No way we could only settle for still pics of the big Gowanus Water Rising Flotilla canoe, so here’s our Brookvid of the festivities. Click on the embed or on this link to watch. You can also catch the still photos in the post below. (As we noted below, the Water Rising theme turned out to have immediate irony as the Gowanus water rose quite impressively on Sunday. Photos in today’s top post.)

For those of you that dig the live action, we’ve got video too.

Storm:

• Big Storm Spurs Talk of Climate Shift [Sun]
• Floody Hell [NYP]
• Drench Warfare [NYDN]
• East Coast Storm Breaks Rainfall Record [NYT]

Not Storm:

• More Than 200 Rally Against Yards Parking, Another Protest Wed. [AYR]
• Despite Storm, 200 People Show for Atlantic Yards Demonstration [Metro]
• 106 Green Speaks About 110 Green [newyorkshitty]
• FROGG Meeting Tonight, 4/16 [Found in Brooklyn]
• Bay Ridge Avenue Fire [Bay Ridge Blog]
• Brooklyn Waterfront in 1911 [Flatbush Gardener]
• Word on the Street in Coney Island is Condos Will Kill Amusements [Kings Courier]
• Firefighters Save Family in Bensonhurst [NYP]
• Pretty Poison Flower [Dope on the Slope]
• Green Brooklyn Gets a Green Blog Shout Out [Green Brooklyn]
• A Cat’s Eye on Brooklyn [Gothamist]
• Vinyl Records are Alive in Hipster Brooklyn [Sun]
• A Trip Through Red Hook’s Bloody Past [Lost City]

The Waterfront Alliance of Williamsburg and Greenpoint passes along news that one of the most significant remaining set of historic industrial structures in North Brooklyn will be before the Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday (4/17). Two buildings have already been demolished by developer Isaac Katan, as part of a development that will dramatically alter a building at 104 West Street. Among the buildings up for “calendaring” by the LPC are the iconic pencil building at 61 Greenpoint Ave. and the original pencil factory building at 37 Greenpoint Ave. Also included are the buildings at 58 and 59 Kent Street, and the building at 104 West Street. More details and a lot more photos, and a map over at the WPA’s blog.

Related Post:
The New Look at the Old Eberhard Faber Plant

[Photo courtesy of luluinnyc/flickr]

This is Mount Prospect Park on Eastern Parkway between the Brooklyn Public Library and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Woah.

It’s Sunday, which means it’s time for our favorite Brooklyn Craigslist Missed Connection of the week. Our selection this week doesn’t disappoint, dealing with hair removal, pimples and even mentioning Charles Bukowski. Here goes:

I interjected my way into your hairlip/pimple conversation . . . – m4w

You wore a striking red and white kind of psychedelic tightly patterned blouse under a black or brown coat, you had darkish blond shoulder length hair. You were talking to your friend, a young gentleman with glasses and an impressively full beard. I was the blond guy in the long dark blue coat and light blue hat standing behind you.

Your conversation happened to absolutely hysterical, but I couldn’t help but hear even if it weren’t, I was pressed awkwardly close by the crowd. You remarked that the hair on your lip was in full force– not really your everyday bland conversation on the L, I must say. I listened, but could only see the back of your head, so my imagination opened up. ‘Why doesn’t she wax?’ I wondered . . .

“I tried waxing,” you said, “but it made me break out . . . so it’s either pimples or hair.” So true. Actually, by this time I could see that you were disarmingly attractive, hairlip or not, so I went on to reckon that you’d still be attractive with pimples, and for that matter, perhaps even with both. That is when I couldn’t not interrrupt, suggesting that, with the right diet, you could have both. Not that I wasn’t already interrupting the whole car considering I had a messenger bike on a crowded train.

I interjected again when you guys covered the subject of the teacher with the fu-manchu mustache, and then we all spoke of Charles Bukowski’s girfriend’s beard, amongst other things. It was a lot to cover in just several moments. And though I was immediately prepared to ask you out right there, I was unsure of your relationship to the bearded gentleman, quite apart from the fact that I was crashing your conversation.

What I was sure of was that you have got to be pretty cool to discuss your hairlip with such refreshing nonchalance and, I considered, damnit if I wouldn’t like to have a drink with someone like that. Here’s the funny thing: You don’t really have a hairlip.

No matter how active one’s imagination may be, it is truly impossible to make up material like this.

There are two interesting events coming up at the Brooklyn Reading Works this month, as outlined in an email from OTBKB‘s Louise Crawford, who also organizes the Reading Works programs. On Thursday, April 19th “Mom Bloggers” who write about autism will read at The Old Stone House at 8 p.m. Fifth Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets. MothersVox of Autism’s Edges and Kristina Chew of Austismland are reading. Then, on Saturday April 21, there’s “Inner Lives, Developing Characters.” That’s a one-day writing workshop with novelist Regina McBride, author of “The Nature of Water and Air.” It takes place from 10:30AM-5PM at the Montauk Club. The fee is $125, but it’s promised as a “great jump start for writer of all levels.” Regisration information via nightsea21 (at) rr (dot) nyc (dot) com or louise_crawford (at) yahoo (dot) com.

A few YouTube vids involving Dumbo. Click here to go over the playlist on YouTube if there’s a problem with the embed. Enjoy.

Images:

• Gowanus Water Tower Clouds [Velvet Sea]
• 401k Mailbox [A Test of Will]
• Prospect Park Rustic [Atomische]
• What Remains [Blue Jake]
• Clay Street Graffix [jUSTINYC]

Not Images:

• Accuweather Nor’easter Warnings [accuweather]
• Jackie Robinson: Brooklyn Dodgers Legend and Pioneer [NYT]
• Coney Island Residents Prefer Jobs to Luxury Housing [Bay News]
• Ad Touts Brooklyn As “Harbinger of the Future” [Brooklyn Eagle]
• People are Moving to Downtown Brooklyn [NYT]
• Prospect Heights Demolitions [Set Speed]
• Dumbo Weekend Links [Dumbo NYC]
• Fifth Avenue Supportive Housing Plan Continues to Divide in South Slope [NYT]
• South Beach Wine & Food Fest Coming to Dumbo Next Year [Page Six/NYP]

As you know if you read GL (thanks for doing so, by the way), we post over at Curbed from Monday through Friday, here’s some of this week’s output over there:

• Old Park Slope Says Novo Park Slope is a Deadbeat (above)
• Red Hook Waterfront Looking Swedish From Above
• Quadriad Vague About Its Big Bedford Avenue Plans
• Steiner Shows New Mustard, Digs Hipsters
• Tower of Fun Arrives to Entertain Prospect Lefferts Gardens
• Coney Island’s Future Starts with a Trailer
• Forget G-Slope and Call It B-Slope
• Rockwell Place Condos Dig Fort Greene, BAM, Etc.
• Do Neighbors Want to Chop Off Part of Burg’s Finger?
• Williamsburg’s Edge Starts with Little Random Holes
• Demolition Porn Blooper: G-Slope Gas Station Attacks Machine

The long and short answer is that nothing is happening at the Shore Theater, which is owned by Horace Bullard, who made his money with the Kansas Fried Chicken chain. Mr. Bullard owns a number of inactive properties in Coney Island and has been involved in big political and legal battles with the city over the years. Mr. Bullard once floated a grandiose plan for Coney Island redevelopment (sound familiar?), but it went nowhere. And so, Mr. Bullard is one of Coney Island’s most prominent owners of vacant land and, to some, a symbol of how big plans can be massive sources of blight.

In any case, the remnants of a once grand theater are at the base of the building and the space above was once used for offices. At the very top is a venue that was once used for banquets and other events. However, the theater is bad shape. Water leaks have taken a toll. The seats have been ripped out. Coney Island USA’s Dick Zigun explains in a posting on the Coney Island Message Board that “the scaffolding originally was put up to steam clean the building but now Bullard has decided not to pay the expense… so the scaffolding is now up for no reason.” In addition, Coney Island USA has nominated the Shore Theater for landmark status. There are apparently several city tax liens on the property.

Us, we look and see a building that needs landmark protection and that is a leading candidate for renovation and re-use. In fact, one would think that obtaining the property and renovating it and returning it to use as as performing arts space with offices and a venue on the top floor should be a public priority. Frankly, it’s so easy to see the property’s potential that you want to scream.

(We’re starting “On the Sofa” as a new feature to capture some of the most compelling comments left by our readers on items that we post.)

Community Board Six Rejects Sixth & Seventh Ave. One-Way Proposal, Punts on 9th Street Bike Lanes: “Wait, Bill DeBlasio got a ‘commitment’ from the NYPD that they will not ticket cars double-parked in the bike lane? What?? What is the point of having a bike lane if it’s essentially legal to park in it? Then bike riders have to continually swerve in and out of the bike lane to avoid parked cars — that is totally unsafe and defeats the whole purpose of the bike lane, doesn’t it? Why do people think they have a right to double-park?” [Anonymous]

Whole Foods Still Giving Park Slope the Cold Shoulder: “…they are more than willing to pick up their toys and go elsewhere if the vital goal of parking is not realized. A “green roof” would certainly jeopardize the goal. Indeed, if my past experience is any guide, the idea has got to be anathema to the company.” [David]

Trolley Tracks on Union Street in Carroll Gardens: “The trolley tracks at Union and Smith sat partially exposed in their asphalt grave for years until the mid ’90s, when the city ‘renovated’ Smith Street by replacing the inferior lighting, smoothing over cracked and dangerous sidewalks, and covering up the tracks. This in turn, led to the revival of the street as a commercial destination (albeit eventually swarming with restaurants replacing mom and pops and shuttered businesses) not just during the day but in the evenings as well.” [Anonymous]

The Commission will tell us their plans for our neighborhood and answer our questions. Their consequent decision on whether or not to consider us for landmark protection will be strongly influenced by the size of our turnout; a strong show of support by the people who live and work here will be decisive in getting us calendared. Elected officials who support us–including David Yassky, Sam Cooper from Joan Millman’s office and Rob Perris of Community Board 2–will be there.

There are a slew of Brooklyn neighborhoods in need of landmark protection sooner rather than later, and Dumbo is near the top of the list.

GL reader Von Roberts, who is a music producer, actor and resident of Red Hook for the last 25 years, sent us a lot of photos that he’s taken from his Red Hook window, which offers a superb view. We’re going to be posting some of those Red Hook photos, starting with this view of The Hook and New York Harbor beyond it.

(See something in your neighborhood? Have a photo or a tip? GL is all eye and ears. Contact us at gowanuslounge (at) gmail (dot) com and win our undying gratitude.)

Images:

• Ladies in Donut Shop [Park Slope Street Photography]
• Audis Invade Fulton Ferry Landing [Dumbo NYC]
• Pratt Cat Looks at Pigeons [Angela/flickr]
• Bed-Stuy Smokestacks [Bed-Stuy Blog]
• Coney Islander [Only Coney/kcherif]
• Brooklyn Babe Desktop [Brit in Brooklyn]
• Once Was Gowanus [JMcT/flickr]
• Quest [Lex’s Folly]

Words:

• Moses, Transportation and Atlantic Yards [AYR]
• 200 Livingston is Going to be a Big One [Brownstoner]
• Society for Clinton Hill Meeting on Monday, 4/16 [Clinton Hill Blog]
• Our First Limey Goes to the B54 (aka, B54 Where Are You?) [Bed-Stuy Blog]
• Have a Nice Weekend Subway Cluster F*** [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
• Make Sure to Watch the Toxic Brooklyn Series [Green Brooklyn]
• Dyker Heights Rezoning Plan Released [NYDN]
• Gowanus CDC’s Tom Chardavoyne Remembered [Brooklyn Eagle]
• Surviving the Cupcake Cookoff Sugar High [Brooklyn Record]
• Hidden Spa in Dumbo [Dumbo NYC]
• Blogger Says She Needs Work, Finds Job [Found in Brooklyn]

If you’re wondering why we keep beating the drum of MGPs as they’re called, it’s because they can leave behind an especially nasty mix of toxins. (The process of producing gas from coal was not a pretty one and Brooklyn had an inordinate number of these facilities. There were three in Gowanus alone, and the current debate over the site known as Public Place is about how to clean the massive quantity of toxins left behind by an MGP.) The plants left a toxic muck that included coal tar, which also has a habit of migrating a great distance underground. The playground site was included in the Gowanus Canal Community Development Corporation‘s survey of neighborhood sites with toxic contamination issues. The Thomas Greene Playground serves residents of the nearby Gowanus Houses, which overlays issues of class and race.

Here’s what the Gowanus Canal Community Development Corp.’s final report has to say about the Fulton Gas Company site (emphasis added):

The bulkhead along a portion of this former MGP site has almost completely failed, offering similar risks to the canal as the two sites mentioned above. In addition, the two properties that lie north of the former MGP site were former coal yards, which may have deposited coal tars into the soil and groundwater. Currently auto garages and a crowded truck storage facility occupy the site along the waterfront…It is also important to note the Thomas Greene Playground was once part of the former MGP site, although the consultant does not have any information regarding potential community exposure. The GCCDC should work with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to determine if any community health risks do exist at this playground.

One would think the Parks Department would have already endeavored to determine “if any community health risks” exist at the playground.

Another consultant’s report that Gowanus Lounge obtained notes that when the plant was shut, all the coal tars “were reportedly removed” from the site. However, the report lists as “unknown” all of the threats the site might present from risk of direct contact with toxins to exposure to hazardous substances. While this report downplays the risk compared to sites such as Public Place where there is a significant amount of known contamination, it also implies that children are playing on a property where there is an unknown risk.

One would think the health of the children using the park would be important enough that definitive answers would be available and that the site would be examined using modern technology so that the exact risk or lack thereof would be known. At a minimum, information about the site’s history could be more widely available so that the parents in the Gowanus Houses and others who bring their children there would be aware of its past.

Related Post:
Gas Pains: Underground Toxic Threat in Gowanus, Other Neighborhoods

If you are out and about in Brooklyn and happen to look up from time to time, you might notice what seems to be a plague of new floors being added to old buildings. The good news, of course, is that from street level, you have a renovated and restored old building. The bad news is that if you look up, the building has sprouted a mutant thing on top that sometimes clashes in a hideous way with the original structure.

We offer as cases in point a couple of small examples, one of which we have dealt with a bunch because it’s the building that has been dubbed the Carroll Gardens Hell Building. That’s a rendering of the Carroll Gardens Hell Building to the right. If you ride the F Train, you can’t miss the thing, nor can it be missed from anywhere on virtually any street in Gowanus. It’s got a two-story steel framework on the roof. The website says “the original spirit of the building was maintained.” We don’t have a degree in architecture, but we do have eyes and we’ll simply say this about that: We don’t think so.

The other is a building we’ve watched for a long time in Williamsburg called the Wythe Avenue Lofts. In both cases the work comes out of the shop of Robert Scarano. Mr. Scarano, however, is not the only architect working in Brooklyn who’s doing “additions and alterations.”

We’ve been watching the Wythe Avenue Lofts as it’s gone through a very slow renovation process and sprouted its own massive growth on top. (Although the tumor atop this building appears tiny compared to the Carroll Street one.) You might recognize the building due to all the graffiti and tagging on the upper floors. (The building is next to the “People’s Fire House,” the Williamsburg fire station that was closed with great controversy by the city.) In any case, the finished building will have 56 apartments and the completion date is listed as 2008, which would make a two-year project from start to finish.

We know that permits have to be displayed at construction sites. What we don’t know is if putting them 15 feet off the ground where only people on stilts can read them is within the letter of the law. The always roving eyes of our Greenpoint correspondent found the building in question, which is located at 988 Manhattan Avenue. Of the building itself, she writes: “The original one story structure looks iffy enough, the two stories piled on top of it look precarious at best.”

• Hudson Yards Development is Very Different Model Than Atlantic Yards [AYR]
• Ratner Will Document Sol LeWitt Wall Paintings in Building He’s Demolishing [BP]
• CB6 Asks DOT to Find a Final Solution to the Bicycle Problem [Streets Blog]
• 11 Guards Charged with Brutal Prisoner Beatings at Fed Jail in Brooklyn [NYT]
• Bushwick Baseball Beating [NYP]
• B63 to be Rerouted for “De-Mapping” of Fifth Avenue at Atlantic Yards [No Land Grab]
• To Be Young and Living in Brooklyn Without Health Insurance [Not Your Woman]
• Obsessed with Being a Hipster [Salon]
• Slightly Off-Topic: Why Ikea Really, Really Sucks [Forbes]
• Williamsburg’s Broadway Ready for Retail? [Brooklyn Record]
• Amoco’s Newtown Creek Facility Welcomes You to the Big Apple [Nancy Scola]
• Western Beef Smackdown [Across the Park]
• Top 10 Brooklyn Googlisms [A Brooklyn Life]
• Plastic Bag Ban Proposal Comes from Brooklyn State Senator [Green Brooklyn]
• 1st Annual Congress of Curious Peoples in Coney Island [Kinetic Carnival]
• Brooklyn Half-Marathon on Saturday [Living in Victorian Flatbush]