I was doing some work on the computer this afternoon when I noticed an inordinate amount of “squawking” going on outside my window. Much to my surprise, and subsequent delight, were the electric green and gray parrots down here on 3rd avenue and 9th street! Apparently, my neighbor had put out some feed and anywhere from 2 to 8 parrots were pillaging the supply of seed. Pretty awesome to see such beautiful birds right outside the window.

We do love our Brooklyn parrots, particularly the Gowanus crew.

Wheat prices are up and poppy seed prices are skyrocketing, so brace for widespread dollar bagels or worse. Bagels Plus in Bensonhurst has even stopped selling poppy bagels because they say the price would be too high. (Is this a harbinger of poppy bagel doom?) Don’t ask what will happen to the cost of a slice of pizza.–NYDN

“There was the famous case of the language poet from Red Hook who grew despondent when the Shift key on her MacBook broke. She couldn’t write for weeks. Overcome by melancholy humors, she jumped into the enchanted, glowing waters of the Gowanus Canal, her pockets full of stones. And … she was cured! The metaphors came rushing back. With eccentric spacing between the letters, but still. Now you see people jumping off the Union Street Bridge all the time. They scramble out in a hurry, trying to get home before they forget the first lines of their memoirs. Their hair falls out, but that’s the price you pay for artistic creation.”–Colson Whitehead, NYT

Coney Island entrepreneur Dianna Carlin, aka Lola Staar, will be opening a temporary roller rink near the boardwalk this summer. Details come from Sarah Ryley in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, who writes that “details are being finalized to install a temporary roller rink near the boardwalk.” Ms. Carlin would identify the location until a formal announcement is made, however there are limited possibilities, the most likely of which is land owned by developer Joe Sitt. Ms. Carlin is organizing a “Save Coney Island” fundraising event at Southpaw in Park Slope this Saturday (March 8).

• Brooklyn Judges Revolting Over Capital Punishment Cases [Sun]
• A Visit to the Much Blogged Brooklyn Ghostbusters [NYDN]
• Contractor Accused of Lying About Repairs with Fatal Consequences [Sun]
• Carlton Mews on Life Support? [Brownstoner]
• Unity Workship Addresses Entire Yards Footprint [AYR]
• Just Follow the Rules [Pardon Me for Asking]
• 350 Produce Sellers OK’d for Brooklyn [NYDN]
• Victims of Ghoulish Bensonhurst Body Parts Scheme Still Afraid [Metro]
• Fear and the Vale of Cashmere [A Year in the Park]
• Brooklyn’s Own Salvatore Ricotta [Gothamist]
• Bay Ridge Nissan Won’t Refund Deposit [GerritsenBeach.Net]
• Vandals Hit Grace Church [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
• Extremely Off Broadway Coming to Fort Greene [General Greene]
• What’s Up at 478 Myrtle? [Clinton Hill Blog]
• Bed-Stuy on the Silver Screen [Bed-Stuy Banana]
• Delicatessen Interior [Brooklynometry]
• Big Red Chair Available [OTBKB]

The Park Slope Civic Council is hosting a community forum on sustainability on March 6. It’s called “PlanPS2008: How You Can Start Fighting Climate Change Today.” Per the PSCC:

The forum will be chock-full of everything from easy-to-implement, everyday, eco-friendly tips to how-tos on solar-panel and green-roof installations. Expert panelists will provide you with the know-how to start making Park Slope a greener community today.

Featuring presentations by the Director of the Mayor’s Office on Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, Rohit Aggarwala, solar-power expert Anthony Pereira, green-roof guru Rob Crauderueff and Garbage Land author Elizabeth Royte.

The location is Old First Reformed Church on Seventh Avenue at Carroll Street in Park Slope. The session will run from 7PM-9PM. For more info, click here.

Gabby Warshawer scores the Park Slope food scoop of the year with the news that Ghenet, the Ethiopian restaurant on Mulberry Street in Nolita, is opening on Fourth Avenue at Douglass Street. Now, that’s Park Slope news.–Brownstoner

The wonderful Kevin Walsh, the force behind the Forgotten NY website and book, will be at Word Books in Greenpoint on Thursday (3/6) at 7:30PM. He will be doing a presentation followed by a Q&A. Word Books is at 126 Franklin Street. The event is free, of course.–New York Shitty

This photo of the Parachute Jump in summer in Coney Island comes from Charles Andrisano, who last contributed a photo of the lunar eclipse as seen from Bay Ridge.

Although the sun is out very early today, it will be mostly cloudy with mist and fog. The high will reach 60 degrees. The low tonight will be 47 and there will be heavy rain, with a thunderstorm and some gusty winds.–Accuweather

There was much agitation in Carroll Gardens on Saturday when signs indicating that asbestos removal was underway at the Carroll Street Station along with a truck with air monitoring equipment and a dumpster. Several people sent us photos of the dumpster, which was left open, but was later closed after resident complaints. We just got an email from Council Member Bill de Blasio’s District Director Tom Gray with an explanation from the MTA of the work that went on, which we reported exclusively on Sunday. In addition, Mr. de Blasio has sent out statement saying that he is “troubled” the asbestos removal was done “without informing the local elected officials or any of the community boards or residents” and noting that he had been “in constant contact” with the MTA since GL posted the story on Sunday morning.

Here is the email with the explanation from the MTA’s Andrew Inglesby:

In regards to Councilmember de Blasio’s inquiries about the asbestos removal work that occurred this past weekend (March 1) near the Carroll Street F G station, please be aware that this was a NYC Transit asbestos removal project in three manholes along the F line south of the Carroll Street Station to facilitate battery and control cable replacement. The contractor was removing cable insulation, duct sleeves, duct seals and debris. The work started at midnight on Friday night and was completed at 7:15 pm on Saturday evening. The air monitoring consultant for the abatement project was on site at all times, and NYC Transit had asbestos monitoring personnel on site during the project. The final air monitoring results were below the NY State acceptable clearance level of 0.01 fibers/cc.

The only asbestos-related complaint was an alleged open dumpster at street level. The dumpster was checked by the NYC Transit representative, the contractor and the consultant and it was found to be closed. The NYC Department of Environmental Protection visited the site at 4:00 PM on Saturday, inspected the dumpster and noted no problems.

This project was finished on Saturday, March 1 and we will not be returning to the area for any similar work in the foreseeable future.

That’s the “alleged open dumpster” in the photo. Mr. de Blasio added that “anytime that neighborhood residents might be exposed to a harmful substance like asbestos it is essential that the proper notification of the community take place.” We’ll have further comments from residents and any other statements in the morning.

Residents were taken by surprise. They say that no signs were ever posted in the station and that there were no notifications made or any explanations given–which certainly would have allayed fears if the work was benign in nature. (The open dumpster is another matter.) Signal work was supposed to be going on over the weekend (and the Carroll Street station was closed, one of many on the F & G lines that had no service over the weekend), so residents were especially surprised and alarmed by the asbestos dumpster and truck. Last night, City Council Member Bill de Blasio sent us an email saying he was “deeply concerned” about the situation and had contacted the MTA for an explanation. He added that it was “unacceptable that the asbestos removal occurred without the proper notification of the community” and said he was working “to get to the bottom of this.” Residents had also contacted the Department of Environmental Protection on Saturday. One resident with asbestos removal experience said he was concerned that it appeared that appropriate safety measures hadn’t been taken.

This email posted via the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association by resident Barbara Brookhart was typical of the reactions we heard:

Pretty outrageous that the MTA forgot to tell the community, our elected offices, and the Community Board. Wouldn’t you think that the MTA should be leafleting in advance of their abatement? We all know that the answer is “no”, as letting the community know in advance would be too intelligent for the caliber of bureaucrats that run the MTA. I certainly don’t want to go down into the confines of the subway station tomorrow morning to get to work. Get out your gas masks!

We will post any explanation that comes from the MTA about the nature of the work that was going on in the middle of the busy neighborhood.

I left my house at 11:45AM, and this keyspan van was sitting in front. I came back at 2:00 and it was still there pumping out exhaust. I pointed it out to him and the driver just revved the engine pumping huge amounts of fumes at me and people walking by. When I flipped him off, he did it again and again… some “Clean Air Vehicle”. I reported the incident to Keyspan.

Let’s assume the fumes coming from the exhaust pipe are condensation because, you know, it’s inherently a clean air vehicle. Is it still “inherently” clean when it sits idling for hours and the driver deliberately makes it spew more fume? We’ll be curious to see if KeySpan responds to the complaint or cares.

The latest missive to Brooklyn residents from Forest City Ratner touts the Community Benefits agreement related to Atlantic Yards. “You gotta love the seven(!) images containing the dummy copy of ‘Ye Olde Community Benefits Agreement.‘ Complete with frayed and crumbling edges, calligraphy font and faux-antique yellowing — the sub-text that the CBA is make-believe couldn’t be more apparent. Learn all about it.–No Land Grab & Atlantic Yards Report

Trusting Cleaners, a mom and pop shop on Court Street is being forced to close… a victim of rising rents. The neighbors and I are planning a farewell party for the Oh’s, the owners of the business. We wanted to collect money to give them a gift, but they said they would prefer not to have gifts; just dry cleaning in their final weeks. If you need clothes cleaned or need minor alterations; please support this business in the final weeks. Please remember, clothes must be picked up by March 15. On Sunday, March 30, from 3-5 pm we will have a neighborhood gathering to salute these nice people at Sam’s Restaurant on Court Street.

Anyone interested in attending the goodbye party for some business people who’ve both cleaned some clothes and touched some hearts, can email lblyer (at) aol (dot) com.

Are shills for developer Joe Sitt and Thor Equities posting on the Coney Island Message Board? Possibly. “While some of these accusations may have been overblown, one recent post by new user ‘born_in_brooklyn’ (who identifies herself as ‘Alice’) is such blatant pro-Thor propaganda that one can’t help but suspect that Thor is employing some nefarious cyber tactics. It is entirely possible, of course, that a genuine, independent thinking Brooklynite could have come to the conclusion that people are no longer interested in old style amusements, that the area would be better served by condos, and that therefore ‘we should give this guy Joe Sitt a chance.’ There are undoubtedly area residents who feel this way.” On the other hand…–Kinetic Carnival

It’s coming and it’s big. 577 new apartments on the Gowanus. The Toll Brothers have unveiled their plan for a 605,380 square foot project between Bond and the Gowanus, Carroll and Second Streets. What does it mean for our neighborhood?

Come hear Craig Hammerman (District Manager Community Board 6), Phil dePaolo(Community Organizer), Tony Avella (City Council member) address our concerned response the Toll Brothers development. Help plan for the upcoming Public Scoping Meeting at City Planning on 13 March.

The meeting is tonight (March 3) in the community room at Mary Star of the Sea, which is located at 41 First Street (between Hoyt and Bond) at 6:30 PM. The nearby Public Place development on the Gowanus could ultimately exceed 1,000 units of housing and also be about 12 stories tall.

The Fading Ad Blog, which fascinates us every day with its photos and words, has turned one. Among the things it features on its first anniversary is some auto-related signage from Clinton Hill and the Kingston Lounge in Crown Heights. Happy birthday, and here’s to a second year of cool stuff.

We do love our Boerum Hill/Atlantic Avenue Times Plaza Post Office stories, particularly given the coverage we’ve done recently, for instance, here and here. So, here’s a angry email from the Yahool Boerum Hill Group that would indicate that claimed service improvements may not be taking place:

had a horrendous, Third World experience at the Times Plaza on Friday afternoon Feb. 29th. Two boisterous customers yelling loudly to each other and to the clerk for fifteen minutes, while those of us trapped on the long line cringed. Two (or three at most) clerks working. No special line for package pickup. Very disgruntled customers, loudly commenting on the bad service.

When I left, I mentioned to the clerk at the door that I was amazed that no one had been murdered in there–the aggravation and the tension level was so high.

Then, on Saturday, we received incorrect mail meant for three other households. What happened to the promises made at the Boerum Hill meeting??

We will add to that this description from an email on the Park Slope Parents list about the famous Times Plaza Station, which fell into our inbox via a devoted reader:

I have never had a package or letter that needed to be signed for delivered by them! I can be at home, or the nanny can be at home, but they will not ring the bell so that you can sign for and accept your package. They just put a “redeliver” slip on the mail box and leave. Then when you sign the redeliver slip, they never pick it back up and never deliver your item! I was in an hour and a half line once again over the holidays, taking off work to sign for something that my nanny could have signed for at the time that they first came. I complained to a female manager, and four or five people around me in line were there for the very same reason, and they were all home at the time the postal person first came! The manager took our information, but nothing has changed….

Did the manager promise to keep tabs on things for signs of backsliding?