A Carroll Gardens Condo Convertor

The Brooklyn Eagle has a little story about how a Carroll Gardens architect has found success as a developer. Although it's not uncommon for architectural firms to invest in their projects (see: SHoP), it isn't frequently seen in our neighborhood.

"“The demand is there for well-designed conversions, particularly, and they sell quite well,” he told the Eagle. 

“And that fits with our philosophy. We care about the design and the neighborhood is one that appreciates that.” Noting that he looks for “underutilized” properties, he admits he finds them in “motley” ways.

“We looked where we live and at what we loved and by luck and good fortune we found projects we wanted to do,” he said."

It's a little ironic that the before photo included in the article is was of one of the uglier buildings in the area (seriously, how small can you make the windows?), but developer is such an ugly word.

Union Protests Outside of 360 Smith

Update: According to the 76th Precinct: "The demonstration is not connected to the 360 Smith Street site. The union is protesting low wages being paid to the workers of a drywall company working in a brownstone on 2nd Place."

This blog is staunchly pro-union (in most cases). This morning there was a protest outside of 360 Smith Street by the Carpenters' Union. As with all unions, I'm sure that they are starved for work. One can't see much carpentry work being done on the site, but this could be a negotiations tactic for upcoming work. The Carpenters' Union has been hit especially hard with the development freeze around the city, so one can understand why they are grasping at any jobs that they might potentially have.

More details as they become available.

Marty just doesn't get it

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz is a hell of a nice guy from what we can all tell. he's open, energetic and entertaining. However, sometimes his stances could use some rethinking. Witness his objections to the Prospect Park Bike Lane. With word coming that DOT Commissioner Janet Shadik-Khan will plow ahead with the bike lane, Marty is supporting the minority of Brooklynites that own a car, and protesting the bike lane, with some help from CBS.

""We all don't live on 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan. We don't all have on every corner a subway stop, a bus. We don't. So it has to be is a balanced approach responsive to the conditions in each borough," he said.

Markowitz was upset by a plan to install a bike lane along Prospect Park West that would affect traffic in an already congested area. One lane of traffic would be eliminated for a bike lane and the parking lane would be moved over one lane, reducing the number of traffic lanes on the street to two, according to Markowitz."

No Marty, we don't all live on 42nd Street. But most of us, who you represent, do not own cars.

Wonder if he has ever tried to cross PPW?

Where will hipsters leave their projects now?

The 76th Precinct has decided to crack down on those who leave their abandoned or decrepit bikes chained to city property, perhaps with the vague idea that they will eventually reclaim them. From the Brooklyn Eagle:

"The initiative was sparked by complaints from residents weary of seeing tangled heaps of rubber and metal at corners like Smith and President streets, according to Officer Vincent Marrone, a community affairs officer with the 76th Precinct, which encompasses Carroll Gardens.

Cops said they are in the investigatory phase of the crackdown, and will be canvassing the neighborhood in the coming days to find trouble spots. In the short term, education will be key, as the precinct will attempt to inform cyclists that it is illegal to lock their bikes to street signs."

Bloomberg's Grand Plan Misses Mark

The Times recently highlighted an NYU study that examined the overall effect of Mayor Bloomberg and City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden's rezonings that have taken place recently. And there have been a LOT of them.

"The report considered 76 rezoning measures and is said to be the first statistical analysis of the city’s current strategy. It said that on 86 percent of the lots that were rezoned, building capacity was reduced or limited, or limits were placed on the kind of structure that could be built.

On the remaining 14 percent of rezoned lots, rules were eased to allow for greater density. Despite the thrust of the rezoning of most of the lots, the cumulative effect of the changes was to add 1.7 percent to residential capacity." 

So, what the Bloomberg administration has accomplished here is to reduce the value of property in those neighborhoods who had loud advocates for no development, but to increase exponentially the value of those areas who were not organized enough to lobby for lower-density development (or who were smart enough not to). The overall effect has NOT been the increase in units or development that was Bloomberg's stated goal, but instead a net neutral effect on housing in the city.

How is housing ever supposed to become affordable if supply stays the same while demand increases?

Negative Consequences to Superfund Designation?

Cleaning the canal is not without some casualties. The first of many to surely come is Quadrozzi Concrete. From Concrete Products:

"Quadrozzi Concrete President John Quadrozzi, Jr., has rallied against EPA involvement as a nearby resident, longtime supporter of the community, and Gowanus Canal Community Development Corp. and Southwest Brooklyn Development Corp. board member. The groups question the cleanup timeline and prospects for equitable cost-sharing among parties deemed responsible for the pollution--some of it predating the Clean Water Act of 1972.

The Superfund designation and longer-term prospects for the gentrifying Carrol Gardens neighborhood around the canal have prompted Quadrozzi Concrete to look downstream to Gowanus Bay. The producer is planning an advanced ready-mixed operation with abundant environmental and green building features at an affiliated company’s Gowanus Bay Terminal, comprising 13 upland and 33 marine acres."

One wonders why Quadrozzi is choosing now as a time to leave the area. The environmental damage done by Quadrozzi and other heavy industrial operations will be discovered and they will be forced to pay for it, whether or not they continue to occupy the site.

Just a guess, but it seems that this could have been a long time coming, and the Superfund designation is a convenient excuse. Their newer site is closer to Hamilton Avenue and the waterfront, allowing for shorter operational spans for their mixing vehicles (quick travel times to Manhattan are critical to the concrete business).

Also, once the sites are mitigated, Quadrozzi stands to make a pretty penny on their land. Not a bad outcome for them at all.

JOE'S S_PERETTE: If you don't go, you don't know.

I'm embarrassed to say that it took me close to twenty-five years before walking into Joe's Superette on Smith Street for the first time.  Carroll Gardens had always been a neighborhood peppered with Italian groceries, and I guess I assumed that Joe's was just another one of those shops where you could pick up your can of beans or a package of spaghetti on your way home.  And it is - so feel free to do just that - but I'm going to venture to say that beans and spaghetti are not what's keeping Owner Leo Coladonato in business. 

So there's this thing called a rice ball.  These are why you go to Joe's.

In the tiny kitchen towards the back of his dusty store, Leo has been making his signature golf-sized rice balls every day since 1976.  "As you can see," he says, and pats his stomach, "I've been snacking on them since then as well."  You can't blame him.  They are the best, most underpublicized rice balls around and thanks to his regular customers ("Gimme a dozen prosciutto!" they bark), he manages to sell about a hundred a day to walk-ins while the bigger orders (think Superbowl platters) are delivered around the city. 

"When I started making them, everyone was doing the gigantic ones... so I did miniatures," Leo says.  Served hot from the fryer and wrapped in a french fry paper tray, you've got three kinds of gooey goodness to choose from: arancine (chopped meat and tomato sauce), suppli (rice and mozzarella croquette), and the infamous prosciutto and ricotta - a recipe inspired by the calzones his mother used to make as a kid.  The calzones were an Italian specialty of Mola di Bari in Apulia where he was born.  "It's not really prosciutto," he admits.  "It's boiled ham.  But in Italian, ham is called prosciutto... so I say prosciutto.  It sounds nicer than ham ball."  For 65 cents a piece, I'll let Leo call it whatever he wants. 

Behind the counter, scotch-taped photographs of customers and customers' kids decorate his deli case window (as does a signed picture of Bensonhurst native, Steve Schirripa, the actor who played "Bobby Baccalierri" on The Sopranos).  "I've been coming here my whole life," one guy tells me after putting his order in. ("Mix 'em up!" I hear him say).  "I used to live in the neighborhood with my family... but it got too expensive and we had to leave.  Now I'm in Staten Island.  You can't stop me from making the trip for these rice balls, though.  No one makes 'em better." 

JOE'S S_PERETTE (look for the missing "U" on the sign because it's not getting replaced anytime soon...) is open 7 days a week, excluding Christmas and New Years.

349 Smith Street bet/ 1st Place and Carroll Street
718-855-6463

A Canal Roundup!

Time Magazine: "Postcard from Brooklyn"

Environmental News Network: Gowanus Canal Goes Superfund

New York Times: Answers about the Gowanus Canal

Read Eat Sleep: Gowanus Canal Goes Superfund

New York Times: Cleaning a Canal, but not Writing about it

New York Post: FHA, Superfund and You

Red Hook Cement Plant Open. When will the whining start?

We heard all about the horrors of manufacturing zoning in Red Hook. Well, the cement plant causing so much consternation is open, and so far, so good. From the Post:

"A controversial Red Hook concrete plant that will help rebuild the World Trade Center has quietly opened, dashing the hopes of stone-faced critics who vilified its arrival.

The United States Concrete facility opened on March 15, according to Michael Gentoso, a regional vice president for the Texas-based company, but rainy weather and the ongoing economic storm has kept the plant operating at below capacity.

“We are having a slow start,” he said."

Carroll (Beer) Gardens?

An interesting suggestion from Realty Collective:

"Just think of how nice it would be on a Summer night to get all of your friends together for some live music, bar b q and night air.  From a business standpoint I honestly believe it could be quite a lucrative venture for the right group of folks." 

Well, some would say the the Gowanus Yacht Club is a mini-beer garden, but does this neighborhood really need more watering holes?

The Post really needs to quit while they're behind...

The anti-Landmarks group called CALM has found a friendly ear in the New York Post. A conservative newspaper run by Rupert Murdoch, which also came out against Superfund Designation? Color me surprised. Well, they really went off the deep end this time. Let's break this down, shall we?

"A move is on to expand the entire nabe into a historic district, which gives landmark status to all houses, and magically turns a window replacement into a $2,000 job. Some folks, whose families go back here a century, are mad as hell."

And some want landmarking. We just don't go barking to the Post.

""We don't need Big Brother to protect us," said Michael Di Meglio, 63, a member of Citizens Against Landmarking."

So, the 76th Precinct should be wiped out as well? You've got guns in your house to protect yourself?

"Yet, newcomers want the city to make it the law. A neighbor puts in a cheap Home Depot door and it becomes such an eyesore," said Katia Kelly, 49, who's lived there a mere 25 years."

Since when does living in a neighborhood a "mere" 25 years make one a newcomer?

Weak, CALM and Post. Come strong or don't come at all.

Biking Down Hoyt Street? Really?

The Post is reporting that the NYC DOT is continuing to blanket the borough in bike lanes. A bigger advocate for this there could not be. However, let's look at WHERE the bike lanes will go.

"The city plans to significantly extend the cycling lanes leading from the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges with the Department of Transportation extending them all the way through Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens, along bustling Smith Street, from Bergen to Ninth Street, and Hoyt Street, between Bergen and Third streets."

A picture of Hoyt Street is to the right. Where exactly will a bike lane go?

Anatomy of a Hipster

Ironic/Outdated T-Shirt: Check

Dress/Collared Shirt Underneath T-Shirt: Check

"Vintage" Jacket: Check

iPod Earphones, indicating Actual Wealth: Check

Sunglasses Worn In Inappropriate Setting: Check

Man-Purse: Check

Mohawk: Check

CUNY Blogs on Dirty Canals

The CUNY Journalism blogs have been churning out some good coverage lately. One of the recent posts on the different interpretations of similar situations at the Gowanus Canal and Newtown Creek by local politicians caught my eye. They correctly surmise that some, such as Yvette Clark, demonstrated cowardice by refusing to endorse the will of the people, while other, such as Nydia Velzaquez, took a stand early on the issue:

"Clarke seemed to favor the Bloomberg administration’s business-friendly approach to the clean-up, which would rely on companies to admit they polluted into the canal and, then, expect them to voluntarily pay for the clean-up. This, Bloomberg officials said, would avoid a “Superfund” stigma that might deflect new business development and economic activity around the Gowanus Canal.

“I am glad a decision has been reached on this issue,” said Clarke, as the EPA made their Superfund announcement.

Velazquez, on the other hand, striking a victorious tone, said, “The EPA has the proven expertise to oversee a comprehensive clean-up, while holding accountable those responsible for the pollution.”"

Thanks, Nydia.

Start your Green Engines

From A Brooklyn Life:

"The Carroll Gardens Greenmarket (on Carroll Street between Court and Smith streets) starts on Sunday,  April 11. It’s open from 8am to 4pm and includes my personal favorites Grazin’ Angus meats, Milk Thistle dairy, Consider Bardwell goat cheese, plus the grizzly fish guys from Seatuck Fish Company, and the absolutely beautiful maitake (and other mushrooms) from Madura Farms."