Month: October 2007
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40,000???
…with 40,000 new units of housing expected in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, and 15,000 in Downtown Brooklyn… I really hope they mean residents, not housing units. Yeah, either way the L train will suck, but there’s an order of magnitude or two of suckiness in there. (For the record, I remember the waterfront rezoning claiming 10,000…
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Subsidized Water Taxis?
Buried in this NY1 story is some potentially great news: a subsidized water taxi route to Williamsburg. The Water Taxi ™ is one of my preferred routes to Manhattan (after two-wheeling), but it is definitely a) expensive, b) limited in service times, and c) only geographically appropriate to a few. It looks as though the…
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Eminent Domain Follow Up
From Gothamist, a rundown of pending eminent domain actions in the city. I think the list supports my point earlier that there is both good and bad eminent domain. The point is to get rid of the (Supreme Court sanctioned) abuse, while keeping legitimate takings. Gowanus Lounge has their own take (thankfully sympathetic to my…
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Planting Trees
This is pretty brilliant: Gilliam has started to transform the area from a concrete jungle to a space with a more lived-in look by exploiting a new and little-known Parks Department regulation that permits tree planting on private property if the owner of the land can’t be found.
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Craig Murphey
Craig Murphey was the cyclist who was killed last week while riding at Ten Eyck and Union. Lost in a lot of the speculation and grief over the Craig’s death is the fact that he was “on the job” at the time – volunteering for Right Rides and helping someone get home safely late at…
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Grand Ferry Rebuild
From Curbed, word that Grand Ferry Park is finally under construction. This reconstruction was originally to have been funded by $350,000 (or so, I’m not great with math) from the NY Power Authority, as partial mitigation for the mini power plant adjacent to the park. A lot of neighborhood activists fought long and hard for…
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Garbage Politics
North Brooklyn is home to a disproportionate number of the City’s waste transfer stations. While the Mayor’s Solid Waste Management Plan would correct this social injustice by distributing transfer stations throughout the five boroughs, many are opposed (including the Mayor’s neighbors on the Upper East Side). No Impact Man has the lowdown on the latest…
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Cranes
Dueling cranes on North 5th Street. To the right, 90 North 5th Street is loading in more steel; to the left, 154 Berry is pumping in concrete. If you’re keeping score at home, 90 North 5th is Robert Scarano & Associates, 154 Berry is Karl Fisher Architect. The Northside in a nutshell – at least…
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Eminent Domain Abuse
I am a big fan of Brownstoner and the community he has created on his blog, and usually I am in tune with his thinking on issues of development, design and so on. Today, though, he has staked out a position on the question of eminent domain that is, quite simply, off base. Writing about…
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Housing Boom
Good news on the housing shortage front: Crain’s New York Business reported yesterday NYC is on pace to issue permits for 34,000 new housing units this year. That would be the highest number of permits since the early 1960s (the last high was 33,084 in 1972). The vast majority of those will be in Brooklyn…