What you are looking at above is a visualization of Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, without the cars. It was posted yesterday by the good people at Streetsblog and is the creation of the graphic designer now going by the name of Emil Choski (formerly Kozerawski) who has combined last names with his wife. You might remember them from the Poland-Korea Relations Blog. In any case, Emil is the person behind carfreebedford.com and the site now has some cool visualizations of what Bedford would like without cars, including a video game like “flyby” video. Streetsblog calls it “my favorite grassroots livable streets initiative going right now.” The blan includes banning cars from Bedford from Metropolitan Avenue through McCarren Park, but leaving cross streets open. The B61 would be rerouted and emergency vehicles could still use Bedford. He writes, “What will replace the cars is a thriving pedestrian community, more outdoor seating for restaurants, islands of greenery, public sculpture, and anything else that makes the community more alive and beautiful.”
February 16th, 2007 · Comments Off on Source of Roebling Oil Field Black Gold Discovered: Barrel of Motor Oil
We found it a bit ironic that there was a huge barrel of Big Bear Motor Oil perched on the edge of the pit at the development site we like to call the Roebling Oil Field. As for Ye Olde Oil Field, it was still the gift that keeps on giving last time we looked a few days ago.
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February 16th, 2007 · Comments Off on Sunset Park Tower of 42nd Street Continues Raising Concerns
There’s a nice new rundown on the fight over that ten-story building on 42nd Street in Sunset Park that has made YouTube (that’s the vid from a couple of weeks ago, here) and gotten unwanted attention from the city. Residents are upset about it because it will tower over its three-story neighbors and interfere with views from Sunset Park itself. They also say the building could be the wave of the future since downzonings of Park Slope and Bay Ridge in 2005 banned tall buildings from side streets. The city hasn’t downzoned Sunset Park yet, so it could be a natural target for developers looking to go tall (for residential Brooklyn neighborhoods). The article calls the buildings “the latest flashpoint in the neighborhood’s ongoing battle against what some residents call ‘over-development.’ Some locals say it looks like a luxury condominium tower is going up — and it’ll block the view of the harbor, and alluring sunsets, that earned the area its name.” There’s currently a stop work order on the property because a Department of Buildings audit of plans concluded the building doesn’t comply with building and zoning regulations for the neighborhood. It’s a good bet the fight will go on for quite a while.
February 16th, 2007 · Comments Off on Starrett City Sale Going South (in a Hurry)?
Every now and then, you can feel a deal starting to fall apart as criticism mounts. So it is with the $1.3 biliion sale of Starrett City as public officials pile on. One of thoese leading the charge is Sen. Charles Schumer, yesterday he sent out a letter and press releases that said the deal was made through a “fatally flawed” bidding process that excluded the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The release said in part:
Today U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer demanded Starrett Associates go back to square one on the Starrett City sale. The Senator, who is chair of the Senate Housing sub-committee said today that the bid process was fatally flawed, having excluded the federal government, which has subsidized Starrett City for years so that it could maintain its affordability. Schumer noted that the Department of Housing and Urban Development has the right to approve the deal, and has expressed deep skepticism due to the potential of massive loss of affordable housing stock.
“Leaving the Feds out of the Starrett sale was a fatal flaw. We are full partners in Starrett City. Federal taxpayers have invested many, many millions of dollars to maintain affordability there. Moreover, Starrett Associates were only able to maintain a profit and build up their equity because of this partnership. It is clear that Starrett Associates need to reopen the bidding process to ensure that HUD, their full federal partners in this deal, have a seat at the table,” said Schumer. “Maintaining Starrett’s affordability is the top priority in moving forward on this deal. For more than 30 years Starrett City has provided safe harbor for middle and working class New Yorkers in the increasingly turbulent sea that is this City’s housing market. With 5,881 apartments and residents from all walks of life, the development has been instrumental in the nrevitalization of Canarsie and East New York. We must make sure this happens the right way.”
In the meantime, the Daily News is reporting that the new landlord may have to raise rents because the seller “did not accurately disclose to bidders how much rent the vast complex generates…The sellers failed to mention a $10 million rent concession to as many as 1,000 tenants at the sprawling development of 46 buildings in south Brooklyn, the source said.”
About 90 percent of the tenants of the 5,881 apartments at Starrett City get rent assistants. The buyer’s history at 71 other buildings his firm owns includes 8,792 housing violations.
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February 15th, 2007 · Comments Off on City Planning Director Opposes Coney Island Condo Towers
Fascinating news that Amanda Burden, the Planning Commission Chair, is against residential highrises in the Coney Island amusement district. Crain’s has reported (in a story covering multiple topics, including plans for the Garment District)that Ms. Burden is against building residential highrises in Coney Island. This would be at odds with earlier reports that the city might cut a deal with developer Joe Sitt, who is clearing land in Coney Island but who has threatened not to build without a rezoning that allows highrise residential development. In any case, Crain’s reports:
The commissioner also, for the first time, publicly opposed construction of residential towers as part of a plan to revitalize the Coney Island amusement park. Thor Equities’ chief executive, Joseph Sitt, wants to give the boardwalk a $2 billion makeover but insists that the residences are needed to make the project work financially. He is seeking a rezoning that would accommodate his project.
“Amusements are incompatible with immediately adjacent residential use,” Ms. Burden said, adding that she nevertheless wants to see Coney Island restored to its iconic amusement park stature.” She supports new housing elsewhere in Coney Island.
Towers are more welcome further north in Brooklyn. Ms. Burden said she would consider proposals for new skyscrapers that top the 512-foot Williamsburgh Savings Bank, the borough’s tallest building.
Late last year, downtown Brooklyn developer Forest City Ratner Cos. bowed to community objections and agreed to shrink the tallest tower in its $4 billion arena/office tower plan — nicknamed Miss Brooklyn — so that it would not top the bank building. Designed by project architect Frank Gehry, Miss Brooklyn would have risen to 620 feet.
Ms. Burden is, in fact, quite supportive of the Atlantic Yards project.
About 50 people turned out for a community meeting at which the Fifth Avenue Committee‘s proposal for a “supportive housing” development with 49 apartments at Fifth Avenue and 16th Street was discussed. Residents are asking for more time to digest information and to learn more before the public decision making process goes forward. Aaron Brashear of Concerned Citizens of Greenwood Heights, and a member of Community Board 7, has written to Borough President Marty Markowitz, who hwas schedule a public hearing before the Community Board’s vote. He writes:
On behalf of our community group, I would like to respectfully request that you postpone the upcoming public hearing 02/20/07 to a later date to give the surrounding community, and Community Board 7, more time to ask questions of the Fifth Avenue Committee and fully vet the HPD/FAC proposal for 575 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY.
We had a very positive turn our at our joint community group meeting along with the South Park Slope Community Group. FAC and HPD did a very good job in dispelling some of the myths about “sustainable housing,” but many questions came from the community that we feel still need to be addressed. Time is needed for this to occur. Our community groups may want to convene again to discuss our concerns and ideas further and many neighbors expressed interest in touring FAC’s Warren St. facility. Again, this requires additional time.
Reaction from the community about the facility has been quite mixed. Questions range from making sure that sex offenders and others won’t live in the development to losing the municipal parking lot on which it would be built. Many questions, however, are about the way the city has “fast tracked” the project and the transfer of the property to the Fifth Avenue Committee for a symbolic sum. Community Board 7 is having a public hearing tonight (2/15) at 6:30 at St. Michael’s-Emmanuel Church on Prospect Avenue. The Borough President has scheduled his public hearing on February 20, before the CB7 vote, which occurs on February 21.
February 15th, 2007 · Comments Off on Park Slope Street Cat Update
Slope Street Cats, which works to trap and neuter street cats and, then, to return them to the streets “netted” 35 cats in December and January, mostly from a project in Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, Cobble Hill, Crown Heights and Propsect Lefferts Garden. According to the latest dispatch from Slope Street Cats that brings their two-year total to 225. The group also reports a $1,000 grant from the NYC Feral Cat Council (you learn many things each and every day, especially as a reporter/blogger). The money is going toward the group’s humane trap bank which are used by Slope Street Cats and can be borrowed free by residents that are trap-neuter-return certified (second thing learned in the last five minutes). Also Slope Street Cats puts kitties that it rescues up for adoption. That’s Rumi, pictured here. They’ve also got Goldie. And, in fact, have a whole list of kitties that need homes.
Make a little creature’s life better. Get good karma. Feel good about life.
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This photo was taken by flickr photographer Joe Cronin yesterday and we owe our knowledge of it to 1 Stop Over in Brooklyn, which posted the photo. The photog also posted it on his own blog, Mr. Cronin’s Blog. Two things are at work in the pic, one being the odd beauty of the night scene in Red Hook. The other, is that it shows that once towering Revere Dome has been reduced to its bottom two rows and, in fact, another photo shows that they’ve been working on one of these levels this week. By next week, just the base of this one-time landmark might remain.
February 15th, 2007 · Comments Off on Red Hook Piers Plan Takes One Step Forward
The Red Hook Piers redevelopment plan seems to have taken a step forward. Anthony Shorris, the new head of the Port Authority, has given the go ahead to transferring Piers 7-12 to the city. (This comes after some indications the Port Authority had doubts about the plan.) The city, in turn, has a variety of redevelopment plans cooking including another cruise terminal and devleopments that are yet to be determined. (Proposals for a first phase of the plan are due before the end of the month.) The possible fly in the ointment is that there are still some powerful opponents of ending cargo operations on the Red Hook waterfront and eventually moving them to Sunset Park, and they include Members of Congress who potentially have the power to stop or slow the plans. There is, of course, a fascinating story about machinations surrounding the piers in this week’s Village Voice.
February 15th, 2007 · Comments Off on Pool Aid Relaunches Website
You know that warmer days are just around the corner when some of the people agitating for returning McCarren Pool to use as a pool and against concerts by corporate promoters like Live Nation come to life again after months of silence. On Sunday, we noted that Pool Aid’s “We Are the Pool” video will debut. Now, they have relaunched their website (navigation of which is a pain, but which has a lot of good content). Programming for the summer is still being planned and the Parks Department hasn’t exactly been publicizing its plans, largely saying that it can only react to proposals that are made. As for Pool Aid, it wants “diverse programming,” “cheap or free” events, profits earmarked for a fund for the pool, etc. There is sentiment in the community for having no concerts at the old pool at all because of noise and there is a big group that wants the pool renovated and returned to use as a pool. Then, of course, there is also the push for landmarking.
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February 15th, 2007 · Comments Off on Fun with Landmarks: Use One to Advertise Demolition!
We actually wandered over to Third Street and Third Avenue the other to shoot some pics of the frozen Lake Gowanus on the Whole Foods site and of the frozen arm of the Gowanus itself. We hadn’t noticed this relatively newish banner advertising demolition services on the landmark building on the corner. The building, which was landmarked in June, was once the home of the New York and Long Island Coignet Stone Company. (The Gowanus company manufactured artificial stone that was used in parts of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Metropolitan and the American Museum of Natural History.) Then, it became the home of the Brooklyn Improvements Company, which among other things, helped build the Gowanus Canal and much of Park Slope. More recently, the building housed an auto parts and auto repair shop. It is not owned by Whole Foods, which is building around it. We’re not sure if the demolition company banner is a statement or just, you know, an ad.
February 14th, 2007 · Comments Off on Gowanus Parcel Detox Strategy Released
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation has released a proposal for “remedial action” on the notorious parcel in Gowanus known as Public Place. The site–which is shaded in Valentine’s Day Red on the image above–was once the home of a Manufactured Gas Plant created gas from coal and petroleum products. The facilities are notorious for leaving behind a toxic soup of residue, particularly coal tar. Other byproducts are sulfur and cyanide. (While the Gowanus site is partly empty, another former Manufactured Gas Plant site in the neighborhood contains a playground, among other things.)
In any case, the Public Place site is heavily contaminated with coal tar at depths ranging from 7 feet to 150 feet. Some contaminants have traveled underground and some have seeped into the Gowanus Canal. The canal issue is “still under investigation,” according to a DEC fact sheet. The “prefered remedy” for the underground problem is removal of the contaminated soil to a depth of 8 feet. Coal tar deeper than that (and there is much) would be surrounded by “a subsurface barrier.” Within the barrier, “mobile tar” will be removed through “recovery wells.”
There is likely to be a battle over both the cleanup plan and whether to allow housing on the parcel. A PDF of the Fact Sheet can be opened by clicking here.
There is a public meeting about the problem and the cleanup on February 22 at 6:00PM. It will take place at PS 32, which is located at 317 Hoyt Street. The public comment period runs through March 14.
Yes, it’s a cheap shot, but if you stand on Kent Avenue long enough you can almost instinctively sense which cars are there to scope out Northside Piers (20 stories and growing) and to visit the sales office. One giveaway, of course, is the model of the car. The real estate shoppers tend toward luxury models or, at least, well washed and waxed newer cars. There is also something, however, in the way possible Northside Piers buyers drive slowly down Kent Avenue, almost as though they are unsure they are in the right place. Arriving at the construction site entrance, they turn very slowly and very tentatively into the street that leads to the East River. You can actually watch most of them inch down the street, still driving as though they’re being lured into an awful trap.
The really obvious Northside Pieristas, of course, pull over and look around as though they are (a). frightened that they’re lost on the Brooklyn waterfront, (b). half expect something really awful to happen at any moment and (c). wonder what the hell they’re doing thinking about putting down $1M on a condo in this wasteland (especially the ones that drive past the now defunct Kent Avenue cement factory first…and the Austin Nichols Warehouse at 184 Kent is not looking too good either).
So, if you really want to defend the neighborhood, scare away the suburbanites scoping out the hood. To this end, GL strongly suggests that you hang frightening crap out your windows–effigies, the carcasses of animals you might have roasted for dinner and devil worship things are excellent if you have them. Also, really super-extra trash up the street. Tag stuff up with Satanic symbols. Scatter food all over the place to encourage breeding of Brooklyn Super Rats. (Clearly, artsy, hipster, oooh the neighborhood is so trashy kind of stuff won’t work. We’re talking about end-of-the-world, Dear God, Muffy, we’re going to die shit.) All of this is especially important to do on Saturday and on Sunday, which is when the potential buyers and investors come. You can skip Monday-Friday if you wish, as the construction workers probably won’t care.
Which is all an excessively long way of saying that when Northside opens this year, it’s going to be Jersey City East down there.
A read sent us an email about that two-level carousel that Thor Equities has said it will build in Coney Island, proclaiming it the first multi-level one in the Northeast. Not so, says our reader, and he’s right. He writes:
Thor claims to be building the first multi-story carousel in the Northeast, uhh, there is one in New Jersey at the Freehold Mall (double decker). What a unique attraction. Can’t wait to see the tattoed elephant.
The Freehold Mall’s carousel was manufactured by a firm called Bertazzon, which is located in Tennessee. One of their products is something called the Venetian Carousel 12.5/2P Double Decker. That would be the two-level carousel at the New Jersey shopping mall pictured above. We know–picky, picky.
February 14th, 2007 · Comments Off on Brooklyn Public Library Expounds on Its Censorship of Art
The Brooklyn Public Library, which banned several works of art from its reshowing of the “Footprints: Portrait of a Brooklyn Neighborhood” show has provided more justifications rationalizations statements about its decision to not show several works that it deemed to controversial. Apparently, the library feels that they advocate, rather than document. We could go off on an entire riff about how, sometimes, documenting, is also advocating because it’s all in the reaction of the viewer and about how sometimes advocates can document.
In any case, Wendy Zarganis at About Brooklyn emailed the Library about their, um, choices. Last week, they burbled something about being a publicly-funded institution. This week, they cite “space constraints” and that business about documentation vs. advocacy. In any case, they write:
As with any exhibition we host at Brooklyn Public Library, we worked closely with the curators of the Footprints exhibit to select the pieces that best represent the theme of this exhibition. We also had to take into account space constraints. Our interest in this exhibition is in documentation, not advocacy.
A curator of the show, Belle Benfield, also provided this statement to About Brooklyn:
We as the co-curators of the “Footprints” exhibition understood that documenting Brooklyn and the lives of its residents is one of the major objectives of Brooklyn Public Library’s exhibitions policy, which is why we applied to have the exhibition take place there. Our exhibition fits these criteria, taking as its subject the area of Brooklyn now known as the “Atlantic Yards,” and interpreting this space and the lives of its residents through the perspectives of 27 artists with strong ties to that neighborhood. We understood and accepted that the library’s interest was in documentation and not in advocacy when they agreed to the exhibition.
Rather than merely remounting the Prospect Heights exhibition, we worked together with representatives of the library to curate a new exhibition with a somewhat different focus. We selected this exhibition because of its relevance to current events in Brooklyn and because it’s something that our diverse community cares about. We felt strongly that the art featured caters to the interests of the audience that we serve.
They worked “to curate a new exhibition with a somewhat different focus.” This would resonate if they had added a lot of new work, but of course, they found a “new focus” by removing (or censoring) some of the work. Ms. Zarganis writes:
Shouldn’t we be allowed to see the controversial art too, with the understanding that the Library could show the contentious pieces and still maintain that it is not an advocacy group?
We’re not certain what’s more irritating–the removal of the works or these hollow attempts to rationalize it.
The curator of Brooklyn’s Other Museum of Brooklyn (B.O.M.B.) has written a letter to Gov. Eliot Spitzer asking that he “pardon” Brooklyn’s historic Admiral’s Row, which are slated to be demolished to make way for a supermarket. (You can see their entire web page devoted to Admiral’s Row as well as the letter and a variety of documents here.) The structure have been deemed worthy of landmarking by a variety of groups, but the city says they are in too far an advanced state of ruin to save. Others differ. In any case, the letter reads, in part:
Don’t allow the Mayor of the city of New York to demolish a national heritage site to satisfy a political favor. It appears that you are the only person who, with a stroke of your pen, can undo this madness and insure longevity for Admiral’s Row. Please rescind the A.R.M.O.A. (Admirals’ Row Memorandum of Agreement).
In 1996 the New York State Historic Preservation Office issued the A.R.M.O.A. to the United States Corps of Engineers allowing Admirals’ Row to be demolished without any landmark review (city, state or federal). The demolition permit (A.R.M.O.A) transfers with the title, so that 11 years later the Mayor of New York City can demolish Admirals’ Row without due process; Admirals’ Row is an undesignated landmark and is vulnerable. The A.R.M.O.A. was designed to keep Admirals’ Row from becoming a landmark so that it could be demolished…Please review this urgent matter and rescind the Admirals’ Row Memorandum of Agreement (The New York State issued demolition permit), which would then allow Admirals’ Row to receive a Landmark Review/Due Process.
Gov. Spitzer hasn’t so far shown any particular appetite for intervening in Brooklyn development battles, so it will be interesting to see if he has any interest in saving structures that could–with some investment and care–be restored to their former glory.
February 14th, 2007 · Comments Off on GL’s Valentine’s Day Dreaming of Love Series
A few photos taken at different times in Williamsburg that seemed appropriate today, in particular, for the cynics and anti-Valentine’s Day Industrial Complex doubters out there.
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We always welcome new Brooklyn blogs as valuable additions to coverage of a place that is woefully under-covered by good old MSM. And so it is with Big Sky Brooklyn, whose early entries include a nice collection of excellent industrial photos and imagery of Gowanus. The last update was February 6, but we hope the blogger keeps the material coming. Regardless, what’s already there is worth checking out, especially if you dig the Gowanus industrial look. The blog features, “Images and impressions from big sky Brooklyn, where old & new, concrete & ethereal, desolate & sublime collide/harmonize.” Indeed.
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We joined the Only Coney flickr group when we got the invite a week back (getting our act together to comb through our massive Coney archive and post photos is another matter), but were happy to find that there’s a new Only Coney photoblog. Coney deserves a photoblog that showcases great photos, and it’s particularly important as Southern Brooklyn’s Riveria begins to change in fundamental ways. (We strongly believe that one of the many vital things that bloggers are doing in Brooklyn is providing an important visual record of fast-changing neighborhoods.) Only Coney is the work of the good people behind the excellent Brit in Brooklyn blog, which often features excellent Coney Island photos as part of its mix. Welcome!!!
February 14th, 2007 · Comments Off on Long Article of the Week: Charles Gargano and Red Hook
This week’s Village Voice lets loose with a fascinating investigative article about former Empire State Development Corp. Chair (and current Port Authority Board Member) Charles Gargano. It does not paint a pretty picture. In fact, it depicts a scenario concerning Mr. Gargano, his nephew and the Red Hook Piers walking the razor’s edge of legal and ethical line there is. (And, that’s putting it politely.)
The thumbnail is that Mr. Gargano–who tools around town in limos and likes to be called “ambassador” because he was the envoy to Trinidad and Tobago during the Reagan Administration–appears to have encouraged the hiring of his nephew by American Stevedoring, which was and is trying not to be kicked out of operating the container port so the city can close it and redevelop the land. The nephew appears to have implied he would help get a favorable decision from “Uncle Charlie” in his role on the Port Authority. Keep in mind that Uncle Charlie, so to speak, was in charge of driving the Atlantic Yards approval process among other things.
The story says in part:
In the spring of 2003, Charles Gargano, who served as George Pataki’s economic development czar, made a visit to the embattled operator of the marine container port that sprawls for 80 acres along the docks in Brooklyn’s Red Hook. Much of the region’s cocoa, coffee, and lumber is handled here, along with tens of thousands of huge shipping containers from around the world loaded with everything from beer to appliances. All told, an estimated $4.5 billion in goods move through the port every year, and some $36 million in wages are generated there. As Sal Catucci, president of American Stevedoring Inc., which operates the container terminal, recalls it, Gargano had phoned—seemingly out of the blue—to say he wanted to come by to see his operation…
Within a few weeks, a newly optimistic Sal Catucci had a new attorney under retainer: Charlie Gargano’s nephew. And not long after that, the waterfront executive was finally getting the attention from state decision-makers that he’d long sought. But when those meetings produced little more than kind words, and when he was back again fighting just to stay in business, Catucci wondered exactly what had prompted that unexpected phone call. Whatever made him pick up the phone, Charles Gargano wasn’t saying, refusing to respond to requests for comment. His nephew, Frank Gargano, also didn’t want to talk about his involvement, acknowledging only that he had represented Catucci’s company. Exactly how that came to pass is one more disturbing tale from New York’s waterfront.
Fun reading for the entire family, especially the kids in civics class. [Photo courtesy wnyc.org/Brian Lehrer]
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Say goodbye to the Red Hook Graving Dock (and to some historical records that were stored in the Todd Shipyard offices). A reliable neighborhood source tells Gowanus Lounge that the big fill of the historic Graving Dock, which working waterfront advocates as well as preservationists have been fighting to save, began about two weeks ago. The graving dock dates from the Civil War era and is 710 feet long. It was one of the only such facilities in New York City capable of handling large ships. Filling it will require massive amounts of fill to be trucked to the site. The word comes from one of the security guards on the sprawling site. About the time Ikea started filling in the dock, which will be covered over and used for parking, it posted a sign on its construction fence touting the archeological work being done to document the remnants of a graving dock on the property that was filled in 1976.
Our source also reports that Ikea destroyed historic shipyard records that had been left behind in the Todd Shipyard offices despite requests from the former owners that they be preserved. Our source writes:
Not only is the graving dock being filled, IKEA discarded all the Todd Records left behind, WHICH THEY WANTED BACK ONCE THEY LEARNED THEY EXISTED. These records ran from the 1920s through the 1940s and covered the period from the foundation of Todd to its growth as the largest shipyard company in the country.
Maybe they’re designing a new furniture line that incorporates historic ship repair records? We hear it’s called Vandalisera and will go with the Ektorp line.
