If you read GL, you know we’ve written quite a few items over the last year or so about the awful condition of the boardwalk in Coney Island. GL has learned that the city was sued seven times in 2005 and 2006 over injuries that occurred as a result of fall due to the boardwalk […]

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The Coney Island Friday Night Fireworks series kicked off last night with a fun pre-Fourth of July display. The crowd was a little smaller than usual thanks, no doubt, to the cool, breezy and cloudy weather. We’re always surprised by how long and how nice the displays presented, in part, by Astroland are. We noted […]

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Opponents of that controversial building at 360 Smith Street have gathered 850 signatures on a petition calling for zoning changes and a moratorium on new buildings more than fifty feet tall. The Carroll Gardens Petition Blog, meanwhile writes: This week has seen a flurry of new activity for CORD! The petition ‘s call for a […]

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The huge fence that Thor Equities has put up around the properties it has demolished in the heart of Coney Island’s amusement district has been painted blue. More interesting, though, is that people are already finding a way to use the aesthetic monstrosity as something other than a streetscape killer. It gets at the issue […]

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Not all the changes made in Albany by the special interests and others that attacked the 421-a developer tax break legislation are bad ones. We have always believed that the huge tax abatements that developers receive are a holdover from a 1970s/80s mentality of desperation that fail to reflect in any way, shape or form […]

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We’d be remiss if we didn’t not that tonight is the Issue Project Room’s last night in its current space on the Gowanus. (No reason to totally mourn, though, as it starts up next week at the Old American Can Factory at Third Avenue and Third Street.). Tonight’s show, from the IPR’s website: SHARE celebrates […]

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1) In Park Slope, Elementi is now open on Seventh Avenue, occupying the old site of Snooky’s the old neighborhood hangout. Let the Seventh Avenue Battle of the Italian Restaurants begin. 2) Speaking of, uh, Italian restaurants, The Food of the Future reports the, er, fascinating rumor that a new 12-story building will house an […]

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We thought we’d post the Brooklyn part of the New York City greenmarkets map above, as well as an image of the market locations below. Overall, there are 44 market locations in the city, with 16 of the markets, including the one at Grand Army Plaza on Saturdays, operating year round. The markets are said […]

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[Photo courtesy of Frank Lynch/flickr] Visual: Gerritsen Beach Flickr Set (above) [Frank Lynch/flickr] Independence Day [Brooklyn Heights Blog] Burg from the Williamsburg Bridge [malarchie/flickr] Interactive Borough Hall 2,3 [BK 11201] Fourth Avenue Near Degraw [seriously excited!] Ninth Street Bridge Operator [Big Sky Brooklyn] The Corner Look, Greenpoint [Park Slope Street Photography] Desktop Day Double Feature […]

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We first started seeing emails about a possible greenmarket in Carroll Gardens more than year ago. Well, the Carroll Gardens Greenmarket will finally be opening on July 8 and will run every Sunday from 8 AM-4 PM. It will be open through November and take place on Carroll Street between Smith and Court. The market, […]

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We return to our “Say What?” feature about signs that have been compromised by construction and/or vandalism, with this example from Williamsburg. Huh?

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Is Wikipedia the neighborhood and development battleground of the future? Maybe. We say this because the Wikipedia page about architect Robert M. Scarano has become the subject of a weird tug of war between the architect (or his associates or supporters), his opponents and, increasingly, supporters and detractors of Council Member Bill de Blasio. The […]

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Is it that there’s more of this stuff in Boerum Hill or just that we see more emails from there? In any case, last week we dealt with the issue of people taking dumps outdoors in Boerum Hill. Today, we’ve got dogshit (attention Miss Heather) and dead rats. We bring you e-mail number one: On […]

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Our daily communications from Carroll Gardens residents contained some angry reactions to the news that permits are being issued for the building on 360 Smith Street that they are fighting. The residents are also suggesting–well, saying in a very agitated way–that they are not getting promised help from City Council Member Bill de Blasio. A […]

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Our Greenpoint correspondent thoughtfully sent along these photos of an older resident of Diamond Street staring at a new addition the block and, amusingly, yet another resident of the block watching her glare. The new building in question is 53 Diamond Street, which will have 8 units in its four stories. And happy neighbors.

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The new Brooklyn Paper has the rendering above of the New Look Gallery at Fulton Mall that is curiously minus the 45-60 tower that would go with it. The $750 million project, which would get a very, very big public subsidy, would have less affordable housing and several hundred fewer jobs than originally promised. That’s […]

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Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and images. Bloomberg Urging Veto of Current 421-a Developer Tax Break Bill [NYT] The $300M Atlantic Yards “Carve Out” & Possible Veto [AYR] Police Action Against Williamsburg Bicycles [Streets Blog] DOB’s First Rejection of “Minerva II” [Brownstoner] Thinkwell’s Designs & Concepts for the New Coney Island [Kinetic […]

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We missed a solid piece in the Village Voice earlier this week called The Second Battle of Bushwick, as a reader pointed out to us. It is long, detailed and chronicles the way Bushwick is changing and who is paying the price. The article–which runs five full screens if you read it online–bears Tom Robbins […]

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Coney Island is on the cover of the new issue of Preservation, which is published by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The story delves into the current Coney Situation (as viewed from a perspective of a couple of months ago, before things changed somewhat) extensively, but we’re going to go to the copy & […]

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Gowanus’ Issues Project Room is gone. In its place, starting this Sunday (7/1), is The Yard. They’ll be running shows in the performance space inside the silo next to the Carroll Street Bridge and on the shores of the Big G itself, and we’re personally happy to know that it will still serve as a […]

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We noted this at the recent Community Board 6 meeting in Park Slope, then promptly forgot until our e-missive arrived from nyc.gov. It’s of interest if you drive over the Hamilton Avenue Bridge over the Gowanus or take a car service that way or whatever. Here it is: Lane Closures on the Hamilton Avenue Bridge […]

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There’s a play set in Coney Island called Goodbye April, Hello May playing at HERE, which is an arts space on Sixth Avenue. It runs through July 16 and is described as “a heartsick comedy about the decay of civilization.” HERE is at 145 Sixth Avenue and tickets can be ordered here. The description of […]

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Several permits have been approved today for the controversial building at 360 Smith Street. The overall building plans have not been approved and they are not construction permits. Rather they are permits for the sort of thing that comes before construction: fences, sheds and the like. Three of the permits were approved today (6/28). The […]

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Don’t look now, but it seems that the State Education Department says that it’s “working closely” with the city’s Department of Buildings on the subject of architect Robert Scarano. Word comes via the office of City Council Member Bill de Blasio, which relates a letter from the Education Department that says: Please be advised that […]

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We should note that that Manhattan Beach Civic Group voted yesterday to “disavow” those controversial ideas about checkpoints, metal detectors & privatizing the beach to keep “thugs” out. There was apparently quite a spirited discussion, which you can read all about at Gerritsen Beach.Net. What’s just as interesting, though, is that the blogger that broke […]

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