Call it irony. The first of the two new traffic lights installed on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg became operational this week. So, yesterday, we happened upon the immediate aftermath of an accident, a block away at Bedford and N. 11th, which doesn’t have a light. And so it goes.

Someone is threatening to poison feral cats in Carroll Gardens, having posted a sign at an empty lot where someone leaves food for them that he/she will poison the cats. One sign says: “Every time you place cat food here, I will soak it in ammonia.” Another one says: “The owner of this property insists that you stop feeding the cats here.” The owner of parking lots says she has no idea who put up the signs, but will try to find out.–NYDN

Today’s featured construction site comes to us from Carroll Gardens and it’s one that the Department of Buildings has actually noted. Like all our favorite construction sites, the fence at this one has apparently come down a bunch of times, but we haven’t gotten any photos of it opened up. DOB issued a Stop Work Order for 238 Smith–which has been an empty lot since the buildings came down in 2006–last week. (It allows work to fix the fence and to protect the building next door.) We think the violation for the fence was icing on the cake because we’ve observed that they practically need to fall on people and stab them with a rusty nail before anything is done about them. There’s an open complaint, by the way, for illegal posters on the fence that fall off “and become trash covering the sidewalk.” It’s been assigned to the “Special Inspection Team.” The site has logged ten complaints since 2006.

This is 184 N. 8 Street, which is one of our favorite buildings in Williamsburg. Until recently when it was repainted, it served as a canvas for a great deal of street art in addition to some very intricate tagging. Every time we look at it, we see an old industrial building that could be converted to a new use rather than being sold and converted to new use. Work has been going on inside the building for weeks now and a resident told us that it’s going to be demolished. No demolition permits have been filed, however, that we can find. If anyone knows more about this building’s future, or lack of one, do let us know. We’re still hoping that there’s only some interior work going on.

A mailer from State Sen. Carl Kruger talked about the Coney Island meeting that he disrupted in November. It says “Score one for the good guys” about the meeting that bused in protesters paid for with his campaign funds shut down. “Considering that the incident seemed like a campaign stunt all along, it’s not surprising to see that Kruger is now using it in campaign materials.”–Kinetic Carnival

The traditional dry cleaners and laundries of Smith Street and Court Street may be dropping like flies, but there’s now a “Laundry at the Deli.” The L at the D is at 183 Smith and is still a work in progress. In addition to washers and dryers, there is a food case being installed in front and old counter-style stools. Now all they need is a liquor license so they can be a Bar Wash.

Brooklinks is a selection of Brooklyn information and images:

• “Drama and Disrespect” Blamed for Increase in Murder in Four Neighborhoods [NYDN]
• Are Those New Newsboxes an Improvement Over the Old Mess? [Gothamist]
• Trying to Keep a Bushwick Venue Open [amNY]
• Atlantic Yards Opponents Vow Appeal [Metro]
• Missing Crime Statistics in Atlantic Yards Case [AYR]
• Brooklyn Man Charged in Hit and Run [NYT]
• Fun with Skateboards in Greenpoint [New York Shitty]
• Details About Atlantic Ave. Property Auction [McBrooklyn]
• Fireworks Over the Three Queens [Bay Ridge Rover]
• Brooklyn Bridge in Cuba? [Pardon Me For Asking]
• Recycle-A-Bicycle Reopening [Dumbo NYC]
• Russo Realty Still Standing, Marked for Death [Brooklynometry]
• New Store on Smith St.: Rime [A Brooklyn Life]

Anyone that wants to learn more about the American Institute of Architects proposal to tear down the Gowanus Expressway and replace it with a suspension structure closer to the water might be interested in checking out a presentation at Community Board 10 this week. The AIA will be sharing its idea with the CB10 Traffic and Transportation committee. The meeting takes place on Wednesday (1/16) at 7PM at the CB10 office, which is located at 621 86th Street, which is between Fort Hamilton Parkway and (surprise!) the Gowanus Expressway.

Sunday night was supposed to be a spectacular showing of royal majesty in New York Harbor as the Cunard line’s Queen Elizabeth 2, Queen Mary 2, and the brand-new Queen Victoria rendezvoused by the Statue of Liberty for a Grucci fireworks display before sailing through the Narrows into the open sea – but a delayed sail-past coupled with the cold pouring rain and strong winds of an impending Nor’easter spoiled the fun for many viewers along Bay Ridge’s Shore Promenade.–Right in Bay Ridge

We’ve featured many photos of compromised street signs since we started our “Say What” series last year, but never have we had such a patriotic specimen as this. Stan + Stars and Stripes Street is actually Stanwix Street and Bushwick Avenue. It comes courtesy of our Greenpoint Correspondent, who always ranges far and wide.

The Park Slope Parents email list is blazing with emails going back and forth from Park Slope residents that have been victimized by credit card fraud. There seems to be a pattern of card data is being copied and fake credit cards being made. Then, charges start showing up from places like gas stations, WalMarts and Targets, many of them far from New York City. The problem seems to have developed or worsened in the last 6-8 weeks and it applies to both credit cards and debit cards, the latter being especially bad news because there is far less anti-fraud protection on many ATM/debit cards. A number of the people reporting the problems speculate that the trouble is originating locally.

If the credit card companies involved weren’t already looking into the fraud, this many victims coming forward (there are nearly two dozen “me too” emails so far) should allow them to quickly triangulate where the fraud is originating. (Some incidents appear to have happened earlier in the year, however.) Many of the victims seem to believe the problem is originating with a business in the Slope, although there’s a possibility it could be coming from within the credit card companies themselves or from online purchases. Even if the cases aren’t related at all, they show how widespread the problem is when people start comparing notes. Here are some samples from emails, starting with the one that started the emails flowing:

Credit Card Fraud-is the source a Park Slope restaurant? It is too weird to be a coincidence that a number of us in and around Park Slope have had the EXACT SAME problems with our VISA cards over the past 6 – 8 weeks. We had two VISA cards (Bank of America and Schwab) “hit” in mid-December with charges at gas stations in Florida and Texas. THEN we had the REPLACEMENT Bank of America VISA card hit again this past week with fraudulent charges at Target, WalMart, and Home Depot in the Philadelphia area. We are just waiting to see if the Schwab card gets hit again in the next week or so.

At first, we also suspected construction workers but this most recent episode occurred after the construction finished. We have reviewed our statements for the two cards and at this point, the only commonality we can find are charges at some of our local merchants/restaurants. I do not want to name the “suspects” at this time but I’m curious if anyone else has seen such a pattern.

And, here are a few excerpts of responses:

we had several $75 charges made to our Citbank credit/debit card at a couple of different gas stations in Florida. The card was in our possession at the time. But I think that before we start suspecting someone in the neighborhood we need to know just how widespread this practice is; maybe people in California are having the same experience, who knows?

I thought I’d give you the details of the ones on my card: $75 12/05 at Sunshine in Hialeah, FL, which I’m told is a gas station. The earlier charges (7/24-7/25) were at Kroger, KMart and Walmart in Lapeer, Michigan; Walmart Supercenters in Burton / Flint MI, Walgreens in Whitehall OH and BP Oil in Columbus OH. These guys really went on a spending spree-the total charges were $4900.

Another one here: our credit card was used for a $75 charge at gas stations in Florida over Christmas; we were told that it was swiped although the card was still in our possession. Is credit card fraud so widespread that this could really be a coincidence? It seems unlikely.

And, here are a few more:

Citibank called us tonight and one of our cards was hit. First with a $10 charge at home depot in New Jersey and then a $700 charge at a Smart Bargins in Florida both charges are not even posted our online statements yet. This was a citibank mastercard. hmmm

Us too, although in our case it was a Citibank MC that we haven’t used in a long time, probably the past year. Citibank said it has been happening a lot (gas station in Florida, etc.) so I suspect that it is a Citibank issue/security breach, not a local merchant. I am surprised at the extent of this fraud though – perhaps Citibank needs to send a letter out to its clients about it.

It does appear, though, that the fraud could be originating internally at a credit card company rather than (or in addition to) in Park Slope. The pattern should be a simple one for investigators to track if there is one.

We got a call from a neighbor of The Modern, the controversial development on N. 7th Street in Williamsburg that work crews were busy working yesterday when they shouldn’t have been. (The photo at right was taken in mid-afternoon.) The building has caused much unhappiness in the hood due to some of the damage it has caused to neighboring properties and the tendency of work to happen on weekends and even late at night. There were two complaints phoned in yesterday about the building at 205 N. 7 Street, which was designed by Robert Scarano, and has been the subject of multiple Stop Work Orders. The call we got indicated that 311 was refusing to take further complaints about the weekend work because one complaint had already been noted. (We wonder, though, if multiple complaints would provide a public record about how many residents are having issues with a particular building in the event of a lack of response by the Department of Buildings or one of those visits on a Monday or Tuesday that finds “no evidence” of illegal after-hours or weekend work?) The Stop Work Order on the building was lifted recently and residents say that none of the problems that led to the original order (damage to a building next door occupied by elderly residents and a sidewalk that has been undermined) have been fixed. More pics and info to follow tomorrow if work continues today. For the record, our caller said that work was going on at about eight sites that he had noticed and it’s unknown how many of them had permits authorizing weekend work. The weekend permits aren’t posted on the DOB website and don’t have to be posted at construction sites, though doing so would eliminate a lot of confusion.

Recently, we had a bocce-related Sunday Brooklyn CL Missed Connection. Today, we have a dodgeball-related one:

Missed connection with your head in dodgeball
Threw a dodgeball at you at Thursday night’s game and it narrowly missed your head. Felt bad about it so i bought you a beer. Are you going to play in the Williamsburg ZogSports league? i’d like the chance to go up against you again.

Remember to duck.

Some new art work and information has been added to the Carroll Gardens Democracy Wall in the plaza outside the Carroll Street subway stop. One of the ways the wall has been used is to repurpose newspapers article and blog posting about neighborhood development issues, as these pics show.

[Photo courtesy of Miss Heather]

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

• Heavy Snow Warning [Accuweather]
• Reading the AY Court Decision: Could Shoot the Freak be a “Civic Project”? [AYR]
• Those Electronic L Train Signs are Right…and Wrong [NYT]
• Dumbo Weekly Links [Dumbo NYC]
• MLK Day at Old First [OTBKB]
• Cops Out in Force [Bed-Stuy Banana]
• Mr. Heather Visits Bushwick [New York Shitty]
• Pundits Discover Brooklyn Heights Beauty [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
• Marine Park Facility to Get an Upgrade [GerritsenBeach.Net]
• Checking Out ChabadTube in Crown Heights [NYT]
• Richard Grayson is a Good Teacher [Brooklynometry]

This isn’t so much “upcoming” as happening because the “Lost in Transition: South Brooklyn, Williamsburg & Coney Island” opened on Thursday at the Brooklyn Historical Society. The cool exhibition of photos taken by high school students as part of the Urban Memory Project documents change in Brooklyn neighborhoods. We caught the Coney Island photos in Park Slope last year. The Brooklyn Historical Society exhibition runs through April 27. It is located at 128 Pierrepont Street in Brooklyn Heights.

Here are few vids for this Sunday that have originated on Smith Street.

There is a session coming up tomorrow evening (1/14) about the UN Global Climate Change Talks. It will take place in Park Slope at the Park Slope Methodist Church at 7 PM. Here some info about it:

Join the Park Slope Greens for a discussion on the recent U.N. Global Climate Change Talks (“Kyoto 2”) and related proposed climate protection legislation and campaigns in the U.S. Speakers include; Sean Sweeney; Director of the Global Labor Institute of Cornell University. Dr. Sweeney brought a delegation of U.S. labor leaders to the recent U.N. conference on climate change in Bali, Indonesia. “Climate change is the issue of our time,” said Sweeney.”The task of greens and all those concerned about global warming is to keep the pressure on both the Democrats and Republicans to sign the Kyoto treaty and then work to make it an effective framework to reduce emissions. The alternative is unthinkable.” Sweeney will be joined by Amy Greer of nolandgrab.org. Ms. Greer works in the environmental movement and will provide information about current legislation and campaigns. Monday, January 14th at 7pm Park Slope Methodist Church.

The church is located at the corner of 6th Ave and 8th St (basement/garden entrance).

Check out this excellent vid that we came across thanks to the Kinetic Carnival, which covers the Coney Island waterfront like no one else. If you’re not familiar with Kinetic Carnival head over to check them out and definitely add them to your RSS feed.

Coney Island 12.31.07 from AtmInside on Vimeo.

Late yesterday afternoon State Supreme Court Judge Joan Madden issued her ruling dismissing the suit brought by 26 groups challenging the environmental review process that led to the approval of Atlantic Yards. Judge Madden’s ruling weighs in at 71 pages and the crux of her finding is that the actions of the Empire State Development Corp. “were neither arbitrary, capricious nor an abuse of discretion” and satisfied legal requirements. She wrote that “the court is not permitted to second-guess the agency.”

Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn quickly promised an appeal of the decision pending a review. The suit challenging the taking of property for the Atlantic Yards projects is still in Federal court on appeal, but that suit was dismissed last year after a ruling that the litigation belonged in state court. Forest City Ratner has already demolished or is demolishing about half the buildings in the project’s “footprint.” In his authoritative Atlantic Yards Report, Norman Oder thoroughly analyzes the decision and concludes that the odds of success of an appeal of Judge Madden’s decision are not good (and reminds that suits challenging environmental review processes are notoriously difficult to win). He writes: “if it’s rare to succeed on state lawsuits challenging environmental review, the same is true on appeal, despite potential flaws in the judge’s decision, some mentioned below. The appeal of the federal eminent domain case was heard in October, with the three-judge panel often skeptical of the plaintiffs.”

Related Items:
BREAKING: Suit Against Atlantic Yards Environmental Review Dismissed [GL]
After eight months, state judge dismisses challenge to AY environmental review [AYR]
Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Seeking to Block Atlantic Yards [NYT]
Court bounces suit on Ratner’s Yards [NYDN]

The press release announcing the decision dismissing the environmental review lawsuit about Atlantic Yards and providing Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn’s reaction hit our inbox at about 4:55PM yesterday afternoon. It was followed by Borough President Marty Markowitz’s press release at 5:55PM. Then came Forest City Ratner’s release at 6:02PM. Here’s a sampling of the reactions:

DDDB: “We believe that the decision was wrongly decided and we are determined to appeal and win,” said Jeffrey S. Baker ( Young, Sommer,Ward, Ritzenberg, Baker & Moore) lead attorney for the community plaintiffs.

“We are disappointed by the court’s ruling. But let’s be clear: Atlantic Yards cannot move forward while the thirteen plaintiffs—homeowners, business owners and tenants—are in federal court in a separate case challenging New York State’s unconstitutional use of eminent domain. We expect to prevail in that lawsuit, as well as on the appeal of today’s decision,” said DDDB spokesman Daniel Goldstein.

Marty Markowitz: “Score a big victory for Brooklyn’s future. This latest court decision from State Supreme Court Justice Madden, which comes on the heels of a similar ruling by the Federal District Court last summer, reaffirms the public benefits of the Atlantic Yards project for Brooklyn — thousands of units of affordable housing, thousands of union jobs, and our much-anticipated return to sports’ major leagues. The project’s world-class architecture, on-site school, street-level shopping, and accessible public open space will enhance Downtown Brooklyn, knitting together surrounding neighborhoods to create a vibrant cultural center over Brooklyn’s largest public transportation hub. Now, as we move to the implementation stage, we must ensure that impacts are minimized and any meritorious concerns of residents are addressed. With these goals in mind, let’s get the shovels on the ground, let’s get this affordable housing built, and let’s get ready to root for the Brooklyn Nets, our new home team!”

Bruce Ratner: “We are very pleased with Judge Madden’s decision, as it further clears the way for Atlantic Yards and the thousands of jobs, affordable housing units and world-class arena – the Barclays Center – that will accompany the project,” Mr. Ratner said. “After an exhaustive three-year review process, we are continuing to move full speed ahead on the project, and today’s decision is a significant step forward.”

ESDC [Via The Real Estate]: “For the fourth time, a court has affirmed the state’s actions in the Atlantic Yards project. We are very pleased with Justice Madden’s decision and look forward to construction of the arena, housing and other facets of this important, transformative development project.”

On Thursday night, Community Board 7 and the Windsore Terrace Alliance hosted a “Public Speak Out” on traffic and transportation issues at the Grand Prospect Hall. More than 100 people attended, including residents, officers from the 72nd Precinct, members of community groups and members of Community Board 7. A number of local officials also attended including Rep. Yvette Clarke and her staffers, Assem. Jim Brennan and a representative from Council Member Bill de Blasio’s office. News 12 apparently covered the meeting and did a segment on neighborhood transportation issues. We got an email from Lauren Elvers Collins of the Windsor Terrace Alliance who reports:

A number of residents spoke out about specific concerns, including the Dept. of Transportation’s decision to quietly limit vehicles in Prospect Park during certain hours, a plan for much-needed improvements on Park Circle, and the problem of people from other neighborhoods using Windsor Terrace as a parking lot. CB7 is planning two follow-up meetings (one for Windsor Terrace and one for Sunset Park) focusing on congestion pricing and the WTA will be working with them on a number of the issues raised at the traffic forum. Overall, a great meeting and a great start for a new grassroots community group!

More information on transportation and other community issues is available at the group’s website.

Go Brooklyn reports that Mura Sushi on Fifth Avenue is answering the phone when people call the number of Inaka Sushi, the sushi place on Seventh Avenue that now sleeps with the fishes. So, why are the calls forwarded? Did Inaka “give” its customers to Mura? Is Inaka really Mura or vice versa? What would the maguro say (besides, go vegetarian)?–OTBKB

We’re a day late and dangerously close to a dollar short in posting this, but we figure that it’s still worth pointing out that the Union-Sackett Block Association is having a meeting today (1/12) at 11:30AM at the Carroll Gardens Library. Representatives from both State Sen. Martin Connor’s office and Rep. Yvette Clarke’s office will be there. More information, as always, available at the group’s informative blog. The library is at the corner of Union and Clinton. The group formed recently, motivated by issues surrounding the big development at 340 Court Street.

In addition, there’s an interesting exchange on the issue of asbestos removal at 340 Court, which generated a bit of back and forth in our comments section, including a number of anonymous ones that would appear to have been left by someone connected to the developer. In any case, the Association writes to David Lowen, the Clarett Group’s Development Director:

Thank you for your response on the Union-Sackett Block Association blog. I am pleased you read it and have an interest in what the community is doing. I’m confident that you and Clarett, as well as your construction team, are doing the work at the 340 Court St. site correctly and safely. My concern lies in the fact that the information you have given me about asbestos, concerning permits and their placement, does not correspond with the information I have received from the Department of Environmental Protection…

The neighbors of the site on the Union St. side of the site were unaware of the abatement. One tenant was unpleasantly surprised, particularly after he spent the whole day raking in his yard. Can you clarify why permits or notices were not posted? There seems to be continual discrepancy about the law and my response from D.C. conflicts with the information I have received from you via the blog.

The purpose of our blog is to make Block Association members and other community members aware of what is going on in our neighborhood, particularly at the 340 site. It would be much more direct if a member of Clarett could communicate to the community directly about what is going on at the site, especially when it is something as serious and of a concern as asbestos abatement. A posted notice, a phone call to neighbors, or even an email would have been appropriate.

Mr. Lowen sends in reply. Here is some of what he says:

I have just double checked the notification requirements per our third-party monitor. The only entrances that need to have signs are those that are unlocked. As you know, all entrances to the building are locked, except for the rear entrance of the building, which is how our workers are entering the building. That rear entrance has signage on it indicating that asbestos abatement is in process.

Also, I am surprised to hear that anyone has been unaware of the abatement activity. As you no doubt recall the topic of asbestos abatement was discussed at length at our meeting in December. At the time, we indicated that abatement activity would begin right after New Years and would last for about 3 weeks. Therefore I believe we have provided the Association with several weeks notice of the commencement of abatement activity, and we asked that all in attendance spread that word. In addition, I received an email from Tom Gray (from Bill Diblasio’s office) requesting an update on the abatement timing, and responded that day, that abatement was set to begin right after New Year’s day..

An email list is being put together in order to distribute information.

For fun (or academic credit), one can always make an intricate sand castle/art project on the beach in Coney Island in the dead of winter. Like the one shown in this vid, for instance.