We found artist Pasqualina Azzarello working on her mural at the development going up at the corner of Third and Bond in Gowanus. She has been expanding the huge mural and even extending around the construction trailer. Brownstoner has been running weekly posts about the development. The latest has some renderings of the design from Rogers Marvel.

Bay Ridge’s amazing Middle Eastern eatery Tanoreen is making progress toward expanding to a new, bigger space down the block from its current Third Avenue location. The restaurant is one of the city’s most amazing Middle Eastern places and its tiny space is constantly jammed.–Left in Bay Ridge

We passed by the much-anticipated Neil Ganic restaurant La Bouillabaisse on Beard Street in Red Hook and found the steel grate up and the neon sign illuminated. The back door was open and one or two workers on the premises. The basics look like they’re in place, but there appears to be some work remaining to be done on details. The word, however, is that the eatery could open in a few weeks. Soon, Beard Street will have both a big Ikea and a neon lobster in a window reflecting the cranes of the old Todd Shipyard. We are complete.

Make sure to check out the interview with Jon Dohlin, the new director of the New York Aquarium in Coney Island. A sample: “Here’s what’s not going to happen – except in my dreams: we’re not going to blow the place up, and start over. Even something as completely agreed upon – in terms of need and priority – as the perimeter, we can’t just say, ‘OK, so next year we’re going to be closed for a year, and redo the whole perimeter in this fantastical thing,’ because there’s huge questions of where we’re going to find the money. And in terms of where the priorities are: do people come here from the look of it from the outside, or for the experience on the inside.”–Kinetic Carnival

We initially stopped to take some pics on Bedford Avenue because we noticed that some space next to the Elliman real estate office had morphed into a gallery. Then, a woman inside motioned to us to come in and we focused on the stunning art. It’s the work of Stephen Bennett who has created larger than life portraits of Aboriginal Australians, Namibian actors and more. The artist’s website is here.

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

• Brooklyn Man Dies in Fall at Shea [NYP]
• More on de Blasio’s Call for an Atlantic Yards Demo Moratorium [NYDN]
• De Blasio’s Late Atlantic Yards Conversion [AYR]
• Assem. Vito Lopez Facing Scrutiny [Sun]
• Brooklyn Bishop Enjoying Pope’s Visit [NYP]
• Baby Snatched at Gunpoint in Brooklyn by Father [NYDN]
• Some Vodka While Waiting for the Bus? [New York Shitty]
• Portraits of a Ridgewood Deli [Brooklynometry]
• Easy Cleaner [Bed-Stuy Banana]
• Bedford Ave. Garden Open [Bed-Stuy Blog]
• Park Slope Civic Council’s “Clean Sweep” on Saturday [OTBKB]
• Showtime at the Manhattan Ave. Disco Ball Rite Aid [Lost City]
• Will the Seltzer Fall? [Brooklyn 11201]
• New Leaves [A Year in the Park]
• Here’s the Otterness Dumbo Sculpture [Dumbo NYC]
• Two Hot New Brooklyn Authors [Brooklyn Based]

Community Board 6, which has taken some heat in the days following the vote to grant a liquor license to that controversial oyster bar on Hoyt Street in Carroll Gardens is hosting two informational meetings “in an effort to better understand the rules and regulations governing restaurants and bars in our district.” The sessions will include representatives from government agencies and local precincts to “answer any questions in respect to noise, smoking, backyard usage, garbage and other related issues.” The first session, for resident in the 76th Precinct is tonight (4/16) at 6PM at Community Board 6, located at 250 Baltic Street. The second session, for 78th Precinct residents, is next Wednesday (4/23) at 6PM at the 78th Precinct, which is located at 65 Sixth Avenue. There are issues and concerns in both communities, so the sessions will be interesting.

This is street art, but much more than that, it’s street sign art. We found it attached to a sign on Grand Street near Driggs Avenue in Williamsburg.

“Toll Brothers City Living has secured a $157 million development loan from Citibank for the second phase of its Northside Piers condominium in Williamsburg. Toll Brothers said it lined up the financing through relationships with Citibank Community Capital and L&M Development Partners, a partner in the Brooklyn project…The 30-story Two Northside Piers tower will offer 270 units, ranging from studios to three-bedroom apartments. “–The Real Deal

Bedford Avenue, Williamsburg

There will be a Push for Parks status meeting in Greenpoint tomorrow (4/17). It is sponsored by the Greenpoint Waterfront Association for Parks and Planning (GWAPP). It will include updates on Million Tree Project, Barge Park, Cooper Park, India Street End, Greenpoint Ave/Transmitter Park, UFMP (United Friends of McCarren Park), Bushwick Inlet Park, Brooklyn Greenway, East River State Park and more. It takes place at 7PM at Warsaw (aka the Polish National Home) at 261 Driggs Avenue. If you want to know about parks in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, this is your meeting.

Yesterday, we had a big roach sticker on a Department of Buildings permit. Today, we have the outlines of a face. Tomorrow, who knows? This is from Berry Street in Williamsburg.

The interesting Karl Fischer building on McGuinness Boulevard in Greenpoint is Lofts 305 and will be on sale soon. It has killer views of traffic roaring to and from the Pulaski Bridge over Newtown Creek and cars filling up at the nearby Exxon Station, with possible bonus vistas (and aroma) of the Greenpoint Sewage Treatment plant. Per a comment: “Two words. NOISE, and POLLUTION. I lived across the street for 2 years. Besides, the smell coming from the water treatment plant 1 block away is not good either.”–Brownstoner

Vanderbilt Avenue, Fort Greene

The view from the Brooklyn Weather Observatory this morning includes clear blue sky and bright sun, and that’s the way it’ll be today. The forecast calls for “sunshine and warmer” with a high of 68. Tonight will be clear with a low of 48. It will be just as sunny and even warmer tomorrow and Friday. Spring fever, anyone?–Accuweather

Yes, this is Street Furniture as opposed to a Street Couch, nonetheless, the point is the same, and with nice weather here that can only mean that it’s time to drag the finest out to the sidewalk all over Brooklyn and to enjoy. This comes from Van Brunt Street and the camera of Miss Heather.

City Council Member and Brooklyn Borough President candidate Bill de Blasio is calling for a moratorium on demolition in the Atlantic Yards footprint. Mr. de Blasio made comments deeply critical of possible changes in the huge project as part of a wideranging discussion last night that covered everything from construction safety as developers race to beat changes in the 421a tax break program to zoning issues in Gowanus and Carroll Gardens. (Check out Brownstoner’s excellent report on the discussion here.) On Atlantic Yards, Mr. de Blasio said, “I am livid at the New York Times interview with Ratner” in which the developer announced that the project would be scaled back and that massive amounts of affordable housing would be seriously delayed or eliminated. “There was no discussion with the community before he went on record,” Mr. de Blasio said, adding that the changes put “the entire community benefits agreement up for question.”

Last night, Mr. de Blasio said he supports “a moratorium on demolition until there is a written plan” that “confirms what will be built when and confirms affordability” and that he “can’t support” an arena-only plan. He added that “We need something in writing from Forest City Ratner to tell us if there has been a change and if there’s been a change we need to revisit it.” (The agreement with the state gives the developer six years to build the arena, 12 years to fully build “Phase I” and an unspecified amount of time to build “Phase II.”) The Council Member said he does not support the project solely as an arena with an office tower. He said that he had supported the project because of the “exceptional” amount of affordable housing, but has been deeply critical of “the lack of community involvement and the lack of transparency” in the process. “I’ve never seen something so fundamentally mishandled in terms of excluding the community.”

There is no indication, however, that a demolition moratorium is forthcoming. The entire issue could be rendered moot as demolition work is wrapped up by the end of spring, leaving land that could remain vacant for decades if the development stalls. Mr. de Blasio said he is “worried” about a parallel to 1960s-style urban renewal, which left neighborhoods with huge tracts of cleared land for failed projects that later took decades to develop.

We will have more from our conversation with Mr. de Blasio, on non-Atlantic Yards-related topics.

As announced on the Oliver House Condos website (which has changed this morning to only include a page saying “Construction status coming soon. Please check back!“), a construction fence went up around the 360 Smith development site yesterday. The fence covered up the neighborhood’s Democracy Wall, which had been used as a kind of community bulletin board and self-expression zone since last year. It is unknown whether they intend to use the fence for the same purpose or if the developer will allow it, particularly if it is used to post messages questioning his building. The website itself is (was) the only one we know of in the city created to keep the community informed of activity on a development site and to create a way for residents to communicate. It is unknown whether its suddenly diminished state as of 8:30AM today is a glitch or whether the developer has pulled it down.

The formerly backless and topless house at 126 First Place in Carroll Gardens (and adjacent to the site of 360 Smith Street) is growing. It is destined to add several stories on top. The rear view is below.

It seems like Cafe Eleven on Seventh Avenue (between 11th and 12th Streets) in Park Slope only closed a few weeks ago (and, in fact, it did), but the space already has a new tenant: it will be a wine bar operated by the owners of Big Nose, Full Body, across the street. A reader sent us the information about its new use and included a scan of the letter reproduced here, which is making the rounds in neighborhood.

Work has gotten underway at the site of the former Giant Fart Cloud Building at N. 11 Street and Roebling in Williamsburg whose demolition provided much drama. (The official address is 5 Roebling.) A GL reader writes: “I saw them digging with diggers today at the Giant Fart Cloud Building. It will be interesting to see the dirt!! I keep calling it ‘The Cabbage.’ For those unfamiliar with the property, it is located across the street from the former Roebling Oil Field and the current Roebling Oil Building, aka Warehouse 11. It was formerly the site of a cabbage processing site, hence its nickname. It is unknown whether the site is contaminated with oil like its neighbors across the street. Another neighbor, whose building “was shaking all day” wrote to ask: “Aren’t they supposed to shore up the buildings next door before they start excavating?” Presumably, this is one of the many buildings now moving quickly to beat changes in the 421-a tax break program before July.

The Daily News has a new feature called “Brooklyn Diary” and one of today’s entries deals with whether the art collecting done by the wife of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz at the Brooklyn Museum Ratner Gala violated any city rules. “…it raised questions the city Conflict of Interest Board had never before considered…A source said the agency has never ruled on issues involving an official’s spouse, but suggested that had Markowitz taken the multi-colored artworks himself, it would have likely been a conflict. ‘This is kind of a tricky one,’ said the source, who added the agency was aware of Jamie’s newfound art collection but refused to say whether there was investigation into the possible conflict.”–NYDN

What is up at the Terrapin Playground, the section of J.J. Byrne Park behind the Novo Park Slope that developer Shaya Boymelgreen is renovating? The developer promised to spend millions of dollars renovating the playground in exchange for the Parks Dept. letting him use the large playground as a staging area while workers constructed his condo. Work on the playground was supposed to be complete in early May. Judging from the lack of progress on the site, that now seems unlikely in the extreme. The playground, in fact, was originally supposed to be finished last summer, then last fall, then this spring. Around this time last year, Community Board 6 recommended that the Department of Buildings deny the developer a certificate of occupancy for the Novo until work on Terrapin was complete. Work on the playground did eventually start, but after about three years of construction, no one has yet moved into the Novo, and sales for the building are not doing extraordinarily well. In fact, there was recently a round of price chops on the property.

The price chops bring an obvious question to mind: What pressing motivation–aside from outcry c/o some angry contract-holders–do Boymelgreen and his partners have to get a C of O for a building that still has a lot of unsold units? And, if there’s no great motivation to get a C of O, what’s the rush to complete Terrapin? Putting aside the current delays, however, it’s probably reasonable to assume that Boymelgreen will keep his word, and that the new Terrapin–with eight new handball courts, two new basketball courts, a skate area, and a dog run area–will eventually see the light of day in a month or six months or two years. At that point, and for years to come, it just might happen that a private developer’s very, very slow progress on city land will be mostly forgotten. The playground will be a playground, and the public will use it. Does public-private development become justifiable at that point in the future? In theory, public-private partnerships can have great benefits for all involved. But, the sticking point right now is not public-private development in theory. The issue is the reality of developers that many people in the community believe have shown a lax sense of scruples. Would we ever expect Mr. Boymelgreen and his partners to build a visionary playground, like the one planned at Burling Slip? Unlikely. Would we expect him to borrow a public space for several years and see a lack of returns on that loan for far too long? Sadly, yes.
–Max Casey

(Max Casey lives near J.J. Byrne Park and is looking forward to using the new Terrapin Playground, particularly the dog run.)

While Baluchi’s may not offer the finest Indian food in New York City, its presence in Park Slope would be welcome, and we were unhappy when the Smith Street branch closed in 2006. We reported that the chainlet would be opening on Fifth Avenue so long ago that we’d given up hope and filed it away under things that weren’t going to happen, especially given the lack of visible progress in the storefront it would occupy. Yet, hope is still alive. Brownstoner had a photo of the interior yesterday and reported that the plan is still to open on Fifth Avenue between Second and Third, possibly by June. We’ll take that estimate with an appropriate grain of basmati rice, but it will be great to see them on Fifth Avenue when they finally open.–Brownstoner

We noticed this weekend that a lot on N. 10 Street between Driggs and Bedford seemed to have been cleaned up a bit and got that “new building coming vibe.” Lo and behold, the lot, which we have admired for the “No Shitass Parking” sign on the gate, is going to be developed as a four-story building with six apartments. The formal address is 180 N. 10 Street. No matter what it becomes and how nice (or wretched) it is, to us, it will always be the No Shitass Parking Building.