We’ve been called many things since we started GL, but no one, besides blogger, has called us spam. Or, “potential spam.” The very same day that Brit in Brooklyn sent us an email noting that BIB had been declared “potential spam” and that Blogger software had shut down BIB for a week–a week, we might add, during which an important BIB story, the preservation of Admiral’s Row, was going strong–we found that word verification had been added to GL because we, too, were “potential spam.” Today, Blogger cleared us:

Your blog has been reviewed, verified, and cleared for regular use so that it will no longer appear as potential spam…you should be able to post as normal. Thanks for your patience, and we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

No such luck for poor Brit in Brooklyn, however, which is still shut down by Blogger. By the way, “Blogger Team,” we still think your software is running amok and we’ve kind of lost faith that you won’t randomly put us out of business for a week or two.

GL made one of our annual pilgrimages this weekend to see the over-the-top holiday decorations collectively known as the Dyker Heights lights. The slideshow is below. As always, they’re a must see with one’s own eyes.

It also seems like there could have been a blog fest in Dyker Heights this weekend given the number of Brooklyn bloggers that seem to have hit up the Heights Lights. Here are some other posts featuring the lights:

• Homeless Snowmen, Stalking Elmo… [Lost City]
• Dyker Heights Christmas Lights Extravaganza [Brooklyn Ramblings]
• Still More Crazy Dyker Heights Xmas Lights [Velvet Sea]

“A high-end steakhouse chain and luxury retailers are expected to set up shop along a drab street near the Brooklyn Bridge, the Daily News has learned. The steakhouse and as many as six luxury clothiers and other retailers will move into the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge and two floors of an adjacent city-owned building on Adams St.”–NYDN

We’re going to roll out a couple of more installments of our Brooklyn Holiday Gift Guide this week, angled of course, to the last minuteish shopper. We figured we’d start with some Brooklyn-related calendars, given that they have to be ordered online. Check shipping policies and availability before ordering, of course:

I Heart Brooklyn Girls. This 2008 version of this calendar features Brooklyn girls posing in Coney Island. Actually, it’s “12 neighborhood queer femmes.”

Coney Island Sand in Their Shoes. For a slightly more sedate Coney Island ’08 calendar might we suggest this one featuring some very cool photos of Coney?

Where Seasons Come to Life. Does someone you know like flora and fauna? Then, the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens 2008 calendar might be just the thing for them.

Wild Parrots of Brooklyn. Did you know there was a Brooklyn Parrots calendar? Neither did we until we came across it. It could be the ideal gift for the Brooklyn Parrot lover in your life.

Sheepshead Bay Calendar. Granted the Sheepshead Bay ’08 calendar is more geographically-oriented than most, but if someone is a fan of Sheepshead Bay or is from that neighborhood, you this calendar full of nice pics could be the thing.

2008 Greetings from Coney Island Calendar. This Coney Calendar from the Coney Island USA Gift Shop features vintage post card photos of Coney Island. Nice stuff for the Coney lovers in one’s life.

Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra 2008. This is another entry in our “who knew” category. Pics of the symphony combined with some Brooklyn shots.

Brooklyn 2008. From the same local photographer who produced the Sheepshead Bay calendar, this one gets around a bit more, although the focus is still pretty waterfront shots.

Some modest improvements in L Train service start today. Rush hour trains are running three-and-a-half minutes apart instead of four minutes. Two trains are also being added to the “shoulder hour,” between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. “On weekdays, L service will run six minutes apart, instead of eight, from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and every five to 10 minutes, rather than the current six to 12, from 8 p.m. to midnight. On Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., trains should arrive every five minutes.”–Metro

The last time GL paid a visit to Carroll Park, it was in the context of an incident that had taken place there, which sparked a tiny community furor before dying down. Now, it seems, there are issues with park maintenance. At least, that would seem to be the case, per this message from Carroll Gardens blogger Pardon Me for Asking to Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe about the the crappy condition of upkeep and lack of workers at the park. Here is her note:

Dear Mr. Benepe, New York City Parks Commissioner,

All Carroll Park wants for Christmas is some park workers. There are currently no Parks Department employees in Carroll Park. Zero! Zilch! Not even Kathleen, the wonderful recreation person who does Arts and Crafts with the children in the park house remains. All of the personnel have been reassigned to other parks within Brooklyn. Why, you ask? Because the New York Parks Department has not been able to fix the broken heating system in the park house. This has been going on for WEEKS!

Now how difficult is it to fix something like this? And how long should it take? One week, two or three? I guess there is no money to replace the entire system if it needs to be changed. In the meantime, the park is not being taken care of. All you have to do is to look at what showed up at the park’s entrance near President Street and Court. That’s right: a mattress! And there is no one who can clean it up. So, dear Commissioner Benepe, won’t you help this little park of ours?

Yours sincerely,
Ms. Pardon Me For Asking
Volunteer member of The Committee to Improve Carroll Park

Answers to follow, we presume.

• Aspiring Nurse Killed in Cross Fire in Crown Heights [NYDN]
• Atlantic Yards Security Issues is “Sort of Like Watergate” [AYR]
• Savoring the Domino Landmarking [Gotham Gazette]
• Meet #3 & #2 of the Greenpoint Ten [New York Shitty]
• Intriguing Neighbors are Gone [Bed-Stuy Banana]
• 2007 Landmark Death Roll [Lost City]
• When Admiral Togo Enjoyed His Day at the Navy Yard [PMFA]
• Welcome to NYC, Where All the Subway Lines are Below Average [Brooklyn Junction]
• Dean Street Construction [No Land Grab]
• Classes at Urban Glass [A Brooklyn Life]

The Greenpoint Gazette‘s offices had a serious fire last week. We came across the email from the publisher, who is working on keeping the paper going:

The long-time headquarters for the Greenpoint Gazette, at 597 Manhattan Avenue, was destroyed by fire this past Wednesday, December 12. If anyone is aware of available office space near our Manhattan Ave. location, please contact me at publisher@greenpointgazette.net. The Greenpoint Gazette, as you may know, is the only community paper solely dedicated to the Greenpoint/Williamsburg community. We are grateful to those who have already come out in support of the paper, by advertising and by contributing stories and pictures of community happenings and look forward to your continued support during this difficult time.

Here’s hoping they get back on their feet soon.

One of the neighborhoods that has seen a blogging boomlet this year is Bay Ridge, with three relative new blogs bringing news every day from that corner of Brooklyn. Yesterday, Right in Bay Ridge–one of the new crew blogging away there–noted the neighborhood’s 154th birthday with a great post reviewing its history. A sample:

Like so many facets of this neighborhood even till today, the naming of the area “Bay Ridge” in 1853 had as much to do with a real estate deal as anything else.

The original Dutch settlement of this neck of the woods, going back long before the 1800s, was called Geelen Hook (Yellow Hook in English) due to the yellow soil here. Just dig a few inches in your back yard and you’ll understand how fitting this name was. Similarly, our neighbor to the north – Red Hook – earned its name for such a reason as well.

By 1853, however, a variety of circumstances would conspire to lead to the re-naming of the area. Local businessmen and civic leaders in Yellow Hook had wanted to divvy up the vast, rolling farmland here and begin plotting for a future, densely populated residential area. However, around the same time there had been a horrible outbreak of Yellow Fever across the country. Many were concerned that the name “Yellow Hook” might be associated with the disease and subsequently spoil the planned real estate development. (Imagine, for instance, trying to sell houses today in a place called “Aids Town,” “Tuberculosis City,” or “Gonorrheaville.” It wouldn’t be easy).

And so, after some discussion, Yellow Hook was renamed Bay Ridge. Read the full story at Right in Bay Ridge, which has become one of our required daily reads this year along with the other Bay Ridge news blogs, The Bay Ridge Rover and The Bay Ridge Blog.

While we’re sort of in the mood for a virtual visit to a place in the tropics where it’s warm and sleet isn’t falling a couple of times a week, there’s a fun author presentation coming up at the WORD bookstore in Greenpoint from the author of The History of the Snowman. It takes place tomorrow, Tuesday (12/18), at 7:30PM. So, if you want to learn about snowmen (or snowpeople as we sometimes call them in our own gender non-specific way), this is your chance. The presentation is 25 minutes and there will be a Q&A and “spiked hot cocoa.” WORD is at 126 Franklin Street.

If you’re out buying books at the Park Slope Barnes & Noble (not that we’re endorsing it over Brooklyn’s indie bookstores) on Seventh Avenue, AmeriCorps members and people from the Reach Out and Read program, which is a literacy program sponsored by Lutheran Family Health Centers, are going to gift wrapping purchases there for donations all day today (12/17). The donations will be used to buy books for for the 13,000 low-income and new immigrant children that receive services through their community health centers. They’re also accepting donations.

Santa Claus is coming to Lowen’s in Bay Ridge. It is unknown if he is looking for steroids or will get tied up in the Mitchell Report, as Lowen’s became caught up in some alleged steroids trafficking a few months back.–The Bay Ridge Rover

Sometimes, a quick trip out can turn into something more than a poppy seed bagel with scallion cream cheese. So it is with this eyewitness account from a GL reader of an attempted robbery of a laundromat in Fort Greene on Friday:

I was working from home in Fort Greene yesterday and I saw someone try to rob my local laundromat when I went out to get a bagel. I was walking down to La Bagel Delight on Lafayette around 11 AM. The bagel shop is right next to the laundromat, and as I passed it I noticed someone was on the outside forcing the door shut. When I looked closer there was someone else on the inside holding a guy who was struggling to get out the door. I watched for a bit and nothing much else was happening, so I went to get my bagel.

On my way back it was the same scene, only a small crowd had gathered around the laundromat. I asked a bystander what was going on and she told me someone had tried to rob the laundromat, but Ralph the bodega owner ran in and had the robber trapped inside. She told me the cops were on the way, but I couldn’t see any sign of them. Ralph was the guy holding the wannabe robber, so he must have rushed down when he heard what was going on and grabbed the guy. I asked the bystander how long they’d been waiting for the cops and she told me 10 minutes. I said that’s an awful long time to wait but she was she sure someone had called them. I was dubious so I called 911 myself and reported it as something that had probably already been called in. I gave the details and the dispatcher said it hadn’t been called in. She asked me if there were any weapons involved and I immediately said I couldn’t see any, because I know that can make cops come in with guns blazing and I didn’t want to be responsible for the next Brooklyn shooting. In less than a minute, a squad car pulled up, burst into the laundromat and handcuffed the guy struggling to get out. More cops followed and they started questioning the bystanders, but Ralph the bodega guy left right away and went back to his bodega counter and his waiting customers. I left too, because I’d work to do, but I’d given my number to the dispatcher if they had questions.

Needless to say, it’s not the kind of drama I expect to see on my way to the bagel shop at 11:00 on a Friday morning. Makes me wonder what else I miss in my neighborhood when I go to work!

We’re glad to know that it ended the way that it did and that no one was hurt.

For this week’s Brooklyn Craigslist Missed Connection, we again turn to crime:

to: the greenpoint burglar

I know you were probably just dropping by for a quick visit, but I think you may have taken a few things by accident. We seem to be missing seven computers and some other assorted electronics, some diamond and pearl jewelry, sunglasses and a few other things….we totally understood but it would be greatly appreciated if you could just drop those by whenever it’s convenient for you. Tomorrow works great. We’ll leave the doors unlocked this time. K thanks.

Seven computers? Laptops, we presume.

Where in Brooklyn will the legendary Bottom Line go? The owners are looking for a Brooklyn location in which to open the venue that was evicted by NYU. (NYU converted the space into lecture hall with donations from someone who made millions by defrauding investors.) So, will it be Downtown Brooklyn? Park Slope? Carroll Gardens? Dumbo? Williamsburg? Fort Greene? Stay tuned.–NYT

Here’s a collection of some time lapse vids from different spots in Brooklyn for your viewing pleasure on this winter stormy Sunday.

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

• Why Does the Beverly Road Station Stink? [NYT]
• Jay-Z Talks Brooklyn and the Nets [AYR]
• Brooklyn’s Share of NYC Population is Decreasing [Brooklyn Junction]
• Disgruntled Williamsburg Parent Changes Tactics [New York Shitty]
• Who is Torching Bungalows in Brighton Beach? [NYT]
• Dumbo Weekly Links [Dumbo NYC]
• Weekly Coney Hoopla Links [Kinetic Carnival]
• Okay, We Like the Windsor Terrace 11 [OTBKB]
• An Early Holiday Gift [Icky in Brooklyn]
• Magi at the Brooklyn Bridge [A Test of Will]
• Many Generations at 312 Clinton [NYT]

Once a week, we highlight a few comments left by GL readers during the previous week. Here’s this week’s selection:

GL Analysis: What is a Fair Price for History?:
“It always amazes me how short-sighted and uncreatively efficient these developers are. Why is “Old” always frowned upon? And why is there no character or trace of history in the design of new building projects, both aesthetically and programmatically? I would love to see a truly creative problem solver with the resources to take on a project like this – or not take it on at all in its defense.” [Preserve!]

“So ironic to hear you put your faith in the feds to save admirals row. The Feds are the ones who have ignored admirals row for the last 30 years and allowed them to get to this point. On the other hand, the resot of the Navy Yard, which has been owned by the City for the past 40 years, has seen alot of money infused into it and is generally good shape and it being put to good economic use housing over 200 businesses. Why all of sudden do you think the Feds are the good guys?” [Anonymous]

Another Cool Old Brooklyn Sign: Clinton Cafe. “I remember a long time ago, that building used to be Key Food, Met Food, Fine Fare and other stores. I missed all these stores. It brings back memories. I wonder if they should put a flea market.” [Chris from Brooklyn]

Revere Sugar A Year Later: Thor’s Work is Almost Done. “A bit misleading, considering it is a HUGE brown field site. May be in 5 years we’ll be looking at a BSA variance appeal and development. Till then, don’t see it happening.” [ccgh]

Here’s a pretty time lapse video of sunset from the Williamsburg Bridge. We’ve also put it into our GL Sunday TV collection, but we found it soothing enough to post it apart from that.

Brooklyn Kitchen, which is at 616 Lorimer Street in Williamsburg, is collecting food for distribution by the Greenpoint Reformed Church. Here is part of their email:

Bring us your canned goods…Please bring canned or dry foods to the store and we will pass them along to the Greenpoint Reformed Church for distribution to those in need. This will be an ongoing drive as we recognize that people are hungry all year long. Those of us who are able to engage in cooking and eating as routine, work, or pleasure rarely know what it’s like to be hungry. Let’s do what we can to help others. Please no expired or open goods.

If you’re in the area and you’ve got some, share some.

How about a treasure trove of old photos of Flatbush? “Icluded in the set of photos are pictures of The Junction (circa 1960), fraternity parties at Brooklyn College (early 60s), inside Ebbets Field (circa 1930), Cortelyou Road (1960), and the old Rialto Theater (1950s).”–Brooklyn Junction