Wednesday evening, I’ll be introducing a panel discussion at MAS on the reuse of industrial buildings in NYC (for industrial purposes and otherwise). The panel should be very interesting (even if the introduction is not).

From Newtown Creek Alliance:

NEWTOWN CREEK CRUISE SEPTEMBER 14, 2008

A three-hour cruise exploring one of New York Harbors most historic waterways.

Come aboard for an intense Newtown Creek exploration! Our comfortable charter boat will travel the length of Newtown Creek. We will also cover English Kills. The Greenpoint Avenue Bridge and Metropolitan Avenue Bridge will open on our signal so we can view the furthest reaches of the Creek and English Kills.

Souvenir Tour Brochure with historical information and vintage maps.

Narration by experienced historical and environmental guest speakers.

Complementary snacks and soft drinks will be served.

Departs at 1:00 P.M. sharp from Skyport Marina, East River at 23rd Street, Manhattan. Easy to reach by M21 and M23 bus.

Sponsored by the Working Harbor Committee
Co-hosted by Newtown Creek Alliance

Tickets must be purchased in advance.

To purchase tickets, contact:
The Newtown Creek Alliance
NY Charities
or
Working Harbor Committee

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Via Williamsburg is Dead, word of a great party for a great community garden.

This Friday, the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects is holding a panel discussion on the Greenpoint/Williamsburg waterfront rezoning. In addition to the star-studded line up of speakers below, the panel includes Howard Slatkin of City Planning and a representative of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance.

The Greenpoint/ Williamsburg Waterfront: Emerging Development

Friday, 06/20/2008, 8:30–10:00am (RSVP)
Recently NYC passed one of its largest rezonings— new regulations for high-rise residential/ mixed use development along the northern Brooklyn waterfront. A panel discussion representing developer interests, city housing officials, and community representatives will present and discuss implementation issues and opportunities.

Speakers:
Ward Dennis, Community Board 1 – Brooklyn
Shirley Jaffe, VP of Development, RD Management
Arden Sokolo, NYC Housing, Preservation & Development

Moderator:
Michael Samuelian, Co-chair, Planning & Urban Design Committee
Organized by: AIA Planning and Urban Design Committee
Location: Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place
Member Price: Free
CES LUs: 1.5, CES HSW: 1.5

The artists formerly living at 475 Kent Avenue have organized a group exhibition at the Bulova Corporate Center, part of the Queens Museum of Art. The exhibit opened on Wednesday, but the opening reception is tonight.

From the QMA monthly calendar:

On a cold January evening, residents of 475 Kent Avenue, artist lofts and studios on the south waterfront of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, were evacuated from their home by the FDNY. A thriving arts community, 475 Kent Avenue is home to over 200 artists, curators, musicians and other creative professionals who are at the heart of the city’s creative pulse.

475 KENT Lives, a group exhibition of 23 artists at the Bulova Corporate Center (a Satellite Gallery of the Queens Museum of Art) celebrates the vital contributions of these artists as they battle to return to their homes and workplaces while calling attention to the increasing vulnerability of New York’s creative communities. 475 KENT Lives, organized by independent curator Kòan-Jeff Baysa, and coordinated by artist Lisa Mordhorst (both 475 Kent residents) and the Queens Museum of Art, opens April 9 at the QMA Gallery at the Bulova Coporate Center in Jackson Heights, Queens.

Participating artists:
Kanoa Baysa, Lee Boroson, Jennifer Byxbee, Melissa Clarke, Jeremy Dean, Alison Dell, Emma Dewing, Asa Elzén, GGrippo, Kirsten Hassenfeld, Hollis Jeffcoat, Vibeke Jensen, Betsy Kelleher, Simon Lee, Deborah Masters, McDavid Moore, Lisa Mordhorst, Cecilia Rodhe, Eve Sussman, Rob Swainston, …, Michael Weintrob and Markus Wetzel.

475 KENT Lives is made possible by Blumenfeld Development, Ltd.

Obviously, a lot of daily commuters on the water taxi are not happy about its impending suspension of service. A group of riders has started to organize to try to get some restoration of service before 1 May 2008 (NYWT’s announced date). Tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 11:00 am there will be a meeting at the Schaeffer Landing water taxi stop, organized by Councilmember David Yassky’s office, to discuss next steps.

Seems that we are on a school kick lately. We received the following regarding a kickoff meeting for a series of workshops on local schools:

The District 14 Community Education Council (CEC) and the Education Committee of Community Board #1 are planning to initiate a series of roundtable workshops to evaluate and support the needs and goals of each public elementary and middle school in District 14. This CEC meeting will set the tone for the discussions which will happen at each school, define their overall priorities and establish the procedures (which of course will be adjusted as we go along.) NYC Council Member David Yassky will participate in this planning workshop.

Please plan to attend and encourage members of your community to participate starting with this Thursday’s meeting. We need to hear your thoughts and opinions right from the start!

[…]
The first meeting is tomorrow evening:
Thursday November 15, 2007
6:30 PM
215 Heyward Street
Auditorium
This meeting is the first in a series of information and planning workshops hosted by the CEC and the Education Committee of Community Board #1. These workshops will address issues affecting individual schools as well as those affecting the entire District.

This meeting will outline the goals and priorities of the initial planning workshops. Please take a seat at the table and have your voice be heard!

For more information, please call CEC14 office @ (718) 302-7624 or
E-mail us at cec14@schools.nyc.gov

The roundtables are intended to tour the neighborhood, focusing on each of the schools one by one. Given the dismal performance of some of our local schools, and the overcrowded conditions of our better performing schools, attendance should be mandatory for all parents of school-age (or yet-to-be-school-age) children. The only way the system is going to improve is if motivated parents (from all parts of the community) get involved.

Otherwise, Williamsburg’s best schools will continue to be in the East Village.

Mayor Bloomberg and his Commissioners are holding a town hall meeting in Greenpoint this coming Thursday, 4 October, at 7:00 PM. The meeting will include an opportunity to ask the Mayor questions about issues affecting Greenpoint, and hopefully to get some answers.

This is a once-in-an-administration opportunity for the community to get its key issues in front of the Mayor, and to put some Commissioners (ahem, DOB) on the spot in front of their boss. If the past is any guide, though, the Mayor will be presented with a huge laundry list of issues, some of which he won’t even have control over, some of which can only be answered in platitudes. Some of the issues will be old fights, better left alone for one evening (he is not going to reopen the firehouse).

What we need is a list of 5 to 7 key areas that can be pounded over and over again (my vote: construction, affordable housing, parks, environment, contextual zoning, landmarks and transportation). Each one should require no more than a minute to expound on (there’s a lot of illegal construction going on every weekend – why can’t we see permits on line, and what are you going to do to police the problem?). And each one should have a clear, achievable action associated with it (BIS should show weekend permits now).

Focus, people. This is your only chance.

Where: Polonaise Terrace, 150 Greenpoint Avenue

When: Thursday 4 October 2007. 7 pm.

The always fun and informative City Reliquary is sponsoring its 4th annual Tribute to Our City this weekend. From Reliquary President Dave Herman:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The City Reliquary Museum invites you to…
The 4th Annual Tribue to Our City
This Saturday September 8th, 2007 12-6PM on Havemeyer Street between Grand & Hope Sts.

A neighborhood pot-luck picnic in the streets complete with live music, games, raffle prizes, entertainment, free food and goodwill all day long! Please come out to join us. We will be joined by our friends from, Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn Public Library, Lower East Side Tenament Museum, Coney Island Museum, The Gowanus Wildcats Drill Team with singer Renee Flowers, a performance by Kay Turner of Brooklyn Arts Council, live local bands, and more. BBQ’s will be grilling all day and we encourage all potluck picnicers to come out and join us! Come out to meet your neighbors, appreciate our city, and show your support for your hometown museum, The City Reliquary!

Always civic,
Dave

Where: Havemeyer, between Grand & Hope
When: Saturday 8 September 2007. noon to 6 pm.

144 North 8th Street (aka The Finger Building)
Photo: A Test of Will

Remember all those buildings that were grandfathered under the old zoning – it turns out that they only had 2 years to complete work, after which time their DOB permits expired. That two years was up in May, 2007. And because the zoning changed, the permits cannot be renewed without a variance.

Last month, CB 1’s land use committee had an appetizer in this regard – a request to extend the permit for 20 Bayard Street1 (part of the famous Karl Fischer Row, and marketed, ironically, under the slogan “It is illegal to get this high”). This month – next Monday, to be exact – we get to the main course. Yes, we’re talking about the Finger Building. This will be the first time that the public actually gets a say about this project – up until now, they have been operating “as of right” (if you define “as of right” to mean “we’ll make up our zoning”).

Also on the agenda next week is a similar variance for 55 Eckford Street, which looks to be one of the Tahoe buildings Gowanus Lounge loves so much.

Where: CB1 Public Hearing. 211 Ainslie Street.
When: Monday, 10 September 2007. 6:30 pm.

1. Whose website is too annoying and flash-bloated to actually link to.↩