27 January: CB1 Waterfront/ULURP Committee

01/26/2009 | Comment

Community Board #1’s ULURP and Waterfront Committees will be holding a joint meeting tomorrow night to consider City Planning’s proposed text amendments to the waterfront zoning provisions. In general, the proposal seems like a good package, and is certainly well-intentioned. But as with all such measures, there are devils in the details and questions as to whether or not it goes far enough.

The details:

Date: Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Time: 6:30 pm
Location: The Lady of the Snow Society, 410 Graham Avenue (between Withers Street and Jackson Street)



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The Gauntlet

01/25/2009 | Comment

gauntlet.jpg

Garbage day at Schaefer Landing (and this was a pretty light day).

Why is that in a new (ca. 2005) high-rise development, with hundreds of luxury and affordable units, is not required to provide some facility for off-street garbage loading? Probably the same reason that they are not required to provide all tenants access to the off-street drop-off area.



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Freed By U.S., Saudi Becomes a Qaeda Chief

A former terrorist released by President Obama is responsible for bombing the U.S. Embassy in Yemen.

Oh wait, sorry – the guy was released a year ago. By Bush.

Somehow the fact that W. screwed up everything he touched has become a reason for Barack not to try to get something right. Runs rings around you logically.

Obama Wants to Reopen Lady Liberty’s Crown

Another stupid Bush-era rule Obama is looking to overturn. Funny how Democrats are always accused of wanting to create a nanny state, when it was the Republicans who perfected the concept over the past eight years.

I haven’t been to “statue island” (as a certain 4-year-old I know calls it) since I was in 3rd or 4th grade, but I’d gladly go back if the crown was open.

Love Grows In Brooklyn

Somewhere, a publicist has earned his wings:

two of Brooklyn’s coolest hotels – hotel le jolie and hotel le bleu[…] are offering the ideal Valentine’s Day Packages for couples wishing to experience a romantic rendezvous in Brooklyn’s trendiest neighborhoods.

I mean really earned his wings:

Why It’s Dreamy: […]Nestled in Brooklyn’s trendy Williamsburg area, hotel le jolie offers comfortable rooms furnished with in-room amenities including

Whereby nestled, we mean cheek by jowl with BQE. Vroom, vroom – welcome to the neighborhood.

Change

This guy might be serious.

The new president effectively reversed a post-9/11 Bush administration policy making it easier for government agencies to deny requests for records under the Freedom of Information Act, and effectively repealed a Bush executive order that allowed former presidents or their heirs to claim executive privilege in an effort to keep records secret…

In what ethics-in-government advocates described as a particularly far-reaching move, Mr. Obama barred officials of his administration from lobbying their former colleagues “for as long as I am president.”

New Lease on Life for Finger Building

Via Brownstoner, things are looking up for Williamsburg’s overdevelopment poster child. Now that BSA has cleared the way, all that stands between the new owner and hefty profits is the economy.

The rendering makes the proportions of the building appear a lot more elegant than they look to be in real life.