Monster Island to Close

Rumour has it that Whole Foods supermarket may open a branch in its place.

New one on me – it is worth noting that the site (on the west side of Kent Avenue) is not zoned for residential use. So absent a rezoning application, it won’t be a condo. But as far as I know, retail (or hotel, restaurant, club, etc.) are all as-of-right uses.

Monster Island will be holding a farewell block party on Saturday, 10 September.

Divorce Rate Almost 50% Higher in Bible Belt Than in NYC

48% higher for women, 41% for men. And they say we’re ruining the institution of marriage.

Hurricane Irene

08/25/2011 | 2 Comments

The exact track of Hurricane Irene is still a big unknown, but it sure is looking likely that it will dump a lot of wind and water on NYC come Sunday or Monday (or both). The latest tracking (taken with a big grain of salt) even have the eye of the storm going along the Queens/Nassau border.

Source: NYC Office of Emergency Management

So it seems like a good time to dust off this map and remind people in North Brooklyn that a lot of us live in flood-prone areas (you can download the full map here). The areas in orange “face the highest risk of flooding from a hurricane’s storm surge”, and include all low-lying coastal areas. The areas in yellow (which includes just about all of Greenpoint, the industrial areas of East Williamsburg, and parts of South Williamsburg) “may experience storm surge flooding from a MODERATE (Category 2 and higher) hurricane”. Areas in green (mostly on the Northside and just in on the Williamsburg waterfront) “may experience storm surge flooding from a MAJOR (Category 3 & 4) hurricane” making a more or less direct hit on the NYC (“unlikely” according to the City). The areas in white (the Southside and East Williamsburg residential areas) are unlikely to see any storm surge flooding.

You can find exactly which zone you are in – and where the nearest evacuation center is – here, and you can find the City’s Hurricane Guide here.

MTA Has 99 Problems, But J/Z Ain’t One

Ha ha – the Wall Street Journal made a funny. Get it – J/Z, 99 problems? Collect yourself.

The news behind the very hip headline is big, though – Straphangers Campaign has rated the J/Z the best line in the subway system. No argument from me there – it’s usually not too crowded, runs pretty frequently and regularly, and as a bonus, gets sunlight most of the way. (Too bad the Journal’s photographer couldn’t be bothered to go beyond Broad Street – she might have seen the “pleasant East River views” and “scenic above-ground run in Brooklyn”).

Amazingly, the L line tied for 5th place (out of 20) in the survey. But – no surprise – the L is more crowded than average.

Retro Fitness Coming to North 3rd

Conveniently located across the street from the Levee – my how that corner of the neighborhood has changed…

Three Candidates Vie in a Special Special Election

Gotham Gazette has an-depth look the candidates and issues in the special election for Assembly district 54.

How to Get $12 Billion of Gold to Venezuela

I put the ever-resourceful Nick Rizzo on the task

Go Nick!

[via DF]

A Departure from McMansions

Along with praise for a Toll Brothers project in DUMBO* comes this dig at Northside Piers:

The buildings were, in effect, exactly what you’d expect, aesthetically, from a builder of mass-produced McMansions: shiny, modern and drab.

I’ve long been on the record as preferring the shiny, modern “drabness” of FX Fowle’s NSP to the shiny, modern cacophony of its next-door neighbor.

*Full disclosure – a project I worked on.

Now at 77 Box Street

Per the last post, industry is alive and well in Brooklyn, it’s just different than what a lot of people think of as industry. But hotels and nightlife – two uses that are as-of-right in industrial zones – are probably the biggest threats to the viability of all that.

Prime Time in NYC

The Mayor held a press conference yesterday to tout the fact that a record number of prime-time shows – 23 – are currently filmed in New York.

“We see this as the manufacturing for the 21st century,” said Doug Steiner, who owns the studio in Brooklyn where [Pan Am, one of the shows] is shot.

Steiner is right – most of those shows are filming in Brooklyn and Queens, and a lot of the support industry (set design, construction, etc.) are also happening here.

[via Brownstoner]