We haven’t seen it with our own eyes or lenses, but it appears that plywood–which has already been applied by Thor Equities to the Henderson’s Building and to the old Shore Hotel–has gone up on the old bank building on West 12th Street. That’s the report on the Coney Island Message Board. Maybe it’s just us, but putting plywood in a lot of windows in Coney Island would seem to be a way to promote a look of abandonment and blight. In addition to being something that would normally be done in advance of sending in bulldozers. With the end of the summer season (sadly) just around the corner, it looks fall and winter will be a time for demolition stories unless some good-faith efforts are made to protect Coney Island until zoning is in place and development agreements are worked out.

We’re expecting that the performance of Puccini’s Il Tabarro by the Vertical Player Repertory at sunset on PortSide New York’s Mary A. Whalen docked in Red Hook will be one of the cool events of the post-summer season. (Not to mention that it may be only opera ever to be hosted by a company with “stevedoring” in its name, IE American Stevedoring.) To that end, tickets are now on sale for the performances, which will run from Friday, September 7 through Sunday, September 16. (The general admission tickets are $25.) Here’s the official verbiage about the performances:

Vertical Player Repertory (VPR), in collaboration with PortSide New York, presents Il Tabarro, Giacomo Puccini’s steamy maritime opera about adultery and murder, in a site-specific production on the Brooklyn waterfront. The opera will be staged on the deck of the Mary A. Whalen, a retired oil tanker docked at the Red Hook Marine Terminal. The event is hosted by American Stevedoring Inc., operator of the Red Hook container port.

Surrounded by views of gantry cranes, containers, the lumber port, passing vessel traffic and a spectacular view of Governor’s Island and the lower Manhattan skyline, this will be an unforgettable on-site experience for audience and performers alike.

The opera will start at sundown, approximately 7:00 PM.

There will also be a pre-performance reception each evening to benefit PortSide. Tickets for the reception + opera are $60 and can also be purchased by clicking here.

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

• Inside Third & Bond Developer Blog [Brownstoner]
• Please Leave This Door Alone [newyorkshitty]
• Some Days I Like Bushwick. Some Days I Don’t [Bushwick BK]
• It Came from the Blogosphere [No Land Grab]
• More Brooklyn Trolley Talk [McBrooklyn]
• Doggy Day Care to Open in Dumbo [Dumbo NYC]
• Police Looking for Brooklyn Bank Robbers [NY1]
• Is That You, Dr. Greeley? [Lost City]
• Thor Tangled in Web Video Flap [Coney Island Reporter]
• “The Real Williamsburg” [Metro]
• Truck Busts Fuel Line [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
• City’s Plan to Destroy Underground Railroad Houses [Duffield St. Underground]

If you’re interesting in helping out a good cause in Red Hook and spending some time on the Mary A. Whalen, which is PortSide New York’s new headquarters, then you can spend some time volunteering on Saturdays. Volunteers are needed to help get things ready on the boat and there’s work available for different ability and comfort levels. Volunteers get an evening barbecue at the boat.

Volunteer days are Saturdays, from 1-6PM, except for Labor Day weekend. So, upcoming days are this Saturday (8/18) and August 25. PortSide is also seeking volunteers for the Kayak Valet event in Valentino Park in Red Hook on September 8. (Volunteers are needed to help sign in boats, talk with the kayakers, hand out maps with Red Hook info, etc.)

Contact mail (at) portsidenewyork (dot) org if you are interested in volunteering, as names must be on a list in advance at the Red Hook Container Port where the Whalen is docked. All volunteers need photo ID to show the guard at the gate. Also you can check out info about the Mary Whalen by clicking here.

There are two interesting walking tours coming up this weekend in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. The first, highlighting Williamsburg and Greenpoint’s Industrial Heritage, is sponsored by the Waterfront Preservation Alliance of Greenpoint & Williamsburg. The second is a tour of the Endangered Waterfront, led by Francis Morrone and sponsored by the Municipal Art Society. Here’s some info on both, courtesy of the WPA:

Williamsburg & Greenpoint’s Industrial Heritage Walking Tour
Sunday, August 19, 1:00 – 4:00 pm.
This neighborhood’s industrial and social history, as well as recent efforts to preserve its historic buildings, will be explored on this tour led by Mary Habstritt, Preservation Committee Chair, and Ward Dennis, historian and member of the Waterfront Preservation Alliance of Greenpoint & Williamsburg. Sites along the way will include the Williamsburg Bridge, Domino Sugar, the Austin, Nichols & Co. Warehouse, remnants of American Manufacturing Co., once the world’s largest rope factory (aka Greenpoint Terminal Market), and Eberhard Faber’s pencil plant.
Meet at the HSBC/Williamsburg Savings Bank, at 175 Broadway (corner of Driggs). Take the J,M,Z subway to Marcy Av. and walk west (toward the East River) on Broadway to the bank.

Greenpoint and Williamsburg — Endangered Waterfront Tour
Sunday, August 19, 4:30 PM
Location: Meet at Manhattan and Greenpoint avenues, by the Greenpoint Ave. station of the G train, Brooklyn
Reservations: Not required
Tour fee: $15, $12 MAS members

These once-bustling working waterfronts lost most of their shipping and manufacturing after World War II, and now even the ghostly remnants of days gone by are being swept aside by a ferocious tide of gentrification, rezoning, and rebuilding as developers reshape these historic waterfronts into enclaves of posh housing. This tour, sponsored by the Municipal Art Society, will look at the current and future redevelopment, and search for the bits left over from the past–some deserving of landmark status.
Leader: Francis Morrone, architectural historian.

If you find a way to move really quickly, you can probably do both.

Dumbo, Brooklyn

For today’s installment of Brooklyn Back in the Day we turn to the Prospect Park Boathouse. This undated photo comes from the Brooklyn Public Library’s online collection of vintage Brooklyn photos.

Wythe Avenue, Brooklyn

All hail our guest blogger Bad Advice for reporting in with news of a retail opportunity at our favorite site in Williamsburg, the Roebling Oil Field, which is now home to the Roebling Oil Building:

Anyone who’s familiar with the wealth of Texas Tea floating under the Roebling Oil Field will agree with the realtors that this prime piece of real estate, right next door to the anxiously awaited McCarren Park Mews, is indeed a phenomenal retail opportunity. With such rich resources only a couple turns of the shovel away, I’m going to suggest Jiffy Lube look into the property. Or perhaps Kennedy Fried Chicken. Whoever takes advantage, I just hope it’s not another spendy boutique where a size six is an XL and a t-shirt’ll set you back a hundred bucks. Oh, and no more Thai restaurants either. Maybe Whole Foods could commit to the corner and give it a good scrubbing—they seem to be fearless in the face of environmental disaster areas —and lord knows the Bugaboo-pushing hordes about to move in will need to get their quinoa tofu salad somewhere.
—Bad Advice

We can not pass up the opportunity to say that the 18,000 available square feet would be a superb spot for a gas station. In fact, we might say that all they’d have to do is drill deep enough to recapture some product. We could say that, but like a famous American leader once said, it would be wrong. Very, very wrong.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation and Keyspan have reached an expanded agreement on cleaning up several highly contaminated sites in Brooklyn, including two in Gowanus and one in Williamsburg. The sites were once home to Manufactured Gas Plants, which left behind an underground toxic stew of contaminants. The most prominent of the sites is the one known as Public Place in Gowanus. The expanded agreement, noted by Brooklyn 11211, is said by DEC to be key to “expediting the investigation and potential cleanup of these sites.” Here’s some of the text of the DEC press release describing the background:

From the early 1800s to the mid 1900s, hundreds of manufactured gas plants operated throughout New York State and other states, converting coal to a gas that was used for cooking and heating in much the same way that natural gas is used today. Prior to the widespread use of electricity, the gas was also extensively used for lighting streets and homes. When natural gas became widely available through the nationwide pipeline network, the local gas manufacturing facilities were closed down. The last MGP in New York State closed in 1972.

The legacy of contamination left behind by the principal gas manufacturing processes continues to be dealt with today. Large amounts of liquid waste, known as coal tar, often leaked into soils beneath the manufacturing sites. Lesser amounts of tar sometimes escaped from facilities, “Gas Holders,” where the gas was stored for local distribution. The tar has proven to be a persistent environmental contaminant. In response, DEC has developed one of the most aggressive MGP cleanup programs in the country, with over 200 sites across the state covered by consent orders reached with utilities over approximately 13 years…An implementation schedule for the order will be developed within the next month. The agreement will be binding on KeySpan and any successor companies. The additional sites to be investigated and addressed as part of the expanded consent order include:

Fulton Works MGP in Brooklyn, Metropolitan Works MGP in Brooklyn, Williamsburg Works MGP, Brooklyn Gas and Light Works MGP, Kings County Works MGP, Flatbush Station A&B Gas Holder, Scholes Street Station Gas Holder, Inwood Holder Station Gas Holder, Wythe Avenue Station Gas Holder, Belmont Gas Holder, Plymouth Street Gas Holder, Union Street Gas Holder.

New York State is continuing efforts to require the cleanup of additional KeySpan MGP sites. Consent order negotiations with the state are ongoing for 11 KeySpan alternative gas production and storage sites in Nassau and Suffolk counties. These sites did not manufacture gas from coal or petroleum and thus did not produce, store, or dispose of coal tar. However, as with many industrial facilities, environmental issues may exist. Requirements for further investigation of these sites will be included as part of negotiations for a separate order. An additional two Keyspan sites are not under a consent order, but are being pursued as part of the state’s lawsuit against major Newtown Creek polluters in the Greenpoint area of Brooklyn.

The Thomas Greene Playground is atop part of the site of the Fulton Works in Gowanus. The Lowes and Pathmark in Gowanus/Red Hook are atop the Metropolitan Works MGP site. And the Williamsburg Works MGP is believe to be the site of significant underground toxins along the East River waterfront on Kent Avenue, close to the site of a number of luxury highrise developments.

Related Posts:
Back When North Brooklyn Had Gas
Gas Pains: Underground Toxic Threat in Gowanus, Other Neighborhoods

You might recall the item about how Cole Bros. Circus didn’t sell out its shows in Coney Island and how employees and circus goers were saying unkind things about Coney. Well, we got an email from Cole Bros. Circus VP of Administration Renee Storey, who says the circus really dug Coney Island and that its engagement was “successful.” All of which is fine, but Chuck Werner, Cole Bros. senior marketing director, was paraphrased in the Brooklyn View saying that:

families did not attend at night because they feared bringing their children to an environment that, while booming during the day, is often crime-ridden at night.

He said very similar things to Kinetic Carnival about families possibly feeling unsafe and it being hard to park. We’re guessing that left hand-right hand dichotomy is an internal matter for the circus to settle. In any case, here’s the Storey email:

Cole Bros. Circus enjoyed a successful engagement in Coney Island, and looks forward to returning next year. In addition to its schedule of advertised shows, Cole Bros. Circus presented sold-out morning and early afternoon performances for children who attend religious camps. Attendance grew each day of the Cole Bros. Circus week-long stay, culminating in packed houses Thursday through Sunday, especially at its 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. shows. A majority of circus patrons used public transportation to visit the circus, evidenced by the waves of customers who lined up at the circus ticket office shortly after their trains arrived at the conveniently located Stillwell Ave. station. A few customers who attended the 8:00 p.m. show on Friday said they had difficulty finding a place to park, likely due to the huge crowds who arrive on Coney Island early in anticipation of the Friday night fireworks.

The circus is grateful to Deno’s for delaying the start of the fireworks, so that our patrons would have opportunity to exit the Big Top in time to view the wonderful display that really rocks the beach. Our circus families, especially the children, loved the fireworks, the amusements, the shore and the ocean, which was not only warm, but crystal clear. Staying at Coney Island was a treat for everyone on our show. The only complaint heard among our staff was with respect to weight gain. Living in proximity to numerous, great restaurants for a week, we indulged.

Manning the 1-800 circus info line, circus staff in Florida was surprised by the number of callers who asked for directions to the circus location in Coney Island. Our customer service representatives explained that the circus was located on Stillwell Avenue, between West 12th Street and Bowery, opposite Nathan’s. Numerous callers asked, “Where’s Nathan’s?” That surprised us, and made us think that, perhaps the circus attracted people who might not have visited Coney Island in the past.

Our experience assures us that Coney Island is a wonderful place. Judging by our crowds later in the week and the throngs of parents and kids on the boardwalk each evening, we learned that people seeking family entertainment will flock to Coney Island.

We could deconstruct this in many ways, but we’ll simply say that we’re amused by the image of people in Florida giving people in New York City directions to Coney Island and to Nathan’s. In any case, that Cole Bros. official spin on Coney Island in its entirety.

A survey to gauge sentiment about the future of McCarren Pool, which will be redesigned to include a working swimming pool, has been circulating for some time in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. It’s also been posted online, and if you’re interested in voicing your opinion about the pool’s future and what it should include, you can click over and complete it. The three operative principles are that the bathhouse and entry arch must be preserved, there must be a pool and there must be year-round recreation. After that, things are more flexible.

Thor Equities has pulled that Mermaid Parade video from YouTube after complaints about its content and a request from Coney Island USA that it be modified. The developer, apparently, didn’t get permission to use the name or logo of the Mermaid Parade, and the vid contains a Thor employee saying that “the spirit of Thor matches that of Coney Island.” Coney Island USA’s Dick Zigun, who founded the Mermaid Parade writes on the Coney Island Message Board that “Thor removed the video on my request and is re-editing the video on my request. I thank them for listening and responding.” There’s a follow up story on the video and its removal for re-editing in today’s Metro.

Our friends at Brooklyn 11211 note that it’s been a busy couple of days in Williamsburg at a couple of our favorite spots. First, the now fully glassed Northside Piers was installing a rooftop cooling tower until 3AM, in keeping with that Billburg late night vibe. Also, the Big Dutch Hole formerly known as the Old Dutch Mustard building was getting pumped with concrete. 11211 writes:

Last night, in a daring midnight operation, Northside Piers put on airs. From about 10PM until at least 3AM, NP was installing its rooftop cooling tower. The operation required a lot of very bright flood lights and a really, really tall crane. Unfortunately, being dark and four or five blocks away, this could not be captured on a point and shoot camera. So we give you here the aftermath – a view of the newly-installed cooling tower this afternoon.

The photo above is the concrete pumping at Old Dutch + the new head on Northside Piers.

[Photo courtesy of Brooklyn 11211]

Carroll Gardeners will have a chance next week to have a chat with City Council Member Bill de Blasio about the future of their neighborhood. Resident groups have been hoping for a meeting for some time and had originally expected a session in July. According to an email that landed in our inbox, the meeting is being held to discuss the downzoning of Carroll Gardens and the extension of the neighborhood’s very small landmark district. It will take place at 6:30PM on August 23 at the Scotto Funeral Home, which is at 106 1st Place. Residents are also anxious to discuss the controversial development at 360 Smith Street, which amplified the downzoning discussion in the neighborhood, so we’re certain there will be a great deal of talk on that subject as well.

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

• The Banks of Park Slope [Brownstoner]
• Charles Denson Defends His Turf [Kinetic Carnival]
• Bloomberg Should Protect Coney Island [NYDN Op-Ed, Charles Denson]
• Vera Cruz Seized by Landlord [Eater]
• Dylan Sort of in Brooklyn [Gothamist]
• Greenpoint Franklin Street Happenings [newyorkshitty]
• No More Hotel Blues in Park Slope Gowanus [Downtown Star]
• Boating in Bed-Stuy [Bed-Stuy Blog]
• Trader Joe’s on the Fast Track [Lost City]
• Brooklyn Enthusiast is Almost One [Brooklyn Enthusiast]
• Brooklyn Parking Lot Becomes Nabe Living Room [Streets Blog]
• On the Origins of Connecticut Muffin [Ditmas Park Blog]

One of our favorite structures in Brooklyn is the Parachute Jump in Coney Island, AKA Brooklyn’s Eiffel Tower. We still get a smile every time we’re on the F Train and we finally can see it in the distance. The Jump is a survivor, basically remaining in place because it would have been too costly to destroy, until its value was recognized and it was recognized. It was originally built for the 1939-40 New York Worlds Fair and, then, moved to Coney after the fair. In any case, amusement-parks.com, which is wonderful site, has a great page on the Parachute Jump’s illustrious history. While it’s doubtful it will ever be restored to a working ride, it should hava a place of honor in whatever Coney Island becomes in coming years, as befits anything with that sort of staying power in a place where so much has been destroyed.

Dumbo, Brooklyn

Here’s a playlist with a few vids related to the Domino Plant in Williamsburg, including a couple of vintage Domino Sugar TV ads.

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

You can spot the one Tahoe Development building on Skillman Avenue in Williamsburg by its trademark gray brick, which is most significantly seen in the corner of Greenpoint that we call the Tahoe Triangle. Now, a big lot next door at 139-141 Skillman has been cleared and will be the site of another Tahoe project. This one will be a ten-story number from the design shop of Michael Muroff. Meanwhile, 143 Skillman also sold in May and it’s slated for a new building and another Tahoe building at 149 Skillman is nearing completion. That’s another Muroff gray brick creation of five stories with ten units.

Check out the new City Limits for an interesting story on the trend that defines mega-projects in Brooklyn: the recruitment of advocacy groups and community development corporations by developers with promises of affordable housing. Atlantic Yards and developer Bruce Ratner’s virtual partnership with ACORN is the Gold Standard and one which the developers of the humongous project proposed for the site of the old Domino Plant in Williamsburg seek to emulate. (It is also a model which Thor Equities will likely put its arms around should its Coney Island project survive in its current iteration.) The model is either genius on the part of developers or–depending on one’s point of view–represents a war for the hearts and minds of non-profits between mission-driven advocacy work and the need to grow and survive even if it comes at the expense of mission.

Here’s a sample for the story which quotes Williamsburg’s Phil DePaolo talking about Churches United for Fair Housing and Rev. Jim O’Shea, which are supporting the massive development:

But to critics like DePaolo, who has lived in Williamsburg since 1979, organizations like Churches United have become “blindsided by crumbs” to the exclusion of displacement and density concerns. “Jim O’Shea is always crying about how people are being priced out, so why team up with these developers? He’s allowing himself to be used just like Bertha Lewis and ACORN with Atlantic Yards,” says DePaolo. “These projects aren’t encouraging the creation of stable communities. It’s really a land grab.”

O’Shea counters that grassroots organizations should be flexible in negotiating with developers to obtain affordable housing. “Housing for 600 families isn’t crumbs,” he says.

The story also deals with Quadriad Development‘s controversial highrise proposal for Berry Street in Williamsburg and its development alliance with the People’s Firehouse in Williamsburg. Definitely worth reading if you’re interested in how the mega-project game is played in Brooklyn.

As you know, we’re running some guests posts from some of our favorite Brooklyn bloggers. Today, we have the pleasure of presenting something from our friend and collaborator Miss Heather of newyorkshitty, AKA, our Greenpoint correspondent or the Dogshit Queen of Greenpoint. If you’ve ever wondered about the gentleman after whom McGuinness Boulevard is named, here you go:

I have always had a soft spot for good-natured rogues and in his day Pete McGuinness was probably the biggest one of them all. Literally: “The Fighting Alderman” of Greenpoint weighed in excess of 300 pounds and was once described as having “the bearing of a beefy Roman emperor”¹.

Pete’s love of Greenpoint was even more expansive than his body. Not only did he tout the 17^th Ward, as “the garden spot of the universe” but he also asserted that “a more moral race of people” could not be found anywhere else. The more closed-minded among you probably brand such effusive rhetoric as being “bullshit”, but to focus on trivialities such as “the truth” or “facts” is to overlook Mr. McGuinness’s unique charm.

As part cheerleader, part snake-oil salesman, and full-on badass Pete knew how to get things done. And if the truth happened to get in his way, well, it was promptly dispatched. McGuinness “was in to win”, take the bet he made with New York City’s very own Robert Moses (as featured in the August 27, 1943 edition of the New York Times) for example:

Hughes, in Letter to Moses, Reports That He Lived in Greenpoint 9 ½ Years

Peter J. McGuinness, Greenpoint Democratic boss, yesterday was privately showing his downtown Brooklyn friends a letter indicating he had won a victory over Park Commissioner Robert Moses on the question of whether Charles Evans Hughes ever had been a permanent resident of Greenpoint, a district that Mr. McGuinness usually describes as “the garden spot of the universe”. In this case, the former Chief Justice of the United States (Supreme Court) was the final arbitrator…

On Mr. Moses’ personal stationary was a short note addressed to “Dear Pete”. It said: “I thought you might be interested in the attached letter from Justice Hughes. You win.” The letter was signed “Bob.”

Mr. McGuinness refused to show the copy of the letter from Justice Hughes. He said the information was confidential. However, from another source it was learned what the retired jurist had told Mr. Moses.

“My home was in Greenpoint for about nine and a half years— from October, 1874, to May, 1884— while my father was pastor of the Union Avenue (now Manhattan Avenue) Baptist Church,” Justice Hughes wrote. “It is fair to add that I was not exposed to the beneficial atmosphere of Greenpoint for as long a time as this might indicate. I was away from home most of the time… But I had many good friends in Greenpoint and I cherish the memory of my association there,” Mr. Hughes wrote.

The question as to how long Mr. Hughes had lived in Greenpoint was first brought to Mr. Moses’ attention by the Greenpoint Democratic boss. But in a recent article in The New York Times’ Sunday Magazine, the Park Commissioner attempted to set The McGuinness straight.

In stressing neighborhood loyalty, Mr. Moses wrote:

“Pete once told me that Charles Evans Hughes was brought up in Greenpoint. I checked this and found that Mr. Hughes’ father had been a Baptist minister in Greenpoint for only a few months. “ Undaunted, Pete replied that the weeks of his early youth the Chief Justice had spent in the Garden Spot of America were the most impressionable and important of his life”.

The Fighting Alderman of Greenpoint: 1
The Power Broker: 0

—Miss Heather

¹”Grief in Greenpoint”, Time Magazine, June 21, 1948

If you think that learning about zoning is about as exciting as watching paint dry, you’re right. On the other hand, given that the future of every neighborhood in Brooklyn is won or lost during the zoning process and that everything that comes after is only the icing on the cake, not knowing about zoning is like trying to watch a football game without having any clue about the rules. So, if you want to learn, you might check out the South Brooklyn Accountable Development Initiative’s workshop “Demystifying Zoning,” which takes place on Thursday (8/16) from 2-5PM and from 6-9PM. (It’s the same workshop offered twice.) It will take place at the Fifth Avenue Committee’s office at 621 Degraw, which is between Third and Fourth Avenue. You’ve got to RSVP in order to attend. (We’re sure there’s a good reason for this, but we think it’s very unfortunate–a session this important should be open to last-minute attendees and anyone from the public that shows the interest in learning something about such a vital topic, should be given a pat on the back for showing up. The FAC should make it easy for everyone in the community to attend, so we hope they’re flexible and don’t exclude anyone). You can RSVP to dpowell (at) fifthave (dot) org. We don’t normally post phone numbers, but since RSVPs are requested and it’s short notice, call 718-237-2017, extension 148.

Here’s some official verbiage about the session:

In New York City, zoning laws determine how land can be used: from the height of buildings, to the distance between factories and housing, to requirements about parking and open space. In the near future, the City will consider zoning changes in parts of Sunset Park and around the Gowanus Canal, including parts of lower Park Slope and Carroll Gardens, which may radically transform these neighborhoods. Join us as we uncover the meaning behind the jargon so that we may demand zoning that truly serves our communities.

The workshop is a joint production of the Fifth Avenue Committee and the Pratt Center for Community Development. The session will be in both English and Spanish.

What can you say about a blog that dishes out relationship advice and observations and also covers development in Williamsburg? Hands down, Bad Advice is one of our favorite Brooklyn blogs, especially because it makes us laugh in that sardonic way we particularly enjoy. Often. Also, it generally beats us to some of the most bizarre Williamsburg real estate marketing, development and/or slice of the life in the nabe stories around. All we can say is that if you haven’t gotten any Bad Advice yet, you’ve been missing out.