[Photo courtesy of Charles Andrisano]

Local photographer Charles Andrisano sent us this gorgeous shot of Wednesday night’s lunar eclipse as seen from a rooftop in Bay Ridge. The streaks in the photo are the lights of a commercial airliner that he says “had crossed under the moon just as I tripped the shutter.” We love the light.

Is the Terrapin Playground behind developer Shaya Boymelgreen’s Novo Park Slope–a space about which there has been much consternation–going to be ready in May? That is what the word is, although it’s hard to say that immense progress has occurred in the last couple of months.–Brownstoner

This comes from Eckford and Manhattan Avenue via our Greenpoint Correspondent who said, “Perhaps they could relocated this one way sign to one of the many locations where said signs are defective.” Or, you know, fix the others.

Generally, the rats are the first to know that something is up with a property. So, we were fascinated to find that 475 Driggs, the building that shares much of the block to the west of the Roebling Oil Field Warehouse 11 now has a bunch of those big black rat poison things and rat poison signs. Last year, a tipster mentioned that the building might be on the market. No property sale is noted in city records yet and no building permits have been filed, but the sudden activity indicates that something is up (or may have already happened and we’re just waiting for the paperwork to be posted). The Karl Fischer-designed Roebling building has always seemed like it was meant to have a big center courtyard and companion buildings to the west and south. It will be interesting to see if the property is changing hands, not to mention what might be found when excavation starts.

Is that cool makeover of the New York Aquarium dead? The Brooklyn Daily Eagle’s Sarah Ryley reports that it could be sinking and might have been one of the things behind Borough President Marty Markowitz’s call for a Brooklyn coup d’etat to takeover the aquarium’s board of directors. The text is posted on the Coney Island Message Board, but we’re going to excerpt some key parts of Ms. Ryley’s fascinating story laying out the struggle for money and control that pits things like an expensive new shark exhibit against the desperately needed exterior makeover:

For years, Brooklyn politicians have accused the Society of treating the aquarium “like a stepchild,” and the battle has intensified recently as two expensive projects to vamp up the lackluster attraction–a shark exhibit and an exterior makeover–compete for funding, said City Councilman Domenic Recchia, chair of the Cultural Affairs Committee…Disguised as low-lying brick boxes, the aquarium is arguably Coney Island’s least noticeable attraction, yet is supposed to become the amusement district’s eastern anchor under the city’s flashy redevelopment plan. Two summers ago, the city Economic Development Corporation and the Wildlife Conservation Society launched a competition to refashion the aquarium’s exterior into something exciting that would attract passersby, not hide from them. A winner would be announced by the end of 2006, they said.

That date has come and gone, and although by all accounts the Wallace Robert & Todd (WRT) design was chosen, nothing has been announced. According to two Coney Island Development Corporation board members, the Society, which is based in the Bronx and also oversees the city’s four zoos, doesn’t want to pay for it anymore.

“The Bronx said no way,” said Community Board 13 District Manager Chuck Reichenthal. Another board member, one the condition of anonymity, said, “The Zoological Society will not put up the other half, so that’s most likely why, out of frustration, Marty called for breaking [the aquarium] away and forming a separate organization with its own board of directors…Not everybody agrees that funding an exterior overhaul is the best way for the Society to prove its affection. The winning design covers the entire aquarium in a sloping blanket of high-tech lights, vertical gardens and “breathing” mesh. Though it hasn’t been priced out, and the architects are working on integrating the shark exhibit and interior renovations into the design, according to a source close to the project just the exterior could cost up to $125 million.

“We have to get rid of the perimeter. We could use that money, it could be better spent in other ways,” said Recchia. “I want to build my shark tank. The shark tank is my No. 1 priority.” He said the tank, which would have ocean views, would cost $65 million.

Economic Development Corporation (EDC) spokeswoman Janel Patterson said the city has committed $69 million to the aquarium over the next two years, including necessary infrastructure work. The Society “has funded almost all of the shark tank design to date. EDC and [the Department of Cultural Affairs] are working with sister City agencies to move the project forward, but we also must take the time necessary to be sure it compliments the Coney Island redevelopment plan,” she said in an email.

According to a high-level source, Coney Island Development Corporation board members are even at odds with the heads of its parent agency, the EDC. “High-level officials at the EDC are asking, is that money better spent on building great exhibits or is it better spent building that enclosure?” The source said the Society considers the exhibit a more important priority. If anything, the exterior makeover would be pared down to something more affordable…

Frankly, the aquarium makeover was one of the things in Coney Island that we could wholeheartedly embrace as we find the existing design depressing. More than once, we’ve questioned the mentality that led to a block-long concrete wall to conceal an aquarium from a boardwalk and the water. One hopes that resolutions are found quickly and that a redesign can move forward soon.

Although it doesn’t happen frequently, the bridges over the Gowanus Canal are opened and closed to let barges and other vessels through. (We were dumbfounded to find the Hamilton Avenue Bridge raised at the height of rush hour one day causing traffic to clot into an angry gridlock in all directions.) Here’s an email we got from a reader about “last night’s mishap with the 9th Street Gowanus Bridge.” The “last night,” in this case, refers to Tuesday night:

I left my studio (at 2nd Ave and 10th Street) at 7:15pm, intending to walk the short distance to Frankie’s 457 on Court Street, but ended up standing in the cold for 30 minutes, along with many other increasingly impatient folks. We all kept thinking that any minute now it would all be over, but it never was. I wish I had known whatever is the usual amount of time that the bridge is supposed to be up, but I didn’t. Anyway finally I started walking toward 4th Ave, thinking of taking the F train to Carroll St., but then saw a cab and thought I might as well try the Hamilton bridge. Lo and behold, it was totally clear–I arrived at my dinner date an hour late. So obviously the 9th Street bridge got stuck–I just wish I had figured it out sooner. Anyway I would love to know what actually happened to cause that, and most importantly: why oh why the bridge officials didn’t bother to come down and let us all know something was wrong and that we should go around?

The Hamilton Avenue and Ninth Street bridges open more frequently than the Third, Carroll and Union Street bridges.

It’s unclear what’s up with the future of the Manhattan Chocolate property at 568 Union Avenue in Williamsburg, but we know that it was sold for $20 million a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday, we noted the sale on Curbed. City records confirm a transfer from McCarren Estates LLC to 568 Union LLC. The previous sale price for the property was $1.3 million, which makes it quite the lucrative flip, at the very least. Interestingly the address for the buyer is a Long Island rental development firm that also operates a golf course. Perhaps the new buyer will be able to spring for a new fence around the property?

It is with a heavy heart that we note another local landmark is threatened. This time it’s the lobster sign outside Armando’s Restaurant on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights. The restaurant is said to be closing. “Is it time for the BHB community to stand up and say SAVE THE LOBSTER! The sign has been a Montague Street fixture for decades, since the restaurant opened in 1936. The Brooklyn Dodgers, Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller were said to be regulars of the eatery in the 1950s.”–Brooklyn Heights Blog

Those that actually look at building permits see the name Fekete constantly. This is because the Fekete Brothers are expediters hired to, well, expedite the filing of building plans and permits. They are responsible for thousands of building permits and regularly work for very busy architects like Karl Fischer. (The building above, our friend 525 Union Avenue, is a Fekete expedited Fischer.) If you think that the expediting business is boring, you’re dead wrong. Tom Robbin’s piece in this week’s Village Voice about the Feketes and how they operate is quite the read, actually, and helps shed a bit more light on how the curious building approval process works. The older of the Fekete brother, Jacob, used to be very busy. Since he ran into some issues related to a Bushwick arson and a Federal indictment, however, his brother Hershey has picked up the slack, filing 1,798 permit applications. There is a great deal of detail to the story and the personal connections that allow expediters to, you know, expedite things.

Those zoning text amendments drafted by the American Institute of Architects that would have allowed bigger buildings and were greeted by a lot of opposition once they were widely known, have been dropped. Queens Crap posted the full text of the AIA letter to Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden yesterday. The changes were complex, but would have allowed bulkier, taller buildings in many neighborhoods. Many opponents felt it was an attempt to introduce technical, yet very important, changes without much public discussion and a number of community groups fought to get the amendments dropped.

[Eclipse and Laundromat courtesy of broddi/flickr]

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

• “Lunar Eclipse Brooklyn” 2008 Tagged Photos [flickr]
• Lunar Eclipse from Brooklyn Heights [McBrooklyn]
• Buildings Dept. Cracking Down on Scaffolding [Sun]
• Greenpoint to DEP: Clean Up Your Act [New York Shitty]
• Edge Ready for Big Sales Push [Curbed]
• Meet the Burg’s Bridge Urban Winery [Eater]
• Wednesday Food & Drink Round-Up [Brownstoner]
• A Who’s Who of Coney “Freaks” [Kinetic Carnival]
• Cortelyou Road Roundup [Ditmas Park Blog]
• Thoughts on the Sunset Park Nonprofit Scandal [Sunset Park Blog]
• New Retail on Water Street [Dumbo NYC]
• Why Slope’s Nancy Nancy is Closing [OTBKB]
• An Old Slope Galvanized Iron Sign [Fading Ad Blog]
• Weird Night on Bedford [Bed-Stuy Blog]

[Photo courtesy of Mirabelle Studios]

This photo comes from the camera of sculptor, artist and photographer Gary Mirabelle who is a regular GL photo contributor and whose work we love to feature. Check out a couple of other shots he sent us recently here and here.

There are any number of tickets one could score to watch or do things this weekend. How about watching the Miss Brooklyn Pageant? Or dropping $200 for the Oscar Party at Steiner Studios? (There’s a less expensive event at Monkey Town in Williamsburg if one is motivated). Coming up, there’s also the Speak Up! benefit show at St. Ann’s Warehouse. And a lot more. Full details available.–Brooklyn Based

We got an email about a young Huskie that was rescued after being hit by a car somewhere on Ocean Avenue. He needs adoption and help. Here are the details:

My sister saw an adorable puppy huskie get hit by a car running across Ocean Avenue. His leg and foot may be broken, and he’s very, very malnourished. He’s maybe a year old, extremely sweet and gentle. His neck is completely raw, we thought the fur around his neck was shaved but it was just matted down and raw from being tied up so long. It’s very sad. She already has a dog (Apollo, the Dalmatian from the dog park) and I can’t take another pet either. We couldn’t get ambulatory service late Wednesday night when we found him. She is going to try today, but I know she doesn’t want to give him to a kill shelter. If anybody wants to take him in, please email ryleysar (at) yahoo (dot) com
and karyley (at) yahoo (dot) com.

An excellent opportunity to score a big, special karma bonus by lending a helping hand.

We got an email from Park Slope United Methodist Church about their big annual book sale which is happening this weekend. Here’s the info:

• SATURDAY, Feb. 23 (8:30am to 4pm)
• SUNDAY, Feb. 24 (afternoon only – 1pm to 4pm)

As always, there will be thousands of new & used books as well as DVDs, videos, CDs, records & tapes. Also a terrific Children’s Corner with books, games, videos & puzzles. Treasures for everyone! Books will be replenished throughout the day. Great prices start at 50 cents. Free admission. Buy ten, get one free! Cash only.

The church is on 6th Avenue at the corner of 8th Street in Park Slope.

More info,directions, etc. by clicking here.

One of the boardwalk gazebos in Coney Island (one of the most popular gathering spots, in fact) is now in a battered state. Actually, it’s been flattened, looking like it was hit by a car or truck, unless gravity and the wind conspired with rot to take it down. Will it be rebuilt in time for the spring and summer dance parties that place there on Saturdays and Sundays?–Coney Island Message Board

One of our favorite of all messed up street signs are the directionally challenged one-way signs. Our Greenpoint Correspondent came across the one on Catherine Street in East Williamsburg.

It could be the ebb and flow of retail and restaurants, but there are five businesses on Fifth Avenue that are either closing or have just closed: Biscuit BBQ, Nancy Nancy, Cocotte and Hollywood Video. Much elaboration in the comments section.–Brownstoner

This specimen comes to us from Greenpoint, where the indefatigable Miss Heather has been coming across a large number of wonderful street couches. It is from Newton Street.

“…Out of the corner of my eye I could see her beginning to slouch, rest her head on her extended left arm. The sighs were what really tipped me off. As we approached East Broadway, only one thought crossed my mind: What would I do if this girl suddenly began to puke. And just then….she did…”–Z. Madison

If you thought the proposal for a big underground power plant in Williamsburg that would be built by Transgas at the Bushwick Inlet was killed in 2006, you’re wrong. If you thought it died in 2007, well, you’re wrong again. The Power Plant with Nine Lives is still technically alive, and there is yet another hearing coming in Albany to determine its fate and that of the big waterfront park that would stretch from East River State Park to the north of the Bushwick Inlet. Yesterday, Daily Intel posted about a proposal made by Evan Thies, Council Member David Yassky‘s former aide who is running for his old boss’s seat next year. Mr. Thies suggests that the city could clear some land on the 28-acre park site and use it for big outdoor concerts starting in 2009. Those following this saga know that this is the last year for concerts at McCarren Pool because it is being returned to use as pool. Everyone has promised to look for some waterfront land to stage concerts, but the trick is finding a spot where neighbors won’t be upset and where the use conflict with other plans. The parcel proposed by Thies wasn’t identified, but the only land we can identify that could be cleared in 18 months and used for shows is immediately north of East River State Park (and within listening distance of new condos like North8 on Kent Avenue). Unless some land in Greenpoint is being suggested.

Regardless, nothing can happen park-wise until the TransGas issue is settled once and for all, and to this end, the obscure State Siting Board is meeting on March 20 in Albany. In the meantime, the Open Space Alliance of North Brooklyn has an online email campaign to “Send a message to our state government in Albany to let them know that we demand a PARK not a POWER PLANT.” The bottom rendering is one of the waterfront with gas. There is a proposal in Albany to take the land via eminent domain.

Yesterday, Brownstoner took note of the fact that the townhouses that are part of the 80 Metropolitan development on the site of the demolished historic Old Dutch Mustard Factory have gone on the market. We posted a photo gallery of them on Curbed and will simply note here that they are priced at about $1.635 million, give or take. In any case, the image above shows the rendering of the townhouses juxtaposed with the reality of N. 1 Street. The rendering is on the left. N. 1 Street as it looked last week is on the right. Unless they are planting large trees as part of the development, the trees in the rendering would take a couple of decades to reach that size, so one can subtract them and substitute tiny trees of the type that are planted at most new developments. It’s fair to expect that many of the buildings on the right hand side of the street will be demolished and replaced by new buildings over the next five years. (One site further down the street toward Kent Avenue is already under construction.) That, however, will present a different set of issues to the townhouse buyers.

Call them the perfect plants for parts of Brooklyn apartments that get no light and for people that want a very low maintenance house plant. Their name is Tillandsia “and are known in general as an epiphyte — something that gets all of its moisture and nutrients from the air (and rain, if it lives outdoors)…In reality, how these green, spiky, unusual plants live and flower on a shelf inside our windowless bathroom — without being potted, or in water — is pure magic.” They’re available at a number of Brooklyn shops.–Brooklyn Based

We ran still photos of the crap flow on the Gowanus after a heavy rain a couple of weeks ago. Since then, the Toll Brothers have shown their hand and the plans for the property bounded by Carroll Street, Second Street, Bond Street and the Canal. If the development gets the go-ahead and if it is actually built by 2011 (the latter being especially doubtful, given that no one is even certain what kind of toxins are in the soil), residents will be dealing with conditions similar to what’s in the video until 2013-2020, give or take. The canal gets about 300 million gallons a year of raw sewage and storm sewer runoff, and some people think that is a serious underestimate. Even with improvements by the mid-2010s, hundreds of millions of gallons will still flow into the Gowanus, assuming that storm conditions don’t become more severe due to shifting weather patterns because of global warming.

We used to enjoy the murals painted on the side of the Manhattan Chocolate Factory in Williamsburg, but not nearly as much as we’ve been enjoying the mess created since 568 Union Avenue was demolished. The site has even been violated by the Department of Buildings, but that has not impressed anyone enough to fix the thing in any way that can withstand a 5MPH breeze. It is currently self-demolishing on three sides. While we taking the photos an elderly neighborhood residents came up and cursed at “the bastards that made this mess on my street.” A few minutes later, we watched someone drive up, park and start gathering big rocks from the dirt and put them in pails. We didn’t ask.