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

• Has Success Divided the Red Hook Vendors? [NYT]
• Time for a Moratorium on Carroll Gardens Moratorium Talk? [Brownstoner]
• After Tormenting Neighbors, Slope Prep School Should Give Them a Tour [OTBKB]
• Background on the Modell Pawn Shop [Lost City]
• Interview with the Creators of Future Perfect [No Land Grab]
• City Limits Building Height…on the Upper West Side [AYR]
• Eaten Alive by Monster Brooklyn Mosquitoes [Brooklynometry]
• Meet a Coney Island Resident Who Weighs 268 Pounds at 3 Months [NYT]
• Karl Fischer Row Bling [Restless]
• Pretty Park Slope Window [Velvet Sea]
• Subway Moment: What the Heck is an Uplat? [BK 11201]
• No Go on Fourth Avenue Enrique Norten [Brownstoner]
• Coney Island Film Fest Friday Line Up [Kinetic Carnival]
• Big Brooklyn Weekend [Brooklyn Based]
• Don’t Forget to Watch Dondi the Elephant Paint in Dumbo [NYDN]

It makes us sad to note that our friend Ariella Cohen, who has been a superb reporter at the Brooklyn Paper for the last two years, is leaving. We are happy for Ariella–she is moving to New Orleans to pursue new professional challenges in a town that is full of them. Yet, Ariella’s departure will leave a void here. We’ve greatly respected her work in Brooklyn and she brought a passion for urban issues and a knowledge of urban planning to the table. She is a terrific reporter and, more importantly, a very nice person. Check out a couple of her stories and columns this week to see why she will be missed:

• Lawsuit Against Atlantic Yards is Losing Its Plaintiffs One by One
• Crime Ain’t New but It Hits Hard
• Red Hook is Turning Green

The Dumbo Art Under the Bridge Festival, which is one of our favorite Brooklyn arts events of the year, kicks off tonight and runs through Sunday. Brace for two full days and nights of outdoor events, performance art, special exhibitions, sculpture installations, open studios and more. Every year when we go, there are always a few surprises that manage to stay with us. At night, there’s going to be a “Project Glow” with lighted installations in Empire Fulton Ferry Park and Brooklyn Bridge Park, along with free Water Taxi rides so you can see them from the water. A full schedule is available here, just click on “Download PDF.”

Of course, the Festival is just one part of a Brooklyn weekend that is full of events including the Atlantic Antic on Atlantic Avenue on Sunday, the Chile Peper Fest at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on Sunday and the Coney Island Film Fest, which starts tonight and runs through Sunday. Brooklyn Based has produced a nice guide to some of this weekend’s festivities.

This is the new jazz club and restaurant in Red Hook on Beard Street that will be known as Mordecai’s. It will occupy the space that once was Lillie’s and have Ikea as its neighbor across the street. Work is progressing, albeit slowly. We found its recent doored, yet door-less, state amusing.

Looking for a building that could compete for being the poster child for what ails the system that is supposed to regulate construction? It appears that 143 Huron Street in Greenpoint is in the running. We will get to the narrative from our Greenpoint Correspondent in a moment. First, however, we will note that it has racked up 25 complaints at the the Department of Buildings. Three of the recent ones, for illegal after-hours work, on September 9, 19 and 25, do not appear to ever have been investigated. Why is this interesting, except to those who wish to obsessively and compulsively chronicle the dysfunction of a critical city agency? Well, here’s the scene from the other night, as related by our Greenpoint correspondent:

This building is going up very, VERY fast, even for here… the employees at this site have been engaged in metal work and making a LOT of noise. Enough so to find it annoying a block away. Last night they worked until ~9:00 p.m. They were not the least bit sneaky about it either: when I walked by they had FLOODLIGHTS directed at the site so they could continue working. These lights were very bright; it was like something out of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

I have never, EVER seen such in your face illegal after hours construction. Even here— and that’s saying something. About 12-18 onlookers just stood on the street and stared. That’s about all you can do because the Department of Buildings clearly isn’t going to do a fucking thing about it. Why bother even having regulations if something this obvious manages to slip by? Whoever is responsible for letting this situation persist should be fired. Fucking FLOODLIGHTS for Christ’s sake. How much more obvious can you get?

No wonder residents are always staring at the building, like here and here and here.

To get a sense of how much housing and how many people the New Domino project would add to Williamsburg, simply look at the map above. It comes from a post on Wild Green Yonder by Adam Brock. We reproduce it here, because it shows the impact in a graphic way. Simply put, New Domino would double the population of the neighborhood within a quarter-mile radius. The Domino development–which would be in the white rectangular shape on the waterfront–would have about 2,400 units of housing, mostly in towers up to 30-40 stories tall. The first ring in the map, which still has a lot of industrial properties, currently has 2,751 units of housing. The second ring totals 9,778 units. And the third ring out brings the overall total to 28,095 units. So, even viewed in the context of the bigger one-mile radius, Domino would boost population by nearly 10 percent. We only related this in order to show that New Domino would be a significant development with a major impact on schools, police & fire protection and transportation.

It appears that the interesting tenure of City Planning Commission member Dolly Williams, who is an appointee of Borough President Marty Markowitz, may be numbered according to Jotham Sederstrom writing in today’s Daily News. You might associate Ms. Williams’ name because she had to recuse herself from voting on the Atlantic Yards project because of her investments, or because she had to recuse herself from voting on Gowanus rezoning because she owns land in the area. If those issues don’t ring a bell, there are others too, like a recent billing dispute over a Forest City Ratner project in Harlem. And, of course, there’s the issue of her bright yellow Porsche and its parking space in Park Slope (pictured above). You can find a nice summary of issues here. In any case, Mr. Sederstrom writes that Ms. Williams “has been serving the board for three months without an official reinstatement, fueling speculation her days are numbered…Markowitz, whose term as borough president expires next year, wouldn’t say whether he had decided whether to reappoint Williams but insisted that the real estate developer had ‘represented the borough admirably as my appointee.'”

There are many Karl Fischer buildings rising on Roebling Street in Williamsburg. Well, actually, three currently in progress, one of which is the Roebling Oil Building at N. 11th and Roebling. This is his building at N. 8 and Roebling, 63 Roebling, which is diagonally across the street from a completed Fischer, on what we might call Karl Fischer Corner. It will end up at six stories. The interesting thing about 63 Roebling is that there was no excavation on the site for a basement, meaning that contractors only dug down a few feet before pouring a foundation.

We’ve noted it before, but we’ll note again after getting an email from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden that their 15th Annual Chile Pepper Fiesta will take place on Sunday, Sept. 30 from Noon-6PM. we’ve been to the festival a couple of time, and it can be a bit crowded under the tent where the food is being served and the entertainers are performing, but it’s an otherwise fun reason to visit the BBG, which is always a wonderful place to spend some relaxing time. Here’s what our friends at the BBG said about it in the email they sent:

It’s an absolutely delightful event designed to celebrate the chile plant as it is used in cultures all over the world, from the Caribbean to Asia to South & Central America and Mexico. Positively chock full of music, dance, and culinary adventures inspired by these cultures– this year’s lineup includes duo Ringold & Ellis performing fiery feats of flame (including the famous “fire umbrella”– woot!), Peruvian dance from Ballet Folklorico Peru, hot Caribbean rhythms from Sesame Flyers Steel Pan Orchestra, the borough’s own Brooklyn Petro hot sauce makers whipping up a batch of their spicy manna, Latin/Jewish fusion cooking from the Brooklyn ladies of the Post Punk Kitchen and much more.

The full schedule is available here.

If you like dogs and/or cats, this one’s for you: There will be a “Dog Parade and Kitty Carnival” with pet adoption opportunities in J.J. Byrne Park in Park Slope on Saturday (9/29) from Noon-6PM. The event is sponsored by State Sen. Eric Adams and will include clowns, magicians, live music, food and prizes for best costumes (for the pets, we assume, not the people). It’s billed as:

A fun-filled day of felinie festivities and canine cavorting! Festival-goers will enjoy rows of sponsor and vendor booths, live music, a Kid’s Zone featuring face painters, characters, clowns and magicians, food and much much more.

Dog training demonstrations throughout the day.

Proceeds to benefit the Brooklyn Animal Foster Network, a network of more than 500 homes, and New Hope Partner of the Animal Care & Control of NYC.

The dog picture here is actually from last year’s BARC Parade in Williamsburg, but in any case, GL loves a good dog parade.

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

• Would Jane Jacobs Approve of Atlantic Yards? [AYR]
• Nightmarish Accident on Atlantic Avenue [NYP]
• Domino Landmarking in the Press [WPA]
• Newtown Creek Nature Walk Opens Saturday. Really. [amNY]
• 263-240 Atlantic Ave. Update [110 Livingston]
• Clooney and Pitt Trailers in Brooklyn Heights [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
• What Kind of Art Does the Park Slope Crowd Want? [Brownstoner]
• St. Clair Restaurant at Smith & Atlantic to Close [McBrooklyn]
• Harvesting Nuts [Brooklynometry]
• When’s the Boymelpark Coming on Fourth Avenue? [Brownstoner]
• Prospect Heights Profile [amNY]
• Painting Elephant Coming to Dumbo [Dumbo NYC]

Today’s specimen, which has gotten a little turned around, comes to us (as usual) from Williamsburg. Say what you will, but this doesn’t look like damage from truck traffic to us. The alteration seems a little too deliberate.

These pics of street are in Williamsburg had to go together. They’re from Williamsburg, of course, actually within a half-block of each other.

[Photo courtesy of Sandra Cheng]

A GL reader sent this pic of the Northside Piers tower on the Williamsburg waterfront that was on fire about twenty minutes this morning. Williamsburg blogger INSIJS alerted everyone to the story and quickly posted a photoset on flickr. No word on cause, but it appears to have been extinguished relatively quickly.

UPDATE: Gothamist reports that the smoky blaze was caused by a kettle being used to prepare roofing tar, which would account for the massive amount of smoke. There were no injuries.

[Photo courtesy of i’mjustsayin’/flickr]

There have been a number of cars set on fire in Park Slope and Gowanus in the last week, mostly on Sixth Streets. Some of the torchings have occurred between Fourth and Fifth Avenue and some between Third and Fourth Avenues, making them Gowanus arsons rather than Park Slope ones. Our friends at Brownstoner posted about them yesterday morning, beating us to the punch by a few minutes over at Curbed. Later in the day, we posted a follow-up we received, along with some narration from a reader who happened to have one of the cars go up in flames right outside. Along with the reports of arson, we also saw reports of an increase in burglaries.

So, is Park Slope in the middle of a crime wave? Not really. The arsons are very disturbing, but we checked Compstat for the 78th Precinct and found a 56 percent increase in burglaries reported during the last month over the same period in 2006, but decreases in other reported crimes. (In terms of numbers it’s 25 burglaries versus 16 in 2006.) The numbers are current through September 23. Overall, burglaries are up 10 percent for the year. To put it in historical perspective, there were 1,644 burglaries reported in the 78th Precinct in 1990 and 191 last year. There are no figures for car arsons, though.

The main buildings of the old Domino Sugar factory in Williamsburg were landmarked yesterday in a vote that was, ultimately, a formality. As it’s one of the very few preservation victories in North Brooklyn recently, we should be jumping up and down and cheering. The buildings weren’t demolished before anyone moved to landmark them, for instance, the way the Old Dutch Mustard Factory was leveled to make room for a pedestrian structure. And they didn’t go up in a conflagration sparked by a drunk scavenging copper wire who was later said to be in Upstate New York, the way the Greenpoint Terminal Market did. They’re still standing, and they’ll be standing in the future. This rare waterfront victory of history over demolition is almost enough to bring tears to our eyes.

So, why are we wondering if this is a hollow victory?

For starters, one of the most significant structures on the Domino site–the Adant House–is not on the preservation list. Its loss will be an architectural tragedy no less significant than leveling the old waterfront warehouse in Dumbo or the Beard Street Warehouses in Red Hook. Likewise, the preservation vote doesn’t necessarily protect the iconic Domino sign. The developers have said they will try to preserve it, and most likely it will end up sadly detached and re-erected like the Pepsi sign in Long Island City or the Colgate Clock in Jersey City. Even this outcome, however, isn’t guaranteed.

The reason for tearing down the Adant building–that it would stand in the way of a new, tall building–leads us the other reason we’re concerned: the sheer magnitude of the New Domino plans. When all is said and done in about a decade, the surviving Domino structures will be surrounded by 30-40 story buildings, hemmed in by what will be the biggest Brooklyn development project after Atlantic Yards. The developers are planning 2,400 units of housing. Overall, the project will add so many new residents that it will double the population of the neighborhood within a 1/4 mile radius.

We will await the architect’s designs before deciding whether the New Domino is acceptable or a design nightmare. Our initial reaction is that a thicket of 30-40 story buildings is too much for that stretch of the waterfront. More to the point, however, is the fact that Williamsburg and Greenpoint will be taking in many thousands of new residents as dense new developments come on line. No steps are being taking to create the infrastructure to handle them, the most glaring omission of which is a total failure to strategically plan to expand the transportation infrastructure.

While we’re glad we won’t have to say goodbye to Domino the same way we’ve bid farewell to so many other buildings in recent years, we’re still wondering if that will only turn out to be a technicality. In the end, the preservation of the Domino plant is a victory, but it could turn out to be a very bittersweet, if not hollow, one.

Okay, the Barclays Center wouldn’t be in the front yard of this little yellow house on Dean Street, it would be across the street. Actually, one of the tall buildings attached to the arena would be across from across the street from this little 474 Dean. We’ve seen these kinds of juxtapositions before, but in places like Houston where zoning hasn’t exactly been a priority. No Land Grab writes:

Meet 474 Dean Street, a three-story clapboard townhouse across the street from the footprint of Bruce Ratner’s arena superblock. If Ratner has his way, this three-story 1,800 sq-ft house will be facing the south side of the Nets arena and Building 3, which, , would be the shortest high-rise on the arena superblock.

According to the Atlantic Yards Draft Environmental Impact Statement, “the New York City Zoning Resolution prohibits arenas within 200 feet of residential districts as some of the operations could be incompatible with districts limited primarily to residential use.” Because the State of NY is using its power to supercede the NYC Zoning Resolution, Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards plan circumvents this regulation.

In other words, the Atlantic Yards plan goes beyond the Manhattanization of Brooklyn, because even in Manhattan, you will not find an arena across the street from a home, such as 474 Dean St.

Maybe Mr. Gehry could do something to incorporate the spirit of 474 Dean into his big buildings?

[Photo courtesy of threecee/flickr]

We keep returning to the area around Berry, N. 10th and N. 11th Streets because of all the ongoing construction. This is the view behind 55 Berry. The building under construction is 125 N. 10th Street. It offers a case in point about why one should always carefully check out all the neighborhood construction possibilities before deciding to buy a condo, particularly in construction-heavy neighborhoods like Williamsburg.

Windsor Terrace residents have apparently started a petition drive to “demonstrate the desire to have the owner of the C-Town on 9th St, Steven Reifinger, buy the Key Food Supermarket on
Prospect Ave. in Windsor Terrace. The Key Food is currently up for sale and will be available for public purchase if no other Key Food contingents want to buy it. Many of us feel that the C-Town is of great value, with their excellent Produce, great sales, top notch fish and meat department and friendly service. We would welcome them in our neighborhood.” There’s no contact info and no iPetition, but we’re sure that will become clear shortly.

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

• Alternate “Jacobsian” Unity Plan for Vanderbilt Yards [AYR]
• Unity 2007 Photos [No Land Grab]
• Signs of Life at 333 Carroll? [Brownstoner]
• Some Refurbishment on Tap for Brooklyn Bridge [Sun]
• Tonight Show Set Being Auction to Help Brooklyn Program [NYDN]
• Great Moments in Greenpoint Siding, As Heard on Leonard Lopate [newyorkshitty]
• Ugly Architecture in Brooklyn [Brooklynometry]
• Return to Coney Island Vid, Part 3 [Kinetic Carnival]
• New Storefront on Bedford [Bed-Stuy Blog]
• Washington Street Loft on the Market [Dumbo NYC]
• Gourmet Kitchen Dies After 30 Years [Clinton Hill Blog]
• Kensington Real Estate Bargain [Kensington Brooklyn]
• Work Begins at Urban Outfitters [BK 11201]

Anti-Semitic Vandalism:

• Brooklyn Hit by Nazi Invasion [NYP]
• Search Continues for Swastika Vandals [NYDN]
• Swastikas Painted on Two Brooklyn Synagogues [CityRoom]

Here are links to coverage of yesterday’s Domino Sugar landmarking vote:

• Landmark Status is Approved for Domino Refinery in Brooklyn [NYT]
• LPC Designates Domino Sugar Factory [Historic Districts Council Newsstand]
• Old Domino Sugar Refinery is Now a Landmark [CityRoom]
• Domino Sugar Factory Landmarked [amNY]
• Sweet Success [NYP]
• BREAKING! LPC Approves Historic Designation for Domino [Brownstoner]
• Domino = Landmark [WPA]
• Domino Landmarked but Project to Double Nabe Population [Curbed]
• Part of Domino Sugar Refinery Buildings Landmarked [Gothamist]

One of the fun things about the fall (in recent years) is the Coney Island Film Festival. Here’s a reminder that the 7th Annual Coney Island Film Festival is coming up this weekend, from Friday through Sunday (9/28-30). It will take place at Sideshows By The Seashore and The Coney Island Museum, which are located at W. 12th Street and Surf Avenue. The opening night screening is American Scary at 7:30PM on Friday, Sept. 28, followed by an opening night party at 9:30. There will be:

documentaries about New York Mets fans, The Cinema of Transgression, Indian Larry, Horror Film TV Hosts, Cult filmmakers, Coney Island Circus Sideshows Scott Baker!, The History of Vaudeville, Circus Amok, the amazing 1977 documentary Coney Island Cyclone plus more!

A special Screening of The Warriors!, Horror films, a hip hop program, music videos, animated films, dramas, experimental films, films shot at Coney Island, comedys, family films!

There are no films yet about the Coney Island redevelopment drama, but you that’s coming in future years given the number of documentarians shooting footage this year. The entire schedule can be found by clicking here and you can go here to buy tickets.

The Open House New York locations won’t be released until this weekend, but the identities of some of them are coming out. In this case, the well-oiled Prospect Park publicity machine sent out an email blast announcing that “three of Prospect Park’s architectural treasures, the Litchfield Villa, Lefferts Historic House and the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, are included in America’s largest architecture and design event: the Annual openhousenewyork Weekend (OHNY), October 6 & 7.” This is cool news in that getting up on the Grand Army Plaza is great opportunity and the Litchfield Villa (which was the country house of Gowanus Canal and Park Slope developers Edwin Litchfield) is a beautiful building. There will be two tours of the Villa–which serves as office space for the Parks Department–on Sunday, October 7. They’re from 2-3PM and limited to 20 people. The lobby and second floor rotunda will be open to the public on Sunday from 1PM-4PM. The Lefferts Historic House will have three tours, at 11AM Saturday and 10AM and 11AM Sunday. The Arch in Grand Army Plaza will be open on Saturday and Sunday from 10AM-4PM. Guides will take visitors to the top. All the OHNY info can be found here after it’s posted on the 28th.

There’s a free series of “Media Literacy Workshops” coming up in October and November at the Park Slope Y on Ninth Street. They’re sponsored by the Learning About Multimedia Project (The LAMP). There are three different workshops.

Workshop 1 takes place on Saturday, October 6 from 9AM-12 Noon and will offer family members the opportunity to interview each other camera and edit the video, producing a DVD they can take home. Workshop 2 is about making a commercial or PSA. It is being offered on Tuesday Oct. 9, 16 and 23 from 4PM-6PM and is aimed at children at least ten years old through teenagers. Workshop 3 is about “Making an Un-Commercial” and will feature the deconstruction of some TV ads. It will be offered on Tuesday Nov. 13, 20 and 27 from 4PM-6PM. It’s also intended for children age 10 through teens. For the full schedule from Community Board 6, you can click here.

Williamsburg, Brooklyn