This is not the first time we’ve posted a photo of the site we like to called Greenpoint’s Crater Lake, but we passed by the site the other day and found that the only things that have changed are that the banks of the crater have eroded a bit and that ice was forming on the surface in the cold weather. We first posted about the site, which is at 265 Eckford Street, in June. We followed up with a response from the contractor, who said that he had done the best that he could in a bad situation. We returned with some shots in October. All we can wonder, looking at any of the photos, is what it must be like living next to a hole that looks like it can swallow up one’s home at any moment. On the bright side, ice skating right on the block.

Does the UA Court Street Stadium 12 really suck? One reader says “and how”: “We’ve noticed a deterioration in quality of service and cleanliness at the UA Court Street Stadium 12 over the years (not that it was that nice to begin with). My wife has come to a point where she wants to boycott the theatre as she thinks its ‘nasty’. “–Brooklyn Heights Blog

Women’s Wear Daily weighed in a with a long article yesterday about Gowanus that was motivated by some fashion designers setting up shop in the neighborhood. Other than being a curious thing to find in WWD, the article serves as a reminder of how many businesses and artists work in Gowanus and how their fate hangs in the balance of a rezoning of the neighborhood to promote more residential development. Here’s a bit of what the very long article had to say by way of introducing the neighborhood:

A glamorous fashion industry hub or heir apparent to the Garment District it is not. And yet this South Brooklyn neighborhood, a sprawling grid of industrial warehouses and factories incongruously situated between the million-dollar brownstones of Park Slope and Carroll Gardens, with the 20-foot-deep Gowanus Canal ribboning through it, is emerging as an artists’ — and artisans’ — haven in a borough where rent by the square foot continues to skyrocket…

The Gowanus neighborhood, originally a marshland dotted by streams, emerged as a prosperous industrial hub in the mid-nineteenth century following the 1869 construction of the canal, which drained the surrounding area and allowed barges carrying brownstone, grain and metal materials to dock along the water’s edge. Industrial buildings — factories for clothing and paint, chemical plants and tanneries — popped up along the canal, while the surrounding neighborhoods of Park Slope and Carroll Gardens were built up by local workers in need of housing. Economically, the area initially flourished, yet environmentally, the canal proved disastrous: Inadequate sewage connections resulted in raw waste being released into the canal for decades. By the Seventies, surrounding buildings and the canal itself sat neglected, the result of lost waterfront business due to increased container shipping to other parts of the city.

Unfortunately, it’s a long article and WWD is subscription only. We did note that a Whole Foods spokesperson still says they’re “very excited” about opening a store on the property they own at Third Street and Third Avenue. For now, we’ll settle for saying that we never expected to read about the Gowanus flushing tunnel in Women’s Wear Daily.

Sadly, we’re losing Brooklyn Junction for a bit, which during its short existence, has become one of our must read blogs for its coverage of Flatbush. The departure is actually for a good reason: “It is with great joy and excitement that I inform you I will be taking a break from blogging for a while as I become a first-time father. Given that this is my first attempt at fatherhood, I have no idea how long my new job will keep me away from my bloggy job. For now, I’ll say I’m on an indefinite blogternity leave. Hoping to be posting again soon. Thank you for reading Brooklyn Junction.”–Brooklyn Junction

The idea of residential parking permits in Brooklyn, which have been discussed from time to time, have gotten a further boost from the congestion pricing debate. There’s a forum coming up that is being sponsored by Council Member Letitia and David Yassky. Here’s an email we got about it:

What do residential parking permits mean for downtown Brooklyn neighborhoods? How do they work? Find out how RPPs will affect your parking options: Monday, February 4, 2008. Bring your questions!?

The meeting will take place at the St. Francis College Auditorium on Remsen St (Court and Clinton) from 7PM-9PM. It will be hosted by the Residential Parking Permit Steering Committee including “representatives of the downtown Brooklyn neighborhoods of Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Cadman Plaza, Carroll Gardens, Clinton Hill, Cobble Hill, Ft Greene and Park Slope.”

There’s a rendering of the much-hyped new Morton’s that will open in the Brooklyn Marriott . “We were delighted to receive this here rendering of the 14,000 square foot restaurant-to-be. Conclusion: Peter Luger, all is forgiven.”–Eater

This plump specimen comes to us from Franklin Street in Greenpoint. It looks like two pieces of a sectional.

Nothing to do tonight? Then consider checking out a meeting on “Newtown Creek odor issues.” City Dept. of Environmental Protection Commissioner Emily Lloyd will be at the Polish Slavic Center at 177 Kent Street in Greenpoint from 7PM-8PM. The center has a cafeteria too.–New York Shitty

The fallout from the clear out of 475 Kent, in which nearly 200 tenants, many of them long-time residents, continues. Phillip Anderson, a resident and filmmaker who had emailed us repeatedly during the initial clear out on Sunday night, said last night that he was still in the building. His phone battery had died and he had no way to get his charger so he was communicating via email and IM (the way many people do an average day, anyway). At 6:40 PM he emailed to say:

i am actually still here. right now i am hoping that the cops banging the shit out of doors down the hall go away. i’m on gchat constantly at the moment.

Around 11 PM he emailed again:

i ‘m unable to use the phone right now. my charger is elsewhere and i can’t go get it. but yeah, i’m still here with the dog. i have a feeling this will be the last night i ever spend here. it just feels that way. creepy as hell around here right now.

Earlier in the day, he had told Metro:

“I don’t think anyone was terribly surprised that the building wasn’t 100 percent to code, but I never knew there was a bakery in the basement,” Anderson said. “Though the building wasn’t perfect, it is literally surrounded by occupied buildings in far worse shape.”

The primary danger cited in the building was the illegal matzo factory in the basement and stored grain that could have exploded. The building had a history of complaints (the most recent being one called in about a crumbling sidewalk shed on January 19) and violations, with more than 100 in the Department of Buildings system going back many, many years. It’s unknown when, if ever, residents will be allowed to return. They were allowed to clear possessions yesterday and can do so again today, but after that, admission is on a case by case basis. Residents have also set up a 475 Kent message board.

Articles and Posts:
For Evacuated Building’s Tenants, An Uncertain Future [NYT]
Residents of B’klyn loft evicted for fire code violations [amNY]
A first person account of an eviction [amNY]
A Holdout Stays in Brooklyn Loft [Metro]
475 Kent Evacuated [Gothamist]
475 Kent Evacuated [Brooklyn 11211]
Dispatches from the Frigid Mass Evacuation at 475 Kent [GL]
475 Kent Photostream [flickr]

[Photo courtesy of jteore/flickr]

UPDATE: As of mid-afternoon a crowd of 50-60 angry, frustrated residents was reported to be waiting to get in despite assurances that the building would be open from 10AM-4PM so that people could remove belongings. The “explosive grain” from the illegal matzo factory in the basement was supposed to be removed today, according to Council Member David Yassky, who was calling on the city to allow residents to return to their homes to live. Mr. Yassky was accusing the city of “implementing a policy of making homeless citizens out of loft residents.”

First, the interesting development related news: Work appears to be getting underway to make way for a new Karl Fischer building at the corner of Roebling and N. 9 Streets in Williamsburg. Now the rest of it: We know this because on Sunday, a big crew of workers was up on the roof of the building doing what appeared to be the early phase of asbestos removal. There are no demolition permits issued for the building, although asbestos removal permits come through the Department of Environmental Protection. (We don’t know if DEP allows work at 11AM on Sunday morning in a howling wind when church services are going on a half block away downwind.) Regardless, there are two possibilities here: Demolition work going on on a Sunday morning with no permits being issued at all on the building or, alternately, the work is connected to asbestos removal. The building is located at 261 N. 9 Street. It will eventually be a five-story Karl Fischer building with 91 units.

While this isn’t as juicy as last years Park Slope Barnes & Noble Strollergate, it struck us as interesting when we saw the email relating the treatment of a Park Slope Mom with child at the Slope B&N. The story concerns a mother who tried to return a duplicate copy of a book called “I’m Dirty” that her son had gotten as a gift. It is believe to have originated at Barnes & Noble, given that it came in B&N wrapping. To make a long story short, the store manager, identified as Matt, is to have refused to exchange the book without a receipt and swap it for a book that was exactly the same price ($16.99). Instead, he offered a $13.00 credit. We’ll pick up the narrative with the email that originate via Park Slope Parents and was brought to our attention by a loyal reader:

[The manager] added that B&N is changing their policy and will soon prohibit exchanges of any kind without receipts. When I complained about the policy and stated that I would just buy “I Stink” (without using the credit) and return it if I found a way to exchange it elsewhere, he refused to sell me the book and insisted that I leave the store (this had never happened to me before at any store so needless to say I was really surprised). At this point my almost 3 year old son started crying and we left the store (had I known how this encounter would go, I would never have tried to exchange the book with him there).

I now find myself regretting the ridiculous amount of money we’ve spent at B&N (most recently for a pile of holiday gift cards for my son’s babysitter, our eight nieces and nephews, and other family members, as well as books for my son). I find their return policies unfair and wanted to make sure that everyone’s aware of them BEFORE deciding where to shop.

There have, apparently, been many responses, most of them expressing extreme distaste for the Barnes & Noble, whose children’s section is a de facto neighborhood play space, and some including some understanding. Here’s a sample of one:

The store manager refusing to sell you the book and then asking you to leave the store is just plain insanity, however, I would be insane if I managed that particular Barnes & Noble as well. I can’t even imagine what it’s like to watch your stock get ruined day in and day out by all the uncaring nannies and parents that use the place as a playground and snack bar. Of course not all nannies and parents abuse the store, but many definitely do. I’ve seen it countless times and have bought plenty of books as gifts which I’ve had to bring back once sticky finger prints / tears were later discovered on inside pages.

Definitely an ugly scene in the kid’s section at the Slope B&N.

Any way you slice, chop or dice it, when it comes to handmade kitchen knives, Brooklyn has the edge. A local craftsman has set up shop in a tiny Gowanus studio, whipping up cutlery from scratch under the brand name ‘Cut Brooklyn.'”–NYDN

Right after Christmas, we noticed that one of our favorite 99 center stores on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope started putting huge sale signs in the window. We thought they might be going out of business, but the signs didn’t say anything about it closing. Now, they do. This store is next to a Washington Mutual branch and down the block from a building we like to call the No Baby Gap Building (the new building on the left in the photo below), after some graffiti that graced its construction fence. It is on a block that is rapidly changing. It’s a fairly large space and there is now a “for rent” sign up as well, so it will be interesting to see what business takes this space. Safe to say it won’t be a 99 cent store.

The Clarett Group’s 340 Court Street development has generated some controversy over its asbestos removal in terms of (a). neighbors saying that they weren’t adquately notified when it started, (b). the big inflatable rat it attracted last week and (c). work going on until midnight and later, including reports that workers are tossing bags of asbestos-laden material from the room under cover of darkness. These photos were sent to us by another neighbors that is concerned about the asbestos removal that is going on. In sending the photos our photographer writes, “More trained eyes than mine can tell if this looks kosher…” What interests us is how the bags get from Point A (the roof) to Point B (the dumpster). If the bags do contain material with asbestos is it okay to bags from the roof as neighbors say has been happening?

The Moore Street Market is thriving, but it’s days are limited. The year of grace it won last year ends on June 2008. “Will it survive or will it be razed to build ‘affordable housing’? I guess we will find out soon enough.”–New York Shitty

City Council Member Bill de Blasio, who is introducing a resolution in the City Council calling on the Department of City Planning to fast track a downzoning of Carroll Gardens and on the Department of Buildings to impose a moratorium on developments more than 50 feet tall, is also holding a rally on January 24. The rally will take place at 11AM at City Planning’s Brooklyn office, which is located at 16 Court Street. Downzoning and expanding the tiny neighborhood landmark district are major issues in Carroll Gardens. A draft of the resolution written by Mr. de Blasio, says in part:

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the Department of City Planning to commence immediately a downzoning study of Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn and upon the Department of Buildings to not issue permits that would allow any new construction or alteration to an existing building to exceed a height limit of 50 feet until the Carroll Gardens neighborhood downzoning is complete.

The resolution, of course, would not have any teeth, but could turn up the political heat on the department to move faster on downzoning the neighborhood. Mr. de Blasio held a rally last summer

Workers were busy inside the future 7-Eleven on Fifth Avenue in the South Slope yesterday and we found the corporate logo on the door and a poster in the window. The home of the Big Gulp will be located between 13th and 14th Streets. We noted the demise of the former tenant–one of the South Slope’s vanishing 99 cent stores, when it went out business in the fall. Brownstoner broke the news of the South Slope Slurpee outpost in early January.

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

Brooklyn Heights Craziness:

• Brooklyn Heights Pipe Bomb “Nazi” [NYP]
• Synagogues Were Target of Heights Arsenal [Sun]
• About That Brooklyn Heights Aresenal [Gothamist]
• Bomb Maker Confesses to Painting Swastikas [NYDN]
• Ivanov the Terrible Admits to Hate Spree [Brooklyn Heights Blog]

Everything Else:

• Brooklyn Fire Responses the Fastest [NYDN]
• Greenwood Heights Condo Name Game [Brownstoner]
• Once, Gehry Thought “One Architect Model” the Wrong Way to Go [AYR]
• Bensonhurst Fire Victims Identified [NYDN]
• 546 Vanderbilt Demo Continues [No Land Grab]
• Take It for Free, Free, Free [PMFA]
• Brooklyn Blogade in Clinton Hill [OTBKB]
• Walgreens Planting Some Trees [Kensington (Brooklyn)]
• J Condo in “The Hunt” [Dumbo NYC]
• Oyster Gardening Lecture Tonight [Brooklynometry]
• Save the Date: Idiotarod on January 28 [ABL]

We got an email from the Urban Divers about an event coming up in February that sounds like it’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s a celebration of Black History and African-American Month on the Gowanus. The event takes place on Wednesday, February 13, from 3PM-9PM. Here are some details:

Join The Urban Divers Estuary Conservancy, The Harlem River Ecology Center and its EnviroMedia Mobile Project for an exciting exhibit: “A History of The Afro-American in Maritime.” This spectacular exhibit developed by The Urban Divers offers a modest display of model ships, photographs, prints, some artifacts, celebrating the accomplishments of the Afro-American in Maritime. It takes a fun journey exploring a period that expends over the course of several centuries, beginning with revolutionary war, civil war, industrial revolution, two world wars and to today. The exhibit also include an eclectic collection of artifacts from beneath NY Harbor, a video kiosks of underwater video shot through out NY Harbor, including the award winning documentary “Coming Clean: Reclaiming the Gowanus Canal” produced Alexandre Haggiag, Brett Hovell, & Jessica Mador.

Participate in our Quizonart & compete for the grand prize- a free exclusive eco-cruise of the historic Gowanus Canal, aboard our unique 32ft vessel that is historically and culturally significant. All answers are found within the exhibit and films screening.

They are also screening an number of films. It all takes place at the Gowanus Community Center. The films are at 4:30 PM and at 7PM and exhibits are from 3pm to 9pm. The Gowanus Community Center is located 420 Baltic Street.

>The Gowanus Studio Space, which offers shared work space in Gowanus for artists, is opening on February 1. Their full website is here. The space is located at 119 Eighth Street, which is between Second and Third Avenues:

…the Studio houses a large industrial arts workshop as well as private studios and exhibition space. Resources include a woodshop, printmaking shop (with screen-printing, etching and lithography presses) metalworking equipment, a large open workspace, and private storage.

The opening reception is at 6PM on Friday, February 1.

“There is small open green space down the street from us that keeps a flock of fake owls (a flock of owls is actually called a parliament, by-the-by) on the grass. I absolutely love them. When I stooped down to take the above photo, a breeze set in and three sets of intense eyes swiveled toward me. I had no idea that their heads moved and it scared the crap out of me.”–Callalillie

Of course they don’t. They wait for something to die. Props to Miss Heather, with whom we were doing some Greenpoint fieldwork on Sunday, for spotting this one. She posted a photo of it yesterday and–because we find it so compelling–we’re posting it today. This jewel comes from Newell Street. A detail of the house where the buzzards don’t work is below.

The old Daily News warehouse on Third Avenue between Douglass and Degraw recently sold for $10.5 million. The new owner says it’s a good spot for retail, mentioning a chain drugstore “or even a supermarket.”–Brownstoner

Seen on Prospect Park West at the Ninth Street entrance to Prospect Park.

[Photo courtesy of INSIJS]

Last night, around 7PM, a reader emailed us to say that the NYPD and FDNY were trying to clear a building at 475 Kent Avenue in South Williamsburg. Apparently, the building has a variety of fire and building code violations and, for some reason, it was decided to clear the building on one of the colder nights of the winter. A lot of residents of the building, which housed more than a hundred people, many of them artists, called TV and newspapers. (Anyone that’s ever been down Berry or Wythe Avenue, especially at night when it’s all lit up, knows the building.) Here is some of what our own reader, who was hiding out in his apartment, hoping to outlast the furor, wrote as the night progressed. The first email came in at 6:52PM:

There are cops and firefighters roaming the halls of my building in south williamsburg telling everyone that the “building is being vacated” at this very moment. my building has about 100 or so people in it and is located at 475 kent ave. apparently there are numerous fire code violations and such. but, instead of trying to fix them, they are attempting to put 100 or so folks on the street on a 20 degree sunday night. i’ve refused to go anywhere. i have a dog and i have don’t know that i can take her anywhere. what really bothers me is that the FDNY believes that my safety is being enhanced by putting myself and my dog on the street on a night where we could both literally freeze to death. this is real and it is indeed happening right now.

A bit later, around 8:00, we got this added detail:

there was FDNY, NYPD as well as the dept of health here. at that time it appeared that the PTB were going to come down hard on our landlord. i never imagined that they would “vacate” the entire building. now that is indeed happening and i am laying low with my dog in hopes that they just go home. i have a feeling that ain’t gonna happen as there are two fire engines, three cop cars and DOH vehicle right outside my front door all with lights a blazin’. at some point, i will have to empty the dog and i’m pretty damn sure i won’t be allowed back into my own home.

And, here is the text of the eviction order, retyped and emailed to us at 9PM:

THE FIRE COMMISIONER ORDERS YOU FORTHWITH that all business and excuses being laid aside, you and each of you immediately vacate the above described premises, for the reason that the conditions in said premises are immediately perilous to life in the case of fire therein or adjacent thereto by reason of:

(Handwritten) (1) Illegal conversion of a commercial occupancy into a multiple dwelling. (2) Illegal grain silos in cellar each 10′ feet high + 15′ feet wide containing grain and approx 200-35 gallon plastic garbage pails containing (illegible illegible illegible) of grain which is a high hazard (illegible) causing an explosive hazard. (3) Illegal storage of items creating an extreme fire hazard. (4) Required sprinkler system inoperable throughout structure and in need of repair.

The document continues:

THE FIRE COMMISSIONER FURTHER ORDERS that these premises shall remain sealed and vacated and padlocked until such time asthe hazardous conditions described herein have been corrected and the Fire Commissioner, in writing, rescinds this order. This Vacate and Seal Order is issued pursuant to Section 15-227 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York.

FAILURE TO COMPLY with this Vacate and Seal Order forthwith may subject you court proceedings and is punishable as a criminal misdemeanor with a maximum of one year imprisonment and civil fines up to one million dollars.

An owner, lessor, lessee or mortgagee may request in writing a hearing to determine if this Order was properly written requests for a hearing should be delivered to the New York City Fire Department, Legal Division, 250 Livingston Street, Room 820, Brooklyn, NY 11201-5884. Hearings are available within three business days after receipt of th written request.

Around 9:30PM we got another email that said “okay, this about to be real ugly. they are talking about breaking down doors.” At 10:06 AM we got an email that news crews were on the scene. Then, at 11PM, this arrived:

tonight before 1:30AM the (FDNY) says they will padlock the building. once again, how does putting me on the street make me safe and, given the fact that i’m not about to do any such thing, padlocking my building make me any safer? it seems as if they are taking a fire hazard and making it a fire trap. wtf?

It was 21 degrees out when these emails started and around 18 when the last one was sent. Among the violations found was an illegal matzo factory in the basement and small grain storage silos. Undoubtedly, there were serious issues in the building, but the temperature overnight was expected to fall as low as 14 degrees with wind chills of 10 below zero. While fire code violations are serious, they were presumably longstanding. The question arises: were they indeed so life threatening as to put 100 people into a different kind of life-threatening emergency situation?

Related Stories:

• City Evacuates 11-Story Building in Brookly, Citing Safety [NYT]
• Illegal School, Matzo Factory Shut [NYDN]
• Matzo Bawl at Building [NYP]
• Dear Senator Connor, Assemblyman Lentol and Coucnilman Yassky [Albany Project]
• 475 Kent Avenue Evacuated [Gothamist]

UPDATE: Gothamist’s Jen Chung has an extensive report this morning along with interviews of residents this morning. One of whom reports that residents were “paying a ton of money” to live in the building and that they include “lawyers who live here, doctors, producers and some of the most famous photographers in the world.” No one expects to be able to return anytime soon as there may be months of work that need to be done, if resident are ever allowed back. Some wonder if there is a development agenda at work. “There’s a reason they want to empty the whole lot,” a resident told Gothamist.