Hannah Senesh: Give Them Some Rope, They Want To Be Cowboys?

Hannah Senesh may have overstepped their bounds. After an uneasy couple of years with traffic tie ups on Smith Street and a brand new color palette forced on us, they fired a huge first shot in what will surely be a war by attacking the Gardens of Carroll Gardens. Now, it seems that the attention brought on them by their land grab has backfired, as people have taken notice of the fact that they are illegally using their garden as a parking lot (as the district office did before them). From Courier-Life:

"The courtyard area is city owned, and the Department of Buildings has enforcement over any zoning violations seen on the property. Carly Sullivan, an agency spokesperson, said inspectors were dispatched to the site on Dec. 30 — during a vacation week for the school— and did not observe any cars in the courtyard. “In the future, if residents see parked cars there, they should call 311,” she said, saying the agency will be keeping its eye on the courtyard. Meanwhile, she added, the agency has received no complaints about the matter since July 2008.

Amy Glosser, vice president of the school’s board of directors,said the school simply inherited a parking lot. “As far as we know, it has been that way a long time, and we don’t have plans to change the use of the space at this time.”

The property was formerly home to the headquarters of School District 15, whose employees also parked their cars in the courtyard.

Maria Pagano, president of the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association, said she’s been hearing complaints about the use of this courtyard for the past 20 years. “When the district office used it they said it was just temporary, and that it would be converted back to a garden,” she recalled. “You have to understand, there are people fighting for the restoration of the original gardens who see this every day.”"

In my opinion, this parking situation is on par with how egregious their land grab is. Could you imagine if a homeowner paved over their yard and installed a curb cut and parked cars on a Place Block?

The BQE Going Green???

The good folks over at Curbed have continuing coverage of the madness that surrounds the New York City Economic Development Corporation's solicitation of ideas for the "trenched" section of the BQE. From more ambitious ideas based around housing, flooding, the EDC has selected dlandstudio for it's "less-than-abitious" plan to green up the trenched BQE section in Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill.

"Now, two years after Brooklyn architecture firm dlandstudio wowed us with some renderings of a green BQE, that concept appears to be the winner. Why? Because it's the cheapest. The Brooklyn Paper calls it a "less-than-ambitious" proposal, but when other ideas include turning the ditch into the Nile, what realistic alternative isn't a disappointment?"

For those who don't realize, in the footprint of the current trenched section of the BQE were numerous buildings, churches and parks prior to the BQE's construction. Caputo's Bake Shop's original building was demolished to make room for the open wound that severed the Columbia Waterfront District from the rest of Carroll Gardens, as was the original Sacred Heart's parish building.

Another big problem with the BQE is that the Carroll Gardens community is cut off from the waterfront. There used to be legions of workers who would come walking up the hill from the docks after work. Now, we have two different neighborhoods, neither quite whole.

Whole Foods: Maybe Not?

As first reported here on Thursday, the Gowanus / Park Slope / Carroll Gardens / Boerum Hill Whole Foods site is continuing with it's environmental remediation (as much as capping can be considered remediation), which seemed to bode well for the prospects of those who love their foods whole. But today, the Daily News is reporting that the news from Whole Foods' lawyers may not be so positive:

""No decision has been made," said spokesman Michael Sinatra. "We're kind of taking it step by step." Plans to open the upscale natural food chain's first Brooklyn store at Third Ave. and Third St. were thrown into disarray when leaky oil tanks were found buried beneath the site in 2006, contaminating the soil with cancer-causing chemicals, such as benzene.

At the time, store officials said they would clean up the toxic 2.1-acre site and open in 2008, but the deadline sailed by with little progress. Now, the company is vowing to clean up the mess, but may never build a store. "When [the cleanup] is done, it will be reassessed and [Whole Foods will] determine what will happen, whether a store will open or won't open," Sinatra said. "Eventually we'd like to bring a store to Brooklyn. Whether or not that will be the site, we're undecided at this point.""

Persistent rumors abound that the Whole Foods site will eventually be developed for residential uses, which makes the decision to cap all the more interesting, as that would not suffice as remediation for many residential uses. Perhaps they are capping so that the land may retain some commercial value in the interim while the Superfund status is decided?

The Jersey Shore...On Court Street

MTV's The Jersey Shore certainly has attracted a lot of controversy. Here is a clip of The Jersey Shore's "The Situation" being interviewed right here in Carroll Gardens at Body Elite...




I wonder if Body Elite is searching for a new type of clientele by hosting this "interview".

Also, as an added bonus, the VH1 host appears at the end of the interview, sitting on a brownstone stoop, presumably somewhere in Carroll Gardens as well.

Carroll Gardens Residents More Unemployed Than Those in Coney Island?

Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill are apparently doing worse than Coney Island and Sunset Park when it comes to unemployment data. From the Times City Room Blog, via the Village Voice:

"Predictably, realtor-friendly districts in north (Williamsburg) an southwest (Sunset Park) Brooklyn are doing better than Crown Heights and Brownsville. It's a small surprise that Coney Island and Canarsie are more in the middle, at 9 percent -- lower than Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens! Maybe formerly productive citizens in the latter districts have taken to living off rents.

Unofficial unemployment, of course, is probably much higher all around."

UPDATE: Old ILA Building to go to the BSA

UPDATE: According to Katia Kelly over at Pardon Me For Asking, Community Board 6's Land Use Committee voted to recommend approval of the BSA application on Monday Night.

Something of interest to all in Carroll Gardens who have been here long enough to remember when the International Longshoreman's Association was a huge influence. According to the Courier Life Publications, the former ILA building site at 340 Court Street, will have to jump through some procedural hoops to proceed with their planned development.

"A stop work order has been slapped on the Clarett Group’s cavernous property, 340 Court Street, where a seven-story condominium and 11 four-story town homes are planned. Before the rezoning passed in October, the project, called “The Collection at Court Street,” was allowed to proceed “as of right,” zoning parlance meaning no special approvals would be required, as it conformed to the existing zoning.

Following the rezoning, which was initiated to preserve the neighborhood’s low-rise character, the developers will now be required to present their plans to Community Board 6, whose vote is advisory in nature only.

Ultimately, it will be up to the city’s Board of Standards and Appeals to approve or disapprove of the developer’s request, which is essentially asking for the legalization of previously issued building permits, which would allow the completion of the project as planned."

This seems pointless, as the same buildings could be built under the new zoning. Probably just a way for the developer to save money. But I don't see them blazing along with anything anytime soon...

Community Board 6 Going Green!

Community Board 6, which represents Carroll Gardens, Park Slope, Red Hook, and other hinterlands, has decided to go green! Or, in this age of PDFs, maybe a little less NOT green!

From the Courier Life Publications:

"planning to cut that amount down to 250 pieces a month, the minimum required to qualify for cheaper bulk mail rates.

The move will save approximately $150 a month, not a huge sum, but significant with more budget cuts looming for community boards, according to Board 6 District Manager Craig Hammerman."

Happy New Year!

...from the Carroll Gardens Diary!

Breaking News: Whole Foods to Begin Brownfield Cleanup at Third and Third

Breaking News: The proposed Carroll Gardens / Gowanus / Park Slope Whole Foods is proceeding with Environmental Remediation efforts. Letters such as the one scanned below have gone out to various stakeholders and community groups, detailing (somewhat) the efforts being made to participate in New York's Brownfield Cleanup Program. 

According to the letters, mailed from mega-law firm Akerman-Senterfitt (a frequent representative of developers) efforts will start on January 11 and are anticipated to take about three months and no traffic disruptions are anticipated. By participating in this program, the developer is eligible for tax credits to help defray the costs of cleaning up the site.

Will we one day see a Whole Foods? Looks like it!

Staples: How is this Legal?

Everyone knows the Staples on Third Street and Fourth Avenue. Seems like any other Staples ever, no? Shared parking lot (which is VERY tight), rude managers, long lines - it has it all. But, there is something subtle that makes this Staples even worse than the average one. Take a look at this picture:

Notice anything?

How about now?

That's right. Staples hates you. Or, more accurately, Staples hates you if you don't drive.

If you are not a driver, you MUST venture into an active traffic lane to enter the Staples site. They managed to install a sidewalk that connects to the city sidewalk, but then put up a huge fence, so as to make a walk to Staples to pick up some staples a life-threatening activity. Down with Staples!

While Staples certainly deserves some negative press for this choice, more disconcerting for me is the fact that this situation is allowed to exist. How did the City Planning Department's ULURP process not catch this? How does the DOB not red tag the site? How does Transportation Alternatives not make a fuss about this?

Maybe the hipsters who re-painted the Bedford Avenue bike lanes need to head on down to Gowanus with some bolt cutters...

Is the Gowanus Canal Sponge-Worthy?

From the Boerum Hill Blog:

This New Fire Commissioner Sounds Like a Real Guy

Carroll Gardens' own Salvatore Cassano, the new FDNY Commissioner, has been giving some interviews lately where he details his early life, before he made the (regrettable) decision to move to Staten Island. From the New York Times:

Born on Jan. 22, 1945, as the second son in an Italian-American family, he was named after the father of his mother, Madeline. The Cassanos lived in South Brooklyn, in a walk-up on First Place in Carroll Gardens.

“Radiator bursting away,” he said. “There were six of us in a six-room apartment. We shared a bed. I didn’t have my own bed until I got married.”

His father’s family came from Ischia, Italy, in 1909; his mother’s family came from Naples. His grandfather worked as a day laborer; his father, Angelo, was a longshoreman on the docks in Red Hook, where he rose to become a boss of loading and unloading the trucks.

“He was very well-respected,” he said. “He was a tough boss, but he was fair, so I had a good role model to follow.”

As a boy, young Sal went to Public School 142 and Brooklyn Tech and then Boys High School, where he bowled. His parents took their four children to Roman Catholic Mass each Sunday, at St. Mary Star of the Sea. 

“My mom and dad taught us all about family life and how important your family is,” he said.
At 10, he landed his first job, working for his brother-in-law delivering crates of soda in glass bottles, sometimes walking them up six flights on his shoulder.

He rooted for the Dodgers. His godfather was single and had season tickets to Ebbets Field.
“I used to go there three or four times a week when they were home,” he said. The shortstop Pee Wee Reese was his favorite, so he wore his number, 1, on his jersey in baseball and softball leagues he played in.

After school, he worked with his dad on the waterfront, then found work in a bank.

Does that sound like someone who knows what it REALLY means to be from Carroll Gardens, or what?

Third and Bond: Not That Bad?

Large developments seem to take a lot of flack in this neighborhood, and, rightfully so. For the most part, large developments need to maximize square footage to make their investors happy and keep the books in the black, and the built environments in Brownstone Brooklyn are altered by these glass and steel monsters. Basically, you can't make much money building brownstones or row houses today.

Or, to put it more accurately, you can't make as MUCH money as you can by maximizing your FAR. And I don't think that any rationale person would tell someone else that they shouldn't make the most money that they can, which is why cohesive regulations are needed, not protests based on each individual proposed development.

But I digress. The point here is just to point out a development that I feel is fairly neutral for the neighborhood: Third and Bond. Located on (guess!) Third and Bond Streets, this development is not great for the built environment, but doesn't destroy it either. Sure, the buildings are on the lot line, as opposed to set back ten feet, and, sure, they're taller than the surrounding environment. And wow, red paneling, really?

But the scale isn't horrible, they include outdoor space, they are at the lowest point of the neighborhood, so they don't really obstruct any views, and their brick work isn't bad. Definitely area for improvement, and lord knows they took long enough to build, but all in all, I'd grade it a "Not That Bad" for Carroll Gardens.

I Guess Its Really Gone

Saw the last remnants of Harding's Patois being painted over on Smith Street this weekend...

Proposed Expansion of Carroll Gardens Historic District Draws Early Opposition

A very slow-moving application seeking to expand the tiny Carroll Gardens Historic District has been making its way through the Landmarks Preservation Commission and Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association since 2007. As with any landmarking movement, there are two main sides (Glenn Kelly did an excellent job at a recent CGNA meeting of eloquently stating that most people are somewhere in the middle on the issue and will need to be persuaded to take a position on the issue). The Courier Life Publications did a good job summing up the dividing lines on the issue:

"Critics contend that the push to extend the district will be a hassle for homeowners, who will be forced to win the blessing of the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission for all exterior work done on their property. Moreover, the work and materials are thought to be more expensive, and some contend that property taxes might rise on blocks that are landmarked."

"The Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association has taken up the proposal, which initially was introduced in 2007 in response to a spreading wave of residential development, which the group felt threatened to engulf the neighborhood with out-of-scale buildings. A survey the group conducted at the time showed that while many in the neighborhood expressed real concern with new buildings being constructed, many did not understand landmarking, which can add a layer of protection from wildly out of character buildings. “We think it’s worth explaining,” said Glenn Kelly, co-chair of the group’s Land Use Committee."

Although I will refrain from supporting one position or another at this point, I will say that both Mr. Kelly and Mr. Esposito (the owner of Sal's Pizzeria on Court Street, and the founder of CALM, an anti-landmarking group) are correct in most respects, and there could be no better personifications of the diametrically opposed factions than the educated, politically active and historic district resident Mr. Kelly, and the Italian-American business owner Mr. Esposito.

Mr. Kelly is correct in that landmarking is worth explaining, but he and those supporting landmarking fail to consider the reality that many older, long-time residents often do not have liquid funds to do Landmarks-worthy improvements. Likewise, Mr. Esposito is correct in that Landmarks improvements and approvals are lengthy and expensive, but he and those opposing landmarking fail to consider that property values tend to increase in landmarked areas.

An interesting subtext to this that should be considered is that Italians (and especially Sicilians) have an inherent distrust of governmental regulation, which has allowed "friends of friends" to operate as a supplement to governmental authority in many areas. It is not surprising that they would oppose a process which would add an additional layer of regulation to their properties.