Author: linked

With DOB under the microscope, now is probably not the best time to be bribing inspectors. Hell, any inspector taking a bribe in the current environment is an even bigger idiot. Too bad judges can’t add time for stupidity.

If a house was built in the 1830s, 150 years after the Dutch ceded control of New Amsterdam to the English, it is not a “Dutch Farmhouse”.

(Which is not to say that this building shouldn’t be a landmark.)

More fallout from the wall collapse that killed laborer Lauro Ortega, and more self-certification shenanigans. Turns out the engineer who pulled the plans authorizing construction at the site had lost his self-cert privileges. So he signed his partner’s name to the documents.

The contractor/developer of the project has already been charged with manslaughter. The engineer – Abraham Hertzberg – is charged with 9 felony counts of offering a false instrument.

Its good to see DOB and DOI going after the bad actors, but at some point the structural deficiencies in the system itself need to be addressed.

One line that had been scheduled for more service in the original proposal last December but was not included in this round of improvements was the G. Riders on the G often complain of long waits between trains. Officials said the G did not exceed the loading guidelines.

No love for the L, either.

The short-lived Luna Lounge on Metropolitan looks like it will soon reopen as the Knitting Factory. Good news/bad news. Its too bad that Luna didn’t make it – the old Ludlow version was a bastion of the music scene way back when, and it would have been great to see that success translate over here. Knitting Factory, on the other hand, has long been a bigger (bastionier?) bastion of NY’s downtown music scene, so it will be great to see that success translate over here. Hopefully this is a sign that music and the arts can continue to thrive in Williamsburg – all signs have been pointing in the opposite direction of late.

Its getting rather crowded in the 33rd.

(And as yet, no competition in the 34th, next door?)

As always, a class act.

The only way to see a million-dollar sunset in Williamsburg is to own a million-dollar condo.

With all the open space that was promised as part of the Williamsburg/Greenpoint rezoning, all we have so far is a state park with no amenities that closes before sunset. But at least its A park.

So – we have an architect, an inspector and a developer charged with building-related improprieties in the space of three days. Looks like chickens are coming home to roost. Of course each is just the tip of a very large iceberg.

I wonder who is next?

Shocking.