There is very sad news at Coney Island where a ten-year-old girl drowned around W. 23rd Street and her cousin was rescued yesterday. “Akira Johnson and her cousin Tyriek, also 10, were swimming about 5:30 p.m. Saturday when they were pulled under by the currents. Lifeguards responded, but were able to rescue only the boy, who did not suffer any serious injuries.” The waters at local beaches have been particularly treacherous this weekend with riptides and strong undertow.–NYDN

We don’t know what to make of this post on Brooklynian and the allegations it contains except to say that it’s disturbing. Most Park Slope resident know the people that sell fruit at Seventh Ave. & President Street. This is about some alleged abuse that was going on yesterday:

On the way to the subway one morning I heard a commotion inside the Fruit man’s truck on President and 7th. He was screaming in the face of his assistant and slapping him across the face. His assistant (I think may be an “intellectually challenged” relative?) was saying “I don’t wanna work for you no more!!”. Some people stopped (I did too), one woman told the man “Don’t hit him!” and he stopped. He then began to mutter that “Brian” was going to make him lose his business. Classic bully. Fwiw, I’m not sure what the correct course of action is, but maybe folks could be aware of it for starters. I know from experience that confronting an abuser in public often means the abused gets the crap beat out of them later. Very delicate situation.

Not cool.

We have been very remiss in not mentioning “The Cyclones Love Park Slope Night” at KeySpan Park. It happens today at 5PM and is full of Park Slope gimmicks like valet stroller parking and a “stroller olympics. The Cylcones website has a full rundown on the activities (and we’d love to have been on hand when they were conceptualizing this). Here are some highlights:
• “stroller olympics” events in between innings
• free, secure, valet stroller parking outside KeySpan Park
• “brag about your kid” submissions to be displayed on the video scoreboard
• strollers onto the field after the game to run the bases

Yo, Cyclones, don’t you love Carroll Gardens? Gowanus? Brooklyn Heights? Williamsburg? Greenpoint?

This Sunday Brooklyn Missed connection is short, weird and to the point. It is also the first one we’ve ever seen that concerns antlers in some form:

i asked “where’d you get those antlers?” – m4w – 25 (redhook)
then sometime later you pretended to run me over in your van at the stop sign
– come back by that way and say hi

Are they selling antlers at Ikea?

Here’s a selection of vids shot at last Saturday’s Siren Festival in Coney Island. Enjoy.

[Photo courtesy of F. Jasmin Adams]

Our Carroll Gardens Correspondent passes along this image of a rather fascinating neighborhood moth that’s hatched in the hot weather in the spirit of our on-and-off focus on natural Brooklyn things.

[Photo courtesy of weenieart/GL Flickr Pool]

This photo, which weenieart calls “alignment” does, indeed, show that it is. But what will happen when the manhole cover is eventually lifted?

Outside the Brooklyn Weather Observatory there are more clouds around than sun right now. The forecast for today calls for some strong thunderstorms in places and “humid with periods of clouds and sunshine.” The high will be 85. Tonight will be humid with more storms around and a low of 71.–Accuweather

There’s a public hearing on the appeal of the Board of Standards and Appeals decision allowing the Finger Building in Williamsburg to continue. (The Finger Building, on might recall, has been stalled at ten stories for nearly two years, with an ugly dispute taking place about whether it has been built illegally or might actually be allowed to rise even taller than its current height.) The hearing takes place on Tuesday (7/29) at 10AM at 40 Rector Street on the Sixth Floor in Hearing Room E. In advance, a number of emails are going out from Williamsburg opponents to rally the troops. Here’s one of them:

Tell the Department of Buildings to enforce the law rather than work to ensure a windfall for a developer operating in bad faith. Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG), the People’s Firehouse, and several community residents are appealing the Dept of Building’s (DoB) decision regarding the validity of the permit for the “Finger Building” (located at 144 North 8th St between N 7th and N 8th and Bedford and Berry).

Although the building is 10 stories tall right now, the DoB has NOT revoked the permit that allows the
developer to more than double the current height!!!

The Brooklyn DoB Commissioner wrote that the permit is valid because the architect, Robert
Scarano, and the developer, Mendel Brach, “BELIEVED” they could use the neighboring roofs for the required “open space”. Yet every related legal document (easements, etc.) expressly disallows the use of those rooftops.

The bottom line is that the DOB should insure that the building complies with zoning laws rather than the beliefs of self-interested developers.

The email asks for opponents of the building to turn out for the hearing.

As we noted earlier in the week, there was a “Beach Brawl” at Beer Island on Thursday night in which members of the FDNY and NYPD boxed. We have to say that combining the phrases “Summer of Hope” and “Beach Brawl” together in the same press release seemed a little odd, but we digress. Blogger Brit in Brooklyn was there and got some great shots and this pic was put into our GL Flickr Pool by Rubys Host, who is fast becoming an honorary GL Contributor.

Not only is the new Bank of America branch on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope open, but the Five Guys Burgers has opened as well. We saw a fair sized crowd inside yesterday lined up for burgers and such, a large number of them moms with kids. On a related note, the Tea Lounge on Seventh Avenue, which shut down Thursday, is being ripped apart as we speak this morning. But, at least, the neighborhood’s got Burger (conveniently located across the street from Methodist Hospital where coronary care is available).

This Chinese character comes from a door on Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg where it appeared recently. If anyone knows what it is or means, let us (again, politely) know.

We know that the art on the right is a Dain, but the Chinese character on the left has popped up in a few places around Williamsburg over the last few weeks. If anyone knows what it is do (politely) let us know.

The Brooklyn Urban Arts Market is launching on Sunday at 12PM on Myrtle Avenue between Grand and Emerson Streets. An email we got said it will be “Featuring artisans and vendors with a fresh, urban perspective, and live music by exciting young artists and bands including: CX Kidtronik Afrika Bambaata Slick Rick Game Rebellion Millsted Hollyw.” Other events will take place on August 10, August 25, September 7 and September 21. For more info about the event, click here.

Click here for the full event poster.

[Photo courtesy of Tedious Relative/Gl Flickr Pool]

It’s, you know, very close to perfect. This image comes from the Greater Gowanus Metroplex and was put in our wonderful GL Flickr Pool by Tedious Relative. Are you a member of our pool? If not, please join and contribute some photos. We’d love to see them and post them.

Who knew that Sheepshead Bay could look so tranquil and zen, although we do know that it can look very non-New York City with its sailboats and swans and its fishing fleet. It’s also got plenty of that old fashioned Brooklyn grit from pollution to dead bodies washing up. “I’ve gone out on fishing boats to the Atlantic that are moored there, walked along the Bay on dates, seen it at all hours of the day, in all its various polluted shades and hues, and always kind of delighted that it is the symbol of where I live. A dirty, filthy Bay, that happens to have, as far as non-human entities go, a lot of spirit and character.”–Erica’s Blog

This severed sign comes from Seventh Street in Gowanus.

Our server has been experiencing on-and-off downtime all morning. We apologize for any inconvenience. We’ll be posting items this morning as we can. Right now, the problems are resolved and will, hopefully, stay that way for more than ten minutes.

This image comes from the blogger behind 66 Square Feet. She writes, “This lovely lily, probably Lilium henryi, one of three, is on the north side of Wyckoff between Court and Smith.”

Outside the Brooklyn Weather Observatory on this July Saturday morning it is sunny and nice. Today’s forecast calls for sun mixing with some clouds and a high of 88. Tonight will be partly cloudy with a low of 71.–Accuweather

This is a sunflower growing on N. 11 Street near Berry in Williamsburg, which is not a particularly verdant swath of Brooklyn. We particularly like the way the color of the sunflower blends with the construction equipment in the background.

There’s a “Go, Go, Gowanus” walking tour tomorrow (7/26) at 11AM from the Municipal Art Society. Per an email we received:

Explore the wide banks of Brooklyn’s most famous canal. Before crossing one of the oldest retractile bridges in the United States, we’ll visit the Carroll Gardens Historic District, a singular brownstone enclave distinguished by a remarkable street plan. Learn the history of the canal and the surrounding, though faded, industrial zone. Leader: Matt Postal, architectural historian. Meet at Smith and President streets, outside the drug store. (Transit: F, G trains to Carroll St.) Weekday and Weekend Tours: $15, $12 for MAS members. Reservations are not required, unless otherwise noted. Fees are payable at the beginning of each tour. Reserved-tours can be paid online at www.mas.org/tours until 4:00 p.m. the Friday before a weekend tour or until 4:00 p.m. the weekday before a weekday tour or by calling 212-935-2075. Tour hotline: 212-439-1049.

Be there.

[Photo courtesy of Adrian Kinloch/Brit in Brooklyn]

This is one of those pictures that manages to capture the essence of Coney Island. It’s shot on the Latino part of the boardwalk, where people gather to eat, drink, dance and listen to music. It’s Coney’s coolest summer-long party. The photo comes to us from Brit in Brooklyn blogger and GL Contributor Adrian Kinloch.

The demolition of the former Albee Square mall, which was once owned by developer Joe Sitt and Thor Equities, and is now slated to become a retail-office-residential complex with a massive high rise, has provided many interesting photo ops as the original structures have fallen. There’s only a small part of the former mall left now, so what’s left is a huge and empty city block awaiting development. A huge mixed use complex called Citypoint with condo tower is due to rise there including 525,000 square feet of retail, 360,000 square feet of office space and 900,000 square feet of residential space in a tower up to 60 stories tall.