Month: March 2011

RIP Brooklyn Night Bazaar

The organizer behind this Brooklyn Night Bazaar concept has decided not to go forward with the project this year. I was actually supposed to meet with him yesterday morning, but got a call that the whole thing was being put off until next year. Hopefully next time around he’ll have a better organized (and communicated) plan in place – after hearing from opponents and supporters and reading through everything that the organizer published, I still have no idea whether or not this was a serious endeavor, what it really was (a market? a concert venue? an open-air night club?), and what the impact on/benefit for the neighborhood was.

I guess we’ll see.

Brooklyn Night Bazaar

03/28/2011 | Comment

Bazaar

I don’t know what to make of this whole Brooklyn Night Bazaar thing. Apparently, the powers that be behind it have been working on the project for 8 months. They’ve raised some money, but the whole thing has a sort of slapped together feel to it (except the website, which looks like some attention was paid to it).

The details are fuzzy and malleable, and it’s not clear if this is a drinks venue, a flea market or a concert venue. A lot of people are freaked out about the potential crowds, noise and drunkenness, but many others are supporting the project. It’s also not clear if there is a lease (the promoter claims to have an “agreement” with the landlord), or even if this proposed use is allowed under zoning (grandfathered manufacturing, but zoned for high density residential with a commercial overlay along West Street only – picture Northside Piers or the Edge).

So stay tuned, I guess. This ride might be a bit bumpy.



✦✦

Digital Subscription Prices Vizualized

Via Gruber (again), a handy infographic on what’s wrong the Times online subscription pricing. For what the Times is charging, you could subscribe to the Economist and the Wall Street Journal (both quality publications) and still have enough left over for a Netflix account.

Williamsburgh Savings Bank Plans Revealed (Somewhat)

The Architects Newspaper has some stunning photos of the interior and exterior of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank at Broadway and Driggs (George B. Post, 1875 and 1905).

They also have news on the plan for the building, which is for a catering hall and gallery/museum. But no word on what is to happen on the former parking lot to the west. Though, as A|N notes, it is as-of-right for residential with ground floor retail (also no word on the floor area – the bank may well have excess air rights that can transferred over to the development site portion of the project).

Pricing Should Be Simple

John Gruber:

One thing many companies — in any industry — can learn from Apple is the importance of simple pricing. If you make it easy for people to understand how much they’re paying, and what they’re paying for, it is more likely that they’ll buy it.

Amen.

I used to pay a dollar a day to read the Times, plus more on Sunday. I stopped buying the daily paper when they raised the price to $1.25 or $1.50 – just more change to fish around for, plus I could read it online for free. I read most of the paper online on a daily basis, using a variety of devices from a variety of locations. I even buy the physical paper on occasion (usually Sundays). I get it all (mostly) for free, but I would gladly pay for the content (as I do for other content). I pay $30 a year just to get access to their crossword puzzles.

In other words, I should be the Times’ ideal demographic for their new pay service. But I’m not buying.

$455 a year for unlimited device access is too much. Paying less and only being able to read the paper from some devices is not progress.

$185 a year ($15 per month) is closer to reasonable, and I would probably buy in at that level (though I suspect I would be a minority). But that means buying a physical (paper) subscription that I don’t want and won’t read most days. So after someone drives a physical paper to my house, I will just throw it straight into recycling.

Way to be green, Grey Lady.

P.S. If I understand their FAQs (yes, there are more than one) right, I’ll still have to pony up $30 a year for the crossword.

Border War

Aaron Short has the latest on the effort to get the MTA out of 65 Commercial Street (something that 6 years ago they promised to do). Maspeth continues to oppose the relocation of Access-a-Ride vehicles to their district (even though the site being studied is in a manufacturing zone and is zoned for parking). The MTA, for its part, hasn’t even committed to the Maspeth site (it’s under study), so expect more foot dragging on that front.