Our wonderful Carroll Gardens Correspondent just sent us this pretty shot. Finally, a little snow in Brooklyn.

The big news to come out of developer Billy Stein’s appearance at the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association meeting last night wasn’t even fresh: architect Robert Scarano has been off the job at 360 Smith Street since December. Mr. Scarano, who had designed the early versions of the 360 Smith Street structure that we named the Heavy Metal Building, had become a lightening rod for criticism of the building. He has been replaced by Armand S. Quadrini of KSQ Architects, who also replaced Mr. Scarano on a job at Carroll Street and Fourth Avenue in Park Slope. The working name of the project, which will still rise to 70 feet, is Oliver House. According to a GL Correspondent, Mr. Stein told a large group that included a significant number of reporters, that the change had been a costly one to make. (Mr. Scarano had produced a number of versions of the design for the building as recently as the fall.)

Local blogger Pardon Me for Asking wrote of the new design, which includes a glass tower at the entrance to the Carroll Street subway station that:

last night’s meeting actually felt like the community was speaking with one voice. And this is what we all seemed to agree on: Mr. Stein’s redesigned building for 360 Smith Street looks better, much better. But there is quite a lot of room for improvement.

One resident we spoke with said that “the proportions are mega sized for these narrow streets” and called it “a monster-sized facade on Smith Street.” Elements of the building would actually rise higher than 70 feet with mechanical equipment on the roof. (One architect estimated up to 85 feet.) A building of that height is allowed under current zoning because of an arcane definition of some very narrow streets as being “wide.” Construction is slated to start very soon, both to avoid any zoning changes that might occur and to allow the building to qualify for a 421-a tax abatement before changes in that program take place in June.

This is an ad for space at the Sweater Factory in Gowanus that we found on Craigslist, where many listings have been posted recently. Were amused by how the loft space is marketed as being in a “hip Gowanus locale” and call Gowanus “Brooklyn’s next creative business hub.” Also we like the design of the ad. Another version of it is here.

Depending on one’s point of view the new marketing campaign for the SteelWorks Lofts on N. 4 Street is either creative or loathsome. We came across it due to a few posters randomly posted on Driggs Avenue in Williamsburg, which reminded us of the big industrial building on N. 4 between Wythe and Berry that is due to get a Gene Kaufman makeover and some hot interiors by AvroKO. The building will have 96 condos and the units are running from just under $600,000 to $1.2M+. There’s no sense of when the condos will be complete as work hasn’t even visibly started on the building. So, we’re guessing sometime in 2009 if all goes well. In the meantime, one can look forward to more “Williamsburg’s Finest” posters and images of steel being welded to sell top-of-the-line loft conversion condos. The building does have a “Little E” notation, which means there are hazardous material issues, as one would expect on a facility that was once a steel fabrication plan.

Last spring we reported that a bank would be taking over the old D’Agostino’s space on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope. In late January, we noted trucks out front and work crews hauling debris from the basement. The news has now been confirmed. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reports:

A bank is moving into a portion of the 4,500-square-foot vacant space on the corner of Seventh Avenue and Sixth Street, said building owner Larry Wittlin, declining to reveal the bank name due to “contractual agreements.”

Last year, we noted that the tenant would be Bank of America. A client is still being sought for the corner space that had been occupied by Gothic Cabinet Craft.

Last week, we posted about the rising steel of the North Building of the Robert Scarano-designed 125 N10 condos, which was starting to eliminate some of the windows at 55 Berry in Williamsburg. The work is more advanced this week. If anything, they’re interesting photos of disappearing windows. All buyers are said to have been told what would be happening in the back of the building. Nonetheless, it has to be an unpleasant thing to watch them go like that.

If anyone’s looking for Valentine’s Day related things in Brooklyn, they might want to check this little list for something like a horseback ride through Propsect Park or death via chocolate at the Chocolate Room in Park Slope. And if these activities aren’t one’s cup of tea, then perhaps a ride with the “Cupid Cabbie” will do the trick.–NYDN

There’s a meeting coming up at Borough Hall on Wednesday (2/13) that’s bill as an “informational and strategizing session on fighting back the school budget cuts.” Council Member Bill de Blasio is one of the sponsors. The session will take place from 6:30PM-8:00PM in the Borough Hall Hearing Room. The location is 209 Joaralemon Street (between Court and Adams). An email we got about the session says:

-We will hear from teachers, students, parents, advocates, and union leaders about how these sudden cuts will affect our schools and our children’s education.

-Learn about what you can do to reverse these cuts NOW and prevent future budget reductions.

-Discuss your concerns with fellow parents, teachers and community members, and share your ideas about how we can fight to preserve our children’s education and reverse the budget cuts together.

Schools were recently informed that they would be subjected to across the board 1.75 percent budget cuts.

[Photo of frigid Feb. 11 Coney sunset courtesy of Deborah Matlack]

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

• Mortgage Crisis Spreading Past Subprime Loans [NYT]
• Ward Bakery Demolition Starting Soon [AYR]
• Brooklyn Paper Says “Brooklyn Needs Us” [Gothamist]
• Red Hook School Gets Great Grades But No Respect [NYDN]
• Monique Quality Products Corp., Boerum Hill [Fading Ad Blog]
• Development Watch: 196 South 2nd [Brownstoner]
• Brooklyn Graffiti Complaints Way Up [NYDN]
• Kings Highway Station Falls to Tracks [GerritsenBeach.Net]
• Platform at Kings Highway Crumbles, Sending Teen to Tracks [Gothamist]
• Greenway on Kent Avenue is a Good Idea [WGPA]
• New Condos in Hello Living Territory [Set Speed]
• Garden and Flower Shop Coming to Clinton Hill [Clinton Hill Blog]
• Dumpster in Front of Maggie Moos Space [OTBKB]
• Confusion About Cooper [Brooklynometry]

“Today at 6:30 p.m. G.W.A.P.P. will be conducting a general information session at the Pencil Factory regarding the park slated for the western terminus of India Street. Stephanie Thayer of the Open Space Alliance will give a general overview of the project (among other things, I have heard affordable housing is a component)…” The meeting is at the Pencil Factory at 142 Franklin Street in Greenpoint.–New York Shitty

There’s a screenshot of a Cyclone-like roller coaster from Grand Theft Auto IV that someone who goes by the name of keithnoir posted on the Coney Island message board. The shot below is a Brooklyn Bridge screencap, with many liberties taken as to the streetscape.

The scourge of the BQE, the Kosciuszko Bridge, may not be replaced after all. “The long-awaited project to replace the deteriorating and traffic-choked Kosciuszko Bridge has hit a roadblock because a state agency believes the aging span could be worth saving. The state Historic Preservation Office has refused to approve final designs that call for the Kosciuszko to be demolished and replaced by two new spans…’It is our opinion that the rehabilitation of the existing bridge – which represents a significant and unusual variation of the Warren truss type bridge – is a prudent and feasible alternative to demolition,’ a Historic Preservation official wrote to the state Department of Transportation in November.”–NYDN

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Did you know there’s a dodge ball league in Park Slope? Indeed, there is. An email we got from ZogSports said:

The best way to connect with fellow Brooklynites is on the court, pegging each other with red foam balls. Or on the turf with some two-hand touch. ZogSports, the social, co-ed, charity-focused sports club has officially kicked off registration for its spring activities, opening its leagues to thousands of Brooklynites to meet for some friendly competition and socializing at post-game happy hours.

While entire teams can join the league, ZogSports also makes it easy for individuals or small groups to join by placing them on teams with other individuals. ZogSports also welcomes corporate teams and alumni clubs. The Spring 2008 season will mark ZogSports’ third season in Brooklyn after running successful leagues in Manhattan for five years. Having offered Kickball and Touch Football in the fall and Dodgeball (Park Slope & Williamsburg) and Touch Football in the winter, this Spring, ZogSports will invite Brooklynites to join us for more Dodgeball in Park Slope and Touch Football Downtown….Early Registration: through February 15. Late Registration February 9-22. Most leagues run from mid-late March through June.

The games take place in gyms at local public schools. For more information or to register, click here. A percentage of the proceeds goes to charity ($355K organization-wide, so far).

This downed sign, which was felled by some sidewalk digging in the last few days, comes from Roebling Street and N. 11, right across the street from our friend, the Roebling Oil Building. Presumably, it’s only down until they stop digging and fix the sidewalk, unless they’re looking for oil…

A building on Fifth Avenue in Bay Ridge succumbed to the deadly combination of high winds and an unsupported cinder block wall built on the building’s roof. The building was once the site of the Leading Edge Radiation Oncology Services Center, and some residents wondered “about spillage of radioactive material following the collapse.”–Right in Bay Ridge

Our Greenpoint Correspondent calls this image “Algonquin Rountable Meets Fred T. Sanford.” It come from Bushwick.

Here’s the latest little uplifting incident that caught our eye in Boerum Hill: a car vandalized via shooting. Here are the details, via an email from the Boerum Hill Group on Yahoo:

I thought everyone should know that the car vandalism problem is excalating. This family lives on Bergen between Bond & Hoyt. They parked their car on Bond last night, near their house. They came out this morning to find several bullet holes in it. Yes, they have reported this to the police.

Last week another friend on the same block parked a rental car on the block and came out to find someone had kicked numerous dents in it during the night. That kind of vandalism is bad enough, but escalating to guns??? This is out of hand.

So far, no emails about anyone hearing gunshots on Bergen Street.

(Note: the bullet hole shown is not an actual Bergen Street car bullet hole.)

Last week, the Department of Buildings issued the first permit for the planned Gowanus Whole Foods on Third Street. The permit, which was first reported by Brownstoner, would allow for some work on the foundation. The Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus group, which opposes construction of the big project, sent an email to Community Board 6 pointing out that the project still doesn’t have the go-ahead from the Department of Environmental Conservation without which it can’t start construction. Here’s some of the email:

The bloggs announced this week that the DOB has granted permits for Whole Foods to begin construction. The DOB did approve their Underpinning and Shoring application but has not approved their zoning and architectural application for the building…The concern here is that, while the DOB has permitted the Shoring and Underpinning work, Whole Foods has yet to complete their State DEC Wetlands Application…Once Whole Foods completes their wetlands application the DEC will hold a 30 day public comment period before issuing permits. The DEC office stated, today, that if Whole Foods begins any work before they have a wetlands permits, “the DEC will shut them down”.

The somewhat toxic site, by the way, is still open for public tours and viewing via its perpetually open flimsy fence.

That New York Times article on the Union Hall stroller ban and Park Slope parent culture seems to have elicited a bit of a response in Park Slope. OTBKB wrote a post yesterday saying the paper got the story wrong, failing to mention a plan to lift the stroller ban on some afternoons. Late last night, someone sent us an email originally posted to the Park Slope Parents email list that is making the rounds in local circles. Here are newsworthy excerpts:

Ah yes, another day, another NYTimes (or NY magazine) article trashing the Slope, we awful mothers in particular and all neighborhood child-friendly facilities or activities. Today’s is by Alex Williams…According to Alex, we mothers react “testily” on blogs and with great “gusto” create an “onslaught” of children in an “extreme generational commingling at the local saloon” at all hours and ritually breastfeed at the bar!

It goes on to say:

I’m not suggesting a ban on journalists on this list, or a public flogging, but maybe just requesting that when that deadline is looming and the pressure’s on, get a bit more creative than skimming the blogs and recycling the news just to characterize Brooklyn mothers, and fathers, as raging, crazy, spoiled, indulgent or whatever the stereotype of the day is.

More to come?

Call it one of the most short-lived coup attempts in Brooklyn history. “A plan floated Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz for the city to take control of the New York Aquarium is dead in the water,” Jotham Sederstrom reports in today’s Daily News. On Thursday night, during his “State of the Borough” report, Borough President Marty Markowitz proposed that a Board of Directors people by Brooklynites take control of the New York Aquarium from the Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the Bronx Zoo, among other things. Now:

…a source familiar with the issue said the idea has sunk. “It’s not something we’re considering,” said a city source. Markowitz praised the Wildlife Conservation Society but said the Bronx-based nonprofit organization had its hands full with the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo and the Prospect Park Zoo.

We’d have paid good money to see the email flow and listen in on the phone conversations trying to put down the Brooklyn Nemo Coup quickly.

Looks like site of the huge 33 Roebling development that we mentioned last week (for the umpteenth time) for having a crappy, wide open fence and (now) a pile driver on the site got a visit from the Department of Buildings this week. We found a violation tacked to the cruddy fence (which has been so for almost a year) for, among other things, “failure to safeguard public and property,” as well as having an open gate with no locks, being accessible to the public, creating “hazardous condition” and “being used as dumping ground.” Also they noted “construction machinery on site.” The general violation is known as “failure to maintain.” If they actually put up a non-laughable fence and lock it, where will all the crap that’s been dumped on the site end up? Eh. There are many places around, some right around the corner. Actually, the interesting question with this development, given that it is a stone’s throw from the Roebling Oil Building (aka Warehouse 11) is: will anything interesting of a fossil fuel-type nature be discovered once they start digging?

This week’s New York Magazine takes a look back those wacky days of 1968 and lands in “the neighborhood known as Park Slope.” There is nothing we can add to this, so we’ll just quote a few highlights:

So what’s a penny-pinching Manhattanite to do? It’s time to consider—and don’t laugh just yet—Brooklyn. Specifically, the neighborhood known as Park Slope, the four-block-wide strip along Prospect Park that runs east-west from Flatbush Avenue to about 9th Street. Admittedly, it has none of the jolt of Manhattan living, and it’s way short on shops and places to eat. (Seventh Avenue, the area’s commercial strip, is as sleepy as any suburb after dark.) Once blue-collar and mostly Irish, the area has a mix of poorer residents now, and crime is a worry, especially below Sixth Avenue. In some pockets, vacant lots have been abandoned. Rumor has it that banks are redlining the area.

But here’s the payoff: If you do manage to get a mortgage loan, an entire brownstone full of Victorian details costs as much as a half-floor loft in the Village—about $20,000. There are enough original houses, in fact, that activists are saying Park Slope should become a landmark district like Brooklyn Heights.

Redlining? $20,000? Shoot us now.

The future of the embattled Moore Street Market in Williamsburg is almost here. “After winning a one-year reprieve from their landlord — the City of New York — the market’s 13 merchants may find themselves forced out by June if the city moves forward with a plan to demolish the building and replace it with housing. Although the merchants have been offered buyouts and the option of relocating their shops to a strip of storefronts in a public housing development, they want to stay put.”–NYT

This is not our first time tossing up some photos of the cruddy, dangerous conditions at our dear friend 80 Metropolitan in Williamsburg. In fact, today’s post makes 80 Met a Triple Crown winner (with other occasions having been here and here). Yesterday, we found the 80 Met construction site wide open, with some of the (pretty flimsy looking) fence having come down, possibly due to the wind. Back in December the Department of Buildings cited the developer, Steiner Equities, for the lousy fence which had “defects thru out.” Uh, still seems to have defects both through and out. What we fail to understand is how, on a big budget development like 80 Metropolitan, with a sales office a block from the construction site, conditions that could kill or injure someone stupid enough to walk around the site are allowed to persist. By the way, this would be the “townhouse” side of the development we were able to visit.