Category: Linked

Bob Scarano has pretty spot-on architectural criticism (though I withhold judgement on Toren).

Malcolm Smith continues his quest to make David Paterson seem like an effective leader. To think, only a year ago we thought Sheldon Silver was the worst thing that could happen Albany.

So sad. So irreversible. And so inevitable… Sure, Ratner says he still plans to build. Yippie! The new arena design now on the table bears as much resemblance to Gehry’s as a Dumpster does to his Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

The Post’s Steve Cuozzo is clearly not impressed with Ratner’s AY bait and switch (“there’s no way to sugar-coat the calamity”). Instead of great architecture that celebrates Brooklyn, we’re now faced with “Atlantic Terminal North”. In other words, yet another value-engineered shopping center from the folks that brought you Metro Tech. (Clearly I’m on a different page from Marty on this switch.)

There goes the neighborhood.

The BRT powerhouse is pretty much toast by now, but the IRT powerhouse on West 58th Street in Manhattan is slated to go before the Landmarks Commission for a designation hearing in July. The IRT plant was designed by McKim, Mead & White, and has already been heard by LPC twice (first in the 1970s, then in the 1980s) – in both cases, LPC took no action. Its an incredible building (as was the BRT plant) – if you agree, sign the petition.

In a story first reported by Aaron Short…

Looks like the Times left that part out. And make no mistake, the story was reported by Aaron, even it was “only” published in a blog. If you read Aaron’s BushwickBK post, there was clearly a lot of shoe leather put into the effort of connecting the dots. The Times should have acknowledged that.

Yesterday’s Brooklyn Paper piece on the Kent Avenue bike lane greenway controversy (linked on Brownstoner) seemed awfully familiar to me. After a bit of Googling, I figured out why – they ran the exact same story last week.

Its a good article, possibly worth reading twice. But let’s not make a weekly habit of it (even if there is a certain ground-hog day quality to Kent Avenue at this point).

It looks as though the skies are going to clear in time for a nice weekend. Here are some weekend events to get you out of the house.

Williamsburg Walks

Tomorrow is the season opening for Williamsburg Walks, which this year runs every Saturday through June and July. Bedford Avenue will be closed to traffic between Metropolitan Avenue and North 9th Street. This year, civic and cultural groups will be programming certain blocks. This Saturday’s “host” will be the Williamsburg Gallery Association, which will provide creative programming, such as live music, performance art, installations, gallery booths, public art projects, activities for kids, and more. The WGA block of Williamsburg Walks will be a vibrant display of the diverse arts of the Williamsburg community.

Slate Gallery will have a table featuring the work of Mr. Imagination, a charismatic and flamboyant outsider artist who creates sculptures in the vein of traditional African Art using found materials of all varieties. Works are available at many price levels.

Other highlights include wheel-throwing pottery demonstrations and instruction by local design showroom and ceramic studio Choplet (all afternoon); an acoustic post-afrobeat band featuring members of the Superpowers afrobeat ensemble (2pm) and local artist Marc Breslin be making a long continuous drawing over the course of a few hours as a commentary on histories of violence (starting at 2pm).

Where: Bedford Avenue
When: Saturday, noon to 8 pm
Price: Free

Rooftop Films

Stingray Sam – A dazzling six-episode musical-western comedy that takes place in outer space, written, directed by and starring Cory McAbee, the creator of The American Astronaut. The filmmakers will be in attendance. Watch the trailer here.

Where: on the roof of the Brooklyn Tech, 29 Fort Greene Place (Fort Greene, Brooklyn) MAP
When: Saturday, June 6th. Doors open at 8; Sound Fix will have a live music show at 8:30, and the movie starts at 9.
Price: $9 – order tickets here

Contrary to Brownstoner, I’m not so sure that the slow pace of demolition at the former BRT power plant (500 Kent Avenue) is the result of environmental concerns. Remember that Con Ed’s assessment of the site found very little in the way of environmental issues (contrary to the story they were passing off to the community last year). Watching this from the water side, the issue might be how to dismantle the huge iron coal pockets. They have been taking that down in large sections and then doing the dismantling on the ground.

Gee, I didn’t see this coming.

As expected, Ratner has dropped the Frank Gehry design for a new Nets Arena in favor of a new design by Ellerbe Becket. The new design is charitably described as bearing a “likeness to an ‘airplane hanger'”. Hardly the lofty civic gesture Brooklyn was promised. (Williamsburg has seen its own bait and switch, on a lesser scale – as soon as the 2005 rezoning was approved, Enrique Norten was dumped as the architect for the Edge; the result has not been pretty.)

In related news, Nicolai Ourousoff has a review of Thom Mayne’s new building for Cooper Union, praising the “civic value of a bold statement”. Perhaps civic value and bold statements are just for Manhattan.