Smith Street clothing, accessories, shoes, jewelry and etc. retailer Bird is now open on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope. The new store opened its doors recently and is located at 316 Fifth Avenue, which is between Second and Third Streets. Bird is also opening a big store on Grand Street in Williamsburg.

It rarely gets better than this: Frank Gehry has been booted from the job of designing the Theater for a New Audience in the BAM Cultural District in Fort Greene, but found out about it via a call from a New York Times reporter. The theater’s director, on the other hand, says the de-Frankification of the project (leaving Hugh Hardy as sole architect) was due to “Mr. Gehry’s busy schedule and the need to finish the design within a few months, a process that included a site change in June.” And so, “Frank is unable to contribute to this final phase of design…Frank Gehry has said to us, ‘I’m sorry that I have to withdraw, but I’m a great fan of Hugh’s, and Theater for a New Audience is going to have a terrific theater.’” Mr. Gehry told the reporter that it was all news to him: “I didn’t even know they were starting over again. I suppose they didn’t need two of us.” Mr. Gehry also said of Mr. Hardy: “He’s quite adequate for the job without me.” Utterly fascinating.–NYT

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

· Killer Elevators: Overhauls Delayed at 24 City Projects [NYT]
· Daniel Squadron Gets Backing of Anthony Weiner in State Sen. Race [Sun]
· Memory of Detective Led to Bust of Brooklyn Granny Mugger [NYT]
· Corrupt Ex-Judge Wants a Break [NYDN]
· Brooklyn Teen Playing in First US Open [Sun]
· Agrarians in Sheepshead Bay [Sheepshead Bites]
· Juxtapositions on Manhattan Ave. [New York Shitty]
· 21st State Senate District Candidates Debated, Gloves Off [Brooklyn Junction]
· Then & Now: Finland Congregational Church [BVIB]
· Name the Cortelyou Flower Bar [Flatbush Vegan]
· Burgers, Beer & Art [Bed-Stuy Banana]
· Greenwood Heights [Shooting Brooklyn]
· Tree Murder Plot on Remsen Street [BHB]

While it’s not the last concert at McCarren Pool, a short-lived, yet somewhat glorious era in the neighborhood’s history comes to an end this weekend with the final Pool Party produced by Jelly NYC. Yo La Tengo will close out the festivities. The show is actually a fundraiser for Barack Obama. Admission is free, but there’s going to be a suggested contribution of $20, with proceeds going to the Obama campaign. (The show is listed on the Obama website as a fundraiser at McCarren Park Pool.) Everyone from Band of Horse to the Black Lips have rocked out at the free shows.Each year, the parties have gotten more popular and, well, more corporate too, with major retailers and businesses recognizing them as great marketing and branding opportunities. In truth, the lines at many of the shows this year have been insane and the crowds huge. The atmosphere has shifted in a small, yet significant way. Of course, the city is spending a large sum of money to turn McCarren back into an actual pool, which is what it should be, and the search is on for new concert space. Whether some will be found before next year is an open questions. (Let’s just say there are logistical issues and that there are bound to be political and neighborhood concerns.) The last ever Pool Party starts at 2PM on Sunday, although there will be a Clear Channel-produced show with Sonic Youth next week, which will be the actual “last show” at McCarren Pool. Meanwhile, the Obama website says:

On August 24th, Brooklyn for Barack is partnering with JellyNYC to co-host the Last Pool Party (ever) at McCarren Park Pool in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Held one day before the start of the Democratic National Convention, the event hopes to not only raise money for Barack’s campaign but to celebrate the increased participation of youth in this election. The Pool Party is an all day concert, featuring Yo La Tengo, Titus Andronicus, Ebony Bones, and other special guests. Although the Pool Party is free to enter, there is a suggested donation of $20 that will go directly to Obama for America. There will be a free concert poster- designed by Jessica Hische- for the first 1000 people who donate $20 or more.

And so, the Pool Parties go out with a political splash.

Our old friend 360 Smith Street, (aka Oliver House), which was stopped in its tracks by the Zoning Text Amendment in Carroll Gardens that limited the height of buildings to 55 feet on “narrow” streets is back in action in a sense. The Department of Buildings had hit it with a Stop Work Order because it did not conform to the new zoning. Now, developer Billy Stein has started the process of an appeal to be allowed to build his building to the 70 feet that had planned. The Community Board 6 Land Use Committee will have hearing on the appeal to the Board of Standards and Appeals on August 28, which is a date that may not please many residents given that it is prime vacation time and also the night that Democratic nominee Barack Obama is due to deliver his acceptance speech in Denver. (We’ll be expecting cynics in the neighborhood to suggest more than a coincidence, although we could be wrong.) In any case, here is the notice:

Please be advised that the Landmarks/Land Use Committee will conduct a Public Hearing at their next regularly scheduled committee meeting on August 28, 2008 to consider an application submitted by Oliver Development, LLC for consideration of an extension of time to complete the construction of a new building at 131 Second Place aka 360 Smith Street.

The hearing takes place on Thursday, August 28 at 6 p.m. at P.S. 32, which is located at 317 Hoyt Street at Union Street. It should be an interesting meeting if anyone is around to attend.

A new food pantry opened in Flatbush yesterdeay. Called the Client Choice Food Pantry, it’s located at 2241 Church Avenue. There’s actually a special food distribution for clients today from 9:30am-1:00pm. The regular schedule for the pantry will be Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30am-1:00pm. It’s operated by CAMBA. Per an email:

According to the Food Bank for New York City, the City’s emergency food programs (EFPs) provided food to approximately 1.3 million New Yorkers in 2007. This represents an increase of 24% since 2004. Thirty-one percent of EFP beneficiaries are children under the age of 17, an increase of 20% since 2004. CAMBA has long been a leader in the response to hunger in Brooklyn. Our food pantry provides over 5,000 food packages a year to hungry adults and children. The Client Choice pantry is modeled after a regular grocery store, allowing people coming for emergency food to choose what food they need instead of receiving pre-packed bags of food. Only the fourth Client Choice Pantry in New York City, this marks the first Client Choice model at CAMBA.

More info about CAMBA here.

[Photo courtesy of wzrdreams/GL Flickr Pool]

Here’s a gorgeous sunset captured earlier this week at McCarren Pool toward the end of the summer concert era.

“I used to work for one of the two advertising (now there is only one) companies that do gorilla advertising here in NYC . There is very little thought put into those ads placed out there on the street and in your face, well less then you would think. These types of ads are part of a long history of the posting of bills that has gone on in NYC since the city was first built but I have to say that when I was doing that job it didn’t sit well with me. You basically go over to the advertising companies storage or warehouse or where they store the posters for the continual ad campaigns. Then they load you down with as many as you can drive around with along with a couple of huge barrels of glue. They send you to whatever neighborhood they think is currently really trendy and so mainly I worked in Williamsburg, the meat packing district and The Lower East side. Then you find whatever surface would seem to work to paste the ads to and with the abundance of condos being built and new construction you never run out of space. It’s also illegal hence the name gorilla marketing. This is simply the advertising companies and the companies they represent trying to get in your face as much as possible. There’s very little thought put into the placement. Your paid per poster and or per space and that’s that. Afterwards pictures are taken and shown to the people who paid for the ad campaign and thats why they’re placed semi decently. I had to quit. I wasn’t too stoked on helping advertisers get into young hipsters and yuppies pockets. And getting arrested for the almighty paper chase isn’t too fun either.”–The State of Brooklyn Construction Site Advertising, August ’08

[Photo courtesy of mikebny/Gl Flickr Pool]

Here’s a bit of a Park Slope Fifth Avenue summer scene courtesy of our GL Flickr Pool.

Outside the Brooklyn Weather Observatory, we are seeing all the ingredients of a gorgeous late summer day. The forecast calls for mostly sunny skies and a high of 84. Tonight will be clear with a low of 67. Perfect for that evening walk and, perhaps, outdoor dining.–Accuweather

This is from Berry Street in Williamsburg and, yes, it’s an old vinyl record.

[Photo courtesy of Adrian Kinloch/Brit in Brooklyn]

This incredible street sofa comes from Sunset Park and the remarkable camera of blogger and esteemed GL Contributor Adrian Kinloch. It comes from the end of 39th Street near the water.

[Photo courtesy of jplpagan/GL Flickr Pool]

Our photographer, jplpagan, calls this a “sunflower with Brooklyn attitude.” We strongly believe it to be a Carroll Gardens sunflower.

Francis Morrone takes a look at Gowanus in today’s Sun and offers up a taste local history and some thoughts about its past, present and future. He notes the neighborhood’s industrial history, quoting Lewis Mumford’s description from the 1950s of “grimy factories and warehouses and gas tanks” and “empty lots and industrial rubble” — evoking “a segment of a bombed city.” He also covers the long history of the filth in the canal itself and of the flushing tunnel intended to keep it somewhat bearable:

The canal re-putrefied until 1999, when the pump was fixed — and, we believed, a new day had dawned for Gowanus. By then, Park Slope and Carroll Gardens were scorchingly hot real estate markets. Visions emerged of splendors that might rise along the waterway’s banks — some invoked Venice, others San Antonio — infilling this once seemingly impenetrable divider between the two neighborhoods.

It’s been slow to happen. Toxic residues left from the halcyon industrial days have proved a greater problem than developers expected. Cleanup costs are sky-high — and perhaps can’t be justified in the recent economic downturn. Some environmental scientists even say that much of Gowanus’s ground is so contaminated it simply cannot be adequately cleaned up, at any cost.

Worth a read.

This email comes from the BoCoCa Parents group and touches on an issue that has been in the news and is of importance to anyone that takes their kids to Brooklyn or NYC playgrounds–burns caused by the black mats under playground equipment:

Some of you have seen some of the press over the past month on infants, toddlers, and disabled children who have been severely burned by some of the black rubber mats under play equipment in NYC playgrounds…My older son is one of the many children who have been injured on these mats (he was burned 4 years ago when he was 14 months old – on the mats under the baby play area in VanVoorhees playground on Congress between Columbia and Hicks – those mats are still there in the direct sun). We know that children were burned on similar mats in NYC playgrounds before my son and that the Parks Department was notified and, despite our efforts and those of burn specialists in the area, many children have been burned since. These are not isolated incidents – the burn centers tell us that they see many of these babies and toddlers every year, not just in the summer but on clear sunny days. The burns are not only seen on feet but also on hands and knees. And there are perfectly acceptable alternatives available in safety surfacing.

Who to write and call to get this changed, ahead.

“I mean, really. So David Byrne made some bike racks. Nine of them. And one of them is in Williamsburg. They’re not even particularly creative, edgy, or interesting in any way–in fact, they look like something the lowest level NYC department of transit employee could’ve come up with on his lunch break. Guitar shaped rack for Williamsburg. Dollar sign rack for Wall Street. Yawn…And yet. The racks are getting more coverage than a McCain gaffe around here. I mean, I love the Talking Heads as much as the next semi-pretentious hipster, but do we really need to hear about this? From every news source imaginable? If David Bowie designed nine wheelchair ramps, would everyone make the same ruckus? Well. I guess so.”–Williamsburg is Dead

Herewith a selection of concerts taking place between today and Sunday:

Thursday 8/21/08
Seaside Park @ West 5th St. & Surf Ave.
: Huey Lewis & The News (Sounds Like: The Power of Love)- Free, 7:30pm

Friday 8/22/08
South Street Seaport: Oneida, Endless Boogie (Indie)-Free!!, 7:00pm

Saturday 8/23/08
Music Hall of Williamsburg: Professor Murder, Pink Skull, Free Blood, Kingdom (Indie)- Free, 9:30pm

Sunday 8/24/08
McCarren Park Pool: Yo La Tengo, Titus Andronicus, Ebony Bones-Free!!, 2:00pm

The Yard: Sunday Best: Joakim, Justin Carter, Eamon Harkin, and Doug Singer (DJ’s)- $8, 3:00pm
—Dan Bennis

Here’s our regular weekly post from the Center for the Urban Environment about the great tours they run:

Dumbo. Saturday, August 23 – 1 – 3 pm – with Joe Svehlak. An acronym for the old Brooklyn waterfront under the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges is an amazing area of former industrial buildings converted to lofts and artist’s studios with great bridge and river views, trendy restaurants and shops and a new riverfront park. We’ll also visit the Fulton Ferry Historic District. Meet at street level of the York Street station of the F train at Jay and York Streets. FEES: $13.00 Non-Members, $10.00 CUE Members, $8.00 Seniors & Students. For information call (718) 788-8500, ext. 217.

This image was created by Tracy Collins and posted on flickr. It is very short and shows some movement in the Vanderbilt Yards, which would be decked over for the Atlantic Yards development.

[Photo courtesy of Rubys Host/GL Flickr Pool]

The white buildings in the background is the development known as The Breakers, a Sheepshead Bay project that has garnered its share of attention, particularly because it’s a gated community that has cut people off from waterfront access. There’s a long post about here on Sheepshead Bites. There are 77 condos in the development and the firm selling the properties calls it “the hottest project underway in Brooklyn today.” Units go from about $400k to about $1.5M.

A rendering of the Breakers from the water if you click here.

Forget the slow-moving mystery of the Gowanus Whole Foods, a 20,000 square foot supermarket called Pomegranate opened its doors on Coney Island Avenue in Midwood the other day. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reports:

A mega-supermarket modeled on the success of gourmet food stores like Whole Foods, Pomegranate caters to elite food aficionados craving organic produce. But there’s a twist – located in the heart of a thriving Orthodox Jewish community, Pomegranate and everything available in the store is kosher-certified – hence its motto, “everything BETTER.” Rabbis are on-duty full-time in the store’s three kitchens – one for dairy, another for meat and a third for parve (fish, vegetables, fruit and grains). Customers can have their pick of everything from freshly baked challah and homemade cheeses to aged prime beef-rib steaks to an olive bar and sushi bar.

The store, which is at 1507 Coney Island Ave., has a 50-car parking lot.

Most construction sites are plastered with ads for new music, concerts, products and, from time to time, real estate developments. Here’s a little snapshot of one such site, at Berry Street and N. 10, which reveals a bit about the state of things currently. First, one will note the Brooklyn-centric (“I Heart Brooklyn”) Cafe Bustelo ads. Then, we will add the Stueben 72 condo ads, which are currently everywhere in the Burg and urge people “Don’t just live in a neighborhood. Belong.” Ironically, they are across the street from 125 N. 10, which itself has been no slouch in wheatpasting the many neighborhoods with its own ads. The rest, of course, are the standard music ads.

[The image is last night’s fireworks in Prospect Park before the screening of Hairspray]

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

· DA Investigating Boy’s Fall Down South Burg Elevator Shaft [NYT]
· Elevator That Killed Little Boy Finally Gets Fixed [NYDN]
· Guy Who Choked & Mugged 85-Year-Old Woman Arrested [NYP]
· 60K Vehicles a Day at Atlantic & Flatbush? [AYR]
· Summer’s Ripening Breath [A Year in the Park]
· Gossip Girl Shoots on Brooklyn College Campus [Brooklyn Junction]
· Fourth Avenue Getting a Ramen Restaurant! [Brownstoner]
· d.b.a. to open on N. 7 Street in Williamsburg [Free Williamsburg]
· Antiques Stores “Discovered” in the Burg [Brooklyn 11211]
· More Urban Gravestones [Bed-Stuy Banana]
· Hall Street Storage Makes Green Waves [Green Brooklyn]
· Mommy Camp Visits Flatlands [Brooklynometry]

Yesterday, the Municipal Art Society, garnered a lot of coverage by releasing the alternative proposals it has developed that would allow for the preservation of the historic buildings of Admiral’s Row–which could be a Brooklyn treasure for future generations–and for the development of a huge supermarket and other retail and business space. The city and the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. have steadfastly said that the only option for Admiral’s Row is demolition. Yet, a raft of proposals have now shown that preservation of the structures and development of the property could be so easily accomplished that destruction of this important part of American history would be nothing short of an act of cultural and historical vandalism, if not intellectual criminality.

Brooklyn has lost many historic structures during the Bloomberg Era at City Hall and the Markowitz Era at Borough Hall. They have fallen to demolition crews, backhoes, bulldozers and to spectacular suspicious fires. In most cases, political leaders have stood by and cheered this despicable loss of history as the price of progress. Virtually no attempt has been made to negotiate with developers from a position of strength or to find a rational middle ground. We have said it before and we will say it again: the current generation of leaders who have stood as cheerleaders for the piecemeal destruction of buildings that represent Brooklyn’s industrial history–let alone worked to make it untenable for viable industries to continue to do business in the borough–will be viewed as cultural and historical vandals by future generations. Today, people wonder how New York leaders of the 1960s could have allowed Pennsylvania Station to fall and regard it as one of the most horrendous acts of architectural barbarism of the last century. They look at the way Robert Moses raped and destroyed neighborhoods to build his megaprojects and highways and consider him the epitome of evil planning arrogance. The grandchildren of today’s demolishers and destroyers of Brooklyn will shake their heads the same way in the 2030s and 40s and 50s. We won’t be around to see it, but we hope a planning student at Pratt in 2055 retrieves this post and others like it and realizes that were people a lot of people around that raised their voices and said, “No, this is wrong.”

Claims that Admiral’s Row can’t be save are craven bullsh….

“Michel Gondry may have just moved to Orient Avenue in Brooklyn, but certainly not to #59, which was briefly in the limelight when it appeared as Kate Winslet’s apartment in his film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” The place is trashed, as in really trashed.–Gothamist