“Outside the store, most of the trees and grass are in place, benches are scattered about the waterfront and lighting is set up. Inside, hundreds of staffers are unpacking merchandise and setting up room displays. We’ll be bringing you coverage from inside and outside the store throughout the day, so settle in—it’s going to be quite a ride.”–Racked

Children

Have you ever noticed
How children wiggle and waggle,
Spinning down the grubby city slide
Like happy yellow snakes?
The sun shines on their little faces
As if the neighboring dark sounds
Are nothing but another laughing day
No matter how daunting.
Children throw themselves down
To slide again and again
Mindless of the ugliness
That might await them at the bottom.
As if the sun will always shine
Upon the summit
And the moment Is all that matters.

c. Graziella Radici

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

The Brooklyn Weather Observatory is seeing gloom and rain today, and in fact, the National Weather Service has issued a floodwatch for today. The official forecast says that it will be breezy and cooler with rain which will be heavy at times. The high will only be 57. Rain will end tonight and it will be mostly cloudy with a low of 46. The National Weather Service says “Heavy rain on Friday will likely cause flooding. A low pressure system moving east from the Mid Atlantic will pass just to the south of the region this afternoon into this evening. Rain will continuet o overspread eastward across the region this morning. The rain will become heavy at times by mid-morning and continue into the afternoon. 2 to 3 inches of rainfall are expected by the time the rain ends Friday evening.–Accuweather

[Photo courtesy of Gary Mirabelle/Mirabelle Studios]
The sunsets from Brooklyn rooftops can be spectacular in that South Brooklyn Light (which is not to be confused with Gowanus Light). This one comes from GL Contributor Gary Mirabelle.

While the overall plan to rezone Coney Island covers a significant portion of the areas closest to the water and would lead to massive changes in what could be built, the heart of the dispute is about 15 acres of land in ts amusement district. The original city plan proposed rezoning 15 acres as parkland and turning it into an amusement park. Much of the land is owned by developer Joe Sitt. The revised proposal reduces the “parkland” to nine acres, allowing Mr. Sitt and other to retain and privately develop more property. This, in turn, has led to bitter opposition from some enthusiastic supporters of the November plan. They now accuse the city of watering down the proposal and paving the way for the mallification of Coney Island under the guise of “entertainment uses” for property. City officials flatly reject the suggestion and say they are still doubling the land dedicated to an amusement park while developing a compromise plan that has a chance of being enacted. One city official has called the zoning changes “an insurance policy” against unwanted development in the future.

“We have not compromised any of our original goals,” Coney Island Development Corp. President Lynn Kelly told GL yesterday. “We’ve improved on what we had and what’s there now. Now, we have a plan that we know can happen.” Ms. Kelly said the city has no intention of allowing mall-like retailing in the area known to planners as Coney East, which would include 600,000 square feet of “entertainment retail” and no space for what is called “general” retail. “The city under no circumstances wants a Kings Plaza in the amusement district on Coney Island East,” she said. “There is no mall in the city’s plan.”

What kind of retail would be okay and other issues, ahead.

That sound you hear? It may be excavation work for the grave for Rep. Vito Fossella‘s Congressional career. As if last week’s allegation of drunk driving wasn’t enough, now comes the admission of a “love child.” Per Crain’s: “Rep. Vito Fossella, R-Staten Island, acknowledged Thursday morning that he had an affair with a former military liaison and that they had a child together. ‘I have had a relationship with Laura Fay, with whom I have a 3-year-old daughter,’ he said in a statement issued at 11 a.m. ‘My personal failings and imperfections have caused enormous pain to the people I love, and I am truly sorry.'” Mr. Fossella is married and has three children. He indicated he won’t resign, but didn’t say anything about his reelection plans. (Rep. Fossella’s career in interesting in a Coney Island context because City Council Member Dominic Recchia, an opponent of the city’s original redevelopment plan, is one of the people running for his seat.) Gothamist fills in details too, noting that Rep. Fossella’s wife is said to be leaving him. Developing.

For one of the first times in ongoing debate over the redevelopment of Coney Island, some of the most prominent organizations involved in the amusement district are presenting a united front. The target is the city’s revised development plan for the neighborhood, which shrinks the city’s original proposal for a 15 acre amusement park to nine acres. Although city officials point out the new park would still be double the size of the current amusement parks–Astroland and Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park–the opposition suggests, in the words of the Save Coney Island group that the “new plan almost completely abolishes the amusement industry for the sake of residential condos, hotels and retail.” The groups are planning a protest (costumed and visually interesting, of course) on May 22 to mark the start of the new Coney season. They include Coney Island USA, The Coney Island History Project, Citylore, the Polar Bear Club and the Coney Island Hysterical Society. Together they claim 4,000 members.

For more about their objections, click here.

Check out the bees of Flatbush. They are hard at work and they are covered in pollen, which we understand is not a very good word for some readers right now, but they’re pretty cool.–Fading Ad Blog

The annual blogger get together known as the Brooklyn Blogfest is tonight at the Lyceum on Fourth Avenue. There’s a big program together for this year’s event, which is open to the public. It starts at 8PM and admission is $10. The Brooklyn Lyceum is located at 227 Fourth Avenue at President Street.

For the full program, click here.

We’d almost say that this is a publicity stunt for Ikea, which has been known to furnish bus shelters and, even, subway cars to promote new stores. However, the Ikea set ups tend to be far more elaborate and the chair on the left in this photo looks a little too beaten down to be part of an Ikea set up. Therefore, we return to the mystery of this scene captured by GL reader and blogger Heather D (but, not Miss Heather) at Fifth Avenue and Union Street. She sent it to us as a “street couch,” for our running series, but it’s soooo much more than that. Imagine what kind of design someone could do with the new, glassy “street furniture” shelters.

Check out two of NYC’s bridges with walks across both the Manhatttan and Brooklyn Bridges led by the inimitable Kevin Walsh of the Forgotten New York website and book. It’s Sunday, May 18 at 1PM and costs $5.00–Forgotten NY

There’s an unusual event taking place today at the site of what was called the Minerva Building. The former Robert Scarano building is coming back as eleven four-story buildings and this morning at 11 there’s a “building mock-up” test to show that the new buildings at Seventh Avenue and 23rd Street won’t obstruct the view plane between Green-Wood Cemetery’s statue of Minerva and the Statue of Liberty. Per a press release: “The test involves use of a bucket truck that will lift workmen more than 40 feet in the air at the site of the planned condo construction. The workmen will then hoist a wooden frame to a precise measurement simulating the height of the building. Officials from Green-Wood Cemetery, on site at Battle Hill, will be able to immediately determine whether or not the new building will block the view of the Statue of Liberty.” The statue of Minerva dates to 1920 and commemorates the first Battle of the American Revolutionary War. Today’s Daily News notes that if the “stunt works” and shows the view will be protected, it will end three years of bitter controversy in the community. We last showed the Minerva site after this car was roasted there.

Given that one of the big selling points of the new Ikea in residents was the jobs it would make available for local residents, one of the huge questions is how many residents the store has hired. Jotham Sederstrom takes a stab at the subject in today’s Daily News. We say “stab” because Ikea’s policy is to not give any details about hiring. Mr. Sederstrom finds that the retailer’s local hiring so far seems to be good, although there is apparently a wide range of guestimates from local organization on which this conclusion rests. The number could be anywhere from 40-200 from less than 10 percent to 40 percent of the workforce). There are 500 positions at the store. Here’s a bit of what he writes:

With 300 people already hired from across the city, local leaders estimated as many as 60% of new hires hail from Red Hook – a number an Ikea spokesman refused to confirm or deny.

“I would say about 200 people, and I’m confident with my numbers,” said Red Hook Rise founder Ray Hall, an Ikea supporter. “Put it this way, there’s more than 30 people in my mother’s [Red Hook housing project] building [who were hired] alone.”…In interviews with employees and leaders, estimates varied widely, with some workers saying as few as 40 people were hired from Red Hook. Others like Hall and Red Hook East tenant association leader Dorothy Shields – a backer of the project – insisted the number was closer to 200.

Given the importance of the hiring figures, it would be valuable to have a clear picture that neither understates nor overstates their local hiring. The company is currently running press tours of the site in advance of the opening.

Here are some collected scenes from the filming of the remake of the taking of Pelham 123 with Denzel Washington and James Gandolfini in Dumbo.–Dumbo NYC

[Photo courtesy of Adrian Kinloch]

This was the seen yesterday at one of the demonstrations to protest the acquittals of the police officers that shot and killed the unarmed Sean Bell. GL Contributor Adrian Kinloch of Brit in Brooklyn shot this image in Downtown Brooklyn. Citywide, more than 200 people were arrested at the demonstrations.

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

· New Olin Landscape Designs for Atlantic Yards Coming Soon? [AYR]
· American Idol reject alleged to send sexual text messages to boy [NYDN]
· It’s Bike Month [Streets Blog]
· John Travolta in Boerum Hill [Brooklyn Daily Eagle]
· Weekly Food & Drink Roundup [Brownstoner]
· Urban Gravestones 6 [Bed-Stuy Banana]
· E-Waste Recycling at Metro Tech Tomorrow [McBrooklyn]
· Tip Sheet May 7-14 [Brooklyn Based]
· Brooklyn Churches [Big Sky Country]
· Sixth Annual Makeover Materials [Brooklynometry]

Lovers of movies and spending a warm summer night outdoors at McCarren Pool will be happy to find that L Magazine has released the new schedule for its Summer Screen series at the park.

July 8: Rushmore
July 15: The Virgin Suicides
July 22: Wet Hot American Summer
July 29: Desperately Seeking Susan
August 5: Mean Streets
August 12: 28 Days Later
August 19: Velvet Goldmine
August 26: Blue Velvet

Gates at six, movies at dusk.

The initial lineup for the 8th Annual Village Voice Siren Music Festival has been announced. Performers include Stephen Malkmus and Jicks, Broken Social Scene, the Helio Sequence, Beach House, Times New Viking, Jaguar Love, The Dodos, Annuals, Film School, Parts & Labor, Dragons of Zynth and These are Powers. So far. The music festival takes place on Saturday, July 19, 2008 from 12:00 noon – 9:00 p.m.

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These dogwood trees come from Green-Wood Cemetery. They were shot by GL Contributor Deborah Matlack, who’s been providing us with superb shots of springtime glory all season long.

Translation: the new Karl Fischer building at N. 5 Street and Berry in Williamsburg is named NV and has 39 apartments. The marketing campaign for the new building is, uh, based on Roman Numerals.–Curbed

This is more of a loveseat than a sofa, nonetheless the combination of red leather and placement on Eagle Street in Greenpoint are priceless. The photo comes to us courtesy of Miss Heather.

Craig Hammerman, the district manager of Community Board 6, said that IKEA has been a good neighbor, listening and addressing concerns. “There were certain conditions that the community board had imposed on its land use review and IKEA has lived up to all of the conditions,” said Hammerman.–NY1

The Carroll Gardens Neigbhorhood Association is having its next monthly meeting on Monday, May 12 at 7:30. It takes place at the St. Mary Star of the Sea Senior Residence, which is located at 41 First St. The agenda includes a “Report on Post Office Community Meeting” by Frank Verderame, an update on the Regional Department of Environmental Protection meeting and an update on the upcoming “Sacred Sites Guided Walking tour.” The June meeting will take place on Monday, June 9.

A lot of work by Dain went up around Williamsburg in the last few weeks and we’re still catching (and catching up with) some of them. This one comes from Berry Street near N. 6.