Christopher Wood, the son of the creator of the Broken Angel landmark in Clinton Hill has sent out another update on its status. (If you recall, after a fire, the city issued a ton of building code violations, the owner was evicted and demolition was threatened.) The threat hasn’t gone away and the family is trying to raise money to prevent the destruction of a very unique Brooklyn structure. Here is the latest email, which is certain to get wide exposure in the blogosphere today:

The Wood family is very thankful for the support we have received in our attempt to rescue Broken Angel. However the building is far from saved and time is running out. Broken Angel is a legally built architectural sculpture, which my father would love to transform into a home for the arts. Broken Angel is viewed by thousands of people who come to see it every year. If this quirky and original structure disappears, Quincy and Downing streets will again become a forgotten corner of Brooklyn. My name is Christopher Wood; I am the son of the creators of Broken Angel. I have lived my entire life in Brooklyn. I have grown up and continue to be enmeshed in a world of art. I am a stone carver and photographer. I have restored many of New York’s cherished landmarks including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cloisters, Grace Church, the Tweed Court house, and currently the main branch of the New York City Public Library. I call on Brooklyn to support and help us restore Broken Angel. Please email or write your local politicians to show your support and help us block the demolition of Broken Angel. If you are a legal professional, we desperately need help fighting the Department of Buildings in court. Additionally those who are willing and able can purchase paintings by my father or my photographs of Broken Angel at Artez’n at 444 Atlantic Ave. Works of art for sale can also be obtained online. I guarantee that a work of art bought this holiday season will retain its value better than a Play Station 3. Please help us and show the developers who want to turn Brooklyn into another skyline of giant buildings that we will not go gently into the shadows of greed and over development.

Yes, the “shadows of greed and over development.” If you want a Brooklyn holiday gift that’s cool and for a cause, buy a Wood painting or photo!

• Jeffries Tells Silver He’s Worried About Atlantic Yards Density [TRE]
• ESDC Says Density Works in Times Square [AYR]
• Court Street Lofts [Brownstoner]
• Perception vs Reality at Fulton Street Mall [Brooklyn Record]
• Alligator Found in Brooklyn [Gothamist]
• Best Scoop Yet [Clinton Hill Blog]
• Dumbo, the Historic District with a Modern Name [Dumbo NYC]
• Judge Dismisses Brooklyn Bridge Park Lawsuit [Sun]
• Bounce [Callalillie]
• Big Ass Explosion in Bay Ridge [Sunset Parker]
• Everything is Illuminated [Daily Intelligencer]
• Let There Be Light [Z. Madison]
• Buying a Christmas Tree in Brooklyn [About Brooklyn]

Hello, allow us to introduce ourselves. My name is Chris and my wife’s name is Mimi. We are the owners of 229 16th Street and your neighbors in Park Slope. We have decided to create this website to document the experience we had with the construction of a condo next door. We are just presenting the facts and ask you to examine everything we present here with an clear open mind. We invite you to draw your own conclusions. All we attempt to do on this website is present our side of the story. We are in the process of digitalizing all of the documentation we have complied over the last two years. Please check back often to see newly added content….

When we originally heard the house next door 231 16th Street had been sold we were very happy. The old house had been empty and was occupied by squatters. The property was in disarray and a general eye sore. One morning at 5:45 AM our sound sleep was shattered by a bulldozer tearing down the old house next door. Little did we know how our lives were about to change. The next day we had a huge gash ripped into the side of our house. This set off a sequence of events that led to this website.

The site also has the nasty, nasty content of emails the owners say they’ve gotten from someone like, “you are such a mother fucker full you could make 200 web site 90% is all ready SOLD OUT FUCKER!!” (Excuse the language, but it’s not ours. Also, we deleted some of the exclamation points after FU*KER because it makes the layout look bad.)

Another good source for insight on the ugly side of development in Park Slope is available at IMBY, where we first came across this blog. IMBY has been lovingly chronicling the cracking of 1504 8th Avenue by the construction that surrounds it.

The vintage Astroland Amusement Park, one of the anchors of Coney Island since its 1962 opening, was purchased Tuesday by a developer intent on restoring the Brooklyn beachfront as a $1.5 billion year-round resort.

The Albert family, owners of the well-known park, will close the 3.1-acre attraction at the end of the 2007 summer season under the deal reached with Thor Equities. The Alberts will continue to operate the landmark Cyclone roller-coaster, which turns 80 next year, under an existing agreement with the city.

The decision to sell was “very difficult and made only after months of extensive discussion,” said Carol Hill Albert, co-owner of Astroland with husband Jerome. The park was launched by her late father-in-law, Dewey Albert.

In the end, the cost of converting Astroland to a year-round operation was too steep. The family had turned down larger bids last year “in the hope of finding an alternative that would enable us to keep our current location,” Albert said — but it didn’t pan out.

Thor Equities plans a $1.5 billion, year-round facility in Coney Island. Although no price was given for the Astroland purchase, Thor had already spent $100 million snapping up properties along the venerable boardwalk.

Thor’s plans include a mix of amusements and attractions, including a new roller coaster and a new hotel to accommodate the anticipated arrival of new tourists.

The site of the amusement park is renowned for another reason. Local legend has it that restaurateur Charles Feltman invented the hot dog there in 1874.

The Alberts, although they sold their property to Thor, retained ownership of attractions like the water flume and the Astrotower in hopes of adding some new rides and relocating to another section of the neighborhood.

The amusement park employs about 300 workers every summer, and Albert was hopeful that city and Brooklyn officials could help with relocation costs.

“The Albert family is proud to have provided so many wonderful memories for so many generations and to have been such an important part of New York’s world famous Coney Island,” Albert said.

Coming Tomorrow: Thor buys the naming rights to Coney Island and tries to decide between Sittville, Sitt Island and ThorSittia.

We were going to compile our GL Brooklyn Holiday Gift Guide and run it in one entry, but decided that if we go that route, it will be mid-December before we ever get it accomplished. So, we’re taking an episodic approach.

Our focus in today’s first installment will be memberships in or donations to Brooklyn organizations or Brooklyn-based groups that would make cool holiday gifts. The guide is very selective and we’ve probably left out obvious choices or favorites, but here goes:

Coney Island USA. A basic Coney Island USA membership is $25 and includes free admission to the Coney Island Circus Sideshow, free admission to the Coney Island Museum, free admission to Sunday night lectures at the Museum, a subscription to the Coney Isle-O-Phile Newsletter and a handshake from Coney’s “Mayor,” Dick Zigun. Higher membership levels get you more. For $150 that special someone gets a bunch of benefits and a seat on the reviewing stand for the Mermaid Parade as a judge. (There’s no option on the membership page to sign up someone else, but plenty of contact emails and numbers to ask questions.)

Gowanus Dredgers. You don’t have to belong to the Dredgers to go out on the Big G in one of their canoes, but signing someone up as a member would be a cool thing to do. Basic “Deckhand” membership is $25. A “Stevadore” membership is $50 and includes the “Heart of Gowanus” DVD. All members can pay a $75 equipment fee and make appointments to take canoes out on the Gowanus when they’d like. Navigate over to the “Membership” page on their site.

Urban Divers. Truly, we can’t determine what membership in the Urban Divers brings, but we do know that they do wonderful working on the Gowanus and other local bodies of water and that they sponsor eco-cruises and offer a lot of volunteer opportunities. That having been said, a General Membership is $40 and you can find out more here.

Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment. BCUE does urban environmental education, but we especially love them for the Brooklyn tours they run with guides like Francis Morrone and Jack Eichenbaum. Their membership page has a contact number to call for more information, and there’s an online donation page too. We do know that members get discounts on all the cool tours they run. This could be the gift for the Brooklyn lover in your life.

Added Value. You can’t become a paid member of Added Value–the good people that run programs for young people in Red Hook and operate a community farm and farmers markets–but you can certainly make a contribution to the cause in someone’s name. They do good work. Helping them would make a cool gift. Check out their donation page here.

Slope Street Cats. No membership here, but you can donate to Slope Street Cats, a Park Slope group that works to control the population of feral cats and links a lot of people to adoptions of cats. They run educational programs and do a lot of good work and you can make a donation here in someone’s name as a gift and get a big deposit of Good Kitty Karma to boot.

Brooklyn Animal Resource Coalition. We mentioned them last week, but we’re doing it again because we didn’t mention that for $25 a month the person on your holiday list can sponsor a dog or cat at the BARC shelter in Williamsburg and go over to play with his or her sponsee, which could add an extra element of fun to those Williamsburg shopping and eating excursions. You can, of course, also donate in someone’s name to BARC.

Portside New York. Portside does superb work in Red Hook with a focus on the waterfront and the neighborhood’s maritime history and is in the process of converting an old tanker, the Mary A. Whalen, into a museum and community facility. You can donate to Portside or support it by making purchases at several sites including igive, not to mention their Electronic Book Store set up through Amazon, which has a bunch of waterfront-related gift options. The Mary Whalen, by the way, just went to the shipyard for its renovation this week.

Broken Angel. You can’t “join” Broken Angel, but you can help save this unique Brooklyn treasure in Clinton Hill that the city is threatening with demolition. How? The owners are selling paintings and photos to raise money. So, you will be getting someone a cool gift of a stunning painting or superb photo and contributing to saving Broken Angel. Paintings and photos are on sale at Artez’n at 444 Atlantic Ave. They are also on sale online here. In the words of Chris Wood, a photographer whose father has created Broken Angel: “I guarantee that a work of art bought this holiday season will retain its value better than a Play Station 3.” It’ll make you feel better about making a difference in Brooklyn too.

We are not focusing on obvious choices, but we’ll mention a few here: The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Celebrate Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Historical Society. Good and fun memberships all.

Oh, to have been a fly on the wall at the Empire State Development Corporation this holiday weekend when all of the stops were apparently pulled out to remedy the mistake that led to the omission of 148 public comments and required an amended document and a vote to recertify. In announcing the error, ESDC Chair Charles Gargano had said that a “thorough” review would take place. Today’s Post reports that “The Pataki administration is so keen on getting the plan for a Brooklyn NBA arena approved before Eliot Spitzer becomes governor that officials had state employees work through the Thanksgiving weekend…”

We could go on about the screaming that ensued, the threats that were uttered, the catered holiday meals that were offered, but we won’t. We will simply note that after December 8 the document goes to State Comptroller Alan Hevesi (yes, him) and that he can hang onto it for seven days for review. That means that it would head to the Public Authorities Control Board, which would could still vote its approval by Dec. 31.

In the end, all road still lead to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and whether Mr. Silver will listen to requests from Brooklyn members to delay and modify the project and whether he will stall as a way of getting at Gov. George Pataki and at Mr. Gargano, who he recently called “the most corrupt” members of the Pataki Administration. Or, whether Mr. Silver will submit to pressure to get the deal done before Eliot Spitzer can do anything to change it in any way, shape or form.

We will say two things: The first is that we’re not lawyers, but if a suit is filed challenging the entire Environmental Impact Statement review and approval process, the mistake and rush job to rectify it will end up being part of the litigation. The second is that the public process surrounding the most important development project in Brooklyn history has taken on the manic feel of getting a PlayStation3 on eBay on Christmas Eve and trying to get it delivered by Christmas morning. In the end, if you’ll pardon us stretching the analogy a bit, it will all come down to how many stop signs and traffic lights the UPS driver is willing to run in order to get it there on time.

[Thanks to No Land Grab for the festive image]

One of our favorite local bloggers, Dalton Rooney, who produces the seriously excited! photoblog, sent us a distressing email this morning with the subject line “Gowanus Canal is Seriously Messed Up.” You know we love Brooklyn’s Grand Canal and we know it so well in places that we recognize when new crap has been tossed into it and is sitting on the bottom. In any case, Dalton writes:

I was walking to work this morning over the Carroll St. Bridge and noticed that the water in the canal is much, much worse than normal. It’s turned a funny green color and there’s lots of floating debris around. Other people were stopping to notice too.

You know it’s got to be bad when people actually stop to look at the water in the Big G. Logic tells us that it’s one of several things: (1.) It has something to do with the heavy rain over Thanksgiving which caused more sewage outflow into the canal and some storm drains to overflow into it, (2). A business along the canal dumped somethhing or something into a storm drain that empties into the canal or (3). A combination of (1) and (2). Despite slightly improved water quality in the canal, ever time there is a moderate rain, both effluent and trash go directly into the Gowanus.

A couple of weeks ago we posted about watching oil bubble up to the surface north of the Union Street Bridge. Previously, we’ve posted about geysers of crap erupting from sewers in Gowanus and the threat posed by Atlantic Yards.

Related Posts:
Leak Causing Gowanus Oil Slick?
Beware the Gowanus Canal Sh*t Storm
Holy Crap: Sewage Geysers in Gowanus

Thor Equities, which is proposing the massive $1.5 billion Coney Island redevelopment, is launching an advertising campaign to build public support for the project. The development is reported in today’s New York Post. Yesterday, Thor leaked the results of a poll it had commissioned that shows support among Coney Island residents for the project.

And so, five promotional newsletters will be coming to Brooklyn mailboxes (the first is in the mail) and a spokesman for the developer says they are planning a website and newspaper ads. The newsletter strategy is a familiar one for big Brooklyn projects. Ikea used it to push its plan for a waterfront Red Hook store and Forest City Ratner has mailed out multiple pieces to Brooklyn residents pushing the Atlantic Yards proposal.

The first Coney mailer says, in part: “Coney Island has a glorious past but fell onto hard times. It’s our job to bring it back.”

Thor will be lobbying for zoning changes to allow parts of its projects, particularly the highrise hotel it is proposing and highrise condos in the amusement zone. Thor’s buildings would be up to 40 stories tall. The properties are centered between W. 12th and W. 15th streets. We’ll be watching our mailbox to see the pitch for ourselves.

Related Posts:
Coney Island Update-O-Rama: Polls, Museums & Questions
Coney Island Scale-O-Matic: The Shrinking Parachute Jump

It will take place tomorrow (11/29) at 7PM at the Metropolitan Pool, which is at Bedford Avenue and Metropolitan Avenue. We did note that the email went to the Community Board, so hopefully, words has gotten around. The meeting is being held to talk about the kinds of events that will be scheduled, “ways to minimize impact on community” and individual concerns. Applications and proposals for next year are being accepted starting Dec. 1.

No word on whether Live Nation or another promoter is interested in staging more big shows at the pool next year or whether the schedule will be limited to more community-oriented programming. Hopefully, the meetings are a sign that the process will be a bit more transparent than the one that led to what many people considered to be a sweetheart deal with Live Nation last year. The email from the Parks Department says, “It is our hope to use the discussion at this meeting to help shape the scheduling, programming and production of events and programs to be held at the pool in the upcoming season.”

• Propsect Park Lights: The Pergola [Flatbush Gardener]
• Prospect Park in Lights Photoset [suzun/flickr]
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn [NYDN]
• Arch, Moon, Tree [atomische]
• Let There be Light [OTBKB]
• Tis the Season [GerritsenBeach.net]
• Upcoming Holiday Events [Adventures of Pie Queen]

Darkness (Just Kidding. Or Not.):

• Atlantic Yards Final Impact Statement Recertified. Quickly. [AYR]
• Assembly Members Ask Silver to Delay, Modify Atlantic Yards [AYR]
• Empire State Devel. Corp. Sells Tax Breaks to Mall Owner [No Land Grab]
• The Brooklyn Connection [Sunset Parker]
• Starbucks at Restoration Plaza? [Brooklyn Record]
• Crappy Contractors Not Just for South Slope Anymore [Brownstoner]
• Downtown Brooklyn in Flux [Boroughed]
• Clinton Hill Mansion Condos [Set Speed]
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: Williamsburgh Tour [Pseudo-Intellectualism]
• New Construction on Caton [My Life in Brooklyn]
• Vintage Coney Vids [Kinetic Carnival]
• Barge Pool Finally Arrives in Brooklyn…from Staten Island [NYT]

Today was a perfect day. Too beautiful to spend it inside so I scrapped my plan to visit PS1 and took the subway to the end of the line instead.

I easily forget that I live by the ocean. Beach bums, the tanned salty blond version, isn’t what comes to mind when I think of NYC.

Coney island in all its seedy, dirty, decrepit grandeur functions as a time capsule of the pre-Giuliani era and couldn’t exist anywhere but here. Today, along with thousands of other ordinary New Yorkers, I slowly strolled (punishable by law anywhere else in the city) the boardwalk pausing here and there to admire the freaks, watch the waves do their thing and enjoy the caress of a perfect late november sun ray.

Sweet Coney island, I wouldn’t trade you for all the Hamptons in the world.

Indeed.

Among the developments or amenities that residents support are restaurants (81.8 percent), hotels (80.5 percent), movie theaters (78.7 percent), more amusements/rides (76.3 percent), retail stores (74.8 percent), and a “limited amount” of residential housing (62.2 percent).

The wording of questions is unavailable and it is unclear whether residents were asked about housing in the current amusement area. In addition, it does not appear that residents were asked their opinion on buildings as tall as 40 stories, roughly double the height of the Parachute Jump.

2) Coney Island Museum. One of the encouraging bits of news out of Coney Island recently is that the city will be purchasing a home for the Coney Island Museum. (Founder and Director Dick Zigun became very involved this year in Coney redevelopment efforts when he joined the board of the Coney Island Development Corporation.) The Bay Ridge Courier fills in some details about the pending deal:

The city has agreed to put up $5.5 million to purchase a building for Zigun’s non-profit organization, Coney Island USA. Zigun said he is looking at several properties to house the Coney Island Museum, the Sideshow at the Seashore “Freak Show,” and administrative office space from which to run such mainstay Coney Island events as the annual Mermaid Parade.

Currently these are housed at a building located at 1209 Surf Avenue off West 12th Street, and sources close to Zigun speculate this is the same building he is looking to buy. The building, which is owned by the Luna Park Furniture dealer across the street, has been on the market for some time, Zigun said.

Zigun said he has been renting at their current site for the past 11 years, and he rented a building on the Coney Island boardwalk for 11 years previous to that. Zigun, a member of the Coney Island Development Corporation, said he is pro-Coney Island development and backs the major developers including Thor Equities, the Taconic Investment Group and the City Investment Fund.

“Everyone from the Army to the artists, from the non-profits to major corporations, want a bigger and better Coney Island,” he said.

3) Thor Equities Plans. The Brooklyn View reports that Thor Equities will be using the vacant land it will have from making some of its tenants leave before next season for “site construction preparation.” According to the paper:

While the vision seems spectacular, there is a growing concern that before the project ever comes to fruition, businesses and employees along the strip will lose business, unemployment will rise and a gaping hole among the areas under construction will reduce tourism during the summertime.

The paper also quotes Dick Zigun as saying that the proposed roller coaster, hotels, and a triple decker carousel are good ideas. “There is a world of difference and in theme parks a steel looping roller coaster is the number one attraction. It is fantastic,” said Zigun. Interestingly, the paper says that Mr. Zigun is “puzzled” over Thor’s plans for residential condominiums on the boardwalk. (He has long opposed putting residences in the amusement area.)

4) Is Sitt Full of It? Coney Island is an interesting place, especially in terms of land and some of its owners, and the dealings of developer Joe Sitt and Thor Equities have stirred up a big pot of speculation. The Bay Ridge Courier reports that the latest speculation is that Thor is waiting for zoning changes will flip its property. The company apparently bought the former Washington Bathhouse in 2005 for $13 million and sold it this year for $90 million to the City Investment Fund. (Not bad for nine months.) One amusement attraction operator said that Thor’s plan to clear out a significant part of Coney Island long in advance of doing any construction “will hurt all of Coney Island.”

Meanwhile, over at the Coney Island Message Board, BrooklynRider writes of Thor’s Joe Sitt:

1) he doesn’t have the experience to build in NYC
2) his lack of experience mean lenders see him as high risk and won’t offer funding
3) he has, through sheer luck, found himself holding some very highly valued real estate in Brooklyn – all of which is much more valuable if he can get zoning variances. Then he flips the property.
4) his “I was born here and I love Brooklyn” song is wearing thin. Considering all the parcels he owns, he has built NOTHING in the biggest construction boom this city has seen in nearly half a century.
5) the CIDC has no commitment to a C-7 zone and would rather gain revenue through real estate taxes on luxury condo than sales taxes on amusement ride tickets.

Think we’re overstating? Make sure to read the Carroll Gardens Courier’s coverage of a recent Community Board 6 meeting. (Also make sure to check out B61 Productions ongoing coverage of the Red Hook Piers debate if you’re trying to make sense of what is being proposed.) We’ll just hit a couple of highlights that capture the flavor:

At a joint meeting of Community Board 6’s Transportation/Economic/Landmarks committees at Long Island College Hospital, the ‘M’ stood for a misguided attempt by the city to force residential development, and a plan that is generating mistrust. For residents demanding more parkland and less residential development, the city’s nearly year-long effort to gather consensus and get a sense of what kinds of projects should proceed along the Red Hook waterfront has amounted to little more than a charade.

The city, led by the Economic Development Corporation (EDC), insisted that it was simply gathering information that will inform the creation of a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS), which will examine the consequences of development on the 1.1 mile, 120-acre site.

Along with new housing along the western side of Columbia Street, the project could see sweeping changes along the entirety of Red Hook’s waterfront, including the arrival of a hotel, brewery, offices, another passenger cruise ship terminal, restaurants, retail stores and artist studios.

To grossly oversimplify, in the Columbia Street area, one of the big fault lines is preserving open space and views of Manhattan versus plans to build housing and other structures that would create a wall of buildings that would block many views of Manhattan and the harbor.

Definitely look for Red Hook to claim its rightful place in 2007 in the slugfest that is Brooklyn development.

• Learning from DC’s Verizon Center [Brooklyn Views]
• Gehry Working on Plans for 3 Additional Towers Over Atlantic Center [AYR]
• Huge Sunset Park Real Estate Deal [Sunset Parker]
• Brooklyn Heights Kid Among Those Addicted to Internet [B. Heights Blog]
• Zoe Store Now Open in Dumbo [Dumbo NYC]
• Dope Behind Bars [Dope on the Slope]
• Will Dancers at New Bay Ridge Club Strip or Not? [NYDN]
• Will Gowanus Expressway Work Ever Be Finished? [Staten Island Advance]
• More About Gowanus Whole Foods [Brooklyn Downtown Star]
• Tribute to Fallen Cops from the 78th Precinct [NYDN]
• EMT Diary from Coney Island [Sun]

Old Gowanus, victim of a multitude of gags, rolls along with the help of an impeller which keeps the water moving. Industrial installations important to the life of the borough flank its turgid sides and in the right background may be seen the Williamsburgh Bank Building…Gowanus Canal with view to elevated Smith and Ninth Street subway station and Hamilton Avenue bridge; docked barges and tugboats on canal; warehouses, silos, smokestacks, and industrial debris on both sides of canal; warehouse at left reads, “Cirillo Bros. Coal and Fuel Corp.”; silo at right reads, “Cranford Ready Mixed Concrete”; large water tank behind elevated subway tracks; Brooklyn skyline in background.

The image is originally from the Brooklyn Eagle and is dated 1952. It looks like it was shot from the Gowanus Expressway.

We found the graffiti below scrawled on a site where a new 12-story building is rising at Carroll Street and Fourth Avenue. It is quite succinct. For a more verbose overview of development along one of Brooklyn’s hottest corridors for new construction you can click here.

On the weekend, we turn our attention to the Missed Connections section of Craiglist. Where else can one find so much sadness, comedy, longing and karma or lack thereof in one place and in so few words?

This week, naturally, we turn to a Thanksgiving-related missed connection, which means that it is grocery-related, but don’t miss the Honorable Mention, which is theft-related, and not so much a missed connection as a shout out to a Thankgiving thief.

Pre-Thanksgiving Grocery Shopping – m4w – 27
In the Cooking/Ingredients aisle at the grocery store, I was looking for peanut oil, and you were looking for something on the opposite side of the aisle. Our backs were pointed towards each other, our faces away.

We each pulled back to get a better look at the sections we were searching, and our heads ended up right next to each other, a mere few inches apart. I tried to act like I didn’t notice your head directly next to mine. But in fact, I noticed that you smelled very nice.

Secretly, this non-interaction delighted me.

How many of these happened all over Brooklyn on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday?

Honorable Mention:
mc with my phone that you stole at Capone’s THANKSGIVING – m4m – 34

Photos:

• Solo Window [Lex’s Folly]
• Ninth St. Donuts [Park Slope Street Photography]
• The Watcher [atomische]
• No Words_Daily Pix [Hugh Crawford/OTBKB]
• Nice Day in Gerritsen Beach [GerritsenBeach.Net]

Words:

• Can East New Yorkers Afford Their New Food Coop? [NYT]
• Markowitz Continues Avoiding Atlantic Yards [AYR]
• Pacific Condos Looking Brown [Set Speed]
• Low-Income Housing Solutions: Building on Libraries, Etc. [NYDN]
• Car Smashup on Smith Street [Gothamist]
• Cadman Plaza Astroturf [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
• Finishing Up in Dyker Heights [Runs Brooklyn]
• Coney Island Polar Bears [exNavyMike]
• Park Slope Not Thrilled About FAO Schwartz Possibility [NYT]

Here are a couple of video excerpts we found posted on youtube of walking tours on the history of Downtown Brooklyn and Park Slope.

The Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods‘ light hearted Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Gridlock! Black Friday traffic demonstration at Atlantic and Flatbush Avenue attracted several Atlantic Center/Atlantic Terminal Mall security guards who tried to stop the protesters, even though they were on a public sidewalk and obeying the law.

We know this thanks to Atlantic Yards Report and Norman Oder, who spent his Friday After Thanksgiving doing something other than shopping. Oder writes:

In front of four reporters, the security guards told organizer Jim Vogel of CBN and several others to stop, because they were trespassing on private property, including the sidewalks outside the mall, and the sidewalks outside the Modell’s/P.C. Richard complex, formally known as the Shops at Atlantic Center.

The protesters, somewhat incredulous at the assertion, refused. The security guards, who wouldn’t give their names to reporters, called the cops. Then they waited, away from their stations, on the south intersection on Flatbush outside Modell’s for at least half an hour as the protesters continued in their quadrilateral pattern….

When a squad car from the 88th Precinct finally pulled up, the security guards had briefly moved away. I asked an officer what the rules were. A security guard materialized and joined the conversation. The sidewalks, the cop explained, were open to the public.

The bottom line is that the NYPD seems to have protected the civil liberties of the protestors from Mr. Ratner (insert irony here), but that there was enough confusion that it sounds like everyone involved needs to go back for a Civil Liberties 101 refresher course. For the record, Mr. Oder points out that if you want to distribute handbills on a public sidewalk or in a public park, have a demonstration, rally, or press conference on a public sidewalk, or march on a public sidewalk and you don’t use amplified sound, you do not need a permit. If you want to use amplified sound on public property, want to have an event with more than 20 people in a New York City park, or wish to conduct a march in a public street, you will need a permit. The NYPD is trying to alter public gathering rules, which will make a confusing situation even more subject to interpretation. And none of this does anyone any good if private security employees are dancing to their own music or don’t really give a darn about the law.

One of the issues with privately controlled public space and private security enforcement has always been the impact, in particular, on First Amendment rights. Consider the Attempted Black Friday Ratner Security Smackdown of Peaceful, Lowkey Neighborhood Protestors a small rehearsal for much greater things to come. It is especially fascinating given the Ratner Family’s well known support of liberal causes, including civil liberties and human rights.

Irony is a wonderful thing.

[Photo courtesy of Jonathan Barkey]