I wonder if there are generations of artificial siding salesmen out there – Ernest Tilley hawking aluminum in the 1950s and 60s, his son vinyl in the 70s and 80s. If so, his grandson has been very busy with “California stucco”. Can we make them stop?
Stucco Horror on North 9th
Street Pickles
South 4th & Wythe, May 1
Kedem: Spring Cleaning
A week or so ago, I noted that there was activity at the Kedem Winery site on Kent Avenue just south of Broadway. The site has been granted a rezoning to residential use, but based on the sign that went up this week, it doesn’t look like anything is going to be happening soon. (Interesting that it is just the lot that is available, not the development site.)
Manhattan Avenue Street-end Park Opens
Ms. Heather has the pictures to prove it.
(What is the official name of this park?)
‘Ideal Street’ Seeks Eternal Life
Jake Mooney of the Times on Henry Miller and Fillmore Place. On May 12, the Landmarks Commission is expected to formally designated Fillmore Place and Miller’s childhood home (which is on Driggs, not Fillmore as the photo caption in the article says).
Bike Lane Fix: What a Great Idea
Not to toot my own horn, but, well – beep, beep.
To be fair, the rumored solution described by Brooklyn Paper does improve on the idea I put forward five and a half months ago, in that it keeps commercial traffic off of Wythe Avenue (which I thought was the only way out, but what do I know – I’m not a transportation planner). [UPDATE: The discussion of Wythe Avenue comes in the comments, not the article itself. The commenter states that southbound traffic would be routed to Union Avenue, which is already a truck route.] As I said when this latest rumor first surfaced last week, the key to solving the problem was to do some actual planning, not just shift the burden a block to the east. And it seems like actual planning was involved, and that what is proposed might be a comprehensive solution.
Of course, the most important thing is that peace is restored to the kingdom. (Actually, the really important thing is that businesses regain access to their curbsides.)
[Corrected, as above.]
The Religious Dimension of the Torture Debate
Bottom line: white evangelicals and Catholics are far more likely to endorse torture; mainline Protestants and “unaffiliated” (aka godless heathens?) are more likely to oppose it. Godless heathens are the most likely to oppose torture. And going to church generally correlates with support of torture.
Still, just about any way you look at it, a plurality of Americans believe torture can be justified at least some of the time.
Violetta Krzyzak
A sad end to Monday’s hit and run on Manhattan Avenue.
Metropolitan Taco Cart
Kudos for the “mostly nameless Metropolitan taco cart”:
When compared to their peers on Bedford (the mostly regrettable Endless Summer Truck at North 6th and mostly depressing L.A. Burrito at South 1st), these tacos are a true standout in Mexican flavor.
Mostly depressing? How about utterly and completely? We long ago dubbed L.A. Burrito “Blando Burrito” – a name they have never failed to live up to.
[via Serious Eats]
Williamsburg Hotty – Not a Brownstone
Great moments in real estate listings – this is not a brownstone, nor is it even a row house. There is an outside chance that the lintels and sills are brownstone, but from the picture I’d put my money on cast iron. Funnier still is that the sign on the building says “Lofts for Rent”. Lofts?, brownstones? – pick a story and stick with it, folks. I’d suggest brick tenement, but that’s just me being honest.
As for the interior, the gut renovation has pretty much sucked the life out of the place, leaving a white box with brick walls (charming!). The countertops might be Caesarstone (and that might be impressive, I honestly don’t know), but from the picture there’s about 1.5 square feet of countertop. I’m not sure what a stone-covered bathroom is, but its fun to contemplate.
Back on the exterior, the shutters are completely out of place (as are the multi-light windows and their fake muntins), but probably not as ridiculous as the air-conditioned shutter on the building to the left. Oh, and to complete the brownstone ambience, there’s a pizzeria downstairs (a long-time favorite, by the way – Tony and Concetto deserve a better broker* than this).
(This broker* seems to specialize in “brownstones” (and using “hot” to describe them) – they have another one listed on Graham Avenue. No exterior shot, but its not a brownstone, trust me. That one has a “new front door” and a “brick pho-fireplace”.)
(*The site seems to be connected to aptsandlofts.com (see comments), but its not actually clear that they are trying to market these apartments.)