Of all the Coney Island stories we’ve read and heard, the one about the person that fell through the floor of the toilet at Ruby’s on the Boardwalk is one of the most interesting. Per the FDNY: “One guy was taking a leak, the floor partially collapsed, and he fell 10 feet.” He fell into the dank basement and when he emerged, in the words of an employee, he was “literally covered in shit.” Ruby’s was closed by the DOH after the unfortunate incident, but reopened on Sunday and was closed again. We’re going to guess the reason for the closure is no working bathroom. Talk about having a shitty day at the beach.–The Real Estate

[Photo courtesy of Incandenza/flickr]

This is a rail line running through Bushwick, photographed at Morgan Avenue. There’s a shot of the same spot in winter here.

Outside the Brooklyn Weather Observatory we appear to have the makings of the perfect spring day. Today’s forecast is short and sweet: “sunny and beautiful.” The high will be 76. Tonight will be mainly clear with a low of 59. Enjoy.–Accuweather

From Prospect Heights, via Brooklynian, comes a tale of noisy mockingbirds up at all hours of the night, apparently, in search of mates:

I’m on Pacific btwn Vandy and Underhill…noticed in past 2 wks that the back of my bldg becomes the Amazon, with calls of the wild from about 4-5 different birds. They always start up around 12, 12:30 am. Isn’t it odd for birds to be out, hyped up like that in the middle of the night? They are full on chirping, LOUD – like mating calls back and forth. One bird uses a bunch of different ones until someone responds back! Bird lovers, help me. Not necessarily complaining…it can be nice to fall asleep to. Makes me feel like I’m on tropical vacation until the B45 shows up.

And, the reason for the racket:

1. It’s prob not 4-5 birds like I thought – more like 1 or 2, since they imitate other birds’ chirps (and cell phones). 2. Apparently, this time of year they are hormonal and out on the prowl like sluts. 3. The lights from the gigantic storage bldg causes them to stay up and protect turf.

For the record, there are reports of similar late night frolicking in Park Slope and other neighborhoods.

This example of comfy bus stop seating comes from Tompkins Street in Bed-Stuy, where it is useful for awaiting the arrival of the B43. It was sent our way by Miss Heather.

[Photo courtesy of arichman33/flickr]

The Gowanus Goes Green event, which we have posted about before, is this Sunday, June 1, from 11AM-6PM. Our point here, though, is to show how the event is being promoted locally, as per this photo shot on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope. The sponsors are taking the green theme quite literally. More info about the event here.

It’s Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City vs. our very own and very new Beer Island? Which one has the better view? The best food? The best drink selection? Well, Water Taxi Beach wins on a lot of counts, but Beer Island (aka BI) has one thing going for it that WTB doesn’t: Coney Island.–Eater

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There are many things we could say about this image from Coney Island and, in truth, we have seen it much worse. The less said, however, the better.

The Park Slope Food Coop has followed its ban on bottled water by nixing the use of plastic bags. The vote came last night and was reported by the Brooklyn Paper as being “nearly unanimous.” (The vote was, approximately, 250 in favor and four against.) The Brooklyn Paper writes:

In both cases, the well-being of the planet was cited as the motivation — like water bottles, plastic bags are made from petroleum — and the notion of customer convenience was dismissed.

A member in favor of the ban said: “We don’t need them. Some people say they reuse them, but how many times? Once, twice? That’s no big savings. It will be hard to give up plastic bags, but we can do it. We don’t need them! We can do it! It should be done. It must be done.” And, so, it is done.

We’ve been running a series of photos of the same block since last week to try to figure out if there are, in fact, cars that have been dumped in Park Slope and left there while alternate side of the street parking is suspended while signs are replaced. Our first week of observation courtesy of a special correspondent photographing the same block every day reveals that after a week of little movement, Memorial Day Weekend shook things up and all the cars in the Test Area, so to speak, have moved. IE: There are no cars cemented in place, at least in this small sample area. Anecdotally, we’re hearing people say that parking is somewhat harder during the week and there are reports of cars that are not moving, but we can say that the one-third of a block our Special Correspondent is monitoring has had complete movement in the first week of the Great Park Slope Alternate Side Parking Experiment. You can check all our previous Park Slope Parking Watch posts by clicking here.

A GL reader write about a “barricade situation” on St. Mark’s Place at the edge of Park Slope: “There is currently a ‘barricaded subject’ at 28 st. mark’s place (between 3rd and 4th ave) — google seems to imply that this is some sort of hostage situation (?!). The whole block is full of NYPD swat buses and the sidewalk is cordoned off…” Developing.

UPDATE: Our source writes that the situation appears to have been related to a “child services dispute” and that, as of, 11:30 it seems to have been resolved peacefullly.

Click here for another photo of the scene.

There will be a “Community Forum on the Future of the Brooklyn House of Detention” on Thursday, May 29 at 7PM at St. Cyril’s Belarusian Cathedral (Atlantic Avenue at Bond Street.) Followers of the saga might recall that the city wants to reopen the facility and double its capacity. Here’s the email we got from the “Stakeholders Group”:

More vision, less prison! The Brooklyn House of Detention Stakeholders invite the community to attend an open forum to discuss the future of the Brooklyn Jail. The Department of Corrections and the City of New York want to reopen the jail and double the inmate population at the gateway to Brooklyn, shutting out all community involvement in the process. There ARE options. Join us to learn what else can be done on the site that will serve both justice and the community!

The facility was closed in 2003 and reopening it is not entirely popular in the community. There’s a full website from opponents on the issue.

The Hoyt Street Alliance and City Council Member Bill de Blasio are having a community meeting tonight (Wednesday, May 28) on issues related to liquor license for the oyster bar that restauranteur Jim Mamary plans to open on Court Street. The decision led to a lot of very personal accusations flying back-and-forth between supporters and opponents. Here’s the email:

The Hoyt Street Alliance invites you to join us at a special community meeting, co-sponsored by Councilman Bill de Blasio on Wednesday, May 28,
P.S. 32 auditorium, 7 – 9 p.m. This is your chance to voice your concerns and hear what your neighbors
have to say. Use this opportunity to make your concerns known!

The license was approved by Community Board 6 in a very contentious process. The Alliance has asked for a new CB6 meeting on the subject.

We’ve got Bushwick Open Studios, the opening of the Brooklyn International Film Festival at the Lyceum on Friday, a theater/film festival at Williamsburg’s Brick Theater, a Rooftop Films Screening of “At the Death House Door” in Fort Greene and a lot more. Check out the tip sheet.–Brooklyn Based

Is the Whole Foods site in Gowanus starting to look more abandoned? One might say, “yes.” The signs identifying the big and environmentally-challenged parcel of land on Third Street in Gowanus as belonging to Whole Food were taken down at the end of 2007. At some point more recently, however, all the permits (many of them more than a year out of date) and other signs (including the endlessly photogenic hazmat warning sign) disappeared too. Of course, there’s no evidence the grocer has abandoned the project, as opposed to the fact that it’s still lacking the proper permits to move forward. (And, often, projects look abandoned until the construction equipment shows up one day.) Still, the Whole Foods project does not an air of inevitability about it. The “groundbreaking” for the big grocery took place in November 2006; last year, Whole Foods was handing out bags at Celebrate Brooklyn that said “opening in 2008.” It would appear with the year almost half over and, given the complexity of building on the contaminated site, that even if permits were issued tomorrow and construction equipment started digging up the property, that it’s highly unlikely a store would open before 2010. Not that anyone that didn’t know could tell anymore that a store is even planned on the site.

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

· Life May Get Less Nasty, Brutish & Short at Hellish High School [NYP]
· What About Atlantic Yards “Voodoo Economics”? [AYR]
· Baltic Street Tower Now on the Market [Brownstoner]
· The Gopher Thing Behind Magic Johnson Viridian [New York Shitty]
· Call Grenier-Maltz and Tell Them to Clean Up Lot [Kensington Bk]
· New Banners Being Hung in Coney Amusement Area [Kinetic Carnival]
· How Did Historic Slope Food Coop Plastic Bag Vote Turn Out? [OTBKB]
· South Slope Fantasy Bar Crawl [Brooklyn Skeptic]
· Battle Hill in Green-Wood Cemetery [Brooklynometry]
· Flatbush Skateboarders [Fading Ad Blog]
· 79th Precinct Community Meeting Tonight [Bed-Stuy Blog]
· PLG’s Glass Tower on BCAT [Hawthorne Street]
· Green Brownstone Building Tips [I’m Seeing Green]

The Red Hook Ballfield Vendors had expected to be open by Memorial Day, but they weren’t. Spokesperson Cesar Fuentes says: “We cannot start until the city approves our permits [and these are] being processed as we speak. Unfortunately, that can still take a couple more weeks before we are given a go. Realistically speaking, we can probably expect to open Mid-June.”–Porkchop Express

Our good friend 525 Union Avenue, a Karl Fischer building that was a poster child for Sunday construction work in Williamsburg and the Department of Building’s inability to do anything about it, is going on the market as a “luxury rental” building. The apartments start at $2,395 for a 1BR and top out at more than $5,000 per month. The building is about a half-block from the BQE and within a block of four major construction projects on Union Avenue and Roebling Street.

The best part is the Photoshopped rooftop view that moves Lower Manhattan.

There is something interesting in the window of the former Schnack on Union Street: “According to some new signage, owner Jim Mamary (also owner of a vast number of establishments throughout the BK including Pomme de Terre, the Farm on Adderley, and the new Oyster Bar) and his co-owners owe the landlord upwards of $11,000 in back rent.”–Eater

[Photo courtesy of Sail Brooklyn/flickr]

These are powerboats docked in Sheepshead Bay. They come to the GL Photo Pool courtesy of Sail Brooklyn.

Whether one likes one’s cars up on blocks or burned to a crips, Southern Brooklyn has a little something to offer everyone. On the other hand, what’s up with all the semi-stripped and toasted cars out there?–Curbed

[Photo courtesy of 66 Square Feet]
This is an actual Clematis, as found on Dean Street in Boerum Hill.

Outside the Brooklyn Weather Observatory, a completely different weather system has settled in, and it’s cool again. Today’s forecast calls for it to be mostly sunny, cooler and less humid. The high will be 69. Tonight will be clear and cool with a low of 51.–Accuweather

We have to say that we weren’t the only people that stopped to stare at these ponies, which are chained up and part of a living “ride” in Coney Island. The five ponies and the ride are ostensibly part of a petting zoo set up on developer Joe Sitt’s property. Whether one considers the attraction and the sight of ponies chained to such a device and forced to endlessly walk in circles depends on one’s perspective. We know that someone will say that such rides are found everywhere and are no big deal or any different than horses pulling carriages. Us, we’re not liking it so much.