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.