this past saturday, dog addiction took an interesting approach to street advertising. hey tied small plush dogs to benches and trees (you know spots where people normally tied their dogs to get coffee or whatever) with red ribbon and a promotional postcard. it was quite cute but they didn’t last long. here’s VALENCIA trying to take one on a walk with her.

We can’t say we noticed any survivors even 24 hours later.

Related Post:
Williamsburg, Land of the Pampered (Rock & Roll) Dog

This morning there was a pile driver working away on the N. 10th side of the fab W-11 site. I guess they’re expanding. Pity about all the balconies in the back…

It would be a safe bet the Roebling Oil development is intended to take up the entire block. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, oozes out of the ground when the holes are again dug at the Oil Field.

The city is actually treading carefully with its planning process in Coney Island. “But what’s the fallback if Sitt and the other three major property owners don’t agree to sell? ‘If we’re not successful at acquiring it as parkland, there are other options we’re considering,’ [Coney Island Development Corp. Chair Lynn] Kelly said. Queried to clarify that, she said, ‘If negotiations don’t work, we’ll consider other options, where different landowners could partake’ in the city’s plan. That sounds like giving them a cut in the (increased) value of their land–something certainly not considered for Atlantic Yards. Coverage in the New York Observer’s The Real Estate suggested this was a departure from the city’s posture; it strikes me more as an elaboration.”–Atlantic Yards Report

PS 154 in Windsor Terrace is becoming the first school in New York City to jettison styrofoam trays and Council Member Bill de Blasio is holding a press event at the school today with students and parents. The trays are being replaced with ones made from sugar cane fiber. Per an email:

The new environmentally friendly trays are designed to easily break down either in a landfill or in backyard composting, within 45 days. In contrast, the trays made of styrofoam typically take 10,000 years to break down and may be seeping toxic chemicals into the children’s hot food which is served directly on the tray. The quantity of trays used throughout the City is astounding. The Department of Education (DOE) uses 850,000 trays a day which adds up to over 4 million trays a week. Brooklyn Properties and The Juice Box are the official sponsors of the pilot program. Councilmember de Blasio has also introduced legislation, Intro 609, which would prohibit the use of Styrofoam by City agencies and food establishments. McDonald’s stop using styrofoam packaging in 1990. The cities of Berkeley, California and Portland Oregon were some of the first to prohibit polystyrene food packaging. Although the trays are commonly known as Styrofoam trays, Styrofoam is a licensed trademark of its manufacturer, the Dow Chemical Company.

The event takes place this morning (3/25) at 11AM. There was a post along with a video about the issue and PS 154 at the City Room last July.

• Ouroussoff’s Gehry Defense Was Hero Worship [AYR]
• Rush Hour Shooting in Crown Heights Subway Station [NYP]
• New Gilman Building Coming to Atlantic Avenue Near Smith [Brownstoner]
• Is There a Polite Way to Tow Cars? [New York Shitty]
• A Wheelchair Thief on the Loose on 17th Street [Brooklynometry]
• Accused Brownsville Rapist Stalked Teens [NYDN]
• Vinyl-Sided Dormers Atop Williamsburg Buildings [Gothamist]
• BurgerBash Coming to Dumbo? [Eater]
• Dumbo Improvement District Giving Out Reusable Canvas Bags [NYDN]
• Three New Stores Near 68th & Fourth Avenue [Bay Ridge Blog]
• Last Week to Submit to Brooklyn Museum “Click” Show [Not Another F*cking Blog]
• Busy Chef Open on Court [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
• Goodbye Blue Monday Weekly Concert Lineup [Bed-Stuy Blog]
• Analyzing thbe Fun Out of Freak Shows [Kinetic Carnival]

Brooklyn Flea, the huge flea market coming from our friends at Brownstoner is set to open on April 6 in Fort Greene “with about 200 vendors selling their wares outside Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School. But don’t think of this market as your run-of-the-mill mart, hawking tons of tube socks and old magazines. Brownstoner’s Brooklyn Flea will be more like eBay-meets-Kings Plaza on a high school yard. ‘I use the phrase ‘flea market 2.0,’ meaning it’s the next generation flea market,’ said Eric Demby, one of the market’s organizers and a former communications director for Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. Demby is working with Jonathan Butler, the flea market mastermind and founder of Brownstoner.com, the blog about Brooklyn real estate and renovations.” More about Brooklyn Flea at www.brooklynflea.com.–NYDN

There will be a community forum on residential parking permits hosted by Council Member Bill de Blasio and Community Board 7 in Windsor Terrace on Wednesday (3/26). It will take place from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm at Shepherds Hall at Holy Name Church, which is located at 245 Prospect Park West. Last week, CB7 voted against congestion pricing, and one of the objections was the mayor’s recently announced residential parking permit plan. There are groups pushing for permits in Park Slope (although it’s not clear if there is broad community support), which is in Community Board 6. There is some concern in Windsor Terrace that having residential permits in Park Slope but not in Windsor Terrace would lead more people to park in the latter.

This photo from Brit in Brooklyn blogger Adrian Kinloch, shows just how nice a photo of compromised street signs can be. It’s from Flatbush and 6th Avenue and has clearly seen better days.

I had never been to Space Space, a residence/performance space at 390 Seneca Avenue in Ridgewood, when I went to see a friend, Paul Rome, read from his novel. The space is charming and welcoming, offering cheap spirits and only suggesting an entrance fee. The living room in the five-person residence could fit my apartment inside, plus offer some extra space for road bikes. I spoke with one of the residents, Rica, while she was serving drinks and she gave me the run down on the operation. They have between one show a week and one show a month, usually featuring experimental music, dance or performance art and they are loosely associated with different groups including Movement Research and Baltimore’s Wham City, as well as holding yoga classes and other events. They have avoided doing shows with Brooklyn concert promoter Todd P for reasons that were apparent without Rica saying anything specific—many Todd P shows are held in dilapidated, illegal buildings, where teenage punks chain smoke and speakers are regularly blown out, which can be great fun, and I myself have attended plenty of Todd P shows. Space Space is different, though. The reading was as charming as the space, featuring backing musicians creating a noir atmosphere, handmade sound effects and slide projections highlighting certain images from the text.
–Owen Roberts

This is second floor of a storefront on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope yesterday at 6PM in the evening sunlight. The image comes from GL Correspondent Anna Lewis.

Perhaps you recall the piazza the city created last July in Dumbo from a former parking median. There were plants. There was green paint. Now? It looks a little ratty and in need of a spring spruce up.–Brownstoner

This is a photo of dusk at Tenth Avenue and 18th Street in Windsor Terrace from sculptor, artist and photographer Gary Mirabelle, who is a regular photo contributor to GL.

Things are looking clear at the Brooklyn weather observatory, but the forecast calls for “sun giving way to clouds” today. The high will be 49 and it will feel like 53. Tonight will be mostly cloudy with a shower here and there, late. The low will be 40.–Accuweather

GL Analysis:
Not to make something too serious out of a fun thing like roller skating, but we noted a couple of things on Saturday night. It was a wonderful thing to see a landmark given a new life. Like last year’s Mermaid Ball, we were struck by the amazing potential of this much-loved building, which had a very workaday existence over the last fifty years after Childs closed in the 1950s, to be a premiere venue as a restaurant or club. It is a no brainer that someone will make a killing operating something there.

The other important point is that unlike another Coney Island developer, whose proposals and work has become embroiled in bitter controversy and who has alienated most everyone in Coney Island and beyond, Taconic Investment seems to have emerged as the Golden Developer of Coney Island, at least in a publicity sense. While it would propose to build very dense projects, the properties it holds are outside of the core amusement district and, therefore, have not been lightening rods for opponents. More importantly, Taconic seems to have played the PR and community relations cards just right. One hopes that they make every accommodation to allow the Childs Building to be used all year for Lola Staar’s Dreamland Rink and other events that would work at the facility. To do so, would be a public relations bonanza and result in a flood of good will.

To see the Childs Building alive with music and fun and smiles after a half-century in hibernation is a spectacular thing. (The gentleman who own the building for fifty years–and is now in his nineties–was even on hand on Saturday night.) We hope and trust that all the i’s will be dotted and t’s will be crossed so that everyone can enjoy some summer nights there. Saturday night was a great start.

“He’s known simply as Tyril, the dog whisperer of Prospect Park. Fans need no last name – his work at curing out-of-control canines speaks for itself…His actual name is Tyril Frith, and he’s a Caribbean immigrant who saw his first dog tricks on TV’s ‘Lassie.’ Now, Frith can get a pit bull mongrel to stop attacking…Owners say dogs so dangerous they were headed for the pound are docile after a couple of hours with the $90-an-hour trainer, who lives in Cambria Heights, Queens, but does a lot of work in Brooklyn.”–NYDN

The bankification of Manhattan Avenue continues. This time, a housewares store has closed and is morphing into a bank. It will be WaMu, per the plans spotted sitting on a table. “That makes three banks on one block: CitiBank, Dime Bank and WaMu…P.S.: Could someone please explain to me why banks have not seen fit to open shop north of Greenpoint Avenue?”–New York Shitty

While the city has announced plans for long-term repairs–perhaps next year–if this block-long area is not shored up, there will be problems. It is worse now that it has been in last five or six years, and the boards visibly sag when people walk on them.

The frightening thing is that NYPD patrols continue to drive down the boardwalk and in summer they also use smaller vehicles. Perhaps the city will make some emergency repairs after a police or other public vehicle crashes through the rotting wood?

GL Analysis:
1) A personal injury lawyer would do well to find a way to put up a sign somewhere between W. 12 St. and Stillwell Avenue saying, “Just fall through the Boardwalk? Call us & we’ll make sure you get yours. Your broken face may send the little ones to college. 1-800-SUE-MIKE.”

2) Walk on the side of the boardwalk closest to the beach. It is in slightly better shape and somewhat less likely to collapse under you.

3) Emergency. Repairs. Before. Memorial Day. To do otherwise is unfathomably callous negligence.

4) Anyone interested in a Summer 2008 Boardwalk Injury Betting Pool? Name the number of trip and falls, number of people that fall through the boardwalk, the number of weekly injuries and total payout in lawsuits. Bonus Tiebreaker: Will a police car or other vehicle fall through the boardwalk? If so, will it happen in June, July or August?

• Ratner Has Six+ Years to Build Arena [AYR]
• Nets Suites to Cost Up to $540K (Assuming Arena is Built) [NYDN]
• Mayor Markowitz? [Sun]
• Three Babies Found Dead in Different Brooklyn Homes [NYDN]
• Running of the Eggs at Brooklyn Bridge Park [McBrooklyn]
• Country in the City at the Kensington Stable [Brooklynometry]
• Cops Ignore Crack House on S. Oxford [General Greene]
• Easter Shooting on Lexington [Clinton Hill Blog]
• More Money Questions at Troubled Sunset Park Agency [NYDN]
• Another “Rat-Squirrel House” on Second Place? [Lost City]
• Park Slope Sister Helping Sister with Blood Cancer [OTBKB]
• Checking Out That Coney Island of the Heart Show in Gowanus [ABL]