Sewer Pipes in the Gowanus Canal?

Does anyone have any idea what exactly these huge pipes are doing floating the Gowanus Canal, moored to a bulkhead like some Mary, Queen of Sewers? It appears that they are closed at either end, which keep them airtight and afloat, but are they for some sort of city project? Perhaps something to do with the EPA's ongoing tests for possible Superfund Designation? Seems like a small amount of pipe to have to find space to store.

Luna Rossa: A Good Excuse To Walk South Down Court Street

I love a good excuse to walk south down Court Street.  My brother's apartment off 4th Place just doesn't cut it sometimes.  I need to go further.  I need the streets to quiet down; I need some of the "hip" to go away for a second.

On Friday night, with a little bit of rum in our bellies, my boyfriend, Michael, and I braved the chill and walked to Luna Rossa for a late dinner.  This authentic Italian restaurant is understandably overlooked as it's quite far down, kissing the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, but after our meal there we both felt it deserved some blog recognition.  Because Luna Rossa is GOOD.  Eying a menu of Neapolitan dishes, wood-burnt brick oven pizzas, and a reasonably priced wine list, we didn't hold back.

The answer is always "No" when I ask Michael if he'd like to share a salad with me.  It's always just a little bit heartbreaking.  So when he looked at me and suggested we try the Beets (under Salads on the menu), my heart fluttered and that's when I knew we should order some wine.  I felt like celebrating the Beet.  This dish should have been called "Beets Surprise!" because they were kept secret by a gorgeous mountain of crunchy, fresh string beans mixed with wisps of red onion, squeezed with lemon and drizzled with olive oil.  We shared this dish and that was fine, but I probably could have eaten the whole plate on my own.  It was a perfect palate cleanse before the pizza hit the table. 

With fourteen pizza amalgamations to choose from, we settled on the Diavola pizza (mozzarella, tomato sauce, hot sausage and chili flakes).  Michael likes meat; I like a kick.  (Thankfully, we can always agree on pizza.)  The pie was quartered when it arrived and after all those string beans, I was guilt-free and happy to indulge in two fatty slices.  Not "fatty-greasy" - more "fatty-wide."  The crust was thin and chewy, beautifully charred, hot, and I'm telling you - delicious.  Mind you, this is coming from a pizza snob who believes no one can (or should!) compete with Di Fara Pizza on Avenue J...but for the un-snobby, go right ahead and treat yourself to an impressive little pie here.

Next up was the gnocchi served alla Sorrentina in a little bowl with melted mozzarella, tomato sauce, and basil - aka: a little pit stop in heaven.  Granted there was nothing special about the tomato sauce...but sometimes there doesn't need to be, you know?  

Luna Rossa boasted an ambiance of true coziness with its warm brick walls, soft Italian music, and lots of old framed photographs.  Our waiter was kind and lovely although he had a hard time recommending the best dish.  "Everything is great," he said.  At the time, we were frustrated by his response but perhaps everything is great.  I'd believe it now. 

Luna Rossa
552 Court Street bet/ West 9th and Garnet St.
(718) 875-1384
www.lunarossabrooklyn.com

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."

Vincent Raccuglia of Raccuglia and Son Funeral Home

If Caputo bread bags are one of the more recognizable items in Carroll Gardens, then Vincent Raccuglia is one of the more recognizable faces.  He's that handsome, older Italian gentleman who dons slacks and a fedora, tipping it to say "Hello, neighbor" when someone familiar rounds the corner.

The corner is Court and Sackett, and Vincent has been running it for years. When I blow in from the cold one morning, I ask him how he's doing. Vincent kisses my hand and doesn't hesitate.  "Nice.  Just like the way you look." 

I flashback to his father, Philip Raccuglia, in the late 80s, early 90s, sitting outside the funeral home, watching cars from a folding chair, wearing the same fedora, smoking his cigar, and biting down on it to give me a wink.

Charmers, those Raccuglia men.  Like the flaws in your sidewalk, some things just remind you of home. 

This home - the Raccuglia and Son Funeral Home - opened its doors in March of 1974.  I always thought it was a family business that began with Philip but in actuality it was Vincent who started it all.  A relative newcomer, unlike the faction of neighborhood funeral homes that had seen nearly two generations already passed down, Vincent's concentrated curiosity in this particular line of work came from within.  Philip Raccuglia was actually a longshoreman whose Red Hook pier happened to close up around the time Vincent began needing renovations done on the building. 

"My father - he oversaw the top of this block," Vincent says.  "And you remember that!"

He likes that.  I like that he likes that. 

"If someone drove up and had to go to the medical center or something... it was 'Leave the car here!  We'll watch your car.'  That was my father.  His friends - his fellow longshoremen - they, too, were now out of work.  They would see my father sitting off the corner and they'd say 'Hey Philly!  Whaddya doing?' And my father would say, "Oh, my son..."  and before you knew it - one guy was demolishing, one guy was plastering, one guy was painting.  I had the longshoremen - skilled men - doing everything you see here for free.  They did it for free, Sylvie!" 

I think there may have been some rice balls from the foccaceria thrown in but even so.  "It's a beautiful thing," I say.

"I was blessed," he gravely nods, seemingly still caught in disbelief.  "I'm telling you, baby, you can't make this up."

Before Vincent was met with the opportunity to acquire 323 Court Street, he spent the 60s learning everything he could about the business. 

"Actually, I don't like to say 'business,'" he corrects the both of us.  "Back then, it was an evolution of family service.  You didn't know an undertaker who just opened up a funeral home across the street from the dry cleaners store," he says, dryly.  "But it was in the early part of the 60s that I found something that meant a great deal to me - this profession and this life that it becomes," Vincent says. 

Choosing his words carefully, he continues.  "In 1963, I got blessed.  Got knocked out for a while.  When I woke up, things were different in the neighborhood."  I have one eyebrow raised, waiting for him to elaborate.  He knows I'm waiting, but still he says, "I got blessed.  Things were different."
     

Vincent then did what he could to gain the knowledge.  He went to mortuary school, served an apprenticeship with Riverside Memorial Chapel (originally operated by a family - the Rosenthals), and took jobs at all the various funeral homes in our beloved Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill neighborhood such as Scotto's and Guido's and Cusimano's.  He was dedicated to all of his jobs and stayed after hours just to keep learning. It wasn't rare for Vincent to relieve somebody who had worked a long day.  They could nap while he answered phones.  He was a pallbearer, a driver, a funeral director, a cosmetician, an embalmer - jobs that were very relative to serving the people.  But what Vincent had - and what he insists the Raccuglia family always had ("My mother's a saint!  My sister's a nun!") - was the human factor.  Vincent points to his heart and says, "That comes from here."

Vincent's son, Philip, lives above the funeral home with his children and family.  He is a licensed funeral director, undertaker, and mortician but most important, he possesses that human factor.  "Go to any church in the neighborhood and they'll tell you who was dressed in a little suit, walking down aisles and collecting, already building human relations," Vincent beams.

A man from outside the parlor walks in.  Vincent introduces him to me.   
"This gentleman here?  He's a neighbor on the block.  When there's a funeral, he shows up at 5 o'clock, 6 o'clock in the morning.  He comes to assist us.  Very loyal.  We have to get things done early around here.  You can't say 'Vincent or Philip don't feel too good, they got the sniffles, they'll do it tomorrow' - no, you can't do that because there's no margin for error.  And then people know that when you show them the human factor, that some things can go to the right or to the left in the presentation and conduct of a funeral." 

The walls are adorned - absolutely festooned - with bronze and copper plaques, framed photographs and letters - all expressing appreciation and gratitude for the Raccuglia's tender manner with grieving families.

"Quite often, when I serve a family, I don't let them go home when they've got a break between wake and burial.  I say 'You stay here and my sister and my mother - we'll make something for you.'  And we bring them rice balls and panelles from the focacceria."

For Vincent (and myself!), this is what makes Carroll Gardens so special.  Our area has certainly changed over the years, but we're still a neighborhood that has evolved into that heritage of people who look out for each other.

And in the end, that's what counts.

Here's to tipping our hats and saying "Hello, neighbor."

Raccuglia & Son Funeral Home
323 Court Street b/w DeGraw and Sackett
718-855-7737

More by Sylvie Morgan Flatow 
Photos by Max Flatow

Old Can Factory Goes Green Market

The Old Can Factory on Third and Third, across the street from two local landmarks, is a hub for local small businesses and artisans. From time to time, they host fun local events such as rooftop films. Now, they've started a farmer's market on weekend Sunday mornings, and actually sent people door to door to spread the word last weekend. From Markets of New York City:

"The farmers include Breezy Hill Orchard, Gajeski Produce and Phillips Farm.  You can pick up a delicious loaf of bread from the “oven artisans” at Orwasher’s Bakery.  They also sell their miche, levain and focaccia and more at Citarella, Dean & Deluca, and Zabar’s.  Get a taste of pungent pickle goodness from Dr. Pickle. I got half a dozen great ideas for canapés for our next dinner party, starting with pepperoncini stuffed with goat cheese.  Yum. And don’t pass up Buddhapesto or their tempting tray of samples.  Their artisanal basil pesto is delicious, so go ahead and “enlighten your tastebuds.”

There is wine at the markets too, from Brooklyn Oenology.  I bet you didn’t know there is a winery headquartered in Williamsburg/Greenpoint.  The actual winemaking is done in Long Island, but their wines carry the artisanal spirit of the borough.  For a tasty and healthy dessert, Tierra Farm sells chocolate covered nuts and fruits, as well as dry roasted products."

Here's the market's official site.

CGNA Sticks it to Hannah Senesh

According to Courier-Life, the CGNA has grown some stones and is telling Hannah Senesh that it's meeting space is now tainted.

"The Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association says it will not continue to use the gymnasium in the Hannah Senesh Community Day School if the private school moves ahead with a controversial plan to expand into its adjoining courtyard.

“The bottom line is that we can’t stay there if they don’t respect the gardens,” said Maria Pagano, president of the neighborhood association."

Well done, Maria.

Will Dodging Trolleys Be En Vogue Again?

A quick trip through Sunset Park, Gravesend, DUMBO or Red Hook will show anyone that there is still evidence of what was once a vast Brooklyn Streetcar, or Trolley, network. Basically the buses of yesteryear, streetcars are now making a comeback in many cities around the world, as their benefits are now clearly seen. Although the idea of a Brooklyn streetcar network has been raised from time to time, funding has never really been there for one. But it appears that President Obama's Transportation Ray LaHood has a different view of funding priorities. From the Brooklyn Eagle:

"An article in the New York Times of Thursday, Jan. 14, quotes Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood as saying that administration officials are revising Bush-era guidelines that evaluated new transit projects solely on cost factors and by how much time they save commuters.

The new guidelines, he said, would also take into account how such projects would benefit the community as far as helping the environment, spurring local business and more."

Here's to hoping that it is a reality that local economic and environmental benefits will be weighed in local and national transportation funding decisions.

Smith-9th Street F Station Drawn

Here's a video from the New Yorker of the Smith-9th Street station getting drawn


Pretty cool, huh? Well, here's an Urban Sketch of the same station, from a different angle.

Argument Against Superfund Doesn't Hold Water: EPA

One of the main reasons, if not THE main reason, that people have argued against Superfund designation for the Gowanus Canal is that lending will be shut down, banks will not provide financing for development on Superfund sites and that no one wants to buy on Superfund land. Well, the EPA, the federal agency which oversees the Superfund program, doubts that this will be a problem. From Courier-Life:

"He pointed to a Department of Housing and Urban Development document that spells out what lenders “must avoid or mitigate” if a range of conditions exist, before completing their loan review. Among the conditions are “potential noise issues, where the property is located within 1,000 feet of a highway, freeway, or heavily traveled road, within 3000 feet of a railroad, or within one mile of an airport or five miles of a military airfield.” Tsiamis noted that the canal is already within 3,000 feet of a railroad and 1,000 feet from a highway.

Whether a site is on an Superfund list or equivalent state list, also makes the list, as does an assessment indicating the presence of if contaminants.

“All the other conditions that they list as possible things that lenders would have to avoid or determine if mitigants are in place — they are already there,” said Elizabeth Totman, an EPA spokesperson, noting that upland sites where residential buildings are contemplated are already home to contaminants. “The proximity of a Superfund site to a condo would not prevent a loan from being made.”"

So, basically, the EPA says the Gowanus is already so bad, it's akin to a Superfund site.

Marty Markowitz Shamefully Opposes PPW Bike Lane

Back in September, Community Board 6 voted to recommend approval of the DOT's proposal to construct a two-lane bike path along PPW. The plan was to simply remove one travel lane, shift all of the parking over, and use the space taken away from the travel lane for the bike lane. The benefits of this are obvious, and it would have reduced the rampant speeding on Prospect Park West. Instead, the Community Board was primarily concerned with parking spaces. Now, it looks like our Borough President is lacking vision as well. From the Brooklyn Paper:

"But just as the city was about to start building, Markowitz wrote to the city’s top transportation official that called the Prospect Park West lane an “ill-advised proposal that would cause incredible congestion and reduce the number of available parking spaces in Park Slope.” 

The Beep’s letter also argued that the bike lane would be especially problematic during the summer surge in foot traffic, when park-goers are barbecuing, attending concerts and participating in many other activities.

Markowitz claimed that there is ample space for bikers in the loop within Prospect Park — though it only goes in one direction — and called for further research into traffic solutions."

The comments from the Mayor's office seem to echo the amazingly short-sited sentiment that bicyclists are actually to blame for pedestrian deaths and accidents, which has been perpetuated by some sensationalist news reports in recent years. I wonder who lobbied him to opposed this beneficial proposal? Hopefully DOT Commissioner Sadik-Khan will do the right thing.

For more info on who is really under duress, check out CrashStat. Any rational person can see that the vehicles are the menace not the bikes.

Additional coverage over at StreetsBlog.

A (Good) Baseball Team for Brooklyn?

The "South Brooklyn" area has a rich sports tradition. Gowanus was home to the Brooklyn (Trolley) Dodgers, and the Atlantic Yards will soon be home to the Brooklyn Nets.

What many people forget nowadays is that New York City used to be home to three baseball teams. And, if you think about it, it makes perfect sense; if St. Louis, with a population of 380,000, can support a Major League Baseball Franchise, why can't New York support three, or four, or five?

Now comes some chatter from various sources that it is a (very, very remote) possibility that the Tampa Bay Rays could look to move to Brooklyn. From NBC New York:

"That would also be the case for Brooklyn, a spot where you could actually see a groundswell of support for such a notion taking hold. At least, you could have seen it taking hold before the entire Bruce Ratner/Nets mess took away a viable location and turned into a boondoggle that no one wants to live through again. Maybe it's just that faux-nostalgia again, but the idea of a team in Brooklyn could have caught fire."

And the Brooklyn Bugle:

"Brooklyn may be too much of a hot spot Alper believes due to the Atlantic Yards quagmire.  However, we say in the words of Cher in Moonstruck -- SNAP OUT OF IT!

Sure the Mets will complain and try to block.  Naturally the Yankees will try to block it as well.  But ladies and gentlemen don't tell us that you don't get a little misty when the possibility of BROOKLYN facing the Yankees or Mets in the World Series.

The team? The time? We say the Rays move to Brooklyn, change their name to something far less lame and start kicking ass and taking names.  Are you with us?"

I'm with you. Who else is? And, for the new name, how about Brooklyn's Finest? Any other nominations?

We've Got the Biggest...

Courtesy of the New York Times Magazine Blog, we find out that The Invisible Dog (gmap), an art space in Cobble Hill, has a new installation called "Ant Colony".

"An enormous ant built of steel and nylon balloons, with a porkpie hat suspended above its head, “The Ant” refers to the childrens’ poem by the Surrealist artist Robert Desnos."

Hmm. This reminds me of something...




And, for the jazzy amongst us...


The Invisible Dog.

Long Island 12 Needs a Geography Lesson

Long Island 12 recently did a story (and accompanying video) on a suspicious device which caused an evacuation. From the video and story, we can ascertain that the evacuation was in Gowanus. Ok, I guess if you stretch it, you could say that it was in Carroll Gardens. But, oh boy, were they off...

Another Super Fun Superfund Meeting

Another fun filled Thursday Night as the EPA came to the community to discuss it's ongoing progress and outline their community participation efforts. Found in Brooklyn has done a good job of summarizing the EPA's presentation, but failed to note one interesting tidbit. The EPA spokeswoman actually referenced those who engage in "subsistence fishing" along the Canal. There are no words for what this would actually entail...

Below are comments from Brad Lander and Stephen Levin, New York City Councilmen, on the designation of the Gowanus Canal as a Superfund site.