• Times and Others Ignore Atlantic Yards “Carve Out” [AYR]
• You Call a Special Tax Break for Ratner, Reform? [No Land Grab]
• What’s Up with Brooklyn Bridge Park? [Bay News]
• Eco-Shitter at Habana Outpost [Green Brooklyn]
• North Brooklyn Street Theater [newyorkshitty]
• Studebaker at Fulton Ferry Landing [Self-Absorbed Boomer]
• Men on Boats in Red Hook [Park Slope Street Photography]
• Son of a Beach! [Erica’s Blog]
• Black Sabbath on the Gowanus [Brit in Brooklyn]
• Ocean Avenue Coop [Across the Park]

In the beginning of August we spotted a bird that looked like a baby black crowned night heron (apparently it doesn’t really, but that is what I assumed it was) and were very excited to think we had a Manzana family! But I asked a few people who know birds and have gotten different reports about what it might be…Whatever it is, it is so exciting to see wonderful creatures frolicking around the canal. This little guy was having lots of fun and catching lots of fish to eat (people think this is gross but the majority of the fish swim freely all around the the harbor and just come visit in the canal–the canal is totally open to the harbor) and looking quite happy.

Ms. Hanlon would love to know what kind of bird it is. If you know the answer (other than very, very brave), shoot us an email at gowanuslounge (at) gmail (dot) com or post it in the comments section. As always, our souls are immensely lifted by evidence of the fortitude of nature in the face of the meddling of humankind.

Related Posts:
Meet the Gowanus Canal Black-Crowned Night Heron
Gowanus Summer Fun: Canoe the Big G

We met Jackie Linge, who made the short documentary about the Red Hook vendors, the day that Sen. Charles Schumer held a press event calling on the city to preserve this local institution. Ms. Linge just posted her short documentary on YouTube and it is most definitely worth viewing.

BONUS: Check out Sarah Riley’s story in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle about the spread of the targeting of the Red Hook Vendors for super heavy-duty enforcement. As it turns out, restaurants operated by several of the vendors are getting the heavy-handed treatment too. Today could be a rough day for the vendors with the suddenly activist Health Department Storm Troopers conscientious civil servants expected to be on hand with their sharp pens and deadly clipboards, looking to impose requirements whose cost could drive the operators out of business.

Words:
Fund Buys Watchtower Building on Clark Street [Brownstoner]
421-a Developer Tax Break Changes Signed into Law [NYT]
Who Would Pay for Affordable Housing at Domino Project in Williamsburg? [AYR]
The Brooklyn MTA Building [110 Livingston]
Greenpoint Food News #1: Checking Out Schmook’s Pizza [11222]
Greenpoint Food News #2: ‘My Place’ is for Sale [11222]
Bed-Stuy Food News: Twofiftyeight Cafe Opens Today [Bed-Stuy Blog]
My Curbed Wrap Up [Lost City]
What Should a Dog Shit Queen Wear? [newyorkshitty]
Non-Brooklyn, but Full of Personal Meaning: Control, the JD Movie [Brit in Brooklyn]
F Train Rider Report Card [Kensington Brooklyn]
Back to Brooklyn [Brooklynometry]

Yesterday, we had “Hipsters as the New Jocks.” Today, we’ve got the Hipster Olympics. Funny. As. Hell.

Yesterday, we put up a few photos of North Brooklyn as seen from above. So, on this blazing hot August Saturday we bring you a couple of shots of Bay Ridge as seen from high in the sky, where everything looks like it’s a little bit cooler.

GL could not attend the meeting, but special GL correspondents reported back with a great deal of detail about the session. “I was really impressed with how the neighborhood all seems to be on the same page on this one,” one of our correspondents wrote after meeting wrapped up. “People are realistic about that you can’t stop new buildings and that they are needed. It’s just that it needs to be monitored.”

A “clear star” of the evening is said to have been Rita Miller, a founder of the CORD neighborhood group, who made a plea for an “interim” development moratorium. Mr. de Blasio called Ms. Miller’s presentation “eloquent” and “poetic.” One of our correspondents reports:

Miller has done quite a bit of homework and explained this interim moratorium would be needed in order to study the consequences to the infrastructure in Carroll Gardens of the current overdevelopment. Miller mentioned in particular “safety concerns” and called Carroll Gardens the “wild west” when it comes to development and construction. She said she found over 40 stop work orders in Carroll Gardens buildings going on right now, and mentioned that at 360 Smith Street a violation already exists for construction without a permit. The recent roof collapse in Carroll Gardens was also discussed that as another example.

Mr. de Blasio seemed impressed with Miller’s points and he agreed that this interim moratorium could theoretically coincide simultaneously with the re-zoning study…he agreed to a review the possibility of an interim moratorium saying Miller, (staffer) Tom Gray and he would work together on it ASAP.

Infrastructure was brought up by several other speakers at the meeting (there was a long list of speakers…it was a sort of “open mike” and anyone who wanted to speak could sign up on a list. At the end, questions were taken from the rest of the audience. Sanitation, schools, traffic, safety concerns were all mentioned among other issues.

The issue of the controversial building at 360 Smith Street that helped push the Carroll Gardens rezoning discussion came up repeatedly, including the issue of finding a way to use an interim moratorium to impact some of the zoning peculiarities of the neighborhood, such as one that includes the big front yards of buildings as part of the definition of “wide streets” that allow developers greater densities. Residents also returned to the controversial topic of the developer’s plans to cut down the trees in the public plaza at the entrance to the Carroll Street subway station. (The trees were planted with public funds.) Neighborhood leader Barbara Brookhart argued that the plaza should be protected and our correspondent reports that “Mr. deBlasio did seem more receptive this evening” to such arguments.

360 Smith developer Billy Stein, who did not attend, is reportedly going to submit a revised building plan next week. One of our correspondents reports that he “apparently was affected by the neighborhood reaction and is going ‘against’ what his ‘people’ are advising him to build.”

Other development projects that came up in the discussion included the big development planned at the toxic Public Place site (which is still opposed by some residents) and the possible tall building at the International Longshoreman’s Association building site at 340 Court Street that would be possible under current zoning. A Third Street resident noted that the owners of a garage across the street from the 360 Smith Street site “do, in fact, intended to develop their corner…and have removed the gas tanks from the ground already and are ‘waiting to see what happens at 360 Smith Street.'”

Residents voiced concerns about the fate of neighborhood blocks between Hoyt and Bond Streets, which might be part of the upzoning being developed for Gowanus that could allow buildings as tall as 10 or 12 stories on blocks where most buildings are now two or three stories. Marlene Donnelly of Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus (FROGG) noted a host of issues associated with Gowanus development generally, including a wide range of toxic issues and the flooding that occurs around the canal during rainstorms, such as the August 8 storm.

Mr. de Blasio noted that the community session is the first of many that he is planning. He noted that the downzoning of Carroll Gardens will take about two years, but that the City Planning Department is committed to studying the issue. He again noted that downzoning and expansion of the landmark district should happen at the same time.

“The people in the neighborhood were basically demanding that de Blasio listen to them and use
this fight to develop Carroll Gardens while retaining it’s flavor as his ticket to greatness,” one of our correspondents observes, noting that there was “lots of well-informed cynicism directed toward him.”

The Council Member said that he will host a series of meeting about Carroll Gardens zoning and development issues in coming months.

UPDATE: You can also read great coverage of the meeting over on Brownstoner today and on Curbed.

UPDATE II: City Planning Director Amanda Burden previously indicated in a letter to the Carroll Gardens group CORD that a development moratorium would have to go through the city’s land use review process. She wrote, “Please note that any moratorium, whether temporary or permanent, is required by law to go through the Uniform Land Use Public Review Process, as well as an environmental review.”

Here’s what we need photos of:

* street potholes
* dead or dying street trees
* illegal outdoor advertising
* peeling paint in public places (subways)
* damaged or open fire hydrants
* missing or dangling traffic signs
* sidewalk hazards
* fallen over newspaper boxes
* illegal dumping

…and the like.

Such as construction-related issues, for instance. We can think of neighborhoods where this kind of “crowd sourcing” effort would yield major results. The effort will eventually produce a website called The People’s 311. We can see this working brilliantly if enough people participate. On the other hand, the key will be getting city agencies to respond in a meaningful way to problems. We can’t think of hundreds of instances that we’ve come across in which problems have been called in and documented and have been ignored.

They’re accepting cell phone shots in addition to camera photos, so if you see something, take a picture and upload it along with the address of the problem.

• Glass Construction Towering Over Brooklyn [Brownstoner]
• Could the Empire State Development Corp. Do More? [AYR]
• Astroland 2008 Negotiations “at a Standstill” [Gothamist]
• Make Your Own Subway Advisory [Streets Blog]
• Williamsburg Sidewalk Crabs [Brooklyn 11211]
• Seventh Ave. Books Out, Vegan Restaurant In [OTBKB]
• More Vintage 40s Coney Pics [Kinetic Carnival]
• Eminent Domania [No Land Grab]
• Someone Tries to Steal Blogger’s Online Identity [Across the Park]
• Behold the Vicious Mosquitoes of Cobble Hill [Brooklyn Bachelor]
• Upcoming Events in North Brooklyn [newyorkshitty]

Here are a few shots of North Brooklyn as seen from the sky. It wasn’t the clearest afternoon on record, and most of South Brooklyn was under cloud cover, but the view was interesting, as always.

I do believe this may be the first time Metal will be heard loudly around the Gowanus since my neighbor “Frog” moved out of the building about 5 years ago. Frog was a brooklyn boy who would crank the tunes and wax nostalgic about the old days when his hair was long, curly and flowing and he used to hang out at “Lamour’s” in Bay Ridge.

Anyway, if you are wandering around the canal on Saturday afternoon and hear “War Pigs” or “Fairies Wear Boots” tinkling through the breeze it’s not because Frog moved back in. It’s because “The Yard” is having a barbeque and Sabbra Cadabra “The World’s GREATEST Black Sabbath Cover Band” is providing the tunage!

Found in Brooklyn is required Gowanus/Carroll Gardens reading.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle has a very nice item on the aftermath of the great deluge of August 8 in one of our favorite flood zones, Gowanus. To wit:

Anecdotal reports from shopkeepers on Court Street described friends’ basements in Gowanus in which feces and dead rats were found floating in the water in their cellars…

Significant upgrades were done in the 1990s to catch basins, but the problems have only gotten worse. Of course, with enough rain raw sewage flows directly into the Gowanus. CB6 District Manager Craig Hammerman says the “upgrades” to the system were a botched job:

He called it a “glaring and outrageous example” of infrastructure overhaul gone bad, and said he believes that the city should hold responsible the engineers and independent contractors hired to do the job.

What is particularly interesting is how builders of planned luxe condos in the neighborhood plan to deal with the flooding and sewage issues.

(The photo here is not of the August 8 flooding, but a photo of some water issues earlier this summer shot by photographer Gary Mirabelle of Mirabelle Studios. If you’ve got shots of the August 8 water issues in Gowanus, we’d love to see them. You can always get our attention at gowanuslounge (at) gmail (dot) com.)

The Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn, which will have a big role in the future of North Brooklyn’s Parks, including McCarren Park and Pool, will be having a fundraiser at McCarren Pool on September 15. (The group is involved in the McCarren Pool survey that’s currently online.) In any case, Jelly NYC, which produces the Sunday shows at the Pool is putting on the benefit show, which will feature GZA performing Liquid Swords, plus Jamie Lidell. Tickets are $19, you can get them at Other Music or Turntable Lab or at (sigh) Ticketmaster.

Make of it what you will. It’s from electrorockers Mesh and it features Billyburg.

You didn’t think that Carroll Gardens “Town Hall” Meeting to be hosted by City Council Member Bill de Blasio this evening (8/23) was going to a love fest, did you? Well, what we didn’t count on was conflict before the meeting. We got an email noting that the meeting had been scheduled on the same day and at roughly the same time as a Community Board 6 Land Use-Housing-Human Services committee session that is going to deal with some fairly controversial issues. (The CB6 commmittee meeting is at 6PM at Long Island College Hospital, which is located at Hicks and Atlantic.) One resident told us that suspicions in the neighborhood are that “the conflict was totally planned.” (The Council Member’s meeting had originally been slated to take place after Labor Day when more residents are around.) Mr. de Blasio was apparently asked to reschedule the meeting when residents became aware of the conflict with the CB6 committee session, which has been on the CB6 calendar for some time, but declined. The location and timing of the two meetings makes it virtually impossible for residents to attend both.

“Nothing is new here in Carroll Gardens,” a frustrated resident told GL. “The same old councilman and the same old tactics.”

In any case, here’s the email that’s circulated about the conflicting meetings:

I hope all are aware that this “Plan Our Future” meeting hosted by Councilmember De Blasio was scheduled for a date and time which directly conflicts with a pretty controversial CB6 joint Land Use/Housing/Human Services committee meeting. Here is the CB6 meeting agenda description: “Presentation by representatives for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development of a pre-certified application to construct a total of 152 housing units at 3 development sites in the Columbia Street District at 75 Columbia Street(Block 299, Lot 1) known as Site 1 (18 units), 86-98 Congress Street & 79 Warren Street known as Site 2 (33 units), and 104-116 Warren Street & 101-115 Baltic Street known as Site 3 (102 units).

I am told that HPD only owns the small lot at Site 1, and has packaged their application in partnership with Columbia Hicks Associates, the developers/owners of the two other sites, and also that the larger building in this project will be 80 feet high.

It really troubles me that I (and many other interested individuals) cannot be in two places at once.

For those interested in figuring how to turn the trick of being at two simultaneous meetings, Mr. de Blasio’s meeting will take place at 6:30 at the Scotto Funeral Home at Court Street and First Place.

The truth is, we regularly monitor this and many other web sites and message boards.

In terms of “defending Thor,” it is needed. Thor is the largest private-sector investor and property owner in Coney Island, and is committed to ensuring that in the future — as in the past — Coney Island becomes a destination worthy of the residents who live and work there every day.

While there are some interesting posts on this site, most are emotion-fueled and factless. The internet is an extraordinarily valuable tool in that it allows all voices to be heard. The downside is that there is little ability to check for facts.

So for the past several months, much of what has been said here is simply not true. Answering each of the allegations, accusations, rumors and speculative assertions would take a team of people devoted to nothing but this.

Thanks for all of your input.

We’ll keep watching and learning.

Lee Silberstein

Not that anyone asked us, but given how the information food chain works these days and given that items on the Message Board are picked up by blogs and that some of them end up in the print media in one way, shape or form, it might seem to make sense to answer or correct some of the more alarming “allegation, accusations, rumors and speculative assertions.” We think.

It is tempting to say of Fifth Avenue that it is better now than it was. For many years Fifth Avenue was mired in poverty, even as the rest of Park Slope south of it began a slow comeback in the 1980s. Entire blocks were razed and there were empty lots, just as there were in the South Bronx of the same era. Hundred-year-old brick and brownstone housing was deteriorating. It was not until the 1990s that there was any momentum and the trickle of “urban homesteaders” who bought along 6th and 7th Avenues and the side streets in between began to invest in Fifth.

Gentrification has its benefits, but also its drawbacks. As property values and rents increase, the people who got in early are reaping great rewards. But people with incomes like your webmaster, who had earlier avoided streets like Fifth because of the former forbidding-appearing conditions, are now priced out with no hope of ever affording it, and some longstanding residents are being forced out by the changes. In microcosm it is the story of New York City itself. One extreme or the other, nothing in between.

So can you get me to say Fifth is better than it was from 1971 to 1980? The buildings have been spiffed up, there is an active local business scene (though the new ones are the cutesy, precious type that spring up when neighborhoods are first being gentrified). In the old days, people lived, worked and went to school here, not thinking they were merely scene-setters for a new group of urban professionals, and had to make way for their betters. Class envy?

Check out the entire page here.

• Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement vs. Columbia CBA [AYR]
• The Original Sin of Atlantic Yards [No Land Grab]
• Demolition Underway at Gowanus Whole Foods Site [Brownstoner]
• Fun with the Greenpoint Wikipedia Entry [newyorkshitty]
• Neighborhood Associations Gang up on Walentas [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
• Cell Phone Pic Nails Subway Perv in Brooklyn [Gothamist]
• Obama Comes to Brooklyn [Metro]
• Bed-Stuy Development Fire Pics [Bed-Stuy Blog]
• Arts on the Water [Brooklyn Based]
• Bushwick Film Fest This Weekend [A Brooklyn Life]
• Sushi Picks Map [Brooklyn Enthusiast]
• Look Inside the Strong Place Church Conversion [Brownstoner]
• Construction Signs Now Warning Bikers [Streets Blog]