Carroll Gardens Own Activist

The Observer has a nice profile on Carroll Gardens' own Linda Mariano. Although the characterization as a later-day Jane Jacobs is certainly lacking, the article does provide a sample of Ms. Mariano's efforts to promote Superfund Designation of the Gowanus Canal.

"With her husband, Joseph, Ms. Mariano has for 36 years been living in a brownstone on President Street, between Bond and Hoyt, an area she considers to be in Gowanus, the nascent neighborhood between Carroll Gardens and Park Slope. Both artists and retired teachers, the couple moved to the area from the West Village in 1974, well before this part of Brooklyn was hip (or particularly safe). Over the years they have built up their formerly dilapidated building into a do-it-yourself artists' dream home. Upstairs rooms are jam-packed with paint, canvases and quilting materials, while the lower area, centered around a cozy kitchen, is a utilitarian gallery of colorful recycled materials and found objects, from doors to floor tiles.

Ms. Mariano has a special passion for industrial architecture and historic buildings—after three decades in the neighborhood, she senses the character and appeal that the warehouses bring and the creative, artistic types that such spaces attract—a recipe for the conditions that eventually lead to New York's ubiquitous neighborhood gentrification.  The unique character of a neighborhood like Gowanus has a particularly Jane Jacobs–y appeal: one where residential, light industrial and commercial spaces all interact to create a varied and diverse population (although now it's admittedly gentrified, not unlike Jacobs' own Greenwich Village).

"I'm a preservation person at heart," Ms. Mariano said, "and I believe in this phrase people are starting to use, 'adaptive re-use,' and this is about just that." She pauses reflectively, fingering the beads on one of the colorful Bakelite necklaces she often sports along with her handmade knitwear. "These buildings can be used rather than torn down.""

Also at PMFA and FIB, who also has the photo credit.

Court Street Fence Raided

The Court Street office of Cobble Hill Car Service has apparently been functioning as a fence for stolen electronic goods. Does this really surprise anyone? From Courier-Life:

"Investigators executed a search warrant at the Cobble Hill Car Service near the corner of Court and Douglass streets on February 2 after learning that workers were allegedly both buying and selling stolen electronics such as portable GPS devices. It’s believed that the electronics had been taken from cars in the neighborhood.

Police said that one car service employee was arrested, charged with criminal possession of stolen property.

The raid took place after several undercover buys were held at the local business, officials said."