The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce held its annual Building Brooklyn Award ceremony yesterday. Unlike in past years, this year’s crop of awardees included some local projects:

• 221 McKibben [sic] St. (historic preservation), circa 1850s and 1930s industrial buildings renovated to create spaces for small manufacturers and artisan studios and soon to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places;
• The Block Building (industrial building) at 41 Box St. in Greenpoint that’s a “contextual fit with the surrounding neighborhood”;
• NYPD Brooklyn Tow Pound (office building) at the Navy Yard. This award, which brought some groans, recognized its design and LEED silver certification “giving a visit to the building a positive twist,” said Doban;
• The Perry Building (National Grid Award) at the Navy Yard, honored as Brooklyn’s first multi-tenanted green building.

Save Coney Island, that is.

WNYC checks in on the rezoning of Williamsburg.

“It’s like St. Marks in the ’70s,” said Williamsburg activist Philip DePaolo, referring to the notorious East Village hangout. “It’s the bad old days all over again. There’s crack and heroin all over the neighborhood.”

The Daily News picks up on the crusties/stalled condo squatter meme (Williamsburg is Dead was there first). DN does manage to put an address on the problem – 510 Driggs, at the corner of North 9th, is supposedly a shooting gallery. I think that means the vacant lot next to this building. Can anyone ID actual buildings that are used as squats?

If Brooklyn is home to the devastating housing quake, Williamsburg is the epicenter of the disaster.

More on the New York article soon.

Heh. Compared to other rezonings, Williamsburg-Greenpoint is practically awash in new open space. Of course much of it remains to be acquired. And just about all of it remains to be built. But things may be looking up.