We’re always on the lookout for attempts to annex Gowanus into Park Slope and for signs of Park Slope Manifest Destiny. So, we noted that Park Slope is now “the greater Park Slope area” in a nice New York Times review of the restaurant Sheep Station on Fourth Avenue (generally regarded as the current-day Park Slope-Gowanus line of demarcation). Specifically, the review said:

In the past few months, bars have begun to spring up on Fourth Avenue in Park Slope, a stretch best known for what may be Brooklyn’s greatest concentration of gas stations and all-night tire shops.

So far, so good. Then comes the following:

In September, Sheep Station, a pub with a menu and a beer selection that look to Australia for inspiration, opened on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Douglass Street, signaling that the avenue may be the next frontier for gentrification in the greater Park Slope area. (At least until some intrepid entrepreneur opens an open-air cafe on the banks of the Gowanus Canal.)

The Gowanus as part of the Greater Park Slope Area. GPSA, anyone?

The photo above is of the first three floors of the first of three highrises on Kent Avenue being built by the Toll Brothers known as Northside Piers. The buildings will eventually reach 30 stories and have a rather glassy look. For now, they’ve got an interesting ad campaign. Another view of the structure, which will quickly dwarf the adjacent Austin Nichols Warehouse at 184 Kent, is below. The bottom rendering shows the building now going up, plus outlines of two others. (The development to its north, shown as a grassy area, would also include three highrises.)

Here is a selective sampling of some of the reaction to yesterday’s release by the Empire State Development Corporation of the Atlantic Yards Final Environmental Impact Statement. Final approval of the document could come in a matter of weeks. For exhaustive coverage, analysis and links we strongly suggest the superb coverage of Atlantic Yards Report and No Land Grab. Incredibly, AYR’s Stormin’ Norman Oder has already posted more than a dozen items detailing elements of the Impact Statement, including a fascinating look at how Forest City Ratner has controlled project design, insight on the proposal to eventually include a new school as part of the proposed Atlantic Yards and the nature of the “changes” incorporated into the final document. No Land Grab has links to virtually all of the important reactions and analysis. We personally need to try to digest a bit more before adding our own two cents to their very intelligent thoughts and analysis.

1) Develop Don’t Destroy. “As expected, this morning the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), the lead agency for the Ratner “Atlantic Yards” proposal, certified rubberstamped the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the project. This is NOT an approval of the project but rather it is the ESDC Board giving its okay to accept and make public the FEIS.” And this quote from Daniel Goldstein: “We know that the ESDC will rubberstamp this project. So we call on the Public Authorities Control Board to scrutinize ‘Atlantic Yards’­its public cost, its infrastructure and environmental impacts, its security issues, its abuse of eminent domain­as thoroughly as possible, and to postpone any vote until after the federal eminent domain lawsuit filed on October 26th is resolved in the courts.”

2) Atlantic Yards Report. “Will the board of the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), nearly all appointees of lame-duck Gov. George Pataki, move the project toward approval before Republican Pataki leaves office for incoming Democrat Eliot Spitzer?

ESDC Chairman Charles Gargano, a steady booster of Atlantic Yards, was asked if approval was expected before the end of the year. “I hope so,” he told reporters. He contended that it was unfair to describe the ESDC as trying to rush projects to completion during Pataki’s term. “We’re trying to get projects done,” he said.

2B) Atlantic Yards Report. “We got played. The project, announced at about 8 million square feet in December 2003, was increased to 9.132 million square feet in July 2005, and was cut by the developer on 3/31/06 to 8.659 million square feet.”

3) No Land Grab. “A cynical Brooklynite would assume that this rejiggering of who had what role in the Design Guidelines has a lot to do with trying to create an appearance of a city-planning process. This smacks of a defensive move in anticipation of an eminent domain law suit based on last year’s US Supreme Court decision of Kelo v. New London. Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn has recently filed just such a law suit, claiming that the seizure of private property for a private development, in this case, is unconstitutional.”

4) Brooklyn Speaks. “While we welcome the improvements in the Atlantic Yards plan announced today by the ESDC, we do not believe the project sponsors have come close to addressing the serious flaws that remain in the project. As currently proposed, the project will still overwhelm the surrounding neighborhoods and create a deadening enclave in the heart of Brooklyn. It will still add several thousand new vehicle trips and transit riders to the area without a real plan to prevent Brooklyn from grinding to a halt. Only 13 percent of its housing units will be affordable to the average Brooklynite. And, while the City Planning Commission’s recommendations were accepted by the developer, it is still a project that has not been shaped in any significant way by the public. “Until these flaws can be addressed, the sponsors of BrooklynSpeaks.net believe the project should not be approved by the ESDC or the Public Authorities Control Board. The Atlantic Yards site has enormous potential, but a plan for the site should not be approved until it works for Brooklyn.”

5) Daily News. “In a bid to quiet critics, developer Bruce Ratner plans to add a school to his controversial Atlantic Yards Nets arena complex and free subway rides for all ticket-holders.

But opponents said the changes don’t go far enough to solve anticipated crowding and traffic at the 22-acre site – and accused state officials of trying to ram the project through before Eliot Spitzer becomes governor Jan. 1.”

6) The Real Estate. “The next step is for the Empire State Development Corporation to meet again to approve the general project plan, and then for the now-fabled Public Authorities Control Board to assent — both of which could happen before Eliot Spitzer is sworn in as governor on Jan. 1.

Spitzer supports the 22-acre arena-and-housing complex, but he might have wanted to tinker a bit around the edges — which, it now seems, he will not be able to do. E.S.D.C. Chairman Charles Gargano said he would respond to any concerns the Governor-elect raises in the next few weeks, but gave no indication he was willing to push final action into the next Governor’s term.”

7) Metro. “The current scale isn’t much different from Ratner’s original 8 million-square-foot estimate from 2003. The project ballooned to 9.132 million square feet in 2005 and has been scaled back since.

Frank Gehry’s main tower, dubbed Miss Brooklyn, will remain 620-feet tall, despite Borough President Marty Markowitz’s request that it be shorter than the Williamsburgh Savings Bank’s 512-foot clocktower. Commercial space has been cut roughly 493,000 square feet from its planned 606,000 square feet. The final EIS anticipates 1,300 office jobs, which is nearly 50 percent fewer than estimated in a draft EIS released in July.

8) Sun. “The board of the development corporation is expected to sign off on the environmental statement and the general project plan as early as a November 28 meeting, according to a state official. This could set up another showdown at the Public Authorities Control Board next month, where the spotlight once again will fall on the speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver, as one of three voting members of the board…With the Atlantic Yards project, Mr. Silver’s political calculus is still emerging.”

You learn something every day. Today, for instance, in checking out a post about the past weekend’s Gowanus Habitats happening at the Brooklyn Lyceum we learned that there’s a blog called Gowanus Oyster Garden Stewards. We vaguely knew that people had oysters in the Gowanus from a past boat ride on the Big G with the Urban Divers, although we don’t recall the phrase “Gowanus oyster gardening.”

In any case, the latest blog entry talks a bit about the Habitat session on Gowanus water quality, which dealt with topics like “technologies for treating contaminated sediment and the complicated issue of dredging…low temperature and high-pressure sediment washing” and “the potential role of nitrogen in the actual breakdown of PCBs.” The same post also mentions turning treated sediment into “Bioballs” (we don’t want to know). Says the blog, “This potential beneficial use of treated dredge materials was especially exciting for the oyster gardeners in attendance as we learned that the waste of the past could be brought into play as a resource for the future. Bioballs apparently make great oyster and mussel habitat!”

Please note: We are not making fun of the good people working to reintroduce oysters to the Gowanus. We applaud their efforts and their faith in the ability of nature to triumph over man.

The Gowanus oyster gardening effort has been underway for three years and it’s part of a collaboration between collaboration between NY/NJ Baykeeper, The River Project and the NY Harbor School. Here’s how it’s going:

Approximately 1000 Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) were placed in a 5-tier lantern net on October 26th and monitored for size on October 29th. The net sits on the bottom of the canal; ideally, it should be suspended or floated above the sediment so the oysters don’t suffocate. We are weighing this concern with the visibility drawback of the floating net and the potential of creating an ‘attractive nuisance’.

We were given a great introduction to the materials and methods of oyster gardening by the gardener who attended the training session in October. We took a ‘random’ sampling of 10 oysters from each tier by removing a handful of oysters from each and picking every 5th one for measurement. Dead oysters were dropped back in the water.

Now that we know about the blog–which has only been around a few weeks–we’ll be keeping up with the Gowanus Oysters.

Brooklinks is a selection of Brooklyn-releated news and images. On Thursday, we focus on food.

Food:

• Wednesday Food and Drink Roundup [Brooklyn Record]
• Fort Greene’s Stonehome Wine Bar: Not Executed Well [L Magazine]
• Brooklyn Restaurants Open for Thanksgiving [About Brooklyn]
• Brooklyn Korean Spots [Heading East]
• Zipi Zape Reigns as the City’s Best Tapas Joint [Brooklyn Record]
• Sides at Second Street Cafe [OTBKB]
• New Biscuit Totally Bites [Chowhound]
• Ciccio’s Pizza in Bensonhurst: Perfect [Slice]
• Wild Ginger: Soho Vegetarian Now Open in Williamsburg [NYT]
• Dinner at Red Hook’s Good Fork [Park Slope Gastronome]
• Bite Me: Greenpoint’s Taco Bite Rocks [Clean Plate Club]
• Porchetta’s Minimalist Rustic Italian [Eating for Brooklyn]
• Dating, Food and Dumbo [Dumbo NYC]

Not Food:

• Proactive on Kent Avenue? [Brownstoner]
• Area Blogs on the Rise [Across the Park]
• Community Reaches Out to Park Slope Child Care Collective [OTBKB]
• Coney Island Shortcakes As Part of the Thor Future [CIS]
• Sunset Park Featured in New Book on Latino Culture/Cuisine [Sunset Parker]
• Valentino the Shop Cat [423 Smith]

(Note: We will be dealing with Atlantic Yards Final Environmental Impact Statement Release links and analysis in other items.)

We don’t want to overstate this comparison, but 20/20 will run a segment on Friday on the “dark side” of the building boom in Dubai, which is the Middle Eastern bastion of wealth and architectural weirdness. We found this via a blog called Left at the Gate, which is about horse racing, but has some other interests too.

In any case, see if you can spot a passing similarity between Dubai and Brooklyn/New York City in the midst of the construction boom of the early 2000s:

Dubai’s building boom has been made possible by some 500,000 migrant construction workers, most from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Many work 12 hours a day, six days a week, in extremely hot temperatures that have led to illness and, in some cases, death. The workers live in crowded camps, with eight or more men sharing one small room.

There is a lot more to the Dubai story and, again, we don’t want go overboard, but the story calls to mind the recent attention to construction worker deaths in New York City.

We can’t count the number of work sites we pass on Sunday mornings in Williamsburg and other neighborhoods where work is going on. We’ve watched these workers on their lunch breaks on Sundays on hot July days and wondered how many hours they work and the working conditions they tolerate. Sure, they don’t live in work camps, but there are plenty of spots in Brooklyn or Queens where you can find them living in the same conditions.

Just a point worth making.

We generally won’t run a press release, but will make an exception in this case by excerpting the release that went with the new renderings of the Thor Equities Coney Island project. The document highlights several aspects of the plan–the new roller coaster, an indoor water park and a multi-story carousel. Here is a bit of what it says:

Thor Equities, known for developing community-based projects across the United States, has recently acquired approximately 10 acres of property along the Coney Island Boardwalk. The company’s vision for the area includes amusement attractions, hotels, retail, a limited amount of residential housing and a variety of culinary options. Thor Equities is committed to ensuring that its vision is in-line with the local community, and includes implementation of job training and recruitment programs to ensure that the economic benefits generated by the project remain in the area.

The plan seeks to create a welcoming gateway that links Surf Avenue to the historic Boardwalk and the beach. According to Thor’s vision, Stillwell will become the future favorite stroll and promenade for Brooklyn’s families, a place of magic, romance and a continuous show of lights, sounds, water and colors punctuated with animated rides for all ages.

Light and water shows – with virtual whales and mermaids dancing 150 feet in the air through a cascading waterfall — will greet visitors at Surf Avenue and Stillwell Walk, directly across from the recently renovated train station. Surf Avenue itself will be transformed from a desolate street now used mainly as a parking lot to the area’s main pedestrian thoroughfare, marked by larger than life iconic street furniture, such as a mermaid swimming in a martini glass and a tattooed elephant roaming the streets. Meanwhile, the adjacent Bowery will be reinvented as the permanent street festival, midway and sideshow.

Peter Cavaluzzi FAIA , design principal at EE&K said, “Our design is all about re-establishing a vigorous and enthralling amusement experience that will serve area residents and attract more visitors to Coney Island. The re-establishment of the Coney Island amusement attractions will take place on many levels, in every part of the district, and for every type of visitor.”

More details of the plan unveiled today show a fully integrated amusement destination, with a moving tower of water, lights, and colors changing throughout the seasons and on various holidays. All of the proposed new rides will be designed to work together to provide a constantly changing sound and light show with regular animation all year long, seven days a week.

Thor Equities also has a commitment to complement, rather than compete with Coney Island’s iconic amusements, such as the Cyclone, the Wonder Wheel and the Parachute Jump. By creating a year-round destination, these landmark amusements will reap the benefits of increased rider ship and the increased visitors will allow these rides to remain open for a longer season.

In addition to the rides, plans call for recapturing some of the ‘softer’ amusements that were common during Coney Island’s heyday, such as roof gardens with dining options and breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean, cinemas, restaurants at various price levels and catering facilities for family events.

We still believe the real story is Thor’s push to rezone part of the amusement area for residential development. We also continue to wonder why a planning and development time frame that would have construction starting in 2008 at the very earliest, requires evictions in 2006, unless it’s part of the overall strategy. Nonetheless if you’re interested in Thor’s own spin, there you have it.

So, now that the new renderings of Coney Island have been marinating for 48 hours, give or take, it’s time to look at some reactions. To us, Jen Chung at Gothamist hit the story dead on with her headline, “Coney Island Developer Wants Residential Zoning.” The developer is trying to sell it as a “new amusement park” story, but the two things that jumped out were the almost matter-of-fact way that the four highrises that are part of the plan were mentioned and the plan to put luxury housing near the boardwalk.

Let’s review, starting with our own thoughts:

1) Gowanus Lounge. We think the real meat of Thor’s plan is the plan to build housing in the amusement zone. In any case, Thor’s images can’t be taken too seriously as they will be replaced by new versions many times.

What an odd vision of Coney they present, though. The renderings are a mishmash of buildings and symbols that desperately try to scream CONEY ISLAND. All the effort does, though, is underscore how completely disconnected they are from Coney’s real history. Why else do you keep writing Coney Island on multiple surfaces as though visitors need to look up for a reminder? On the other hand, given how Coney’s landscape would be altered–with the only survivors being the Wonder Wheel, Cyclone, Parachute Jump and Nathans–maybe visitors will need the reminders. We’re glad to see a roller coaster in the plans, but this is a not a plan for a new amusement park. We still feel like we’re looking at attempt to combine a fake Times Square with a Las Vegas vision of Coney Island and overlay it on a trippy shopping mall. What the drawings don’t show–highrises up to 40 stories–are more important than what they do show.

2) Kinetic Carnival. “Now Thor throws in a generic roller coaster and promises the traditional Coney aesthetics combined with a modern take. Yet, the drawings still seem to be rehashing the same futuristic glam-rock glitzy vision.

And like it or not they are underlining the need for the residential structures and the high-rise hotels by stating that; including them are the only ways to assure revenues for the project because amusements do not generate enough money and are too seasonal. Though this is true, what most people want to see is a bit of that old traditional Conyesque architecture finally thrown into the mix. And also a bit more concrete clarity in the next designs. These renderings are too busy and in fact have an over-the-top Vegas feel or a Salvador Dali hangover- as if they are meant to confuse and stall for answers.

Again – as of yet it looks like Thor and company still do not have a concrete vision and merely improvising and presenting to us a muddled and vague colored sketching of a Sitt dream as he rolls out of bed before grabbing his coffee and heading to Thor headquarters.”

3) Polis. “Not much can be added to the renderings, except to say that I don’t see a whole lot left of the freakshows. Other than a nod to Nathan’s, there’s absolutely nothing here to reassure people that Thor will respect the history of Coney Island. One can only hope that the collapse of the real estate market will seriously scale these plans back to a more subtle version of Las Vegas.”

4) Gothamist. “Thor would rather concentrate on residential development because the amusements are more seasonal. Which means that the city would have to rezone Coney Island for residential use – and that could be another big Brooklyn development debate.”

5) New York Sun. “Thor wants to spend $1.5 billion to restore the amusement district to its former glory, transforming it from a place to spend a summer afternoon into a year-round destination, and giving it the feel of Las Vegas, Orlando, or Atlantic City…The plan has a catch. Thor says it needs the city to enact a zoning change to allow residential and hotel development in the amusement district. Thor wants to build as many as four towers on its site, comprising two hotels, a time-share, and an apartment building that could rise up to 40 stories.”

6) Dick Zigun. Quoted in the Sun, saying, “I’m not one of the people who says no-go on Vegas. You can build Brooklyn’s Times Square at the beach. Before you know it, you will be able to have a Starbucks latte at the beach, and hopefully a giant roller coaster you can throw up on.”

7) Coney Island Message Board. From Switchback: “The good news with this picture is that Thor finally released a rendering where Nathans is not missing. The bad news is that many historic buildings are demolished across the street, and it looks like Stillwell is going to become Thors own private property. I know legally there is supposed to be permanent beach access, but judging on how many pedestrian walkways have been closed off in Manhattan by their property owners, I doubt that the city would do much complaining if Thor was to do the same one day. At least we get that crappy 3D mermaid hologram in trade, that is, once the technology is actually invented.”

Holy crap, so to speak. We somehow missed this one in the Brooklyn Papers until we saw a link to it on the Bridge and Tunnel Club blog. B&TC concludes that this story should serve “as a useful reminder to the Parks Department PR machine that some things are better left unpimped.”

The story is about a $1.136 million public bathroom in Owl’s Head Park in Bay Ridge. (To be fair, Owl’s Head is a very nice park and significant capital improvements have been made over the last several years.) We’ll let the Brooklyn Papers fill in some of the oddly compelling detail about the Big Bucks Head in Owl’s Head:

To make our own ceremonial first flush, The Brooklyn Papers sent its top cub reporter to seek comfort in the so-called “comfort station.” After a brief campaign of shock and awe, he declared it a mission accomplished.

Refurbished with a wheelchair ramp and a ventilation system that keeps the air warm and fresh on a cold day, this is one state-of-the-art outhouse.

The structure’s stately brick gives it a Colonial feel, and the natural glow from the skylight adds a nice modern touch.

In fact, it’s such a pleasant comfort station that visitors have been known to seek a lot of comfort. One man, for example, stayed in one of the two stalls for roughly 45 minutes (yes, it’s that clean a bathroom).

He finally came out with a strong endorsement.

“It’s beautiful in there,” he said. “Thank God.”

No, thank City Councilman Vince Gentile (D-Bay Ridge), who pushed the Parks Department to finally finish the $1.1-million project after two years of contractor bungling. The renovation will help to flush memories of past years, when the station was so rank that portable toilets were set up as an alternative.

Well, thank God that problem is solved. You never know when you’ve have to go in Bay Ridge.

Must Read:

• Getting Hitched in Brooklyn [Brooklyn Record]

Definitely Read:

• Final Atlantic Yards Environmental Impact Statement Coming Today [AYR]
• Open City Council Seat [Across the Park]
• Court Street Blockbuster is Toast [Brooklyn Record]
• Coney Island, Holy S**t [Polis]
• Artist in Angel Home Battle Sells Work [NYDN]
• It Came from the Blogosphere [No Land Grab]
• The Idea of Rising Sea Levels is Sinking In [streetsblog]
• Aussies Cross Bridge to Brooklyn [Dumbo NYC]
• Small Plane Lands in Brooklyn Park [NYT]
• Continued Investigation into Marathon Urination [Daily Intelligencer]
• 1931 Mansion in Victorian Flatbush [Brownstoner]
• Community Board Seven Meeting Tonight [Sunset Parker]
• Park Slopers Debate How to Avoid Indie Rockers Next Door [Gawker]
• Architectural Tour of Bay Ridge [Sexy Jesus/Vox]

Chris Wood, the son of Broken Angel‘s creator, sent out an email yesterday to update everyone on the state of the endangered Clinton Hill landmark. As it turns out, Broken Angel will be in court today for a hearing and owners are trying to raise money for what will likely be the very expensive task of bringing the building up to code and keeping away the wrecking ball. You might recall that after October’s fire drew municipal attention to the building, the city ordered the building vacated, the NYPD took away the elderly creator in handcuffs and the city threatened demolition.

Here’s the update from Mr. Wood:

My family is currently working with the architecture firm, Jordan Parnass Digital Architecture, to bring the building to code, however we are still being threatened with demolition by the DOB. On Wednesday 11/15/06 the Brooklyn Supreme Court will begin hearings on whether the actions of the DOB are justified. Additionally we will be selling photographs and paintings as a fundraiser at artezn. We are attempting to raise funds to save the building and develop it in a way that will help the community. In selling our art work we are hoping to make Broken Angel a permanent art installation and fixture of Brooklyn.

The full text of the update is available here. There’s also a big flickr set that offers wonderful photos of Broken Angel. Jotham Sederstrom has an article in today’s Daily News about the art sale, which includes some amazing pieces. Hopefully, a lot of people will be interested enough in the work that it will make a difference with the fundraising effort. Something tells us that in 20 or 30 years, when Broken Angel is a national landmark and Mr. Wood’s art is recognized for its genius, that his art will be very valuable.

Artezn is at 444 Atlantic Avenue. While there are lovely Broken Angel photos selling for around $50, there are also paintings ranging in price from $6,000 to $60,000. Arthur Wood has created thousands since the 1950s.

Related Posts:

• Broken Angel Update
• City Now Threatening to Demolish Broken Angel
• Broken Angel Standoff: “A Clinton Hill Waco”

Many times, we’ve posted different maps of Brooklyn and New York City showing how screwed we are if we’re ever hit by a hurricane. We missed a fun Christian Science Monitor article on the subject (but came across it thanks to always excellent and intelligent coverage of streetsblog) that offers wonderful color about what could happen to us and how it will likely happen with greater frequency because of global warming. Here’s a sample of the description of the threat:

Feeding off the greater ocean warmth, full-blown hurricanes may arrive at New York City with increasing regularity…By 2050, stronger storms and rising sea levels may make the flood that previously hit once every 100 years a once-in-20-years event, according to GISS. With a possible three-foot sea level rise by 2100, flooding could occur every four years…

Sea levels have risen almost a foot in the past century, partly because of ice melt and thermal expansion (warmer water has more volume), and partly because of naturally occurring land subsidence of the Northeast. In the same period, area temperatures have risen nearly 2 degrees F. About two-thirds of that increase occurred in the past 30 years and sea-level rise has accelerated in the past decade. “The core body of knowledge has solidified” on climate change, says Cynthia Rosenzweig, the lead GISS scientist on the climate-change task force. “We’re moving into a solution phase.”

Some scientists are thinking that barriers, like the ones used to protect parts of the Netherlands and the one being built to save Venice from permanent aqua alta, are the way to go. That’s good news for Manhattan and North Brooklyn in 2080 one supposes. :

Rather than individually shoring up the city’s many vulnerabilities, the better solution is to use the region’s topography, say engineer Douglas Hill and Malcolm Bowman, head of the Storm Surge Research Group at Stony Brook University. Three barriers placed at strategic “choke points” – the Verrazano Narrows, Throgs Neck, and the Arthur Kill – would protect all of Manhattan and half the entire flood-prone area, they say.

The bad news, of course, is that there’s no way to protect the ocean and harbor facing parts of Brooklyn. Bye, bye Coney Island, Sheepshead Bay, etc. etc.

Related Posts:

• Coney Island: Sunk by Thor Global Warming
• We Dodged the Hurricane Bullet This Year, But Dig This…

We know you may have difficulties with us depending on your point of view on certain issues, but this question is about whether you’ve been experiencing any technical problems. We ask because Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn writes “Here’s what happens when I go there: it takes a really long time to load and often I can’t scroll down to see what’s on the blog. I’ve had to force quit Firefox while on GL because I can’t close the screen.

I suspect these problems have something to do with the video on there. I have this problem with all three of my computers. It’s very annoying because I love the blog and depend on the info I get over there.”

We’ve been planning a move to a real server and use new software for a long time, only to be distracted by the constant crush of ongoing work.

In any case, if any of you have issues with the site’s slowness (we’ve cut the retention time of what’s on screen to five days) or with things freezing up, please let us know either by comment or by emailing gowanuslounge (at) gmail (dot) com.

There have been many reactions to the newly-updated Thor Equities renderings of its Coney Island vision. We will deal with them at another point. For now, we have a few details to share about the big roller coaster in the proposal.

So, we won’t dwell on our own concern that the drawings and hype are a tactic to deflect attention from the real meat of the Thor proposal–which is that the developer wants to rezone part of Coney’s amusement area for residential development and wants to build four highrises, one of them as tall as 40 stories.

Instead, we’ll focus on the proposed roller coaster that would, according to today’s Daily News, “soar above Stillwell Ave. and spiral along the Boardwalk at breakneck speeds.” One of our Coney sources familiar with the plan told GL the coaster would be very high tech and even have the ability to run at different speeds. It could be programmed to run more slowly, for instance, for the benefit of those prone to, um, getting sick on roller coasters and for coaster phobes who dream of riding the Cyclone, but know they would need to be carried off. It would be the first roller coaster in the world to offer “virtual rides” to riders via a device that would create different backgrounds. In keeping with the developer’s goal of recreating Coney as a year-round attraction, the cars would be enclosed. (Bummer for those that like that exposed feeling, unless they’re planning to enclose them only in winter.)

Who knows what will happen when Coney v 2.1 is replaced by Coney v 3.0 and other new releases. For now, we’ll note that there are actually dozens of indoor coasters and theme rides around the country, and that the Coney plan seems to bear a similarity to some.

One, as someone on the Coney Island Message Board pointed out, is an attraction in Las Vegas called “The Adventuredome,” which is an indoor themepark featuring a looping indoor coaster called the Canyon Blaster. That ride is billed as the “largest indoor double-loop, double-corkscrew roller coaster in America.” We’re also getting a vibe that brings to mind the theme park inside the Mall of America, which also has a coaster called The Ripsaw. If you’re curious, you can see a list of some of the indoor coasters here. The firm that might design the Coney coaster is a Swiss ride company called Intamin. You can see its coasters here, including a “Spiral Coaster” designed for shopping malls and atria.

With the building boom along Fourth Avenue well underway, a new local group is saying that it’s time to rethink the rezoning that allowed buildings up to 12 stories tall along the avenue. The group is called Fourth Avenue Neighborhood Preservation and it’s holding it’s first meeting today (11/14) at 7:30. The meeting will take place at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, which is located at 9th Street and 4th Avenue.

Two luxury high rise condo buildings belonging to Leviev Boymelgreen are already moving toward completion on Fourth Avenue. More than a half-dozen others are in the works, with construction alrady underway on several major new buildings.

Residents told the Park Slope Courier they’d like to find a way to “reexamine” the zoning laws and to scale them back. Nearly all of Fourth Avenue north of 15th Street was rezoned to R-8A, allowing construction of up to twelve stories.

One member of the new group told the weekly paper residents were somehow blindsided by the zoning change: “When the law was changed, many of us didn’t realize what this meant. But now that we realize it, we know that buildings of that size are inappropriate and out of context in our neighborhood.”

Continuing with the copy and paste:

John Gordon, another member of Fourth Avenue Neighborhood Preservation, said that the city went along with the zoning changes under the misapprehension that all of 4th Avenue contained “numerous under-built and underutilized former warehouse sites,” according to a report he found.

“This may be true of 4th Avenue north of 6th Street. It is simply not true of 4th Avenue south of 6th Street,” Gordon said. “Fourth Avenue in our community, from 6th Street to 15th Street, is comprised mostly of three- to four-story residential buildings, many of which have stores on the ground floor, and includes two churches and a public school.”

That such a major rezoning with such deep implications came to be is a telling story. We have said it before and it bears repeating: Ultimately, Brooklyn’s neighborhood battles are won or lost with rezoning. What happens afterward is just the application of the icing to the cake.

In our constant scouring of information about all things Brooklyn, we came across blogger Two Can Anne’s entry about the ultimate Old School Brooklyn activity–swimming at Coney Island with the Polar Bear Club on Sunday. It’s got some fun pics, and here’s a bit of what she had to say:

I swam in the 45-50 degree Atlantic today for cryin’ out loud. In November. But, I was lucky for my first swim: it’s been 50s/60s out, so not too bad. Try icy and snowy January, says my friend Mike, a Polar Bear. I don’t know about that just yet, I’m still patting myself on the back from today’s accomplishment. So, shove it.

The Polar Bears, meanwhile, date to 1903 when they were founded by Bernarr Macfadden. According to the Polar Bears website, Mr. Macfadden was known as the “Father of Physical Culture.” Say the Bears:

Although many considered him a “kook and a charlatan,” few people of his generation did as much to advance the cause of physical fitness, healthy eating habits and the natural treatment of disease. He authored over 100 books on his theories of health, sexuality and fitness becoming a millionaire publisher along the way. Among his powerful and influential friends were FDR, Will Rogers, Shirley Temple, Clark Gable and Rudolph Valentino.

It was his belief that a dip in the ocean during the winter can be a boon to one’s stamina, virility and immunity. Among early Polar Bear members could be counted NYC Deputy Police Commissioner George S. Dougherty and Supreme Court Justice Crater, long famed for his disappearance.

A boon to one’s virility? One would think that swimming in frigid water would have an, um, different effect, but who knows. The Polar Bears swim every Sunday from October to April. Even in the snow. Talk about Coney Island as a year-round destination.

Coney Island, Baby:

• New Release of a Thor Sitt Dream [Kinetic Carnival]
• Here’s Coney Island v 2.1 [Curbed]
• Coney Island Developer Wants Residential Zoning [Gothamist]
• New Coney Island Even More Fun to Avoid [Gawker]
• Hopes Soar for Coney Coaster [NYDN]

The Rest of Brooklyn, Baby:

• It Came From the Blogosphere [No Land Grab]
• Brooklyn’s Most Feared Intersection [Brooklyn Record]
• Erecting The Simone [atomische.com]
• 205 N. 7th: Oh, So Modern [Brownstoner]
• Demolition in Gerritsen Beach [GerritsenBeach.net]
• Crown Heights Home Gets Landmark Designation [Landmark This!]
• Birth of a Shared Bike Lane on Fifth Avenue [streetsblog]
• New Library in Sunset Park with Apartments? [Sunset Parker]

In any case, yesterday, someone sent along fresh renderings of Arquitectonica‘s design for the re-done 184 Kent to Curbed. It seems to largely keep the facade intact, but adds numerous structures to the building that change it fundamentally. Also, you can’t help but notice the three highrises looming over the building, which would be the adjacent Northside Piers condos. The rendering is worth it for that alone, as the Northside Piers developers don’t highlight drawings of their project with all three highrises.

Oh, how different the waterfront will look in about five years.

While many NYC neighborhoods could vie for the title of being the Most Anti-Bush, Park Slope is right at the top of the list. One almost expected fireworks to have been set off on the roof of the Park Slope Food Coop and they might have been, except that it’s probably against the rules. (Just kidding. Sort of.)

In any case, Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn reports that “Park Slopers are reacting with joy to the results from last week’s mid-term elections.” To report a bit more:

At a dinner party on Saturday night someone said, “After the elections we have so much more in common with the rest of the country.”

Who said that? It might have been me.

A palpable feeling of relief, the elections make Park Slopers feel like there’s real consensus about the mess in Iraq…In a cab yesterday, returning home from Louis and Capathia’s show at Joe’s Pub, a friend said that her heart breaks for the family members of those soldiers who’ve died in Iraq…In the cab, we also discussed how we heard the cheering news of Rumsfeld’s resignation. That event in tandem with the election results was a double whammy. News of his resignation spread through the city like wild fire. An actress friend heard the news over headphones just before the Wednesday matinee performance of a Broadway play. “Rumsfield has resigned,” the stage manager told those who were listening. The night before, that same stage manager was delivering state-by-state results to the actors and tech crew.

I heard about it during the Leonard Lopate show on WNYC during my work shift at the Food Coop. Where were you when you heard that Rumsfeld resigned?

Us, we were sitting at our computer, blogging.

We especially like the breathless hyperbole about the New Coney:

Stillwell will become the future favorite stroll and promenade for Brooklyn’s families, a place of magic, romance and a continuous show of lights, sounds, water and colors punctuated with animated rides for all ages…Light and water shows – with virtual whales and mermaids dancing 150 feet in the air through a cascading waterfall — will greet visitors at Surf Avenue and Stillwell Walk…Surf Avenue itself will be transformed will be transformed from a desolate street now used mainly as a parking lot to the area’s main pedestrian thoroughfare, marked by larger than life iconic street furniture, such as a mermaid swimming in a martini glass and a tattooed elephant roaming the streets.

The release mentions turning Coney into a year-round destination and–in a very matter of fact way–mentions that the development would include “hotels, retail, a limited amount of residential housing and a variety of culinary options.”

To us, that’s the most interesting part, and today’s Sun filled in some details before the release went out: The plan would include up to four highrises–two hotels, a time-share and a condo building of up to 40 stories. A rezoning would be needed for many of Thor’s plans to become reality. No renderings of the four highrises are included in the latest batch.

With all the talk of making Gowanus a center of green industry and of cleaning the canal and trying to use it for recreational purposes, it would certainly seem that proponents like the Gowanus Canal Conservancy have their work cut out for them. Not only is there an ongoing sewerage overflow issue and potential added problems from Atlantic Yards, there are still obvious sources of serious industrial pollution. We are not naive about the latter, but this was the first time we’d photographed and videotaped it oozing to the surface.

It might be hard to imagine now, but back then the pavilion’s central feature was a detailed, 9,000-square-foot map of New York State, made of 567 terrazzo mosaic panels laid across the rotunda’s floor. Billed as the largest map in the world, it allowed you to stroll from Montauk Point to that small place in Cattaraugus County — Ischua, wasn’t it? — where you had an aunt.

Soon after taking custody, the city turned this meticulous map into a roller rink. A few years later, city workers disassembled the glorious multicolored ceiling by hammering out the heavy panels, sending them crashing to the floor.

On and on the willful neglect continued, abetted by fiscal crises, until, finally, you could visit the ruined map and slip the I from Ischua into your pocket.

Graduate students from the University of Pennsylvania are now collecting and cataloging the loose pieces of terrazzo and plastic, and are planning to restore some of the map for an exhibition next year. The thrust of the exhibition, presumably: This is what it looked like, way back then — in 1964.

And for those who really like their information detailed and written in optimistic World’s Fair tones, here’s a bit more from nywf64.com’s page on the map:

Constructed of 567 gleaming 16-foot squares, the mammoth map weighs 114 tons and is one of the most extensive terrazzo projects ever undertaken. According to Rand McNally and Company, it is the largest known representation of any 50,000 square mile area of the earth’s surface…UPON DELIVERY at the New York State Pavilion, the 567 panels were placed on individual beds of sand and concrete reinforced with steel mesh. Special suction-cup lifts were used to move each 400-pound panel into its position in the huge mosaic. The scale of the map is so large that even local landmarks could be recognized if they were placed on it.

And now, they’re sweeping it up and putting it in plastic bags.

An ironic bit of trivia is that in the 1970s the map was supposed to have been removed and restored and installed at the World Trade Center complex. We’ll have a vid of one of our favorite urban relics together soon. In the meantime, anyone interested in learning more about this building–what it was and what it has come to be through decades of official neglect–should check out this extensive set of pages at nwf64.com. There are also some cool photos and info over at Modern Ruins.

A couple more pics of the pavilion and the rescue effort below.

Atlantic Yards:

• The Postage-Stamp “Absurdity” of Atlantic Yard’s Lawn [AYR]
• We’re Not Going to Take It…Anymore [No Land Grab]
• Video of DDDB’s Daniel Goldstein Interviewed on Fox News [No Land Grab]

Other News:

• Child’s Death Shows Brooklyn Traffic Perils [NYDN]
• John Paul II Still Pope in Greenpoint [NYDN]
• Forgotten Brooklyn Heights [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
• Crime Down in Sunset Park [Sunset Parker]
• Fool on the Hill [Dope on the Slope]
• Green News of the Week [I’m Seeing Green]
• Brooklyn Gum [A Brooklyn Life]
• Gowanus Canal “Dock War” [Brit in Brooklyn]

Interesting Information:

• More Teens Putting Off Parenthood [Park Slope Courier]