Demolition along the Canal!

Picture and text from IMBY (great blog name, btw):

"The conversion of the Hamilton Avenue MTS is one of four proposed waste management facilities identified as part of NYC's Solid Waste Management Plan - NYC Department of Sanitation long term waste export program. All solid waste transfer and containerized activities will take place within the fully enclosed building.  The new facility is designed for the transfer of solid waste from collection vehicles into sealed and leak proof containers for export by barge and rail.  All solid waste transfer and containerization activities occur within a fully enclosed, negatively pressurized, air scrubbed, building.   The facility is authorized to operate 24 hours a day, Monday through Saturday; closed Sunday,  except for public emergency."

Lets hope that continued uses going forward make use of the working waterfront like this one.

Hypocritical Ikea Giving Out Bikes

After taking their shameful stance in June of opposing a bike lane outside their store, Ikea is sending mixed Scandinavian signals by giving out free, custom bikes to all of their employees.

"Company officials insisted the event was hypocrisy-free — even though they blasted part of the four-block cycle path painted in both directions on Columbia Street from Bay Street onto Halleck and Beard streets back in June.

At the time, Ikea manager Mike Baker said that a southbound bike lane along Beard and Halleck streets could jeopardize cyclists, cars and buses all vying to enter the big box store."


But how will they get to work? According to Ikea, it is dangerous to bike to their store...

Another Neighborhood Institution Not Long For This World?

Zillow has a listing for the building that currently houses Michael's Shoe Repair. The three story building is listed for $1,200,000.

Although I'm sure new owners would not want a newer use in there, there is no way that the existing use can pay the market rents in the area. Unless there is a sale-leaseback arrangement (and the listing price doesn't seem to indicate so), Michael's Shoe Repair might be going the way of College Point Bakery and Nino's.

They have been in the area for a long time, and indeed, are one of the few places left where you can find real people. However, they never seemed to sell anything other than socks.

Sokol Brothers Profiled

Sad as we were to see her go, Sylvie Morgan Flatow has taken her series over to Carroll Gardens Patch. The debut shop that gets profiled is Sokol Brothers, the long-time furniture retailer (and only one left) in the neighborhood.

"Drafty like an old barn or an unfinished basement, neighborhood folks have been weaving through the three long rooms that make up Sokol's for 60 years. Couches, tables, chairs, mirrors, desks, beds, rugs, armoires -- it's a pretty solid selection. There are no salespeople. No one is tending a register. There is one man and one man only who is greeting you when you walk through the door.  

Grandma was right. That Michael Sokol is a very nice man. He is by no means a flashy man, but neither is his store. Instead, he is one of the nicest storekeepers in the neighborhood. He dresses comfortably in blue jeans and sweaters, sneakers and old sweatshirts.

At a table that may or may not be for sale, we sat down one chilly night to chat."

Michael Sokol, and the Sokol Brothers before him, have provided my family with furniture for four generations now. I'm glad to see him out there, on Patch and also this week in the Red Hook Star-Revue.

P.S. 58 Students Save the Music

From Yahoo!:

"Current strings students and alumni from P.S. 58 The Carroll School's orchestra performed at the VH1 Save The Music Foundation Gala on Monday, November 8 at Cipriani Wall Street.


Sarah James, P.S. 58's Upper Grade Music Teacher, helped students rehearse and prepare for this star studded evening. The gala honored Julie Andrews, John Mayer, John Legend and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Foundation."

Preserving Old Neighborhood Faces

Carroll Gardens will be undergoing a massive transformation in the next twenty years, as the older generation of Italians, Puerto Ricans and other once-large groups of working-class citizens dies off. Who will replace them is unknown, but I doubt it will be many working-class individuals. Photographer and artist Kurt Kietrich Wilberding is attempting to preserve and share some memories of his views of Italian-Americans in Carroll Gardens in his show "Valentino's Children".

Excerpt and Photo from the Brooklyn Paper:

"“I would see one woman everyday that lives down the street from me, Milly. She is 95-years-old and has lived here all her life,” said Wilberding. “When you come across someone like Milly, you start to wonder, ‘Who else is around that has seen how this neighborhood has changed? What was it once like? What has been improved? What has been lost?’ ”

The resulting show, which is named after the Italian actor Rudolph Valentino and Louis Valentino Jr., a local fireman who died in the line of duty, is a collection of portraits of older generation Italian-Americans and mementos of things dear to them, such as passports."

“Valentino’s Children” at Acres Gallery [114 Smith St. between Pacific and Dean streets in Carroll Gardens (Ed - Most definitely NOT Carroll Gardens), (917) 428-3810], Dec. 10-Jan. 23. For info, visit acresbrooklyn.org.

Christmas Tree Lighting on Columbia Street - This Friday

Neighborhood affordable housing development group the Carroll Gardens Association and the newly revived Union Street - Columbia Street Merchants Association are holding a tree lighting this Friday, 6:00 - 8:00 pm, at the Human Compass Garden at Columbia and Sackett Streets.

"Children (and adults too) could have their photos taken with Santa. Free food and refreshments will be offered by neighborhood restaurants and businesses.

The Tree Lighting event will kick-off a week-long promotion from participating local restaurants and bars offering a 10% discount. Participating restaurants include Lilla Cafe, Mazzat, House of Pizza and Calzone, Five Burros, Caselnova, Sugar Lounge, Margaret Palca Bakes, Jalopy Theatre, Iro, Alma and Old Brooklyn Wine & Liquor (wine only). The 10% coupon is printed in the Red Hook Star-Revue."

An Evening at the Bell House for George - Guest Post

N.B. Today's post is authored by a friend and contributor, Mike Benigno. You can find more of him over at Lines in the Street and On Your Fork.

The Universal Thump, named after an obscure line from the allegorical Melville masterpiece Moby Dick, is a collaboration of over 20 performers, songwriters and composers all from their own individual bands, who, under the leadership of musicians Greta Getler and Adam Gold, first started working six months ago to cover the classic George Harrison solo album, "All Things Must Pass" in its entirety. ATMP remains as true to a Harrison masterpiece today as it was when first released in 1970 as his first post-Beatles release. The Nov. 29th show at the Bell House marked nine years to the day since Harrison died, and the performance was both a tribute to his music, his spirit and the fund that bears his name at UNICEF.

 So, what did that look like? First, nothing but a stage full of wires, amps, mic stands and more. Then, a stage full of people - as many as 20 at one time, and no fewer than five or six at any given point - playing before rear-projected Harrison black and whites to an intimate crowd. The album was done cover-to-cover, beginning with the bang-up hits "I'd Have You Anytime," "My Sweet Lord," "Wah-Wah," and "Isn't it a Pity," in arrangements complete with a string and horn section, two drummers, several keyboard and guitar players, upright and electric basses and, of course, the pedal steel guitar. Arrangements of many of the complicated tunes were done with such dexterity that you'd wonder if these guys had been practicing for a lifetime, and, in a way, they probably have been. The program given out before the show - which was an impressive directory of talent - sums it up best:

In a year when band after aging band filed into America's Halls and Plazas of music to perform their "classic" albums in their entirety, to remind us all of a time when their albums were important, or when albums were important, it seemed a natural [idea]. "Why don't we pay tribute to a true classic? An album we all love?" And then, what would this band even look like on stage?... Most everyone seemed thrilled by the idea... Nine years to the day of George's death, and just days after the 40th anniversary of the three discs' original release. This was to be a tribute indeed, and an ambitious one.

What was the show like? It was like being at the tribute concert of your life, but, somehow, only a couple hundred people were were there alongside you. One performer after another came out, joining and re-joining those on stage, performing each piece with creativity and, more than anything else, reverence for the songs, their complexity, their underlying spirituality, their writer, and their legacy. John Wesley Harding stole the show with "Wah-Wah," but Carol Lipnik's "My Sweet Lord" was the be-all-end-all performance. Perfection. If you saw it live, you'd beg for a recording or video.

Performers included:
Corrina Albright
Amy Allison
Oren Bloedow
Zach Brock
Amy Correia
Therese Cox
Robert DiPietro
Lee Feldman
Pete Galub
Greta Gertler
Adam Gold
John Wesley Harding
J. Walter Hawkes
Art Hayes
Missy Higgins
Byron Isaacs
Courtney Kaiser
Dayna Kurtz
Gary Langol
Carol Lipnik
Jonathan Maron
Barney McAll
Rick Moody
Chris Moore
David Nagler
Rozz Nash
Clinton Newman
Phil Rodriguez
Sean Sonderegger
Leigh Sutart
PT Walkley
Shara Worden

Lines in the Street

On Your Fork

Fix the Ditch!

Some plans for the greening of the BQE were recently revealed. From the Brooklyn Paper:

"The cheapest plan, about $10 million, involves a massive tree-planting effort along the highway-created chasm — creating one of the greenest stretches in all of Brooklyn.

Another option calls for the construction of six, lightweight bicycle and pedestrian bridges over the ditch, costing between $20 million to $45 million.

And the most expensive plan calls for the construction of an iconic, $85 million, energy-generating “green canopy” along the length of the trench, from Atlantic Avenue to Hamilton Avenue."

Let's not hold our breath. If there is no money for Brooklyn Bridge Park without private development, where is the money for this?

Whole Foods is on!

The intersection of 3rd and 3rd will no longer have just one attraction; sounds like the Whole Foods project is back on! In an e-mail to Community Board 6 District Manager Craig Hammerman, Mark Mobley from Whole Food wrote the following:

"Our property, which was formerly home to a number of auto repair shops, warehouses and other industrial uses, has now been fully cleaned and remediated under the strict guidelines of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's brownfield program and is ready to return to a positive, productive, job-creating and community service use.

Our planned new store will be approx. 52,000 square feet, which is about 25% smaller than the store we had previously proposed for this site. We believe this site plan - which continues to feature a 40 foot public esplanade for our neighbors to enjoy - will simply work better within the parameters of the property.

We have reduced the number of parking spaces on-site from 430 to 248, which eliminates our previous need for a separate parking structure and allows all of the parking to be at-grade in a surface parking lot. The store will feature parking for both energy efficient vehicles as well as specially designated recharging stations for electric powered vehicles. The lot will also include bike parking in front of the store and along the promenade. Whole Foods Market will also offer delivery for area residents.

With parking now no longer needed on the store roof either, we have been presented with the opportunity to include one of the most exciting and innovative features ever included in a Whole Foods Market: A 20,000 square foot greenhouse located on the roof of the store that will grow fresh, organic produce right on-site!

Rather than construct the store below-grade as previously proposed, we now plan to build it above-grade, which will require a variance from the Board of Standards and Appeals due to the physical hardships associated with site development (there is a high water table and, as you know, environmental cleanup requirements on the property). These factors have a large impact on the development costs that will be encountered on this site.

As always planned, the two-story, 19th century brick building situated at the property's corner at Third Avenue and Third Street - which is not owned by Whole Foods Market - will remain in place. The Whole Foods Market will "jog" around the existing building at that corner and Whole Foods has committed to investing in improvements to the building that will include a new roof and exterior repairs. "


Lets hope that this doesn't exacerbate the nightmare that is traffic on 3rd Street at times, but the reduction in parking spaces and 40 foot waterfront access is a great thing!

Staubitz!

One of the last real butchers in the area, John McFadden from Staubitz, got profiled in the New York Times:

"Favorite meat: A thick, juicy rib steak. But I only eat red meat once a week. I’ve got high cholesterol; it’s hereditary.

Manual dexterity: I must enjoy working with my hands, because in my workshop upstate in Milan, I’m always out there building all sorts of things from wood. Now I’m restoring portions of a 1730 barn.

The next generation: This is kind of funny. The other day my son asked me if he could work in the store when he gets old enough. I said, “Of course you can.”"

My uncle was the bicycle delivery boy for Staubitz in the 50s, and has some great stories about the meat market in those days!

Progress for Community Board 6

Turns out that sometimes, Community Board 6 CAN make a progressive decision. From Streetsblog:

"Last night, the committee voted in favor of expanding the Park Smart area and the time that peak hour rates are in effect. The resolution did not touch on increasing the peak meter rate to $2.25 per hour but rejected the idea of extending the time limit at curbside spaces from one hour to two hours...

The interesting exchange of the evening happened when one committee member raised the prospect of extending the time limit from one hour to two hours.

Extending the time limits could wipe out the gains that the higher peak hour rates have achieved, explained DOT Deputy Commissioner Bruce Schaller. “The combination of the rate and one-hour time limit is affecting turnover,” he said. “If you relax one of them, you have to make up for it with the other.”"

Columbia Street Waterfront District Gets Some Love

The Columbia Street Waterfront District, the ex-Red Hook, ex-Carroll Gardens hanging chad, has gotten some love from the NY Times:


"A slice of about two dozen square blocks, cut off from the rest of the borough by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, the Columbia waterfront has been seen as an up-and-coming neighborhood. But development has come in fits and starts because of its location, the forbidding warehouses and piers that block harbor access, and a lack of subway lines.

“This particular location — we’ve liked it since Day 1,” said Louis V. Greco, the general manager of the development company SDS, which bought two parcels in the neighborhood in 2008. “That’s because of the views of Lower Manhattan, obviously, and there’s just so much going on down there now.""

Brooklyn's Park Avenue: Walkabouts and Subway Improvements! And Evil Developers?

Recently, some money was found for the 4th Avenue/9th Street Subway Station rehab. From the Brooklyn Paper:

"The Beep said this week that he has set aside $2 million for improvements in and around the station, which critics say shares the same aesthetic of a Turkish prison.

“This $2 million will showcase the potential to create safer conditions all along this roadway and make it a beautiful thoroughfare that better serves us,” he said.

The station — once targeted for a grand facelift as part of the $250-million reconstruction of the elevated tracks between the Carroll Street and Fourth Avenue — has been in limbo since MTA budget cuts delayed the lofty plan."

Seems that the Park Slope Civic Council agrees that the rehab will be in the best interests of safety and aesthetics as well. Unfortunately, they can't do that without whining about development. From the Brooklyn Eagle:

"A renovation would eliminate thousands of pedestrian trips across Fourth Avenue, one of the city’s most dangerous streets. Earlier this year, the NYC Transit Authority estimated that a renovation would cost about $3.5 million, according to Cairl. The Brooklyn Paper recently reported that Borough President Marty Markowitz is willing to use about $2 million of his office’s capital budget.

While there may be money for rehabilitating subway stations, several development projects have stalled on the corridor because of the credit crunch. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, at least for the time being, Cairl said. Most recent development on the corridor left neighborhood advocates wanting something better. Citing ugly design and structures too often out of scale with the surrounding community, the Park Slope Civic Council would like developers to take a more organic approach.

“New development is great but it needs to relate to the community,” said Cairl, citing the “unfriendly street presence” of so many buildings. “You can’t just sit at a drafting table and not come and walk the ground.” S.J. Avery joined the council because she perceived that type of development insensitivity, but it originated from city government, she said, noting that the way the city handled the eventual condemnation of historic P.S. 133 upset her so much that she had to get involved."

A more appropriate villain than "developers" might be the high-density zoning that has been a failure. Until the City changes the zoning codes to allow a great mix of uses within the high-density FAR, and does something to slow down traffic on 4th, there will be no streetscape to speak of.

The City and Phoenix Beverage: Kind of Keeping Their Word?

We covered the spat between Columbia Street residents and Phoenix Beverage, the EDC's newest tenant (and, from a logistical perspective, the perfect tenant). Basically, Phoenix and the City were exposed as big, fat liars. According to the Brooklyn Paper, they are now keeping their word, but under the guise of a "compromise". Between this and Joan Millman's bike land compromise, Noah Webster must be spinning in his grave.

"Eventually, Teamsters, bosses from Phoenix Beverages, local pols and residents reached a compromise in which the trucks would bypass Columbia Street by driving on the BQE between Hamilton to Atlantic avenues.

“We’re extraordinarily happy,” said Brian McCormick, a member of the Columbia Waterfront Neighborhood Association. “The trucks are pretty much gone. There is a system in place that is working, and we’re hoping that will continue.”

The trucks are expected to continue cruising on the BQE until the chronically delayed reconstruction of Van Brunt Street is completed, opening up the proper truck route from Degraw Street to Hamilton Avenue (officials say the work could be done next summer)."

Make no mistake; this is anything BUT a compromise. This was community leaders forcing a private company (with an EDC lease) to adhere to the stipulations that they had agreed upon. 

I was at those meetings and voted on the deal. The use of the BQE was a MAJOR point of Phoenix and EDC's pitch.

GaGa in CaGa?

According to Gothamist we may need to lock our windows and our doors, cause Lady GaGa be stealin' boyfriends from everybody up in here:

"Allegedly Gaga showed up at the couple's Carroll Gardens apartment, and begged her former fling to come back. He agreed, and next thing you know the two are drunk at a Mets game together."

Be on the lookout for idiotic outfits on Court Street?

LICH Remains Open, for now

Some state funding and a quasi-merger have kept LICH open, for now. From the NY Times:

"Long Island College Hospital, known as LICH, has been at risk of closing since at least 2008, when its parent company, Continuum Health Partners, announced that the hospital was straining under the weight of $170 million in capital debt and proposed to shut down its maternity and pediatric operations. The State Health Department denied Continuum’s 2008 plan to close maternity and pediatric operations, leading to the search for a partner.

Governor Paterson said Thursday that the state would provide $40 million to support the merger. In 2009 the state gave LICH $22 million to help stabilize itself and to make it more attractive to a prospective partner."

Let's hope that that money got allocated, or that Cuomo will honor the deal.

Gowanus Canal

Courtyard Crackdown: Finally!

Someone finally got someone's attention about the well-documented problem of public space being used to as private space. Interesting that it is the DOB ticketing the cars, as it would seem that the DOT has jurisdiction over public rights-of-way. Wonder why no one has gone after Hannah Senesh? From the Brooklyn Paper:

"Three homes were ticketed after the Department of Buildings’ inspection, a visit that followed a stunning report in this newspaper that many residents of Fourth Place between Smith and Court streets were violating city zoning, which forbids parking in the front yards along First, Second, Third and Fourth places.

Decades-old zoning designed to preserve the gardens that give the neighborhood its name designates such front yards as part of the street and not the homeowner’s lot, giving the city oversight about what is permissible there.

Two homes were summonsed for illegal front yard parking. The third home was found to have an illegal curb cut."

Smart Parking Policy/Dumb Parking Policy

The few Park Slope residents who drive cars (let me make that clearer: the MINORITY of drivers) want to make it tougher for everyone else to live. From the Brooklyn Paper:

"Park Slope community leaders (ed. self-declared) continue to slam the brakes on a scheme that would jack up the price of parking in the spot-challenged neighborhood by a whopping 33 percent, and stretch the hours when those rates are in effect.

Last week, Community Board 6 tabled the two most contentious aspects of a plan to extend “Park Smart,” a controversial city initiative that frees up parking spaces by making it pricier to park during peak hours, from noon to 4 pm."

This is in sharp contrast to a city with progressive, liveable streets, like Seattle, which is embracing change for the better:

"Mike McGinn, the bicycling mayor, is counting on cars to salvage the city's transportation fund.
His budget proposals, released Monday, would affect anyone who drives into downtown and the other busiest neighborhoods, through higher taxes and meter fees of $4 an hour in and near downtown. Even the residential parking zone fee would increase for street parking in certain neighborhoods. And that's in addition to a likely $20 car-tab fee.

Why look to parked cars for money in a weak economy? Because people have been quite willing to put up with parking-fee boosts the past few years — and the city sees a potential gain of at least $20 million next year."


First CB6 went wild about the potential loss of a few spaces for massive progress on Prospect Park West, and now this. I feel sad for anyone on CB6 with any knowledge of transportation.

Why High-Density Zoning on Fourth Avenue is a Failure

The Park Slope Civic Council is hosting a forum on November 6th to try and wrap their heads around the current situation that is 4th Avenue. No need for discussion, guys, the WSJ hit it right on the head.

"While the 2003 rezoning resulted in 859 new apartments—either built, under development or in planning—the design of many of the new buildings have come under attack. They've done little to improve the character of the neighborhood or make it more pedestrian friendly because they have parking garages, air vents or concrete slabs at street level rather than shops and cafes, critics say.

The result is that Fourth Avenue remains relatively desolate, attracting little of the street activity that has made Park Slope one of the most desirable neighborhoods in the city."

The solutions to 4th Avenue's problems are simple; eliminate a lane of traffic, expand pedestrian and bike space and change the draconian zoning regulations that dis-incentivize (made up word, yes) the creation of mixed-use development and instead result in a plethora of "community facilities" (read: "Commercial space limited to medical uses") which do nothing to the streetscape (second made up word).

Doesn't Anyone Have a Job?

Marty Markowitz' shameful example has apparently emboldened a few people who still think that having an expressway through Park Slope and next to the biggest city park in the borough is a good idea. Maybe Marty wants a speedier trip home to Kensington from Borough Hall? From the Brooklyn Paper:

"Since the bike lane was first proposed last year, it has been one of the most controversial issues in Park Slope.

Many cyclists and pedestrians hail the lane as a safer path that has reduced the well-documented speeding on Prospect Park West by eliminating one lane of car traffic. But drivers and other locals say the lane is ugly, has exacerbated traffic, reduced parking, and increased the danger for pedestrians who must dodge cyclists traveling in both directions.

Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan has said that the agency will finish compiling data on Prospect Park West traffic by January.

Dueling bike lane protests on Thursday, Oct. 21. Supportes gather at Grand Army Plaza on Thursday, Oct. 21 at 8 am. For info, e-mail rsvp@parkslopeneighbors.org. Antis gather at Prospect Park West and Carroll Street at 8:30 am. E-mail ppwbikelane@gmail.com for info."


Don't either the supporters or opponents of the lane have any place to be at 8 or 8:30 on a Thursday? Jobs? Kids to care for? Or is it just a convenient time for some yentas who think cameras might come out at that time?

Breaking, and Shocking: Old House has Old, Badly Maintained Facade Fall Off

The wood-frame house at 341 Sackett Street took a lot of damage from the weekend/holiday storm and is now worse for the wear. From the Brooklyn Paper:

"“The storm knocked off [the wall],” said Tom Hassan, a resident of the building between Court and Clinton streets. “It happened all at once.”

The crack first appeared after the storm and expanded on Tuesday before splitting the facade in half, said Hanna Abuhamdeh, a relative of the building’s landlord who lives at the residence. There were no injuries."


Sackett Street was closed off until at least 9 pm last night, although there appeared to be no danger to anyone driving by.

One Decent Idea for the BQE, One Horrible One

A snazzy idea always gets people riled up, so there's been some chatter lately about a wacky proposal to construct a new tunnel from the Gowanus to the BQE, cutting out the portion that runs through Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and Downtown Brooklyn. A much better idea, which sort of came from the New York State DOT, is to tunnel the existing cantilevered portion under the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. From the New York Times:

"The rationale for the project was to create a bypass while the B.Q.E. — notorious for its lack of shoulders, impossibly short merge lanes and low clearances — is almost completely rebuilt. A tunnel, though, would live on to relieve congestion on one of the city’s most heavily traveled routes, which now carries 140,000 vehicles a day. Early state estimates — before the idea of a tunnel was formally broached — put the cost of the entire project at $254 million and predicted construction would begin in summer 2017. "

But then they get to Roy Sloane's horrific idea of DOUBLING BQE capacity in downtown Brooklyn.

"A fourth tunnel idea that would skip Brooklyn Heights entirely has been put forward by a local graphic designer, Roy Sloane. He would bore an almost three-mile tube straight under the heart of Brooklyn, from the Brooklyn Navy Yard, below the streets of Fort Greene, Boerum Hill and Park Slope, to emerge at a spot near the southern end of Red Hook. Mr. Sloane presented the idea to state transportation officials at one of the brainstorming sessions they have scheduled every month for residents.

“Why not think big?” Mr. Sloane said. “Engineers tell me that the most elegant solution to any problem is a straight line.”"

This proposal also includes keeping the existing BQE route as well, as a "local" arm.

Perhaps Mr. Sloane's background as a graphic designer does not afford him comprehension of basic transportation theory (then why is he addressing the subject?) but here is a basic fact regarding the construction of more roads, tunnels and bridges: they always create more traffic. New roads do not alleviate traffic, they create more traffic. When Robert Moses built roads with two lanes of traffic, they became jammed with two lanes of traffic. When they were expanded to three lanes, they got jammed with three lanes of traffic. When they were expanded to four lanes, guess what happened? More traffic to fill that fourth lane. Or, the LIE.

Tunneling the festering wound that is the BQE is not a bad idea (a better one might be doing away with it altogether), but building a second one is a HORRIFIC one.

Some More Whining About the Cobble Hill Towers' New Owners

From Curbed:

"What would any rental-to-condo conversion, even one that promises renters the opportunity to stick around, be without tenant fears that they'll be forced out? It would be unlike any condo conversion we've ever seen! And it would not be Hicks Street's Cobble Hill Towers. Tenants in the complex have already gone through the first few stages of conversion anxiety, including arguing that the insider prices are too high and that gentrification is coming. And now come the worries that the building will try to force out its renters."

What are we missing here? The commenter clearly states that he or she has only lived in the complex for one year and that the rent was $2,300 a month. So, the apartment is already deregulated and the renters do not have stabilization or control protection. So, the owners can charge whatever they want since the apartment is deregulated. 


Also, forcing that particular renter out would only be counter-productive for the owners, since they can be evicted anyway in the instance of a sale.

Ummm, us?

Local semi-retired Blogger Brooks is continuing his series "Who Goes There", this time on Carroll Gardens recent mainstay Marco Polo.

"Marco Polo Ristorante was founded in 1983, at which point most of the residents of Carroll Gardens had probably never seen a Yuppie. Today, long after the hipster horde has descended on the Brooklyn neighborhood, the eatery stands as a stolid reminder of the area's still-strong Italian-American roots. A block west from Smith Street's restaurant row—and wholly unconcerned with that high-falutin' noise—it is housed in a boxy brick building with a formal green awning. Though only two stories tall, it seems to dwarf everything in sight, and is certainly big enough to house all the ghosts of Carroll Gardens Red Sauce Joints Past. "


And present!

Joan Millman Apparently Doesn't Understand the MTA

Streetsblog recently culled some ridiculously ignorant and regressive quotes from our own Joan Millman regarding what she feels is the real problem with the MTA: the MTA.

"Millman represents one of the most transit-dependent districts in the city, and her constituents cope with torrents of traffic bound for free East River bridges every day. When she had the chance to get behind the single most transformative policy for the city’s streets and transit system — congestion pricing — she failed to say a word until it was much too late. If the MTA had $420 million in annual revenue from congestion pricing, its fiscal problems wouldn’t be so severe today.

By now, the MTA has been audited to death, and it’s clear that no amount of efficiency wrung out of the agency can offset the effects of long-term, systemic neglect and disinvestment on the part of the city and state — especially the state. It’s not clear which DiNapoli report Millman was referring to at the hearing, but recent findings from DiNapoli’s office have identified $56 million in potential overtime savings each year, and $13 million in potential annual savings on fuel contracts. Meanwhile, the agency had to plug an $800 million deficit this year, and its yearly debt payments are expected to increase $1.5 billion by 2020."

Come on Joan. We've defended you recently, but way to pander to the lowest common denominator! The majority of the MTA's issues have nothing to do with management or waste but budget shortfalls and raiding of transportation funds for automobile-centric development.

Gowanus State of Mind

Double Dipping? Not So Much

There has been a little chatter lately about Joan Millman and the fact that she draws a pension from her time as a teacher. The Brooklyn Paper has run a few stories on the topic, most along a similar vein:

"There is something untoward about a state legislator who collects a pension while still doing the people’s business in Albany. But in the case of two Assemblywomen who are facing stiff primary challenges, the transgression ranges from mildly offensive to genuinely repugnant.

Assemblywoman Joan Millman (D–Carroll Gardens) worked as a city school teacher for 27 years before being elected to the legislature in 1997. Before that election, she put in for her pension. After taking office, she declined to defer her retirement payments, despite the fact that she would now be earning two paychecks from the public."

First of all, I see no issue with collecting your pension when you retire. If you've worked for decades at a job, and you have qualified for your pension, whether or not you choose to enter a second career should be irrelevant. In fact, Joan Millman should be applauded for doing something productive with her time. Are there some that feel that Ms. Millman would better serve the public by NOT having a second career, as would be her economic incentive if she couldn't draw her first pension?


There is a legitimate issue though, as to why public officials can draw their first pensions regardless of their second career's salaries, but others may not. That is an inequity.

Cement Shoes Probably in the Offing

If I had to choose one business to steal from, the South Brooklyn Casket Company would rank somewhere between the Federal Government and Umberto's Clam House. Apparently not everyone shares my apprehension. From Courier-Life:

"Gary Comorau has been selling South Brooklyn Casket Company T-shirts and other garb on his own website — but now the multinational funeral company that bought the Gowanus gravemaker in 2005 wants to put his business venture six feet under on the grounds that he is violating their copyright.

But Comorau is whistling past the graveyard.

“I’ve ignored their ‘cease-and-desist’ letter,” he boasted this week. “My company has no assets, and I don’t sell many shirts. Who cares?”"

I wonder if cement shoes come in sizes.

Super Fun Superfund Site Profiled

From The Dirt (a blog published by the American Society of Landscape Architects), some "love" for Gowanus:

"The Gowanus ”micro-neigborhood,” surrounded by Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill and Park Slope is filled with ”half-empty warehouses and semi-derelict factories,” post-industrial scenes that give the area a “special cultural edge, like a miniature Baltimore or Detroit.” Except, in this case, The New York Times writes, terrifying pollution is substituted for crime. Still, the site attracts many locals: Jennifer Prediger, a producer of environmental videos, said: “There’s no place in Brooklyn, or in New York City, that feels kind of more pleasant than being right here, which is odd given that that is a toxic waterway. But it’s actually quite lovely. It’s the loveliest toxic waterway I’ve ever spent time on.”"

More about Oysters!

More fun about oysters, as reported by Gothamist:

"With the NJDEP's ruling that water-purifying oysters are at too much of a risk from poachers, environmental group NY/NJ Baykeeper was forced to pull up the oysters it had cultivated along Raritan Bay. Scientists say the oysters could restore the waters to health, but the FDA is worried the oysters, which absorb toxins in the water, could find their way into the edible seafood supply. Christine M. Lynn of NY/NJ Baykeeper told us, "Everyone we work with in New York is as surprised and confused by the NJDEP decision as we are.""

It is a legitimate concern, but so is the concern that someone could eat a fish out of the Gowanus. Let the oysters grow!

Profile of Buddy Scotto

From something called Capital New York, there is a long, fairly detailed profile of Buddy Scotto, and his status throughout the years here in Carroll Gardens.

"He’s switched, in the anticlerical, Italian-American tradition of his neighborhood, between soft loyalties to both Democrats and Republicans just for the chance to realize his ambitions for his home. He built an unlikely political empire out of the casual acquaintances made in the surprisingly stately, somewhat macabre parlor of the Scotto Funeral Home and carried by the weight of Italian-American neighborhood loyalty.

And so as Carroll Gardens becomes home to one of Brooklyn’s yuppiest Restaurant Rows, a sort-of Division II Manhattan for recent college graduates and a single-family brownstone dream for magazine editors and downtown types, it’s perhaps unsurprising that this power-base is thinning out.

“Buddy’s influence is definitely waning,” said the young neighborhood activist and blogger Katia Kelly. “One simply has to look at the results of the November Council election, where his candidate, John Heyer, lost terribly in Carroll Gardens, though Buddy introduced him to everyone in the neighborhood.”"

The debate about Buddy's influence in the neighborhood is silly; he is who he is, and much like the rest of the neighborhood, he has changed and so has his influence. It's like trying to point out the dying influence of the Catholic Church. Yes, that sector can not rally the troops like they used to be able to, but then again, neither can anyone else. 

I do disagree, however, with Katia, that John's candidacy was harmed by his association with Buddy. Buddy helped him immeasurably, but the reason John lost was all on John, as well as the strength of the other candidate, who had a bigger population base in his "home" district. 

What is happening is the population on which he influences is older, moving away, and slowly becoming crowded out by the monied, the young, the transplants, and, yes, the educated. No longer are funeral directors seen as persons of power, influence and education as they used to be.

For the Birds

A little info from the Brooklyn Paper on some color showing up on the shores of the Gowanus recently:

"Twenty-five new brightly hued birdhouses now line the 1.8-mile canal, thanks to the efforts of a foursome of North Carolinians who hatched the initiative, called the Canal Nest Colony. The project started two years ago with just five shelters.

The bad news? Birds are just as picky about their homes as the humans who shun living alongside a famously polluted canal, recently named a Superfund site. Indeed, this project is suffering from a case of the empty nest syndrome.

“The birdhouses aren’t being used yet because it takes a while for the birds to get used to them,” explained Hans Hesselein, a South Slope landscape architect who helped found the initiative along with college friends Thomas Ryan, David Moses, and Andrew Nicholas."

Got Him...Now What?

According to the New York Times, the NYPD has located the man who held up the frantic rush to the ER over the weekend, and it IS a member of the police force.

"A New York City police officer was suspended without pay on Tuesday after an encounter with the mother of an 11-year-old girl who was suffering an asthma attack and later died, the authorities said.

The officer, Alfonso Mendez, 30, who joined the force in 2005 and was assigned to the 84th Precinct, was expected to face administrative charges of failing to take proper police action, which could include failing to report to the department what had happened, said Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman.

Officer Mendez was stripped of his gun and shield, Mr. Browne said."

Let's not jump to judge, but police officers should be the ones to turn to in instances like this, not ones that hinder. Perhaps excessive training or fear of litigation has caused today's cops to think too much and not react to situations in front of them?

Just Plain Awful

An awful, heart breaking story (and picture) from the Daily News about a Carroll Gardens life cut short:

"Carmen Ojeda says she's sure it was an NYPD officer who stopped her Friday when she turned onto a one-way street the wrong way and sideswiped a parked car.

She was making a desperate bid to get 11-year-old Briana, who had suffered an asthma attack at a Carroll Gardens playground, to Long Island College Hospital.

At least one witness also said he thought an NYPD cop hindered Ojeda and replied to her cries for help by saying he didn't know CPR.

Neither Ojeda nor the witnesses recognized the photos of officers at the local 76th Precinct shown to them by the NYPD's internal affairs detectives.

Officials said the man could have been a transit, housing, traffic or auxiliary officer, who also drive official-looking white cars - or even a private security guard.

"Bullcrap," Ojeda said. "I know what a police officer looks like.""

As a person who had childhood asthma, it is a rough feeling going through an asthma attack. Kind of like drowning, but not as wet. The parents who are going through this are looking for someone to blame, and I do not blame them, but there is no telling that if they hadn't been held up, their child would have survived. Knowing who it was that delayed their trip will not bring their daughter back. Details are sketchy at best, but you can't expect someone who is watching their child die to remember many details.

A parent should never have to bury a child.

Getting Behind Smith Union Market

No matter where you go in this world, no matter who you are traveling to go visit - if you need milk, if you need band-aids, if you need a box of nails - someone somewhere knows the store that carries it. In Australia, Canada, and the United States, we have called it the "general store" - a store in a somewhat rural area, where lots of things - your general things - are crammed together in no particular arrangement on shelves, on hooks, in baskets, in jars. In England, the same store is commonly referred to as the "village shop" or when you move closer to the city, the "corner shop." Growing up in Brooklyn, we called them "bodegas" - the Spanish word for "small store" or "small warehouse." The concept behind these stores is an old one, and although some do still exist, gentrification, urbanization and the Rite-Aids of our world have just about eliminated them.

In our neighborhood, one still stands. Its origins, interestingly enough, begin with meat.

I'm going to call Smith Union Market (on, you guessed it, the corner of Smith and Union) our very own "corner store." You can't miss it. That red and white lettered sign and storefront - iconic, in my opinion - has been doing business for 65 years now. (Some items in the store have been there for 65 years, too.) It wouldn’t win the prize for “most inviting,” especially compared to the shinier places that move in and attract the buzz, but there really is no denying that this corner's got character. And that's with or without the actual characters loitering outside day in, day out.

This is Vinny Taliercio's corner.

It wasn’t always though.

Placido Scopelliti was Vinny’s mother’s father. He and his family lived on Cheever Place in Cobble Hill, but he was from Reggio Calabria in Southern Italy and he specialized in wholesale meats. Big into real estate at the time, he bought three corner buildings in Brooklyn. It was 1945 and all of them would begin operation as meat markets. There was a store on Rogers Avenue in East New York, Henry and Degraw in Cobble Hill, and Smith and Union in Carroll Gardens. He had seven butchers employed, delivering all over, as far away as Staten Island. Business boomed.

As the years went on, Placido’s daughter, Marie, met Vincent Taliercio, a young man from Bensonhurst whose Neapolitan family was in the business of wholesale produce. They eventually married, moving into an apartment above the Smith Union Market. Good business sense was in the blood now and Placido let Vincent run the store. When Vincent took over, he brought in milk, beer and soap, and slowly the diversification of the  market's products took hold.

Vinny didn't plan on carrying out his father's business. He had his BA in Accounting and Taxation from St. Francis on Remsen Street and was working for Standard and Poor's when his father passed away in 1986. That's when Vinny came to the store for good. Working alongside his mother (one of the butchers... a rarity back then) and his two brothers, Vinny says "that's when we became a real family business."

Due in part to his nocturnal nature, Vinny ran the night shift. "That's how I do it today," he says. "I open late, and I close late." I smile because I know this. Years ago, before the 24-hour Korean delis opened, Vinny's store was just about the only place you could count on for an after-midnight snack. My own father, with his terrible chocolate cravings, knew where to go for that package of Drake’s Yodels. "When my father ran the store, it was 6:30 AM to 10:30 PM and that's when Smith Street was absolutely desolate," Vinny continues. "Now, with the new neighborhood, I get a lot more foot traffic after 11 PM. I’m happy with the area now." This foot traffic isn't exactly coming in for the meat though. Vinny makes most of his money selling beer. His father had 2 distributors; Vinny has seven.

"Where's the meat?" I ask him.

"I got the slicer," he answers. "It's in the back somewhere."

That statement rings a bit sad to me, but I smile at him. "No more cold cuts?"

He shrugs. "It's tough on me because I'm running this place myself. I wouldn't want to keep people waiting..."

"Why not bring someone in to help?"  I know Vinny's mother and two brothers aren't around anymore.

"Oh, I have nieces and nephews but they're not interested. They have their own jobs. You know, retail is a lot of hours, and young people don't intend to work 7 days a week, 14-hour days," he explains. Vinny leans in a little bit at this point and says, "But if you like what you're doing, I consider it not work." My heart warms.

It is a muggy afternoon and Vinny's got the door open. There is a kid, no older than five, who keeps running in and out. He is racing his matchbox car along the top of the freezer in front of the counter. People are buying Posts and cigarettes, bags of chips and six-packs. Vinny is ringing them up on a calculator. One of the loudest Italian women I've ever heard storms in telling Vinny "I told my parents what you told me about unemployment!" Down a narrow aisle, of which there are three, an old television is airing the Mets game. Three neighborhood guys are looking up at it, still as statues, with their backs to us all.

"You must know everyone around here," I say. Silly me, I am imagining his friends to include all the people I've interviewed so far for the Diary. You know, the old-timers. Vinny and the Caputos. Vinny and the Raccuglias. Vinny and Leo Calodonato. Vinny and Lana Deyeva.

"Oh, yeah - I know them all," he says. "And I'm friends with the new businesses, too." He lists them, swiftly. "The Carroll Gardens Diner, Bar Great Harry, Fall Cafe, Bino, Gowanus Yacht, Bagels by the Park..." I've got qualms with the changing neighborhood as much as the next Carroll Gardens townie, but I do find it refreshing to hear that someone who's been in the neighborhood as long as Vinny... isn't so growly and bitter about it. "It's a great place to be, huh?" I say to him. He puts both hands on the counter, leans in kind of close and says, "Always was." Slower this time. "Always. Was."

"One memory," I demand. "Let's hear it." He laughs, shakes his head like he can't do it, and says this: "My father - he was tough. Lenient and sociable though. I remember this one family down the block. This woman - she had five little children - and she was very poor. They had nothing. On Thanksgiving, my father gave her everything she needed, from A-Z, all gratis, free. And by doing that, in the latter years, she became a great customer."

He stops to sell someone batteries.

"He worked five years here with cancer. That's how strong he was. If there was a snowstorm or a strike, and there were no deliveries back then, he found a way to go out to Jersey or to Pennsylvania to bring back milk for his customers. First priority went to women with children. If you were single with no kids, you were lucky to get a container. With kids, you got it first. That's how he was. And that's how I run my business."

He stops to sell someone a deck of cards.

"I know how to treat customers. Customers are always right even though some people don't think that way. I try not to have any conflict. If I have to give it away, I give it away."

He stops to sell someone an ice pop.

"Life goes on. You need your health to run this place. That's all that matters."

Jessica Sagert, a neighborhood customer and Brooklyn native, sees the allure to the store. “Yeah, he’s disorganized and the place is dirty, but I find it charming,” she says. “If I’m buying prepackaged goods, I don’t need to get that from a yuppie place. I’ll stick to buying mini cauliflower from Union Market and Coronas from Vinny. He’s been in the neighborhood longer than anyone and that’s something I want to get behind.”

We should all get behind Vinny. The next time someone stops you on the street to ask where they can get a can of peaches, a disposable camera, Hostess Cupcakes, and some duct tape?  Send them to the corner of Smith and Union, please.


Smith Union Market
353 Union Street
(718) 624-0699
Approximate Hours: 1:30pm - 2:30am

Other News Sources Pick Up on the Courtyard Problem

We've certainly covered the problems with the courtyards in Carroll Gardens (the "gardens" themselves), some would say, ad nauseum.Now, print media is "picking up" the story. Too bad that they don't realize that the courtyard are city right-of-way, and therefore the province of the DOT. From the Brooklyn Paper:

"A quirk in city zoning states that the front yards along First, Second, Third and Fourth places are to be used “for courtyards only.” The rule stems from a decades-old decision to designate the front yards of homes on those blocks as actually part of the street, not the homeowner’s lot, giving the city control over what is built there.

None of the homes with curb cuts ever applied for a permit to do so, Sullivan noted, and the cuts would only be legal if they lead to a back garage or off-courtyard use.

She said inspectors would be dispatched to the block and would dispense violations if they confirm this newspaper’s indisputable findings.

“It looks like a trailer park,” agreed Maria Pagano, president of the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association, a civic group determined to have the city enforce the law."

Calling it a "quirk" is somewhat offensive. Of course, so is calling it a "trailer park". A more realistic comparison might be Sheepshead Bay, or Kew Gardens.

It is also odd that later in the article, the paper seems to say that the neighborhood won a battle against Hannah Senesh, when it is clear that Hannah Senesh is the worst offender of the topic that they are discussing for the rest of the article!

Thoughts on 3rd Place

Some complaining from Brownstoner about a two-story addition on 3rd Place:

"If you're looking for a reason to extend the Carroll Gardens Historic District, look no further (though they'll have to go further than what's currently on the table to impact this block): Although this two-floor addition to the home at 42 3rd Place isn't done yet (it was filed in May 2009) and will presumably get a brownstone finish, it still looks like a mini-finger to us. "

First of all, comparing this to the finger of Williamsburgh is a bit harsh. That building towers over all of the others. Here, we're talking about two stories.

Second of all, without going up, how does Mr. B every think that we will see housing affordability in Carroll Gardens increase? The top stores are usually the cheapest to build and the highest yielding, increasing incentives to modernize and expanding the housing stock. With greater supply, the prices should come down (or, more realistically, increase at a slower rate).

Interesting Twist on Gowanus Colors

Another club trying to be really hip has opened in Gowanus. From the New York Post:

"“We wanted to give people around here a place to dance — every night of the week,” co-owner Turan Kiremitci yelled over a speaker pumping some intense house music last Saturday. “When the grand opening hits, there’s always going to be something different going on.”

There’s also something different on every floor, each with its own music and feel. The basement of the club, which is near Seventh Street, has the most expansive dance floor in the joint and easily features the most shades of purple. The second floor has more couches and drinking space than the other two, and the first floor is something in between — with booze flowing, booties shaking and music bumping.

Some of the locals complained that the music was a little too loud and that the rooms were a little too purple — but they had to squeeze past the others, who were obviously high on this purple haze."

Being colorblind myself, I know I do not get a full appreciation for the Gowanus colors. Is Purple a dominant color in the canal? Cause if so, well done club guys, well done.

Lock Your Windows, Close Your Doors

The Possums are loose! From the New York Post:

"It was the week of July 19 when an opossum allegedly chomped the head off a hen roosting in Unes’s backyard chicken coop, leaving the choked chicken to die in a pile of blood-speckled feathers — and so thoroughly terrified the lone survivor that she can’t even lay eggs.

Unes, who was on vacation in Oregon at the time, entrusted her Carroll Street home — and her two-chicken henhouse in her backyard — to longtime friends David Winters and Merritt Tucker, a married couple who were visiting from California. 

In the early morning hours of July 22, Winters recalled hearing some sort of commotion in the backyard — and received a vague reminder of Osbourne’s notorious stage antics."

If only New York City made it legal to have roosters, none of this would have happened.

Help This Man Find His Pants!

Break out your inspector's hats people. There are some pants on the loose, most likely on Smith Street, between Union and President. From the New York Times:

"Rather than wear the suit to the audition, and risk getting it sweaty, Mr. Grossetti had decided to carry it with him and change at a friend’s place when he got out of the subway. He left his Union Street apartment, holding the suit over his shoulder, in that relaxed and confident manner of relaxed and confident men: One of his one-act plays was going on tour in Tasmania. 

When Mr. Grossetti took the suit out at his friend’s apartment, the pants were gone. They were his wedding pants, the suit pants he had worn in March when he and his wife, Chloe Walker, 36, were married in Central Park, on the Bow Bridge."

Hard-hitting journalism from the paper of record.

Zero Sum Game of a Clean Gowanus

Seems like the two steps forward, one step back. Apparently the construction on Degraw and Tiffany is for the flushing tunnel for the Gowanus. From the Brooklyn Paper:

"Construction needed to improve the water in the polluted canal will disrupt the quality of life of residents living two neighborhood away, thanks to the city’s $50-million rehabilitation of a “flushing tunnel” that runs from the top of the filthy canal to the Buttermilk Channel between Brooklyn and Governors Island.

That and an $85-million upgrade of an adjacent wastewater pumping station in the Canal zone will mean road work for the next three years at several key intersections.

At Columbia Street and Tiffany Place, blocks way from the top of the canal, the project has already “been very disruptive to the neighborhood,” said Tiffany Place resident Mina Roustayi. “I understand the environmental reasons for it, but I’m concerned with the parking — we’ve already lost 10-13 spaces.”"

The disruption is regrettable, but the ends justify the means. And please, shut up about parking spaces. Why must bike lanes, clean waterways and sensible transit policy be constantly opposed by those who need their parking spaces on their block?

Columbia Street Waterfront District Getting Some More Housing

According to Brownstoner, the warehouse at 25 Carroll Street (between Columbia and Van Brunt) is going residential:

"The five-story masonry and heavy-timber structure at 25 Carroll Street (between Columbia and Van Brunt) has gotten a variance to convert the space to 17 loft residencies."

It is a shame that Brooklyn's naturally deep harbor is a working waterfront no more, but such is life. I am encouraged to see an existing, somewhat historic structure repurposed, as it is one of the only ways to keep construction costs affordable while maintaining some of the past from this neighborhood.

Alan Harding is Back

Alan Harding is back, kicking off a dinner series at Element Healing Arts (in the old Apple Bank building on Henry and Union). From the Brooklyn Paper and for the Patois fans:

"Carroll Gardens’ Element Natural Healing Arts — which specializes in acupuncture, herbology and Ayurvedic facials — kicks off a new dinner series on Aug. 28 with a meal by Brooklyn culinary pioneer Alan Harding.

The wellness center plans to put its Zen-inspiring back deck to use hosting monthly five-course meals crafted by some of the city’s leading chefs (at least until the weather turns nippy).

...

For reservations, call Element Natural Healing Arts at (718) 855-4850 by Aug. 26. Meals are BYOB."

Leaky Lines

Ever the purveyors of classy lines, the Brooklyn Paper comes up with another one to describe some local thieves.

"The victim told cops that she was on her way home between Henry and Hicks streets at around 2:15 pm when she noticed she was being followed by two men.

Once she arrived at her building, one of the men said he “needed to check the water” in her apartment.

Once inside, one man led the victim to the bathroom, where he insisted that she flush the toilet and run the shower. When the slimy duo left, the victim noticed the missing cash and jewelry."

Sounds like they could get "sent up the river"...or maybe they're all washed up?