Greenbelt, 361 Manhattan Avenue.
Photo: Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.

I screwed up – in yesterday’s post on the Building Brooklyn awards, I completely missed Greenbelt in the list of award winners. So there was a north Brooklyn project worthy of being the best of Brooklyn architecture. Greenbelt is a fantastic mixed-use project on Manhattan Avenue between Jackson and Withers. It is billed as Brooklyn’s first LEED-rated residential project, and includes arts and cultural space on the ground floor with residences above. The building incorporates much of the single-story building that was formerly on the site (not preservation, but not throwing the entire building into the dumpster certainly has a positive environmental impact). As the project’s website says, “Greenbelt aims for sustainability in relation to multiple ‘environments’ – natural, cultural and visual – by building green, providing space for the arts and community, and launching bold architectural ideas scaled to the surrounding neighborhood.”

All in all, a very interesting and worthy project. Which only goes to reinforce the point I was trying to make in yesterday’s post – given the huge wave of building we are seeing Greenpoint and Williamsburg, why are there so few projects that can be singled out as enriching our neighborhoods? Yes, there are some projects such as Greenbelt that are worthy of accolades, but they are few and far between. Take a look at the list of projects that won awards last night – I think you’d be hard pressed to find too many local projects that rise to the level of these projects.

NYC elections are still more than a year off (even the primaries), but the races are definitely underway. Tuesday was the deadline for candidates to file disclosure statements with the Campaign Finance Board, and the new numbers are already posted.

The 33rd Council District (David Yassky’s district, which covers Greenpoint to Cobble Hill) is one of the most hotly contested in the city. Isaac Abraham, who only just announced his candidacy, has raised less than $3,000, and Kenneth Baer about $12,000. The other four candidates (Ken Diamondstone, Steve Levin, Jo Ann Simon and Evan Thies) are all over $30,000. Simon leads the way with $55,037, followed by Thies at $38,620, Levin at $31,298 and Diamondstone at $30,238.

The 34th Council District (Diana Reyna’s, covering Williamsburg, Bushwick and Ridgewood) is one of the least contested open seats in the city. Gerry Esposito, the District Manager of Community Board #1, has raised close to $65,000 to date. Esteban Duran, a CB1 member and Department of Ed employee, has raised $3,560. (Duran has not even had a formal campaign announcement, other than a quick reference in the Greenpoint Star.)

Its all very early, though – too early to read too much into the numbers. (If you want to see who’s behind those numbers,

Its that time of year again. Time once again for the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce to honor the best architecture of the borough with its Building Brooklyn Awards. And once again, north Brooklyn gets the short end of the stick. Yes, once again, not a single project in Greenpoint or Williamsburg was deemed worthy of merit.

Pretty amazing, when you think about it – Williamsburg and Greenpoint are home to the biggest building boom in the borough. There is more “architecture” happening here than anywhere else in Brooklyn. And yet, by the standards of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, all of that architecture sucks.

They obviously have good standards.

UPDATE: Oops, there was a north Brooklyn project honored. More here.

It appears that that whole moment-of-truth thing might have been a tad premature. I just learned that the owner’s attorney’s have requested a one-week adjournment. No word yet on BSA’s response to the request.

Developing, as they say.

For those unaware, Bedford Ave between Metropolitan Avenue and North 9th street will be open as a pedestrian mall from noon to 7pm for the next four Saturdays (July 19th, 26th, August 2nd & 9th) as an experiment in re-imagining the use of public space in the neighborhood.

Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG) is one of the organizers of the event, and they are looking for volunteers for Williamsburg Walks to help with either with event logistics or with non-partisan voter registration, especially for this upcoming Saturday (July 19th). If you are interested, contact NAG at (718) 384-2248 or email mfs at mikebot dot com.

More information about the event is available at http://www.billburg.com/walks/about/

NY WATER TAXI

Photo:Cassandra

Also while I was away, the Water Taxi returned to Shaefer Landing – finally! Months late, and more than half a year after the initial “seasonal” shutdown, service was finally restored to the full East River route on the 7th. And today, I enjoyed my first summer evening ride up the East River – as a special bonus, the voyage now includes an up-close look at the waterfalls.

Not that there’s nothing to complain about – since last winter, NYWT has adjusted its afternoon commuter schedule, eliminating the 7:00 p.m. boat and adding a boat at 3 p.m. I’m not sure if that’s for the bankers or the tourists, but it sucks for anyone who doesn’t work in the financial sector (a growing proportion of downtown’s workforce).

Still, it was a beautiful evening, and a great ride.

No Gas.

The last post, in particular Will Femia’s photo, reminds me that Mobil sign in Will’s photo is no more. Above is a picture I took on 1 July, showing the new chain link fence and the decapitated Mobil sign. The sign itself was lay in the parking lot, freshly cut, the day I walked by. I have no idea when a Mobil (or any other gas) station last operated at this site – never in my Williamsburg life. The service station moved out in 2001 or so (they’re now at McGuinness and Java).

Based on this recent activity, the site is being prepped for work. Shockingly, it will not be luxury housing. The owner wants to open a Tibetan cultural center of some sort. This requires a partial rezoning, as part of the site does not allow commercial uses as of right.

144 North 8th Street (aka The Finger Building)
Photo: A Test of Will

The moment of truth for the Finger Building may finally be at hand. On 22 July, the Board of Standard and Appeals will hear an appeal by community residents on the BSA’s previous decision to allow the construction of the building to go forward. (That decision is still pending resolution of the partnership dispute over air rights between developer Mendel Brach and the owner of the adjoining properties, Scott Specter.) The hearing will be at the BSA, 40 Rector Street in Manhattan, 10 a.m. on 22 July. By mass transit, take the J/M/Z to Broad Street or the 1 via the L to Rector Street.