We happened upon this story from the October 23, 1903 edition of the New York Times and were amused enough by it to offer it as diversion here:

Battling with a big blaze on the bank of Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn, last night, the firemen were driven back by the sudden breaking loose of a great volume of electricity supplying a motor used for operating a drawbridge across the canal. This was a spectacular feature of the fire, in which half a dozen firemen were partially overcome by smoke and which caused about damage to property, destroying the big coal pockets of Nelson Brothers, at Hamilton Avenue and the canal…The pockets immediately adjoin the big draw-bridge over the canal at Hamilton Avenue. In a small frame structure beside the bridge was electrical machinery used for opening and closing the bridge. The wires were burned through and the machinery deranged. Then followed a display of electrical pyrotechnics which startled the neighborhood and drove the firemen back. Great sheets of white flame shot out in all directions and the freed electricity flashed along the ironwork of the bridge like streaks of lightning, causing the crowd looking on there to scatter in alarm. The woodwork of the bridge near the little shed caught fire, but the firemen could not get to the spot because of the electricity which filled the air…Two of the crew, armed with axes, made their way cautiously and chopped away the transforming apparatus and the wires about it, and cut off the current from the supply wires leading into the motor. The somewhat awe-inspiring electrical display then ceased, and the firemen put out the blaze on the bridge before it could do much damage…The fire caused a complete tie-up of traffic on the Hamilton Avenue trolley line at a time when travel from Hamilton Ferry was heaviest.

Ah, the old days.

There’s a presentation on the Brooklyn Greenway next week for Community Board 1’s Parks, Environment, Waterfront and Transportation Committees. It will take place on Wednesday, March 5 at 6:30PM at Lady of the Snow Society, which is located at 410 Graham Avenue (between Withers and Jackson). The Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway project area covers 14 miles of Brooklyn waterfront from Sunset Park to Newtown Creek in Greenpoint. The full right of way, which would be 30 feet wide, is still being assembled. For more info, click here.

We’ve never heard of the Bank Freeze King and we keep seeing “Brain Freeze” every time we see the phrase, but he’s a lawyer who is alleged to put a freeze on bank accounts when he represents creditors or buyers of debt. There are a lot of complaints about the so-called Brain Bank Freeze King on one of those websites where people tormented by debt collectors and their (sometimes) illegal tactics complain. He froze the brains bank accounts of an entire coop in Park Slope.–OTBKB

Our wonderful Carroll Gardens Correspondent provides this image of furniture on the street, which is clearly done with the living room part of its existence and just kind of out there with the trash.

It will be sunny today and cold, with a high of 33, but clouds will increase as the day goes on. As things stand right now, the forecast for tonight calls for snow mixing with rain and a low of 32. At least, that’s the call as of early this morning.–Accuweather

The building at 333 Carroll Street that has been nicknamed the Carroll Gardens Hell Building is looking bright this week. Someone in the area sent us photos and noted “Looks like some signs of life at 333 Carroll Street. Lights were on last night leading me to believe they’re up to something.” The photos of the top floor lit up like a beacon were taken on Tuesday night. Daytime work has been going on at the building, which had a Stop Work Order lifted before the holidays. The building has been a lightening rod for controversy and earned the nickname “Hell Building” because of how badly early work on the structure disturbed people on Carroll Street. The huge addition on top designed by Robert Scarano increased sentiment in the neighborhood for a downzoning.

The 100-story tall Renzo Piano tower at Tillary and Jay Street that would have been developed by Bruce Ratner is dead. Both the Daily News and the Brooklyn Paper report the tower has fallen victim to rising costs and the credit crunch. Forest City Ratner would have built a dorm and lab for City Tech in return for $300 million and land to build the Piano tower, estimated at 70-100 stories tall. A CUNY exec told the Brooklyn Paper that it was a “was a mutual decision” and a statement said “timing and complexities” of development didn’t match with the school’s “immediate need.” City Council Member David Yassky, however, blamed finances, saying Ratner “may be overextended right now.” He added that “a lot of developers are re-evaluating their numbers and feel that residential buildings don’t work right now.” CUNY will go ahead with building a new lab and dorm, probably in the range of 10 stories.

We always find tales of “customer service” interesting, so we were drawn to this item posted on the Park Slope Forum at Brooklynian asking if other people have had “terrible service” at the Park Slope Branch Library. The short answer is that some don’t like it and some say that the staff is helpful. Here’s the original comment:

It seems that every time I am at the Park Slope branch library (usually Saturdays) I get terrible service from the check out and returns staff. The clerks at the desk are always deep in conversation with each other, and I have to wait for them to finish the latest neighborhood gossip before they acknowledge my existence. More often than not, they will physically have their backs turned! I went last Tuesday night to pick up a hold book, and the woman didn’t even look me in the eye. I have such a great experience with my NYC library near work being friendly, but my Brooklyn home library makes me feel like I am interrupting them in the middle of something very important. I tend to get my reserved books from Brooklyn faster than NYC, but is it worth it? Am I just being overly-sensitive or are they that way with everyone else? (Hearing that they are just plain rude to others might actually make me feel a little better!)

One person agreed, saying, “I have had similar experiences. When I go there they often have teenage girls at the counter that couldn’t care less. Last time I told one of them to try harder, she looked at me like I was nuts.” Another, however, said “I haven’t had any problems…I’ve actually had discussions with them about books.” Yet, another suggested buying the books at Barnes & Noble. So, the answers seem to be coming down all over the place.

[Photo courtesy of Paula Jenkins/Picassa]

Red Hot Szechuan, the Chinese restaurant on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope, whose fate has been the subject of much speculation since the steel grate was rolled down a few days ago and failed to open again, is definitely dead. Its demise has been confirmed although no cause of death has been offered, leaving Park Slopers with a hunger for hot and sour soup, and a dose of MSG, scrambling for delivery alternatives. Up next: the ‘what will take its place?’ game.–GL Inbox

This is Gowanus Green from the Hudson Companies team. The design is from Rogers Marvel Architects and landscape designers West 8 and Starr Whitehouse. (Rogers Marvel and West 8 designed the winning proposal for Governor’s Island and the architectural firm is also designing the redo of McCarren Pool and 340 Court Street in Carroll Gardens.)

Here are a whole lot of miscellaneous kinds of tidbits that could be of interest from the custom Ork Brooklyn map to the really good local taqueria that just reopened on Myrtle Avenue. There is a lot of music, dance, arts, and a drink or two in between.–Brooklyn Based

We were going to categorize this as an “Upcoming” event, but it’s more than that because the meeting is about forming a group tentatively called United Friends of McCarren Park that will try to build support for and work on a variety of McCarren Park-related issues. An email has gone out from the Greenpoint Waterfront Association for Parks & Planning (GWAPP) about the meeting, which will take place on Monday (3/3) at 7PM at Automotive High School on Bedford Avenue. The email says in part:

The best way to get the parks we deserve is through persistent community attention to each park. GWAPP…wants to help kickstart a big (and sustained) Push for Parks all across our North Brooklyn neighborhoods by helping to create (where one doesn’t exist) support (where one does exist) and unite (where, as with McCarren Park, several active groups co-exist) park-specific Friends Groups.

The purpose of these groups will be to gather information about the way the community uses the park, the issues and needs of each park and, most importantly, establish a community representative (or two or six or twenty) of that park, acting as a watchdog and persistently (key word) pushing for improvements – whether from the city, the Open Space Alliance (www.openspacealliancenb.org), neighbors, local businesses, grants…

I am volunteering to help set up an initial meeting of what, for now, might be called the United Friends of McCarren Park. We have an opportunity, with this particular Mayor and the promises made regarding the McCarren Park Pool, Ice Skating Rink and SkatePark, to push for real improvements in McCarren Park. We need to make sure we have a unified and coherent voice in the way the park is maintained and plans made for future developments. With the Pool reconstruction underway (design-wise at least) it seems the various user-groups of this potentially wonderful park have a shared purpose. Let’s use it to make the park better.

Among the issues up for discussion are: requesting a comprehensive survey & study of park usage & potential, a status update on the McCarren Pool project, seeing if “comfort stations” adjacent to the pool can be rebuilt first, seeing if the park’s wading and spray pool can be running by summer and the fascinating topic of “Fieldhouse ‘Comfort Stations’–the most disgusting bathrooms in Brooklyn?” Also up for discussion are benches & paths, gardens & trees, dog runs, a plan to put artificial turf on a paved field next to the park’s tennis courts, a plan to study de-mapping Driggs and/or Union Avenue through the park and entertainment programming, which is enough for a 12-hour meeting. The emails says that “Anyone interested in working together to improve McCarren Park is welcome.”

The guy at the newsstand next door to the space that was Tempo Presto at Seventh Ave. and Third Street and before that Mojo Cafe and before that….says it’s going to be a Mexican restaurant. They are doing renovation work. It looks like they took the bathroom out and are putting in new doors. (Curiously, no permits have been filed for work on this space with the Dept. of Buildings since 1999, so the work must be the cosmetic type that doesn’t require DOB permits.)–OTBKB

We have to say that the issue of rezoning a small part of Dumbo to allow for higher density residential development almost seemed to come out of nowhere. On Tuesday, the Architects Newspaper reported that the Department of City Planning is considering rezoning an area bounded by Bridge Street on the north, John Street on the west, the Manhattan Bridge on the south and Front Street on the east. Yesterday morning, the Dumbo Neighborhood Association had a meeting to announce its own very detailed proposal ahead of City Planning. Our friends at Brownstoner attended that meeting and offered a full report by lunchtime yesterday. The city’s idea will be revealed at a closed meeting today. So, in the span of 48 hours, there is not only a proposal that would could result in taller 10-12 story buildings in some places, but a counter proposal from the neighborhood itself. Per a quote in Brownstoner, the neighborhood proposal aims to create “contextual zoning both for historic preservation and new development.” The plan was developed in response to a Two Trees proposal to build an 18-story building on the St. Ann’s Warehouse site. There is, of course, more detail at the Architect’s Newspaper.

As we’ve noted many times, the Williamsburg waterfront power plant proposal is still, astoundingly, alive. An obscure state agency called the Siting Board will meet next month to (again) determine its fate. The GWAPP group “urgently needs volunteers in the weeks leading up to the meeting. There are jobs big and small for anyone with some time and energy to contribute (flyers to pass out, phone calls to make, e-mails to send – easy stuff!)…If having a nice big power plant on the waterfront is not your cup of tea, mark your calendars…February 28 at 7:00 p.m. GWAPP will be conducting a brief meeting for interested volunteers.”–New York Shitty

There’s a new online petition to help push an idea to connect the G Train, which stops in Fort Greene near BAM to trains that stop at Atlantic Avenue. The MTA is promising to study whether such a connection between G and the lines at the Atlantic Avenue–Pacific Street subway stations would work, but construction of a pedestrian tunnel could take 5-10 years. The petition pitch says:

Help improve life in Brooklyn and Queens, connect the G train to Atlantic Terminal! The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has promised Councilmember Letitia James this week that it would study what it would take to connect the G line Lafayette Avenue stop with the Atlantic-Pacific station, a move that would simplify commuting for tens of thousands of people. The time is now to tell the MTA that Brooklyn and Queens need this!!!

The petition can be found here.

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

Cell Phones & Measles:

• Some Brooklyn Students Getting Cell Phones with Free Minutes For Getting A’s [NYT]
• Health Dept. Probing Measles Cases [NYDN]
• Brooklyn Measles Cases Raise Concerns [Sun]

Other Stuff:

• Why Didn’t Forest City Ratner Announce Miss Brooklyn Cuts? [AYR]
• Deals by the Dozen Offered in Brooklyn Court to Gambino Members [NYP]
• Bay Ridge Hospital May Close ER [NYDN]
• Carroll Gardens Development Doings [Brownstoner]
• Mystery Solved: Starbucks Was Teaching Baristas to Make Frothier Foam [OTBKB]
• Residential Parking Forum in March [Kensington Brooklyn]
• Pay Phone Pop Quiz [New York Shitty]
• New 14th Street Slope Armory Entrance [Brooklynometry]
• Unsolved Bed-Stuy Mystery [Bed-Stuy Banana]
• Sheepshead Bay’s El Greco Diner May Close [GerritsenBeach.Net]
• Local Writers to Talk About Food [ABL]
• Swizzle Going Out with Bang [BHB]
• Checking Out Rustik Tavern [Clinton Hill Blog]

Dig into the some of the people trying to help the Brooklyn Public Library raise money, which is having a kickoff event on March 8. They’re hoping to raise $10,000 this year, but only have 21 members so far and “a ways to go.” The goal is 300-500 members by the end of the year and “hundreds” at the Library After Dark event.–New York Observer

There’s a session this weekend on “Re-Zoning the ‘Atlantic Yards’ Footprint.” It’s presented by the Hunter College Center for Community Preservation and Development (CCPD) and sponsored by the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods. Here’s what the email says:

What if our community was given a voice in planning redevelopment over and around the Vanderbilt rail yards? What’s your vision for our neighborhood’ s future? The original UNITY Plan, the community-created alternative to Forest City Ratner’s “Atlantic Yards” project, covered only the publicly owned Vanderbilt rail yards.

FCR has since taken control of and blighted or torn down many properties around the rail yards. But now the financing for “Atlantic Yards” is in doubt, even according to the developer – the bond financing for the arena and the affordable housing may not be feasible! What happens next?

Join your neighbors, elected officials and expert planners for a public workshop devoted to creating a community plan for the entire area – now that the global credit crisis threatens to scuttle “Atlantic Yards.”

It takes place on Saturday (3/1) from 10AM to 2PM at St. Cyril’s Belarusian Cathedral, which is located at 401 Atlantic Avenue (at Bond Street). RSVP to Hunter College CCPD at 212-650-3328 or to ccpd@hunter.cuny.edu.

“At Coney Island Bagels in Brooklyn, a plain bagel with nothing on it has reached the one-dollar mark – up from 60 cents last year.” This is still cheaper than some bagel places in Manhattan, though, where they’re $1.20. Bagels were 30 cents 20 years ago and 50 cents just five years ago.–NYP

There’s a panel discussion on “The Future of Coney Island” coming up at the Museum of the City of New York on Wednesday, March 19 at 6:30PM. We found it via the Historic Districts Council Newsstand and the Coney Island Message Board. Here’s a bit about it:

Lynn Kelly, President of the CIDC, will present the latest proposal for the area and join a panel discussion moderated by Brad Lander, Director of the Pratt Center for Community Development. Additional panelists include David Gratt, Managing Director, Coney Island USA, Domenic Recchia, representative to the City Council from the 47th District, and Chuck Reichenthal, District Manager of Community Board 13. Reservations required. $9 for non-members, $5 for Museum members, seniors & students…Museum of the City of New York. 1220 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street.

More info and tickets by clicking here.

No one, it seems, wants the Khalil Gibran International Academy, the Arabic-themed school in Brooklyn. Park Slopers gave it the boot last year. So, it moved to a spot in Boerum Hill, which it apparently has outgrown. The plan for next year is to move it to PS 287 in Fort Greene. Guess what? “At a meeting with education officials Tuesday night, parents from PS287 were uneasy about older students moving into the building used by their younger kids.”–NYDN

[Photo courtesy of Eric Provost]

We were going to put this photo in our Street Couch Series, but since it’s only a chair, and a wooden one at that, we decided against it. The photo comes from Eric Provost, who hit us off with a bonanza of images this week. The blue fence is the work of developer Joe Sitt.

We were sad to get an email overnight from the person behind the Right in Bay Ridge blog announcing that the blog is being suspended. The email said, “After much reflection and a shift in priorities, I have decided not to continue running the Right in Bay Ridge blog any longer…Should I be able to revitalize this blog later on, I will let you know.” Right in Bay Ridge was one of the strongest and most reliable blogs coming out of that neighborhood. It will be missed.–GL Inbox

American Gangster Math Tutor, Williamsburg