Evan Thies, in a News letter to the editor, isn’t happy about DOB’s new uniforms.

While I agree that $385,000 is a bit much to pay for new uniforms (over $1,200 per uniformee), I’m not so sure the concept is as wrong-headed as Thies makes out. For one thing, anything that brings a greater sense of, well, uniformity, to the enforcement of building regulations can’t be a bad thing. Second, if inspectors are wearing uniforms, they’ll be easier to spot when they show up Monday morning to inspect weekend variance complaints. Finally, I have to think that it is harder to buy off someone in uniform.

[UPDATE:The News doesn’t provide links to individual letters to the editor, only to the whole day’s run of letters. To save you the trouble of wading through all of the others, here is the letter referenced above (in its entirety):

Brooklyn: I read with sheer disgust the news that the city’s Department of Buildings is spending almost $400,000 worth of taxpayer money on spiffy new uniforms for its inspectors.
The agency has pleaded poverty in the face of unbridled development for the past six years, as neighborhoods such as mine in Greenpoint-Williamsburg have dealt with dangerous construction sites and related accidents that have put residents at risk and even cost people their homes.
Unbelievably, fewer than 200 inspectors are deployed citywide to (futilely) deal with tens of thousands of new projects a year. That money for new uniforms could have added a half-dozen more – which is no solution, but certainly would have been money much better spent.
Evan Thies Community Board 1 Environment Committee

Ladder 104, on South 2nd Street, has a great new dining room table. Thanks in part to firefighter (and City Reliquary founder) Dave Herman.

Carroll Gardens has been making a lot of noise about context recently, and it has certainly gotten the attention of BP Markowitz (and his putative successor, Bill DiBlasio). But Marty et al are little late to the party, and there is a pretty long line ahead of CG. That line includes the contextual rezoning of Greenpoint & Williamsburg, which is now a two and a half year old promise. Happily, City Planning has said that this rezoning will go into serious study phase shortly, hopefully resulting in action (in two separate areas) in 2008.

Via the Post, more speculation about sneakers on telephone wires. (NYShitty has been speculating on this of late, even posting on some uniquely Greenpoint adornments.)

UPDATE: I guess the News isn’t the only daily trolling blogs for good stories – NYShitty posted last week on exactly the corner the Post wrote about today.

(Oh, and Heather scooped me too.)

Via Greenpoint Star, word that the City has finally funded three local initiatives to fight displacement in north Brooklyn. The $2 million in funding was committed as part of the waterfront rezoning (two and a half years ago) in order to help lower-income tenants who are being forced out their apartments by development. The funding is going to Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council ($475,000), United Jewish Organization ($217,000) and a consortium of 8 local housing groups led by North Brooklyn Development Corporation ($1,300,000).

Of course none of this money helps the people who have been priced out of the neighborhood over the past 30-plus months.

11211 expresses its deepest condolences to Sam Hindy’s family.

Via the Times, a cautionary tale on the lengths to which some landlords will go to evict a tenant. The rule should be “trust but verify”. Before you sign anything, agree to anything, or (God forbid) go to housing court, know the rules and know where you stand.

I know there are debates about geographical boundaries in North Brooklyn, but does anyone really think that Fortunato Brothers (on Manhattan and Devoe, south of Metropolitan) is in Greenpoint?? Apparently the Post does.