Borough President Marty Markowitz has long favored the demolition of the historic Admiral’s Row structures and he took the opportunity of a hearing last night to reiterate his support for “food justice” for resident of nearby public housing and for demolishing the buildings. Here is part of the staterment that his office distributed:

I know I speak for all of us here today when I say historical preservation is crucial. Residents from all over the borough have been part of successful efforts to use zoning and landmarking to preserve Brooklyn’s rich history. In this case, however, the structural viability makes a preservation project much too costly, and what the families living in this area need urgently is a quality supermarket. As it stands, too many Brooklynites are not within walking distance of supermarkets, which have been closing at alarming rates citywide. It is unconscionable that in this modern city, there are those for whom access to fresh fruits and vegetables—basic staples that keep Brooklynites and New Yorkers healthy and strong—is considered a luxury. We must do everything we can to reverse that trend.

Furthermore, the neighborhood around the Brooklyn Navy Yard will reap enormous benefits from the employment opportunities created by a new industrial building. Local residents will be considered first for these jobs, which will give the area a much-needed economic boost.

Believe me, nobody cares more than I do about preserving Brooklyn’s history and heritage. But I also believe in preserving Brooklyn’s residents—making sure that our health and well-being is protected for this generation and in the days ahead. As it was written in Ecclesiastes: “To everything, there is a season. A time to reap, a time to sow.” And, to paraphrase a bit: “A time to preserve—and a time to build supermarkets and promote nutrition.” Simply put, the time for deliberation is over. We must make this project a reality and get this neighborhood the economic investment and “food justice” it deserves.

The Army Corp of Engineers has found that the buildings can be saved and still have both structural and historical integrity. (We have made the case on numerous occasions that there is a way to save the Admiral’s Row buildings and to develop the property for a supermarket.) The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. wants to use the land occupied by historic buildings, in part, for parking. There has been growing sentiment to both accommodate a supermarket and to save the buildings, which could be fully restored for as little as $19.6 million. A community session will be coming up in August sponsored by a range of groups including the Municipal Art Society, the Historic Districts Council, New York Landmarks Conservancy, Fort Greene Association, Historic Wallabout Association, and the Society for Clinton Hill. More on the argument for an alternative strategy later.

We got an email from the Windsor Terrace Alliance about some Thursday programming for children that will be going on through August that sponsored by them and the Center For The Urban Environment. The next session takes place on Thursday, July 24 at 10:00am at Uncle Louis G Ice Cream Parlor at Vanderbilt Street and Prospect Park Southwest. It’s for children ages 4-6 (up to 25 per session). The theme is “Once Upon a Street” – Become a Builder. Per the email: “Kids design and build their own buildings. Using color, shape, building material, and architectural concepts, they construct and then share their designs. FUN, EXPLORATORY AND EDUCATIONAL! Windsor Terrace Alliance welcomes all parents and caregivers to come and support this free ongoing summer series!” The sessions run through August 28.

[Photo courtesy of Streetsblog]

All sarcasm aside–and we admit to having had some fun with photos showing fairly deserted pedestrian zones on Montague Street and Bedford Avenue–are the experiments actually a success. Aaron Naparstek, who knows a little something about livable streets and pedestrian issues, argues on Streetsblog that crowd scenes shouldn’t be the way we judge the Summer Streets experiments. In fact, he says that they’re supposed to be a fairly peaceful place for people to enjoy themselves. Here’s what he writes, in part:

what’s with this idea that for a Summer Streets event to be considered successful, it needs to attract a “throng?” Jamming large crowds into small spaces has never been a big challenge in this town. The whole idea of Summer Streets, as I understand it, is to give New Yorkers a bit of room to breathe and space to walk, bike, play or simply sit down and relax. You want a throng? Try Midtown.

Here’s a modest proposal for evaluating the success of a Summer Streets event…Measure the amount of time kids are able to run and play without their parents having to worry about them being hit by a car, the number of friends you bump into and new people you meet, the pounds of automobile exhaust and carbon that are not spewed into the hot summer air, the volume of horn-honking, engine-revving and boom stereos you’re not hearing, and whether local merchants are happy about the event and making more money than they usually do on a slow summer weekend.

We’d still argue that there’s a happy medium between some of the emptiness that’s been pictured and street fair-like crowds. We’ve always been huge fans of pedestrianization and of making neighborhood streets more friendly to people. Here’s hoping that one of the Summer Streets days will be a nice one that encourages more people to come out instead of staying indoors with the AC turned up.

[Photo courtesy of Sail Brooklyn/GL Flickr Pool]

Here’s the Gowanus Canal as night falls, courtesy of Sail Brooklyn and our GL Flickr Pool.

Outside the Brooklyn Weather Observatory the sky is clearing from an early morning thunderstorm. Today’s forecast calls for it to be mostly cloudy, muggy and warm with a chance of thunderstorms. The high will be 83. Tonight will be mostly cloudy and humid with heavy thunderstorms around. The low will be 70.–Accuweather

[Photo courtesy of Sail Brooklyn/GL Flickr Pool]

Here’s a very cool photo of the USS Growler, the submarine that’s been docked in Red Hook near the Cruise Terminal since April. The sub was with the Intrepid and, then, moved to Bayonne and then to Brooklyn. It’s had to undergo significant repairs including costly ones due to a rusted hull.

Here’s an interesting report from the CBS Sunday Morning News about Jane Walentas’s carousel in Dumbo. We came upon it courtesy of Dumbo NYC.

Herewith a selection of performances tonight and tomorrow night:

Tuesday 7/22/08
Union Hall: Bound Stems, Rahim, The Muggabears (Indie Rock)- $12, 7:30pm

Wednesday 7/23/08
Music at The Bridge, Tobacco Warehouse (Jalopy): Rob Reddy’s Tenfold, The Otis Brothers, The Wiyos (Country/Old-Time/Blues/Classical) – Free!! 6:30pm
—Dan Bennis

[Photo courtesy of Matt Tyson, Ear Farm/flickr]

We started with a Brooklyn Missed Connections Siren Festival theme yesterday, but here are the MC’s that have appeared so far from one of the best annual events for missed connections in Brooklyn:

Jul 21 – Pretty brown hair girl at siren fest standing next to me – (coney island)

Jul 21 – Broken Social Scene: tan hat and pocket watch – w4m – 20 – (Siren Festival) pic

Jul 20 – Broken Social Scene Walz Biking Cap – m4m – 23 – (Coney Island)

Jul 20 – To All The Pretty Girls At Siren Fest On Sat. – m4w – 27 – (Brooklyn)

Jul 20 – To the girl across from me on the F train back from Siren Festival – 24 – (Coney Island)

Jul 20 – siren festival – port-a-potty line (i know.) – nice sneakers – w4m – 25 –

Jul 20 – short, blond girl during broken social scene – m4w –

Jul 20 – Boy With Bandanna at Siren Festival – w4m – 20 – (Coney Island)

Jul 20 – Siren Festival Girl – m4w – 32 – (* see below)

Jul 19 – a desert back in the siren photo pit – m4w – 24 –

Jul 19 – Siren Festival – W 10th Stage – Green Shirt around 6:30 – w4m – (Coney Island)

[Photo courtesy of Deborah Matlack]

This is the Senior Citizen Block Association of Mermaid Avenue Community Garden in Coney Island, which is located at West 20th Street between Surf and Mermaid Avenues, very close to KeySpan Park. The photos her come from our valued GL contributor, photographer Deborah Matlack, who has been visiting the gardens, many of which are threatened by the city or by development or both. Ms Matlack writes:

“The people involved in these gardens are doing such a great service for the community. I certainly hope that they will be able to save the gardens, which provide opportunities for young people to learn gardening and stay off the streets. In short, they give them something positive to do. Not to mention beautifying the community. It’s interesting to walk around and see just how “green” Coney Island really is.

See our earlier posts on the Surfside Garden and on the Unity Garden.

More pics of the Senior Block Association’s Garden, ahead.

We’ve been seeing more threats over the last few months against bloggers from both the public sector and private individuals who don’t want things posted or who take issue with things that have been put up online. The threats come in all forms, from subtle suggestions that quoting an email is a violation of copyright to overt threats of lawsuits from developers. The latter is currently going on in Gerritsen Beach where blogger GerritsenBeach.Net, who does a great job of covering a part of Brooklyn that gets scant attention and does so without trying to make any money from the venture, received a letter from a lawyer for developer Stephen Jemal threatening a suit after the blog revealed a lawsuit against the developer by a financier. The letter, which has been posted in PDF form, demanded that the blogger remove the post, remove all links to the post on other blogs, remove search engine results that would link to it, sign a “non-disparagement agreement” and pay the developer $20,000 to cover legal fees and “additional consideration to induce Mr. Jemal not to file a lawsuit.” In addition GerritsenBeach.Net was hit with a Denial of Service attack designed to bring down his website. He alleges the attack came from someone “closely associated” with the developer and says he has proof in the form of emails.

The lawsuit threat hasn’t been settled yet, but the intended chilling effect of threatening a small, non-profit blog with a costly lawsuit is clear. The threat is the same whether it comes from a local online community miffed that emails circulating publicly are being quoted without “permission” and are “illegal” or whether they are from a developer who demands $20,000 to avoid a lawsuit or to induce someone to sign a “non-disparagement agreement.” In either case, a blogger could face a fortune in legal bills to fight off someone with deep pockets who wishes to prove a point. Sheepshead Bites has an excellent summary of the situation here and, of course, GerritsenBeach.Net offers his own words about the scary developments. The problem is compounded by the fact that bloggers don’t have access to a team of lawyers that reporters do, that many don’t come from a journalism background and can be easily intimidated by bogus claims of liable, slander or copyright violations. It highlights the need for internet groups or a new organization to step to the plate and offer legal advice and counsel to bloggers who are often operating as journalists with none of the institutional protections.

Is it possible that a relic of the past was treated with more respect in Queens than in Brooklyn? Forgotten NY’s latest installment offers an interesting comparison. Well, possibly, at least in the case of the fate of one of the old R33 Redbird subway cars has been turned into a visitors center at the Kew Gardens Court House. Whereas, the SEPTA Car on Fourth Avenue has been turned to scrap in Park Slope. Forgotten-NY, following up a great deal of reporting and commenting on Brownstoner, writes:

The problem all along, it seems, was that the Lyceum did not own the lot on which the SEPTA car was being laid up, and with developers snapping up every inch of developable space in Park Slope, Fort Greene, Greenpoint and many other neighborhoods, the trolley car had no place to go but the scrap heap. The loss of SEPTA 2739 has to be considered a lost opportunity in light of what was done with R33 #9075 in Queens. At the very least, the car could have become a Brooklyn visitors’ center, and with Park Slope increasingly becoming known outside NYC (a couple TV shows are being filmed there for the fall) it could have been a similar attraction, despite its Philly pedigree.

There are still several old trolleys behind the Fairway in Red Hook, that always attract curious people with cameras.

Here’s our last Giglio post of the season. It’s a short vid of the Giglio lift on Sunday on Sunday. Until next year…

There was a unanimous 6-0 City Council committee vote yesterday on the Carroll Gardens narrow streets zoning text amendment that puts the crucial zoning change one step closer to an almost assured City Council approval on Wednesday. A special GL Correspondent reports that many supporters of the amendment, which would define very narrow streets in the neighborhood as “narrow” for the purpose of zoning and cut the potential height of new buildings or additions to existing ones, turned out to support the change. One husband-and-wife team, one of whom is a recent appointee to Community Board 6, turned out to speak against the amendment. It was also opposed by a lawyer speaking for 360 Smith (Oliver House) developer Billy Stein, who said the amendment was designed to thwart his client’s project, which had been “entirely resdesigned” after the developer “got rid of” controversial architect Robert Scarano. City Council Member Bill de Blasio spoke in favor of the amendment, noting that it is about the neighborhood and not any single development. Versions of the text amendment have existed for more than a decade. They put the narrow streets (defined by zoning as wide because of the “gardens” in front of the buildings) on the same footing as the rest of the neighborhood. The amendment has broad support and is expected to pass by a wide margin.

If Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz is running for Mayor, his fund raising is not reflecting it. “The Brooklyn borough president, who for months has kept voters in the dark about his political ambitions, has raised just $935,116 compared to the two front-runners, who have raised more than three times as much…Political experts say fund-raising is often the early indicator of a candidate’s strength – and on that score, Markowitz is clearly way behind.”–NYDN

The “Fuck Condoburg” crew is back at it again in Williamsburg after a bit of a hiatus and 80 Metropolitan is once again a favorite canvas for the welcome, pro-gentrification message. While many sites have gotten the Condoburg treatment over time, the 80 Met site has been hit repeatedly with messages of love.

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

· Hit-and-Run Driver Who Hit Nine Year Old Wanted to Leave Town [NYP]
· Charles Barron Praises the Police [NYT]
· Mourners say farewell to slain Brooklyn husband and wife [NYP]
· 10 Reasons Why Kensington Beats Park Slope [Kensington Brooklyn]
· Need a Brooklyn Bed and Breakfast? [NYDN]
· Work Starting at 114 Henry Street? [McBrooklyn]
· Carroll Street Subway Entrance Soon to Be Temporary Toast [Brownstoner]
· Citroen in Park Slope [Fading Ad Blog]
· Truck Nails Tree on Hicks [BHB]
· More Community Garden Events [Bed-Stuy Blog]
· Another Prospect Park Sunset [A Year in the Park]

The Narrows Botanical Gardens off Shore Road in Bay Ridge is an interesting place if you’ve never been and this week you can catch what is described as “Japanese Gypsy Rock” there. Specifically:

Narrows Botanical Gardens is excited to announce that our garden will be the location to hear a FREE and NEW and EXCITING MUSICAL EVENT and hope you can plan to come down and enjoy !! Bring a chair or blanket and get ready for the new sounds of the band Kagero…Japanese Gypsy Rock !!!! They have been written up as “….a haunting yet upbeat violin and guitar that is edgy yet with a little of the gypsy travelling within its strings. This band is cool ”

The event takes place on Wednesday (7/23) at 7PM at the Narrows Botanical Gardens – off Shore Road between Bay Ridge Ave & 72 St. It’s free, of course. More info here from the Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance.

“The management of N. 11th has been very responsive anytime we (as neighbors) have had a complaint. All you have to do is call them and talk to them (I know, a novel idea). When neighbors of ours complained about the tiny styrofoam the offered to come over and clean it up. When another person mentioned that the construction was making our windows dirty, they agreed to clean them when work is completed. When I went over to tell them the newly-installed beeping smoke alarms were driving me crazy, they installed batteries in all of them within 24 hours. 311 is great, but sometimes simply talking to our neighbors can yield a better result, not to mention encouraging a sense of community.”–“Third World Dump” Conditions on Burg Street Cleaned Up a Bit

We call this shot we caught in Williamsburg over the weekend, “Chair, TV, Papa John’s.” We think it has that certain something that defines the ideal Burg street scene.

“Why are things moving so slowly at Love Lane Mews? Building permits were approved earlier this month, a couple of weeks after we reported that Sterling Equities had taken a $10 million buy-out from its partner Zucker Group. But a ride down College Place yesterday revealed a handful of workers who seemed to be dealing with some kind of plumbing issue; certainly no good construction porn. We did learn from one of the guys on site that 9 College Place, the single building on the east side of the street won’t be worked on until a later stage.”–Brownstoner

[Photo courtesy of Ruby’s Host/GL Flickr Pool]

Here’s a really nice photo of the most recent Friday night fireworks in Coney Island courtesy of Rubys Host.

Outside the Brooklyn Weather Observatory the sun is temporarily hiding behind some clouds. The forecast calls for it to be very warm and humid with clouds and sun, plus some afternoon showers and thunderstorms. The high will be (only) 89 and it will (only) feel like 98, which is an improvement from 100+. Tonight is mostly cloudy, warm and humid with some thunderstorms around and a low of 73.–Accuweather

This “We Live in Brooklyn” poster recently appeared on N. 6 Street near Kent Avenue, which is still a favorite spot for artists to show their work on the street.

Here are a couple of show coming up in Brooklyn today, Monday, July 21, 2008. (We’ll have Tuesday and Wednesday listings tomorrow.):

Jalopy: Jenny Scheinman (Violinist/Composer)- $8, 8:00pm

Barbes: Chicha Libre (Latin, Surf Rock, Psychedelic)- $10, 9:30pm

—Dan Bennis