Month: December 2007
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And it Shutdown Last Week
Today’s Times, talking about commuting, has this: Or look at the New York Water Taxi, which started a route from Red Hook to Wall Street last year. Five years ago that circuit wasn’t necessary. But the perpetual “next big neighborhood” has sprouted not only a gourmet grocery store but also a community that shops there.…
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Water Taxi Press Conference
Councilmember David Yassky at the NYWT press conference. On Saturday there was a press conference at Schaeffer Landing to push for the preservation of NY Water Taxi service through the winter. The press conference was held by Council members Eric Gioia (Queens) and David Yassky (Brooklyn), and was attended by 30 or 40 water taxi…
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A Decent Job?
Via Brownstoner, comes this gem from BushwickBK – proof that the bubble is still inflated. BBK is right, the developer has serious issues with reality if he is looking to get $725,000 for this “luxury” condo. But I don’t know where BBK gets off saying they did a “decent job” on this project – it…
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Luger v. Morton
I haven’t been to Luger’s in a year or two, so I can’t say whether or not there has been a slip in quality. But the idea that a chain steakhouse in downtown Brooklyn is going to cut into their business is pretty funny. Until Morton’s starts drawing crowds from Manhattan, its not a threat…
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Bad Choice
This is old news by now, but there was closure to the Fortunato murder-for-hire trial a couple of weeks back. One defendant – Carmine Polito – was acquitted in a jury trial on the 14th of December. The following day, Mario Fortunato (of the bakery family) was convicted by the trial judge. Turns out Fortunato…
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2 Williamsburg Bars to Close
Once upon a time, there were only three bars in all of the Northside (Greenpoint Tavern, Turkey Nest and Mugg’s (or before that, Ship’s Mast)). OK, five if you count Kokie’s, but no one went there for a drink or to socialize. Back then, Mona’s and Sophie’s were akin to a local. I haven’t been…
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Water Taxi Update
Obviously, a lot of daily commuters on the water taxi are not happy about its impending suspension of service. A group of riders has started to organize to try to get some restoration of service before 1 May 2008 (NYWT’s announced date). Tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 11:00 am there will be a meeting at the…
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No Such Thing As Free Parking
This past weekend, the Times posted an op-ed by Alexander Garvin and Nick Peterson titled The High Price of Parking, on the pitfalls of providing mandatory parking in most rehabs and all new developments. The argument really boils down to this: if you build it, they will park. And in the process, they will add…
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Failing Schools: What the State Says
NYS has released its own list of failing schools, and there is some disagreement between what the State deems a failure and what the City deems a failure. Unfortunately, for PS 84 (Jose de Diego), it appears that there is a consensus: things are not good. 84 is the only school in 14 to be…