Here’s a roundup of some activities on July 4 for those who will not leave the boundaries of Brooklyn, including the Brooklyn Independence Parade.–About Brooklyn

Herewith a selection of concerts happening at local venues from today through Wednesday:

Monday 6/30/08
Barbes: Chicha Libre (Latin/Surf/Psychedelic) $10, 9:30pm

Tuesday 7/1/08
Barbes: Jenny Scheinman (Violinist/Composer) $10, 7:00pm / Slavic Soul Party (Gypsy/Balkan) $10, 9:00pm

Brooklyn Botanic Garden: No Music, but admission is free!!

Wednesday 7/2/08
Union Hall: Secret Science Club (Not exactly music, but interesting nonetheless) Free!!, 7:30pm

Issue Project Room: The Extended Guitars (Featuring: Hans Tammen, Erhard Hirt, Nick Didkovsky, Douglass Repetto) (Avant-Garde) $10, 8:00pm
—Dan Bennis

We’re posting an extra Brooklyn Missed Connection today because we had to post yesterday’s short story and leave this one on the cutting room floor. Yet, it concerns a clown, and we feel compelled to post it, so here goes:

FOODFIGHT THE CLOWN AT THE CONEY ISLAND MERMAID PARADE – m4w (RUBY FOOS AFTER THE PARADE)
HOPE TO FIND YOU : LIGHT BROWN/DIRTY BLOND HAIR, CUTE MID-TO LATE TWENTIES, AWESOME SAILOR-GIRL OUTFIT. WE WERE TALKING ABOUT HOW SEXY YOUR FRECKLES WERE. mE : UNICYCLE RIDING CLOWN, RED NOSE GREEN HAIR(DUH)FELT A CONNECTION W/YOU.BIGTIME.

That’s our clown in the photo.

Was the reappearance of old stained glass on a storefront in Windsor Terrace that’s being remade into a new store a temporary thing? At first, it was supposed to be preserved. Now, it’s been removed, which does lead one to wonder if its gone for good.–Brooklynometry

We had many photos of the lousy conditions at the Long Island College Hospital Playground on Henry Street in Cobble Hill. We don’t know if the specific broken equipment in the photos has been repaired, but there are a bunch of emails that are circulating via the BoCoCa Parents groups about the problems. They are illuminating. Here is one:

No one seems to be maintaining them. The puddles are everywhere, they’re always muddy and they don’t evaporate. The rubber tiles are trapping water beneath them and every time you step on them stagnant water comes up that the kids can’t help but stomp around in. Who knows what’s growing in it. Plus, the water fountain doesn’t drain and overflows and adds to the puddles.

And there’s this:

I spent almost two years talking with the Parks Dept. and the LICH staff. There is a lot of history to the two playgrounds. I had an article written in the Brooklyn Papers last year about the situation but that did not seem to help either…I have called again this year with little response. If you search on the NY Times web site you will see the community was not in favor of the playgrounds over 10 years ago since it would lead to this condition with no one responsible. LICH signed an agreement with NYC under Guillani to maintain the parks and now no one is around to remember.

A bit more about LICH Playground Crud, ahead.

This is a very Carroll Gardens event. The flag pole at the former International Longshoreman’s Association Medical Center–the controversial development known as 340 Court Street that has been a lightening rod for neighborhood hostility–is being moved and rededicated this week. The pole was rescued from the demolition and will be rededicated at the Scotto Funeral Home at 106 1st Place, Corner of Court Street, on Tuesday, July 1. Per an email we got:

On July 1st Scotto Funeral Home and the International Longshoremen’s Association will rededicate the flagpole which formally stood in front of the ILA Medical Center built in 1963 until the buildings demolition this year. Prior to the building’s demolition Mr. John Heyer II approached The Clarett Group with the idea of salvaging the flagpole as a way of memorializing the historic presence the Longshoremen had in the community. Together with Buddy Scotto he arranged for Jabus Construction Corp to donate their time and safely remove and reinstall the flagpole which remained as the last vestige of the former ILA medical center on the site. The Flagpole has since been moved down Court Street and now stands in front of Scotto Funeral Home where a bronze plaque will tell passers by about the link between the flagpole, the Longshoremen and the Neighborhood. Representatives of the International Longshoremen’s Association and a number of its rank-and-file members will participate in the ceremony. Bishop Frank Caggiano, Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn will give an invocation and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz is scheduled to stop by. The Xavierian High School Band will play the National Anthem as the American flag is raised. The bronze plaque rededicating the flagpole will read: “Generations of longshoreman have worked tirelessly to better the lives of their families, improve their neighborhoods, and bring economic prosperity to Brooklyn, and it is to each and every one of them that this flagpole is dedicated.”

The building site at Court & Union Streets was cleared over a period of months.

The Great Park Slope Battle of the Bruschetta is continuing. Hot on the heels of the opening of (the utterly wretched) Aperitivo, comes word that the space that used to be Cocotte on Fifth Avenue is going Italian. Per a post on Brooklynian

Walked by the old Cocotte space today and spoke to the owner and chef of the new restaurant going in there, they were airing the place out and planning renovation. North to South Italian cuisine, opening probably 2 months away. About time we got rid of that boarded up window!

Another poster offered up a list of the Slope Italians. It is long, and not necessarily distinguished in all cases:

Al Di La Trattoria, La Villa, Peperoncino, Scottadito, Sette, Sotto Voce, Tonio’s, Trattoria Mangia, Trattoria Mulino, Tutta Pasta, Scalino, Aperitivo and “the restaurant that must not be named.”

We’re guessing the latter is Aunt Suzie’s? We’ll also add Anthony’s in the South Slope to the list as well as Bar Toto, although Bar Tono is too far out of range, being at Third Avenue and Ninth Street, and having that particularly territory all to itself.

There’s a meeting on Brooklyn Bridge Park tonight to provide an update from the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corp. on the first phase of park construction and a schedule for work. It takes place on at 6PM at the Dibner Auditorium, Polytechnic University, 5 Metrotech Center. Many of the banners on the new pop up park indicate some work will be done and segments open by next year. Presumably, the Development Corp. will provide more detail at its meeting.

The Gowanus Canal takes a major hit of both storm sewer and household sewer runoff during heavy storms and the recent weekend storms have not been kind to it. After yesterday’s storm, the water level in the canal was alarmingly high, but what was worse was the condition of the water itself: filthy, brackish, full of crud and fairly nauseating. At least 300 million gallons a year of untreated sewage flow into the canal a year, and the actual figure is believed to be a lot higher. Upgrades to pumping and flushing systems are supposed to improve things eventually, but the massive flow of overflow sewage directly into the canal (known as CSOs in the trade) will continue whenever there’s enough rain to overwhelm the new, improved system. All of which will make like in any new developments that go up along the canal quite interesting in years to come.

More disgusting photos including (warning) a nasty fish head in the canal.

Saturday’s most thunderstorm in late afternoon apparently caused some of the usual flooding issues near the Gowanus Canal. These are scenes from Ninth Street near the Lowe’s, where flooding is common during big downpours and rainstorms. A series of photos taken on Ninth Street yesterday evening around 7PM was placed in our GL Photo Pool by donflan. The good news is that the bus made it. On the bright side, we don’t have any reports of manhole covers flying off and sewage geysers erupting in the street as has also been known to happen near Brooklyn’s Grand Canal, and the waters did recede by later in the evening. Also encouraging: the water in the photos is not from the Gowanus Canal.

More pics of the Ninth Street Lagoon, ahead.

Last week, we had a post about the generally crappy conditions at the LICH Playground on Henry Street in Cobble Hill. The playground was built as a part of a deal with the city during the Giuliani Administration that allowed the hospital to build its current parking garage on Hicks Street. There are periodic complaints that the playground isn’t quite up to par. There have been major rat issues and general upkeep complaints. Our post on Friday led a reader to send us a bunch of photos documenting the conditions there and to write:

These photos show the problematic conditions at the park. Your post reminded me that I had taken them on a relative’s camera—the hazard of having toddler twins is a short memory in some areas—and we’ve been subsequently careful about bringing our kids to the park. The cleanliness of the park leaves something to be desired and it is not an issue of kids using the park and making a mess. It goes beyond garbage to general disrepair of the items, though the park did look amazingly lovely when the trees bloomed. There are two parks and this is what we refer to as the “southern” park on Henry Street between Amity and Pacific Streets. There is another LICH Park on Henry between Pacific and Dean for which I do not have photos and generally do not use given our kids younger age.

What’s a little alarming about the photos is the broken playground equipment that might hurt children. The hospital signed an agreement with the city to maintain the playground, but residents often voice complaints that they can get no response from the hospital or that conditions improve briefly, then return to a state of neglect.

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

· Graduation at Fort Greene’s Urban Assembly School for Law & Justice [NYT]
· Corey Booker Still Trying to Get the Nets to Move to Newark [Metro]
· Ratner Hasn’t “Acquired” 85 Percent of Atlantic Yards Site as Claimed [AYR]
· Former Ratner Exec. Jim Stuckey Located [DDDB]
· “Showdown” Tomorrow Over Yankees & Nets Financing [No Land Grab]
· Biking the Waterfalls: Follow the Painted Icons [McBrooklyn]
· Check Out the Huge Lines at the Sunset Park Pool [Best View in Brooklyn]
· What’s Up on Mau Mau Island? [GerritsenBeach.Net]
· Red Deli Near Cobble Hill Park is Finally Open [BK 11201]

[Photo courtesy of tyfihi/flickr]

These are the menacing storm clouds that appeared over Brooklyn yesterday, with the photo snapped to get the lightning striking somewhere in what would appear to be Park Slope.

[Photo courtesy of Brit in Brooklyn]

This amazing photo comes from the Brit in Brooklyn photoblog, which is produced by Adrian Kinloch. Here’s what Left in Bay Ridge had to say about the storm clouds as how they looked from Bay Ridge: “It’s Sunday and it’s another thunder boomer. And the sky! Did you see the sky!? Several of us came out of Starbucks and stared at the sky. We had never seen anything like it. It looked like another tornado was forming…or we’re about to be invaded by Martians.” It does have a very War of the Worlds look.

Do you belong to our Gowanus Lounge Photo Pool? Do you have cool pics you’d like us to see and, perhaps, post on GL? Then, please, get in the pool and tag your photos “gowanuslounge.”

[Photo courtesy of caaaahS/GL Flickr Pool]

This little doll, who is clearly no longer needed, was found washed up on the shores of one of our Brooklyn bodies of water and reached us via our Gowanus Lounge Flickr Pool. The photographer writes, “somebody had a good time last night.” Indeed.

Another hot and humid summer day is brewing outside the Brooklyn Weather Observatory. Today’s forecast calls for a high of 85 that will feel like 92 and “Intervals of clouds and sunshine with a thunderstorm this afternoon.” More thunderstorm are possible tonight with a low of 67.–Accuweather

We were on Governor’s Island during the tempest that hit yesterday afternoon and took shelter in a building until we could catch the next ferry back to a more populated island. As the ferry was waiting to depart, the sun came out, casting Brooklyn in beautiful light and creating a magnificent full arc rainbow over the borough, which is not something that one sees or, at least, manages to photograph, every day. Cue Judy Garland singing, please.

Yes, it’s Sunday, which means it’s time for our weekly Brooklyn Craigslist Missed Connection selection. Today, we have our first Missed Connection story story. It’s an epic concerning a bike ride up a hill in Park Slope, which is either a true missed connection or just a creative writing exercise (better odds). Either way, it’s a little bit of a different twist. Here we go:

As I bicycled by, she turned, and our eyes locked – m4w – 27 (Fifth Avenue, Park Slope)

As I bicycled by, she turned, and our eyes locked, one, two, three…At the end of the street, I wondered whether I should stop. Should I go back for her, tell her our eyes had locked, that we might be meant for each other?

Follow my gut at least one time this week, right?

At the next block, the light turned red against the night. I knew this corner. The park ahead to my right, the bar across the street on my left…I stopped. I turned onto the sidewalk, a slow semi-circle.
Would she catch up? Yes. There she was, walking this way, her skirt catching the evening breeze, her brown hair like streamer ribbons.

There’s a lot more, so to keep reading, click here.

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

· Yes, There is Pervuian Music at Barbes in the Slope [NYT]
· Fourth of July Fireworks Details [NYP]
· Old Canarsie Photos and a Copyright Fight [NYT]
· Greenpoint Bodega Fire Slideshow [Greenpointers]
· Bay Ridge Green Church Fight is Part of an Old Struggle [Bay Ridge Journal]
· Another Yogo Monster is Coming [BK 11201]
· Coney’s Charles Denson Speaks at Scoping Meeting [Kinetic Carnival]
· Burg’s Mobil Sign Bites Dust: New Condo Coming? [INSIJS]
· Dumbo Weekly Links [Dumbo NYC]

Here’s a special extra adoptable pet from the wonderful Sean Casey Animal Rescue shelter in Kensington. They do wonderful work and have an abundance of great animals that need loving homes:

The name of this bird is Chicken and he/she is available at Sean Casey, which in addition to having a lot of really nice dogs and cats, also has rats, hamsters, birds and reptiles for adoption. Sean Casey Animal Rescue is located at 155 East 3rd Street in Kensington. Their number is 718.436.5163. They’re having a grand opening celebration on July 12 (more on that later) and they also sell pet supplies that are very competitively priced, so if you’re looking to take care of your pet and to help out a little, head over to Kensington and pick up your supplies there. Check out their petfinder page by clicking here.

The tour of the Quaker Cemetery in Prospect Park that was widely noted online drew a big crowd yesterday. “I cycle over in the sticky heat to one of the rare tours of Prospect Park’s Quaker Cemetery, and by the time I get there, there’s a 40-minute estimated wait on line.”–A Year in the Park

Here are some vids of Olafur Eliason’s waterfalls, with an emphasis on the Brooklyn ones.

[Photo courtesy of Karyn Bosnak/GL Flickr Pool]

This gorgeous shot is a tail end of a sunset a few days ago as seen from the Brooklyn Promenade. We love the colors, the semi-demolished warehouse in Brooklyn Bridge Park in the foreground and the way that other borough whose name starts with an “M” looks. It comes to us courtesy of Karyn Bosnak.

Of course, there are other waterfalls besides the temporary ones created by Olafur Eliasson. Some of them are in Brooklyn, like the one in Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Green-Wood Cemetery. (There are also some very nice ones in Prospect Park.) The “Newkirk Avenue Falls” are another matter.–NYT

[Photo courtesy of rubys host/GL Flickr Pool]

Every Friday night from now through Labor Day, they’ll be having fireworks on the beach. This is a shot of the ones this week that come to us via our Gowanus Lounge Photo Pool from frequent contributor Rubys Host.