> “I have faith […] that they’re making this wise decision” -Sarah Palin on the Bush administration’s negotiations with North Korea
Putting one’s trust in the Bush administration to make a wise decision about *anything* ought to be an immediate disqualification from running for public office.
Of course her running mate disagrees. Not on the wisdom part, but on the negotiating part.
Trust
Road Rage for a Brooklyn Car Service
Northside, this time.
Supermarket Exploits Workers
The president and vice president of Bushwick Associated Supermarket have been indicted for various crimes related to underpaying (or not paying at all) workers at its supermarket (located at 220 Knickerbocker).
Sleazy.
Turn Out the Lights
Even Australians can see it – Williamsburg is becoming “white collar”. Or as Dave Sitek put it:
> a lot of people have left Brooklyn to flee the jocks
Candidates Left in Limbo Over Term Limits
Shocking news! Changing term limits will disrupt the great musical chairs tournament of 2009.
Slow Karl
From Gowanus Lounge (welcome back, Bob), the slowest Karl Fischer building in the neighborhood (at North 8th and Roebling).
I still say the slowest project in the neighborhood is 80 Metropolitan. Karl moving backwards would still be faster than 80 Metropolitan. This is a project that has worked six days a week for two years, and is still is not closed up (the first windows were installed two weeks ago).
Hot Keilbasa
In light of recent reports about long-time ethnic retailers getting priced out of Manhattan Avenue, apparently one kielbasa shop has found a way to make ends meet…
[via LH]
**Update:** At least this operation managed to bring together Poles and Dominicans. It _is_ a small world, after all.
**Later Update:** Kudos to the *Post*, for the best headline on this story: “Wurst Gang Ever“.
Ghost Condos of McCarren Park
Funny thing is, the Finger Building is nowhere near McCarren Park (at least not in the sense of this article). And yet it is the only picture in the article, and it is the “lede”.
I actually think that the condos around McCarren (those actually facing the park, not the ones seven blocks away) will fare better in a down market. There will be a flight to quality, and park views with light and air pretty much guaranteed represent quality. (I’m not vouching for the quality of construction, though – you’re on your own there.) Likewise, water views and well-designed apartments in well-built buildings (OK, not so may of those up here in the Eastern District, but there are some).
Oh, and in actual news about the Finger Building, there was a BSA hearing today. No decision, but reportedly, BSA seemed skeptical of DOB’s open space calculations. Stay tuned – round three is scheduled for November 17.
[via Brownstoner]
NAG Town Hall Organizing Meeting
Last night, NAG had a packed house at its town hall organizing meeting. The meeting drew about 150 area residents to hear about and discuss the critical issues facing Williamsburg and Greenpoint. In the latter part of the meeting, the crowd was broken up into groups to brainstorm about the issues they would like to NAG tackle in the coming year and beyond. Interestingly, the big ticket issues – affordable housing, parks and open space, industrial retention and development – took a back seat to issues that have a more direct impact on people’s day-to-day lives. Which is not to say that these larger issues weren’t issues – housing, construction, and open space all came up – they just manifested themselves in different ways. The most commonly cited issues were related to community preservation, infrastructure and quality of life.
As promised, we all got to leave in time to watch Frances McDormond reprise her Academy award winning role in last night’s vice presidential debate. You betcha.
Williamsburg, NJ
Via commenter #4 on this Curbed post, here is a screen shot from the Northside Piers website. This is the purported “West View” from your luxury waterfront condominium (rental?) in hip-hip-hip Williamsburg.
And what a view it is – the Empire State Building to the right, the Chrysler Building to the left. Which is pretty funny, because when most Brooklynites look to Manhattan, they see the Empire State on the left (south) and Chrysler on the right (north). We also don’t look out over the Hudson River.
This Northside Piers must be a magical and wonderful place. They should rename it – somehow Weehawken sounds appropriate.