Williamsburg Walks, 11 July 2009
He might not be constitutional, but at least our new Lieutenant Governor has good taste in restaurants:
This is my favorite restaurant, and I wouldn’t take the oath of office anywhere else.
I guess Ravitch will find out soon enough what the Albany restaurant scene is – I assume he is in for a let down.
Paterson’s surprise decision to appoint Richard Ravitch as lieutenant governor, legally questionable as it is, works for the accidental incumbent…
The Senate’s sandbox pissing match isn’t Paterson’s fault, but it sure hasn’t helped him look any more gubernatorial. Or capable. Maybe that’s why the Governor himself* called me this evening to explain what a great idea it is to bypass the constitution and open state government up to a whole new level of lawsuits and stalemates. If anything, this latest move proves that not only do we need to elect an entirely new State Senate, we also need to seriously revamp the State Constitution.
* It was a robocall – you probably got one too.
Its not built yet – hell, ground hasn’t even been broken for it – but the Bushwick Inlet Park District Headquarters and Community Facility (aka the sloped green building that will go in front of the soccer field the City broke ground for yesterday) has won a design award from the Public Art Commission.
Here are some press links from yesterday’s Bushwick Inlet groundbreaking:
North Brooklyn Now a Little Bit Optimistic About Promised Parks [Observer/NY Future Initiative]
Williamsburg Park Under Way, But Full Vision Still Unmet [Metro]
Ground Breaks on New Brooklyn Waterfront Park [WNYC]
City Breaks Ground on Bushwick Inlet Park [NY1]
City Breaks Ground on a 28-acre Park [GlobeSt.com]
City Breaks Ground on New Brooklyn Park [Post]
Mayor Breaks Ground on First Phase of Bushwick Inlet Park [Eagle]
And last, NAG’s press release on the groundbreaking. Here’s an excerpt:
The Parks Department and the Open Space Alliance, along with neighborhood groups including NAG, the Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park, and the Greenpoint Waterfront Association for Parks and Planning, have worked long and hard to create more open space along the East River. This future facility, along with East River State Park and the reopening of McCarren Pool, are examples of what can be done when local organizations and government work together to set priorities, push through bureaucracy and create positive change… But we must highlight the other open space commitments made during the 2005 rezoning in an agreement between the City Council and Bloomberg administration that have not yet materialized
Today’s post article on stalled development sites has gotten a lot of play, but there really is no “news” there. Its pretty simple – Brooklyn was the center of speculative development (some of it ill-conceived) in New York City. Williamsburg/Greenpoint was the center of speculative development (some of it ill-conceived) in Brooklyn.
So guess which borough has the most stalled development sites?
Guess which neighborhoods have the most stalled development sites in that borough?
Duh.
Want real news? A huge percentage of development sites continue to be active, despite the miserable economy. Want man bites dog news? Since January 2009, a number of new developments have broken ground and are still going up.
I have no idea why all these projects are moving forward, but they are.
(left to right) Steve Hindy, chair, Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn (OSA); Council Member
David Yassky; Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe; Mayor Michael Bloomberg; BP Markowitz; Assembly
Member Joseph Lentol
Photo: Mayor’s Office
As promised, the City started work on the soccer field portion of Bushwick Inlet Park in June. Presumably that involved some breaking of ground, though the official groundbreaking was today. The groundbreaking was attended by a bevy of pols (Mike, Joe, David), commissioners (Adrian, Amanda) and some of the neighborhood organizations that had a hand in making Bushwick Inlet Park (Community Board 1, Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park, GWAPP, NAG and OSA to name a few).
One soccer field is a long way off from the 28-acre park that the City has promised Greenpoint & Williamsburg, but the groundbreaking is a start (figuratively this month, literally last). So, yes, a reason to celebrate.
Walked by Rosenwach this morning, and am happy to report that the damage is surprisingly limited. A lot of charred wood, but a lot that didn’t burn. I suspect this was because a lot of the wood was bundled in pallets and (thanks to FDNY) water got onto the fire pretty quickly. This is the same theory behind heavy timber mill construction – thick sections of wood take a surprisingly long time to burn. Greenpoint Terminal Market was mill construction, and there was still a lot of good left when that fire was put out.
At Rosenwach, the small brick building at the center of the lot is still standing and looks unharmed. The sheds at the south corner are standing but heavily damaged, and all of the cladding on the street side is gone. Workers there are busy cleaning up and sorting good wood from bad. Hopefully they will be back in business soon.
