You may remember that one of the theories floated for the origins of the Roebling Oil Field was the historic presence of a manufactured gas plant (MGP) storage facility nearby (at North 13th and Wythe, I believe). Whether or not this facility was the source of the bubbling goo at the Roebling Oil Field, the legacy of these plants and their storage facilities is particularly noxious. So its good to see that New York State has finally reached an agreement whereby KeySpan (successor to Brooklyn Union Gas) will clean up the contaminants at the Wythe Holders site and 6 other sites in Brooklyn and Nassau County. In addition, KeySpan will be cleaning up 5 other former MGP sites in Brooklyn.
For you Roebling Oil Field conspiracy theorists out there, note that the DEC press release states that coal tar “has proven to be a persistent environmental contaminant”. The DEC list of KeySpan sites in Brooklyn is a bit scary – by our count at least two MGPs (Greenpoint MGP and Williamsburg MGP) and four holders (Wythe, Scholes, Keap and Skillman). As GowanusLounge has pointed out, the real concentration of these plants was along the Gowanus Canal.

Michaelangelo had the Medicis, Henry Radusky has these guys. Every great architect needs a great patron, and in Williamsburg, we are lucky indeed that Bricolage and KAI have found one another.
Yes, its time again for another installment of the Brooklyn11211 B(N)B awards, an occasional celebration of north Brooklyn architecture and design1. Today, our award for Developer of the Year (Williamsburg), which goes to the KAI organization. Nitpickers will point out that most of the KAI buildings we are highlighting here were constructed some years ago – 2005 or before. Point taken, but this level of consistent and practiced banality cannot go unrecognized. So we’ll call this a lifetime achievement award, because so rarely do you find a collection of buildings that are so completely devoid of redeeming features, so replete in bad urban design and so, well, ugly.

120 South 2nd Street.
Architect: Henry Radusky/Bricolage

For us, the grande dame of KAI’s Southside holdings will always be 120 South 2nd Street, a building that defies every norm of good taste and sensible urban design. This is a building whose primary gesture to the neighborhood is a moat. An unlandscaped pit of concrete whose only decorative gestures are a pipe railing, a row of trash cans and faux brick panels over the air-conditioner sleeves. Of course, there are balconies – people need more above-ground bike racks. (This building earns special white trash points for the tenants, who also manage to put all manner of furniture on the balconies – we wouldn’t be surprised to see a rusted washing machine or a Camaro up on blocks appear on one of these balconies.) And of course this all comes clad in Henry Radusky’s finest Bricolage.

337 Bedford Avenue
Architect: Henry Radusky/Bricolage

Then there is 337 Bedford, which returns the historic gable front to Williamsburg architecture. Sure, its probably only there as a zoning dodge, to create an “attic” that doesn’t count against floor area, but isn’t it decorative? Once again, the streetwall shall not be honored – you don’t want a continuous street wall in NYC. The rusticated precast concrete and crenelated parapet/balcony could be humanizing touches, but in the hands of Mr. Radusky, they scratching your head and asking “what the fuck?”. And more bicycle racks!

241 South 2nd Street
Architect: Henry Radusky/Bricolage

241 South 2nd Street? Perhaps the best of the bunch (seriously – this could be the least offensive). Sure the shoddy construction shines through – we particularly like the haphazard detail of the through-wall dryer vents – but the street wall is nearly intact, and the bicycle racks downright subtle.

208 South 3rd Street
Architect: Henry Radusky/Bricolage

208 South 3rd Street (on the corner of Roebling) looks to be the largest (and most recent) KAI development we’ve found to date (we’re sure there are more – please, assault our senses). The “decorative” cast concrete at the base is completely without logic, as is the decorative soldier-course brick on the upper stories (extra credit for what appears to a few different kinds of red brick for the facade itself). The ground floor commercial space is for rent, for all you bunker lovers out there – its very secure, even if the head room is a little tight. As always, we love the kontextual keystones (a hallmark of Bricolage, sadly missing from the other KAI projects), and hands down, this building wins the prize for largest bicycle racks in Williamsburg.
So there you have it – KAI, Williamsburg developer of the year. Our architect of the year award will probably not come as a surprise…
1. For those of you who missed the earlier installments, the B(N)B awards were started in response the recent Building Brooklyn awards. Amazingly, these Borough-wide awards for outstanding architecture failed to recognize a single North Brooklyn project (and only found one even worth nominating). To rectify this clear injustice, we’ve decided to highlight some of the, well, highlights of North Brooklyn architecture over the past year.↩

Photo: teal185

We can’t find a link for this, but we received an email the other day announcing that DOT is changing the traffic pattern for the footwalks on the Williamsburg Bridge:

The south footwalk of the Williamsburg Bridge, currently closed in order to facilitate ongoing rehabilitation, will reopen at 7:00 am on Monday August 20, 2007. Simultaneously, the north footwalk will be closed to bicycle and pedestrian traffic. The north footwalk will reopen for weekends only, from Fridays at 3:30 pm to Mondays at 6:00am, beginning September 14, 2007.

What they don’t say is if the only access to the footwalks will be from Bedford Avenue, or if the Valley Forge entry will remain. Guess we’ll find out soon enough. And no word on when BOTH footwalks will be open.

Photo: DumboNYC

The Daily News has an “exclusive” in today’s print and online edition: Dumbo’s Pearl Street Plaza.
If this sounds familiar, maybe you’ve already read about here. Or here. Or here, here, here, here, here and here. To name a few.
Oh, and the press conference has been postponed. You wouldn’t know that reading the News, but you would if you read blogs like DumboNYC.
Journalmaism at its finest.

Herewith, a scooter we came across while in Oz today. From the looks of this, the City is ready to crack down on sidewalk scooter parking – hell, it even looks as though they had special scooter-size stickers made. In classic NYC fashion, this is, at the same time, visionary and short sighted.
Visionary because, let’s face it, sidewalks are for walking on.
Short sighted because, let’s face it, the street is no place to park a two-wheeled vehicle.
Bicycles, scooters and motorcycles should be a huge part of the solution to NYC’s congestion and smog woes. Unfortunately, the City really goes out of its way to make riding on two wheels as difficult as possible. There is a dearth of dedicated bike parking (either racks for bicycles or dedicated areas for scooters and motorcycles). lately, it seems that there are all sorts of crack downs in effect – pulling over scooters to check for papers; zero tolerance enforcement of lane splitting and lane sharing; enforcement of “parade” rules that are primarily targeted at bikers in the first place. At the same time, there are some smart enforcement actions, such as the recent noise rules (loud pipes do not save lives – like car alarms, they just annoy the hell of people); this kind of sidewalk parking crack down; targeting bicyclists who ride on sidewalks; making better bike lanes; enforcing bike lane regulations.

If you happened to park your car on Kent Avenue last Thursday evening, you probably found yourself in this position. Its seems that DOT came through on Friday and installed new parking signs, after months and months of no parking regulations whatsoever. And, of course, the traffic enforcement agents were following the work truck, probably issuing tickets before the cement holding the signs in place was dry.
So, after years of construction, dirt, noise, more dirt, etc., Kent Avenue is finally rebuilt. The street is like a runway now – prime territory for fast driving1. To hear old timers tell it, its just like the old days when people used to drag race on Kent Avenue. For the past couple of months, though, all the parked cars had a beneficial traffic calming effect. No more – DOT has made it pretty much impossible to park anywhere on Kent Avenue south (and probably north of) of Metropolitan. Which means that residents, like the folks on this block, can’t park in front of their house.

Worse, it means that Kent Avenue is now back to being a four lane highway, with ample room for impatient drivers to pass on either side. If you’re driving anywhere near the speed limit, expect to be passed – on either the right or the left. Last Friday, we counted at least five passing incidents on our walk from Broadway to Grand Street. It was bad enough before the no parking regs took effect (a double yellow line is apparently only advisory in Williamsburg).
It would be one thing if the parking regs served some higher purpose, but they do not. The regs on the Southside seem to be held over from the days of industry, when trucks routinely lined up to get into Domino, and industry thrived on Kent Avenue. Apparently, someone forgot to tell DOT about the rezoning. And about Schaeffer Landing, Kedem Winery and the New Domino. Instead, we now have block after block of No Parking Anytime on one side of the street, with loads of No Standing on the other. Where there is alternate side parking, one block is the special night regulations (around the nightclubs, of course), while the next is regular morning regulations. And then there’s this collection of signs just north of Schaeffer.

So thanks to DOT, if you live on or near Kent Avenue, you now have no place to park. And if you happen to find a spot on the other side of Kent Avenue, you will be taking your life into your own hands crossing the street. Good luck on both fronts.
1. We must confess to loving the little chicane where Kent transitions to Franklin Street at the Bushwick Inlet. This has been our favorite piece of two-wheel pavement for years, if only because its the closest thing to a twistie you’ll find in all of north Brooklyn. And if you time it right, you can hit that chicane at speed.↩