The first shot in the decisive battle over Atlantic Yards will be fired today, not in Brooklyn, but on the steps of City Hall. There will be a 1:00PM news conference to announce that Brooklyn property owners and tenants are filing a lawsuit against the use of eminent domain and the taking of their properties by New York State for Forest City Ratner’s Atlantic Yards development proposal in Prospect Heights. Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn sent out a press release yesterday afternoon announcing the briefing.

With Atlantic Yards Report noting that the developer is hoping for final approval of the project very soon by both the Empire State Development Corporation and the Public Authorities Control Board, the success of the eminent domain lawsuit will determine the final outcome of the development. Opponents of the Forest City Ratner plan, which requires use of eminent domain, are confident they can prevail in in such a suit.

Food:

• Tempo Presto on Seventh: First Impressions [OTBKB]
• Stone Park Cafe’s Fried Goat Cheese Balls: Best. Thing. Ever. [eefers]
• Fourth Avenue’s Sheep Station [Eating for Brooklyn]
• Sheep Station (Yet Again) [Project Me!]
• Wednsday Food and Drink Roundup [Brooklyn Record]
• Stinky Cheese on Smith [OTBKB]
• Park Slope’s Mr. Wonton Goes to Big Soup in the Sky [Park Slope Forum]
• Tenda Asian Bistro on Montague Street [Chowhound]
• Cafe LULUc: What Every Neighborhood Needs [Eating for Brooklyn]
• Po Coming to Smith Street? [A Brooklyn Life]
• Po Brooklyn Redux [Eater]
• Seventh Avenue Park Slope Chock Full O Nuts “Silly Rumor” [OTBKB]

Not Food:

• More on the Police Cars that Tie Up Brooklyn Bridge Traffic [NYDN]
• Marty and Mayor Deal Death Blow to Brooklyn History [Brownstoner]
• Coney Developers Forcing Out Rides, Games, Shops [NYDN]
• Tim Robbins Buying in Brooklyn? [Brooklyn Record]
• Community Board 9 is Not Okay [Across the Park]
• J Condo as Seen from Under the Manhattan Bridge [Dumbo NYC]
• Barnes and Noble Coming on Myrtle? [Clinton Hill]
• Pedestrian-friendly Changes for Grand Army Plaza [streetsblog]
• Bridgeview Tower Development Update [Dumbo NYC]

We don’t know what this will amount to, but there is a meeting today between the city, the owner of Broken Angel and an architect who says he is “partnering with neighborhood artist Arthur Wood, 75, to save the unique building known as Broken Angel in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn.” The name of the firm is Jordan Parnass Digital Architecture. We reported on the meeting yesterday over at Curbed, which heard from the architect.

What the email didn’t address is the issue of money. While threatening to demolish Broken Angel (an act we personally view as tantamount to municipal vandalism), the city has also said it would work to bring the building up to code and, then, put a lien on it, essentially taking it from the owner. What the release says is that:

JPDA is working to develop a strategic master plan to not only bring the building up to code, but to fully realize Mr. Wood’s dream to turn the site into a museum, atelier and vibrant cultural resource for the whole community.

So, the saga continues, but we hope this represents some positive movement to save Brooklyn’s equivalent of the Watts Towers.

UPDATE: Chris Wood, the owner’s son, reports that they are working with JPDA on a plan for the saving the building. However, the architect told the Daily News on Friday (10/27) that saving Broken Angel will come down to “time, labor and money.” The city, meanwhile, is still speaking in terms of possible demolition, although the timeframe for a decision seems to have from three weeks to three months.

[Photo courtesy silk cut/flickr]

Related Post:
City Threatening to Demolish Broken Angel

Attention Park Slopers: You are living in “the bowels of Brooklyn.”

At this point, we’re tempted to say, no shit. Or to ask: If Park Slope is “the bowels” what in God’s name is Mill Basin? But we won’t. Instead, we’ll say that we’re always amused to see how non-Brooklynites treat a trip to Brooklyn and also note that we’ve taken “The Bowels” thing completely out of context. We came across this colonic reference to Park Slope in post on blog called Petite Style. The blog entry is actually called “Fieldtrip to Brooklyn.” Here’s a taste:

On Monday night, my roommate Vic and I went over the bridge and into the bowels of Brooklyn…Park Slope. Okay so Park Slope is a lot closer to Manhattan than say Red Hook or Coney Island but any area that requires a subway going above ground to get there is pretty damn far.

We went to go meet our lovely friend Sabs and her boyfriend from out of town Tobi for dinner at Blue Ribbon. I was so surprised to see how gentrified this area had become. About 4 years ago, I used to date a guy who lived on 5th ave in Park Slope and the dining options were limited to bodegas and Chinese takeout joints with neon signs and pictures of the entrees posted on the window. When I was walking down 5th ave to look for the restaurant, I barely recognized the old neighborhood until I saw Loki bar on the corner. This was the only bar we’d go to because it was basically the only bar in the neighborhood at the time. Gone are the guys in leather jackets and drinking Old English out of brown paper bags. They’ve been replaced by a New York Sports Club, sushi restaurants, and a Commerce bank. I guess a tree really does grow in Brooklyn.

Always interesting to see how non-Brooklynites view the borough.

Dick, how would you be feeling and talking right now IF, the city hadnt been the one to buy the building your in right now, and trade it to Thor for the Grasshorn building on Jones Walk and Surf Av, and put you in that building on the corner?

So, eventually, Mr. Zigun’s museum and related enterprises will be moving? Meanwhile, Mr. Zigun himself writes as part of an ongoing discussion about the Thor evictions:

If you remember, eleven years ago I WAS KICKED OUT of the building I rented by a heartless landlord. I PICKED MYSELF UP BY MY OWN BOOTSTRAPS…rented another space…and re-established my business at a higher rent and struggled many many years to get back on track!

Yes, I AM LUCKY this time around and I am on the CIDC. Since we cannot successfully fight capitalism and the American way of private property…I have no intent of even trying.

What I CAN DO is get the best deal out of the NEW Coney Island that I can. The city is listening to my staff about landmarking suggestions generally. Design suggestions, etc. The city has saved the B&B and Child’s on the Boardwalk and the sideshow and by the time we are done a few more landmark structures at the beach.

I cannot change the fact that old well established landlords whose families were in Coney for GENERATIONS are the people who have taken Thor’s $ and sold out the old amusements. That is not my fault but it is a reality the members of the CIDC have to deal with simply because it is the new reality….After 26 years of hard work the city has indeed given me a break I might actually deserve for service already well done. I am not taking the money and running out of the neighborhood. I am staying and getting the best deal I can for the new Coney which is coming soon whether or not either of us wants it.

While we wonder about appearances in this case, Mr. Zigun and his operation helped hold the fort when Coney was down. It’s refreshing to see an entity that isn’t a huge development outfit actually benefit for a change. It is also heartening that someone is standing up for the amusement industry and for Coney landmarks in the face of pressure to bulldoze and build highrise luxury condos on and near the boardwalk.

Related Post:
Developer Starting to Empty Out Its Coney Properties?

Looks like the days of the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s historic Admirals Row are numbered. There was an event yesterday to announce new developments on the Navy Yard property that will total 401,900 square feet of industrial space. Plus, a 60,000-square-foot supermarket. Today, Melissa Grace writes in the Daily News that officials–including Mayor Bloomberg, those from the Navy Yard Development Corp. and Borough President Marty Markowitz–are saying there’s no way to preserve the historic buildings and that a supermarket would “better serve” the community.

Here’s some of the flavor:

The “Admirals Row” mansions are so badly deteriorated they cannot be saved, Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. President and CEO Andrew Kimball said yesterday.

“The buildings are not preservable,” Kimball said after announcing a massive construction project, including the supermarket, in the Brooklyn waterfront’s industrial park.

“We have no option,” Kimball said of the decision to tear down the structures, which were built on Flushing Ave. between 1858 and 1901.

Officials maintain that preserving the homes – which they say would cost at least $30 million – is too expensive, and insisted the community would be better served by a supermarket.

The city Landmarks Preservation Commission agreed the mansions are not salvageable – but some preservationists disagreed.

“It’s definitely doable and worth doing,” said New York Landmarks Conservancy official Alex Herrera. “They’re really a part of Brooklyn and Brooklyn’s history.”

The row of once-elegant homes, with their grand staircases and spacious gardens, housed senior officers and their families until the 1970s, when the Navy moved out of the Navy Yard.

Some of them were designed by architect Thomas Walter, who designed Washington’s Capitol building dome…At the press conference, local elected officials and Mayor Bloomberg backed the plan for a supermarket, saying the 10,000 residents in three nearby city-run housing projects desperately need access to fresh produce.

“A crucial community resource must take priority over preservation at Admirals Row,” said Borough President Marty Markowitz.

We can only think of a few supermarket chains that would open a 60,000 square foot grocery store. So, what’s the mystery grocery chain?

Moral of the story: Lettuce trumps history, nine point five times out of ten.

Holy Crap, We Are Not Making This Up:

• Almost Busted for “Suspicion of Littering” on the G Train [Fast Hugs via Gothamist]

Regular Stuff:

• Ratner Expects Final Atlantic Yards Approval in a Matter of Weeks [AYR]
• Will Prospect Heights Become a Parking Lot? [Brooklyn Record]
• Brooklyn Speaks on the Arena and Eminent Domain [No Land Grab]
• Brooklyn Navy Yard Expansion Begins [NYT]
• Admiral’s Row: Community Will be “Better Served” by Supermarket [NYDN]
• Light and Air on Kent (For Now) [Brownstoner]
• Pumpkin Carving at Outpost on Thursday [Clinton Hill Blog]
• The Land of Mystifying Cafes [Daily Slope]
• Myrtle Avenue Gossip [Clinton Hill Blog]
• Park Slope Bank of America is a Mess [OTBKB]
• Seventh Avenue Park Slope Olive Vine Fire Property Finally Sold [OTBKB]
• Cypress Hills: So Close to East New York, Yet So Far [Animal]
• Brooklyn Old School: 1845 Map of Greenpoint [Sunset Parker]

The site is now up and open and it’s quite interesting. The gist of outside.in is that it allows you to view blog posts by typing in a zip code or by simply moving around a Google map. Since its creators live in Brooklyn, the startup is pre-stocked with Brooklyn content. The trick is that users can add items and tag them, so that the site should be very cool and very useful after a while.

First structure to possibly go to make way for the new Coney is the Henderson building on the corner of Stillwell Ave./Henderson Walk & Surf Ave to the Bowery. The property now owned by Thor Equities, which as early as last week assured their tenants not to worry about being evicted for the next year has now turned around and handed most of its tenants a 90 day notice to vacate the premises…Thor’s tenants on the Boardwalk including Ruby’s and Cha-Cha’s and Ocean Grill House were not given notice. And Norman Kaufman says he was not given any notice for his miniature golf or batting cage or go-karts.

With that, [Coney Island USA’s and Coney Island Development Corp. Board Member Dick] Zigun confirms that Thor has given notice to most of their newly acquired tenants in the Henderson’s building and beyond! Those include owner and operator of the Zipper and Spider rides on West 12th, McCullough’s Kiddie Park at Bowery & West 12th, Caesar’s games on the Bowery, and Slim who operates Balloon Racing game on the Bowery.

Regardless, of who has been given notices as of yet. This is just the beginning of Thor clearing its land up for the zone that will mark the first construction site towards the revitalization of the New Coney.

The building in question currently is home to a Popeye’s and a variety of amusements and may be familiar to some as the building with the “Surf Hotel” sign. Regardless of what sort of plan Thor comes up with–worthy of Coney or worthy of suburban Jersey shopping mall on Prozac–several empty and construction-filled years are ahead for Good Old Coney.

Huge props to Kinetic Carnival for getting this story and for the excellent reporting.

(The map below showing the Henderson Building’s location is from Kinetic Carnival).

Related Post:
Coney Plans: Turning Down the “Glam Rock” and Pumping Up the Elevator Music

So, the Clean Plate Club, which we track as part of our effort to keep up with Brooklyn food news, ran a hysterical post about the new Tea Lounge on Court Street. While we realize that “Tea Lounge” itself is enough to set the hands of some people shaking, we had found it somewhat less stroller infested than its Park Slope parents. (But that was on a weekend.) In any case, CPC spends time at the Tea Lounge, finds a baby changing space, etc. Then, a singer shows up, strollers flood the place and hilarity ensues:

Oh Jesus, adult-contemporary coffee house folk, I thought to myself. Shoot me. If only I’d been so lucky. A mom pushing a stroller then walked through the door. A minute later, another. And another. Before long, there must have been 25 strollers in the place, with an equal number of mothers. I was trapped! There was seriously no way to get out. A brick wall of breasts, jeans and MacLaren strollers. And then the fucking Mr. Rogers dude started to sing. And with him every mom in the place.

Sensitive folk singer guy with mom choir: “The tires on the bus go round, round, round. Round, round, round. Round, round, round.”

This was the worst day of my life. The decibel level was far beyond what I previously thought a bunch of singing moms could reach – it was like seeing The Who in the early 70s or something. And to make matters worse, half way through the song, all the moms started making their babies dance. Tiny, chubby arms swaying all over the place. Rhythmic knee bouncing like it was nobody’s business. And despite this great effort on the part of the moms, all the babies looked miserable. I don’t think a single one of them felt like dancing.

And then the second song hit. A slowed-down, sing-along version of “The Tide is High.” Immediately, all the Brooklyn-moms became nostalgic for their younger, hipper days, when they did drugs and listened to Blondie. The place erupted once again with song. And I got the hell out of there. Tripping over strollers and babies alike, I stumbled my way to the door, vowing never to return to the Tea Lounge on a Tuesday morning.

Disclaimer: CPC would like to make it known that at any time other than Tuesday morning, the Tea Lounge is a kick-ass establishment with good food and great coffee.

Indeed.

One of the things we appreciate about stories like the one about the Broken Angel eviction and demolition threat in Clinton Hill is that it puts in perspective so many of the other idiocies that go virtually unchecked in New York. In a sense, this is a given. New York is such a sprawling enterprise that enforcement of any kind is a selective, almost random business. Regardless of whether Broken Angel violates building codes, does it really deserve the municipal resources that have been focused on it and its elderly creator?

This is where the case of the Bay Ridge crackhouse is illustrative. Sunset Parker ran an item yesterday about something he found on Bay Ridge Talk while surveying the South Brooklyn scene. The “house” in question is on 93rd St. between Third and Fourth Avenues. This is typical of the comments posted about the problem:

I have called the cops in the past in regards to this house. I’ve called the precinct in the past because 911 is supposed to be for emergencies only, and I didn’t consider a loud-mouth yelling and screaming at 3am to be an “emergency”, just a major annoyance (at the time I didn’t know that there was a drug situation going on with this house, I thought he was just some drunk. lol). They never showed up, which kind of surprised me cause I remember a couple of yrs ago when there were problems with the bar next to the prince hotel, the cops would show up when the precinct was called.
Since finding out about the drug situation going on in this house, I did call 311 once (about a month ago), in which they then brought a 911 operator on the line since there was a fight in progress…but as far as I know, no one showed up (it was 2am and I went back to bed after I called the cops, but I didn’t hear any sirens or see any lights)…I guess I should’ve lied and said someone had a weapon. lol I hadn’t thought to call the brooklyn south vice (what’s the phone number?), but perhaps that would be the best way to go. Has anyone else in the neighborhood called the cops in regards to this house? Perhaps if more people called, something would be done.

Good to know the city is cracking down, so to speak, on the Broken Angel menace, though.

The Brooklyn march to becoming a bona fide tourist destination continues. Dumbo NYC–which is on point on so many things, not the least of which is their Travel + Leisure reading–brings our attention to T+L’s November story, Brooklyn Bound. A small taste:

I admit the borough’s new cachet comes as some vindication. (Taste it, 212!) And, sure, I love braised squid and fancy cocktails as much as the next yuppie arriviste. Happy they showed up. But I wonder if curious visitors aren’t coming with misplaced expectations. If someone told you Brooklyn is “the next Manhattan,” they got it dead wrong. Brooklyn is nothing like Manhattan. Brooklyn looks and feels and is like no place else.

The first thing you need to know about Brooklyn is that it is huge: New York’s most populous borough, home to nearly a third of its citizens. An independent Brooklyn would be the nation’s fourth-largest city. Brooklyn is a vast metropolis blessed and cursed to lie 500 yards from Manhattan.

The second thing you need to know about Brooklyn is that it is small. Big in breadth and attitude, but intimate in the height of its buildings, the modesty of its storefronts, the compactness of its communities. Defined by the stoop, the bodega, the bocce or basketball court, Brooklyn has an enduring neighborhood-ness. Come to my block next month and they’ll be decking the stoops for Christmas; come in June, and the kids next door will be manning a lemonade stand.

Yeah, it’s a sentimental article, but it’s fun and touches on some nice spots. Check it out here and make sure to check out Dumbo NYC’s item and Dumbo NYC in general.

Gowanus Art:

• Art [My Brooklyn Year]
• Seeing Artists Work in Brooklyn [Art NYC]
• Inside the Gowanus Studios [Brooklyn Record]

The Rest of the Borough:

• Broken Angel: My Opinion [Clinton Hill Blog]
• Getting Ready for the Big Boo in Clinton Hill [Brooklyn Record]
• $15M in Sunset Park [Sunset Parker]
• Travel + Leisure: Brooklyn as Destination [Dumbo NYC]
• Atlantic State Condos on the Market [Set Speed]
• Tish James, DDDB Welcome Bloomberg Criticism of PACB [AYR]
• Get Your Blight Me T-Shirts [No Land Grab]
• Bloomberg Pimps, in Red Hook [Daily Intelligencer]
• Seventh Avenue Park Slope Chock Full O Nuts: “Silly Rumor” [OTBKB]
• Underhill Avenue Stores in the 1920s [Daily Heights]
• A Peak at Enduro [Across the Park]
• Zoe to Open in Dumbo on Nov. 1 [Dumbo NYC]

It would appear that the city is ready to compound the despicable forced removal in handcuffs of the owner and creater of Clinton Hill’s Broken Angel with its demolition. That is the disturbing news conveyed over the weekend by Gothamist, which got an email from Chris Wood, the son of the owner. It seems that if there are no plans to bring the building up to code, the Department of Buildings is threatening demolition and that, even with plans, they are saying they will do the work themselves and, then, pretty much take the property.

This is a heartbreaking and infuriating story and, even though most of you probably don’t need us to tell you about something that was on Gothamist, it just makes us feel better to reproduce the email they posted:

We had a meeting on Friday with the Department of Buildings. We were told that they would begin demolition on the building in 3 weeks from now, if we do not submit plans by an architect/engineer to bring the building to code. The city would do the work and then place a lean on the property. To have the city do the work would zero out the value of the property and leave my parents with nothing. We understand that the Department of Buildings is in a difficult situation, as there are some safety concerns with the building. We are attempting to comply with the Department of Buildings, and would like to submit plans as soon as we can get an architect/ engineer on board. If any qualified individuals are willing to work with us in this short time frame we would very much appreciate it. I can be contacted at chriswood718@yahoo.com.

We truly hope that someone can help frame a compromise, common sense solution.

As an aside, we certainly hope that the Department of Buildings would move with the same deliberation to protect the thousands of Brooklynites whose quality of life is negatively impacted every day by construction practices that routinely violate city regs and that injure people.

[Photo courtesy silk cut/flickr]

Well, today, Jotham Sederstrom over at the Daily News hits us up with a story about all the people living at the building, which is nicknamed “The Bat Cave“:

:A long-vacant building has been taken over by homeless squatters from across the country – smack in the middle of some of Brooklyn’s priciest real estate, the Daily News has learned.

Dozens of kids from California, Long Island, Queens and a hodgepodge of Midwestern states call the red-brick, graffiti-stained building near the Gowanus Canal home.

“It’s like a dorm,” said Sasha, 18, who ran away from her Long Island City, Queens, home four years ago to live in the labyrinthine Bat Cave, just off Third St. and named for the bats that once lived in the four-story building.

The squatters sleep in the building that was once a power station, despite a decadent drug culture consumed with vicious fighting….The site, across from a proposed Whole Foods store, is only blocks from $1.5 million brownstones. Owned by mega-developer Shaya Boymelgreen, the building is expected to become a luxury condo complex called Gowanus Village.

Among other shockers, squatters claim a homeless man was thrown from a window and a junkie who overdosed was carted away in a wheelchair and left on the street for police.

Check out the story for more. We’ll only say here that a security guard at a nearby property says of the squatters: “They look like they’re punk rockers – Mohawks, Army bags, hoodies. They seem real nice, well-mannered.“

Here’s a vid of the Walk Don’t Destroy Brooklyn walkathon held in Prospect Park on Saturday. More than 300 people walked and more than $100,000 was raised for the legal fight against the Atlantic Yards development. To watch click on this link or just click on the embed below. We’ve also posted a flickr photoset of Walkathon shots that you can watch as a slideshow.

• Develop Don’t Destroy Walkathon Pics [No Land Grab]
• DDDB Walkathon Raises More Than $100K [OTBKB]
• Mayor Blasts Public Authorities Control Board [AYR]
• Trolley Follies [Polis]
• The Other Coney Island [Runs Brooklyn]
• ArtMart 11225: Outstanding [Across the Park]
• ArtMart 11225 Flickr Set [acrossprospectpark/flickr]
• Pumkinhead on 2nd Street [seriously excited!]
• Brooklyn Street Art [foofaraw review]
• NYT Times Says Dumbo “Sought After” [Dumbo NYC]
• Night and Day Owners Opening Biscuit on Fifth Avenue [OTBKB]
• Bat-O-Lantern [Dope on the Slope]

Once upon a time, we objected to holiday stuff before mid-November. Then, the reality of non-stop marketing wore us down. So, we swallow hard and deal with it when the Christmas paraphernalia appears the day after Halloween. The Flatbush Avenue decorations in mid-October, though, are depressing. Call us cranky, but there’s something wrong with Christmas decorations before Halloween. We assume it’s only a matter of days before the holiday stars go up on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope and the decorations are strung across Fifth Avenue, etc. We could say, “ho, ho, ho.” But, really, we say “Ugh.”

As of the time we posted this, 62 days,17 hours and 24 minutes to Christmas.

Actor Steve Buscemi, who has participated in a large number of DDDB events, was one of the people that spoke during the post-walk concert by John Wesley Harding and other performers. The walkers went up Prospect Park West from the Bandshell at Ninth Street, stopped briefly at Grand Army Plaza and then walked through the park back to the staring point. The Rude Mechanical Orchestra, which we’ve seen at events and parade’s plenty of times this year, led the way. It was a great event on a wonderful fall day for a walk in the park. We’ll try to get a short vid up tomorrow.

Meantime, we have the slideshow of our flickr set of photos from the event, which you can watch by clicking on this link or on this link to launch a popup slideshow.

One of our favorite local writers, historians and website people, Kevin Walsh, who is behind Forgotten-New York–of which we’d be a groupie, if we had time for that kind of thing–is getting around a lot in connection with the publication of his new book, Forgotten New York. In any case, he’s going to be on Brian Lehrer on Monday 10/23 at 11:00AM. Should make for a good listen.

The Forgotten site, by the way currently has an interesting page of photos that ended up on the cutting room floor when the book was produced. Forgotten has been one of our favorite sites–one of those places where we can gladly spend large amounts of times looking at the photos and absorbing the information–for a long, long time. So, it’s energizing to see Mr. Walsh getting the attention he truly deserves for his fine, fine work.

Photos:

• Along the Gowanus [joe’s nyc photostream/flickr]
• Gowanus at Night Photo Series [petitepomme/flickr]
• Construction Yard, Red Hook [seriously excited!]
• Navy Yard Cocktail Lounge [lesterhead/flickr]
• Between the Cars [frank lynch/flickr]
• Coney Island [Color the Sky with You]
• Old Coney Photos [AutoBiographicalDigitizer]
• Downtown Brooklyn/Borough Hall [Boroughed]
• Hoyt St. Skeletons [seriously excited!]
• Sunset Park Gem [Sunset Parker]
• Autumn Light [A Test of Will]

Info:

• DDDB Walkathon Raises More Than $100,000 [AYR]
• Nine Neighbors on Altantic Yards [NYT]
• The Times Curious NIMBY & YIMBY Framework [AYR]
• Nightmare Neighbors [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
• Living in Dumbo [NYT]
• Frightened by the Broken Angel Arrests [Jimmy Legs Brooklyn Blog]
• Greenpoint Oil Spill Testing Sought in Maspeth and Sunnyside [NYDN]
• Brooklyn Judges Ignore Their Spaces and Park in City Park [NYDN]
• Franny’s is a Disappointment [Chowhound]

If you are seeking some to participate in an important bit of community activism today and to express your voice about the Atlantic Yards proposal, remember that Walk Don’t Destroy, the Walkathon to raise funds for Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn’s Legal Fight is this afternoon. The sign in is at Noon at the Prospect Park Bandshell. The walk takes place from 1 – 2:30pm. (From the Bandshell to Grand Army Plaza and back to the Bandshell-less than 2 miles.) And there will be a concert at the Bandshell (where Celebrate Brooklyn takes place every summer) at about 2:45. The show will feature John Wesley Harding, which is none to shabby and The States, Sixth Sense and NuComme. You can check out more about the Walkathon here or register or pledge support here.