Williamsburg Community Board Approves Parks Concert Series

05/04/2011 | Comment

The waterfront concerts were not the only concert series on the agenda of last nights CB1 Parks Committee meeting. I hear that at the end of the meeting the committee recommended that the full board support the L Magazine’s Northside Festival concerts in McCarren Park (I think on the asphalt baseball fields across from the Turkey’s Nest). The concerts (which will, in part, benefit OSA, and which will have a capacity of 5,000, but I guess the similarities end there) include Beirut on June 17th and the Wavves opening for Guided by Voices on the 18th.

(The rest of the Northside Fesitival lineup feature The Hold Steady, Titus, the Fiery Furnaces and a whole bunch more in a series of venues spread around the neighborhood.

The Day the Music Was Turned Down (But Not Really)

05/04/2011 | 2 Comments

Apparently last night’s CB1 Parks Committee was a bit of a doozy (Aaron Short went so I didn’t have to!). In an advisory vote, the committee recommended that the number of concerts be cut by a third and that attendance at each concert be cut by about 25% (from 6,500 to 5,000 people). Since the Open Space Alliance has already booked 15 shows for the summer, and since the concerts are held on State park land (which the local CB1 has no jurisdiction over), this vote won’t change anything. It may be a symbolic gesture, but it’s pretty clear that some people are not too happy with the concerts or with OSA.

For Williamsburg Renters, Look But Don’t Swim

Renters in the affordable housing components of the Edge and Northside Piers pay rents well below market rates (some as low as $398 per month, according to the Times). But they don’t have access to the amenities on the luxury side of the development.