The new Real Deal has a story that will be a must read for Atlantic Yards followers. It’s about former Empire State Development Corporation Chair Charles Gargano. Mr. Gargano was most recently the subject of a long Village Voice investigative story about the Red Hook Piers. Now, there’s an audit of “allegedly misdirected funds at the agency.” Real Deal writes:

Depending on the findings of the audit by the new New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, which were slated for release around the end of February, the unelected former economic czar could become part of a criminal investigation. Allegations that the Economic State Development Corp. paid the rent of the headquarters of agency chief Gargano’s nephew, Frank Gargano — who unsuccessfully ran for local office in Suffolk County on Long Island — further cloud the legacy of the Albany insider’s 12 years in power…

Last month, The Real Deal sat down with Gargano in one of the first interviews since he left office. Gargano defended himself against the claims of impropriety and reflected on his experience as the state’s development czar. He found fault with developers and government officials for projects that were thwarted at the end of his tenure.

The investigation of the ESDC follows outgoing Gov. George Pataki’s defiance of Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer’s request last year that the old administration not make any long-lasting public authority appointments prior to leaving office. Pataki extended Charles Gargano’s stint as vice chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey by six years. The agency controls most of the bridges, tunnels and roads that crisscross the region, and also major portions of the World Trade Center redevelopment.

At the ESDC, Spitzer wasted no time replacing 72-year-old Gargano with Patrick Foye, a mergers and acquisitions lawyer who headed a three-year turnaround effort as chief executive of the United Way of Long Island.

If the audit goes against the agency or Gargano, it could trigger an aggressive look by new Attorney General Andrew Cuomo into past ESDC workings.

Mr. Gargano was criticized by Atlantic Yards opponents for shunning public input and for fast tracking the project so it would be approved before Gov. Pataki left office.

This is getting a little gross, in the sense that someone running around splattering street art with paint makes the front page of the Metro Section of the New York Times. He’s also making news across the pond. Specifically, our favorite paint vandal–who some say is only vandalizing the work of vandals–makes the Guardian’s blog in the UK. To wit:

An anonymous campaigner has been covering street art in New York with splatters of paint and wheat-pasted manifestos condemning the commodification of art. The vandal has been nicknamed The Splasher by bloggers, and greeted with derision. But if street art is supposed to bend boundaries and be anti-establishment, why does someone want to deface it?

The art manifestos pasted alongside the splashes are given titles like Avant-Garde: Advance Scouts for Capital or Art: The Excrement of Action, declaring the work as “a trough for the gallery owners and critics”. The Debordian rhetoric cries to destroy the museum: “Revolutionary creativity does not shock or entertain the bourgeoisie, it destroys them”. To make it even more violent, there’s a note at the bottom of the paper saying removal may result in injury as they’ve mixed the paint with tiny shards of glass.

Artist-victims of the campaign so far have included Swoon, Faile, Banksy and Shepherd Fairey – most of whom make very healthy livings in the art world. In the more rule-laden graffiti scene, lining someone else’s work (crossing it out with spray paint) is the ultimate insult. But street art hasn’t developed with those parameters. The transitory nature of street art is what gives it its impact. Many people creating work don’t expect longevity – no wall stays the same for long in a city. Arguably The Splasher’s Dadaist political cries are just another form of street art in themselves.

Perhaps the campaign is a response to what street art blog The Wooster Collective calls the Banksy effect. When Banksy first started selling his work and moving off the streets – swapping the egalitarian for the cash – many people accused him of selling out his politics (but are currently kicking themselves for not buying the work for £50 when its now worth £50,000). His mammoth success has lead to sell out shows by street artists at galleries worldwide.

Does this justify The Splasher’s actions? I say deface the work – give it time to breathe and be seen for a bit – then comment on it. Street interventions shouldn’t be static – they should develop and change. If pieces remain untouched then surely that’s proof of their worth? A few years back, Banksy created a large stencil mural in Soho of the Mona Lisa dressed as Che Guevara. In the night, someone transformed her face into Bin Laden. The comment was funny, timely and more resonant. Art is something in progress rather than something to sell in Sotheby’s. Maybe The Splasher has a point …

We can only imagine how many more splashings and copycat splashings the coverage will generate. On the other hand, the more he splashes, the better the odds that someone will figure out who’s behind it.

Related Posts:
Splasher Strikes Again Across Williamsburg
The N. 6th Street Splasher-Artist War Continues

There are two amusing posts about the Gowanus Canal over at a blog called the Brooklyn Skeptic. They’re called the “Gowanus Debate Series” and one is a pro-Gowanus post and the other is a response.

A sample from the “Yay” post:

The actual creation of the Canal was one of the first acts of Brooklyn gentrification. Once the land was drained, property values went up and the birds and fishes were kicked out so robber-barons and merchant marines could move in. So, I’m not sure if this is a benefit because it’s a politically sensitive matter – which I am clearly on the wrong side of – but, it’s certainly historically interesting.

A sample from the “Nay” post:

Fact is, the Gowanus Canal is a potentially harmful stream of chemicals that spawns mutant mosquitoes during the summer. And being just one block away from the man made toxic water hole, I must bear the brunt of this ‘squito situation. People often think screening one’s windows will be enough to deter some flimsy little mosquito from entering into an apartment. However, when mosquitoes are brought to life by an ungodly pool of poison, they inherit the strength of an angry soccer mom and are able to physically bend screen wires open with their arms. I’ve seen this occur. It’s some crazy shit.

A++ for both posts.

Dianna Carlin remembers the community meeting held at the behest of developer Joe Sitt in Coney Island in 2005. Mr. Sitt walked into a room at the Coney Island Museum eating cotton candy (perhaps for effect or, perhaps, because he wanted some sugar) and strolled right up to Ms. Carlin.

“God, Lola Staar,” she remembers the developer saying. “He said, ‘Hi, you don’t recognize me. I’m Joe Sitt.’ He talked to me like he was my best friend.” She recalls that as the only female entrepreneur in the group and as a relative newcomer to Coney Island she was a little taken aback by the greeting. (Actually, she uses the word, “horrified.”) Great, she says she thought, now everyone will think I’m working with the developer.

Still, she says, “he took the time and cared enough to come and talk. That impressed me. Maybe in retrospect it was for show.”

Less than two years later, Ms. Carlin, who operates the Lola Staar Boutique in Coney Island and online, would find herself locked in a bitter eviction dispute with Mr. Sitt. She would sign a lease and, two days later, end up being served with eviction papers by Mr. Sitt’s firm.

GL reported in early February that Ms. Carlin had been evicted from her boutique, but she could not speak us at the time. Yesterday, with legal action concluded, and Ms. Carlin slated to leave her boardwalk store by the end of March, she related a story of confidentiality clauses in leases that Thor is requiring Coney Island tenants to sign and of becoming a pawn in the high stakes power game of changing zoning in the neighborhood to allow luxury watefront condos.

While neighboring businesses on the boardwalk signed new leases with Mr. Sitt, Ms. Carlin says she balked at a confidentiality clause. (Such clauses are becoming common in transactions involving developments that could generate public controversy.) The clause would subject violators that talk about the redevelopment of Coney Island to fines of $10,000, according to an article that also appears today in the Daily News. It bans participation in parades, marches and other events until three years after the lease is terminated. The ban could “keep tenants from speaking during a city-mandated public land review process this year,” Jotham Sederstrom writes in the Daily News.

Ms. Carlin told GL that she tried to negotiate an exception to the gag rule because she couldn’t see remaining silent. “I’m so passionate about Coney Island,” she says. “I wanted to voice my opinion of the redevelopment.” Eventually, she relented and at a meeting with Thor, signed the lease, confidentiality clause and all. She recalls it as being “a fairly friendly meeting.” Mr. Sitt was said to be out of town, but she says she was told he would sign as soon as he returned.

The next day she says she got a call from a Thor Equities employee requesting a meeting. When he arrived for the appointment, she was served with eviction papers. She says she was shocked by the eviction and placed multiple calls to Mr. Sitt, who had told her at the meeting with local businesses to “call me anytime.” Mr. Sitt did not return her calls. Later she said that someone with knowledge of the Coney Island situation told her she’d become part of the game of hardball that Thor was playing to try to win zoning concessions to allow it to build luxury highrise condos in Coney Island.

“I was singled out and evicted,” she says. “They’re saying ‘we’re serious about evicting all these businesses and demolishing this land. We’ll destroy Coney if we don’t get [the rezoning].'”

“I had a very good relationship was developing a business plan with them,” she says. “I wanted to do a roller rink in the new development. I really believed I would contribute fabulous things to the redevelopment.”

Many observers of the Coney Island scene that say the demolitions that are already underway are a tactic to ratchet up pressure to move quickly on a favorable rezoning community. Ms. Carlin agrees, saying the developer will leave empty land that will frighten away visitors, add more depressing vacancy and be a magnet for crime and other activity. “It’s obvious what they’re trying to do,” she says, even arguing that the city should close Stillwell Avenue and West 12th Street and put up temporary carnival rides to keep the area lively and safe.

Even though she’s been evicted, Ms. Carlin is already making plans for the new summer season in Coney Island. She says she’s investing in a “temporary” structure–a shipping container like Uniqlo used in New York City when they were promoting their new store. She got in touch with Lot-Ek, the architecture and design firm that has done work for Uniqlo among others, and they are donating the design services for the new Lola Staar Boutique.

“It’s going to be a new, fabulous Lola Staar empire,” she says. “I was going to say ‘forget about Coney Island,’ but I’m so committed to it. I want Joe Sitt to walk up there and see this beautiful pink palace and know he couldn’t beat down Lola Staar.”

Related Posts:
Coney Island Death Watch: Lola Staar Boutique Evicted
Speak No Evil: Thor Tenants Required to Sign Confidentiality Clause

(There will likely be a number of stories in blogs and in the print media about Ms. Carlin and about the “confidentiality clause” in coming days. There is a very good story about it by Jotham Sederstrom in the Daily News today.)

So, what’s going on with the building at N. 4th Street and Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg? Heck if we know, but it was been undergoing a laborious manual demolition for a long time. The skeleton of the old building has been sitting like this for months with little going on other than the construction fence falling open from time to time and opening up the entire site to the public. A number of the permits on the site are due to expire in May. The ugly site blighting Bedford Avenue is partly owned by Quadriad Development, which wants to throw up a significant number of very tall buildings in parts of Williamsburg that were downzoned when the waterfront was upzoned for highrises. The only thing we know for certain is that the demolition started nearly a year. The small building adjacent to the skeleton is still in use.

Related Posts:
Quadriad Development Williamsburg Site Has Another Bad Day
Massive Williamsburgh Square Development Vs the Streetscape
Williamsburg’s High Rise Future: The Quadriad Version

UPDATE: The partly demolished building is not owned by Quadriad, which is said to still be trying to acquire it. For the time being, we are told they are pursuing development plans on the part of the parcel the do own, which is the half that has been cleared. A formal presentation of their plans, with updated information is planned for March 13. We understand the buildings are still very tall.

More cafes are comig to Greenpoint. Our neighborhood correspondent notes a new cafe under construction at 1020 Manhattan Avenue, directly across the street from another relatively recent spot called Cafecito (photo below). And, don’t forget the impending Greenpoint Starbucks. Our correspondent writes, “…because we Greenpointers know there are not enough of them here already! This one will be located across the street from Cafecito, another newcomer. Peachy.”

Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and images. On Thursday, we focus on food.

Food:

• More on the Sudden Shuttering of Silenth in Williamsburg (above) [Eater]
• Miriam on Court Street: “Near Miss” & Watch Out for the Escolar. Really. [Gothamist]
• Miriam is Nice but Needs to Learn How to Season Its Food [L Magazine]
• The El Mexicano at the Franklin Corner Store Will Blow Your F’ing Mind [newyorkshitty]
• Top Pizza in Brooklyn [One Stop Over in Brooklyn]
• Watana Thai in the South Slope is “Not Worth It” [Chowhound]
• Rice’s Forumula is “Simple and It Works” [Eating For Brooklyn]
• Wednesday Food and Drink Roundup [Brooklyn Record]
• Park Slope Dining [NYT]

Not Enough Information:

• Atlantic Yards Financial Projections [Brownstoner]
• Documents Released by ESDC Lack Vital Information [AYR]
• Three Pages of Mystery: Documents Leave Questions Unanswered [AYR]
• Critics Deems Atlantic Yards Documents Insufficient [Sun]
• Financial Projections Fail to Shed Light on Forest City Ratner’s Profits [DDDB]

Not Food:

• Sunset Park Waterfront Property Leased to Auto Shipping Operation [TRE]
• DOT Proposes Radical New Traffic Plan for Park Slope [Streetsblog]
• You Can Now Check Traffic on the BQE with Google Maps [Gothamist]
• Some Coney Hoopla [Kinetic Carnival]
• Planet PLG Creator Leaving PLG [Across the Park]
• Parking is a Pain [Clinton Hill Blog]

So, if the Atlantic Yards project moves forward, some of the opposition energy will probably transfer to watching the construction work in hawklike fashion, not unlike the way a storm moving through the Midwest hands off its strength to a coastal storm system. For a harbinger of things to come, check out the item yesterday in Atlantic Yards Report and also see today’s Metro, which expounds on the story first reported by Norman Oder. What unfolds is a revealing tale of budding problems and a left hand (Forest City Ratner’s new “Community Liaison Office”) that is unaware of the right hand (other Forest City Ratner operations and the Empire State Development Corp.). From the Metro story:

Ratner had announced construction of a temporary rail yard and demolition of a building on Flatbush Avenue within the 22-acre footprint, but Peter Krashes, president of the Dean Street Block Association, noticed work being done on his street. He visited the liaison to ask what was going on. “He said there was no jackhammering for the community to be worried about,” Krashes recounted. “I told him there had been jackhammering since [last week] on Dean Street.”

Krashes was still waiting for an answer on Monday when his water was shut off.

He called the numbers the liaison gave him. “The first number I called, nobody answered,” Krashes said. “The next number went to a consultant construction agency that didn’t know what I was talking about.”

A Forest City Ratner spokesman called Krashes and said the workers called in the city to check their work and noticed a leak in a water main. But Krashes heard a different story from the workers.

“I was told the plumbers caused the problem and [the Dept. of Environmental Protection] came and had to shut off the water. It’s a big distinction,” Krashes said. “But the bigger problem is there’s going to be a lot of construction going on in the next 10 years that we are going to be exposed to. We need public oversight. A community liaison’s office run by Forest City Ratner is not a replacement for community oversight.”

It could be a very, very, very, very, very long ten years. Did we say, “very“?

UPDATE: Norman Oder also has a followup story in Atlantic Yards Report today about how criticism of Atlantic Yards oversight was aired at an Empire State Development Corp. meeting..

While we still can’t figure out exactly how much profit developer Bruce Ratner stands to make from Atlantic Yards, we’re certainly taken by the “For Discussion Purposes Only: Actual Results May Vary” caveat noted by Atlantic Yards expert and super-blogger Norman Oder. Meanwhile, neither Mr. Oder nor Develop Don’t Destroy are impressed with the documents that were released. Atlantic Yards Report notes that the documents lack vital information. DDDB says that they don’t shed any light on the developer’s profit. All of which seems to indicate that the same lack of clear financial information that has surrounded the Atlantic Yards project from the very beginning still exists despite this “release of information” by the Empire State Development Corporation. The documents were posted by Brownstoner yesterday.

Actual Results May Vary?

As posted yesterday on flickr by keylimesteve. The speed of the Revere demolition by the crew dispatched by developer Joe Sitt and Thor Equities seems to be picking up speed. The last of the dome has been removed and the iconic Revere Dome is now the very sad Revere Cylinder. “Cylinder being stripped away piece by piece on the former Revere Sugar Refinery,” Steve writes. “There are very few distinguishable characteristics remaining of the long-standing icon that was once synonymous with Red Hook.”

We haven’t had time to look at them closely, and reading financials isn’t our No. 1 skill (and we’ll defer to Atlantic Yards Report and Norman Oder for the in-depth analysis), but Brownstoner scores an excellent scoop by posting several of the most sought-after PDFs in certain Brooklyn circles. You can check out the post here. The documents don’t seem to yet be up on the Empire State Development Corporation’s website. The document shows a cash flow of $1 billion from 2012-15, but the initial read by Atlantic Yards Report is that the document lacks vital information and that it only covers ten years of the project. Develop Don’t Destroy says that it “fails to shed light” on the developer’s profit. We’re sure there will be much more on this tomorrow.

PoolAid screened its We Are the Pool! vid last night. We won’t rehash all the details about McCarren Pool here. Simply click on the embed below to watch or click on this link to go over to YouTube.

This pile driver was at 165 N. 10th Street in Williamsburg for a couple, banging away until it moved on to another site a few blocks away. This device is making the round in the neighborhood, because we’d also spotted it parked next to the Roebling Oil Field a couple of months ago. The site in question, which got a mortgage for about $4.5 million back in December from Bank Leumi, will be a six-story number and have 14 apartments. The developer is the Kiska Group, which also did the building behind this new one on N. 11th Street. The architect is Gene Kaufman who also did the N. 11th Street building. The rendering is below. We think the building has a very 1990s Berlin kind of feel to it, and hope the rendering makes the structure look more hideous than it will really turn out to be. The N. 11th Street building also had a really frightening rendering on the Kiska website, but in reality, is not that bad, especially compared to other new construction in the hood. Except for the view of the new parking lot full of trucks across the street, but that’s not an issue of building design.

Rendering of the new 165 N. 10th

The new building on N. 11th

Lola Staar Boutique founder Dianna Carlin, who we reported in early February was evicted by Thor Equities, is speaking out about why she was forced to go. The entrepreneur says she was given the boot by the developer because she balked at a confidentiality clause that was part of the lease she was offered. Ms. Carlin tells Metro that “Thor has forced everyone to sign the confidentiality clause, so when people go to the businesses and ask about it, all you can do is shrug your shoulders.” She adds:

Before the confidentiality issue, Carlin had a “good relationship” with Joe Sitt, principal of Thor. When Carlin contacted Sitt’s office about her eviction, “The lawyer said the eviction had to do with negotiations with the city. I just feel like I’m this prop. It’s this game for [the developer], but it’s my business.”

Thor’s spokesperson did not comment to Metro about the allegations. However, a spokesperson for the city’s Economic Development Corp. did comment about the loss of the Staar boutique on the boardwalk:

“It’s businesses like Lola Staar’s that have given Coney Island its unique flavor and authenticity, and we hope to see it relocate and succeed in the area for many years to come,” said Yonit Golub, spokeswoman for the city’s Economic Development Corporation. “The city is committed to preserving and enhancing Coney Island’s historic amusement area, making sure it stays open to the public and creating economic opportunities for local residents. We have serious concerns that residential uses are not compatible with that vision.”

We’ll be having our own conversation with Lola now that she is no longer entangled in lease issues with Thor and will report back. Her former boutique, by the way, is part of the location of where one of the luxury highrises the developer wants to build would go.

Related Post:
Coney Island Deathwatch: Lola Staar Boutique Evicted

Don’t look now, but all that previously private financial information about Atlantic Yards could be released soon. The Empire State Development Corporation had stonewalled requests for the release of the critical and revealing information during the Pataki Administration. That development is reported in today’s New York Sun. The release of the information would come in response to a lawsuit by Assem. James Brennan and State Sen. Velmanette Montgomery. The Sun writes:

An ESDC spokeswoman told The New York Sun it now intends to release the documents to Mr. Brennan, likely this week, which include development company Forest City Ratner’s business plan for the $4.2 billion project in Brooklyn. Assemblyman James Brennan, joined by state Senator Velmanette Montgomery, filed a lawsuit Monday against the Empire State Development Corporation alleging that the agency was improperly withholding documents detailing the project’s finances.

Critics of the project for at least two years have been attempting to determine the amount developer Bruce Ratner stands to profit, and they say the hundreds of millions in city and state subsidies should justify its status as public information.

A spokesperson for the ESDC says that the new decision is the result of a reevaluation of the original decision by the Spitzer Administration. More analysis of the possible release of the documents is available, as always, at Atlantic Yards Report. Meanwhile, No Land Grab offers that release of the information is critical (even after the approval of the project) because “it is important to know how much taxpayer money will be committed to Atlantic Yards and what the taxpayers will get in return…It is important to understand how much Bruce Ratner stands to make…If the density issue is driven by the need for the developer to make a profit, then the public has a right to know what Ratner will earn in exchange for the public’s acquiescence to an urban planning experiment of historical proportions.

Our Greenpoint correspondent hit us off with multiple photos of the big neighborhood construction site at 110 Green Street that is destined to be the home of a very glassy new condo building. We present some of those pics here, taking note of the fact that it’s a very accessible site to anyone in the neighborhood that wants the privacy of a vacant lot. The wide open site, however, in the words of our correspondent, has “a brand-spanking new metal gate. This is kind of funny given that other parts of the fence are totally falling apart AND another gate had been left open.” The site also had a visit from the Department of Buildings today (for reasons that are unknown, although it has a couple of outstanding violations for work without a permit). More fence photos, and a shot of a visit from the Fire Department are below. If the past is an indicator of the future, this should be one of those spots that provides thrills until the day the last Sub-Zero is installed.

Decorative Main Gate

FDNY Visits

Related Post:
Demolition Porn: Greenpoint Snow Scene

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

• 20 Years of “Temporary” Parking at Atlantic Yards? [Brooklyn Speaks via No Land Grab]
• Atlantic Yards Demolitions Could Start by April [AYR]
• Starrett City Buyer Said to Have Sketchy Record on Affordable Housing [NYT]
• Help Change the Gowanus Whole Foods Design [I’m Seeing Green]
• Vicious Parking Situation in Park Slope [NYDN]
• Inside the Grand Avenue Haunted House [Brownstoner]
• Williamsburg Trapeze School [Brooklyn Record]
• First Friday at RePop: March 2 [Clinton Hill Blog]
• More Details on the Proposed Coney Island Ampitheater [Courier Life]
• Borough Park Garment Factory Shut for Fire Code Violations [NYT]
• Talking Gray Parrots of Brooklyn [Metroblogging]
• What You Learn by Reading the Walls at Ferdinando’s [Lost City]

We found this posted by Astrolander at the Coney Island Message Board. It touches on the subject of what we’ll lose with a Coney Island re-do that treats Coney as a brand name and nothing more:

The likes of Coney Island as we know and love, we will never see again, either with condos/corporate retail or just a new “Coney Island Park”.

What makes it so special, today, in 2007, is its low-tech, classic, mom & pop owned, non-branded/non-corporate/non-commercialized, very timeless essence that is still anchored to its glorious and outrageous past. You don’t have to look hard to see the old ghosts that frolicked there once. Coney is run, patronized and admired by people who really care about Coney, and obviously not the money or exploiting it for profit.

It is easy to criticize Coney today by some – it’s “dirtiness, open space of vacant lots, lack of ATM’s, no extreme spectacular death defying virtual reality sound barrier breaking worlds tallest/fastest rides called something like the “Beast” or “Nitro” in 3-D, and lack of mass crowds. The more difficult position to take on Coney is to see it and celebrate it as a one-of-a-kind precious jewel, the poetic art that it is, just as it is.

…To me, development should add to the critical mass of Coney that is there, not destroy it. Development could slowly add some spectacular new amusements that are a revision of some of the great lost rides of yore. Development could be designing new rides that incorporate grace, style, and kitsch rather than a ubiquitous indoor water park.

The corporate retail real estate developers are not motivated or driven by the same purpose as those who run Coney now. They are only guided by profits. In this day and age, they will resort to any tactics in order to maximize profits. This includes, playing both sides of the fence (condos/mall AND amusements) and holding the prize hostage (only amusements IF we can build condos/mall). Can you name any other amusement areas that could only be built from the proceeds of selling condos/renting corporate retail on the same property? There are many available plots for this outside of the Amusement land.

If they were interested in only creating a new amusement legacy at Coney, they would certainly figure out another means to fund this effort other than holding the prospect of continued amusement hostage…

We couldn’t have said it any better ourselves.

We stumbled across this item on Inprint, which comes from the New School University. It’s a “neighborhood profile” written by someone that just moved to Red Hook. It’s short and it moved us:

I just moved to Red Hook about a week ago. I still don’t know much about the place. There’s a lot of eighteen wheeler traffic and all the Fung Wah buses hang out in a warehouse about a block away from where I live. I met my neighbor yesterday, his name is James and he has a tiny dog with squinty eyes. I don’t have a bed yet so I sleep on a piece of cardboard on my floor.

Of Gowanus, the writer says, “The Gowanus Canal, pronounced “Go-on-us,” not “Go-anus.” Trash and heavy machinery are common sights.”

Indeed.

The discussion about the Brooklyn Public Library’s exclusion–some would say censorship–of certain works in its current show about the community surrounding the Atlantic Yards project continues. The National Coalition Against Censorship is saying the exclusion of the works was censorship and takes the library to task for not including several works in the “Footprints” show. The group says:

When the Library offered to host the show, it also stipulated that some of the work, which could be perceived as advocacy against the pending development of the area, should be excluded. Even though the library offered other rationales– size and artistic merit – the political position advanced by some of the work was clearly the reason for the exclusion.

Is this censorship?

Libraries have traditionally been our best allies in defense of First Amendment freedoms. Librarians have gone to bat innumerable times to protect a book against groups calling for its removal and spoken fiercely in defense of the public’s right to access information freely. In this case, however, the BCPL made an error of judgment, which put them in the role of the censor.

The First Amendment defines censorship as the suppression of speech by public officials because of the point of view expressed in it. As the library personnel at BCPL are public officials and as the work was rejected because of its critical point of view, their action may well be defined as censorship.

Library officials insist that, because it “serves the entire community,” BCPL does not “offer platforms for one-sided advocacy on controversial political issues.” We doubt the library would reject a book because it laid out an argument on a matter of social importance no matter how one sided the argument was. Why reject an artwork?…

Removing work from a show because it takes a position on an important public debate not only goes against First Amendment principles, it also betrays the library’s mission to represent a diversity of viewpoints. It is a regrettable error of judgment on part of an institution that has traditionally been one of the most principled defenders of the free circulation of ideas.

A very reasoned and carefully worded opinion about the Library’s actions, yet one that ultimately comes to negative conclusions about its actions.

[Photo courtesy of bondidwhat/flickr]

We’ve done a lot of posts about what you might call Gowanus’ crappy little secret–the tendency for sewage to flood basements flow into the streets from manholes during rainstorms. (Actually, it’s no secret to residents, only to, say, future condo buyers.) In any case, the flickr photographer who goes by bondidwhat shot a photo of this sign publicizing a neighborhood meeting on Thursday (3/1) that mentions both the sewage problem and the Toll Brothers “urban village” that might someday rise on the banks of the Big G. It also notes that warehouse that was “quietly demolished” on First Street in what one can only assume is a prelude to development, pending rezoning.

Check out bondidwhat’s very, very cool flickr photoset of BoCoCa & Gowanus here or go right to the slideshow here. Or, check out her entire photostream.

Related:
Beware the Gowanus Canal Shit Storm
Holy Crap: Sewage Geysers in Gowanus

Looking for a parking space in Park Slope? Tough luck. According to a new study, more than half of the traffic in Park Slope is “just cruising for a parking spot.” That interesting finding is in a report called “No Vacancy: Park Slope’s Parking Problem and How to Fix It” conducted by Transportation Alternatives. The report says that curbside parking spaces on 7th Avenue are filled to capacity.

Among the findings:

• On average, 94% of the area’s metered parking spaces are occupied, with nearly 100% of spaces occupied at peak periods. Occupancy rates at non-metered spaces average 95%.
• Nearly one in every six vehicles parked along 7th Avenue is illegally parked.
• Nearly 2/3 of local traffic is circling the block cruising for parking.

Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives says that “Brooklynites are suffering from needless traffic and dangerous illegal parking that could be easily eliminated through inexpensive improvements like market-priced Muni-Meters and residential parking permits.”

The study is the first of “cruising” in Brooklyn, and the third done in New York City overall, according to the group. It concludes that “market rate pricing” on commercial corridors like Seventh Avenue and resident parking permits could cut traffic in Park Slope by up to 45 percent. The group argues that making on-street parking closer in price to private garages would free up more parking spaces and reduce traffic.

The photo above and below was sent to us by a Greenpoint correspondent who is always sending great photos and information our way. As we are always impressed by the number of construction and/or demolition sites with fencing that is wide open, poorly secured or that has been knocked down, this little winter scene caught our eyes. Our photographer writes:

This has got to be the most pathetic construction fence I have ever seen. The big site here on Green Street got a brand-spanking new metal gate. This is kind of funny given that other parts of the fence are totally falling apart AND another gate had been left open. On West Street alone, there are two more fences that have partially collapsed.

Given that we photographed several similarly well-maintained sites in Williamsburg this weekend, we’re going to be featuring some of these wide-open sites. We’re certain that some people appreciate them, because you never known when you’ll need access to a vacant lot or construction site to do, you know, whatever you need that sort of spot to do.

We devoted quite a bit of space yesterday to the paint vandal known as the Splasher, but we didn’t post a photo of the damage he did to a painted Dewar’s ad on N. 6th Street. It’s interesting if only to show that he is targeting advertising too.

Related Posts:
Splasher Strikes Again Across Williamsburg
N. 6th Street Splasher-Artist War Continues

Here’s an interesting mystery: Why have dozens of windows at the old Domino Sugar Plant in Williamsburg been opened in the last few weeks? The Waterfront Preservation Alliance of Greenpoint & Williamsburg, which is working hard to try to save the historic building, would certainly like to know. They write:

Now this building has stood solidly in its place for almost 125 years, so we can only hope that a few weeks of exposure to the elements will not do any damage. Still, it raises questions of what the developers are doing with this important historic resource, and why there are suddenly dozens of windows left open during the coldest part of the year. Seriously, in addition to the potential for damage to the structure caused by exposure, freezing pipes and freezing and thawing masonry, such neglect invites vandals and explorers.

Given the terrible fate that has befallen historic Brooklyn buildings in recent years, it certainly raises troubling questions. The group has an online petition calling for the landmarking of the building.