007 · 2 Comments

We won’t for a minute claim that the problems with the building and development industry and the violence it inflicts on the quality of life of Brooklyn residents from Sheepshead Bay and the South Slope to Williamsburg and Greenpoint are anything new. Corruption, malfeasance, the development industry and city government have all fit together like […]

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Tags: Construction Issues

Looking Around Red Hook

May 31st, 2007 · 1 Comment

Historian and tour guide Francis Morrone offers some tips for those unfamiliar with Red Hook in today’s Sun. Here’s a sample: For the curious, here’s what I suggest. Begin at Carroll and Van Brunt streets. It’s a few blocks from the Carroll Street station of the F and G trains. You can also get there […]

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Tags: Red Hook

The Downtown Brooklyn Landrush

May 31st, 2007 · Comments Off on The Downtown Brooklyn Landrush

We’re a day late and a dollar short in getting to this, but it’s worth noting that in this week’s Village Voice, Neil deMause deals with the mega-development in the making called Downtown Brooklyn and the collateral damage in the form of people being evicted to make way for the new development. It is not […]

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Tags: Downtown Brooklyn · Urban Planning

Smith Street Revolt Brewing Over Shiny New Building?

May 30th, 2007 · 1 Comment

That building that could rise at Smith Street and Second Place in Carroll Gardens has, um, struck quite a chord in the neighborhood. First, we got an email from our original tipster noting common ownership of the lot at 360 Smith Street where the eight-story Heavy Metal Building designed by architect Robert Scarano would go […]

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Tags: Architecture · Carroll Gardens

Potential Coney Island Circus Has Had Animal Abuse Issues

May 30th, 2007 · 3 Comments

You know the circus that Thor Equities and developer Joe Sitt want say they are bringing to Coney Island this summer? Yesterday, we were going to crack a joke about how animal rights activists would complain. Well, the circus that will be coming is Cole Bros. and animal rights activists have complained bitterly about its […]

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Tags: coney island · Thor Equities

The Crack Problem in Greenpoint

May 30th, 2007 · 1 Comment

Just in case you were thinking that the South Slope is the only place in Brooklyn with a crack problem, we can verify that Greenpoint has one too. What you are looking at is a photo of 131 Meserole Avenue, which was submitted by our intrepid and very focused Greenpoint correspondent. The problem would appear […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Greenpoint

Sixty Seconds in (Dog-Free) East River State Park

May 30th, 2007 · 1 Comment

For those of you curious about the new East River State Park in Williamsburg, we’ve got sixty seconds of video for you, available by clicking the embed below. We also understand that there is a petition going around in Williamsburg asking the state park managers to put an end to the “No Dogs” policy in […]

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Tags: Parks · Williamsburg

Dig Le Gowanus View Le Bleu

May 30th, 2007 · Comments Off on Dig Le Gowanus View Le Bleu

[Photo courtesy of Real Deal] Hotel Le Bleu is coming to Gowanus and, along with it, Le View of the Gowanus. Gabby Warshawer reports on the Real Deal that Le Bleu will open on July 1: “Brooklyn’s first boutique hotel,” according to developer Dominic Tonacchio. Rooms at the Andres Escobar-designed Hotel Le Bleu at 370 […]

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Tags: Gowanus · Hotels

Brooklyn Nibbles: Williamsburg & Greenpoint Edition

May 30th, 2007 · Comments Off on Brooklyn Nibbles: Williamsburg & Greenpoint Edition

A few food and retail developments to report on the North Brooklyn front: 1) It looks like there will be a plethora of new pizza choices (well, at least two new ones) in Williamsburg soon. We’ve previously noted the impending coming of La Nonna at 237 Bedford. The always watchful Will Femia takes note of […]

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Tags: Brooklyn Nibbles

Williamsburg Marketing Fun Update: The Radical Chic Ad

May 30th, 2007 · 4 Comments

We haven’t seen these ads for 20 Bayard, which is one of the Karl Fischer Row buildings on Bayard Street along McCarren Park. The blog Copyranter has, though, and in addition to posting the photo seen above, has this to say: Stupidly Idiotic. Idiotically Stupid. I have given NYC real estate ads a rest lately, […]

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Tags: Real Estate Marketing · Williamsburg

Here’s the Water Slide Thor Says It Will Put Up in Coney Island

May 30th, 2007 · Comments Off on Here’s the Water Slide Thor Says It Will Put Up in Coney Island

In case you’re curious, the image above is the Hippo inflatable water slide that developer Joe Sitt says he’s going to put up somewhere on the Coney Island property that he made vacant this winter and that is currently surrounded by plywood fences. You can check out the slide here on the manufacturer’s website. If […]

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Tags: coney island · Thor Equities

Brooklinks: Wednesday Can You Believe It Already Edition

May 30th, 2007 · Comments Off on Brooklinks: Wednesday Can You Believe It Already Edition

Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and images. Brooklyn Child Death Rate Highest of Any Borough [NYP] Bldg. Dept. Gives After-Hours Work Permit to Project w/Partial Stop Work Order! [IMBY] Great Moments in Greenpoint Vinyl Siding, Part III [newyorkshitty] Williamsburg’s State Park Arrives [Gothamist] Pit Bull Kills Child’s Maltese on Fifth Ave. in […]

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Tags: Brooklinks

Say What?: Alternate Side Parking Edition

May 30th, 2007 · Comments Off on Say What?: Alternate Side Parking Edition

We continue our series on signs that have been rendered odd or hard to read by construction, graffiti or other issues with this specimen from Williamsburg, which has a whole lot of compromised signage.

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Tags: Signs Under Siege · Williamsburg

Coney Island Mega-Focus #4: Memorial Day 2007 Photos

May 29th, 2007 · Comments Off on Coney Island Mega-Focus #4: Memorial Day 2007 Photos

If fewer people are going to Coney Island this year, as some have claimed, it would have been impossible to tell yesterday, when the place was jammed. If you don’t like the slideshow above, you can go over to the flickr set here.

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Tags: coney island

Markowitz to CB6 Purge Victims: You Never Call, You Never Write

May 29th, 2007 · Comments Off on Markowitz to CB6 Purge Victims: You Never Call, You Never Write

The CB6 story reverberates today with Borough President Marty Markowitz‘s first official statement since he, Council Member David Yassky and Council Member Bill de Blasio purged nine members over (a). their votes on Atlantic Yards or (b). the upcoming Gowanus rezoning. Jotham Sederstrom has Mr. Markowitz’s comments in today’s Daily News: You can cross Marty […]

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Tags: Community Boards

Coney Island Mega-Focus #3: Circus Coming to Town?

May 29th, 2007 · Comments Off on Coney Island Mega-Focus #3: Circus Coming to Town?

Are Coney Island developer Joe Sitt and Thor Equities trying to put a kinder, gentler face on their Coney Island project and dampen some of the controversy it has generated? Could be. Today, they send word via the New York Post that one of the big parcels of land that they cleared over the winter […]

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Tags: coney island

A Look at Williamsburg’s New East River State Park

May 29th, 2007 · 3 Comments

East River State Park finally opened this weekend and we like it. It is wonderful to finally have open space on the water that can be accessed without climbing through or over fences. While the site has an interesting environmental legacy–as does neighboring land to the south where those luxury condo towers are going up […]

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Tags: Parks · Williamsburg