Four Square

Hard fought, but I’d call it a draw.

I suggested that Yassky, Katz, Liu and Weprin settle the comptroller race by a game of four square. David was up for it – think of all the taxpayer matching money that would be saved.

Mister Softee Means Business This Holiday

Greenpoint is ground zero for counterfeit Mister Softee trucks.

Conway [of the real Mister Softee] said he spotted the trucks parked in a junkyard as he was going over the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge in Brooklyn. The environment, he said, was unsanitary for a food truck and “it makes us look bad from head to toe.”

UPDATE: Rosenwach Fire

07/05/2009 | 6 Comments

photo: everyplace on flickr

Regarding the fire last night at Rosenwach, I have heard via a third party that a resident of the loft building across the street said that the fire was started by fireworks – white kids in their 20s shooting Roman candles off near Rosenwach, and that some of those fireworks landed in the yard. Since the yard was a big huge pile of wood, predictable things happened.

On flickr, everyplace has a photo set of fire pictures from last night (including video). As I said last night, the fire was intense – and I assume pretty damn scary for the residents nearby. You can see in everyplace’s photos that the flames rose up to at least the height of the loft building across North 9th Street. According to another eyewitness, fireman were still working to contain the fire at 11:40 (two and a half hours after the first trucks reposonded). (Thanks to mikkipedia for the flickr link.)

Fire at Rosenwach

07/04/2009 | Comment

Around 9:00 tonight Rosenwach Tanks (makers of the ubiquitous rooftop water tanks) caught on fire. It was an intense fire, and an hour later flames could still be seen leaping up from the building at the corner of North 9th and Wythe. A lot of fire trucks were on scene, along with police for crowd control. There aren’t a lot of buildings on the property, but there is a lot of wood stored there.

Broadway Holy War

The latest on the Broadway Triangle, the Lopez and Markey bills and the Catholic church. Aaron Short owns this story.

PS – Now that it finally has content online, yournabe.com has upgraded it web design. Its still a UI nightmare, but at least its one circle of hell removed from the old version. Keep trying, folks.

A Hasidic Section of Brooklyn, Seemingly Lost to Time

The Times takes a walk around South Williamsburg and finds an “anachronistic pleasure” (they also can’t tell Grand Avenue from Grand Street, but hey, they don’t get out to these parts much).

Pool Parties Lineup Announced

Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, Deerhunter and Mission of Burma, to name a few. And all free.

Tour de France 2009

07/03/2009 | Comment

Prologue tomorrow morning, 9:30 local time. Great course this year – four countries plus the prologue in Monaco, stopover in Barcelona, and a finish at Mont Ventoux the night before the ride into Paris. And, it seems as though there is less of flat stages up front (only four days of flats before the Pyrenees).

Palin Says She Will Resign as Alaska Governor

I understand not running for reelection as a prelude to mounting a presidential campaign, but quitting midstream? Quitting midstream through your first executive position above the municipal level?

Strange.

Soccer Field of Dreams

07/03/2009 | 1 Comment

As the Gazette reports, construction has finally begun on a portion of Bushwick Inlet Park. As I noted previously (and as originally reported by NAG), in May the City upped its commitment to building out some of the promised area parks. Here’s a rundown and status check of what the City said in May:

Manhattan Avenue Street end greening is open to the public as of today. Check.
Northside Piers (at North 5th St/Kent Ave.) will be open 7 days per week within the next two weeks. Check (though it was closed this morning).
Transmitter Park will be opened for use this summer, with interior fencing that provides as much safe site access as possible. Slated to open in July (though the groundbreaking that was once promised for Summer, 2009 won’t be happening).

We are working to improve Newton Barge Terminal Park to provide waterfront views this summer. Unclear – anyone?

Mayor’s office will proceed with an independent study to further the relocation of the MTA. In progress, from what I hear.
Parks Dept. will hold regular public listening sessions about the parks commitments of the rezoning. Haven’t heard anything about this happening.
We will break ground on the first phase of Bushwick Inlet Park, a soccer field, between North 9th and North 10th, in June. Check. Ground was broken and some construction was started in June.