After yesterday’s headline about a possible shrinkage of 6-8 percent in the massive Atlantic Yards project, coverage has gotten around to noting that the reduction would still leave the development at about the same size at which it originally stood.

To paraphrase your Brooklyn grandmother: That’s a reduction?

Well, one can argue that it is, but only in the sense that one embarks on a pasta and pizza eat-a-thon, balloons from 175 to 275 pounds, then eats salad for a month to drop back to 255 lbs. and calls it “a reduction.” In the most technical of senses, yes, it’s a reduction. In a real sense, you still weigh 80 pounds more than before your carb-a-thon.

The reality is that Atlantic Yard was originally supposed to be about 8 million square feet, before it increased to 9.1 million square feet last September. In March it was “cut” five percent to weigh in at 8.65 million square feet. Now, the words is that Forest City Ratner is talking about cutting 500,000 to 700,000 square feet from the project, bringing it back to slightly over or under the original square footage.

Never mind the alleged 60+ percent “support” for Atlantic Yards in that recent Crain’s poll, every public official in New York that backs the project must have breathed a deep sigh of relief when they saw the poll that found that 78 percent of people aren’t paying attention to the project or to the controversy. The 20 percent that are following its trials and tribulations are the ones jumping up and down because of smoke and mirrors games like this latest “reduction.”

Not to mention the fact that reducing the size of Miss Brooklyn is a purely symbolic move that has nothing to do with the very real impacts of the project.

The New York Times‘ followup story to Tuesday’s article trumpeting the “reduction” said, in part:

The pattern of changes so far has fueled speculation in some circles that Forest City is merely following the tried and true developers’ tactic of building a cushion against inevitable calls for downsizing from planners, politicians and residents of the surrounding neighborhoods.

“With practically every large development project, people ask for far more than they need,’’ said Ron Shiffman, a former member of the New York City Planning Commission, who recently joined the advisory board of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, an umbrella organization for groups opposed to the project. “The city is never really very good at setting their own standards and criteria for scale.”

Of course, with an almost unaccountable state entity like the Empire State Development Corporation in control of the process and overriding all local control, those standards don’t matter anyway.

The site bills itself as “a community-focused site for people who love where they are and want to share it with other people.” It comes out of a venture called Hyperlocal Media, which started with Buffalo Rising and says that it is “a boutique media firm specializing in hyperlocal coverage and community interaction.” Other “hyperlocal” sites are coming soon.

We’ve already learned Brooklyn things clicking around Until Monday, which is a very cool thing.

Design*Sponge, the excellent design blog created by Grace Bonney has launched a guide to design shopping in Brooklyn. The guide runs down design shopping options in Williamsburg, Park Slope, Dumbo and Boerum Hill-Carroll Gardens, and also throws in some dining suggestions for those venturing into unfamiliar territory. design*sponge’s handy little guide also includes links to all of the retailers, so you can check them out online first.

Eating:

• Opening Night at TINI Wine Bar/Cafe in Red Hook [Chowhound]
• Cobble Hill Tea Lounge Now Open [Brooklyn Record]
• Mommy Lounge Tea Lounge on Court [seriously excited!]
• Polish Delights at Christina’s Restaurant in Greenpoint [Block Magazine]
• Jacques Torres Has Ice Cream Sandwich of Your Dreams [Ed Levine Eats via Gothamist]
• Park Slope Food Coop: Good or Bad? [Chowhound]
• Fort Greene Red Bamboo Disappoints [Clinton Hill via Bklyn Record Food Round-up]
• Good Time With Mom at Tempo [Vittles Vamp via Curbed]

Thinking:

• Greenpoint Terminal Market Owner Guttman Hit with $36 Million Dumbo Suit [NYDN]
• ‘Inferno Landlord an Infernal Landlord’ [NYPost]
• Ratner Meets With Planning Commission Chair Burden [The Real Estate]
• More Atlantic Yards Draft Environmental Impact Statement Criticism [AYR]
• Feng Shui Under the Manhattan Bridge [Curbed]
• Continuing Saga of Crumbling Wyckoff Street Building [Sail Brooklyn]
• West Indian Parade Wrap Up [Daily Heights]
• Good News for Prospect Heights Book Worms [Brooklyn Record]
• Park Slope Gallery Show Focuses on Vanishing Brooklyn Landscape [P. Slope Courier]
• Fear of Killer Hurricanes on Brooklyn Oceanfront [NYDN]

An outraged comment on an otherwise innocent photo of a tagged up van this weekend from someone who clearly isn’t a regular reader got us to thinking. The commenter took significant umbrage in our use of the phrase “post-industrial” to describe Brooklyn. Specifically:

Why do you call this blog ‘post-industrial’ when there are thousands and THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of people who work in factories, mills, etc etc right near you and many MANY more within a few miles? Just because YOU and most of your readers might work in offices?

Nice use of rhetoric, when the condo comes I hope your the first to get thrown out on your ass.

peace,

Rosie the Riveter

Ignoring the last jab and taking the compliment about using rhetoric nicely, “Rosie’s” anger got us thinking about the post-industrial city/region/nation in which we live. First, what do we mean by post-industrial? Wikipedia offers a succinct definition, noting that a post-industrial society is marked by a rapid increase in the size of the service sector vis a vis manufacturing and in the amount of information technology. Other definitions include the fact that the majority of the workforce no longer works in manufacturing.

So, what are the job trends in Brooklyn? Manufacturing accounts for 7 percent of the jobs in our borough. In June 1958, there were 220,000 manufacturing jobs in Brooklyn. The total in 2004 was 31,044. The largest sector in Brooklyn, according to the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, is “health care and social assistance” with 127,000 jobs. The second largest sector is retail with 52,871 jobs.

The entire American economy has been in a post-industrial phase since the 1970s. In 2004, the total number of manufacturing jobs stood at 14.3 million, down 3 milliion since 2000 and 5.2 million since 1979.

We do not intend a discussion about whether this is a good thing or a bad thing–for the record, we believe it’s a bad thing–but simply wish to state that it is reality and that global forces are behind the shift. It’s vital that economic development officials develop strategies to preserve manufacturing jobs in Brooklyn and the other boroughs, and we have serious reservations about Bloomberg administration policies speeding the demise of manufacturing in some nabes. While it makes sense to target certain areas of the city for efforts to preserve manufacturing, there is little effort to protect existing industry in neighborhoods where the land is deemed more valuable for luxury condos.

While Brooklyn may have industry and tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs that are worth preserving, our borough, like our entire country, is post-industrial. For better or worse.

[The photo above, which is Kent Avenue in Williamsburg circa 1962, shows the Austin & Nichols Warehouse, aka 184 Kent, in the backgroun. This photo was posted at the Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal page, which is full of incredible historic photos of industrial Williamsburg, and came to our attention via a post on I’m Not Saying’s blog.]

Looks like local Indian food chain-let Baluchi’s has jumped ship from Brooklyn. Not that it was much of a ship. With locations on Smith Street in Carroll Gardens and Third Avenue in Bay Ridge, it was more of a rowboat, but the Smith Street location closed this spring and a Labor Day wander down Third Avenue found the Bay Ridge outpost replaced by a new spot called Himalayan Cafe. The chain’s website says there are 15 locations, but they are down to 12, all but one of them in Manhattan. The other is in Queens, which is interesting given that Queens has the best Indian food in New York City and, probably, the most competitive market for Indian restaurants. At one point, a new Baluchi’s was supposed to be opening on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, but we’ve seen no evidence of it, unless we’ve missed something.

Bonus Question: Why are so many Brooklyn Indian restaurants so mediocre, with the same generic menus and the same generic sort of cooking?

[Photo courtesy joodee on flickr]

For Atlantic Yards Fight Fans:

• Real Deal Podcast Tackles Atlantic Yards [No Land Grab]
• Will Affordable Housing Be Last at Atlantic Yards? [Observer]
• ESDC Breathes Sigh of Relief [The Real Estate]
• Crain’s Poll Questions Were Stunning Generalities [AYR]
• Ratner Offers to Downsize Again [NYDN]
• Ratner Scaleback Plan Matters Little in Brooklyn [NYT]
• Letitia James to Endorse Bill Batson [Daily Gotham]

For Parrot Fans:

• Brooklyn Parrots Get More Press [Brooklyn Record]

For Brooklyn Fung Wah Fans:

• Fung Wah Bus Crashes [7online]
• Fung Waaaaaaah! [Bridge & Tunnel Club]
• Chinatown Bus Nightmare [AP/NYDN]

For Fans of Everything Else:

• Artists Needed for Local City Housing Project [OTBKB]
• Sunset Park Church Pays More Than Lip Service to Deaf Worshipers [Sunset Parker]
• Fighting Prospect Place Crime With a Supersoaker [Daily Heights]
• Wal-Mart Continues to Eye Brooklyn [Daily Gotham]
• Red Hook’s Mexican Baseball League [Brooklyn Record]
• Baltic and Bond Deli [bluejake]

We’re admittedly a little slow in getting to this, but another episode of The Burg, Fair Trade, is online now. And, there’s also a just-posted short called Fan Mail that basically has the characters reading an angry comment left on the website:

Bukowski would take a runny shit all over you fucking whiny little bitches. you are the lamest thing to hit this beloved city of mine since the mackarena. get it bullshit? you represent everything that is going wrong in this city.

And there’s more, but anything featuring a line about Bukowski taking a runny, you know, has our vote.

Here are the September tours:

Victorian Flatbush with Ron Schweiger on Saturday, September 9, 10:30am-1pm. “Stroll the tree-lined streets of ‘gingerbread’ Brooklyn with Brooklyn’s official historian, Ron Schweiger. See turn–of–the–century houses and learn the history of the landmarked communities of Prospect Park South (where scenes from Sophie’s Choice and Reversal of Fortune were filmed), Ditmas Park, and Beverly Square West – which encompass New York’s largest collection of wood Victorian houses. Meet at street level of the Newkirk Avenue station on the Q train.

Ironbound Queens with Jack Eichenbaum on Sunday, September 10, 11:30am-1:30pm. “Railroad construction crisscrossed western Queens for a full century (1830-1930), defining the edges of neighborhoods and ‘the other side of the tracks.’ We’ll walk through pockets of ironbound Woodside and Elmhurst to understand how various railroads and impermanent stations both promoted and impeded development. There will be a connecting subway trip between Woodside and Elmhurst. Meet at the front of the Queens-bound (upper) level of the Queensboro Plaza station on the 7/N trains.”

Uncovering Sunset Park’s Waterfront with Dan Wiley on Saturday, September 16, 10am-1pm. “Our tour will lead us through an early industrial park (Bush Terminal) with towering smoke stacks, to a waterfront brownfield landfill that nature and people have reclaimed, ending at the 58th Street Pier for an annual waterfront festival. Learn about Brooklyn’s industrial past and new ideas for the future. Wear comfortable shoes as this tour is approximately 3 miles. Meet at street level at the Smith-9th Street station of the F/G trains.”

Lost Theaters of Park Slope with Cezar Del Valle on Sunday, September 17, 11:30am-1:30pm. “Park Slope was once a hub of theatrical and sporting activity where Henny Youngman first told jokes and Tony Danza boxed. We will pass former theaters and places associated with Fred Astaire, Johnny Depp, Sophie Tucker, Al Pacino, the Roller Derby, and the Brooklyn Dodgers, pausing at two forgotten tunnels and a haunted staircase. Meet at Connecticut Muffin on 15th Street and Prospect Park West. Take the F train to 15th Street station.”

Brighton Beach with Francis Morrone on Sunday, September 24, 2-4pm. “We’ll trace the rich history of Brighton Beach from its intimate relationship with the water to the Hotel Brighton, the Brighton Beach Baths, and the swanky Oceana apartments. We’ll look at its transformation in recent decades to the epicenter of Russian life in America and prove the adage that in New York, a subway ride will take you anywhere in the world. Meet under the elevated train at Brighton Beach Avenue and Coney Island Avenue. Take the B/Q to Brighton Beach station.”

Dumbo Arts and History Tour with Beverly Cumbo on Saturday, September 30, 12-2pm. “Dumbo has dramatically transformed from grimy, light-industrial into a hip enclave of galleries, public art spaces, and restaurants. Our guide will lead you on an adventure through artist ateliers – where more than 300 artists create cutting-edge work – to discover the creations of tomorrow. Meet at street level of the A/C train at High Street on Cadman Plaza West. Or take the 2/3 to Clark Street and walk to Cadman Plaza West.”

Fees for urban tours are $11 for non-members, $9 for members, $8 for seniors and students with ID. To inquire about our Urban Tours or to register for one, contact Ruth Edebohls at 718-788-8500 (ext. 208).

Our friends at the Brooklyn Record are offering a primary poll via Survey Monkey. Here’s their explanation:

With the Democratic Primaries just a week away, we thought it would be interesting to take the pulse of our readers on three high-profile races going on in Brownstone Brooklyn: The battles for the 57th State Assembly seat as well as the 10th and 11th Congressional Districts will be read by many as a referendum on the Atlantic Yards project as well as other hot-button issues involving race, gentrification and affordable housing. While we certainly wouldn’t claim that the readership of Brownstoner and Brooklyn Record reflects a proportional cross-section of the the potential voters in the various races, it will be arguably more independent than any polls commissioned by the candidates themselves. The poll’s also pretty short: there are sevenmultiple choice questions so the whole thing shouldn’t take any more than a couple of minutes. Our polls will close at noon on Thursday, at which point we will release the results.

You can click over to the blog entry and access the poll or go directly to the poll.

Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn is urging residents to “engage in the primary day electoral process and skip an Empire State Development Corporation hearing” on Atlantic Yards scheduled for September 12. DDDB’s statement says, in part, “The ESDC ‘ran’ a public hearing on August 23rd that was a fiasco…after eight hours only 100 people out of 500 wishing to speak were able to do so.” DDDB spokesperson Daniel Goldstein says, “We urge and encourage the public not to go to the September 12th ESDC ‘Atlantic Yards’ hearing but rather engage in the political process as voters, campaign and poll workers.”

DDDB and others have urged a change in the September 12 hearing date because it conflicts with the primary. “It is especially unacceptable and unconscionable considering that the last hearing required an eight hour commitment just to have a chance to testify,” Goldstein says. “We’ve asked the ESDC to change the problematic hearing date but they have not budged.”

As an alternative, DDDB suggests attending the recently added Sept. 18 hearing and the submission of written comments through the September 29 deadline.

While we assume the fence was blown down by the nasty wind on Saturday night, we hope it isn’t an omen of things to come. We’re not so sure, though. We’ve found the site wide open on multiple visits during the slow demolition this summer and noted that bricks and concrete seemed perilously close to the demolition wall. (Great opportunities for walking through the rubble, though, if you’re into that sort of thing.)

To refresh the memory: Williamsburgh Square would be between Bedford Avenue and Berry from North 3rd to North 4th streets and have four towers of 38, 36, 20 and 12 stories. Quadriad has also proposed building 24 other buildings from 12 to 40 stories in the area between Bedford and Kent Avenues from North Third to North Sixth Streets.

Whether these are serious proposals or part of a bizarre strategy to garner attention or to propose something totally outrageous in the hope of getting something that is simply outrageous approved is anyone’s guess. Meantime, we assume the fence was fixed on Sunday or Monday? Or did the demolition site stay open to the public until this morning?

Ah, campaign season. Gowanus Lounge returned home after an extended vacation on the outer reaches of Cape Cod to find a pile of mail that included campaign literature from a number of candidates on the September 12 ballot. Plus the latest Atlantic Yards mailer that we had already seen online while we were away, because while you can run, you can’t hide.

But we digress. The point is that the literature we found upon our return to Brooklyn in the pouring rain and howling wind on Saturday included election propoganda from Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer, Congressional candidates Carl Andrews and Yvette Clarke and State Sen. candidate Eric Adams. Mr. Andrews takes the prize, with three different flyers in our mail. Followed by Mr. Spitzer and Ms. Clarke, with two each. (We have full faith, however, that other candidates were holding their mailings until after Labor Day and that when the postal carrier cometh between now and next Tuesday, he or she will be bearing much campaign literature.)

We also had three election voicemails, with our favorite belonging to Congressional candidate Chris Owens, who had a real live person calling (by the sound of her voice an old-time Brooklyn resident, no less). Sure, she was reading a script–and hadn’t been coached on how to make it sound like you’re not reading something word-for-word–but we we dig the personal touch.

[Photo courtesy atomische.com/flickr]

• Labor Day Carnival [Brit in Brooklyn]
• Big Parade Flickr Photoset [justinyc/flickr]
• West Indian Parade Photoset [ultraclay/flickr]
• 438 (So Far) West Indian Parade Flickr Photos [flickr]
• Slideshow of West Indiand Day Parade Tagged Photos [flickr]
• 2006 West Indian Parade Photos [423 Smith]
• Great Carnival Day in Brooklyn [NYPost]
• Noticeably Absent Yassky [Across the Park]
• West Indian Carnival Photos [Atomische.com/flickr]
• A Few More Carnival Pics [atomische.com]
• Sweet Costume [Across the Park]
• Dodging Doughnuts at West Indian Parade [Brooklyn Record]
• Cha-ching! West Indian Parade [Across the Park]
• West Indian Pride Celebrated in Brooklyn [NY1]
• Costume Party Rocks to a West Indian Beat [NYDN]

We love Louise Crawford‘s blogging and the photo blogging of her husband Hugh at Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn. OTBKB was the first Brooklyn blog we paid attention to and we learned a lot about how to ply this trade by reading Louise’s words and looking at Hugh’s photos. So, we read OTBKB’s post over the weekend about celebrating a second blogging anniversary in September and were surprised to see that so much time has passed and, on the other hand, that it’s been so short a time. It feels like OTBKB and all the other excellent Brooklyn blogs that we check multiple times every day have been part of the landscape forever. In reality, most of us have been around for, well, two years or less. The Brooklyn blogging landscape has grown exponentially during those 24 months and the level of coverage of our borough is superb as a result. Everyone has carved out a valuable niche and everyone’s work complements each other’s quite nicely.

OTBKB writes:

Early September will the the two year anniversary of Third Street (Originally called OTBKB but changed when I went more public and moved over to Typepad). It was originally on Blogger; Smartmom began there.

In February of 2005, I started this version of OTBKB. I originally envisioned it as a cross between the Village Voice and the SoHo Weekly News for Park Slope. It kind of morphed into its own thing. And now there are so many other Brooklyn blogs – we all have our special niches, our special areas of coverage, our unique tone and voice.

I can’t believe I’ve been blogging for two years. The time just flew. And yet so much has happened. There are so many Brooklyn blogs now – we’re a real community. Strength in numbers and all that: bloggers working day and night to keep this community informed and entertained.

It’s a pleasure.

One of the things we value most about OTBKB and Louise’s blogging, is the kindness that comes through in her work. Congratulations Louise and Hugh on helping to pave the road on which we all walk.

Oh, and to answer OTBKB’s original question, “When do bloggers blog?”: In our case, in the evening and early morning, then at various times during the day.

• Pols Parade in Brooklyn, Some Come Under Fire [NYT]
• Bloomberg Dodges Brooklyn Doughnut [NYDN]
• Barron Leads in Illegal Campaign Signs [NYPost]
• Developer Expected to Snip Away at Atlantic Yards [NYT]
• Ratner’s ‘Small’ Plan, Bigger Than Original [No Land Grab]
• Atlantic Yards Still Bigger Under Scaleback [AYR]
• Purpose and Need [Brooklyn Views]
• Grains of Salt About Atlantic Yards Support [Gothamist]
• New Establishments [3 Bikini]

The Park Slope Poetry Project reading series continues tonight at St. John-St. Matthew-Emanuel Lutheran Church in the South Slope. This month’s featured poet is our friend Craig Fishbane, who is a superb Brooklyn poet and resident of Bensonhurst. Craig’s work is excellent and he does readings around the city. (He’s also a member of a Brooklyn writing group of which Gowanus Lounge is part and an all-around nice person.) Tonight’s reading runs from 7:30 to 10PM and Craig will be followed by an Open Mike night. The Park Slope Poetry Project publishes a monthly broadsheet called Erato, which is also worth checking out. St. John’s is located at 283 Prospect Avenue, which is between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. There’s a $5 charge for entry. The reading series takes place the first Tuesday of every month.

Weise, 29, and Rivers, 32, have become the newest members of the cult of Coney, spending 12-hour days between Shoot the Freak and Nathan’s Famous. They get beers from Cha Cha’s regulars and count most of the Freaks (who get paid to be a target for paint-gun shooters) as customers.

For the two entrepreneurs (both are also artists and freelance graphic designers), that’s part of the appeal. It wasn’t a fondness for shortcakes that launched the project – although both grew up eating them in upstate New York – but their love of the nabe.

“A lot of New York is indistinguishable from any other place in the country,” says Weise. “Coney Island still has character. It still has flavor to it. It feels authentic, because it is.”

Congratulations, Dan and Kalene, and thanks for the excellent shortcakes. You can check out their blog–which features some excellent Coney photos and videos–here at Coney Island Shortcakes.

BONUS: Tonight is your last chance to catch some fireworks at Coney. The Labor Day end of summer blast is sponsored by the Cyclones, who are playing at 6:00PM. The fireworks will follow the conclusion of the game. See Summer ’06 out with a Coney Island Bang.

Vaugely Labor Day-Related:

• Short and Sweet at Coney Island Shortcakes [NYDN]
• In the News: Coney Island Shortcakes Makes News [Coney Island Shortcakes]
• Last Day to Swim at City Pools and Beaches [NYDN]
• Island Hop in Brooklyn for Parade [NYDN]
• Kids Compete to March in West Indian Parade [Brooklyn Record]

Blogging-Related:

• When Do Bloggers Blog? [OTBKB]
• Blogger News [Sunset Parker]

Unrelated:

• What to See, Where to Go in Brooklyn [Times Herald-Record]
• Project Divides Brooklyn Residents [AP/Washington Post]
• Two Errors in Nationwide AP Story on Atlantic Yards (Above) [AYR]
• Brooklyn Arena Scores in Poll [NYPost]
• Crain’s Meaningless Atlantic Yards Poll [DDDB]
• Vintage Henry and Cranberry Photo [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
• Noise in New York [Gotham Gazette]

By about 1850, Williamsburg was a city of about 35,000, and in 1855 it was annexed by the City of Brooklyn which, of course, later became part of New York City in what some call “The Great Mistake of 1898.”

The section visits some of Williamsburg’s major streets like Kent, Grand, Driggs and others and its full of current photos that will likely become historical reference points within the next decade.

Definitely worth checking out.

Here’s a little bit of reality video for you, a full ride on the Cyclone in Coney Island from the front seat. Dialogue consists of shouting and someone saying “rahahahahahaha” over and over. Click on the embedded video below or on this link. Of course, it’s a beautiful day, so if you’re in town and you aren’t going to the West Indian Day Parade, maybe you want to take yourself down to Coney and do a spin on the Cyclone yourself. While you’re there, check out our friends at Coney Island Shortcakes (between Cha Cha’s and Shoot the Freak) and stop into the Lola Staar Boutique.

This site has a new name and address. What was formerly called mlik.org is now just seriously excited! Because, let’s face it, mlik was just a weird name. Stunning, I know. You can barely contain your excitement.

We’ll miss mlik, but we’re, um, very excited about seriously excited!.

• Street Tree Carnage [No Words_Daily Pix/OTBKB]
• Hurricane Hell Brewing? [NYDN]
• City Flood Maps Vs. FEMA Flood Maps [NYDN]
• Unidentified Street Artist [justiNYC via Sellsius Blog]
• Message from Family of Owner of ‘Doghouse from Hell’ [Daily Heights]
• The Innocence of Our Borough President [AYR]
• What’s Closed for Labor Day [NYPost]