Possibly you’ve been reading all the Broken Angel coverage. The situation has been quite confused since Brownstoner scored a scoop by reporting the Clinton Hill landmark was on the market. Then, Friday, the Brooklyn Paper quoted the agent handling the sale that Broken Angel is a “development site.” In any case, Chris Wood, son of creator Arthur Wood has finally sent out an update to clarify things. As we read it, we concluded the situation is both very sad and very discouraging, but hopefully, someone will step in to save and preserve this treasure before Brooklyn loses another unique landmark. We will probably move this item up tomorrow so that weekday readers see it, but for now, here is the Wood email, in its entirety.
I hope that everyone has had a good beginning to the New Year. I would like to address certain questions and statements that have been posted online as to the fate of Broken Angel. It is true that Broken Angel is for sale. The only financial donation that my parents received was a check for $10.00 and this was never cashed. In addition a small amount of money has been generated from the sale of a few photographs, this money covered the costs of copying the plans for the architects and engineers. The help that we have received has been in the form of various people’s time and expertise and we really do appreciate their efforts. My family and I are very sorry if these generous people feel that their time has been wasted by this experience. We are still trying through the courts to save the building.
Our current understanding of the situation is that my father has been given a month to remove the entire wooden structure from the top of the building. If he does not, then the Department of Buildings will move in, do the work and zero out the value of the property. This point was driven home when we received a phone call from a member of the Department of Buildings to this effect the morning after Christmas. My father has never been given any indication that he will be allowed to reside in the building if the work is completed by the Department of Buildings. One month is not enough time to get a contractor, much less to have them complete the work. From the beginning we have been asking for a clear statement of what work needs to be done, and a reasonable time in which to accomplish that work, we have still not received this from the City.
My parents are senior citizens, they have a small fixed income and since they have been evicted from their home, no permanent residence. It is a hard situation for anyone to be in. They don’t want to sell their home, a building that was their dream, and labor for 28 years, but at this point they don’t see many alternatives.
Ugh. More to come.
(Note: We posted this at 9AM on Sunday, but wanted to move it up so that those who don’t visit on weekend might have a chance to read it. We think Mr. Wood’s explanation is important enough to emphasize.)
January 8th, 2007 · Comments Off on Sitt Declares War on Red Hook Waterfront Rats
The ongoing super slow motion demolition of the Revere Sugar Plant in Red Hook by developer Joe Sitt and his firm Thor Equities have the local rodent population up in arms. Beard Street now features about a dozen skull and crossbones signs (specimen above) and big-ass rat bait traps. We’ve always found that skull and crossbones signs lend a special certain something to the streetscape. In any case, the after-dark Thor Equities Rat Olympics on Beard Street are a thing to behold.
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January 8th, 2007 · Comments Off on Ugly Greenpoint Landlord-Tenant Dispute Heats Up
A special Greenpoint correspondent emailed us this photo of a flyer up around the neighborhood for a “Vigil Against Harassment” that will take place on Thurday, January 11, from 6:00-7:30PM. It’s about a particularly nasty situation in one building at 202 Franklin, but extends to broader issues of harassment of tenants by landlords. The situation is apparently especially bad for senior citizens and immigrants. For more info you can call 718-388-5454, Ext. 107 or 123.
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January 8th, 2007 · Comments Off on Toll Brothers Getting a Little Testy in Gowanus?
McMansion developers the Toll Brothers, who have a major development along the Gowanus Canal on the drawing boards, look like they’re getting impatient with the slow speed of the rezoning they want in the neighborhood. For now, the Brooklyn Paper reports that the Toll Brothers have withdrawn their application to clean up two blocks between Bond Street and the Big G:
The Toll Brothers won’t buy the site…until the city rezones the land for residential use. But the state can’t approve a taxpayer-subsidized cleanup until the developer buys the site, which runs along Bond Street from First through Carroll streets.
The other interesting aspect to this is that there is now sentiment to landmark a concrete warehouse on the future Toll site that is eligible for the National Register of Historic Buildings. The Tolls may have withdrawn their brownfield application for now, but there was a prefiling on December 20th for permits to demolish the warehouse. The entities that filed for the permits are believed to be representing the Toll Brothers.
Community Board 6 will have a public meeting with the Department of City Planning about Gowanus rezoning and a Gowanus Plan on January 25. It will take place at St. Mary’s Residence (41 First St., at Bond Street).
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January 8th, 2007 · Comments Off on Fun on Gowanus’ Former Empty Vessel Boat
We came across this bit of verse called “Naming the Boat” on a blog called Isabel Sparkle, and we’ve been meaning to run it for days, if not a week. So, it’s today or never. The verse is about the former Empty Vessel boat moored on the Gowanus. The boat, as you might remember, has new owners who intend to live on her and remake her a bit. She’s got a temporary new home north of the Carroll Street Bridge. In any case, here are a couple of excerpts:
Today we spent three hours stapling insulation to bare wooden walls. We took turns holding it down, aiming the gun, taping the plastic.
Sasha cut wood and laid tile. The green water of the Gowanus lapped at the sides, gently,
and she showed me how to make a hearth.
I pissed in a bucket, tossed in a handful of sawdust. I could have gone over the side —
nobody owns the water — but still.
…..
four women, talk radio, cheap beer and tools hooked up to a line run through the junkyard. And progress. And then
it was getting dark and the planks had fallen in so we had to jump.
Good to know work on our favorite Gowanus boat is going forward.
Possibly you’ve been reading all the Broken Angel coverage. The situation has been quite confused since Brownstoner scored a scoop by reporting the Clinton Hill landmark was on the market. Then, Friday, the Brooklyn Paper quoted the agent handling the sale that Broken Angel is a “development site.” In any case, Chris Wood, son of creator Arthur Wood has finally sent out an update to clarify things. As we read it, we concluded the situation is both very sad and very discouraging, but hopefully, someone will step in to save and preserve this treasure before Brooklyn loses another unique landmark. We will probably move this item up tomorrow so that weekday readers see it, but for now, here is the Wood email, in its entirety.
I hope that everyone has had a good beginning to the New Year. I would like to address certain questions and statements that have been posted online as to the fate of Broken Angel. It is true that Broken Angel is for sale. The only financial donation that my parents received was a check for $10.00 and this was never cashed. In addition a small amount of money has been generated from the sale of a few photographs, this money covered the costs of copying the plans for the architects and engineers. The help that we have received has been in the form of various people’s time and expertise and we really do appreciate their efforts. My family and I are very sorry if these generous people feel that their time has been wasted by this experience. We are still trying through the courts to save the building.
Our current understanding of the situation is that my father has been given a month to remove the entire wooden structure from the top of the building. If he does not, then the Department of Buildings will move in, do the work and zero out the value of the property. This point was driven home when we received a phone call from a member of the Department of Buildings to this effect the morning after Christmas. My father has never been given any indication that he will be allowed to reside in the building if the work is completed by the Department of Buildings. One month is not enough time to get a contractor, much less to have them complete the work. From the beginning we have been asking for a clear statement of what work needs to be done, and a reasonable time in which to accomplish that work, we have still not received this from the City.
My parents are senior citizens, they have a small fixed income and since they have been evicted from their home, no permanent residence. It is a hard situation for anyone to be in. They don’t want to sell their home, a building that was their dream, and labor for 28 years, but at this point they don’t see many alternatives.
Yesterday was not a good day for Christmas trees (nor will today be), unless you enjoy watching them shoved through a wood chipper. Oh, well, it’s all for the good, as the trees are recycled into beneficial mulch. Mulchfest happens again today from 10AM-2PM, and you can check out the locations here in our GL post or go over to Parks Department’s mulchfest page. If you miss mulchfest, the Department of Sanitation is recycling all trees (non-bagged, all ornaments, tinsel and lights removed) that are left at curbside between now and Tuesday, January 17. They will be chipped, combined with compost and spread in parks and on ballfields. And, above, that would be our very own tree, Doug, getting mulched. RIP, big guy, We Hardly Knew Ye, but We Loved You.
January 7th, 2007 · Comments Off on Disconnected in Brooklyn on Craigslist: If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again
When someone writes “together we can make a wonderful beat on the bongo of my life,” it rather sticks with us. And so it was that when we read the ad below, it rang a bell. We’d posted it before, in fact. Except, back in October, there was no location noted. Now it’s New Year’s Eve at the Boulevard Tavern. Then, “you were with your irritating hipster friends.” Now, (see below) they are no longer irritating, but “ironical.” Last time, “that Zelda with you began cock blocking me” and, this time, “the dork with the dark hair and plastic glasses and skin tight jeans” does it. Dear God. We’re not sure what’s more frightening–that this guy is posting the same, um, interestingly-written ad or that we noticed. We’re still not 100 percent sure that something this tacky is real. In any case, you can click here for the October version.
Girl I winked at on New Years Eve in Boulevard Tavern – m4w – 31 Let me refresh your recollection of the evening. Me with my posse of Wall Street buds enjoying some brews in your burg on new year’s eve. Boulevard Tavern. Being there for Harold. You there with your hipster friends, being ironical. Even with all those people around you, I could see that you were all alone, surrounded by those pencil necks and zeldas. Our eyes met. Your mouth opened, you smiled, and you nodded in my direction. But then that dork with the dark hair and plastic glasses and skin tight jeans cock blocked me, and the moment passed.
I’ve been thinking about you, Hipster Girl. I want to show you my loft in cutting – edge SoHo, which is where the real artists live. I want you to have a taste, just a taste, of the espresso that I am. I want you to ride the rocket that is my life. It’s pretty sweet.
Ditch the dorks and meet me, Hipster Girl of Williamsburg. Apart, we grow cold, but together we can make a wonderful beat on the bongo of my life. (Please do not write back if you have an STD.)
Given that Whole Foods finally made a community presentation about its expanded store in Gowanus and that the project architect sent us a rendering, we did some obsessive thorough coverage yesterday. We post this today for two reasons. One is that we ran across a fascinating item on Slate about how Whole Foods stock has been tanking and how the chain seems to be getting it on all ends from everyone–low-end competition from Wal-Mart, grassroots competition from community supported agriculture, bad publicity about the how organic doesn’t mean friendly to the environment and, even, hostility from vegans pissed off that Whole Foods sell vegan products and meat. Second, we want to include links here to our three items from yesterday in case you didn’t see them:
January 6th, 2007 · Comments Off on GL’s Weekend Curbed Roundup
As you may know, we also post at Curbed from Monday through Friday, mostly about Brooklyn, and many of those items don’t appear hear on GL. Here are links to some of our Curbed post for this first week of 2007:
Whole Foods has rejected putting a green roof on its Gowanus megastore. Company representatives delivered the news in person at the Park Slope Civic Council meeting on Thursday night. It would have been an environmental “gesture, but it wasn’t meaningful,” said architect David Ball, “In other locations, it may make more sense.” Mr. Ball said the green roof had been considered early on, but rejected in favor of building a 40-foot wide “promenade” along the Gowanus running the length of the back of the store. (The space will have greenery and seating and open during store hours, which will likely be from 8AM-10PM.)
“We thought that the best bang for the buck on how to make it a green resource was on the canal side,” Mr. Ball said. “That’s where our focus had been rather than the green roof. It made more sense to focus that green energy on the canal.”
Marni Horwitz, one of those advocating for the green roof told Whole Foods execs at the meeting that the chain has “an opportunity to do something innovative and great” at the Gowanus site. “I hope you would reconsider,” she said.
While the retailer appears to have definitively ruled out a green roof, the idea gained some support among members of the Park Slope Civic Council pushing for a reduction of parking at the store as a way of cutting traffic it would generate. (There will be 120 parking spaces on the roof.) The Council plans to send a letter to Whole Foods pitching other green alternatives and reiterating concerns about parking and traffic. It hopes to invite Whole Foods back for another community meeting.
The toxics are under control and the benzene “toxic plume” story is “exaggerated and inaccurate.” Those were the two major messages from Whole Foods execs about concerns over the possible toxicity of the Gowanus site where they hope to open a 64,000 square foot supermarket by Summer ’08. They spoke at a Park Slope meeting last night. Sam Haydock, Director of Northeast Environmental Operations for BL Companies, the project designer, addressed the environmental concerns, saying that Whole Foods takes the clean up of the site “very seriously,” but added that a Brooklyn Papers story detailing the presence of benzene on a site across the street and on its own property “exaggerated the issue.”
Mr. Haydock said that there is benzene in groundwater at the Whole Foods site on an “uphill part” of the property. He said the levels are “above state standards but relatively low” and “do not represent a risk to human health.” Benzene is a powerful carcinogen and can pose a serious health threat to those that come in direct contact with it or that inhale it in high enough concentrations. “We don’t know what the source [of the benzene] is,” Mr. Haydock says.
The source of the benzene is believed to be a Verizon property next door, and the Whole Foods representatives said that New York State would deal with any remaining problem. “We have no control over the off-site source,” Mr. Haydock said.
More than 11,000 tons of contaminated soil have been removed from the site, dealing with the “worst of the problems” in the ground under the future mega-market. After a remediation in approved, Whole Foods plans to “remove significant hot spots” that remain, Mr. Haydock says, adding that “no signficant danger to human health” will remain.
We could insert a wisecrack here about how we would have expected “hot spots” at the Gowanus Whole Foods to be in the prepared food area where you get your organic seitan stir fry in spicy garlic sauce. Or wonder out loud whether “no signficant danger” is the same as “no danger absolutely whatsoever.” But it would be wrong to add snark to an otherwise straightforward account.
Interestingly, only 10,000 square feet of the store is above ground, which is significant for two reasons: First, zoning for the parcel only allows 10,000 square feet of commercial space, but doesn’t count space that is below street grade, which is where most of the store is. Second, building underground puts that space beneath the 100-year flood plain line and also means that it needs to be sealed with a membrane to prevent contaminants from getting in. Much of the cost will be born by New York State as part of the Brownfields Cleanup program.
In any case, the rest of the site cleanup should begin soon.
January 5th, 2007 · Comments Off on Gowanus Whole Foods #1: The Big Picture
Executives from Whole Foods and the architect of the new Gowanus mega-market were in Park Slope last night to make a presentation to the Park Slope Civic Council. They brought along renderings of the new store, one of which was sent to us by principal architect David Ball of BL Companies.
The 64,000 square foot store is tentatively slated to open in the summer of 2008. It will have parking for 420 cars (120 on the roof and 290 in a garage). The main entrance will be on Third Street, while truck loading will be on Third Avenue. There will be a 40-foot “promenade” along a branch of the Gowanus behind the store. Mr. Ball said the designers had tried to be “responsive” to architecture in the community and noted that the retailer does not own the landmarked Litchfield Building at the corner of Third Avenue and Third Street. The store has been worked around the historic building and designed to blend with it.
The Whole Foods execs fielded a number of questions from Civic Council members about traffic concerns, saying that their studies show the store won’t adversely impact the community. The store had been previously reported as possibly generating 1,800 car trips an hour at peak times, but Mr. Ball actually estimates the number at 1,500 per day. Whole Foods Mark Mobley estimated that the store will see 2,500-2,700 “transactions” per day. He added, however, that the retailer “will have to see how it shakes out as the store opens.”
While the traffic flow is dramatically lower than had been reported, the Whole Foods figures seem to indicate that as many as 1,000 customers a day will arrive at Third Avenue and Third Streets on foot and by cab. Such a count could be a little on the high side, making the actual traffic figure a little higher. Civic Council members suggested the grocer cut the amount of park to discourage driving, but corporate officials seemed to reject the notion.
Whole Foods officials also rejected the idea of a green roof for the store, said that environmental problems will be remediate and dismissed reports of a “toxic plume” of cancer-causing benzene near the site as “exaggerated and inaccurate.”
January 5th, 2007 · Comments Off on Don’t Worry: Park Slope Crime is Down
For all of the discussion about crime in Park Slope recently, it turns out that crime, according to statistics from the 78th Precinct was down in 2006. Overall crime apparently fell by five percent and robberies dropped by 20 percent. (The decrease in robbery since 1993 has been 78 percent.) Also, if you remember the stories about crime in Prospect Park from the spring (teen “wolf packs” ring a bell?), crime in the park was down 29 percent, with robberies down by 30 percent. None of this is helpful or of comfort, of course, if one becomes a statistic, but if the numbers are to believed (and there are always questions about data and the entire issue of actual crime versus reported crime), the odds of being victimized actually fell in 2006.
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The saga of Clinton Hill’s Broken Angel has taken another turn with a quiet effort to sell the property as a “development site” that has shocked some of those working to save the unique landmark. You might remember last week that there was a report that there was progress in efforts to save the building, which is facing possible demolition, and there was also a report on Brownstoner that the building was on the market. Both stories were correct, according to an update in this week’s Brooklyn Papers. A copy-and-paste snippet:
“We’re asking $1 million for the building, and $425,000 for the adjacent lot,” said Michael Annunziata, a broker with Massey/Knakal Realty Services who’s been working with Broken Angel owner Arthur Wood to sell the building, but also “keep [the sale] out of the limelight,” he said.
In fact, rather than posting the building on the real-estate broker’s Web site, Annunziata has been personally reaching out to developers he thinks might be interested…The news that the Downing Street building is on the market shocked those who have been intimately involved in rescuing the hand-built ziggurat mansion following a devastating October fire.
The accident sparked a Buildings Department investigation that uncovered myriad code violations and led to Wood’s arrest for violating an order to vacate.
“I didn’t know they put it on the market,” said City Councilwoman Letitia James (D–Fort Greene), who’s been representing Wood pro bono in his negotiations with the Department of Buildings.
Wood could not be reached for comment, but James’s chief of staff Kate Suisman reached out to Wood and later told The Brooklyn Paper that, “No matter what happens, [the new owners] would probably include room for the couple to continue to live there. Right now, [Wood] is keeping his options open and is considering selling, if that’s what it comes down to.”
Conceivably, it could come down to Broken Angel coming down.
“It’s a development site,” said Annunziata. “There’s a possibility [that it will be destroyed].”
If you’ve been following this story like us, maybe you remember this appeal for help, by one of Angel’s many supporters in the community, that is now a bit ironic in retrospect:
They could easily sell Broken Angel, their only asset, to a real estate developer, who would be happy to guarantee their financial security by demolishing it and building million dollar residences in the now cool location.
January 5th, 2007 · Comments Off on Fourth Avenue Zoning Up For a Very Modest Tweak
While some residents have been talking up a downzoning of the hot and upzoned Fourth Avenue corridor dividing Park Slope and Gowanus, a much more likely change turns out to be a move to include a (very) modest number of affordable units in future developments. Exactly how many buildings would be affected by the change is unclear since so many properties have already been sold and plans for buildings up to 12 stories tall have been approved. City Council Member Bill de Blasio told the Park Slope Civic Council about the hoped-for change at a meeting on Thursday night. Some 2,000 new units of housing could be built over the next 10-20 years along Fourth Avenue between Union Street and Fifteen Street. The zoning change could result in about 100 affordable apartments. “It’s not ideal,” de Blasio says, but adding 100 units “is all to the good.” A dozen new condo and apartment buildings are currently either under construction or in the planning stage on that stretch of Fourth Avenue. Two highrises built by Leviev Boymelgreen and a boutique hotel are nearing completion.
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January 5th, 2007 · Comments Off on Check Out This Film of Brooklyn Trolleys in the 1930s
We found this old film of Brooklyn trolleys while wandering around on youtube. It’s very engaging and has footage of old Flatbush Avenue, and for the Park Slope people, a lot of shots of Fifth Avenue with trolleys. Click on this link or on the embed below.
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Possibly you’ve been reading all the Broken Angel coverage. The situation has been quite confused since Brownstoner scored a scoop by reporting the Clinton Hill landmark was on the market. Then, Friday, the Brooklyn Paper quoted the agent handling the sale that Broken Angel is a “development site.” In any case, Chris Wood, son of creator Arthur Wood has finally sent out an update to clarify things. As we read it, we concluded the situation is both very sad and very discouraging, but hopefully, someone will step in to save and preserve this treasure before Brooklyn loses another unique landmark. We will probably move this item up tomorrow so that weekday readers see it, but for now, here is the Wood email, in its entirety.
