One of the truisms of life in Brooklyn is that every few months, one can look forward to another long and detailed story about the large and nasty Exxon/Mobil Oil Spill in Greenpoint. So it is with the new New York Magazine, which contains a long, detailed and engaging story about North Brooklyn’s 17-30 million gallon underground oil horror. What we like most about the New York article isn’t all the research and detail, it’s the excellent way in which the spill is described. For instance:
To see the extent of the problem, imagine a viscous tar-colored blob stretching amoebalike through the Earth. It starts where Meeker Avenue hits Newtown Creek, seeping out into the waterway. From there it extends south and steadily deeper under the Brooklyn soil, reaching a depth of about 40 feet. It’s contained from below by the groundwater in the Brooklyn-Queens aquifer: The oil is repelled by the water, so the muck “floats” on top. Like the Blob in the eponymous Steve McQueen movie, it keeps changing shape and moving—bulging south beyond the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, slithering north toward Greenpoint Avenue, ballooning west to at least Monitor Street. This black lagoon fills the nooks and crannies in the gravel, sand, and silt that characterize the soil of the area, pooling in pockets that range from just centimeters thick to natural vats that are 25 feet deep. The contaminated zone encompasses at least 55 acres of northern Brooklyn—an area roughly the size of Tribeca.
The article delves into the history of the spill, the public sector’s lack of action and the debate about whether the oil spill has led to higher cancer rates in the parts of Greenpoint beneath which it lurks (fortunately, the bulk is beneath industrial sections, but it is believed to be encroaching further into residential areas beyond the points at which it is known to be). Definitely make it your fun long reading of the week.
June 5th, 2007 · Comments Off on Upcoming Workshops at the Brooklyn Artists Gym
The Brooklyn Artist’s Gym, which is located at 168 7th Street, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues in Gowanus has several workshops coming up:
The Kid’s Art Workshop is geared towards the 6-12 age range and includes painting and drawing, collage and sculpture, depending on the child’s interests. It will be offered on Saturdays, beginning July 7 through July 28.
“How to Use Your Digital Camera” will be offered on Sunday June 10 & 17 from 3:30PM-6:30PM for a $60 fee. It’s run by Brett Beyer, a professional photographer who has previously taught photography at the Eco Arts center in Taos, New Mexico and the International Center of Photography in New York.
“Intro to Basic Beading” will take place on Sunday, June 10 from 1PM-4PM. The fee is $40 plus $10 for material so you can get your beads on.
The Brooklyn Artists Gym can be reached via the F Train to Fourth Avenue or the R Train to 9th Street. For more information about these programs you can call (718) 858-9069 or sign up here.
Comments Off on Upcoming Workshops at the Brooklyn Artists GymTags:Events · Gowanus
The Don’t Demo Domino Concert in Grand Ferry Park in Williamsburg sponsored by the Waterfront Preservation Alliance of Greenpoint and Williamsburg drew hundreds of people yesterday, despite on-and-off rain that increased as the afternoon went on. Hundreds of signatures were collected on petitions calling for the landmarking of the buildings on Kent Avenue. Here’s a slideshow with some photos of the event.
Big new displays of street are in Williamsburg are less frequent than they were a few years ago. So we were happy to find a big installation that went up during the last week along Kent Avenue and some side streets. Here are a few photos for now.
Perhaps you recall that we reported on Friday that all the rides at Astroland had been put up for sale and were listed as being available “after Labor Day.” It gets curiouser. Now, the Post reports that the city and Astroland’s owner are trying to “iron out an 11th-hour deal to keep the amusement park in Coney Island after the summer.”
Carol Hill Albert, Astroland’s operator who sold the park to developer Joe Sitt and has since blamed the city for leaving her no choice but to sell since she couldn’t compete in a “year-round” Coney Island and later started talking about how she might reopen Astroland elsewhere, told the Post that she will hold off on selling the rides. She hopes the city will find an alternate site for the park:
“I really feel we can make this happen,” said Albert, who sold the park’s 3.1 acres of land to developer Thor Equities last year but still owns nearly all its rides.
Thor will let Albert operate the park this summer but is preparing to clear the land shortly after Labor Day so it can be incorporated into the developer’s proposed $2 billion, year-round entertainment complex.
The city wants to move Astroland between the park’s western end off West 10th Street and the eastern edge of KeySpan Park at West 16th Street, sources said.
“We all want to keep Carol and Astroland in Coney Island,” said Coney Island Development Corp.’s Chuck Reichenthal.
Listen closely, and you can almost hear the sounds of negotiations being conducted that will determine the shape of the final deal between Thor Equities and the city.
June 4th, 2007 · Comments Off on Domino #2: Is Landmarking Now Likely?
Could the stars be aligning to save several of the historic buildings of the Domino Sugar Refinery in Williamsburg? Yes. And, no. On the “yes” side, NY1 reported on Sunday that Community Preservation Corporation Resources, which will develop the property with controversial developer Isaac Katan, supports the landmark designation of “the historic refinery building.” On the “no” side, preservations are looking for a broader designation, including a 1883 building on Kent Avenue adjacent to Williamsburg Bridge known as the Adant House that is much admired by fans of historic industrial architecture. (That is the building pictured above. It is currently not slated for landmarking.) The developer is likely to see rezoning for the site that would allow the development of up to 2,000 units of housing on the site.
Those familiar with plans being prepared for the site by CPC and Mr. Katan say that it will include numerous highrises.
The project manager for the 11.5-acre site says they are prepared to include the building in their plans for the site.
“We’ve worked a plan around it that we hope meets all the goals that we are trying to achieve, the primary one being affordable housing,” said project manager Susan Pollock. “But we also are concerned about open space and accessibility to the water.”
The site would also feature market-rate housing and retail, and the famous Domino sign would be integrated into the new development.
“We support the landmark designation of the historic refinery building as a centerpiece of the New Domino,” said Pollock in a statement. “It will be a living and distinctive link between the new culturally and economically diverse waterfront community and its industrial past.”
But the firm does not see the need to save other buildings on the site.
“We think most of it is impossible to be used adaptively for any economically feasible benefit,” said Pollock.
Based on what GL has heard, the new plan is likely to leave a variety of interests both satisfied and disappointed. Affordable housing advocates may want to see more affordable housing. Preservationists will seek to protect additional structures. Opponents of waterfront highrises will be faced with a number of 30-40 story waterfront towers. Renderings are said to be coming.
June 4th, 2007 · Comments Off on Brooklyn Nibbles: Williamsburg Edition
1)Small Thunder, a new venture in “customized gifts and jewelry for extraordinary events,” had its grand opening in Williamsburg this weekend. Located on N. 6th Street in a small space just off Bedford Avenue, Small Thunder involves Lisa Levine and Mary Meyer. Judging by the crowd they attracted on Sunday, there is significant interest in their products. Miss Levine has a shop at 536 Metropolitan Avenue, which is between Union Avenue and Lorimer Street. Both designers already have quite the following.
2) That flea market that was supposed to open this weekend on N. 6th Street between Wythe and Kent? It didn’t happen. The opening date on the sign on the fence was changed by hand from June 2 to June 12. So, who knows.
Here’s Vic Thrill + Saturn Missile performing The Circus of Enlightenment at the Don’t Demo Domino Concert in Williamsburg yesterday, which drew more than 850 people to Grand Ferry Park over the course of the afternoon.
The Third Annual Tour de Brooklyn happened yesterday and attracted more than 2,00 cyclists, including the new Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation. Photoblogger Adrian Kinloch, AKA Brit in Brooklyn, posted an excellent slideshow of the ride on his blog and notes that even the Bensonhurst resident that shouted “F**k you, I hope you all get punctures!” didn’t dampen the spirits. Another blogger, Just Over My Shoulder, notes:
At one intersection, a cranky old man in his car screaming – “fah cryin’ out loud, get outta da goddamn road!“* – a female cop blocking his way on a scooter, saying clearly and loudly “you will go to jail if you move that car, sir, you will go straight to jail.”
More reports and photos to come, no doubt. The great video below of the Tour is from Streetfilms.
June 4th, 2007 · Comments Off on Atlantic Yards Community Liaison Office
There is something about this relatively recent signage for the Atlantic Yards Community Liaison Office erected on a fence on Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights juxtaposed against this background that draws both the eye and the camera. The office itself is located several blocks away.
Comments Off on Atlantic Yards Community Liaison OfficeTags:Atlantic Yards
There was a nice fireworks show to go along with the screening of Close Encounters of the Third Kind in Prospect Park last night. The fireworks were actually sent aloft from Mt. Prospect Park adjacent to the Brooklyn Public Library. Those on hand for the movie got to hear Borough President Marty Markowitz make the same remarks twice. The film was being shown on a double-sided screen, so Mr. Markowitz made his remarks about how people everywhere are “green with envy” about Prospect Park and announcing summer concert series that his office sponsors on both sides of the screen. The sound system was so loud, however, it meant that it sounded like deja vu, which is always a treat.
Another development overnight in the Battle of 360 Smith Street. That’s the Carroll Gardens development sight that has sparked a noisy neighborhood revolt over the size and design of a proposed building and led to a rally that will take place on Wednesday, June 6 at 12:30. As it turns out, some of the signage that residents have put up around the exit of the Carroll Street station that would be affected was torn down last night. A resident emailed us overnight to say:
a man in a gray/silver mercedes SUV came and tore down all the signage on Smith St. on the slanted wall. Very, very creepy. A white italian-looking thirtiesh slender looking man with a cigarette in his mouth and black hair. He checked out the general area, then ripped it all down. We don’t know whether he got the mural side however…no one got a license plate.
The author of Poop Culture, whose publication we noted last month, emailed us to note that his current blog entry might be of interest in terms of our Gowanus coverage. After all, he writes, “I’m a Gowanus-based writer and we all know the Gowanus’ sewage issues.” The Gowanus’ sewage issues, in case you haven’t been keeping track, are the crap flows directly into the canal when it rain because sewage and storm water runoff share the same system. In any case, the Poop Culture Blog writes about some of the reasons we continue to drown in crap–well, at least, to allow crap to pollute our waterways:
By the time World War I rolled around, most American cities could boast tremendous sewer networks. Sewage treatment, however, wasn’t part of the picture — most sewers simply outflowed into the nearest waterway. And you can imagine how America’s waterways stank. Congress began seriously funding sewage treatment research in the fifties, but it wasn’t until the seventies when the government finally decided that a civilized society is one that manages its waste.
Since then, America has invested $250 billion into its sewage infrastructure, typically building on centralized plants based around primary and secondary treatments. And while this 1950s and 60s-era process does an adequate job of separating waste from water (and more recent tertiary treatment helps further cleanse it), this process is expensive, land-intensive, energy-hungry, and glisteningly ripe for innovation.
But there hasn’t been any incentive to innovate…estimated 80-100 gallons of water, two quarts of urine, and half pound of poop flowing inexorably from every single person in their district every single day…The public only cares that its poop disappears. Once that toilet flushes, no one wants to think of it ever again — and woe betide the person who forces them to do so.
So, read the full blog entry and, if you’re anywhere remotely near the Gowanus, don’t flush your toilet during the forecast tropical rains this evening and tomorrow. If you do, it’s going into the Big G.
June 3rd, 2007 · Comments Off on Disconnected in Brooklyn on Craigslist: Dude, You Were Stoned
We love reading the Brooklyn Craigslist Missed Connections to find our Sunday favorite, and this week’s winner illustrates why: They can be weird and funny as hell at the same time. Check it out:
You got on after Fulton, at some point, (i think) and off at metropolatin ave. I cant spell it, and i don’t care. You mumbled something at first- I thought you had an ipod on, but took a quick glance up and you didn’t. Maybe hes a moaner i thought. You had on sunglasses jeans and some kind of shirt that didn’t have too much in the way of sleeves and tattoos that were mainly black and looked like outlines to me. Id say you were 23. I was reading the most awful story to my kid about a unwanted cat in a zoo that the zoo-keeper adopts. I kept having to say “scat scat cat”. She had blond hair and I had brown.
You mumbled something about golden books and I pointed out the one I had was pretty old. You lifted your sunglasses and I was pretty amazed how FUCKING RED a persons eyes could be. But you said you enjoyed my story.
I then thought about inviting you to my house to fuck but no, of course you lived in hipster land, and i live in queens. And oh yea, its hard to be smooth that way in front of your kid. Im pretty sure we wouldn’t like each other afterwards, but for some reason, I really want to violate someone that liked my golden book story.
Excellent!
Comments Off on Disconnected in Brooklyn on Craigslist: Dude, You Were StonedTags:Missed Connections
It’s time again for the Annual Greek Festival on Schermerhorn Street starting tomorrow, June 4. The festival, which is the 30th Annual edition, runs through June 10. It’s at Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Brooklyn, which is located at 64 Schermerhorn between Court Street & Boerum Place. Times are Monday-Thursday 11am-9pm, Friday 11am-1am, Saturday 1pm-1am and Sunday 1pm-4pm
Here’s some of the festival verbiage:
This 7-day event, features your favorite homemade Greek foods and pastries. While enjoying your meal, you will be entertained by our warm and friendly atmosphere. Shop in our Specialty Greek Foods section, or in our Marketplace. Our A. Fantis Greek Dance Group will perform live, traditional dances on Friday afternoon, evening and Saturday night. Enjoy a wonderful evening while a DJ provides lively music on Friday and Saturday nights, under the stars in downtown Brooklyn! Raffles, games for the kids, scrumptious cocktails. Bring your family, friends, co-workers to this one week only event!
There you have it.
Comments Off on Go Greek on Schermerhorn StreetTags:Street Fairs
June 2nd, 2007 · Comments Off on Not a Good Week to be a Controversial Brooklyn Architect: Scarano Rally Planned
One begins to get the sense that this is not a good time to be an architect who can be used as the poster boy for everything that is wrong with Brooklyn development. When a Carroll Gardens resident leading the charge against the controversial Heavy Metal Big Red Brick Building on Smith Street passed along word that Council Member Bill de Blasio was very interested in community objections to the project, we thought something might be up. Mr. de Blasio is said to be considering a run for Borough President and seeking issues that will help sharpen his public image. He has not necessarily won ardent admirers among neighborhood activists working on development and construction issues in their communities.
Yesterday afternoon, a South Slope resident passed along a press release from Council Member de Blasio’s office that is headlined: “Join Councilmember Bill de Blasio and Stand up Against Illegal Construction!” He is planning a rally on Wednesday, June 6 at 12:30 in front of the Big Red Brick Building (identified in the press release as “Robert Scarano’s latest project“) at 360 Smith Street. The email noted “irony as thick as” the humid air last night, given that Mr. de Blasio has not been outspoken about many construction horrors that have taken place already and that other buildings designed by Mr. Scarano could be said to better symbolize “illegal construction” or simply architecture that is not beloved by the community such as The Bunker and the Carroll Gardens Hell Building.
My, my? Will wonders never cease? Is Bill DeBlasio actually getting involved in the Scarano Smith Street building debacle? A showdown between De Blahblah and Scarano? That’s priceless. Finally a worthwhile cause for our Councilman to pursue, one that will actually help Carroll Gardens. Now if we could only get him to change his mind about some other, bigger Brooklyn construction projects.
In any case, the release says:
We want Robert Scarano and any other architect, developer or contractor working in this city to know they must be held accountable for their actions. Anyone who violates zoning codes, building codes and practices unsafe construction is not wanted in our neighborhood!
The New York City Department of Buildings has already relieved Scarano of his self-certification. Now we are calling on the New York State Department of Education to strip Robert Scarano of his architecture license.
Meantime, Mr. Scarano’s Wikipedia entry, which had been revised by someone to identify him as a “visionary” architect has been re-revised to label him a “controversial” architect.
One can see the outlines of tough times, not to mention significant political irony, ahead.
June 2nd, 2007 · Comments Off on Whole Foods Toxic Gowanus Site Plans "Roils New Yorkers"
The story of the Whole Foods store on the toxic site at Third Avenue and Third Street was picked up by Bloomberg yesterday. The long story quotes a Whole Foods exec as saying that criticism of the store has “been a little brutal” but that the retailer will be “happy to be there.” He also says that “We like Brooklyn because it’s cool and hip, and the store will be in an area just starting to change.” Here are a couple of samples from the story:
More than a year after announcing plans to clean up a contaminated Brooklyn site to build a supermarket, the Austin, Texas-based company is sparring with residents who say the project will add to pollution and attract unwanted development.
“They’ve wrapped themselves in the cloak of being green and organic, but they’re certainly not acting that way,” said Eric McClure, campaign coordinator of Park Slope Neighbors, a community group. “Their talk is not matching their walk.”…
The store is to be built on a 2.1-acre (0.85-hectare) tract in the Gowanus Canal corridor that at various times has been used for a junkyard, an oil-processing facility and a coal yard. A visitor walking the streets encounters a gritty collection of industry, including a marble company, a concrete plant, a metal recycling plant and auto-repair shops.
Whole Foods has already started cleaning up the soil, which is contaminated with benzene, a carcinogen, as well as toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Opposition to the store, the Whole Foods exec says is from “a small group of people hung up on several issues.”
Comments Off on Whole Foods Toxic Gowanus Site Plans "Roils New Yorkers"Tags:Gowanus · Whole Foods
June 2nd, 2007 · Comments Off on Don’t Demo Domino Concert is Tomorrow
You might have heard, and we posted about this a couple of weeks ago, but it’s worth a reminder: There’s a Don’t Demo Domino Concert tomorrow (6/3) in support of the landmarking of parts of the historic Domino Sugar Plant on the Williamsburg waterfront. The event starts at 2:00PM and runs until 8:00PM. It takes place at Grand Ferry Park which is at the foot of Grand Street on the East River. The show will feature Nada Surf, The Wau Wau Sisters, Cheeseburger, Vic Thrill & the Saturn Missile, the Hungry Marching Band and The Black Tie Party. It’s a free show. Attendees are being asked to sign the Waterfront Preservation Alliance of Greenpoint & Williamsburg’s Don’t Demo Petition. The Domino Plant is one of the last surviving major industrial structures on the Williamsburg-Greenpoint waterfront. It is being considered for landmarking by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
June 2nd, 2007 · Comments Off on Recycle Your Unwanted Electronics in Carroll Gardens This Weekend
Thanks to Z. Madison for bringing this to our attention, as it had escaped us entirely: There is an E-Waste Drive going on in Carroll Gardens this weekend that has been organized by City Council Member Bill de Blasio. It’s another opportunity to dispose of unwanted computers, VCRs, cell phones and other unwanted electronic gear in an environmentally-responsible way. The drop off spot is Smith & President Street (via subway, take the F or G to Carroll Street). The hours are:
According to the EPA, about 70 percent of heavy metals in landfills come from e-waste, so getting rid of your unwanted tech devices and toys this way is simply a good thing to do.
Comments Off on Recycle Your Unwanted Electronics in Carroll Gardens This WeekendTags:Carroll Gardens · Enviornment
