Yesterday, I posted about yet another delay in the resumption of water taxi service at Schaefer Landing, and almost immediately had a comment noting that the dock installation was imminent. And then this morning, another post from the same commenter stating that the dock was going in at that moment (2:00 p.m.). Sure enough, when I went across the bridge this afternoon, there was a barge and crane in place in front of Schaefer. If it wasn’t installing a dock, it was certainly getting ready to. Clearly, my post shook things up and jump started the process…

Seriously, though, this is great news, and hopefully means that NYWT will be operating at Schaefer come next Monday morning. Though given the track record of the past few months, its far from a safe bet.

UPDATE: Yesterday afternoon, Curbed posted photos of the arrival of the dock and barge, including this one:

The Water Taxi dock arrives!
(The dock is the small thing floating in front of the tug; the larger barge is doing the installation.)
Photo: Curbed.

Yes, we’re recycling this image, but its the same
old story.

For those of us who have been waiting for July, and the return of NY Water Taxi’s East River Service, life continues to be a good news/bad news kind of thing.

The good news? As of today (30 June), NYWT has supposedly resumed its East River service.

I say supposedly, because as a Williamsburg resident, I would have no way of verifying this. That’s because the bad news is that – according to the NYWT website – East River service will not include Schaefer Landing until 7 July.

Riding across the East River on the J train today, I noted (as I do just about every day) the singular lack of any docking structure at Schaefer Landing. Yes, the dock that was supposed to arrive in May, is still not there. Nor is there any activity around the area where one might expect a dock to be indicating that anyone is remotely interested in actually building a dock-like structure.

Not that I don’t believe NYWT when they say service will resume on 7 July. Its just that we’ve all been, uh, mislead a few times over the past few months.

Meanwhile, I encourage everyone to try out the Ikea Express. It departs every 20 minutes from Pier 11 in Manhattan and runs right to Ikea’s new Red Hook store. And its free! No purchase necessary. 36 boats a day – gratis (or fri, if we are getting in the Ikea spirit)! Amazing what a little subsidy will do. As far as I know, you don’t even have to set foot in the big blue store. Go to the ball fields and get a taco. Go to Pier 41 in Red Hook for delicious key lime pie. Go to Baked on Van Brunt for more dessert. Go to Lenelles’s for some good hootch. Go to Fairway for a decent selection of food (you won’t find that in Williamsburg). Consider it your steal-this-book moment while you wait for NYWT to show up at Schaefer Landing with four pitiful boats every morning and four more in the afternoon.

The most recent newsletter of the Center for an Urban Future has an article [that’s a pdf] by Steve Hindy, the founder of Brooklyn Brewery, bemoaning the plight of small manufacturers like his. As Hindy points out, the squeeze of rezonings, gentrification and legal non-manufacturing uses in manufacturing zones (such as hotels) is driving up rents to the point that many manufacturers can’t afford New York any more.

This is about more than beer. It is having an impact on our parks and open space (both the MTA and CitiStorage are having trouble finding places to move to, and until they move, Barge Park and Bushwick Inlet Park can’t be completed). Its also having an impact on affordable housing (part of the MTA is one of the city-owned sites slated for new affordable housing). Most importantly, it has an impact on jobs – good paying jobs with benefits. For all the promise of new jobs to come from the rezoning, most of those are temporary construction-related jobs or low-paying service sector jobs. The jobs provided by light industry have supported many Williamsburg and Greenpoint residents for generations, but they are for the most part a thing of the past. The new wave is Ikea, Whole Foods and Duane Reade.

Despite claims of its demise, New York City (Brooklyn in particular) has a thriving manufacturing sector. Its not the leviathan of past centuries, or even of the years immediately after World War II. And its not the traditional sectors we nostalgically think of. It is lighter industry, industry that often benefits from a close proximity to the city, such as food processing, set construction and custom woodworking. Its also specialty manufacturers like Brooklyn Brewery, Aurora Lampworks or IceStone. Industrial enclaves such as the Brooklyn Navy Yard or GMDC have waiting lists for new tenants. This is not the industrial base of your grandparents, it is one that lives more easily with mixed residential and commercial uses.

Williamsburg Walks* – the proposal to close down a stretch of Bedford Avenue for 4 Saturdays this summer – looks as if it is going to happen. The proposal is to make Bedford from North 3rd to North 9th pedestrian only starting on 19 July and for the three Saturdays following. Stores and restaurants will be allowed to expand into the street.

(* The information on this link is out of date – check back soon for updates.)

Brooklyn Public Library is running an exhibit of photographs by Nathan Kensinger documenting the fast-eroding industrial landscape of Brooklyn’s waterfront. Coincidentally (or not), Kensinger’s show opens on the same day that Ikea’s Red Hook store opens (the latter was responsible for the loss of the Todd Shipyard graving dock and is next door to the former Revere Sugar factory.

The exhibit runs today through 22 August, with an opening reception/meet the artist event this evening at 7:30.

Photo: rajmeanswell

Walking down Metropolitan this morning I noticed a sidewalk shed had gone up in front of the clover-filled empty lot that has served as Relish’s lawn for many years now. Uh oh.

Took a look through a hole in the fence, and sure enough, there was a pile of steel. Checked out the fence more carefully, and there it was – a new building permit.

So what was once a lovely little urban oasis will soon become condos. Five of them, actually. Probably luxury ones. With off-street parking for one car. All in a five-story-plus-mezzanine package designed by Philip Toscano, RA (no web site for this old school architect).

Yes, its all as of right, and its private property that the owner can do with what he or she wants. But it is one little slice of Eden that will be missed.

Oh well.

A few of my favorite things.

Photo: Owen Franken for the NYT

From the inbox:

Please join the Newtown Creek Monitoring Committee & DEP for the Digester Egg lighting ceremony.
Tonight. June 3, 2008, 8 p.m.
Newtown Creek Wastewater Pollution Control Plant Nature Walk
(entrance gate located at Provost St & Paidge Ave. )
Greenpoint, Brooklyn 11222

Which gives me a good excuse to post this picture again:

Photo: Fred Conrad (via NYT)