We have run photos of many street couches, but this is the first, to our knowledge, that bears a political message. It is, mostly likely part of a series of work installed around Williamsburg this weekend. A photo of a non-street couch message below.

For the record, we will not that the Brooklyn Public Library Business Library is having a “Con Edison Power Breakfast” on Thursday (10/11) from 8:30AM-10:30AM at the Business Library, which is located at 280 Cadman Plaza West. Here’s some of what it says:

Go Gowanus!
New residential, retail and hotel developments are coming to the Canal.

Members of the community, city planners and business stakeholders will discuss what’s happening now and what the future holds for Brooklyn’s unique waterway neighborhood.
Come to a panel discussion to learn about:

* The plans for development and how they will revitalize the neighborhood – its infrastructure, its recreational areas, its businesses.
* The unique mix of manufacturers, artists, and residents – will it be maintained as the area becomes a retail and tourist destination?
* Next steps in developing vacant land and cleaning up contaminated areas.

One can make a reservation by going here.

Foghorn the lovebird has gone missing. There is a $50 reward. These fliers are up all over Grand Street and surrounding streets east of the BQE in Williamsburg.

What is pictured here is both Sunday work and, to our little minds, profoundly unsafe. This is 242 Bedford Avenue, a building that is being “altered,” but for which ultimate plans are unclear. (It is part of the big block for which Quadriad Development has bizarre development plans that include trying to get a zoning change for a very tall building. This is not a Quadriad property, however. Records show that it’s owned by an array of LLCs, including one named Sky Lofts LLC.) The architect of record is Henry Radusky, aka “Too Tall,” for some of the out-of-context work he has done. Permits were issued on Friday. Yesterday morning, concrete was being poured and the big garage door on busy Bedford Avenue, between N. 3rd and N. 4th Streets through which we took these photos (and could have strolled, had we wished to roll into a two-story deep pit and roll around in wet concrete) was wide open. The permits are for a new basement and mezzanine. There is no sign that the site has permits for Sunday work. To our knowledge, it’s not okay to leave access open to a two-story deep pit on a busy street while the workers are on lunch break.

As for the Quadriad project, by the way, there’s supposed to be another presentation about it to Community Board 1 at its monthly meeting on Wednesday, including information about the “incipient commencement of construction” on the “as-of-right” component of the project, which includes some five-story structures.

Last year, there was a big anti-rat campaign in Carrol Park, where the rat problem was so disgusting that they were said to be running around in the trees and practically forming buffets lines to eat in the trash cans and demanding people give them take out containers. “Anti-rat” trash cans were installed. Vegetation was cut to make it easier to find their holes. A major poisoning campaign ensued. And the problem got better. Well, it’s hard to keep good Brooklyn rats down, as this email making the rounds via the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association email list notes:

At about 6:45 in the evening I was sitting on a park bench waiting for someone when a Rat jumped on top of a garbage can then jumped off. I noticed the Rat posion signs but I also noticed that the garbage can was not one of those Anti Rat types. I also noticed a great deal of low lying vegetation. Carroll Gardens was very successful in Carroll Park with getting rid of their rat problem by coming together and dealing with obtaining the proper garbage cans and cutting back the vegetation to make it easier to find the Rat holes. Now that the problem has been dealt with the vegetation has returned. Just a suggestion for a very difficult problem.

A lot of people in the community had made an effort to get rid of the rats, so one does hope that the Rat Olympics aren’t underway again.

We had no intention of posting something about 525 Clinton Avenue, a 13-story building going up between Atlantic and Fulton Avenues. The building itself has been extensively covered by Brownstoner, for instance, here and here. When we passed by, however, we encountered one of the most god awful rackets we’ve ever heard coming from a construction site, let alone coming out of it on a Sunday afternoon. We can find no evidence that the building has a permit for Sunday work, although the Department of Buildings does not make it easy for anyone to determine if the work tearing up a neighborhood at 10PM or on a Sunday is legal or not. (Hint to DOB: It is one of the current major failings of the system, almost as bad as the total lack of pro-active enforcement of such regulations. That residents can’t easily determine if work is allowed or not undermines the entire system.) All we will say is that our sympathies go out to the neighborhoods. You could literally hear the noise four blocks away. It could be heard as far away as Vanderbilt Avenue and Pacific Street, over the noise of traffic on Atlantic Avenue.)

The results are in for Brian Lehrer‘s latest “crowd sourcing” project on his WNYC program. It’s the one where Mr. Lehrer asked listeners to go to the store and record the prices for three items: a quart of milk, a six of Budweiser and a head of iceberg lettuce. The winners are below with Brooklyn figuring prominently into the equation. (The Brian Lehrer website has all the results plotted on a map, a screenshot of which appears above, along with listener comments.) There will be discussion of the results on Brian’s show on Thursday, October 11, which starts at 10AM. All we’ll say is that if you want to get drunk on Bud as inexpensively as possibly, then get yourself to the Red Hook Fairway. Quickly.

Most expensive milk: Crown Heights, Brooklyn (2.99 for a quart)
Least expensive place for milk: Gravesend, Brooklyn (99 cents for a quart)

Most expensive place to get beer (6 pack of Budweiser): Greenport, NY (14.99)
Least expensive place for beer: Redhook Fairway (4.49)

Most expensive place to get lettuce (iceberg): Tribeca (3.49)
Least expensive for lettuce: Wayne, NJ (0.79)

There are some openings and closing to report in Park Slope south of Ninth Street.

1) Katrina’s, the diner that has been closed, will be reopening under new, but familiar, management. GL has leared that the owners of Purity Diner, which is located at Seventh Street and Prospect Park West, are taking over the closed space. It will re-open today (10/8), ensuring that Seventh Avenue will continue having an above-average number of diners for a neighborhood strip.

2) Fans of the Chinese-Asian Fusian restaurant Little Village on Seventh Avenue report that it is “suddenly” closed. There is no signage and “no explanation,” but there is also nothing to indicate the closure is permanent. So, perhaps, the owners have just gone away for a nice, relaxing long week or something.

[Photo courtesy of JennyFireball/flickr]

Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn

Brooklinks is a selection of Brooklyn-related information and images. Happy long weekend to those that have the day off.

• Appeals Court to Hear Atlantic Yards Case [Sun]
• Eminent Domain Argument in Court on Oct. 9 [No Land Grab]
• Weekly Dumbo Links [Dumbo NYC]
• Weekly Coney HOOPLA Links [Kinetic Carnival]
• Williamsburg’s Three Third Streets [New York Shitty]
• Entrance to Sheepshead Bay Narrowing? [GerritsenBeach.Net]
• Barge Pool in Web Design Contest [NYDN]
• New Bus Shelters Sprouting Like Mushrooms [Lost City]
• Haunted House [Clinton Hill Blog]
• Fake Moon Over State Street [McBrooklyn]
• Woman Killed By Bus on Ocean Parkway [NYP]
• Brooklyn Pair Sought in Two Robberies [NYT]
• Streets of Bay Ridge [Right in Bay Ridge]
• Atop the Grand Army Plaza Arch [Velvet Sea]
• Open House New York at Greenwood Cemetery [A Brooklyn Bachelor]
• Party for the People in Gowanus [Brit in Brooklyn]

We bring back our street couch series courtesy of our Greenpoint correspondent, also known as the inimitable and tireless Miss Heather of New York Shitty. She calls this beauty from Quay Street in Greenpoint, “the Mrs. Haversham of street couches” from “the Mrs. Haversham of Brooklyn neighborhoods. It is absolutely beautiful— or was. Once.” It really is a very nice specimen.

Red Hook, Brooklyn

This is 84 Eagle Street in Greenpoint. It’s a four-story building that will have eight units. The photo comes from our Greenpoint correspondent, who notes: “I checked out 84 Eagle Street recently because one of my readers tipped me off to a particularly vile pile of dog doo located there. Strangely enough, I was unable to find it. Maybe it is under the three foot tall pile of garbage the developer has seen fit to leave in front of this recently-completed luxury condominium building?” Very, very impressive. The building, by the way, attracted 15 complaints over at the Department of Buildings since work has been going on, including one for debris falling on an neighboring property.

Today’s Brooklyn Craigslist Missed Connection does not disappoint us, because we’ve been waiting ages for a good cemetery ad. Finally, the time has arrived:

Neo-Weimar Accordion Ghost in Green-Wood – m4w
You wore a top hat in Green-Wood this afternoon. When the performance was over, you carried your accordion over you shoulder as you passed under the parrot gate. I took a picture of you and two of your accordion sisters, but it turned out blurry. So you must be a ghost. Either way, I was struck dumb.

If you were one of the accordion females carrying one over your shoulder today, get in touch with the man.

GL did a drop by at the Party for the People at the Yard on the banks of the Gowanus yesterday. We found the vibe very pleasing and it was a superb place to pass some time on a beautiful October Saturday afternoon. We caught some music, hung out under the trees on the property and listened to some music. The event looked like it was just getting started when we stopped in around 3:30. It was still going strong when we passed by again around 9:45.

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

Bumps in Road to Park Slope Food Coop’s Time Shift to 1990. “I’m a tad disappointed at the condescending tone of the post. I think that any complaint about the Park Slope Food Co-op should provide perspective on the other options. Ever wait in line at the Pathmark at Atlantic Terminal? Takes forever and not pleasant. Ditto with Target which is 2 blocks away from me but I avoid like the plague. The ‘express’ lines there are barely express. And security grabs you to check receipts on everything. Trader Joe’s at Union Square? Those lines are WORSE than anything I have seen at the co-op.” [Jack Szwergold]

Bumps in Road to Park Slope Food Coop’s Time Shift to 1990. “This proud member thinks all the “East Berlin Food Coop” comments are pretty stale and unoriginal. I can only shop during the dreaded and overly crowded weekends, but I still love the Coop and its organic, community-centric ways. I thought Liberal wasn’t a dirty word anymore?” [Lisa]

Fourth Avenue’s Argyle: Is It Park Slope? “The Old Stone House was always considered Gowanus (Nowadays it is claimed by Park Slope.) The Brooklyn Lyceum on 4th Ave promotes itself (always has) as being in Gowanus. However, that will be a helluva wall of retail and hotels once 4th Ave is finished. Guess Park Slope has a new boundary. Go West, young man.” [Icky]

Boerum Hill Stoners & People Heaving “Detritus.” “I don’t think not wanting kids throwing rocks at you makes you a ‘gentrifier.’ Sounds like it makes you a “normal person.” This kind of crap can happen anywhere there are groups of kids hanging out – it’s not specific to areas near ‘the projects.’ I think ‘getting over it’ actually emboldens the little creeps. Keep calling the cops.” [Leigh A]

Here’s a selection of Wiliamsburg vids from the YouTube.

News You Can Use:

• Sunday Stoop Sale Roundup [New York Shitty]

New You Can Also Use, But Different:

• A Big Hole Bothers Brooklyn Heights [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
• No Teen Hitler for Halloween at Brooklyn HS This Year [NYP]
• Making Bait in Red Hook [A Test of Will]
• 2009 Community Board 3 Budget Survey [Bed-Stuy Blog]
• Gravy Turns into Trout on Smith Street [Pardon Me for Asking]
• Not Bothered [Atomische]
• Happy Pulaski Day from Greenpoint [newyorkshitty]
• Cars on Union Street [Brit in Brooklyn]
• Check Out Some Green Buildings [I’m Seeing Green]
• Petition to Bring Back the Bay Ridge Ferry [Green Brooklyn]
• 75 Prospect Park West [Brooklynometry]

Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn

It’s real estate marketing, but it’s an interesting spot.

It seems that some people may be running around bars in Brooklyn in broad daylight at gunpoint. At least three bars have been robbed and there are strong indications that the same people are behind the robberies. Our friends at Eater reported the story yesterday morning, complete with descriptions. The bars that have been robbed are Bait and Tackle on Van Brunt Street, Floyd on Atlantic Avenue and Moonshine on Columbia Street. We also received an email from someone that works at one of the bars that was robbed. Here’s some of what we have:

Two weeks ago, the bar [Bait and Tackle] was robbed at gunpoint on a Sunday afternoon. In broad daylight, the woman opening the bar had a gun put to her head, was trussed in duct tape, and was locked in the bathroom.

A week later, about the same thing happened at about the same time at Moonshine, on Columbia Street. I can’t pretend to know all the details, but the MO and the description of the two guys doing it match completely. As does the gun pointed at the woman opening the bar.

Now it turns out that the same thing happened about a month ago at Floyd, on Atlantic Avenue. This I know very little about, except what I hear from friends.

On Wednesday, I asked a Red Hook cop on patrol if he knew anything about about these robberies. He said he had only heard about the Bait and Tackle robbery…the fact is, if somebody is running around pointing guns at people in South Brooklyn bars in the middle of the day, the people that work in them need to know this. It’s not good enough to pretend that there isn’t a problem, and it’s not good enough to quietly say “were working on it.” Thus far, it’s a fluke that nobody has been hurt yet, and if these guys are brazen enough to rob Moonshine and the Bait and Tackle on consecutive Sunday afternoons, then they are brazen enough to use the guns they point.

We could says “developing,” about this story, but we hope there are no other developments other than the people behind the robberies being caught.

This was posted on the Park Slope Forum last night. Let’s just say our reaction is highly negative:

In an attempt to prevent dogs from walking in front of his house, an occupant on the south side of 11th Street between 3rd and 4th Avenue has crushed and liberally sprinkled moth balls all over the sidewalk in front of his house. The ingestion of moth balls can cause vomiting, seizures and liver failure. The police refuse to take action, saying it’s “not illegal.” Please exercise caution when walking your pooch on this block.

Wow. What a sick, mean thing to do.

Looks like the Underground Railroad Houses on Duffield Street Abolitionist Place in Downtown Brooklyn are going to get another hearing. Duffield Street Underground reports that:

In response to the Eminent Domain Procedure Law Petition filed by advocates for the residents and businesses of Downtown Brooklyn, the City is withdrawing its eminent domain findings and holding a new hearing. This does not mean the City is starting over on the issue of historic preservation, but it gives Duffield advocates a chance to use political pressure to change the footprint of properties threatened with governmental confiscation. This might be an important victory to those challenging the Downtown Brooklyn rezoning.

More to come.

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Here are a couple of events this weekend on the Gowanus, which we take please in noting after a week during which everyone seemed to have run a story about the environmentally-challenge state of things on the canal, thanks to past activity and continued dumping of sewage and other toxins.

October 6 and 7, Saturday and Sunday (2:00pm-6:00pm)

Gowanus Open House NY
Explore the Gowanus estuary, canoeing at your own pace and enjoy iscovering the canal’s unique mix of wildlife and urban waterway infrastructure. Meet at the 2nd St. launch site, off Bond Street at the Gowanus Canal. Details at the Gowanus Dredgers website.

October 6, Saturday (1:00pm-9:00pm)

Party for the People on Gowanus Shoreline
The Yard at Carroll / Canal will assemble multiple community organizations and feature performers of poetry and music with fun for the entire family. You can read our post about it here. It takes place from 1PM-9PM today.