“A few weeks ago I noticed that Microsoft made an interesting move and opened up Microsoft Live Picture Studio on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights. At first I did a double-take thinking, ‘Could they really have opened up a picture studio?’ What a waste.” So, few people seemed to go in to this Mother’s Day-related venture and now its three-week run is finished. Hasta la Vista, so to speak.–jared.brodsky via BHB

This sign is from Lee Avenue and Ross Street in South Williamsburg, and the Ross part of the pair has acquired some significant curvature.

Outside the Brooklyn Weather Observatory, yesterday’s issues are clearly gone and spring is back. Today will be partly sunny and warmer with a high of 68. Tonight’s forecast calls for clear skies and a low of 52.–Accuweather

[Photo courtesy of JP Pagan/flickr]

The blossom part of Spring is drawing to a close. What more evidence can one ask for than this gorgeous pink carpet photographed by JP Pagan and dropped into our Gowanus Lounge Photo Pool.

The mystery of what will end up in the big lot at Metropolitan and Marcy Avenues has been solved by a sign. It’s going to be a new Capital One Bank branch. It will be the first branch of a big bank on the west side of the BQE in Williamsburg, although it’s still not close enough to Bedford Avenue to pose a serious challenge to bodega ATMs. That niche will eventually be filled a (urgh) Commerce Bank branch, although the building where it would go has been a skeleton since 2006 and is currently a little bit of a threat to public safety. (Paging DOB…there’s a wide open fence leading to one-story drop into a basement pit a few steps off busy Bedford Avenue.) Will it have drive-through banking?

We’re not clear whether the balance of cleaners on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope is at an equilibrium point or not, but new one will be opening near Fourth Street. The interesting part is that it comes from Sunset Park, where local blogger Best View in Brooklyn shares the news that she’s losing her cleaner:

…when I asked how long the place would be closed, both she and her son looked at me for what seemed like a very long time and the son broke the terrible news. Ho Ho Cleaners and Tailors of 8th Avenue and 47th Street was really, really closing. At least in that location. You know why they are moving? RENT! It’s more than doubling, apparently. Whoever the landlord is hasn’t looked up the street one block to see the two empty storefronts that have been trying to get tenants for almost a year now…

To find out where they’re going, click here.

The Atlantic Yards Webcam now has a flickr stream which is updated with new webcam images. It is destined to grow into quite the collection.–flickr

It looks like the Ghost of the Democracy Wall in Carroll Gardens struck at some time again over the weekend, with the construction fence at 360 Smith Street curiously acquiring some shamrocks. Of course, the last time it was decorated, hearts appeared and, then, a short lived love message that was quickly removed. What’s interesting, though, is that the fence has so far avoided the advertising that ends up on a lot of others, especially given its high-traffic location. As for the Oliver House development itself, its website informs us that foundation work is ongoing: “Steel pipe piles will be installed in the ground along the west side of the site. These piles will be drilled into place using two drilling rigs, thus avoiding the noise and vibration normally associated with pile driving operations. Some truck loads of building materials will arrive at the site from time to time; and some debris will be removed in dumpsters from time to time.” And, you know, some decorative additions will be appear on the fence periodically.

The machinations in the bitter aftermath of the Community Board 6 vote in favor of a liquor license for Jim Mamary’s oyster bar on Hoyt Street continue. The Hoyt Street Alliance, which led the charge against the restaurant and bar, sent a letter last week to CB6 asking for a new hearing on the grounds that there was inadequate public notice of a Land Use Committee hearing and that the meeting was flawed on procedural grounds. The letter says that it is “far better now forthrightly to admit that mistakes were made rather than to inflict an unnecessary permanent nuisance upon a residential area.” The Alliance says that “we must return to demand our due process.” One senses the groundwork for an appeal of the license being laid.

The Brooklyn Heights House Tour this weekend included many things, among them a look inside the lobby of the Bossert on Montague Street, which may or may not have been sold last week or may or may not be on the verge of sale for a price in excess of $100M.–Brooklyn Heights Blog

There was such an abundance of Craigslist Missed Connection goodness this last week that we held a couple over. Here’s one we didn’t have a chance to get to. It’s short, sweet, to the point and amusing in a meaty kind of way:

Ave U Meat Supreme Girl – m4w (Bensonhurst)

Ave U Meat Supreme girl I am the man you said that looks like someone you know but I am a older version. How old are you?

We’re hoping the Meat Supreme Girl is a minimum of 18. That having been said, what wrong with meeting, literally, at a meat market?

This was a very popular sofa yesterday, at least, given its rather central location next to Macri Park at Union and Metropolitan Avenues in Williamsburg. We shot a photo of it overturned around 11AM, then got another photo of it upside down in mid-afternoon. Yesterday evening, however, this photo arrived. The sofa was upright again as of about 5PM and cutting quite a profile with passing pedestrians and Kellogg’s Diner as the backdrop. A street sofa classic.

Click here to see it before its friends made it better.

This site at 239 N. 9 Street, which is the future site of a Karl Fischer-designed condo, has been such a dangerous horror show for so long that we’re thinking of awarding it a LiMandri Cup, in honor of the acting head of the Department of Buildings. Over the last couple of months, we’ve found the site wide open more than we’ve found it closed (not to mention the workers on the roof doing asbestos removal on a windy day this winter upwind from the neighborhood church). The site is even more of a threat to public safety now than it was a couple of weeks ago, as some deep holes appear to have been drilled into which a child could fall (or an adult’s limb could easily be broken). Although, the steel appears to have been removed.

GL Analysis
We call this part of Williamsburg the Triangle of Death because of persistently dangerous conditions that exist on construction sites and the lack of enforcement by the Department of Buildings and ineffectiveness of Stop Work Orders and fines in making things safer. Simply put, the situation is so bad and so likely to lead to serious injury or death (in addition to being a quality of life issue for neighbors) that it’s important to build a public record so that when the inevitable happens, there will be ample evidence that the problem had existed unchecked. We understand that in a city where cranes topple and take out city blocks, crappy fences allowing access to buildings in mid-demolition or to lots strewn with rubble and holes which could swallow up children are a minor thing. Yet, the persistently bad conditions in Williamsburg show why more effective enforcement mechanisms are needed right away. Either that, or sometime soon we’ll be watching the FDNY trying to dig a child or teenager out of a pit of rubble somewhere between Union Avenue, Driggs Avenue and N. 9th Street on Eyewitness News. Persistent violators and blatant threats to public safety like 239 N. 9 Street–which is a block from a grade school and a church–should have their permits suspended and the sites should be secured by the city, with the cost billed back to the developer at a rate high enough to ensure taxpayers make some money. These are basic and critical regulatory changes. The building code should be amended to require secured metal fence rather than the cheap plywood held together with spit that is currently allowed. It boggles the mind that projects costing tens of millions of dollars are surrounded by $1,000 worth of reused plywood held together with bent, rusty nails. Is it a small detail? Absolutely, given the horrific state of construction and building safety in New York City. Sometimes, though, the devil is in the details.

For more photos of this dangerous site, click here.

Ever wonder what the rooftops in, say, Cobble Hill are like or what the views are? The blogger behind 66 Square Feet sent us a set of shots that give a taste of rooftop life. We especially like the views both of the Brooklyn skyline and down to the streets of Cobble Hill.

Click here for a full photo gallery of Cobble Hill roof life. It’s nice.

[Photo courtesy of Pepper Watkins/flickr]

BKLYN Designs Weekend, which was held at a number of sites in Dumbo, drew thousands of people to take a look at products from Brooklyn designers. There were nearly six dozen local designers, whose work was spread out over four locations including St. Ann’s Warehouse, the Tobacco Warehouse, Smack Mellon Gallery and the DUMBO Arts Center. There’s a large number of photos posted on flickr by bvicarious and some from Pepper Watkins, and McBrooklyn also has a nice post up about the event.

Just a reminder that we’ve changed our posting schedule a bit. You’ve probably noticed that posts have been appearing later through the day over the last couple of weeks. We’ve switched our posting schedule to keep posting items through mid-afternoon. We’re still posting feature photos and “Upcoming” events posts before 9AM, often at 10 or 15 minute intervals. Also, we’ll be posting one or two of our favorite or top stories for the day by 9:30 AM. After that, posts will be spread out at 30-60 minute intervals. In some cases it means that other blogs may get to an item first, but we think the advantages of spreading content through the day significantly outweigh the downside. As always, thanks for reading.

[Photo courtesy of Gary Mirabelle/Mirabelle Studios]

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

· Atlantic Yards Luxury Suites Sales Start This Week [AYR]
· Man Murdered in Crown Heights [NYDN]
· Fossella Working on Figuring Out Future [Sun]
· Unhappiness Over Bedford Armory Homeless Strategy [Metro]
· Brooklyn Agency Subjected Clients to “Systematic” Neglect, Abuse [NYDN]
· Brooklyn School Turning Away Kids That Are Late [NYP]
· New Developments in Red Hook Charter School Fight [NYDN]
· Urban Sports [Bed-Stuy Banana]
· Three-Hour Service Cleaners, East Flatbush [Fading Ad Blog]
· Nowtopia at Voxpop [Ditmas Park Blog]
· Events This Week [OTBKB]
· Mother’s Day in the Park [A Year in the Park]

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Late Saturday, someone posted that their dog, which had been left outside Union Market on Union Street in Park Slope, had vanished. Yesterday, the posted that the dog had been returned: “A nice guy named John on Union Street took her in for the night and we got her back this morning. Thank you everyone. We appreciate the help and concern.” We’re unclear why someone takes a dog tied outside a store “in for the night,” but glad it turned out well.–Brooklynian

This is one of our favorite “Say What” photos yet, as it combines the beauty of spring with an obstructed street sign. This sign in Cobble Hill is also tagged up, but what makes it perfect are the beautiful crataegus flowers. The kind of flowers they are is not something we know, but what we learned from 66 Square Feet, which sent us the photo.

A Hole in a Fence, which deals with a pre-Ikea Red Hook, is having its first screenings this month. It will be showing on May 29 at 7PM aboard the Waterfront Museum barge on Pier 44 in Red Hook. Per an email, “It will be followed by a discussion on the future of the New York Waterfront entitled: Lessons Learned from the Graving Dock. Panelists include: Tom Angotti- Director, Center for Community Planning & Development, Hunter College/ CUNY; Adam Green- Founder and Executive Director, Rocking the Boat; David Sharps- Captain and President, The Waterfront Museum; Roberta E. Weisbrod, Ph.D., Principal, Partnership for Sustainable Ports and D.W. Young, the film’s director.” It will also be showing on May 21 as part of Anthology Film Archives’ NewFilmmakers Series. More info about the film here.

Homebuying for Hipsters, the amusingly named homebuying series for, uh, hipsters made Fox Business News. Check out the vid here.–myspacetv

A door at N. 10 and Berry is one of the few spots left in Williamsburg where new street art is consistently posted. (There were a lot of them a few years ago.) This week’s new addition is some work by Dain which has gone atop work by Faile. Sadly, we noticed that a lot of longstanding art was obliterated in the last week by some paint overs on a number of buildings.

The new ferry service from Rockaway to Manhattan via Sunset Park starts today (on a cold, rainy day). “I’m going to withhold judgment until I hear how the ferry actually works out with timing and logistics. I’m tempted to take my stroller-pushing self onto the early ferry just to check it out. Maybe on a particularly warm, pleasant day.”–Best View in Brooklyn

[Photo courtesy of Heather-D/flickr]

Here’s a cool springtime panorama of Third Street in Park Slope from the Gowanus Lounge Pool on flickr. Click here to go to the full size flickr shot as it’s really cool.