Outside the Brooklyn Weather Observatory, it’s looking less like a potential oven this morning. The forecast says it’s still going to be hot, but not as brutal as it’s been. It’s calling for a day that will be “mostly sunny, very warm and less humid” with a high of 86. Tonight will be clear with a low of 68.

There is very little that one can add to the photo of this chair, which we came across on Third Avenue in Gowanus. It is regal with its leopard print upholstery.

The development at 110 Amity Street in Cobble Hill, which was rushed through Community Board 6 recently with no public notice so it could go back to the Landmarks Preservation Commission did so today. The result: the renovation of the Lamm Building was approved, but the new townhomes were rejected again. The LPC sent the developer back to the drawing board (again) with a suggestion that it work more closely with Commission staff.–Brownstoner

With smokes at more than $8.00 a pack in most places, it’s no wonder that “loosies” are now being advertised at fifty cents a pop. This flier was taped up on Fifth Avenue in Sunset Park.

From City Council Member Bill de Blasio, who has been a close associate and supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton: “I am proud to announce my enthusiastic support for Barack Obama for President of the United States. Senator Obama is one of the most inspiring figures in recent political history and it is an honor to call him our Democratic nominee. I believe Barack Obama will help restore America’s reputation around the world and tackle the serious issues facing our country…I will campaign as hard as possible for Barack Obama so we can turn this country around and bring about the change we so desperately need.” –GL Inbox

Among the things that left Coney Island last week was the petting zoo that had been set up on property owned by developer Joe Sitt. It turns they are coming back and may be doing so rent-free. The person who posts on the Coney Island Message Board as Tricia emails to tell us that Thor Equities is making some very attractive offers to businesses to keep their properties full while negotiations with the city are ongoing over a zoning and property deal. She writes:

…in Coney Island this season, at Sitt’s properties, industry norms apparently do not apply. The guys who are “renting” the Thor properties are wheelin’ and dealin’ to fill up the formerly empty lots and storefronts. As has been mentioned several times already, it’s a pr move- to prove per Sitt’s statement “Thor is fully committed to the amusement industry.” Meanwhile, Thor is trying to negotiate behind the scenes with the city to allow high rises (which could be hotels, condotels, condos), generic entertainment retail, and plain old retail in the amusement zone.

I just talked with the petting zoo owner Charles Beam. He told me a guy rented them the lot in Coney guaranteeing they would make a certain amount of money. Beam expressed dismay that after traveling 1,000 miles from South Carolina to play Coney Island, “we did not make any money.” So they left with Reithoffer to play another spot in Penn.

Heavy petting ahead.

This film, which is identified as DNA on the permit, is shooting in Williamsburg on Bedford Avenue and on N. 11 Street on Thursday and Friday. While we couldn’t find any detail on the film, it’s a big shoot, with several blocks showing signs

There are two benefits for Lola Staar’s Dreamland Roller Rink coming up this week. One is on June 13 at Peggy O’Neil’s (which is part of KeySpan Park) and the other is on June 15 at Superfine in Dumbo. Here’s some info about both:<blockquote>This magical evening will transport you back to the fabulous Coney Island Deamland of the 1920s while simultaneously manifesting Lola Staar’s Dreamland Roller Rink into the future! Peggy O’ Neil’s is located at 1904 Surf Ave in Coney Island!Peggy O’ Neil’s is located at 1904 Surf Ave in Coney Island! $10/ $20 Donation.

Help us bring back the satin and glitter days of Roller Glam back to Brooklyn at our second Lola Staar’s Dreamland Roller Rink Benefit at Superfine!! Burlesque Roller Disco hotties!! Music!! Dancing!! Silent Auction!! Super 8 Coney Projections!! Hot DJs!! and more!! Superfine is located at 63 York Street in Dumbo, Brooklyn, NY. $10/ $20 Donation

These are horseshoe crabs that we saw the other day in the Gowanus Canal near the Carroll Street Bridge. While this may look like horseshoe crabs possibly having sex, we’re not sure, as they tend to mate in sand and on shorelines. In any case, we’re always mesmerized whenever we see anything alive in the Gowanus.

Every now and then, a storefront shows itself as a space is making a transition from one thing to another. This is one of them. The kind reader who sent this photo from Windsor Terrace writes:

I came out of the subway today and saw this storefront on Prospect Park West between 16th and Windsor Pl. uncovered (used to be a pet supplies store). It’s incredible! It looks like the liquor store on 16th St. is going to move in there. I hope they keep the stained glass!

Stained glass!

“It’s weddings and funerals over greenmarkets in Bay Ridge. A much-anticipated farmers’ market in a Third Ave. church parking lot has been canceled after fears the country goods would take away parking space from wedding and funeral services. ‘The market is not going to happen,’ said the Rev. James Devlin, pastor of Our Lady of Angels. ‘There are just too many problems that could not be resolved.’ The market was proposed for the church parking lot, between 73rd and 74th Sts., on Saturday mornings in the month of July. The main hitch is space, Devlin said.” On the other hand, if you die, your relatives are good to go.–NYDN

The politics of development, especially when billiions of dollars and the stake of an entire community are at stake, are never a pretty thing to watch. This week, however, the saga of Coney Island redevelopment, which has had many ups and down took a turn toward the ugly and the personal. Someone–it is suggested that the “someone” is working with Thor Equities–gave the New York Post a story about how Coney Island USA’s Dick Zigun had an “apartment” at the group’s headquarters. (The “apartment” is really a sofabed, but that’s a technicality.) Because the building was purchased with city funds last year, it is now said that Mr. Zigun was living on the taxpayer’s tab. Of course, Mr. Zigun should have stopping sleeping in office after the building was purchased using city funds and, in fact, he’s already moved out of the building. Now, there is dark talk of further investigation and the subtext is that city money may be taken from his organization. Is it just happenstance that, less than a week ago, Mr. Zigun publicly came out against the city’s revised Coney Island zoning strategy?

We won’t suggest that Mr. Zigun did not commit a technical violation by sleeping on his couch. He admitted that he “might be guilty of some wrongdoing” and moved out immediately. The more interesting question is how it is that the New York Post came to write a story about Mr. Zigun’s living situation, which was known in Coney circles, less than a week after Mr. Zigun announced he was quitting the Coney Island Development Corporation Board because he feels the redone redevelopment plan is a “betrayal” of the amusement industry. Coincidence? Hardly. “I threw a bomb last Wednesday, so I’m fair game,” Mr. Zigun told us about the curious timing, saying that he believes the story was given to a New York Post reporter by someone connected to Thor Equities. He also noted that it appeared in print the same day a story suggesting the Cyclone roller coaster managed by Astroland was injuring riders.

We’re not excusing the fact that Mr. Zigun should probably have given up the sofabed sooner. What we’re suggesting is that the story was linked to his attack on changes in the redevelopment plan. “I think the amusement industry has the right to fight,” Mr. Zigun said. “I’ve opened my big mouth and I’m making trouble for myself.”

What we’re calling the Sofagate story would not appear to be a weird coincidence of timing, given that Mr. Zigun has been living on his couch for more than a decade. It is a clearly payback to someone who spoke out in a very public way about a public policy with which he disagrees and upon whose outcome billions of dollars are riding. In the vengeful and often ugly way in which Brooklyn politics are played, that outspokenness has forced Mr. Zigun onto a friend’s couch and may now threaten his organization’s funding.

The story may be legitimate, but the way it came to light isn’t particularly gratifying and casts a light on how damaging hardball politics can be. Here’s hoping that the rest of the long Coney debate will be conducted in a less personal way.

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Yesterday, the Post ran a story that we dubbed “Sofagate,” saying that Coney Island USA’s Dick Zigun, who founded the Mermaid Parade, was living in the building that the city helped the organization buy last year. Sources tell us they suspect that the story was given to the Post by Thor Equities and noted that it appeared the same day as one questioning the safety of Cyclone roller coaster operated by Astroland. Mr. Zigun has been sleeping on a pullout sofa in his office since 1996, we are told, and the fact that he slept there (and had been a “caretaker” of the building) was widely known both at the Coney Island Development Corp. and among those familiar with Mr. Zigun and his organization. The “apartment” consisted of a pull-out bed in Mr. Zigun’s office and a place to store clothing and belongings. Today’s Post reports that City Councilman Dominic Rechia, who is a close ally of Thor Equities developer Joe Sitt, says that “We gave him the money to keep the Coney Island museum and sideshow in Coney Island, not for him to also use it for a free place to live.” He says there will now be an investigation of Sofagate and that Coney Island USA could lose $2.4 in funding to help it buy another building.

We talked to Mr. Zigun yesterday afternoon and he told us that he’s no longer using the sofa bed. He slept on a friend’s couch last night and will be moving his clothing from the building by tomorrow. He is now looking for temporary housing until his wife returns to the country and they find a permanent apartment in early 2009. “I want to make it very clear there is no luxury apartment,” Mr. Zigun said. “To the extent I’m guilty of something, it’s for the love of Coney Island. I’ve been sleeping on a couch in an office that’s hardly luxurious at all. Now that the legality of it has been questioned, I won’t be sleeping here. My clothes and personal effects will be gone in 48 hours.” Mr Zigun said that he did not believe the story had come from sources connected to the city. “To whatever extent someone is trying to engage in the politics of personal destruction, I don’t think it comes from the city,” Mr. Zigun said. He said that he “suspects” the story had been given to the Post by someone associated with Thor Equities and, in fact, had strong personal praise for Coney Island Development Corp. President Lynn Kelly. “Lynn is terrific and understands” the issues in Coney Island, adding that backtracking on the part of the city “is not her decision at all.”

Why did Sofagate break now?

There was a press conference at Long Island College Hospital yesterday in which doctors and other suggested that its parent company is slowly squeezing the hospital to death, particularly be selling off valuable real estate in Cobble Hill. “The doctors contend that the parent company, Continuum Health Partners, has been downsizing the institution where they work, Long Island College Hospital, in the Cobble Hill neighborhood, and diverting resources to its more prestigious hospitals in Manhattan, primarily Beth Israel Medical Center. They estimated that the system had already sold off $50 million in property belonging to their hospital, and they filed formal complaints this year with the State Health Department and attorney general’s office seeking to terminate membership in the Continuum system.”–NYT

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

· In a Hot City, Any Shade or Cool Will Work [NYT]
· Swelter Skelter [NYP]
· Smith Street Recovering from Loss of Power [McBrooklyn]
· Sizzling [A Year in the Park]
· Promised East New York Community Center May Not Open [NYT]
· Dueling Atlantic Yards Supreme Court Briefs [AYR]
· New Key Food Coming on 69th Street [Bay Ridge Blog]
· Hungry for Love [Brooklyn Based]
· Community Gardening for Dummies [Bed-Stuy Banana]
· Coney Weekly Hoopla [Kinetic Carnival]
· Yes, the Dyker Heights Boccie Ritual [NYDN]
· Water Street Art Vandalized [Dumbo NYC]

[Photo courtesy of GerritsenBeach.Net]

It is something of a tradition for some local students to head to Manhattan Beach on “senior cut day.” This, in turn, has provided a great deal of local excitement in recent years, with some residents concerned about “thugs” and, even, proposing privatizing the beach and closing off access from neighboring Sheepshead Bay. GerritsenBeach.Net has chronicled some of the action and was on hand for this years festivities. In case anyone doubts the flavor of the day, the post is titled: “Civil Rights Are Dead in Manhattan Beach“:

Friday, June 6th was senior cut day for some local schools, and then they head down to Manhattan Beach for a day of sun and fun, but the past two years have been anything but fun…This year in anticipation of the return of the “thugs”, the residents have been demanding all year for a plan addressing “Senior Cut Day” and all that comes with it.

Click here for a taste fo the day.

A developer has bought up a major building on Third Street in Gowanus/Carroll Gardens. The Abigail Press building, which was said to be on the market sold for $12 million to a developer who plans an adaptive reuse of the building that will incorporate office space, art and production studios, and a hotel that overlooks the building’s courtyard.–Brownstoner

[Photo courtesy of lornagrl/flickr]

Here another cool shot of Coney Island contributed to our GL Photo Pool by lornagrl. It is of W. 12 Street at the Bowery and it is quite cool.

Mr. and Mrs. Upper Zoner
(a.k.a.: “The C.G. Flibbertgibbets”)

How I love you
And respect you,
My historical CG neighborhood,
Let me count the ways:
Give me some FAR 2.43
And make it a double.
Give me back my FAR,
I am no:
Flibbertigibbet!
I want more FAR and I want you to
Throw in those front gardens,
Pass the pretzels,
And fill it to the top
With a slice of FAR.
Do you really think I am that:
Stupid?
Give me back my roof top balcony
my Manhattan skyline my satellite dish my cell phone tower
and plant my high paying tenants
waaaaayyyyyy down below
then whydontcha,
throw those crazy nuts,
those anti-development communists:
those clean air psychos with their soy milk cookbooks,
those panic stricken pasta fazools, to the curb where they belong? and
Give me back my FAR you stole:
I am not a DUMBO.

c. 2008 Graciella Radici

(GL Contributor Graziella Radici resides in the Greater Carroll Gardens/Gowanus Metroplex.)

Here an interesting look at Sunset Park as seen from the water. The photo comes from Mr. Heather and is part of a much larger photoset from a waterfront tour on Sunday.

It will be just as blazing hot today as it’s been the last two days. The forecast: “Very hot and humid with the temperature breaking the record of 95 last set in 1984 with hazy sun.” The high will be 96 and it will feel like 109. There could be some strong thunderstorms around this evening. The National Weather Service has issued an Excessive Heat Warning from 11AM-8PM.–Accuweather

Hundreds of people in Boerum Hill are still without power a day after manhole fires knocked out service and took the F, G and other lines out for a while. Readers reported nasty service problems on the subway lines all day and one reader writes that he’s “still without power and living in a sweatbox,” presumably communicating from an alternate location with power.–GL Inbox

In the signs of summer department, the issue of children going wee-wee in the streets of Park Slope has returned. The tale comes from lnelson on Brooklynian and makes a perfect counterpoint to the Dog with Runs item. Here we go, so to speak:

OMG, I was walking my dog yesterday on 5th between 14th and 15th and there was a kid peeing into the street. It was early evening, still light out, lots of people around and stores open, and this kid is just standing there and peeing onto someone’s tire. I’m guessing the kid was about 7. He was not a little tiny kid. An adult man who I’m guessing was in some way affiliated with him, maybe his father, was standing behind and watching as this kid just took care of business. There was nothing subtle or protected about this scenario, all was bared for passers-by to see.

What to say to the adult in charge of a Pissing Prince?

This just in from an email via the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association:

Just a note to let everyone know: There was seen the other evening a raccoon in a tree, close to middle of Second Place. As far as we know, this is the first time seeing a raccoon in our area. Please be on the watch. Temperatures are rising this weekend. Children will be out playing or turning on the johnny pumps, as we call them. So, keep an eye out for this raccoon. Rabie bites, we are concerned about. Also, there may be more out there. So far, this was seen late-about past 10ishpm. Hiding up in a tree. Gardening time, so there will be many in the backyards, as well as barbequeing. Please make sure, that food is kept covered and also, after finishing, keep your backyards free of scraps from food,etc.

South Brooklyn wildlife!