Pictures:

• Greenwood Cemetery Reflection [Blue Jake]
• After the Rain [Lex’s Folly]
• Where Cats Meow [Brit in Brooklyn]
• God Hates War [Frank Lynch/flickr]
• Not One More Death [seriously excited!]
• Pissy Grand Army Plaza Arch Door [Atomische]
• Pashmina Time [Pardon Me for Asking]
• Free Car with Your 100 Percent Financed House [Bed-Stuy Blog]
• Gowanus [Joe’s NYC]
• Newtown Creek Tracks [Gowanus/flckr]
• Gowanus Sunsets [bklynking]

Words & Pictures:

• Brooklyn Pols Rail Against Congestion Pricing [Streets Blog]
• Analyzing Fudges in Downtown Brooklyn Partnership Video [AYR]
• Meet Your New Brooklyn College Dorm [Brooklyn Junction]
• Pro-Growth Bay Ridge in an Enlightened Age [Bay Ridge Rover]
• Forgotten Greenpointer [New York Shitty]
• A Funeral for an Uncle on the Day of the Dead [OTBKB]
• Coney Photos and Essay on Disembeded [Kinetic Carnival]
• The Brooklyn Spa Challenge [Brooklyn Based]
• …Which is Why Court Street Really Needs Another Spa [Lost City]

They are already putting up Christmas decorations on Manhattan Avenue, being unable to wait until the candles in the Jack O’ Lanterns went out.–Greenpointers

Weird, but very short. You can get at it directly, rather than via embed, by clicking here.

Make that Halloween, 2004. You need to see the calendar that is still in the window of one of the local Chinese spots because it’s…uh…very unique.–New York Shitty

The place on Beard Street that was Lillie’s is about to reemerge with “timeless decor” that is “standing proud among the new futuristic lounge style additions.” Layla’s should open in about a month.–Eater

The three homeless men who had made the steps of Old First Church on Park Slope’s Seventh Avenue their home have been removed by police from the 78th Precinct and, for the time being, are no longer there. Rev. Daniel Meeter, the pastor of Old First Reformed Presbyterian Church, who has written very eloquently about the issue of the trio and their behavior, delivered the news at a meeting of the Park Slope Civic Council last night.

The police were called after one or more of the homeless residents–named Robert, Will and Frank–are said to have exposed themselves to children while they were urinating and were found to have a steel bar that could be used as a weapon. “The homeless men are no longer on our stoop,” Rev. Meeter said.

He acknowledged that the church has been walking “a tightrope between the sanctuary needs of the homeless” and “the needs of our community for a safe, pleasant, respectful neighborhood.” Rev. Meeter noted, as he had written, that the men had been asked to leave over the summer as drinking and drug use escalated and community complaints intensified but that “they beat us” and could not be dislodged.

The commander of the 78th Precinct met with Rev. Meeter on Tuesday, October 23. The men have been gone from the steps of the church since that day. Rev. Meeter said that one of the men is working at the Key Food across the street and staying with a relative on Third Street, one is staying on Sterling Place and one had “moved to a stoop further down Seventh Avenue.”

A representative from the Congregation Beth Elohim was also on hand, and the groups agreed to set up a committee to consider how to deal with issues of homeless and trying to secure shelter and other assistance for those who want it. Rev. Meeter asked trustees of the Civic Council a version of a recurring question about the homeless and their behavior: “How can we make this an ethical community that deals well with the homeless poor who are sometimes nasty and destructive?…Do we just throw up our hands and say there is nothing we can do?”

[Photo courtesy Wally G/flickr]

Perhaps you saw our coverage yesterday of the Greenwood Oil Spill or Brownstoner’s excellent coverage of the same issue. Brownstoner took the time to swing by the site and reported that a worker at 716 Sixth Avenue (at 23rd Street) said reports of underground gasoline were “bullshit,” but was unable to explain the huge turnout by the FDNY at the site. We’re joking in calling it an oil spill, but it apparently is not “bullshit.” As per a GL comment:

As per CB7, DEP did test last night and found hazardous waste. I’m assuming of the gasoline kind. The complaint and site has been turned over to New York State’s Dept. of Environmental Protection.

Interestingly, the Department of Environmental Conservation generally handles oil spills. We look forward to more details on what is lurking beneath this new condo.

Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden told a roomful of civic heavyweights this morning that the city is weeks away from announcing a rezoning plan that will “save the amusement park, an icon of democracy which is beloved by the whole world.” She continued: “The strategy will catalyze a new park which will be open year-round…and housing, in the right place.”

Mayor Bloomberg is also quoted saying in a speech that rezoning will “take full advantage of the wonderful new subway terminal at Stillwell Avenue.”

Gotham Gazette’s Wonkster included a post that noted that “the mayor soon will announce a plan to preserve the amusement park, making it a year-round attraction, and coupling it with “entertainment and housing in the right location.”

While we love that Astroland is now “icon of democracy,” none of the comments shed light on which way the zoning recommendations will go. The guessing game should be over very soon, however.

You have to love the Postal Service’s new marketing campaign “Today’s Mail.” Sadly, we’d settle for getting any day’s mail, particularly yesterday’s, as long as it’s our own mail.–I’m Seeing Green

They have removed the cracked part of the back of K&H Deli’s brick wall, shored it up with 4X4s and then added plywood (I assume to close up the back of the building). Darn if it doesn’t look like K&H has a nice back summer porch…At 6pm tonight, the site’s new “side door” was wide open and I waltzed in…

As of 6:34 last night, there was a new complaint lodged against 300 20th Street at the Department of Buildings for having an open gate.

The Waterfront Preservation Alliance of Greenpoint and Williamsburg is changing its name. The group, which we like to call the WPA (which in turns reminds us a Depression Era public works projects) is changing its name to the Williamsburg Greenpoint Preservation Alliance. According to the newly-minted WGPA (which we’ll probably mis-type as WPGA more than once):

This new name reflects our mission as a neighborhood preservation advocacy organization, and confirms our commitment all of Williamsburg & Greenpoint area, not just the waterfront.

The first incarnation of this change will be the switch of our domain name from waterfrontalliance.org to wgpa.us, which will take effect in the next couple of days. We expect that both domains might be unavailable for a day or so, but we will be back as wgpa.us very shortly. Once we return, there may some residual weirdness, as pointers point to non-existent points. But all of that should be ironed out fairly quickly.

Waterfrontalliance.org will not go away, however. It will reappear very soon as the new web home of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance (currently located at waterwire.net). This excellent group’s mission is advocacy for the city’s 500+ miles of waterfront, so the domain name is far more fitting for them than us.

Remember to change those bookmarks. The domain switch has already been made.

Another super group of photos from Coney Island Creek, a place of bizarre, rotting remains of old ships and an astounding number of ducks.–The Food of the Future

We believe that the more forums and community meetings that are held about the future of the Gowanus Canal and about cleaning it up, the better. Another will be coming up on Thursday, December 6. Called “The Future of the Gowanus Canal: A Community Forum on Environmental Quality,” it will include New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis. Representatives from the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, the Army Corps of Engineers and a variety of Gowanus Canal advocates. The meeting will take place from 6PM-8PM at the Belorusian Chruch at Atlantic Avenue and Bond Street. Sponsoring organizations include Community Board 6, the Gowanus Canal Community Development Corp, the Gowanus Canal Conservancy, FROGG, the Urban Divers and many others. State Sen. Velmanette Montgomery, who is a co-sponsor of the meeting, says that she and others will take Mr. Grannis on the Gowanus. “We’re going to give him a ride on the Gowanus in an itty-bitty boat” so that he can see the canal close up.

Big Reveal of Love Lane Mews [Brownstoner]
157 Green Gets Fedderized [New York Shitty]
Sir Ian McKellan Promotes Brooklyn Growth Vision [NYDN]
Brooklyn Future via Gandalf [Gothamist]
More on the Park Slope Homeless at Old First [Brooklyn Paper]
Help Needed Finding a Brooklyn Ancestor [Pardon Me for Asking]
Atlantic Yards Events [I’m Seeing Green]
Bay Ridge Gets Creamed [Bay Ridge Rover]
Legal Aid Would Love Your Used Books [OTBKB]
New Breed Brooklyn Ambulance Chasers [Icky in Brooklyn]
The Park Slope Armory is Big [Brooklynometry]
Some Old School Advertising [Brooklyn Junction]

As it turns out, “No Menus, No Fliers” signs may work best with a universal symbol. The latter part is particularly hard to translate. One recent sign was produced in six languages. In Spanish it translates as “None menus, none aviators.”–Brooklyn Paper

Windsor Terrace has a long history on film and video that includes Alanis Morissette, Al Pacino, Madonna, Ed Harris, Lily Tomlin and Michael J. Fox. Dog Day Afternoon was shot on Prospect Park West between 17th & 18th Streets. There’s a lot more too.–Icky in Brooklyn

…Came home about 7:00pm and low and behold there were at least 6 trucks outside of 716 6th Ave (at 23rd St.) and a very bad smell of gasoline. Workers and equipment was still on the street (they have been digging for the water/utilities) so i thought there may have been a spill from the digger.

Nope. Gasoline found in the ground! Did we happen to mention this new condo dev is built over an old gas station? Remediation not done? Or did they hit a pocket of earth with a whole lot of gasoline left over?

You decide.

FDNY said there was no fear of an explosion and DEP is on the way for air quality testing, but I am light headed from being down there. Will follow up to see if DOB needed to be there in the morn and check in with CB7. But if you are in the vicinity, I’d stay away. The smell is overpowering.

Always fun on 23rd St…and no smoking!

Environmental maps show no listed problems in the area such as leaking or ruptured underground tanks. There’s a short vid of the scene last night, below.

Woah crazy shit going down this evening around 8:30 on 5th Ave near President. A gaggle of teens got into a heated argument over something or other; apparently one pulled a knife. A lady uniformed cop and an undercover arrested one guy, they had him handcuffed against a vehicle in the middle of the street but they were quickly surrounded by a large group yelling and screaming…

There’s more, so do head over if you want more.

“First-graders at a Crown Heights public school were punished for being rowdy by losing a hot lunch – and told ‘Welcome to Rikers Island‘ by a school official, parents charged.–NYDN