So there’s been some activity at the site of the former Red Hot at 7th and 10th over the last few days. Here’s what I’ve been able to find out: It’s coming back as a Chinese restaurant, but I don’t know the name. They are hoping to open in a couple of weeks. One of the former employees is bringing back most of the old crew. Their rent is going to be about $12,000 per month. They are thinking about setting up tables outside, which would be a really nice touch. I hope they’re successful, we don’t have any good Chinese restaurants around. Patronize them, people, $12,000 is a lot of General Tsao’s.

The restaurant is across the street from the Tea Lounge, which is also closing.

Here’s another response to what we’re calling the Anarchy in the Pre-K situation. Yesterday, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and Councilmember Bill de Blasio had a press event “calling on the Department of Education (DOE) to correct mistakes made in the pre-Kindergarten admissions process and improve the appeals process for parents who have experienced problems.” (The Middle School Mess, meanwhile, is summarized in today’s Daily News.) They want the Department of Education to:

1. Correct all mistakes made in the admissions process and immediately provide parents with the appropriate placement for their children;
2. Extend the deadline for appeals until the end of June;
3. Provide additional ways to file an appeal with the DOE besides e-mail, for parents without email access;
4. Ensure detailed information on the appeals procedure is easily accessible to parents and widely publicized

More detail ahead.

The City Planning Commission heard a lot of statements yesterday about the proposed zoning text amendment for Carroll Gardens that would redefine a number of streets for zoning purposes as being narrow and reduce the size of future new buildings and additions to existing ones. Nearly three dozen people spoke at the hearing, most in favor of the amendment. The pro-amendment speakers included representatives of City Council Member Bill de Blasio, State Sen. Marty Connor and Borough President Marty Markowitz. They also included Community Board 6 (and City Council candidate) Craig Hammerman, local blogger (and City Council candidate) Gary Reilly, New York State Sen. candidate Daniel Squadron and Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association (CGNA) President Maria Pagano. Many other speakers were from the CORD group and the CGNA. Among the anti-amendment speakers were two Community Board 6 members opposed to the plan as well as an attorney for 360 Smith developer Billy Stein (the building’s official address is on one of the “wide” place streets that would be redefined as narrow by the amendment.) One of the CB6 members has just joined the Board. The opponents argued that the amendment would harm the neighborhood and also suggested there had been inadequate public notice for meeting, seeming to lay the groundwork for a legal challenge.

More detail ahead.

Here is the text of Coney Island USA’s Dick Zigun resignation from the Coney Island Development Corp. (It is posted on the Coney Island Message Board.) Mr. Zigun’s departure removes a significant voice for the amusement industry from the organization:

I write this open letter of resignation from the position you appointed me to as a Director of The Coney Island Development Corporation effective Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 6 PM, the exact date and time of the first public hearing on the revised rezoning of Coney Island. I urge you to withdraw this deeply flawed plan and cancel this hearing, but as it stands I cannot leave my name on it. I am particularly disturbed that the Directors of the CIDC have had no opportunity to discuss or vote on these substantial changes to our Strategic Plan – which was the result of years of work and which had achieved widespread neighborhood consensus.

As everyone knows, I am a phony politician, no more than a spokesman and advocate for the amusement industry is this “Mayor” of Coney Island. My fantasy municipality is 61 acres zoned for amusements. Nobody lives there or votes there and most Coney Island fans are tourists who live in the 5 boroughs or other states or countries far away from the real elected officials in Brooklyn. A hundred years ago Coney Island’s amusement core covered hundreds of acres and even in the mid-20th century it was over 70 acres before Robert Moses stole Luna Park and the east end for high rise housing. My 61 acre municipality contains many large empty lots and does indeed need economic development and year round activity. Though I had no hand in writing the CIDC Strategic Plan, I have served as its #1 cheerleader and your advocate as a Mayor who could tackle Coney Island 21st century revitalization. You have done many good deeds for the beach.

I for one feel betrayed.

Dick Zigun, who is the head of Coney Island USA and often referred to as the Unofficial Mayor of Coney Island because of his long tenure in the amusement district, is quitting the board of the Coney Island Development Corp. Mr. Zigun has been a voice of the amusement industry (to the extent one can represent the many Coney factions) but had become increasingly dissatisfied as the city significantly altered its original Coney redevelopment proposal. Today’s Daily News reports:

Zigun said he would bow out of the 13-member Coney Island Development Corp. to protest a revised city development plan he charged could include a shopping mall near the center of the 47acre plan. “This spring, without the CIDC ever having a discussion or ever taking a vote, the strategic plan that I had been a major cheerleader for was totally changed and compromised in a way that no amusement park lover could possibly be happy with,” said Zigun, founder of Coney Island USA, which runs a world-famous sideshow.In a blistering attack, Zigun said that the revised city plan would also mean a significantly smaller amusement park if passed by the City Council next year…”The CIDC plan promised a world-class tourist attraction with an entertainment core – lots of rides complemented by year-round nightclubs and enclosed water parks,” said Zigun in a letter to Mayor Bloomberg. “Instead the core will now be rezoned for a shopping mall full of Niketowns, Toys ‘R’ Us and four 30-story hotels.”

e will have the full text of Mr. Zigun’s strongly-worded resignation letter coming up. The plot thickens.

We feel that we can safely predict that a liquor store is opening at the corner of N. 8 & Driggs in a spot that was formerly occupied by a bar. We know this because signs and an awning have gone up identifying the new establishment as Eighth & Driggs Wine & Liquors or Eight & Driggs Wine & Liquor Store depending on the sign one prefers.

This pedestrian crossing sign in Gowanus at Union and Bond Streets has been leaning more and more and more. Yesterday, it seemed to be warning pedestrians of the bike that a child had momentarily left at the crosswalk.

As we noted earlier, some telephone wire collections of hanging sneakers and dollars have been popping up around Williamsburg in the last week or so. We found this example at N. 8 Street & Driggs when we were taking a look at a development site and trying to figure out if it was stalled or not. When we looked up, there they were.

We return to the issue of people smoking in playground courtesy of an email that a reader forwarded to us from the Park Slope Parents list, where the issue erupts from time to time. This time the question is about the Harmony Playground near Ninth Street in Prospect Park and the smokers are Parks Department employees. Here’s the email:

Every time I’ve been at the Harmony playground on the weekend recently, I’ve seen parks employees smoking in the playground. I have politely asked the workers to stop smoking there, and they go outside the fences to finish their smokes–but the same people are doing it again the next day, inside the playground. I called 311 about it, but was told by the operator that it is not prohibited to smoke in NYC’s playgrounds. There’s a sign clearly stating that it isn’t allowed, but 311 didn’t know how to handle the complaint…I’m tired of my kid having to breathe smoke in a space that’s supposed to be for him.

The writer wants to know if anyone has had success complaining to the city about playground smoking.

So, let’s say you want to take a cab back to Brooklyn from Manhattan and you get in and the driver refuses to take you. What do you do? (Other than get into an argument with the driver or get out of the cab muttering.) It’s probably happened at least once to everyone. A GL reader filed a report about what happened when he decided to pursue an incident with the Taxi and Limousine Commission:

My wife and I live in Cobble Hill. Late on a Saturday night several weeks ago, we got in a cab to go home from a night out in the Lower East Side. The driver refused to take us to Brooklyn. For whatever reason I decided not to let it slide and the next day I filed a complaint with the TLC. I pursued the complaint by attending a hearing at which the driver was found guilty. He had to pay a $200 fine.

I know most everyone who lives in Brooklyn has dealt with cab drivers who won’t take fares to the outer boroughs. In going through the formal complaint process, I realized why they think they can get away with it – it seems like a pain to pursue a complaint. You have to attend a hearing. The driver will be right there next to you. The hearing could get heated. But for me it was worth it to get the violation addressed.

Will it make them more likely to take you to Brooklyn?

In the last week or so, someone has been tossing a lot of sneakers up on wires in Williamsburg and adding some dolls to the mix. These are on N. 10 Street between Berry and Wythe. The entire effect is quite striking.

There will be a debut party on Wednesday, June 4, for three beers from Schmaltz, makers of Coney Island Lager. The three beers will be: Albino Python White [spiced lager, orange peel, ginger, coriander, fennel); Sword Swallower Steel Hop Lager (4 malts, 8 hops – dry hopped with Amarillo, Crystal and Cascade); Human Blockhead Tough-as-Nails Lager (8.8%). The party happens at the Gate, which is located at 321 Fifth Avenue (& 3rd street) at 7PM. Pints of the new stuff are $5. The Gate hosts many such events but it’s unclear why the beer makers took a pass on Coney Island spots like Cha Cha’s and Ruby’s. Coney Lager did have its debut in Coney Island.

The beloved lobster sign of Armando’s Restaurant on Montague Street only came down last week, but the new sign for the Spicy Pickle chain restaurant is already up. “The new sign appears to be the same size, shape and dimension of the old Lobster with a bolder color scheme.”–Brooklyn Heights Blog

This is 910 Union Street in Park Slope, right off Grand Army Plaza. A few weeks ago we noted on Curbed that the People’s Cathedral of St. Michael & All Angels was on the market and that it was being sold as a development site which could handle a “vertical enlargement.” Here’s one idea for it, courtesy of the Massey Knakal website. The big real estate firm is handling the sale of the property, whose asking price is $5.995 million. It estimates that condos on the property would go for $950 a square foot.

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

· Woman Jumps from Brooklyn Bridge, Survives Unharmed [NYDN]
· Have You Heard? Dylan Playing Prospect Park [Urbanite]
· Brooklyn Child Killer Gets Life in Prison [NYP]
· Gun Violence in the Hood [Clinton Hill Chill]
· Confirmed: Brooklyn College Roosevelt Hall is Toast [Brooklyn Junction]
· “Song of Brooklyn,” An Oral History of Our Fave Borough [Kinetic Carnival]
· Rose Season [Brooklynometry]
· Pushing the Boundaries of Ditmas Park [Ditmas Park Blog]
· The Art of Bed-Stuy [Bed-Stuy Banana]
· Groundbreaking for Weeksville Arts & Education Ctr. [Bed-Stuy Blog]
· Cortelyou Farmers Market is Open [Sustainable Flatbush]
· Al Fresco at New Aji Bar & Lounge in Slope [Brooklyn Skeptic]

[Photo courtesy silk cut/flickr]

If you’re looking for a fun way to check out historic Weeksville, then think about the Brooklyn Historical Society-sponsored tour coming up on Saturday, June 14. Here’s some info:

Walkabout Weeksville: Guided walking tour of Weeksville Neighborhood by the Society for the Preservation of Weeksville. The Hunterfly Road Houses, located on a Native American path that became a Dutch colonial road, are examples of the homes of 19th century free African Americans in the urban North. The Houses were continuously inhabited from their construction until their acquisition by the Weeksville Society in 1968. Named for James Weeks, who bought the land in 1838, Weeksville was settled by African Americans who migrated there from all over the east coast after slavery was abolished in New York State in 1827. Weeksville became an economic, political and cultural center of African America during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Weeksville Heritage Center offers a variety of thematic house tours year-round. Check the website for additional information. Meet at Weeksville Hunterfly Houses on Bergen Street between Buffalo and Rochester Avenues. Admission: $10 members, $15 non-members, $5 children.

It’s a very cool place to check out if you’ve never been.

This hand and foot comes from a door on N. 8 Street in Williamsburg.

The redo of Vanderbilt Avenue from a wide street that was a automobile free for all, to a calmed stretch with a lane of traffic in each direction with bike lanes and landscaped traffic islands is moving ahead very, very quickly.–Brownstoner

[Photo courtesy of nine6sevenfour/flickr]

This incredible looking scene was captured in Fort Greene by nine6sevenfour and put into our GL Photo Pool. It’s most definitely a moment in time.

Magic Johnson’s Greenpoint condo, the Viridian, is hitting the market with units priced from $458,000 for the smallest 640 square foot unit up to $825,000 for a 1,267 square foot three-bedroom job. There are new renderings too, but it still leads us to think of a nasty alien problem the crew of the Enterprise might have confronted.–Curbed

As you have probably already heard, yesterday was the official start of hurricane season. Yesterday, we ran an image of potential flooding in Brooklyn and, today, we’re going to recall the story of the West Indian Monster of 1893 and one of its victims, Hog Island (yes, it’s in Queens, but it makes a point, and Brooklyn was pretty trashed by the storm too). The 1893 storm, which was only a Category 2, came ashore in Jamaica Bay, near where JFK airport sits today. Some saloons, casinos and resort hotels on a sandy spit of land called Hog Island were completely washed away. A few miles west of the hurricane’s eye, almost every building on Coney Island was destroyed. There was extensive flooding in Brooklyn, with water reported as being “waist high” far inland, and wind damage to many of the city’s new skyscrapers.

A mere 30-foot storm surge across Southern Brooklyn.

We checked in on the debut of “What’s the Hook?” at the Kentler Gallery on Van Brunt Street in Red Hook on Saturday and found the photo show–which is culled from pics taken last August and submitted via flickr–is loaded with superb photos of the neighborhood. The photos will be up around Red Hook through June, July and August and are totally worth checking out. Some of the photos will be at Hope & Anchor at 347 Van Brunt from June 14-29.

For info about the rest of the showings, click here.

Some people think that there are too many people asking for money on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope. the “askers” fall into two categories: the familiar faces that stake out spots and always beg for change, and the politically motivated looking for donations for various causes. Here’s a complaint about it from Brooklynian:

I am really not the kind of person who generally has a problem with the occasional non profit canvassing for donations, and I have given money to a few of them, but the 7th ave corridor is becoming one big harassment zone. I have not walked down 7th in ages without being asked if I could “spare some time” (more like money) for the environment/gay rights/ACLU/yadda yadda. Not to mention the guy posted in front of the bodega on 7th and Carroll St who asks everyone who passes for money. Then there are the kids who may or may not be gathering funds for their school/sports team/whatever. This seriously annoys me and I am wondering if anyone else is feeling overwhelmed by the canvassers. Can’t we have some limits on how often we get approached by strangers asking for money????

‘GreenPeace f*cking bastards.’

Those familiar with Sheepshead Bay will recall the closing of local landmark Lundy’s and the subesequent news the space would become a high-end grocery stores “like Whole Foods.” Well, progress is being made in the changeover, although it’s slow going as always in many such situations. The target for opening is early next year.–GerritsenBeach.Net