Check out a slide show of some superb photos of industrial (or previously industrial) Brooklyn shot by local filmmaker and photographer Nate Kensinger, who is also (we are glad to say) a GL Contributor. Nate’s photos are on display right now at the Brooklyn Public Library as well.–NYT

The Red Hook Pool has a reputation for being one of the tightest ships in the public pool system, despite the fact that we had a parental complaint of an alleged turd in the pool (specifically “some kind of excrement” from a teenager) a few weeks ago. The pool is so tightly supervised that more people are likely to complain about the rules than about things being awry with the pool. A special GL Correspondent sent us this photo discouraging poop, urine, dirt and germs in the pool. It specifically urges people not to use the pool if they have diarrhea. To repeat: Do not crap up the pool.

Applewares, the retail spin off of Applewood, has become the latest casualty among Park Slope retailers whose future was, at best, suspect. A poster on Brookynian reports that it closed this week and that the space is being cleared out. Reaction is not particularly of the upset variety. For instance, one person writes “that place sucked donkey ass.” Another person wrote that it “Seemed expensive and too specialized.”

And now, a selection of Brooklyn musical happenings today and tomorrow:

Thursday 7/31/08
BAM Rhythm & Blues Festival at Metrotech: Meshell Ndegeocello (Soul) – Free!!, 12:00pm

Celebrate Brooklyn: Mark Morris Dance Group-Free!!, 8:00pm

Castle Clinton, River to River: The Long Winters (Indie)- Free!!, 7:00pm

Friday 8/1/08
South Street Seaport: Brother Ali, The Rub (Hip Hop) –Free!!, 7:00pm
—Dan Bennis

Here’s one of the more intriguing businesses that we’ve seen open in a long time and one that we think could take off, if only because it will provide health care to uninsured people or allow for convenient appointments for those with insurance who can’t get a regular doctor’s appointment right way. It’s called Hello Health and its grand opening is today at 105 Berry Street. Racked reported on it along with the background on the operation earlier this week. Yesterday, Brooklyn Based wrote: “For $25 a month, you can get a doctor to “see” and diagnose you via IM, video chat, email, or the old-school office visit ($75-100 extra) at the brand-new Hello Health in Williamsburg.” The Hello Health website is here.

There is nothing to set off alarm bells like asbestos removal and that is what happened at 455 Smith Street, the big warehouse that quietly became part of the Public Place project earlier this year. It’s being torn down and asbestos removal has been going on for much of July, frightening some residents. City Council Member Bill de Blasio’s District Director Tom Gray left a comment on GL yesterday that neighbors had been informed in advance of the removal, but some in the neighborhood are claimingg they never heard anything and nothing was ever posted at a playground across the street. Per one comment received by GL: “I live across the street from this warehouse and this is the first I’ve heard about asbestos removal. I never received a notice about the removal, nor are there any signs in the park across the street warning about the dangers.” In any case, Mr. de Blasio asked the Department of Environmental Protection to do weekly monitoring of the project, but then, it turned out the company doing the removal said it’s finished with the process. The entire Public Place cleanup, which is going to be huge undertaking given the level of toxicity of the site, is likely to be a contentious issue in the community, particularly in terms of whether residents trust the DEP to do rigorous oversight of the cleanup.

[Photo courtesy of Rubys Host/GL Flickr Pool]

This is all that remains of the property owned by developer Joe Sit and Thor Equities after the amusements that were there were packed up trucks and driven to a fair in Tennessee. The rides and other attractions were supposed to be on the property through Labor Day as what the developer, as part of PR campaign, was calling the “Summer of Hope.” There have been some rumblings that other rides will be brought in. The rest of the property is now being used for parking.

See a couple of more shot of the early end of the Summer of Hope.

The piecemeal dismantling of Long Island College Hospital and selling of real estate in Cobble Hill continues. The latest closure is the maternity ward, which delivered 2,800 babies last year. “Stanley Brezenoff, president of Continuum Health Partners, the parent company of Long Island College Hospital, said Wednesday that the obstetrics service was being closed and the two buildings sold in an effort to pay off tens of millions of dollars in operating and capital debt that might otherwise force it to declare bankruptcy. Mr. Brezenoff said that delivering babies was the biggest money loser at the hospital…”–NYT

Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and images:

· Man Accused of Massachusetts Murder Found in Brooklyn with Children [NYP]
· Drowned Girl’s Body Found Off Brighton Beach [NYDN]
· More Detail on Body Found in Prospect Park [Sun]
· Atlantic Yards Mentioned as Yankees Deal Scrutinized [AYR]
· Work at 37 Nevins Gearing Back Up [Brownstoner]
· City Reliquary Benefit [Urbanite]
· With Businesses Closed, What’s Next at the Corner of Cranberry? [BHB]
· Love for Sale [New York Shitty]
· Bullet-Proof Chinese [Bed-Stuy Banana]
· Lazy Summer Photos [lornagrl]
· PS 169 Then & Now [BVIB]
· Luna Park’s Boatloads of Screaming Humanity [Ephemeral New York]
· Wednesday Food & Drink Roundup [Brownstoner]
· Music at Fulton Ferry Park [Brooklynometry]

There’s a 5,800-square-foot beauty on the market in Dyker Heights for $1.99M. Partial description: “Architecturally breathtaking, this custom four bedroom, three and a half bathroom, center-hall Colonial in desirable Dyker Heights, perfectly captures the essence of the modern living with an expansive foyer with its impressive wedding staircase, high chandelier and imported Italian marble flooring. The adjacent east-wing has a home office, full bathroom and guest room…”–Brownstoner

These are two new developments in Williamsburg that are nearly (but not quite) neighbors. Both come from MDIM Architects and both are near 80 Metropolitan, the big development on the site of the Old Dutch Mustard Building. The building on the left is 50 N. 1 Street, which is between Kent and Wyth Avenues and will have 41 apartments. The building on the right is 268 Wythe, which is at the corner of Wythe and Metropolitan and will have 17 units. Both buildings are seven stories tall.

[Photo courtesy of jplpagan/GL Flickr Pool]

GL Flickr Pool contributor jplpagan calls this image “Keepin the Riff Raff In.” This shot of the sunset over Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Fence and razor wire works nicely.

“That place was great. 5th ave looks like shit with all these new buildings everywhere, who’s moving into these they all look vacant to me, the developers and greedy owners of the condo building are ruthless and don’t care how they are affecting my neighborhood. They stole my view of Manhattan from my apt. that has been here for since the 1800’s now I have to stare into a crappy looking empty building all day. It makes me sick. YUPPIES PLEASE MOVE/STAY TO WILLIAMSBURG!!!”–Brooklyn Nibbles: South Slope Fruit Market Shuttered, What’s Next?

[Photo courtesy of rutila/Gl Flickr Pool]

It’s the Greenpoint Finest Deli as submitted to our GL Flickr Pool by rutila.

Outside the Brooklyn Weather Observatory right now it doesn’t look so bad, but it’s going to be pretty gross today. The forecast calls for a hot and humid day with a high of 90. It will feel like 100. Tonight will be clear with a low of 72.–Accuweather

This flower and discarded carton of Corona go together quite nicely. The images comes from Grand Street iin Williamsburg.

The very slow moving box at 365 Union Avenue in Williamsburg has been making some progress of late, even to the point of getting glass. The six-story building comes from the shop of Robert Scarano and is one of nearly a dozen buildings going up in a small triangle of Williamsburg east of the BQE and south of Metropolitan Avenue.

“We have the tale of The Night of the Great Cat’s Meow Fire and Horse Stampede—surely one of the most bizarre and exciting episodes to occur on the periphery of Prospect Park, exactly 79 years ago yesterday.” Per the New York Times of July 28, 1929: “”Three night clubs in Coney Island Avenue, between Hermit [sic] Place and Caton Avenue, Brooklyn, were destroyed by fire soon after closing time yesterday morning, with a property loss of about $150,000. From the riding academy next door 135 horses stampeded from the fire into the Parade Grounds of Prospect Park across the street, where they galloped for four hours or more.” Do read the rest.–A Year in the Park

And now, from the wilds of Craigslist we turn to a Brooklyn Lost & Found. If you recently lost a bag with $25,000 in cash, someone has found it:

i found a bag full of $$$ in a cab (3rd ave -64 st)

if you lost this $$$ please contact me it was 25,000 dollars i didnt spend any of it ,its all here but please its getting tempting.

Presumably, the person that lost the $25K should be able to prove ownership.

Here’s an email circulating via the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association about a noisy bar and an attempt to kill a tree that we believe focuses on Fourth Place and Court Street. The email doesn’t name the bar, but it would appear that it might (we are speculating based on circumstantial evidence) be PJ Handleys, which is quite lively at night. The tree in question, which another email indicates might be the victim of a premeditated arborcide could be across the street. The writer wants to know who to contact about the following:

1. Noisy bar across street that has an outdoor seating area – often has LIVE bands playing outside. Loud, drunken patrons. Have called 311 a lot. Have never given my name because I don’t feel comfortable, i.e., would police pass on my name to the bar owners? The police usually show up 2 hours later when the noise is finished.

2a. Landlord and super have upheaved the frontyard. Broken chunks of cement strewn about – not blocking walkway, just looks ugly. Also, there are about 10 trashbags full of garden debris on what used to be the front lawn.

2b. More importantly, they are planning on cutting down a large tree – at least four stories high – as they claim it is interferring with the sewer pipes. Can they chop down the tree without approval?

If the alleged attempted arborcide is of tree were thinking of, we hope someone steps in to save it.

“The body of a man, possibly homeless, was discovered inside Prospect Park Wednesday morning. Police say the victim, in his 40s, was found in the southwest section of the park, near 16th Street. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities were acting on the premise that the man was killed, possibly from blunt trauma to the head.”–7Online

The old International Longshoremans Association Building on Court Street is no more. In its place at 340 Court Street is a big hole being dug for the foundation of The Collection at Court Street condos being built by the Clarrett Group. The building will be designed by Rogers Marvel, but the developer has refused to release any high-quality renderings or updated ones. The project was widely criticized by residents when it was shown when it was shown at a public meeting.

More pics of the 340 Court site, ahead.

Today local blogger Kristen Haas, who produces Adventures of a Gal, weighs in with a guest post that tackles the age old Park Slope question: Why do so many of the local Indian restaurants bite? Here’s her post for GL:

Why is it so hard to find good Indian food in Park Slope? It’s strange, you can find almost anything else here, but the few Indian places we do have are very sketchy. It’s like a group of people came in and opened up all these Indian joints and are using them as a front for something else. Ha, well it seems like that sometimes. The food sure isn’t keeping these places open and neither is the service.

Amin, Bombay Grill and Star of India are a few of the culprits. I’ve never heard good things about any of them. Star of India is in the middle of it all on 5th Avenue between Carroll and President Streets between lots of popular shops and restaurants. It has been there for over five years and honestly, I have never walked by and seen more than 2 tables of people. Mostly I never see anyone in there at all. I’ve only eaten at Star of India twice. Both times the service was awful, we were the only people there and the food gave us major gastric distress. Obviously, we decided never to go there again.

It’s odd that after all these years and after all the closings of restaurants nearby that were good (Biscuit BBQ was next door and always packed) Star of India is still around. How is this business staying afloat? Is their business primarily take-out? Recently, they put flags out over the sidewalk, almost like Grand Opening flags. Maybe they are trying to fool people into thinking they are new. (By the way, to see Star of India’s health inspection reports, click here. Yum yum.) As mediocre and painful as it is, you may want to stick to Indian Row in Manhattan.
—Kristen Haas

Sad news from Brighton Beach, where the body of Akira Johnson the 10-year-old girl who drowned at Coney Island this morning was found offshore by a fisherman this morning. She was pulled under by a riptide around 5:30PM on Saturday in the water off W. 23rd Street.–NY1

Yes, we’ve announced the “opening” of the Dreamland Roller Rink many times, but we like it so much that we’re going to note that the official Opening Party is Saturday, Aug. 2 starting at 7PM. Here’s some info about the rink, which is in the historic Childs Restaurant Building in Coney Island:

We have the most Fabulous news EVER!!! Lola Staar’s Dreamland Roller Rink is NOW officially open! We will be having a BIG EXTRAVAGANZA to celebrate our opening on August 2nd! In addition to being the most blissful Roller Rink in the day glow world, Lola Staar’s Dreamland Roller Rink will feature performances from rockin’ bands, gorgeous burlesque, groovin’ DJs, mind blowing performance art, yummy eye candy fine art and more. We have some astounding surprise performances for you!! We will be announcing our line up very soon!!

Admission is $12 and skate rental is $5. More info about the Dreamland Roller Rink here.