Red Hook, Brooklyn

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has joined NY Attorney General and Gubernatorial candidate Elliot Spitzer in requesting a delay in the public hearing on Atlantic Yards. The major public hearing on the Draft Environment Impact Statement for the massive project is scheduled for August 23. Quinn, like Spitzer, is asking for a 30-day delay. Quinn says the delay is needed because of “the unprecedented size and scope of the proposed development” and the fact Community Boards are in recess at the time of the hearing. Quinn’s letter to Empire State Development Corp. Chairman Charles Gargano also notes that the City Council has funded an analysis of the DEIS and that more time is needed to complete the study. Meanwhile, there are a number of reports today on the tone and tenor of last night’s three simultaneous community board meetings at the Brooklyn Papers, which offers a look at all three, and at Gothamist, which looks at Community Board 6’s shindig and at Atlantic Yards Report, which offers a look at Community Board 8.

Okay, here it is. What you see above (and below) are recent “conceptual” drawings of the New Coney Island AKA Thor Equities’ $1 billion, 10-acre Coney Island redevelopment project.

This Times Square-by-the-Sea theme shopping mall is descendent of last year’s seriously Glam-Rock and overblown Coney makeover. The creator of this vision is Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut & Kuhn Architects, which is working for Thor. The current concept “fits into” the Coney Island Development Corporation’s Master Plan in the words of the firm’s website.

Do you get a vague, unsettling deja vu feeling when you look at the drawing above and the ones below? That could be because EE&K is designing the MGM Mirage Project in Las Vegas and also did master plans for Metrotech in Downtown Brooklyn, for Battery Park City and for the ongoing Asbury Park boardwalk redevelopment in New Jersey.

A lot of words come to mind to describe all of this and, unfortunately, none of them are good. Instead of offering an exicting vision worthy of Coney Island’s storied past, this glimpse of the plans reveals a pedestrian, cookie-cutter kind of future that springs from an idea of what faux funky resorts are supposed to be. It offers offers little more than window dressing to disguise what is otherwise a shopping mall with some highrises. Steeplechase or Luna Park, it ain’t.

In this revealing drawing, the most dramatic features are the boardwalk highrises, one of which is easily 30-stories tall. (How about a Coney height limit of, say, nothing taller than the Parachute Jump?) The s-shaped building will be a hotel and the mega-tall one and its tall companion will be luxury condos. Also of note: There is a big ferris wheel on a new pier built out into the water. The Wonder Wheel itself is barely visible in these drawings, which means the additions would be of massive scale. (The Astro Tower also looks like a tiny twig.) Also note the indoor water park, which is to the left of the tall building on the left.

This gives a sense of the location of the Thor development vis a vis the existing amusements, Keyspan Park and the Parachute Jump.

This is a “Stillwell Walk” by night shot. We wouldn’t argue that Stillwell between Surf and the Boardwalk is an uplifting place as it currently stands. On the other hand, we’re not sure this is the solution, either. Note the movie theater and overall shopping mall vibe.

Brooklinks is a selection of Brooklyn-related articles, blog items and images:

Tons on Atlantic Yards:

• Bruce We Hardly Knew Ye: FCR Swallowed Up by Forest City Enterprises [No Land Grab]
• Ratner Renter Revolt [Brooklyn Papers]
• Editorial: AY Draft Impact Statement ‘Flawed from the Get-Go’ [Brooklyn Papers]
• Atlantic Antic Ratner Cash Angers Some [NYDN]
• Community Board 8 Atlantic Yards Hearing: Old Arguments, New Warnings [AYR]
• Errol Lewis, Negotiation and the Community Boards’ Lost Dialogue [AYR]
• Atlantic Yards End Game [No Land Grab]

Tons of Other News:

• Brooklyn Architect Scarano Settles Charges [NYT]
• Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy Complains About Their Own Park? [NYPost]
• Senior “Tennis Mafia” Terrorizing Hipsters in McCarren Park [Brooklyn Papers]
• Brooklyn Pastoral [imjustsayin]
• Affordable Housing Breaks Ground in East New York [NYDN]
• 18 MPH at the Brooklyn Navy Yard? [Brooklyn Record]
• We All Scream for Ice Cream [3 Bikini]
• New Source of Snark: Diary of a Park Slope Mommy [Gawker]

Last week we had “friendly condemnations,” this week our Double Speak of the Week is “publicly accessible open space.” Whereas the “friendly condemnation” is an utterly reprehensible twist on the English language, “publicly accessible open space” is a more subtle affront because it is really more than double speak. It is an unfortunate indication of what has happened to our concept of open space after decades in which the private sector has been left to take the lead in creating amenities in the urban environment.

Back when government built parks with public money, we called them parks or open space. Now that government builds parks with private money or has developers build them, parks have morphed into “publicly accessible open space.” It is not entirely unlike opening the door to your apartment or (if a Higher Power has blessed you so) your backyard or deck or balcony) to the general public and calling it “publicly accessible enclosed space.”

In any case, Norman Oder, in his incomparable Atlantic Yards Report–the blog that offers the most accurate and detailed guide to Atlantic Yards of any print or online publication–offered insight this week into the “Urban Room” that could rise at Atlantic and Flatbush. Quothe Mr. Oder:

A significant part of the open space promised for the Atlantic Yards project would be a soaring, 120-foot, glass-walled Urban Room at the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues. According to the General Project Plan released by the Empire State Development Corporation: An Urban Room connected to the Arena will serve as a significant public amenity by accommodating the major flows of people to and from the transit center during the day and night, serving as a direct subway entrance to the Arena and allowing for a variety of public uses and programmed events throughout the year.

But the Urban Room would be “publicly accessible open space,” not public space, and Forest City Ratner (FCR) plans to close the space once a month for private events. Similarly, even though seven landscaped acres planned for the eastern portion of the project has been billed by the developer as “publicly accessible open space that everyone can enjoy,” new documents released show that FCR would reserve half of that open space for private events once a month.

It’s not unusual for private events to be held in privately-managed open space; even public parks are used periodically for such events. Still, Forest City Ratner hasn’t exactly disclosed its plans in its public statements. The promised Atlantic Yards open space would be “for the entire community of Brooklyn to enjoy,” as the developer said in a flier two years ago.

Perhaps calling a developer on plans to make “public open space” private once a month is nitpicking. Maybe not. The broader point is that in its old-fashioned form, public space was just that–space to be freely enjoyed by the public. Whereas “publicly accessible open space” is privately controlled space made available to the public either by the good graces of the private owner or by legal requirments imposed by the public sector that required the construction of this space as a condition of allowing the private development to go forward.

Privately-controlled space is privately managed, uses private security and operates under rules set by the owner. It’s not unlike a shopping mall. The user is free to do as one pleases (mostly shop) until one breaks the rules–say, handing out flyers, or walking around with a protest sign or wearing something that mall security deems offensive. Yes, public parks and real public spaces have rules too (we’ve recently taken the state parks in New York to task for their excessive rules), but they tend to be far less restrictive and somewhat less subject to whim, if only because bureaucracies are more cumbersome than a mercurial private landowner ordering security to harrass people wearing, say, “Ratner Sucks” or “Miss Brooklyn Bites” t-shirts. Of course, the other trend is turning over management of public spaces to private entities.

If you want a thorough discussion of why Forest City Ratner’s “public space” won’t be like Olmsted’s public space, AYR’s discussion is required reading.

There’s a new blog in town, spawned by a rule proposed by the NYPD that could limit the number of people that can legally walk or ride bicycles together. Called Assemble for Rights NYC, the blog has been cobbled together by a group rallying opposition to a new police rule that would define two or more people as “a parade” and make them subject to arrest if they violated any traffic laws.

Say what?

Let’s allow Assemble for Rights NYC to explain:

Under the guise of protecting the public safety, the New York City Police Department plans to expand its control over protest activity by labeling many common street and side walk uses as a “parade”. If put into effect, these new rules will greatly suppress the right to assembly and expose peaceful protestors as well as regular people to arrest for things as simple as crossing the street against the light.

Under the NYPD’s proposed rules:

* Any group of two (yes, 2) or more cyclists or pedestrians traveling down a public street, who violate any traffic law, rule or regulation can be arrested for parading without a permit.

* Any group of 20 or more cyclists must obtain a permit and approved route from the NYPD or would be subject to arrest

* Every group of 35 of more pedestrians must obtain a permit and approved route from the NYPD or would be subject to arrest

These rules could go into effect as soon as August 24th, 2006.

There is far more detail about the proposed new rules and what they could mean available over at Assemble for Rights NYC as well as suggestions for some citizen activism in the form of who to call or email if one would like to add one’s voice to the chorus.

Even allowing for the fact that the police won’t be running around busting couples for parading without a permit when they jaywalk, the rules would be a tool that could be used arbitrarily and for whatever purposes suited the city. It is one of those rules that is so broadly written that it is tailor-made for abuse. School teachers walking their classes to the park would technically need a parade permit, for instance. Okay, so the cops won’t bust a teacher and bunch of First Graders. But, a group of 15 grungy-looking punk types wearing “Facism Sucks” shirts that don’t say “Yes, officer,” fast enough? Potentially doomed in the wrong situation.

There’s a public hearing on August 23 at 6:00 at One Police Plaza (how is it that a public hearing on this and one on Atlantic Yards both get scheduled on the same day at the rear end of August?) and Assemble for Rights NYC is trying to get a decent public showing of people opposed to the new rules that are concerned about how they could be used and abused. Visit Assemble for Rights NYC for more information.

One of Gowanus Lounge’s favorite summertime Brooklyn Friday night activities is the fireworks show at Coney Island. (As in tonight, assuming no storms, but they’re a possibilty, for the umpteenth Friday evening in a row.) Here’s a vid of them to be watched with or without sound, depending on taste. Click on the vid below or on this link.

We are forever in the debt of Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn for prompting this item, despite the fact that OTBKB appears to be riding out the heatwave in Sag Harbor rather than Park Slope. In any case, OTBKB posted this gem, from Craigslist (where else?) that a friend had passed along. It is a personal ad from a Park Slope female that goes like this:

I am looking for a moderately attractive man between the ages of 18 and 40 who has air conditioning in his bedroom. As the temperature is slated to reach in the 100s this week, my need for a boyfriend with air conditioning is especially pertinent. This arrangement is intended for the month of August, however, an indian summer may extend our relationship. If all goes well, I could offer warmth in the winter.

P.S. No fatties.

So, being a researcher by nature, Gowanus Lounge decided to see exactly how many New Yorkers are looking for men and women with A/C or advertising themselves as having A/C in order to attract one or the other for the carnal and/or romantic pleasure of their choosing. To us, this only begs the question of whether it wouldn’t be cheaper and simpler to just head out and buy a bloody air conditioner than to wade into the grand parade of life known as Craigslist Personals, but that’s getting off topic.

We found that, as of 8:30AM today, 221 Craigslist NYC Personal Ads contained either “air conditioning” or “air conditioner” or “air conditioned” and that in the vast majority of cases the A/C was a central part of the come on. (A/C, unfortunately, is not an accurate search criteria.) Despite the fact that the amusing ad above is from a female, we found that men are far more likely to advertise themselves as having A/C. (Well, they’re far more likely to advertise themselves, in general.) In fact, only five women (four straight, one lesbian) are promoting themselves on this basis versus all the men that are trying to snare women with A/C.

All together, there are 34 Brooklyn ads advertising A/C as part of the sales pitch, with the largest number coming from Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Park Slope runs close behind.

Among the gems we found that are vaguely reportable (we took a pass on an awful lot of knee-slapping funny ones because they’re just too freaking gross, but we know you’ll be able to find them if you want to see them):

“Naked and Air Conditioned,” posted by a male, age 30, who says in part, “Hanging out in my hotel room today, naked in front of the air conditioner.”

“No Air Conditioning,” posted by a male, age 44, who is looking for a woman and uses his lack of A/C as a come on (reverse selling, based on being too cheap to buy an air conditioner?) by writing, “I never did buy an AC. Why don’t you make that an opportunity? We can sleep together in the COOL air of your place – isn’t this the essence of romance? I’ll bring the wine ….I’m in shape and so are you.”

“Looking for Phone Fun,” posted by a male of indeterminate age, who says, “It is so damm hot outside, that I am considering to have a nice hot phone chat in the coolness of the Air conditioner. I have a nice sexy accent.”

“Come Over, Hang Out in My A/C, Make Out?” posted by a 25-year-old male who writes, “Maybe more if we’re both into it? Is there a cute girl who’s up for it? Drop me a line and maybe you can come on over now (or I can come to you provided you also have Air Conditioning lol)..Normal (i swear!) and clean.”

“Come cool down at my air conditioned place,” posted by a 48-year-old guy that writes “Your (sic) beautiful, clean, DF, woman between 25- 40 who doesn’t want to spend another night in this sweltering heat. Come to my place and share my air conditioning. Movies, some dinner and other good stuff awaits you. I’m smart, good looking, and no bull guy. It’s going to 103 tomorrow. Why suffer! Come on over. Need real email and photo a must.”

Oh, and then, there was this:

“COOL OFF IN MY POOL ON THE ROOF“: “6’3″ 190, in shape, easy going, love fun, come for a swim, hang in my very cool Air conditioned apartment….VERY REAL live alone in a large 1BR in a doorman building….dont keep searching CL, here is the real deal!!”

Looks like it will be the King of Brooklyn Chocolate, Jacques Torres, versus the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory in a Dumbo Death Match. We discovered upon reading Eating for Brooklyn yesterday that the The New York Times had reported that Torres “is now making ice cream and selling it in the form of sandwiches layered with homemade chocolate-chip cookies ($5), in chocolate-dipped cones ($4) and in triple-scoop sundaes ($6), with a choice of sauces and set into bowls of dark chocolate, including an oval one that looks like a cacao pod…The lineup of flavors is limited and changes frequently, but excellent chocolate, vanilla, hazelnut and raspberry are often available. You can also buy a scoop of ice cream with espresso poured over it, for a quick affogato ($3).”

It doesn’t spell doom for the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, which some people believe sells the best ice cream in all of Brooklyn if not New York City. But, the short-term curiousity factor might cost BICF a few customers (not so many, though, that anyone waiting in the humongous lines at Fulton Ferry Landing will notice). Amusingly, the hot fudge at the BICF is made from Michel Cluizel chocolate, whereas all things chocolate having to do with Torres ice cream is made by Jacques. Fudge fight, anyone?

This all leads a poster at Chowhound to wonder whether Dumbo is “becoming an ice cream destination”:

With Brooklyn Ice Cream, gelato at Almondine, ice cream at Jacques Torres, gelato at Rice (Ciao Bella), pints of Ben & Jerry’s, Haagen Daz, etc. at Peas & Pickles AND pints of La Cremellaire, Ronnybrook, Wine Sorbet and other interesting brands at Foragers, (plus Blue Pig for those that like it is only a couple of blocks away in Bklyn Heights), is there a better 5 block area in NYC for ice cream right now?

Death match jokes aside and images of Jacques Torres splattering the outside of the Ice Cream Factory with his fudge and challenging them to a duel, nothing like reports of more ice cream in Dumbo to perk up a crackling hot August day.

Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related news stories, blog items and images.

So Much to Eat:

• The One and Only Weekly Brooklyn Food Roundup [Brooklyn Record]
• DiFara’s Pizza Good, Waiting Bad [Bitty! Soda?]
• R.I.P Tabouleh [A Brooklyn Life]
• Good Seafood Shacks in Brooklyn? [Chowhound]
• Habana Outpost [Eat Drink One Woman]
• New Wine Bar Coming to Union and Hoyt in Fall [Brooklyn Record]
• Food-Related Chill Out Photo: Frozen Pizza Delivery [Slice]
• Food-Related Chill Out Photo #2: Frozen Pizza at Sal’s [Slice]

So Much to Read About Atlantic Yards:

• The Meaning of “Doing a Ratner” [No Land Grab]
• Columnist Suggests Some of Prospect Heights is ‘Junkyard’ [AYR]
• Affordable Housing Bait and Switch [AYR]
• Atlantic Yards Community Board Meetings Are Tonight [NYPost]

So Much to Read About Other Things:

• Site Protesting NYPD Assembly and Bike Rules Launches [Assemble for Rights NYC]
• Brownouts in Sunset Park [Sunset Parker]
• Kind Words for a Scarano Bldg in Williamsburg [Brownstoner]
• Meet Brooklyn’s Greenest Block [NYDN]
• DOT Revs Up Alternative Transportation Dept. [Streetsblog via Brooklyn Record]
• Cadman Plaza Petting Zoo! [Brooklyn Ramblings]

If you’ve been to Coney Island, you know that there isn’t a spot of shade to be found anywhere on the boardwalk or within a block of the water, other the shade created by man-made structures. That’s why the little mist machines installed at a couple of spots on the boardwalk–although they’re really advertising platforms that spray water–are so nice. Our advice: If it’s a zillion degrees, go late in the day or, better yet, in the evening. If you do go during the day, invest serious time in the water and doin’t think about what’s in the water, because Coney Island is really more New York Harbor than Atlantic Ocean. At least, that’s what a lot of reputable maps call it. For real ocean, you have to go to the Rockaways.

AKA Il Lago di Whole Foods or the Gowanus Zee, this little patch of Brooklyn water is the pond on the future site of the Gowanus Whole Foods, which is not to be confused with the Dumbo Whole Foods. With the heat index way over 100, and nary a tree to be found on the brutal stretch of Third Street near Ye Olde Gowanus Swimming Hole, even this toxic puddle (Gowanus ground water seepage) starts looking mighty refreshing in a stranded in the desert and being delusional sort of way.

Our friends at Coney Island Shortcakes–the two graphic artists from Prospect Heights that are spending this hot and stormy summer selling strawberry shortcakes on the Coney Island boardwalk–have posted another in their series of video interviews. The latest is with Coney Islander Patricia Tuey, one of those local characters that makes the Coney boardwalk what it is. The interview is quite the ramble and manages to include a discourse about aliens in Coney and quite a bit about how “Dick is cool.” Freak Show founder and unofficial “Mayor of Coney Island” Dick Zigun, that is. Absolutely worth a view. To watch, click on the video below or visit their blog.

Attitude is everything. That is why some videos from our recent winter might be just the thing to enable a triumph of mind over matter. Watch these videos. Feel the chill. Remember the cold times. The snow. The biting wind chill. (All of these are hosted at youtube.) Download these to your portable and watch them as you wait on a 120 degree subway platform.

Zen. Very Zen.

• Snow Day BK!
• Blizzard ’06, Prospect Park
• Ice Skating in Bryant Park
• Blizzard of 2006, Sixth Avenue, Park Slope
• Winter in Brooklyn

Oh, and one bit of BREAKING NEWS: There are brownouts in parts of Sunset Park, a neighborhood that’s been plauged by manhole explosions and other power-related problems lately. That news comes courtesy of an advisory from Community Board Seven. The brownout effects Sunset Park from 51st St. to 53rd St. between 5th Ave and 7th Ave. Con Ed has set up an ice station for residents at the corner of 53rd St and 5th Ave. Not that anyone in the reduced-juice blocks can read this. Free ice, Brooklyn!

Look really hard, and behind every mountain of manure you will always find a pony. Case in point: the graphic above, shared by the South Oxford Street Block Association, which shows the spread of shadow from the towers of Atlantic Yards in a most dramatic way. (It is a re-colored version of one created by Forest City Ratner.) The good people at the Block Association entitle this little vision “Welcome to the future of Fort Greene (if Ratner has his way). Say goodbye to the sun – and the charm & beauty of our historic, neighbor-friendly Fort Greene.”

So, where’s the pony? Have you been outside in the last 24 hours?

A fact is a fact and it is time to face facts: The area around Atlantic Yards is like an awful frying pan in summer, especially blazing afternoon sun. You could die outside of the Atlantic Center and Atlantic Terminal just from the sun reflecting off the concrete. (Excellent urban design, planning and architecture.)

The intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues? Fuhgeddaboudit. It must be 120 degrees out there in that godforsaken Sahara of asphalt, concrete and combustion engine exhaust today.

You see where we’re going with this, right? On most days, the blotting out of sun pictured above would be cause for consternation. Today? It’s cause for celebration. Consider how much cooler it will be in Fort Greene and in Prospect Heights (and by the look of this graphic in parts of Boerum Hill and Park Slope) once Atlantic Yards is built and the sweep of shadow covers much of the nabe in darkness (depending on the time of day). Think of the joy of Flatbush and Atlantic in the shade. We’re talking about a project that will make the surroundings ten to fifteen degrees cooler than the rest of Brooklyn. Minimum. Like going to Coney Island without getting on the D, F, N or Q. And those inside “public spaces”? Those suckers will never see the light of day–virtual outdoor refrigerators! The city will probably be able to open cooling centers there on days like this.

As a world class creator of shade, (again, see the nifty graphic above) Atlantic Yards may be the most forward thinking bit of top-down urban planning and megastructure architecture to come along in years, especially with global warming coming at us faster than you can say “rising sea levels wreck havoc on South Brooklyn” or “I hope that Killer Hurricane bearing down on us hangs a right at Bermuda.”

Thirty years from now–assuming all that glass that Frank Gehry would use in his building doesn’t create a tragic magnifying glass effect–a future generation of Brooklynites will hail the forward-thinking Man from Bilbao and the Patron of Thoughtful Architecture Known as Bruce Ratner because they made shade.

Mr. Ratner and Mr. Gehry, on this bloody hot day, we salute you for thinking about putting a signficant part of Brooklyn in shade!

The various development wars raging in Brooklyn–so often left to the diligent efforts of Brooklyn bloggers–are clearly breaking through to Manhattan-based media. First, we had Time Out New York‘s War for Brooklyn cover package. Now, we have the Village Voice’s Bouncing on Brooklyn cover story, which is anything but a love note to developer Bruce Ratner and his Atlantic Yards development.

In one story, “Life in the Footprint,” the Voice puts a human face on the impact of Atlantic Yards by profiling some of the people whose homes and businesses would be taken via eminent domain to make way for the project. Among the 118 people still living there are Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn co-founder Daniel Goldstein, who is now the only occupant of his condo building, and Joseph Pastore, a 62-year-old retiree who pays $400 in rent and has lived on Dean Street since 1967. Another is 82-year-old Victoria Harmon (that’s her pictured sitting in the wheelchair). The story makes for an interesting read about both the human side of the development project and the policy debate surrounding it.

The accompanying story, called “BAM Goes the Neighborhood” takes a hard look at how BAM’s super-ambitious expansion plans will radically alter the adjoining neighborhood. It goes so far as to suggest that BAM is “the cultural analogue” to Atlantic Yards. That, however, is another story to be dealt with in another item.

Brooklinks is a daily roundup of Brooklyn-related articles, blog items and images.

Oh, the Heat:

• More Manhole Fires and Power Outages in Sunset Park [Sunset Parker]
• Exploding Manholes on Fifth Ave in Park Slope [Blog NYC via Gothamist]
• Summer Heatwave Photoblogging [Daily Gotham]
• City Dims Lights as Heat Strains Grid [NYT]
• The Mayor Wants to Prove He Can Take the Heat [Gothamist]
• Dog Days of Simmer [NYPost]
• 38 Degrees in the Shade [imnotsayin]

Other Information, Etc.:

• Life in the Atlantic Yards Footprint [Village Voice]
• BAM Goes the Neighborhood [Village Voice]
• Ratner Becomes a Poster Boy for Overdevelopment [No Land Grab]
• What Would You Like to See on Smith Street? [Brooklyn Record]
• Watching the Finger Rise [Brownstoner]
• Ocean Dreaming on the New Riviera [Kinetic Carnival]
• Sunset Park’s Art Deco Waterfront [Brooklyn Ramblings]
• Upcoming Brooklyn Smackdown: Raccoons vs. Hipsters [Gothamist]
• The Beer Line at McCarren Pool [Brooklyn Vegan]
• Brooklyn Cheesecake [bluejake]

Woody Guthrie fans know the iconic folk singer adopted Coney Island as his home, but those who only know him as the writer of “This Land is Your Land,” might not realize he made his home on Mermaid Avenue. (A fact memorialized in the Billy Bragg & Wilco “Mermaid Avenue” and “Mermaid Avenue II” CDs covering Guthrie’s music released in 1995 and 2000.)

Now, Ariella Cohen reports in the Brooklyn Papers that Guthrie’s family wants to create a monument to the beloved singer and songwriter–who often protested war, championed grassroots democracy, railed against an earlier incarnation of corporate capitalism and advocated for the downtrodden–in Coney Island near his former home. The family is thinking about a rock engraved with the lyrics to “This Land is Your Land” near Mermaid Avenue and West 36th Street, which is where his ashes were scattered after his death in 1967. (Guthrie lived the last ten years of his life institutionalized because of Hunington’s Disease, and died at the Creedmoor mental institution.)

A Guthrie memorial or monument in Coney Island is a poignant and brilliant idea that GL hopes will be embraced.

NY ACORN‘s Bertha Lewis, who became one of Atlantic Yards’ loudest defenders after her group signed a “community benefits agreement” with the developer, and Municipal Arts Society Director Kent Barwick, whose organization has gotten a bit louder in its criticism, don’t quite go toe-to-toe on Atlantic Yards in the new City Limits. But their pro and con articles, respectively, could qualify as a quasi- mano a mano.

Lewis–who is by the agreement ACORN signed speaks on behalf of Atlantic Yards and whose organization got money from the developer–focuses, of course, on affordable housing. She writes:

Let’s not beat around the bush. Forest City Ratner is not the United Way. They are looking to make a profit. You can make money building affordable housing only two ways: through direct subsidy to reduce the extraordinary cost of this project, to any developer who chose to undertake it, or cross-subsidy from the market-rate rentals and condominiums…That also leads to the other bogeyman of the Atlantic Yards debate: density. In order to make the cross-subsidy between market rate and affordable units work in this project, you either need to allow the developer to build more, which means taller buildings, or to replace the cross-subsidy from market-rate units with more direct subsidy from government. Currently there is no other existing model for building affordable housing in New York City.

We have followed ACORN’s work around the nation for decades and have generally had respect for the organization’s principled stand on behalf of affordable housing, but we’ve been flummoxed by NY ACORN’s role in promoting Atlantic Yards. Lewis does make valid points about the horrendous lack of affordable housing in Brooklyn. She cites a March ACORN survey of 87 new Brooklyn developments with 5,934 units of housing. Only 201 of them are affordable to moderate-income people and just 266 units are affordable to low-income families. (Even if the exact numbers are off, the point is valid.) She also points out, quite rightly, that developers of luxury housing are getting tax breaks to do so.

Where opponents say that Lewis’ train derails is her argument for Affordable Housing Uber Alles (and the compact she signed with the developer). The Affordable Housing Uber Alles theory of shelter says that it’s acceptable to toss up a bunch of 60-story buildings in a neighborhood of four-story buildings in order to get affordable housing. Opponents of the massive project, of course, don’t see it that way.

Which brings us to Mr. Barwick, who argues that Atlantic Yards “fails to achieve a delicate balance.” That is the way that someone from the Municipal Arts Society says that something is seriously flawed. (We could translate it as meaning that he’s saying the project sucks, but then, we sometimes prefer the simple, crude approach to talking planning- and architecture-speak. That’s the cool thing about blogs.)

In any case, here is some of what Mr. Barwick has to say:

For all its potential, “Atlantic Yards” as currently proposed would not work for New York City. Successful urban planning is a question of balance, and the project fails to accomplish a delicate balance of bringing density to the area while fitting in and integrating with surrounding neighborhoods. The project also raises questions about how New York is addressing its critical need for affordable housing, designing new areas of its public realm, and involving the public in its decision-making for major projects.

The issue is not whether the city should be pursuing aggressive policies to generate affordable housing. Justice and equity demand that we take steps to ensure our neighborhoods remain economically diverse, and create and preserve housing for low and middle-income New Yorkers. But the scale of Atlantic Yards indicates that the strategy the city is pursuing is flawed. In the rezoning of Hudson Yards and Greenpoint-Williamsburg, the city created an incentive for developers to build affordable housing by permitting them to build bigger buildings than would otherwise be allowed. Atlantic Yards follows this pattern, as the excessive scale of the project — the developer has proposed 8.7 million square feet, the equivalent in floor area to three Empire State Buildings — is clearly only acceptable to the project’s political sponsors because of the inclusion of affordable housing.

Lewis or Barwick? ACORN or MAS? Has affordable housing become a Trojan Horse for supersizing developments? You can read Lewis’ article here and Barwick’s here and decide for yourself.

We posted an item yesterday about our negative feelings about the big corporate shows at McCarren Pool. The nature of the media conglomerate that is producing the shows and the sweetheart deal the Parks Department gave them–which produces almost no revenue for the city or McCarren Park–isn’t the only problem with them. We hate to say it, and we don’t want to be an anti-McCarren concert Grinch, but noise and quality of life issue exist with all the concerts being produced at the pool, including the cool, community-oriented free ones.

Don’t get us wrong: We dig the free Pool Parties. They’re a great, free showcase for some cool indie music talent playing a show that is independent of the big promoters (like Clear Channel) that have a stranglehold on way too much of the music scene.

However, when we posted an item on Friday over at Curbed, a reader’s words caught our attention:

I live right next door to the pool and its WAY too loud. The free concert crap needs to END – its just not right that I (and many others) have to listen to 8 hours of music EVERY Sunday (whether I want to or NOT). Let them restore the pool,make a skate park and/or anything else they want to do – but NO MORE concerts – its NOT FAIR to the people who actually LIVE here. (Not to mention that McCarren park doesnt see any $$$$ from the free shows.)

As to the latter point, of course, McCarren Park isn’t seeing money from any of the shows. Quite the opposite is the case–the Parks Department is incurring clean up costs. Local residents have complained that McCarren Park was getting trashed up after the shows and that the Parks Department wasn’t cleaning up. (We don’t want to know what the park looked like after the Bloc Party show.) In any case, the Parks Department is now cleaning up after the pool events.

The Parks Department has been handling all the shows and events on a case-by-case basis this year, although there is still a chance that a big RFP will done for next year. Hopefully, some happy medium will be found here that allows for some concerts, some films and dance performances, but that does not involve big concerts. Any concert series that is held should be community-oriented, free and limited enough in duration so as not to constitute a sonic assault on anyone living nearby. (GL feels for someone that doesn’t want to spend his/her Sunday listening to music he/she doesn’t like or is forced to wear headphones for eight hours to block out the noise or to go elsewhere.)

Ultimately, McCarren Park and Pool need a conservancy or alliance to look out after its interests. And, any series of concerts or cultural events at the park needs a foundation or non-profit to curate it, not unlike what BRIC does for Celebrate Brooklyn.

A variety of interesting plans have been floated over the years that would restore at least part of the huge McCarren Pool acreage for use as a pool, while preserving adequate space for small to medium-size concerts and artistic performance. That certainly sounds like the right direction for this historic space.

Heat does weird things to people, especially when we have to worry about whether or not Con Ed is up to the task. In our case, it causes flights of fancy about what McCarren Pool would be like with water. Given that we never saw it as a real pool, we’re a little fascinated by the concept. So, today, we offer a few pictures we doctored up that add fake water to some real picture of the pool.

Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related news stories, blog items and images. Since you can never have too many photos of snow when it’s 100 out, the photo above is from Park Slope on February 12 during the blizzard of ’06.

Our Favorite Pool without Water:

• Bloc Party at McCarren Pool [Brooklyn Record]
• The Real McCarren Pool Problem: Long Beer Lines [Gothamist]
• Of Montreal Played McCarren Pool [Brooklyn Vegan]
• Panorama of McCarren Pool During Of Montreal [burnsienna]
• McCarren Pool User’s Guide [Blogcritics.org]
• Pool Concerts Making a Splash…and Trash [Downtown Bklyn Star]

Everything Else:

• Sludge Threat to Coney Island [NYPost]
• Earth-Shattering News of Greenpoint Development [Brownstoner]
• Disenfranchised Community Boards to Hold Atlantic Yards Hearings [No Land Grab]
• Atlantic Yards Does Not Accomplish a Delicate Balance [City Limits]
• NYC’s Ongoing War Against Pedestrians and Bicyclists [Sunset Parker]
• Bed Stuy Stuck in a Moment on Set [Brooklyn Record]
• NYPD Robocam at Flatbush and Fenimore [Across the Park]
• South Slope 99 Cent Store Becomes 67 Cent Store [3Bikini]
• 2006 Greenest Brooklyn Block Winners [Windsor Terracean]
• South Slope Crack Monitoring Project [IMBY]
• Hooked on the Burg [Gothamist]
• Red Hook Yacht Club? [Sail Brooklyn]

It’s hot as hell. So, for what it’s worth, here’s a re-run of our guide to the location of city pools in Brooklyn, given that attention spans (including our own) are short and no one will look for the versio we ran during the last heat wave.

While the Astoria Pool in Queens in probably the Gold Standard New York City pool, several of the Brooklyn pools, including the one in Red Hook and the one in Sunset Park are absolutely huge.

The entire guide (which also includes wading pools and “mini-pools,” of course, is available at the Parks Department site:

Outdoor Pools

• Betsy Head–Boyland, Livonia and Dumont Avenues. (718) 965-6581. 330′ x 165′ x 4.25 (Olympic)
• Bushwick Houses–Flushing Avenue and Humboldt Street. (718) 452-2116. 75′ x 60′ x 3′
• Commodore Barry–Flushing and Park Avenues, Navy and North Elliot Streets. (718)243-2593. 75′ x 60′ x 3′
• Douglas and DeGraw–Third Avenue and Nevins Street.(718) 625-3268. 75′ x 60′ x 3′
• Howard–Glenmore and Mother Gaston Blvd., East New York Avenue. (718) 385-1023. 75′ x 60′ x 3′
• Kosciusko–Kosciusko between Marcy and Dekalb Avenues. (718) 622-5271. 230′ x 100′ x 4′ (Olympic)
• Red Hook–Bay and Henry Streets. (718) 722-3211. 330′ x 130′ x 4′ (Olympic)
• Sunset Park–Seventh Avenue between 41st and 44th Streets. (718) 965-6578. 259′ x 162′ x 3.5′ (Olympic)

Indoor Pools

• Brownsville–Linden and Mother Gaston Blvds. and Christopher Avenue. (718) 485-4633. 75′ x 30′ x 8′
• Metropolitan–Bedford and Metropolitan Avenues. (718) 599-5707. 75′ x 30′ x 8′
• St. John’s–Prospect Place, between Troy and Schenectady Avenues. (718) 771-2787. 75′ x 42′ x 9′

City Beaches

In addition, of course, there are our public beaches. The major Brooklyn beaches, which stretch for miles, are in Coney Island and Brighton Beach, from W. 37th Street to Corbin Place. If you go a tiny bit off the beaten path from the most crowded stretchs in Coney Island, you can actually find somewhat less packed stretches of sand and water. The information number for Coney and Brighton is listed as (718) 946-1350. Manhattan Beach is located along Oriental Boulevard, from Ocean Avenue to Mackenzie Street. The phone is (718) 946-1373.

We would be remiss in leaving out our favorite non-Brooklyn beach: Rockaway Beach in Queens, which runs for miles, from Beach 1st Street, Far Rockaway, to Beach 149th Street. The number is (718)318-4000. If you’re so inclined, you can also hit Jacob Riis Park or even the beaches in Belle Harbor (a hike via bus).

A little while ago, Curbed reported (well, Gowanus Lounge wearing our Curbed mask) that Whole Foods is planning to open a big store in Dumbo. Still our hearts! You can almost envision a time, a few long years from now, when the formerly desperate Brooklynite stands by the fridge wondering if he or she should go to the Dumbo Whole Foods or the one in Gowanus or to the Fairway in Red Hook or to (who knows) the Trader Joe’s in Williamsburg.

What we know is this: An inside source at the big food retailer let slip that a Dumbo store is in the works. We don’t know an opening date or a location, but process of elimination on the latter leads us to cast an eye in the direction of 20 Jay Street. That is the 40,000 square foot space formerly occupied by ABC Carpet Warehouse. (Another potential space, the Empire Stores, the wonderful Civil War era warehouse is supposed to be a Leviev Boymelgreen retail complex. Unless the J Condo has a vast interior retail space.)

Whole Foods’ interest in Dumbo isn’t new. The retailer is said to have been looking at the nabe for years, but had previously dismissed the idea because Dumbo was too remote and presented logistical issues. (Not that any of the logistical issue–truck access, parking–will be much easier now.)

Who knows? It could be that Whole Foods is feeling the heat from the new Fairway in Red Hook (remote, but has parking) or that someone counted how big a captive audience will soon exist in Dumbo and Vinegar Hill as big new residential buildings open.

In any case, a Dumbo store would be the second Brooklyn location for Whole Foods, which is also waiting for the toxic muck and ooze to be removed from their site in Gowanus. (Sometime in 2008 or thereabout.) The Dumbo Whole Foods was mentioned in the context of “several” new stores in Brooklyn, so others might also be in the mix. GL’s money is on a significant Williamsburg outpost too in a few years, given that all those waterfront towers starting to rise will include hundreds of thousands of square feet of space for retail.

Food shopping! We’re going to have more food shopping in Brooklyn.

Don’t look now, but the Cult of Momma Bean, the raging Park Slope mommy who tossed a can of beans and cracked the back windshield of a car that turned in front of her, is making news across the Atlantic in the UK. So, now, a whole lot of people who’ve never heard of the hills above Gowanus know that the territory is inhabited by some very angry moms. (We would expect that this weekend’s story about the 12-year-old Prospect Park mommy and stroller baby muggers will also make their way to Europe as an emblematic urban tale.) The UK story, which appeared in the Sunday Times, headlined “Angry Moms Tell the World,” calls our Bean Tossing Mommy “an unlikely new superhero.”

Here goes:

An unlikely new superhero is stalking the streets of New York. She does not wear a costume, unless you count the pushchair she wheels from the supermarket to her Brooklyn home. And although she possesses no superhuman powers, she is deadly accurate with her weapon of choice — a tin of beans from her grocery bag.

The mothers of New York were last week agog at the reported exploits of a housewife who succumbed to a bout of “mommy rage”, an incendiary moment when the pains and pressures of motherhood erupt in a torrent of grief, frustration and flying tins of beans.

According to witness accounts that have ignited an internet frenzy this month, the Brooklyn mother in question was wheeling her toddler across a road in the trendy Park Slope neighbourhood when a car shot past her, narrowly missing the pushchair as it braked for traffic lights at the end of the road.

The mother reached into her bag and hurled a tin of beans at the car. When it missed, she threw another, and earned cheers and applause from passers-by when it struck the car’s back window, causing a thick crack.

The incident has sparked angry exchanges on the internet, with many mothers rallying to the bean-thrower’s cause in a discussion entitled “Park Slope Pedestrian Mommy Rage”.

Reaction also surfaced on a website that is attracting international attention for its insights into the lives of mothers who feel trapped by their husbands, their children and their working or stay-at-home lives. There is a lot of mommy rage at UrbanBaby.com….

The story goes on to deal with the subject of mommy rage in general and also deals with the Stay at Home Mom (SAHM) issue.

Glad to know Brooklyn bloggers are having an impact on our cousins across the way.