There’s an interesting competition underway to solicit ideas for reenvisioning and reimagining Grand Army Plaza. Per Streets Blog:

The Grand Army Plaza Coalition (GAPCo) and the Design Trust for Public Space are launching an “Ideas Competition” called Reinventing Grand Army Plaza. Building on GAPCo’s on-going effort to re-envision this historic Brooklyn crossroads, the Ideas Competition will solicit new, creative proposals for Grand Army Plaza’s re-design. Top submissions will be exhibited in the summer of 2008 at the Brooklyn Public Library or the Brooklyn Museum of Art.

GAPCo is soliciting ideas to put together a briefing book for those entering the competition. Click over to Streets Blog for all the information.

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

• Gang Bust Could Help Area Around Marcy Houses [Sun]
• Last Night’s South Street Seaport Fireworks “No Cause for Alarm” [McBrooklyn]
• Sometimes, Bureaucrats Surprise You (Like with Admiral’s Row) [Lost City]
• How Tish James Got Her Footing [AYR]
• Victory Hospital in Bay Ridge Stays Open for Now [NYDN]
• Appreciating the Karl Fischer Crap Factor [New York Shitty]
• A Look at the Book Court Expansion [Brownstoner]
• Recchia Watch [Kinetic Carnival]
• 100 Attend Imagining Flatbush 2030 [Brooklyn Junction]
• Flier Garbage on Court Street [Pardon Me For Asking]
• Attempt to Buy Beads on Smith Street Foiled [Icky in Brooklyn]
• Business Closed Forever [BK 11201]
• Snow in Dumbo [Dumbo NYC]
• The Happy Holidays Shack [Brooklynometry]
• New Year’s Eve in the Hood [Greenpointers]
• Out and About, This Weekend and Beyond [Brooklyn Based]

We return to our longstanding Street Couch Series with this submission from our Greenpoint Correspondent. Of course, it’s not a street couch per se. It’s actually a seat from a large van, but it wins a place in our series because it’s out in front of one of the ugly Greenpoint Belvederes on Eckford Street. Speaking of which, there are already two Belvederes on Eckford and there is a third on the way, at 219 Eckford.

We’ve watched glass blowing many, many times and actually had a chance to take a lesson at Pier Glass in Red Hook last year. If you’d like to watch the process in action, Scanlan Glass, which is at 103 14th Street (near Third Avenue), is having an open house tomorrow (12/15) and Sunday (12/16) from Noon-6PM. (Learn more about Scanlan Glass by clicking here.) An email says:

It’s warm and cozy in the studio, so come – bring your lunch and hang out and watch the ancient art of glassblowing. There will be glassblowing demos (if the blowers aren’t blowing don’t be shy – ask them to make something fun!), refreshments, lots of beautiful handmade glass (bowls and vases, Christmas tree ornaments, etc.) for sale. Come and learn more about glassblowing (and stock up on holiday gifts, too)!

Sounds like fun.

The days of the Fifth Avenue Coffee Shop, which is one of our favorite storefronts and signs in Park Slope, are coming to an end. Check out the cool pics.–Brooklynometry

Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
[Photo courtesy of M>K>F/flickr, check out the full Carroll Gardens Christmas Set here]

There are many nativity scenes to be found on the streets of Greenpoint. Oddly, many of them lack an actual baby Jesus. Hmm. Take a look.–New York Shitty

Sam’s Chops, Court Street
[Photo courtesy of a special GL correspondent]

It looks like that video on YouTube of the Ingrassia family celebrating Christmas in Brooklyn many years ago has attracted many amusing family comments. The vid is worth seeing & the comments worth reading.–Pardon Me For Asking

Henry Street, Brooklyn Heights
[Photo courtesy of a special GL Correspondent]

Anybody that doubts that people don’t pay attention to school “report cards” and performance might want to reconsider. The photo of this flier comes, of course, from our Greenpoint Correspondent. The irony that it is front of the notoriously poorly-run and bedbug infested (if historic) Astral apartment building is not lost on us. Nor is the fact that the person that posted the flier, after saying he wants to rent an apartment, also offers money to “get an address in this neighborhood.“

Saving a slice of Brooklyn’s and America’s history, we are learning, may have a very small price tag. Yet, it’s one that a host of local officials seem unwilling to pay. The report that was delivered to a public meeting about Officer’s Row at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on Tuesday night said that the buildings can be saved and put the cost at about $20 million. In a city where the cost of projects now reach into the billions of dollars and public subsidies to corporations and developers run into the hundreds of millions, it is rather hard to keep a straight face when public officials protest that $20 million is simply too much money.

Why the rush to destroy a small, yet important, piece of our history? One would have to ask Councilman David Yassky, who had appeared to have shed his anti-preservationist skin after helping to de-landmark 184 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg but appears to have relapsed, or Borough President Marty Markowitz, who has been pro-demolition all along at the Navy Yard. Why is preservation of an asset for future generations less important than building a supermarket parking lot especially when some thoughtful planning and architecture could achieve both goals? It was rather disheartening, to say the least, to watch so many officials–including several that we respect–cast the issue in terms of jobs and groceries for low-income people vs. preservation.

We rarely say this, but in this case, we may be lucky that the decision about whether and under what conditions to turn over Officer’s Row to the city rests with the Federal Government. Perhaps, some Federal officials will see the value of preserving historic assets rather than turning them over to a local government that wishes to destroy them. One can easily see many creative solutions that would result in saving Officer’s Row and creating a supermarket. One can see these buildings being used creatively and serving as a major community asset rather than being turned into a depressing parking lot. Frankly, $20 million is a tiny sum for a city willing to put out hundreds of millions of dollars to subsidize Atlantic Yards. (One wonders, for instance, what the total subsidies in terms of grants, tax breaks and indirect benefits have been to businesses working in the Navy Yards.)

On Tuesday, Navy Yard Development Corp. President Andrew Kimball repeated his “threat” to the Federal government that if the buildings don’t come without strings attached, then the city has no interest in the land and it might end up sitting empty. To which one is tempted to say: So be it. Perhaps the next city administration will find a creative way to use that corner of the Navy Yard to serve the community and to preserve history if the current crop of elected officials lacks the imagination and the willpower. It’s not hard to imagine, given the role of the Navy Yard in American Military history, that some private patrons might even be enlisted to help save these historic buildings and write down the cost to taxpayers. (Brownstoner’s analysis of the press conference and the meeting is especially worth reading as he hits many of the most critical points in a very insightful way.)

Brooklyn has lost too much history because it’s more expedient to tear things down than to find creative solutions and we have lost patience with the elected officials who, in effect, push the start button on the wrecking ball. We hope the Federal government requires the city to find a way to save Officer’s Row as a condition of giving away the land for development.

Officer’s Row should be a line drawn in the sand, and if our own elected officials aren’t responsible enough to be caretakers of our history–and it really pains us to say this–the Federal government should do for them. Enough is enough. Save Officer’s Row so our children and grandchildren can enjoy this little piece of Brooklyn and American history instead of parking their cars on it.

[Sketch via Brownstoner]

We love old signs, and we’re especially amused to find not one, but two, old florist shop signs currently showing themselves in Carroll Gardens and Brooklyn Heights. A special GL correspondent shot and submitted both photos. The “RK LANE FLORI” sign on top is over Bagels by the Park on Smith Street. The one below is from a shop in Brooklyn Heights. Our correspondent writes:

Bagels by the Park’s iron gate repair revealed the old Park Lane Florist sign from over 20 years ago, an old Carroll Gardens fixture at Smith & President Streets. Another florist sign blooms on Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights after a façade strip and board job reveals the quaint Flower Mart sign.

We’re sure that, like all old signs, except the ones that might be sold for decorative purposes, these will be covered up again soon.

Go back four years in the Atlantic Yards time machine, to a time when Borough President Marty Markowitz said the city had “no money to provide” to the big project and said that neighborhood opponents would “be involved.”–Atlantic Yards Report

We ran a version of this installment of our GL Brooklyn Holiday Gift Guide last year and decided to update it and run it again. It includes a very selective list of memberships in or donations to Brooklyn organizations or Brooklyn-based groups that would make cool holiday gifts:

Coney Island USA. A basic Coney Island USA membership is $25 and includes free admission to the Coney Island Circus Sideshow, free admission to the Coney Island Museum, free admission to Sunday night lectures at the Museum, a subscription to the Coney Isle-O-Phile Newsletter and a handshake from Coney’s “Mayor,” Dick Zigun. Higher membership levels get you more. For $150 that special someone gets a bunch of benefits and a seat on the reviewing stand for the Mermaid Parade as a judge.

The Coney Island History Project. Membership at the Coney Island History Project starts at $35 for a basic members and includes a History Project t-shirt. The organization, which was founded by Coney historian Charles Denson, has a small exhibition space in Coney Island, maintains and oral history project, a publication and photo collection and more. If someone you know is a fan of Coney and its history, this is a great option.

Gowanus Dredgers. You don’t have to belong to the Dredgers to go out on the Big G in one of their canoes, but signing someone up as a member would be a cool thing to do. Basic “Deckhand” membership is $25. A “Stevadore” membership is $50 and includes the “Heart of Gowanus” DVD. All members can pay a $75 equipment fee and make appointments to take canoes out on the Gowanus when they’d like. Navigate over to the “Membership” page on their site.

Urban Divers. The Urban Divers do wonderful work on the Gowanus and other local bodies of water and they sponsor eco-cruises and offer a lot of volunteer opportunities. That having been said, a General Membership is $40 and you can find out more here.

Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment. BCUE does urban environmental education, but we especially love them for the Brooklyn tours they run with guides like Francis Morrone and Jack Eichenbaum. Their membership page has a contact number to call for more information, and there’s an online donation page too. We do know that members get discounts on all the cool tours they run. This could be the gift for the Brooklyn lover in your life.

Added Value. You can’t become a paid member of Added Value–the good people that run programs for young people in Red Hook and operate a community farm and farmers markets–but you can certainly make a contribution to the cause in someone’s name. They do good work. Helping them would make a cool, cool gift. Check out their donation page here.

Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service. This organization runs programs for families and children all over Brooklyn. One can’t join, but can certainly donate, and it’s a great option for someone looking to give a gift of support for someone that wants to do help out in the community.

Slope Street Cats. No membership here, but you can donate to Slope Street Cats, a Park Slope group that works to control the population of feral cats and links a lot of people to adoptions of cats. They run educational programs and do a lot of good work and you can make a donation here in someone’s name as a gift and get a big deposit of Good Kitty Karma to boot.

Brooklyn Animal Resource Coalition. If you or someone you care for loves animals, you might consider BARC, which has lots of options for a gift that will helps some dogs and cats, and make everyone feel good. BARC has a wish list for its animals on its home page. Our favorite, though, is that for $25 a month the person on your holiday list can sponsor a dog or cat at the BARC shelter in Williamsburg and go over to play with his or her sponsee, which could add an extra element of fun to those Williamsburg shopping and eating excursions. You can, of course, also donate in someone’s name to BARC.

Portside New York. Portside rocks. They do superb work in Red Hook with a focus on the waterfront and the neighborhood’s maritime history and is in the process of converting an old tanker, the Mary A. Whalen, into a museum and community facility. You can donate to Portside or support it by making purchases at several sites including igive, not to mention their Electronic Book Store set up through Amazon, which has a bunch of waterfront-related gift options. The Mary Whalen, by the way, just went to the shipyard for its renovation this week.

We are not focusing on obvious choices, but we’ll mention a few here: The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Celebrate Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Historical Society. Good and fun memberships all.

Behold the requisite Carroll Gardens decorative elements: Virgin Mary, dead plants, fake flowers, empty plastic detergent bottles and, of course, a cement donkey.–Pardon Me for Asking

We have no idea who created these displays by two of the bridges over the Gowanus Canal, although we’re certain someone does know and that they might tell us. We noticed both for the first time recently and know that wood with the Goofy, Donald Duck and other cartoon figures wasn’t there a week or two ago. We also wonder how, exactly, it was put on the piling near the Union Street Bridge. In any case, the Garfields are on the Carroll Street Bridge are somewhat less dramatically placed, but they are not far from Monte’s, leading to some inevitable lasagna jokes.

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

• Looking at the New Rental High Rise Planned Near BAM [Brownstoner]
• Ward Bakery Demolition Porn [No Land Grab]
• The Crappy Man [New York Shitty]
• The Beginning of Carroll Gardens [Pardon Me for Asking]
• New Union Market About to Arrive in South Slope [Sun]
• Local Bed-Stuy News [Bed-Stuy Banana]
• Young Mother’s Collective Benefit [Bed-Stuy Blog]
• Gerritsen Beach House Fire Pics [GerritsenBeach.Net]
• Brooklyn Reading Works Tonight [OTBKB]
• Covered Tracks Documentary Makes Festivals [Nathan Kensinger Photography]
• Free Ice Skating Tomorrow in Prospect Park [About Brooklyn]

The organizers of the Park Slope Snowflake Celebration, which takes place tonight, have certainly succeeded in getting the word out. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate or, at least, not deter people from taking advantage of the 150 shops, restaurants and cafes that will be open late or offering specials tonight. Participating shops will be open until 10PM and there will be entertainment and special sales everywhere. A list of participating shops is here. It’s not yet clear whether the snow machines the Snowflake organizers are bringing in will be rained on or end up being redundant. Regardless, it’s a great opportunity for people in the neighborhood to shop locally. One has the feeling that we’ll be seeing more neighborhood business communities organizing similar efforts in the future.

“The corner stores are sold out of flour, the fabulous/kitchy over-the-top decorations are up on Windsor Place…” Check out some of the photos.–Icky in Brooklyn

We have very mixed feelings about this post as it concerns New Year’s Eve and mulching one’s Christmas Tree and it’s only December 12. However, in the interest of disseminating information, even if it makes us sad (we haven’t even bought our tree), here it is:

New Year’s Eve Fireworks
December 31 at Grand Army Plaza it’s Brooklyn’s New Year’s Eve fireworks at midnight. The good viewing locations are anywhere in Grand Army Plaza, inside the Park on West Drive, and along Prospect Park West between Grand Army Plaza and 9th Street. The 3.3 Mile Fun Run around the Park starts at Grand Army Plaza at 11:15 p.m. More information on the run here.

Holiday Tree Recycling January 5 & 6, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
“Bring your holiday tree to Prospect Park where we’ll turn it into mulch for healthy ground cover. Watch your tree go into the chipper and take home some mulch for your yard or garden. Please remove all decorations from the trees.” Tree drop off spots are Third Street and Prospect Park West and the Park Circle entrance to the park. Mulchfest, of course is a citywide event. You can click here to find all the Brooklyn locations on Jan. 5 & 6. The Sanitation Department will also recycle trees from January 3-16. More Mulchfest info as mulch time grows near.

Luxe real estate marketer Elizabeth Stribling on Brooklyn: “I would say that, as you know, Brooklyn is a hot borough; and I think that the typical buyer is a young person who wants perhaps a little more sizzle in their steak for their purchase price. I think that Brooklyn is a fun community.”–NY Observer

Want a way to buy from local designers and to do a good deed at the same time? Then, consider doing some holiday shopping at the Brooklyn Indie Market on Smith Street on Saturday and Sunday (12/15 and 12/16). The designers will be donating up to 15 percent of their receipts to benefit at-risk families and children in Brooklyn. It’s a joint project of the Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service and the Brooklyn Indie Market,which is located at Smith and Union Streets in Carroll Gardens. a collective of Brooklyn fashion and product designers, will host a holiday shopping event to benefit at-risk families and children living in Brooklyn. The shopping benefit will be held on Saturday, December 15 and Sunday, December 16 at the Brooklyn Indie Market’s new home located at the intersection of Smith and Union Streets in the Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn. Donations will help pay utility bills, offset apartment rental fees and cover other vital household expenses. For more information, click here, and to see the flier for the event, click here.

Joel Cohen, aka The Sticker Dude, is showing some of his work at ART 101 in Williamsburg. The show runs from December 14 through 23. The email we got said, in part:

Joel S. Cohen, collects artwork, puns, aphorisms, -the visual and verbal symbols, aesthetic moods and graphic social commentaries that surround us. After stripping these appropriations of their contexts, he achieves a personal resonance by combining, adding and reconfiguring so that old images convey new ideas. He then, as a professional printer, reproduces the works in quantity, in readily accessible media, and distributes them as freely and as personally as possible.

Over the years, Joel’s body of work has become surreal, graphically irreverent and even grotesque, prodding the viewers to reconsider what they believe they know about the world.

On Friday (12/14) from 6PM to 9PM “the Sticker Dude will
welcome you to his Sticker Universe with a Performance and Distribution of his sui generis wit.” The opening coincides with Williamsburg’s Every 2nd Friday when galleries are open until 9 pm. ART 101 is at 101 Grand Street and is open Friday through Sunday from 1 – 6 PM. More about The Sticker Dude here.

Williamsburg, Brooklyn