This, uh, springy couch comes from Diamond Street in Greenpoint. The image came from the camera of Miss Heather.

The view from the Brooklyn Weather Observatory this morning, and the chill coming through the windows, confirms what the forecast is telling us: it’s not going to be a particularly warm or nice day. The official forecast calls for “considerable cloudiness with a shower” and a high of 57 that will feel like 53. Tonight will be mostly cloudy with showers and a low of 51.–Accuweather

This week, we started a new Gowanus Lounge Photo Pool on flickr. If you shoot photos of Brooklyn and post them on flickr, we’d certainly love to see the ones you want to share with us. Drop them in our photo pool and tag them “gowanuslounge.”

[Photo courtesy of rembklyn/flickr]

The statue in this photo is located in the Shakespeare Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. GL Photo Pool contributor rembklyn calls this image “delight” and we agree.

Our recent posts with emails critical of the Park Slope Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library caught the attention of its Executive Director, Dionne Mack Harvin, who submitted a long comment yesterday. As we sometimes do when a comment merits special attention, we’re presenting it, in full, as a post:

I frequently read through the Brooklyn blogs to find out what the diverse communities in Brooklyn are talking about. In reading through the posts here, I wanted to reach out and address the discussion on the Park Slope Branch. Over the past year, we’ve taken several step to improve our library services, including customer service. I understand your concerns and have communicated to the managers at the Park Slope Branch the importance of making our libraries welcoming places for all to enjoy.

Read the rest of the Executive Director’s comment by clicking here.

Rare Device, the 3-year-old gallery, store and benevolent soft goods curator in Park Slope will close up shop for good on May 18th or thereabouts…Everything in the Brooklyn store will be on sale beginning Saturday, May 3.” 25% off from May 3-8, 45% off from May 9-14 and 65% off from May 15-18. 453 7th Ave (between 15th and 16th St).–Racked

[Photo courtesy of Hamilton/Brooklynian.com]

Anyone who knows Bartel Pritchard Square in Windsor Terrace also knows some of the regulars there. A poster at Brooklynian is perturbed that a neighborhood liquor store is helping some of them get lit up and pass out on the sidewalk. Here’s the post:

Windsor Liquors, the newly named liquor store on 16th St and Prospect Park West, has been selling liquor to drunks who stumble into their establishment on a daily basis – with a total indifference to the standards of the community. The photo…shows two of their best customers unconscious outside Dub Pies.

Click to find out why families shouldn’t see drunks napping…

To those that have not been following the contentious Carroll Gardens issue known as 340 Court Street, this is probably just a weird photo of a construction fence. Those who are fans of the former International Longshoreman’s Association Building, however, will understand the significance of the emptiness: 340 Court Street is gone. Well, at least, the visible portions of the building have vanished, ending an era in Carroll Gardens. The photo comes to us via our Carroll Gardens correspondent.

This new Tale of Brooklyn Childcare Woe comes from Carroll Park in Carroll Gardens, raises the specter of nanny-needing parents cruising the parks and byways to try to hire away Someone Else’s Nanny. Exhibit A is an email circulating via the BoCoCa Parents group:

As we all know finding a good nanny is difficult. I had to post this to get it off my chest. Last week my nanny, Andrea, was at Carroll Park with my son Hudson and was approached by a Mother looking for a full time nanny. Andrea said she told the mother that she worked for me 3 days a week and still asked her to come to her house for a chat. She went over and the Mom offered her 5 days a week. Andrea thankfully said no thank you, but still. I can’t imagine trying to get someone else’s nanny to come work for me. I just wondered if any other parents had some similar experiences with this.

It’s like stealing someone’s husband. Click here for more.

The great Columbia Street digging project, which has been going on since October, 2005, seems to be nearing an end. At least, the final wretchedly torn up stretch is being repaved. The project is finally slated to wrap up this spring. In the meantime, our Carroll Gardens correspondent reports another delightful episode of “Don’t Take Pictures” as this photo was being taken: “I was chased away by a construction worker! No shame! You would think this project would welcome some positive PR! He was actually yelling while waving his finger at me.”

There’s a rally tomorrow to ask Gov. David Paterson to call a “Time Out” on the increasingly troubled Atlantic Yards development. It will take place at 2PM (Saturday, May 3) at 752 Pacific Street (near Carlton Avenue) in the footprint of the proposed project.

Details about the rally by clicking here.

Performers at Sunday Pool Parties at McCarren Pool this summer will include The Breeders, MGMT, The Hold Steady, Liars, Aesop Rock, Black Lips, Deerhunter, Fuck Buttons, Matt Kim, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Team Robespierre, The Loved Ones, Panther, King Khan and His Shrines, & Ting Tings. Details and schedule to come.–Brooklyn Vegan

One of the regular contributions we’ll be getting from the Center for the Urban Environment are posts about the great tours they run. Here’s this week’s inaugural post:

Underground Muses of Green-Wood: Sunday, May 4, 1:00- 3:30 pm – with Ruth Edebohls

Many famous and fascinating artists, actors and composers have made Green–Wood Cemetery their place of final repose. Leonard Bernstein, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Asher B. Durand, George Catlin, Currier and Ives, George Bellows, William Merritt Chase, Laura Keene and Basquiat are just a few we may visit. We’ll also enjoy the visual delights of Green-Wood, its trees and ponds and its sculpture and buildings by the leading artists and architects of their time, all in a setting of remarkable springtime beauty. Walk may be hilly and strenuous. Wear good walking shoes. Meet at Gothic Arch inside the entrance at 25th Street and Fifth Avenue. Take the R train to the 25th Street Station and walk up one block to the cemetery. Fees are $13.00 for non-members, $10.00 for members, and $8.00 for seniors or students

(Ruth Edebohls has been on the staff of the Center for 14 years and is currently Coordinator of Urban Tours. A Brooklyn native, she is a licensed New York City Tour Guide and urban historian with a special interest in Green-Wood Cemetery.)

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz told a crowd in Staten Island this week, “The future of New York City depends on the future of Staten Island. … Should I decide to become a candidate, I look forward to working with you,” according to Crain’s Insider.–NYDN

[Photo courtesy of jplpagan/flickr]

One of our readers put together a full GL Photo Set as part of our new GL Photo Pool. The photos are from jplpagan. We like them a lot. You can see the full GL Photo Gallery by clicking here.

Rep. Vito J. Fossella was arrested overnight in Alexandria and charged with driving while intoxicated. He will appear in court on May 12. “Last night I made an error in judgment,” Fossella said in a press release. “As a parent, I know that taking even one drink of alcohol before getting behind the wheel of a car is wrong. I apologize to my family and the constituents of the 13th Congressional District for embarrassing them, as well as myself.”–NYT

This is a rendering of the entrance to the Smith-9th Street station, which is slated to be closed for more than a year for renovations. A redone station is supposed to reopen in 2011, but we haven’t seen any recent timetables, so it’s unclear if the original estimate is accurate any longer. We found this rendering in some of the documentation for the Red Hook Bicycle Master Plan Design Competition. The Smith-9th redesign is part of the project to rehabilitate the Culver Viaduct, which is the elevated portion of the F Line running between Carroll Street and Fourth Avenue. It is badly deteriorated.

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

· “Nervous Jury” Convicts “Mob Kin” of Murder [NYP]
· East New York School Gets “Jump White People” Tags [NYDN]
· City Comptroller Wonders About What Atlantic Yards Has Become [AYR]
· Rally Tomorrow to Call for Time Out on Atlantic Yards [Sun]
· “Stare Slay Fiend” is Guilty [NYP]
· Grand Plan on Grand Avenue [Brownstoner]
· Another One Bites the Dust: Myrtle Gas Station Closes [Bed-Stuy Blog]
· Bodege Murals [Bed-Stuy Banana]
· Cafe Tibet Coming Soon [Ditmas Park Blog]
· Checking Out Prospect Park’s Vale of Cashmere [A Year in the Park]

For the record, we like the the Peas and Pickles on Henry Street. Their fruit and vegetables are usually fresh and the staff are pretty nice. Usually their prices, like most bodegas in the city, are a little higher than the average supermarket. However, since the fire that shut down the Henry Street Gristedes next door, we’ve noticed that our PP bill has gotten much higher.”–BHB

What we’re seeing here, in this couch found on Norman Avenue in Greenpoint, is a street sofa classic. It is the perfect couch for hanging out on the street and watching the world go by. It comes from the camera of Miss Heather.

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“Pity the poor marketing people who have to come up with a new condo name at this point in the real estate cycle! The creative team behind 525 Clinton Avenue (the site of an unfortunate accident earlier this year) has decided on ‘The Collection’ as a moniker for the 13-story glass development off Atlantic Avenue in Clinton Hill.”–Brownstoner

This face was forwarded to us by our Carroll Gardens Correspondent from Bond Street in Gowanus. We’re unclear as to who or what it is, but it has that certain something.

Yes, it’s movie shooting season again. The Rebound has been shooting in Park Slope, shutting down St Johns Place between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. The film is directed by Bart Freundlich and stars Catherine Zeta-Jones.–Brit in Brooklyn

Here, from a list compiled by the Daily News is a list of next week’s Brooklyn Community Board Meetings:

COMMUNITY BOARD 3 (Bedford-Stuyvesant, Stuyvesant Heights) will hold its next board meeting at 7 PM May 5 at Restoration Plaza, 1368 Fulton St.

COMMUNITY BOARD 8 (Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, Weeksville) is having its regular monthly meeting at 7 PM May 8 at 1641 Bergen St.

COMMUNITY BOARD 11 (Bath Beach, Gravesend, Mapleton, Bensonhurst) will hold its next board meeting at 7:30 PM May 7 at Holy Family Home, 1740 84th St.

This specimen comes from Diamond Street in Greenpoint, which Miss Heather, who sent us the photo, points out may be NYC’s most smoking neighborhood. So, it’s no surprise that this sign on Diamond Street carries a sort of pro-smoking message.