Author: linked

Another MDIM project highlighted on Curbed, this one at the corner of Driggs and North 12th (the smaller vacant lot facing McCarren – this by the way on the lone R7A block in the area, so relatively high density). And another winner – it will be very interesting to see this next to the Karl Fisher project going up on the lead paint factory site to the west.

I’d be interested to know who the developers are for these MDIM projects – they are obviously maximizing value, but doing so with an aesthetic that is decidedly a cut above the north Brooklyn norm.

Hertzberg:

As [Obama] whirled through Afghanistan and Iraq—talking with troops, huddling with generals, conferring with presidents and prime ministers—the policy dominoes suddenly began toppling his way, flicked by unexpected fingers. Commanders on the ground in Afghanistan made known their belief that more NATO troops are badly needed there, as Obama has been arguing all along. The Bush Administration sent an Under-Secretary of State to a meeting in Geneva with Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, thereby edging toward the kind of direct diplomatic engagement with Tehran that Obama has been urging all along. The White House announced that President Bush and the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, had agreed on the idea of a “time horizon” for withdrawing American troops from Iraq, thus seeming to endorse the general approach that Obama has been advocating (and his opponent just as firmly rejecting) all along. In an interview with Der Spiegel, Maliki went stunningly further [and essentially endorsed Obama’s timetable].

Here’s my theory on the Bush administration’s embrace of Obama’s foreign policy: after almost 8 years of turning everything he touches to shit, Bush figures he’s bound to fuck all this up too. Hopefully, it will all be a complete mess by late October, at which point McCain/Bush can say “See, we told you Obama didn’t know what he was doing.”

Too clever by half, though, as Bush sure to screw up his plan to screw up Obama’s foreign policy talking points, thus making a success of Obmama’s foreign policy.

Dines Farms was a fixture at the Greenpoint farmers’ market for years, even in the dead of winter when only three or four vendors would show up. They disappeared without explanation late last year, but now the Times tells us why: it turns out Mr. Dines was selling other people’s meat. This violates one of the most basic of Greenmarket commandments, so Dines was suspended from the Greenmarket program (Dines sold at 9 of the city’s 45 Greenmarkets). Too bad, as Dines’ replacement has a much narrower selection, and, anecdotally, seems to be a lot more expensive (and Dines was not cheap). Plus, the Dines guy at the Greenpoint market was a mensch.

Actually, they should put stores in the vacant stores at Williamsburg Houses.

Given all the talk of a lack of decent food buying options in public housing, why not put good supermarkets in there? Local residents won’t have to travel far for decent food, and a quality supermarket would even attract people from outside the given project, making the retail more viable and (theoretically) the goods more affordable.

Yes, affordable housing is important, but so too are good jobs and local groceries.

An architect, in the process of designing a very high-profile office tower in Manhattan, once told me about the elaborate, effective, and largely undetectable security measures that had been incorporated into the building. His client, a very high-profile financial concern, looked at the plans and announced that they needed the building surrounded in bollards. The client told the architect that they wanted something noticeable, something that would, ideally, send the opportunistic terrorist off to the next building.

This could get interesting.

And in front of the tourists, no less.

Its interesting to see how the use of the street evolves from week to week. The merchants and the public are slowly figuring out how to use this great new resource – space.

Williamsburger opened last Friday, and already one correspondent at Eater has panned it based on the menu alone. But if you read down to the comments, people who have actually eaten at the restaurant like it.

A great time trial ride by Carlos Sastre, ensuring the second Spanish win at the Tour in as many years. (By the way, BoulderReport turns out to have had a great live blog of the race.)