If you haven’t already heard, let us be the second or third to tell you that several important buildings that were part of the old Domino Plant in Williamsburg were landmarked today. The vote by the Landmarks Preservation Commission was devoid of drama. The developers had even endorsed landmarking the main building (which for preservation purposes qualified as three structures). One of the most attractive buildings on the site, the Adant House, which runs along Kent Avenue next to the Williamsburg Bridge, was not up for consideration. It sits squarely in the path of a high rise tower. It’s unclear whether preservationists will pursue landmarking of the Adant House, which is likely to encounter more serious opposition. More on the overall implications tomorrow.

A reader forwarded a couple of Park Slope emails to us dealing with issues of crime and graffiti. The first email says that burglaries have increased recently in Park Slope (there a community meeting tonight at 7:30 at the 78th Precinct at Bergen and Flatbush) and that there have been about 12 break ins in a ten-block radius in the last several months. (It doesn’t say what radius. The other notes an upswing in tagging. Here you go:

The recent increase of graffiti extends all the way down to where we live 21st St. between 5th and 6th aves. The apartment building on the corner of 17th and 6th ave is constantly being tagged (and constantly being painted over..); the greek school on 18th and 5th ave was tagged right before school began.

My husband & I have varying ideas on the recent stepping up of the graffiti to include those who have been priced out of the slope, teens who don’t have much else to do, and some new LI apartments that went up about a block away from us on 20th St. & 6th Ave.

What we have done when our property is vandalized is taken a picture of the graffiti, then immediately gotten rid of it. The picture gives the police a ‘look’ to the graffiti so they can get to know the ‘artist’. This has required a lot of work, but the immediate taking away of the graffiti sends a sure sign that it will not be tolerated. We’ve also contacted the police about it.

“Some new LI apartments”? Well, we don’t think it means Long Island, so we think the writer is talking about “low-income apartments,” aka affordable housing. Given that the likely culprits are the usual–teenagers–we think we’ll put aside people angry about being priced out of the Slope and tagging it up and residents of the “LI apartments.” We will note that our favorite spot, the Wall of Satan on Prospect Park West (pictured here) is still going strong although it appears that the “Hail” in “Hail Satan” has been re-tagged, possibly by people that can’t afford $500,000 one bedroom condos.

If you’ve wandered around Williamsburg during the last week or so, you’ve noticed some “Condoburg” graffiti here and there. This week, some posters with a humorous anti-development theme have been added. Most of those here are on Bayard Street on the fencing around the Ikon development on the strip we named Karl Fischer Row. The “Condoburg” message at the bottom is behind 55 Berry on N. 11th Street.

Boy, do we like putting “Gowanus” and “parrot” in the same phrase. Yesterday, after we posted an item about the parrots in Thomas Greene Park, a number of readers left comments that fill in some valuable blanks. As it turns out, parrots have been seen in and around Gowanus for a while. There is also a lot of parrot activity in J.J. Byrne Park on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope. There are several theories about why the parrots are moving to Park Slope and Gowanus–other than an interest in real estate.

One is that removal of some parrot nests elsewhere has upset colonies and led to the birds expanding their territory. This idea is put forward by Brooklyn parrot guru Steve Baldwin, who says that there “have been multiple nest removals in South Brooklyn this past year by Verizon, Con Edison, and the NY Education Department. ” (To which we say, we wish we would have known about this sooner so we could have criticized the removal of the nests by Verizon, Con Ed and the NYC schools.)

Mr. Baldwin also says that the birds may be trying to avoid a hawk that hunts at Green-Wood Cemetery, where a big parrot colony is located:

There is a very active Red-Tail hawk in Green-Wood (who apparently also hunts with a Falcon) and the parrots appear to be using the Slope as a relatively safe refuge. But they go home each night to their main colony — I have yet to see any evidence of nest facilities being constructed by the parrots in Park Slope.

Our favorite comment, though is this one:

i’ve been seeing/hearing the parrots in my neighbors’ backyards on 10th street between 3rd and 4th avenues for the past few months. there are a few big trees back there that they like to perch in. i’ve been trying to get a picture of them to send into this blog, but they’ve remained elusive when i’ve had my camera on me. they do drive my cats nuts, though!

funny thing is, this isn’t the first time we’ve had “tropical” birds in gowanus…the guy who used to own the antique/junk shop and the watch repair shop on 3rd between 10th and 11th used to keep about 10 parrots and macaws in cages in his back yard; it sounded like a jungle during the day! he left a few years ago, so it was really funny to hear squawking again when these new guys came around.

Apparently, the birds are also being drawn by apples, which they really like to eat.

The B61 and B77 buses in Red Hook are going to be extended so that they stop at the new Ikea that will open on Beard Street. (For those who are in denial that this will happen and irrevocably change Red Hook, this is one more bit of evidence that the change is coming soon.) The changes, which are noted in an amNY story, are planned in January. There is either humor or irony in knowing that the pleasures of the B61 will soon become known by an entire new group of people trying to get to and from the Ikea store.

Are you being price gouged when you go to the bodega or grocery in your neighborhood to buy basics? (For instance, like the tiny $3.99 bottle of Listerine, oddly imported from Indonesia, that we scored on Bedford Avenue the other day…) Here’s your chance to participate in Brian Lehrer’s latest “crowdsourcing” project. Here’s a short description:

Our latest crowdsourcing project asks listeners to go to their local grocery store and find out the price of three goods: milk, lettuce and beer. You don’t have to buy them (or consume them), but we want to know how much they cost in different neighborhoods throughout the New York area.

Here’s the assignment:

Go to your local bodega, supermarket, or gourmet grocery store and get the prices for our predetermined basket of goods. Here’s the shopping list:

-a quart of regular, non-organic whole milk
-a head of iceberg lettuce
-a 6-pack of 12-ounce Budweiser (bottles)

Full instructions can be found here.

We’re not sure we’re ready for the “get a jump start on the holidays” pitch in the press release we got from the sponsors of ArtMart 11225, a community arts and crafts market in Prospect Lefferts Gardens taking place on October 13. Nonetheless, we’ll happily note that it will happen on Lincoln Road between Ocean and Flatbush Avenue from 10AM-5PM. Here’s a bit of copied & pasted verbiage:

The market will feature the work of Brooklyn artists and artisans. Get a jump start on the holidays with gorgeous hand-made jewelry and knit-wear, one-of-a-kind pottery, African drums and smaller gift items, or spice up your wardrobe with unique silk-screened t-shirts and accessories. In addition, local landscape photographers, lithographers, and painters will be displaying and selling their art. Children’s arts and crafts activities will take place throughout the day at the Maple Street School located on Lincoln Road, and visitors to ArtMart will want to take advantage of great local food that reflects the diverse community of Prospect Lefferts Gardens: K-Dog and Dunebuggy (coffee, treats, soups and sandwiches), Enduro (Mexican), Meytex Lounge (Ghanaian), and Ali’s Roti Shop (Trinidadian).

We’re not quite ready to talk about the holidays or think about them quite yet, however.

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

• Fire Kills 3 in East 19th St. Home [NYT]
• 457 Atlantic Ready for Launch [Brownstoner]
• City May Clamp Down on Front Yard Paving [NYDN]
• David Yassky Enters Comptroller’s Race [Sun]
• Decline of Western Civilization in a Bathroom [newyorkshitty]
• Weekly Coney Hoopla Links [Kinetic Carnival]
• Mini Model Pics of Dumbo: Make Your Own [Dumbo NYC]
• Check Out the Narratives Show in Red Hook [Lornagrl]
• Can You Enforce “Don’t Honk” Rules? [BK 11201]
• New Facade for Walgreens [Kensington Brooklyn]
• 45 3rd Place Open House [A Brooklyn Life]
• Sports Cars on Fifth Avenue [Velvet Sea]
• Blackbird Parlour Coming to Bedford and N. 6 [INSIJS]
• Haunted Church Update [Clinton Hill Blog]
• Tangerine House in Bed-Stuy [Bed-Stuy Blog]

The 9th Annual Brooklyn Community Board 7 Waterfront Festival, which seemed so distant when we first mentioned it during the summer, is coming up in Sunset Park this Saturday, September 29. (The rain date is Sat., October 6.) It will take place at the 58th Street Pier, which is off First Avenue, from 12:000PM to 6:00PM. There will be music, art, performances, food and refreshements. Activities include music/art/dance, refreshments & food, canoe trips & boat rides, community information, free health & dental screenings, historic buses and more.
More than 3,000 people came out last year. For more information go to the Waterfront Festival’s website.

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

It brings us pleasure to report that Brooklyn parrots now appear to be living in Thomas Greene Park in Gowanus. We’ve never noticed them there (and the parrots are very noticeable based on their distinctive squawking) and don’t recall seeing reports of a colony there–although parrots have been reported in Park Slope, possibly drawn by apple trees–so we assume it’s fairly recent. In any case, the reason for our parrot pleasure is that a reader writes:

Has anyone reported seeing the flock of perhaps 7 or 8 feral parrots in Thomas Greene Park? I have seen them from my roof on DeGraw Street flying noisily between somewhere up-slope and the trees in the park. Saw them a few weeks ago and again last evening. As soon as you hear or see them it is clear that these are no native birds.

We encountered a colony on City Island recently and knew without even looking up that there were parrots around based on the noise they were making. Unfortunately, the photo here, while of a Brooklyn parrot is not of a Gowanus parrot.

70 Berry Street in Williamsburg is a gift that keeps on giving and giving. This is our third time featuring the crappy fence at this construction site, which we have often found open . The only thing that seems to change, in fact, is the status of the site. Once, it was a cleared lot. Then, it was a hole with a big mountain of dirt and construction equipment with which people could play. There is a Stop Work Order on the site, although the last complaint filed with the Department of Buildings was about work going on in violation of the Stop Work Order. Ironically, when the Department responded two days after the complaint (according to its own records), they found no work going on and that “the site is locked and secure with fence.” Which we’re certain that it was on the day they went by. Today’s bonus, as you can see, are the rusty nails sticking out of the fence and waiting to greet passersby from the far from secure fence. The good news is that no one was working there Sunday evening.

The Caroll Gardens CORD group, which created and has been circulating a petition calling for a moratorium on certain types of development in the community until rezoning can be enacted, sent out an email highlighting some comments left by people that have signed. We thought a few are worth sharing:

“My husband and I are both 4 generation Carroll Garden residents whats going on in this neigborhood is changing the whole look and feel of what was once the best little neigborhoods in Brooklyn. This was like the suburbs of Brooklyn compared to other neighborhoods now it’s starting to get the cold feeling like Manhattan.”

“As a 25 year Carroll Gardens resident, I am deeply troubled by the crowding out of of family businesses by corporate franchises, and construction of “luxury” properties without regard for our traditional architecture. Where ARE our elected officials? Is Carroll Gardens going to submit to the greed of predatory developers who have no place in our neighborhood?”

“Please do not allow the charm and beauty of Carroll Gardens to be eroded with the presence of a structure which does not fit the neighborhood. Allow the local lawmakers to bring zoning laws to the present.”

“I have spoken to so many people running away from their neighborhood because it was corrupted due to development which overpowered the neighborhood and was not in keeping with the character of same. They have all moved here – let’s not disappoint them – please don’t sanction theruining of Carroll Gardens, my home.”

“Stop this insanity and down zone please now before it is too late. I love it here. It is not Manhattan. That’s what I love so much!”

There was no Sunday work going on at the Roebling Oil Building when we passed by late Sunday afternoon, but we noticed a pungent smell of oil in the air again that hasn’t been present since early this year. There is a chance that was oil that was pumped out of one the monitoring wells next to the building (they are now spaced about every 20-30 feet) and a storm sewer at the corner of N. 10th and Roebling may have had oil pooled on the surface of water. Our nose, however, led us to the construction fence, where we noticed that ground alongside the R.O.B. had been dug up this week and we had the distinct sense that the smell may have been coming from there.

We stopped by the Riviera Real Estate office on Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg yesterday, and this is what we found. The gentleman identifies himself as Mr. Matt Hairyman. He told us that some people understand it’s a joke, but that others had walked in looking for condos. He gave us the key chain with the uncut key.

As if people using the Van Brunt Station on Ninth Street in Park Slope don’t have enough to complain about in terms of the, uh, service, we came across this item on the Park Slope Forum about a car getting nailed by a Postal Service truck. It apparently happened on Eighth Street. Here it is:

I went to my parked car tonight to find the bumper smashed in half, headlight hanging, and a hole in my tire big enough to fit 3 fingers through. As I was racking my brain trying to figure out how this could’ve happened, someone came out of their apartment and told me she witnessed it earlier that day. A car was double parked on the other side of the street from me, and an enormous US Postal Service truck tried to squeeze through. Something must have been sticking out from under the truck and as it passed it slashed through my tire and totaled my bumper.

Between the new tires, bumper, headlights and who knows what else, I think this will exceed $1000 in repairs.

I filed a police report but without the license plate info of the truck, having a witness didn’t help and they wouldn’t even mention it on the report. Now I don’t know what to do. I can’t just let this go. I’m considering going to the post office (Van Brunt, ugh) and talking to the manager there…They definitely knew they damaged my car b/c the witness told me when the tire was punctured it made a sound like an explosion.

We always love a good Postal Service item.

1) First, Brooklyn Heights. Then, Flatbush Avenue. The Ricky’s invasion of Brooklyn is happening quickly. There was a story about in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle last week. Now, posters over at the Park Slope Forum report:

On Friday I was on my way to work and was getting off the bus at the Bergen subway station and I noticed that they have the sign up for the new Ricky’s now.

It is indeed where I thought it might be, in what used to be Pintchik’s blinds and lighting department. There’s still paper up over the windows and I didn’t cross the street to check to see if they’ve posted an opening date. The sign says it’s going to be a “Ricky’s SuperStore”…

2) Over on Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights, that new Zaytoon’s branch, which has been ready to open “in a couple of weeks” since sometime in early August, is actually closing in on opening. Set Speed reports they’re looking for waitstaff.

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

• Citizens Clean Pacific Street Blight [AYR]
• Residents Clean Up Property in Atlantic Yards “Footprint” [Metro]
• Greenpoint Landlord Guttman Fined for Massachusetts Project Violations [The Repbulican]
• Words about 110 Green Street [newyorkshitty]
• Coney Island Tattoo and Motorcycle Fest [Brit in Brooklyn]
• Return to Coney Island Vid, Part 2 [Kinetic Carnival]
• A Great Irish Fair Without Bay Ridge? [Right in Bay Ridge]
• Courtelyou Road Park(ing Space) [Sustainable Flatbush]
• Noise in the Library [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
• Newtown Creek Oil Spill Roundup [Green Brooklyn]
• Apple Denies Brooklyn Store, “Scoffs” at Taking “Posting on a Blog Seriously” [BP]
• Back to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden [Big Sky Brooklyn]
• Nice Views of Coast Guard Ships in East River for UN Events from Burg [INSIJS]
• How Williamsburg’s Fillmore Place Came to Be [WPA]
• Two Die in Flatbush Fire [NYP]

Gowanus in Unity, a program that operates out of the Gowanus Community Center at the Gowanus Houses, needs volunteer tutors. Here’s the email that went out:

Gowanus In Unity Tutoring provides one on one tutoring to students at the Gowanus Community Center, 420 Baltic St. in Gowanus Houses. We have been doing this for over 10 years. Would you like to be a volunteer tutor? Contact the Tutoring Coordinator, Steve Shooman at 718-522-5746 for more info.

Mr. Shooman’s email is sshooman (at) att (dot) net. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle wrote about the program in August.

This is one of the 99 cent stores on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope near Fourteenth Street. We don’t know what it’s slated to become, but we’re pretty sure it’s part of the slow change that overtaking Fifth Avenue south of Ninth Street. Another bank branch? A cell phone store? New restaurant? Chain retail of some sort? We’ll know soon enough.

[Photo via GerritsenBeach.Net]

The telephone poles in Gerritsen Beach this weekend are sporting more than stoop sale fliers. Apparently, a bunch of fliers like the one pictured above just went up in the neighborhood related to an incident in last August. This one was photographed and posted by GerritsenBeach.Net, which keeps up with the news in that part of Brooklyn. GB writes, “On August 28th at around 6:30opm there was some sort of altercation between officers of the 61st precinct and ‘Frank, Christopher, and Steven.’ This weekend the whole old section got plastered with posters asking for witnesses to come forward…This can’t be good.” Of the people involved, the flier says the police “beat them for no reason.” We’re not sure when there are beatings for “good reason,” but “for no reason” is even worse.

It’s edgy. It’s ironic. It’s this week’s Craiglist Brooklyn Missed Connection. Here goes:

L TRAIN BLAH BLAH BLAH HIPSTER LOVE – w4m – 22

Run of the mill hipster girl ISO anorexic hipster boy with androgynous hair and an apathetic look on his face on the L Train yesterday coming back from Mis-Shapes. I stared into your vacant eyes and didn’t even smirk. That’s how highly I think of you. As I judgingly looked you up and down I realized that your Dior Homme 21cms fit your underdeveloped chicken legs so so perfectly – as perfect as the outro to “Disco 2000” they played last night.

I noticed you glance me up and down in an elitist, uninterested manner. So I assume you enjoyed what you saw. I was wearing a ripped skirt and american apparel tube socks, with a hideous multi-color top and a little boy haircut that i paid $145 for.

Please contact me. We can have some coffee and discuss irony. K thanks.

Nice.

Honorable Mention:
Wow. I will paypal $20 if you help me find this BKLYN blond/future gf – 27

From last weekend’s Conflux Festival in Williamsburg, we bring you a selection of YouTube vids.

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

• Manhattan Avenue Couch [newyorkshitty]
• Welcome to Condoburg [A Test of Will]
• Bar Noise on Third Street in Park Slope [OTBKB]
• Bay Ridge Ready for End of Verrazano Bridge Work [NYT]
• Help Clean Up the Mess on Pacific Street Today [AYR]
• Hello Living Prices are Sky High [Set Speed]
• Two Houses on Ocean [Ditmas Park Blog]
• Swastikas Found on Brooklyn Yeshiva Bus [Gothamist]
• Three Women Shot in Prospect Lefferts Gardens [NYT]
• Dumbo Weekly Links [Dumbo NYC]

Park Slope, Brooklyn