Sometimes you can pass by a storefront a lot of times without paying a lot of attention to it. We may have photos of Nick’s Luncheonette on Broadway in Williamsburg somewhere in our archives, but when we walked by it the other day we took more photos. We also put a smaller camera through the gate and up to the window for a look inside. It was even more fascinating than we expected.

Have a look inside by clicking here.

If you go to your local park today, the odds are you will find something special going on. That’s because it’s “It’s My Park Day!” citywide. We can’t possibly highlight them all, but were’ going to pull a few from the inbox. (Check out Prospect Park’s activities, which we posted about earlier in the week, here.) The Park Slope Playground, which is between between 5th & 6th Avenues and Lincoln Pl. & Berkeley Place is having music, games and art from 10AM-2PM on a day billed as “a family day to celebrate the basketball courts, squeaky swings, slippery slides of Brooklyn’s Park Slope Playground.” There’s a full schedule of performances and activities:

“It’s My Park!” Day kicks off with a performance by The County Kings, whose infectious fusion of folk rock, celtic and country music will get the neighborhood up and dancing. Experienced coaches offer kids age 15 and under a chance to brush up on their basketball skills, including 3-on-3 drills, passing, shooting and dribbling. Don’t miss the raffl e of discounts and free swag from local shops and restaurants. And gratis packs of sidewalk chalk will bring out the Michelangelo in kids, who are invited to decorate the playground’s blacktop. The event also marks the introduction of the playground into the city’s pilot recycling program, so green-themed events round out the day, with composting demos and easy, on-the-spot collection of cell phones, batteries and crayons for recycling

There’s “a day of learning, fun, games, music and action at The Old Stone House in JJ Bryne Park” and an “It’s My Park Day Eco Fair” today that runs from 11AM-4PM.

Sunset Park is featuring activities from 10AM-3PM in the Children’s Native Plants Garden between the swings + Comfort Station. The Friends of Sunset Park email that “We’ll be weeding, raking, planting and reconnecting with each other after hibernating all winter long. All ages welcome!!”

The debacle of Brooklyn’s “Arabic school” has taken a new turn. “Three opponents of a Brooklyn public school that teaches Arabic filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against the school’s founding principal, Debbie Almontaser, claiming that she had defamed them by saying they had stalked her.”–NYT

Make sure to check out Ed Levine’s “Ikea Hack,” whose basic premise is that people in Manhattan and elsewhere can take advantage of some transportation supplements that will be coming with the opening of Ikea in Red Hook in a few weeks to check out the Ballfield Vendors. Ikea, of course, will have Water Taxi service and there will be a shuttle from the Smith-9th Street Station (until it shuts down in the future for a year or so for renovations), not to mention an extended B61. Ikea Hack!!!

The SONYA Studio Stroll (South of the Navy Yard) is today (5/17) and tomorrow (5/18) from 12 Noon to 6PM. The map of the studios is above, included to show the general area. The tour’s website has a PDF of the brochure and full info. Here’s a bit:

SONYA presents the 9th Annual SONYA Studio Stroll in the vibrant cultural hub of downtown Brooklyn just south of the Navy Yard—where art is made. The Stroll is a free self-guided walking tour of studios and galleries showcasing an incredible variety of artwork created by Brooklyn-based artists. We invite you to begin your Stroll experience by previewing the Stroll artists’ work, downloading a tour map, and planning your adventure on Stroll weekend, May 17 & 18. Bring your friends and family along and make it a celebration of art making and appreciation!

One idea for tomorrow is hitting up Brooklyn Flea and, then, doing the studio stroll.

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

· A Determined Neighborhood Dry Cleaner is Killed in Windsor Terrace [NYT]
· Windsor Terrace Dry Cleaner Murdered [NYP]
· Atlantic Yards “Modern Blueprint” versus Reality [AYR]
· Tensions Rise in Crown Heights After Teen Beaten & Robbed [NYP]
· It’s Brooklyn Flea Time Again [Brownstoner]
· Requiem for a Park Slope Elm [OTBKB]
· Clinton Hill in the News [Clinton Hill Blog]
· Shanghai Lee is Back in Greenpoint [Greenpointers]
· Save Coney Island Demonstration Coming [Kinetic Carnival]
· A Bushwick Political Primer [Bushwick BK]

These Kermit posters have been up on Driggs Avenue between N. 9 and N. 10 Street in Williamsburg for a while. The pushpin on this one is a recent addition, though.

While the premise of the film as posted on YouTube of Coney Island Amusements having “closed in 2007” is a bit off, the short film itself is very well done and has a lot of great Coney shots.

Down in Southern Brooklyn, “White Island / Mau-Mau is going to be reconstructed via a NYC Parks capital project. The total cost of this project is: $1,155,000. The website has no project description at this time.” We have no idea what’s involved, but residents around Marine Park are hoping that someone comes to a meeting next month to explain what the reconstruction and, uh, application of herbicides is all about.–GerritsenBeach.Net

The “coolest small apartment” this year, per Apartment Therapy, is a 460 square foot rental studio in Fort Greene. Note the fact that one gets to sleep atop the entertainment system, which pretty much rule out watching TV while in bed, among other things.

The Toll Brothers have installed a big 28-by-16 foot sculpture behind Northside Piers. It was made by a Burg-based artist in a studio upstate, then driven to Brooklyn. It had a sort of tortured trip to the Brooklyn, arriving a few weeks late. The real question is when the “publicly accessible” waterfront space behind the Toll project will be open to the public.–Brownstoner

Have you joined our Gowanus Lounge Photo Pool on flickr? We hope that if you shoot Brooklyn photos and post them on flickr that you’ll think about it. Join the pool and simply tag your pics “gowanuslounge.” We’ll be glad you did.

[Photo courtesy of lornagrl/flickr]

This photo comes from lornagrl, who always takes engaging and cool shots of parts of Brooklyn that are sometimes photographed less than others. Here’s a store window on Coney Island Avenue for your Saturday enjoyment.

What a difference a day makes. It’s a perfect Spring day outside the Brooklyn Weather Observatory this morning. The forecast calls for it to be windy and warmer with sunshine mixing with some clouds and a high of 74. There will be some thunderstorms and showers around tonight with a low of 56.–Accuweather

[Photo courtesy of Adrian Kinloch]

This photo from Brit in Brooklyn blogger and GL Photo Contributor Adrian Kinloch captures the very essence of our big wooden roller coaster friend, the Cyclone. It’s a moment frozen in time that rather says it all.

We were a little surprised to see Public Place painted green when the F Train came around the bend from Smith-9th Street toward the Carroll Street stop. (Insert joke here about how this is why the Hudson Companies called their winning proposal to develop the property Gowanus Green.) We’d shot a photo of the site totally cleared a few days ago, with the debris having been carted off. Now, it apparently has been seeded for grass. At least, that’s what we think it is rather than just being painted green. The clean up involves preliminary site prep work. There is no remediation plan for the deeply polluted parcel yet

“The owner of a longtime Windsor Terrace dry cleaners was discovered dead in the store this morning. She victim has been identified as 52-year-old Kyung-Sook Woo, was found by an employee opening Eden Dry Cleaners at 1623 10th Avenue sometime after 7 a.m. She was pronounced dead at the scene…The NYPD is asking the public’s assistance in helping find the victim’s car that was discovered missing. The car is described as a 2008 White Honda Accord with licence plates EHS 7392. Witnesses in and about the area before the discovery of the victim have described the following person as also being there. The person of interest is described as 5’8″ male between the ages of 20 to 25 year old. He was said to be wearing a baseball cap, white shirt, blue jeans and carrying a black knapsack.”–7Online

One of the more amusing parts of the upcoming Brooklyn Bridge celebration is an art project called “The Telectroscope: A Window Through the World.” The NYC Visit website describes it like this: “Artist Paul St. George’s public media project is an amazing optical device that allows viewers in Brooklyn to see all the way to London.” Meanwhile, here’s an excerpt from a great post about it on Brooklyn Based:

If you’ve heard the term “steampunking” but considered it an obscure trend you’d never experience first hand, think again. On May 21, a drill bit will begin boring out of Fulton Ferry Landing, to expose a tunnel 30 feet long and seven feet in diameter in time for May 22, the kick-off event for the bridge’s anniversary. Created by artist/inventor Paul St. George, this Telectroscope is actually the outer part of a tunnel (wink wink) connecting Brooklyn to South London, outfitted with an optical device that will allow us to see Londoners in real time and vice versa, 24/7 through June 15.

There’s also a blog and the project has its own website. We should have some photos from the London end later on.

Here’s our regular weekly post from the Center for the Urban Environment about the great tours they run:

Saturday, May 17, 1-3 pm – with Adam Schwartz
Rust and Remembrance: Bushwick’s Southern End

Bushwick is a bustling neighborhood with a sleepier southern side. The historic houses lining these leafy streets date from a late 19th century real estate boom. We’ll be taking in Bushwick’s more distant past, including the Irving Square Park area, as well as Trinity Cemetery, where almost every gravestone is cast from metal. This eye-opening stroll will demonstrate the need for historic preservation in this rapidly changing community. Meet at the NE corner of Chauncey St. and Broadway, under the J Train elevated line.

Sustainable Bike Tour and Mating Horseshoe Crabs, ahead.

We have to say that our favorite part of the Brooklyn Bridge 125th Anniversary celebration will probably be the kick off activities. Per the Visit NYC website:

Be part of the excitement with a concert featuring the Brooklyn Philharmonic and special guest performances, followed by a Grucci Fireworks extravaganza. A festive lighting ceremony will illuminate the entire Bridge, which will remain lit every evening from 9pm–11pm through Memorial Day. Doors open at 6pm; concert starts at 7:45pm. Free. (Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park, enter at Main Street, Brooklyn)

A Brooklyn Bridge Grucci fireworks extravaganza! The full schedule of events, and there are a bunch of them, is here.

[Photo courtesy Bryan Bruchman/flickr]

Yesterday, Jon Crow, the Union Hall neighbors who led the charge against the venue, circulated an email about the Community Board 6 decision to support renewal of its liquor license. The fight was one of the most bitter in recent memory in Park Slope and cast supporters and opponents on very opposite sides of a wide divide. We think the perspective the email offers is interesting, and certainly deserves to be part of the record of the discussion about Union Hall. Here it is:

Last night, Community Board 6 voted to recommend the approval of Union Hall’s liquor license renewal. This means that for the second month in a row, CB6 has dealt a blow against the residents they’re meant to protect. Just last week, after hearing from both sides, the CB6 Land Use Committee voted in FAVOR of residents, recommending the full Board send a strong message to State Liquor Authorities that Union Hall NOT be rewarded with a renewal until resident complaints are fully addressed. In a system where the laws favor business over residential rights, the committee bravely sent a message to bar owners and City and State Authorities that the wishes of a commercial venture should not outweigh basic quality of life issues for residents.

The alleged false 911 call, the CB6 Union Hall Christmas Party and more.

This is 170 Smith Street. It is only remarkable if one recalls the sad recent history of the building, which had fallen into such disrepair (no doubt exacerbated by being on top of the subway tunnel carrying the F Train) that its facade started to crumble in March. When we passed by the building the other day, we noticed that signficant progress had been made on fixing the facade. There is a “for rent” sign up for the storefront at street level, but if you look at the window on the top floor, the roof of the building still has gaping holes.

To see the building with its crumbling facade, click here.

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There is irony and, then, there is irony. That there is a constituency to keep alternate side of the street parking regulations in place in Park Slope rather than temporarily suspending them is irony. Now that the rush has worn off a suspension of anywhere from three weeks to three months, there appears to be a small and growing group in the neighborhood against the change (which is needed to replace signs as the street cleaning time is reduced from 3 hours to 90 minutes). Today’s Times zooms in in the opposition with a story headlined “New Parking Rules Receive Wary Welcome.” The Daily News, meanwhile, focuses on the neighborhood’s “joy.” (Clearly, there are conflicted feelings.) GL asked City Council Member Bill de Blasio for his take on the change. “I commend DOT for changing the alternate-side rules,” Mr. de Blasio said. “This is something that Community Board 6 and I have worked for years to make happen.” He added, however, that “the temporary suspension of alternate-side parking rules in Park Slope should not be an excuse for people to park their car in a spot for weeks on end.” Mr. de Blasio told GL that he has “asked DOT to provide a time line for how long it will take to change the parking signs so that people do not have the mistaken impression that the alternate-side parking rules will be suspended indefinitely.” The Big Park Slope Parking Experiment begins on Monday. Meanwhile, Brownstoner is running a poll about whether the suspension is a good thing or a bad thing.

The official Opening of the Beach Ceremony at Coney Island next Friday should have a colorful backdrop when a Save Coney Island demonstration takes place. The demonstration is happening at 10:30 AM on the Boardwalk, with demonstrators gathering at 9:45. Per the Save Coney group: “It will be a great opportunity to communicate our message.” The manifesto includes: “NO to High Rises in the Amusement District. . NO to Retail, Malls or Entertainment Retail in the Amusement District. NO to shrinkage of the Amusement District from 15 acres to 9 acres! YES to preserving Amusement Zoning in the Amusement District!! YES to keeping Coney Island the People’s Playground- providing accessible Amusements for ALL to enjoy!!” The group had a sign painting party this week. There’s more info available here.

To see the full flier, click here.

Lost in all the drama surrounding the bitter fight over the liquor license of Union Hall in Park Slope was another important local measure that was up for a decision by Community Board Six on Wednesday night: the “narrow streets” zoning text amendment in Carroll Gardens. That text change would redefine a number of very narrow streets in the neighborhood as actually being narrow for zoning purposes, reducing the density of what could be built. (The streets are currently defined as “wide” for the zoning code, allowing bigger buildings and additions.) The discussion of the amendment actually took nearly an hour and a half as there were objections from opponents, some of whom bitterly object to the change. In the end, the board voted 20-7 in favor of the measure (with 7 abstentions). The change must go through the full city land use review process and, ultimately, be approved by the City Council.