[Photo courtesy of Marcin Wichary/flickr]

Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and, especially on weekends, images.

Photos:

• Spooky Whole Foods Gowanus Site [Bluejake]
• Gowanus [leenfunk/flickr]
• Rolling Rocks at Seventh Avenue [Atomische]
• Levee [A Test of Will]
• Metropolitan & Havemeyer [smshepard/flickr]
• Coney Island Ballfield [seriously excited!]

Words:

• Major Insanity at the Clinton Hill Co-Ops [Clinton Hill Blog]
• Bizarre Jailhouse School Pushed by Yassky Won’t Happen [NYP]
• One Brooklyn Bridge Park Supermarket Idea Not Completely Embraced [BP]
• Brooklyn Bridge Park Progress Report [1000 Bars]
• Three Years Later on Berry Street [Curbed]
• Sunset Park Art Decoish Condos [Brownstoner]
• A Personal Tragedy in the Neighborhood [Bed-Stuy Banana]
• Coney Island USA Building Work Begins [Kinetic Carnival]
• In the Woods [A Year in the Park]
• Nauseating Buildings on Jefferson Street [New York Shitty]
• Ideas for Burying the Gowanus Continue [Wonkster]
• A Blogged Week in Wireless Heights [Bay Ridge Rover]
• Keeping the Gowanus Expressway, Part II [Sunset Park Blog]
• Community Board 14 Meeting Highlights [Brooklyn Junction]
• Tuxedo Cat Bambi Needs a Home [New York Shitty]

We weren’t shocked when we checked out 155 N. 4th Street, around which fences have recently gone up, and found that it’s another Karl Fischer building. The new Fischer will be between a Gene Kaufman building with 30 condos (the building to the left of the one with the “for sale” sign) and another Fischer at N. 4 and Driggs (on the right in the photo) with 30 condos. This one will be a five-story building with 18 units. No renderings are available and we’re not sure if Mr. Fischer will have it blend with its next door neighbor. In a related development, we’re going to start calling the entire neighborhood Fischerburg.

[Photo courtesy of Gary Mirabelle/Mirabelle Studios]

The new A.P.C. Surplus on Grand Street in Williamsburg is open. “There were a few people shopping when we stopped by at 1:30pm, but the scene was quieter than we had expected; the lack of a crowd can probably be attributed to the sudden downpour that hit right before opening time.” The retailer has filed permits to significantly alter the building.–Racked

Bayard Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

In a setback to groups fighting the Atlantic Yards development, a suit by 26 groups challenging the environmental review for the huge project has been dismissed. Early details were sparse, as the decision was announced at 4:30 PM, but New York State Supreme Court Judge Joan Madden ruled in favor of the Empire State Development Corporation. Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB) said it would appeal the case pending a review of the decision. In the 71-page decision, Judge Madden concludes that the ESDC’s action during the approval process “were neither arbitrary, capricious nor an abuse of discretion” and satisfied legal requirements.

“We are disappointed by the court’s ruling,” DDDB’s Daniel Goldstein said in a statement. “Pending review of the decision we plan to appeal. 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.” A copy of the decision has been posted on the DDDB website. The full text of the press release is available by clicking here.

The Federal eminent domain suit is still in court. That suit was also dismissed, but the decision was appealed.

UPDATE: Forest City Ratner issued a press release at 6PM calling the decision “a major victory.” It quotes developer Bruce Ratner as saying: “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. 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.”

Although the opening of the massive Ikea store on Beard Street in Red Hook has been delayed until August, the retailer is starting to hire and is taking job applications from Red Hook residents as of January 14. The Red Hook applications can only be submitted online. (The company has already filled about 20 management jobs, with people from as far away as California, Canada and Sweden and it advertised another 40 management jobs without giving residents a “head start.”) The possibility of hundreds of jobs for Red Hook residents was used by the retailer to generate support for the project in the neighborhood. As for the unspecified number of non-management jobs, applications from only the 11231 zip code will be accepted through February 4. There are two locations in Red Hook–Red Hook Rise and Red Hook Works–where applicants can use computers for free to file online job applications.

Per the retailer:

All applications must be submitted online. Beginning on January 14th, Red Hook residents can:
Log onto the IKEA website from any computer to apply: www.IKEA-USA.com

• Click on “Jobs” at the bottom of the page/screen
• Click “Apply Now” and then click on “Read More” under ‘National Jobs’
• Scroll down and accept IKEA Privacy Notice
• Click on “Search Openings”
• Under ‘Location,’ scroll down and click on “New York (Brooklyn)” or type “Brooklyn” into ‘Keyword’ and then click on “Search”
• Apply for whichever positions seem most appropriate
• You will be asked to either attach a resume or to input one using the associated resume-builder as part of the online application.

Red Hook Rise is at 480 Van Brunt Street on the second floor above the Fairway. It is open from 10AM-7PM Monday-Friday and from 12-5PM on Saturday and Sunday. Red Hook Works is at 252 Van Brunt and is open Monday-Friday from 10AM-5PM.

Several Ikea job sessions took place earlier this week. Additional ones are slated for January 15, 16 and 17. Only applicants that pre-register can attend. Call 718-596-1327 for the times, locations and to RSVP.

The Queens Ledger published a story yesterday that has some good news and bad about the former Roebling Oil Field, which is the site of the new condo called Warehouse 11. The good news is that Department of Environmental Conservation head Pete Grannis sent a letter to Assem. Joe Lentol saying, “Based on our analysis of the information gained from this investigation, it is apparent that the development site where the oil was first discovered is the sole source of the oil.” The bad news is that the Warehouse 11 development, in the words of the Ledger, is not:

sitting on top of a field of wildflowers. There was contamination at the site, and some remediation work has already been completed, and a vapor barrier has been installed. However, DEC has not signed off on the work and, according to Grannis, more work needs to be done to address oil that ‘migrated from the property beneath the adjacent sidewalk.’ DEC plans to continue to test the site in the future.

The Assemblyman told the paper, meanwhile:

“There has been much speculation as to the source of the problem, but no one could deny that oil had been spilled at this site. As to the possibility of the oil contamination originating from an off-site source, DEC has determined that the evidence does not support such a theory.

DEC’s conclusion that all the oil found on the Roebling Oil Field site came from tank removed from the site seems to contradict earlier statements from its own consultants and, even, its own internal emails. Last spring we were told by a source familiar with the cleanup that the on-site oil tank that had been discounted as the sole source of the contamination and that at least some of the “product” had originated from outside the Roebling Oil Field site. In addition, a May 2, 2007 email from a Department of Environmental Conservation official who was responding to an inquiry from an official at the state Department of Health that was forwarded to GL indicated the oil was “from an off site source.” It said in part:

During the excavation of the site, oil seepage from off site source was noticed and steps have been taken to recover it. Source investigation is underway, and the seepage has decresed to a minimum which indicates significant portion of the liquid contamination has been recovered.

Residents are filing a Freedom of Information Law request with DEC for full test results and consultant reports about the source of the contamination that was discovered during the Warehouse 11 construction.

From “absolute absence of democratic process” to “you’re the victim” with stops in between at things like “brutally weird” and “instant gentrification,” here’s the complete guide to Atlantic Yards terms and phrases.–AYR

The plan to build condos and retail around the Brooklyn House of Detention, what McBrooklyn calls a “supersize jail-aganza,” may be dead due to lack of developer interest, but plans for a reopened and bigger jail are moving forward. Sarah Ryley reports in the Brooklyn Eagle that there are still plans to double the jail’s capacity:

Spokesman Steve Morello said the Department of Correction remains “committed to have an expanded jail [with roughly 1,400 beds] there. The only question is, will there be additional uses of the parcel, and if there are, will it include retail on Atlantic Avenue, which obviously we would like to see in the interest of the neighborhood’s point of view.”

The Daily News reports that the $240 million expanded jail would open in 2012. Another idea for the space is to include a school, an idea that also appears to have a lead balloonish quality to it, particularly with parents and residents.

Can the city afford its ambitious Coney Island plan? With city budget gaps looming, the future of projects that don’t already have some money in the bank could be up in the air.–Kinetic Carnival

Those who remember the old wasteland look of N. 5 Street in Williamsburg (which requires thinking back all of about 24 months) might take note that the street’s New Look is quickly coming together. The fences are down and the new streetscape is taking form. (Part of the new streetscape, on the other side of the street, is the vast construction site of the Edge development, which should take shape by next spring or summer.) The dark red brick structure is Palmer’s Dock, the affordable housing portion of the Northside Piers property.

Northside Piers is getting an actual pier. Now, the question is whether it will be a New York Water Taxi stop (when the East River service comes back from winter vacation…with or without public subsidy.)–INSIJS

The saddest post we saw yesterday was from Icky in Brooklyn, who announced that, being occupied with other projects, he was not going to be Icky anymore. Having started one of the best neighborhood blogs that appeared in Brooklyn in the last year, we certainly hope we haven’t seen the last of his wonderfully researched and often sharply opinionated dispatches from Windsor Terrace and the South Slope. Icky wrote in part:

Have I run out of things to say? Perhaps. Probably more accurately, my mind is elsewhere, and these days I am more enamored of shingle styles, cedar stain, spruce trees, and a new pump for the well. (I’m not kidding.)

I truly have had a lovely time, learned much from my elders, and I am a much better educated New Yorker for my blogging experience. I hope readers will remember the good stuff. (And ignore the bad stuff.)

We certainly recall a lot of good material and we have our fingers crossed that we haven’t seen the last of his Icky self.

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

• Big Rental Project Coming to Berry St. Near McCarren Park [Brownstoner]
• 624 Grand Street Gets All Stuccoed Up [New York Shitty]
• Prisoner Beating at Brooklyn Federal Detention Center on Video [amNY]
• Sidewalk Signs Are Okay [Gothamist]
• Clinton Hill Methadone Clinic to be Watched More Closely [Brooklyn Paper]
• A Lot of Water Fowl at Prospect Park Lake [Brooklynometry]
• The 1890 Terrace Bridge [A Year in the Park]
• Park Slope Civic Council Website Upgrade [OTBKB]
• 86th Street Retailer Downgrade [Bay Ridge Rover]
• $10M Brooklyn Coke Bust [Metro]
• Best Boat of ’07 Designed Right in Brooklyn [Sail Brooklyn]
• Riding the G Train [NYT]

There something interesting looking about 210 N. 10 Street in Williamsburg as it come down and its walls briefly look like those of a burned building that has partly collapsed. The chairs in the lot next to it with the rubble also add a nice touch and we also like the upright vacuum in front in the photo below. The demolition contractor is the same one that brought us the Giant Fart Cloud Building Fiasco at 5 Roebling and the Manhattan Chocolate undertaking, among a large number of others. It’s unclear what’s intended for this property at N. 12 and Driggs. The only permits issued so far are for the demolition.

“Construction workers frantically scrambled to secure a lift after a rope apparently slipped from the roof of a Bay Ridge apartment, sending one side of the platform hurtling down with a worker inside.” There are many photos, although in the end, no one was hurt.–Right in Bay Ridge

Construction claims another sign. Look closely and you will see that Beadel Street and Kingland Avenue has become “Adel” Street & Kingland, with the “Be” being eaten by scaffolding. The pic of Adel Street comes courtesy of our Greenpoint Correspondent.

“A Papa John’s has opened on 4th Avenue between Baltic and Butler, no doubt gearing up to deliver pies to the thousands of people who are going to live in the strip’s many new buildings.”–Brownstoner

Is the Department of Environmental Conservation stonewalling and not turning over reports about all the test wells it drilled adjacent to the Roebling Oil Field (as recently as this fall) where luxe condos are now on sale? That is what a neighborhood activist who’s been working through a State Assembly Member and a City Council Member is alleging. “We’ve been trying to get answers on what’s down there for a year and haven’t been able to get a document since last May,” he told GL. The most recent document that was obtained indicated that there was a “localized plume” of oil at N. 11th Street and Roebling rather than a bigger flow of oil that was coming from somewhere else. Yet, key documents that would indicate what has been found in more than a dozen test wells on N. 11th Street and on Roebling Street have not been released, although Assem. Joe Lentol’s office indicates that it’s believed the contamination is localized and not part of bigger problem. No one appears to know, however, if the source has been definitively identified or how much oil remains underground.

The most recent DEC documents that were obtained by GL were from last May and June, before a new series of wells were drilled by consultants on behalf of the state. Residents, who are concerned that residents around N. 11 & Roebling are still at risk and that there could be a broader threat in the neighborhood, are filing requests under the state’s Freedom of Information Law for the documents that would either indicate that no more oil is present or whether it continues to flow underground. Documents last spring suggested the state had been unable to identify the source of the underground contamination. A technician working on the wells had previously told a neighbor that the spill was on the large side.

In the meantime, the development that led to the discovery of the oil, which is now called Warehouse 11, is on the market and is having an kickoff party on January 31. The contamination may be coming from a site across N. 11 Street from Warehouse 11.

Supporters of the Grand Street downzoning, which turns out to include most off the members of Community Board 1, did some fast work to vote in favor of the proposal. Activists says that fast action is critical because a race is underway between developers that want to put up buildings as tall as 14-stories before a five-story height limit takes effect along Grand Street. Action was almost delayed because the Board’s Land Use Committee hadn’t voted on the proposal, which could have delayed action until next month. “Even a month delay could make a difference,” said Williamsburg’s Phillip Depaolo. The Land Use Committee ended up meeting in a corner of the room and voting 9-2 in favor of the downzone. The full board approved the proposals by a vote of 23-2 with one abstention. Supporters are now pushing to have a hearing at the Borough level scheduled quickly, but are concerned that the City Planning Department will follow a slower schedule. “Every day that we wait gives these guys time,” Mr. Depaolo said of what will likely be a full-speed effort to try to make enough progress on the tall buildings to get them “vested” under the old zoning. “We’re going to push as hard as we can,” he said.

Buildings where a 14-story Karl Fischer structure could rise are being demolished. An empty lot across the street where there could be a new 10-story building has been cleaned in the last two weeks.

Of course, it’s only a sign, but it is a sign that packs a lot of symbolic importance. It’s about the pending closure, on January 16, of the Carlton Avenue Bridge for work on the rail yards related to the Atlantic Yards project.–Brit in Brooklyn

Groups opposing adding any more floor to the Finger Building in Williamsburg, and some which argue that floors should be removed, have finally gotten the paperwork from the Department of Buildings that will allow an appeal of a Board of Standards and Appeal Decision. The BSA ruled that the building was legal at its current height and that it could be completed. It also ruled that the building could rise to 16 stories if a court case is resolved in the favor of the developer. (Thus far the ruling has been that a 16-story building would not be legal.)

UPDATE: The Department of Buildings says that the “official” letter went out in late December, but that it is their understanding that it was not required for the BSA appeal in the first place.

“On the corner of 15th and 8th you find the Royal businesses, the Royal Deli on the South East side of the intersection and the Royal Supermarket on the North East. The Royal Supermarket was just gutted and revamped, it is now brighter, cleaner and more spacious inside. The people who work their seem a little more cheerful, I hope they are enjoying the overhaul…”–Broolynometry

Park Slope may have its mugging situation and standoffs with the cops, but Prospect Heights (which has also had a wave of muggings), had two different shooting incidents yesterday. In fact, the Prospect Heights Forum now has two different discussion threads. One for the overnight shooting. And one for the daylight shooting. The overnight shooting, which happened around 1:55 somewhere on Underhill Avenue, was widely heard and reported by posters. Six shots were fire. The morning one, which happened at Prospect and Underhill Place near a playground, was a drive-by situation that police described as a possible “grudge” situation.

UPDATE ON PARK SLOPE MUGGINGS: In case you missed our post yesterday afternoon, the 78th Precinct says that the case of the muggings that have been occurring on Prospect Park West and Eighth Avenue are “still open.” There have been numerous reports of women walking along being mugged. Some arrests have been made, but it’s not known if those committing serial muggings have been caught.