110 William Street: before (left) and after (right).
Updating Modern buildings is always a dilemma – how do you make a tired, old metal and glass building feel new again? At Lever House, RFR undertook a painstaking (and award-winning) restoration, and the results are fabulous.
At 110 William Street, Swig Equities is going the Earl Scheib route – just paint the sucker. Wonder if they’ll spring for the pinstriping – or maybe flames?.
110 William Street: In progress
From The Daily News: Emergency calls to 911 are up 300% in North Brooklyn; construction complaints to 311 are up a similar number; DOB is issuing 50,000 violations a year citywide, 5,000 stop work orders.
The DOB says:
The fact that we have been out there issuing violations shows our enforcement initiatives are working.
No, this shows that large numbers of contractors and developers don’t give a shit about your rules. No one has to look very hard to find unsafe buildings sites.
Via Curbed, a new entry into the Domino alternative field. This one highlights the Tate Modern, as well as a host of other highly successful cultural institutions that have transformed former industrial sites as part of their success.
The highlighting of Tate is somehow appropriate here – Henry Tate made his fortune in the sugar business, and the successor to his firm, Tate & Lyle, went on to acquire Domino Sugar in 1988 (and sold the brand to the Fanjul family in 2001). It was under Tate & Lyle’s watch that the Brooklyn plant endured three strikes, the longest of which ran from 1999 to 2001, and was effectively the death knell for the Williamsburg plant.
The Brooklyn Eagle is shocked to discover that there is a lot of development planned for the Williamsburg waterfront:
The city has been warned, but maybe it hasn’t paid attention to the three developments — all announced at different times, all approved at different times. A model maker, just from the information recorded in this column, could build a physical rendering of this new South Beach for all to see. Is this what we want? Is this good public policy, or — in truth — no public policy at all?
Here’s some news for the Brooklyn Eagle:
Daily News:
Brooklyn hospitals led the city in malpractice payouts last year, with Kings County Hospital paying a whopping $33.6 million in claims, according to a report issued yesterday.
Two other municipal hospitals, Woodhull Hospital and Coney Island Hospital, shelled out millions in malpractice claims – even as the total cost of claims to the city plunged by 10%.
In my one Brooklyn ambulance experience, the paramedics asked me which hospital I wanted to go to. After determining that Manhattan was off limits, I asked them where they would go. That’s how I wound up at the emergency room at Long Island College Hospital (LICH, on Atlantic and Hicks). If you are a trauma case, you don’t get a choice, but if you do get a choice, don’t go to Woodhull.
Hamptons.com:
Owner of Triple Crown, a funky hip hop spot in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Popalardo feels that music can break down barriers and create an environment where people can not only have fun but celebrate music that empowers and inspires.
If, by breaking down barriers, you mean being one of the worst neighbors in Williamsburg, yes, that is Triple Crown.
Greenpoint Star:
Although none of the homes or shops interviewed by the Star lacked landline capabilities more than eight days
I don’t think “although” is the right way to start that sentence. And this was not the first (or, for some, the longest) Greenpoint phone outage this summer.
If you haven’t heard of them, the Open Space Alliance is a (relatively) new group that was been formed to serve as an advocate and conservator of north Brooklyn’s parks – including McCarren Park, the yet-to-built waterfront esplanade, the yet-to-bought City-owned waterfront park, and more. OSA is yet another benefit of the Greenpoint/Williamsburg rezoning (and yet another community-based benefit – the benefits promised by the administration and the Council seem to be a bit slower in coming).
OSA is in the process of hiring an executive director, and is introducing themselves to the neighborhood with a benefit concert on Saturday, 15 September. Hosted by JellyNYC, which has been putting on free concerts at McCarren pool for the past two summers, the OSA benefit features GZA playing Liquid Swords and Jamie Lidell.
The concert is $19, all of which benefits OSA, and ultimately, your parks. Ticketmaster has the tickets.
And while you’re at it, fill out the OSA McCarren Park Pool survey – add your voice to help shape the future of the pool.
