Category: Noted
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City Reneges on Promised Brooklyn Waterfront Parks
Source: Wall Street Journal I’d been meaning to write a wrap-up post on last week’s City Council hearing on the status of the 2005 rezoning of the Williamsburg & Greenpoint waterfront, including the many articles that led up to the hearing. Happily, the Working Harbor Committee has done that for me – written a concise,…
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Inside the Domino Sugar Refinery
More scenes of abandonment and decay – this time from the aptly title Abandoned NYC blog (via Business Insider, of all places). Raw Sugar Warehouse, interior Photo: Abandoned NYC
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Brooklyn’s Boneyard
In the Daily Mail, a collection of photos from Williamsburg’s days (not so long ago) as a open-air chop shop. Photo: James Cathcart
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City Won’t Promise to Finish Two Long-Stalled North Brooklyn Parks
As the Brooklyn Paper reports, the Bloomberg administration has refused to commit to any goals or deliverables on the acquisition or construction of Bushwick Inlet Park or 65 Commercial Street. (I guess everyone has given up on the expansion of Barge Park?) Financial mismanagement and planning gaffes have also stood in the way of both…
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Brooklyn Waits on Promise of a Park
Stuck in Park Source: WSJ The Wall Street Journal has a lengthy article (and excellent graphic) on the fight to get the Bloomberg administration to follow through on the parks and affordable housing it promised Williamsburg and Greenpoint in the 2005 rezoning. Often there are community benefit components that make rezonings more acceptable than they…
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Williamsburg Charter High Gets a Reprieve; Cheating at PS 31?
The saga of Williamsburg Charter High School’s closing continues. Yesterday, a judge refused the city’s request to move forward with a lottery to relocate the current students at the school. Unfortunately, this decision doesn’t necessarily help the students at WCH, as they may still need to scramble to find a new school between now and…
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Wythe Hotel
80 Wythe Theobald Englehardt (1900) Morris Adjmi Architects (2012) Photo: brooklyn11211 Matt Chaban in the Observer: This was, is and will be the greatest thing Williamsburg has ever seen. It is the pinnacle, the acme, the end. The story of gentrification, at least in this oft-buzzed about corner of Brooklyn, is over — checked at…
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Katan Loses Domino Suit
The Observer reports that Isaac Katan failed to secure an injunction against his partner in the $1.5 billion Domino development from selling a majority stake in the project. The decision appeared to clear the way for the Community Preservation Corporation, a joint owner of the site, to proceed with a deal to hand the majority…
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Ferry Operator Wants to Accept Metrocards
The East River Ferry wants to accept Metrocards. Other non-MTA services already accept Metrocards, so the idea is not that far fetched. But the real innovation would be for the ferry to accept Metrocard transfers – i.e., eliminating the two-fare structure that most commuters using the ferry face (by the way, it’s nice to see…