These are a couple of Blancos that we came upon on a door on Kent Avenue in Williamsburg. Guess the subjects of the art. Hint: the first name of one of the guys is Cornell.

“How do you green a city? Start in Brooklyn! The Center for the Urban Environment attracts city dwellers from all five boroughs to its 4th Annual Green Brooklyn event. A full day fair and symposium, attendees can learn first hand from local experts about social conscious investing, how to solar your building, choosing non-toxic home products (and of course where to buy them!), how real urbanites compost, shopping eco-chic, and what New York City is doing to create a more sustainable future. Alongside Borough Hall’s Greenmarket this year, attendees can visit booths, make art from recycled products, catch a film, and more! Free giveaways to all workshop attendees. Green Brooklyn will be held indoors and outdoors at Brooklyn Borough Hall on Thursday, September 18, from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Visit www.greenbrooklyn.org for more information. FREE and open to the public.”–Green Brooklyn

[Photo courtesy of dumbonyc/GL Flickr Pool]

Yes, it is a chair rather than a sofa, but it is a spectacularly placed on, sitting there as it is, amidst the weeds in Dumbo.

“An archway underneath the Manhattan Bridge in DUMBO will be reopened today, adding additional public space to the changing face of the Brooklyn waterfront. The Department of Transportation, which has jurisdiction over the area, will open the archway where Water Street bisects the bridge, adding a new passageway connecting the northern and southern sections of DUMBO.”–Sun

Today’s GL Lost & Found isn’t so much a “lost” as it stolen. It comes from a Missed Connection on Craigslist of all things:

you stole my notebook at zablozski’s on sunday – 25 (williamsburg)

hey, you were the guy stealing backpacks from zablozski’s in brooklyn. you ended up stealing my strand bag and then later told me it was in the bathroom. i looked in it and didnt notice anything missing because i was trashed. you actually stole my journal. it is worth about 10 dollars and i am willing to give you 100 dollars for it. i would like the writing in it, i dont give a shit who you are and why you did it. you were probably drunk and are too embarrassed at this point to actually return it. please, i will pay for it. a journal is a valuable thing.

Not that the journal thief would be reading, but we were moved by the owner’s plea.

Is Delicious on the Slope, on President Street in Park Slope, finished being delicious? We’re not certain of the answer, but a GL reader emails with the following question and info:

Do you have an info. on the restaurant Delicious on the Slope on President St. between 4th and 5th? We just moved in down the street and haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, and maybe we never will. Starting a week ago or so, the windows have been covered in brown paper and the sign says “closed.” That’s about it. Just wondering if it’s out of business or just closed for renovations or what. It’s an odd place.

Papered windows and a “closed” sign generally don’t bode well for a bright future, but a reader may know if it’s a temporary detour or a permanent one. Their website is still up in any case.

This political comment comes from Williamsburg, from the corner of Bedford Avenue and N. 9 Street. For the record, someone has added “Evolution too while you’re at it.” Conclusion: Some in the Burg are testy about this Sarah Palin Veep nomination.

The Fifth Avenue wine shop, Picada y Vino, upon which we reported in late August is now open. It seemed to be doing very well on Saturday, perhaps with people stocking up so that they could spend the very wet afternoon at home with some good wine.

[Photo courtesy of Adrian Kinloch/Brit in Brooklyn]

Astroland died late last night, with an odd scene that lacked any remarks or final statements, but that included weirdness, shouts of “Get back from the gate” and some unexplained police activity. Brit in Brooklyn blogger and superb GL Contributor Adrian Kinloch stayed until the bitter end and was on hand to photograph and relate the final moments of the amusement park as the gates were pulled shut for what may have been the very last time. He writes:

As the rides shut down one by one, going dark, a group of ride operators occupied (good naturedly) the top spin ride and chanted one more year, then eventually got down to join the group of assembled park visitors, vips and workers.

Suddenly there was a lot of shouting and angry faces and some of the operators stormed off into the park…Then a group of NPYD wearing blue rubber gloves ran off into the same direction. I tried to follow but Carol Albert pushed me back shouting “No Press.” All in all the gate closing was pretty sad, no last words from Carol or anyone, just lots of shouting get back from the gate. The small crowd outside the gate looked a bit lost.

The time stamps on Mr. Kinloch’s photos indicates that Astroland’s official time of death was 11:29 PM, September 7, 2008, which is when the final gate was pulled down. A sad (and, to us, a needlessly premature) end to a place beloved by many people.

[Photo courtesy of Adrian Kinloch/Brit in Brooklyn]

There is some food news from the far end of Court Street in Carroll Gardens. A special GL Correspondent who has supplied us with many juicy tidbits over a long period of time reports:

Le Petit Café, down the end of Court St is expanding. They’re taking over George’s Pot Pourri once he moves his store further down Court, towards 9th. The guys at Le Petit (Tommy and Jose) will likely take their time and do the space themselves with possibly an expanded kitchen. It’s a sweet local spot. The guys both seem to work crazy hours and they’re always there to look after the customers. It’s definitely is a spot that can be genuinely called local. The food is pretty good too and they’re consistent in what they serve. Once the new spot is open they plan on expanding the dinner menu.

Always good to have interesting news from that part of Carroll Gardens.
[Photo courtesy of Dan B./Yelp]

And now, a selection of music available from tonight through Wednesday:

Monday 9/8/08
Jalopy: Country Blues Jam–Bring your fiddle, accordion, banjo, washtub, mandolin, guitar, or maybe even spoons and participate in an open jam session. Free!! 9:30pm

Barbes: Chicha Libre (Latin/Surf/Psychedelic) $10, 9:30pm

Tuesday 9/9/08
Barbes: SOM (Classical Indian/Jazz/Trance) $10, 7:00pm

Bar 4: Open Mike Night: Hosted by Tanya Buziak, sign up at 8:00pm, 8:30 showtime-Free!!

Wednesday 9/10/08
Jalopy: “Roots n’ Ruckus” w/ Feral Foster (Folk) Free!!, 9:00pm

—Dan Bennis

“A hotheaded chef at China City restaurant in Brooklyn has been charged with dousing two women with scalding cooking oil after they complained about bad take-out food. The melee started when Sylvia Grice, 44, and Dorranne Leggett, 42, stormed into the Myrtle Avenue eatery Thursday night to confront the chef, Luien Jhing, 28. The disgruntled diners angrily threw their uneaten dinners at Jhing. Cops said the chef hurled a pot of hot oil, burning Grice’s back and Leggett’s shoulder. Jhing was charged with assault, menacing, harassment and criminal possession of a weapon – the oil.”–NYP

Here are some scenes from Astroland’s last day, yesterday.

Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and images:

· Heroes Rescue Disabled Man from Fire [NYDN]
· Checking Out a Block of Eastern Parkway [Metro]
· Brooklyn Heights Principal Turns Around School [NYP]
· 8-Year-Old Boy Killed on Bike by Postal Truck [NYDN]
· Nets Close to Issuing $800M in Bonds for Arena in November? [AYR]
· Monte Ghertler 1929-2008: We Love You [OTBKB]
· Green Church Bulletin [Bay Ridge Journal]
· Eh, newyorkshitty.com is Not for Sale [New York Shitty]
· Delays in Bus Rapid Transit Push Back Flatbush Route [AYR]
· Law & Order Shooting in Flatbush [Flatbush Vegan]
· 40th Street Then & Now [Best View in Brooklyn]
· Dumbo Salon de Quartier Now Open [Dumbo NYC]

A special GL Contributor sent us this gem, suggesting that we change GL to Gowanuts Lounge. We had no idea what he meant by the email subject line until we looked carefully at the attachment. Well, sometimes one person might say Gowanus whereas another might say Gowanuts. Eh. Gowanus. Gowanuts. Same difference. Presumably, they’ll still get the car to you when you call.

The most astounding thing about the sad scene at Astroland yesterday, was the fact that there were no signs saying “Save Astroland” and not a single sheet of paper saying “Goodbye.” Tens of thousands of people descended on Coney’s iconic little amusement park on a gorgeous September Sunday to say goodbye. It is being closed because owner Carol Albert says that developer Joe Sitt of Thor Equities, to whom she sold the land in 2006, has refused to negotiate a new lease. There were long lines to buy tickets and to get on rides, which seemed to get longer as the day went on, and practically everyone, it seemed, had a camera and was taking photos or videos. Last year, during Astroland’s “last day” there were protests, workers hung signs in ticket booth and on their rides asking that the park and their jobs be saved. There was none of that yesterday. The most visible statement, in fact, were the Thor Equities “Summer of Hope” t-shirts being worn by a large group of young people attending the last day with tickets donated by the developer.

We heard one worker speak with disgust about how Astroland would be an empty lot next near and how Thor Equities would be “taking jobs from 350 people and from their kids who could have worked here too.” He condemned the city too for doing nothing to prevent the closure of the park. We lost track of the number of people who said to us how “sad” it was that Astroland was closing. Everyone, it seemed to us, was resigned that Astroland would cease to exist when the gates were closed last night.

And, perhaps, it shall. As we originally reported on Saturday, Astroland’s rides are on the market as part of a “liquidation sale.” The park’s lease runs through January, but it is unclear when Ms. Albert will start the process of permanently dismantling it. Yesterday’s subdued goodbye went late into the night. There is a “Save Astroland 2009” petition circulating, but Ms. Albert continues to insist that she is through without a multi-year lease. We’ll have a full slideshow of shots from yesterday in an hour this morning.

Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and images. This is a special, extra Astroland edition:

· Astroland Closes, This Time, It Appears for Good [NYT]
· After 46 Years, Game Over for Astroland [NY1]
· Ride’s over at Coney Island amusement park [AP]
· Coney Island to Have Surf, Sand, but No Astroland [NYDN]
· Swan Song for Coney Island’s Astroland [amNY]
· NYC Bids Sad Farewell to Coney Island’s Historic Theme Park [WNBC]
· New York Says Goodbye to Iconic Astroland [Metro]
· Coney Island Says Goodbye to Astroland [1010 Wins]
· Last Day of Astroland, Afternoon Edition [Brit in Brooklyn]
· Rides Go up for Sale as Astroland Closes Shop Today [Gothamist]
· Thank You Astroland! [Pistols and Popcorn]
· RIP Astroland [Reclaimed Home]

Have you jumped in the pool and joined our big and growing GL Flickr Pool? If not, we hope you take the plunge because we’d love to see your photos and post them here. You can join the pool here or simply tag your pics “gowanuslounge.”

[Photo courtesy of rembklyn/GL Flickr Pool]

Here’s a view of the Carrol Street Bridge at night and the big metal fence beyond it on Carroll Street. It comes from frequent GL Flickr Pool contributor rembklyn.

“My husband and I own the Big Blue House, 271 9th Street and also own and operate Slope Music…As far as the color of the building goes there is a back story. The house has Landmark status which has been nothing but a pain for us. The Landmark status given to neighborhoods and homes is meant to make sure that there is preservation of historical sites and I understand that some developers and evil doers would choose to ignore preservation and replace it with profit. We have owned the building since 1981 and have invested every dollar we could in taking care of the building. When it came to repainting the house afew years ago we actually wanted to change the color back to what it might have been in 1846. HPD was NO help and after countless submission and rejections of forms we were told that unless we painted the house blue, which was the present color of the house they would give us a violation. So we painted it blue… bluer than it had been!”–Urban Environmentalist NYC: The Blue Jewel Revealed

The Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association, which once met at the Scotto Funeral Home on Court Street, starts up with its post-Labor Day meetings tonight at a new location, the Hannah Senesh Community Day School at 342 Smith Street. Here’s is the email:

Just a quick reminder- we resume the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association general meetings on Monday, Sept. 8 at our new location: Hannah Senesh Community Day School,342 Smith St (entrance mid block between First and Second Place), First floor Gym, 7:30 pm. We will continue to meet on the second Monday of each month, barring holidays, which are noted(*). 2008 meeting dates: Sept. 8, Oct. 6* , Nov. 10, Dec. 8, 2008. 2009 meeting dates: Jan. 12, Feb. 9, Mar. 9, Apr. 6 *, May 11, June 8, 2009.

The CGNA meetings generally deal with a lot of interesting issues.

The stoop drinking drama and issue continues with a further examination of a recent case. A car pulls up on a guy drinking a bottle of Sierra Nevada on his stoop. “The police officer in the driver’s seat said something to Mr. VanRy. He left the stoop, walked to the car and, several minutes later, was handed a small pink slip — a $25 summons for drinking in public. Mr. VanRy, who is the president of his building’s co-op board and whose last brush with the law was about 12 years ago, when he got a speeding ticket in Pennsylvania, was shocked to learn that drinking a beer on his stoop was unlawful. He said that he and his neighbors in the building have for years gathered on the short stoop, talking and drinking, without officers from the 77th Precinct ever showing up.”–NYT

[Photo courtesy of woodendesigner/GL Flickr Pool]

Perhaps one can call it Coney Island Light. In any case, whatever the label, here’s another gorgeous Coney sunset. This one is from the boardwalk on Friday night.

Outside the Brookyn Weather Observatory is is quite sunny with blue skies. Today’s forecast calls for it to be mostly sunny, pleasant and warm. The high will be 84. Tonight will be clear with a low of 66.–Accuweather

In about fifteen minutes, at noon today, Astroland’s gates will slide open for perhaps the last time ever. (There is word of a rally as well.) There will no doubt be many reporters in attendance to record the sad event and it will be well documented in both photos and videos. But is it really the end? We went through this last year and, at the last minute, developer Joe Sitt and Astroland owner Carol Hill Albert (who sold to Mr. Sitt for $30 million in 2006, precipitating the demise of her park) reached an agreement on a one-year lease. The same might still happen this year, of course. Thus far, there seems to be resignation about the closure rather than some of the outrage that was apparent last year. The city officials who could help pressure the developer into promptly clearing up Coney Island’s future and protecting it between now and the start of any development, which is years away, have been strangely silent, expressing sadness that Astroland is closing. On Friday, we wrote that “The premature death of Astroland would be from a gun fired by Mr. Sitt, but with a weapon supplied by the city itself.” Astroland’s rides, as we originally reported yesterday and as was noted on the Coney Island Message Board, are up for sale online. (A day before our, uh…how to put this…uh, friends at the New York Post “broke” the same story.) Astroland will be open through the evening and may stay open after 7 for those wishing a last hurrah. If you’ve never been, go. If you love it, go to pay your respects. And, if the lease ends up being renewed, we can all do this again next year.

There was an overabundance of Brooklyn Missed Connection action from which to choose, but after much soul searching, we settled on this one because it has that certain something that is common to all Missed Connections that represent the triumph of hope over reality:

you gave me the finger at levee last friday, but i gave one right back – m4w (williamsburg)

I was next in line for the bathrooms. You asked me “is this one empty”. I shrugged and said “I don’t know”. You opened the door, saw it was empty, and gave me a sneaky grin. You gave me the finger. I gave you the finger. Something about your rogue attitude made me tell my friends “I just saw the most gorgeous girl in the entire …bar”. I really had to pee. =/

Well, her’s was probably a finger raised more in jest than anger, so there is hope.