Author: Halden
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School Updates
Its been a busy week or two on the local school front, with two raucous meetings on two separate issues related to two failing elementary schools. First, a rumor surfaced last week that MS 577, which is currently housed in trailers in the playground of PS 132 (Manhattan and Metropolitan) would be relocated to PS…
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475 Kent Update
There seem to be a world of mixed messages on the 475 Kent front. First off, I’ve heard that all of the grain has been removed the building. This removes the immediate fire hazard, though the question of operable sprinklers still remains. The “City” (not clear which agency, Office of Emergency Management, I think) is…
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475 Kent Evacuated
Some thoughts on the eviction of hundreds of tenants from 475 Kent (covered extensively elsewhere, see below). First, this is a building I know fairly well. I know (or knew) at least two of the master lease holders, and know (or knew) about half a dozen other tenants. Coincidentally, I rang in the new millennium…
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Building Brooklyn Awards – 2008
I was very disappointed to learn that last year’s Building Brooklyn Awards did not include a single North Brooklyn project. Given the sheer volume of new construction in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, you would think that there was at least one decent new building. But alas, no – North Brooklyn was shut out in 2007 (as…
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Speaking of Branding
Further to the discussion yesterday about the idiocy of naming your new condominium development after a light switch, it is worth pointing out that the (shudder) Decora was designed by the same architect that brought us the Lucent. I have no idea if the same marketing geniuses are behind both projects, but it wouldn’t surprise…
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Too Easy
This is too damn easy: We’ve been watching this scary unique building 165 N. 10 Street in the Burg unfold ever since we laid eyes on the rendering […] from the drawing boards of Gene Kaufman Architect… In the meantime, the building is now being identified as The Decora… [Curbed] Kaufman’s Decora: Leviton’s Decora light…
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Water Taxi Connections
In the comments section of my last post, Cap’n Transit points to an entry on his blog that brings up an aspect of making connections to the ferry that I had not considered. Namely, that the ferry companies do it. The Cap’n mentions the success that New York Waterway (the “Jersey ferry”) has had with…
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Water Taxi Press Conference
Councilmember David Yassky at the NYWT press conference. On Saturday there was a press conference at Schaeffer Landing to push for the preservation of NY Water Taxi service through the winter. The press conference was held by Council members Eric Gioia (Queens) and David Yassky (Brooklyn), and was attended by 30 or 40 water taxi…
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Water Taxi Update
Obviously, a lot of daily commuters on the water taxi are not happy about its impending suspension of service. A group of riders has started to organize to try to get some restoration of service before 1 May 2008 (NYWT’s announced date). Tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 11:00 am there will be a meeting at the…
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No Such Thing As Free Parking
This past weekend, the Times posted an op-ed by Alexander Garvin and Nick Peterson titled The High Price of Parking, on the pitfalls of providing mandatory parking in most rehabs and all new developments. The argument really boils down to this: if you build it, they will park. And in the process, they will add…