Who’s Behind the Blight?

07/18/2011 | 1 Comment

Turns out that a lot of the stalled construction sites in Williamsburg (corner of South 4th and Bedford, 212-218 North 9th, 237-243 North 9th, 261-263 North 9th) are owned by the same pair of developers. Who also own the converted loft building at 100 South 4th Street and the vacated loft building at 239 Banker Street.

The L Train is Crowded on Weekends Too

At the Bedford Avenue stop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which serves about a third of the L train’s passengers, an average weekend day retains 90 percent of the ridership of a weekday.

Charlatans & Cowards

07/08/2011 | Comment

Kevin Drum on the pitiful jobs report out this morning:

We are ruled by charlatans and cowards. Our economy is in the tank, we know what to do about it, and we’re just not going to do it. The charlatans prefer instead to stand by and let people suffer because that’s politically useful, while the cowards let them get away with it because it’s politically risky to fight back. Ugh indeed.

In Hawking Seafood, He Reeled in a Show

07/06/2011 | Comment

Ben Sargent, founder of Hurricane Hopeful and the underground lobster-roll man, makes the big time.

Rose Plaza Now a Conversion?

07/01/2011 | Comment

Rose Plaza: Not Coming Soon to a Waterfront Near You??

Brownstoner reports this morning that 484 Kent Avenue has a DOB permit to convert the top two floors of the building to 30 residential units. The ground floor will remain as warehouse use.

Presumably, this means that the grand plans for Rose Plaza – and its 240 affordable housing units – aren’t going to come to fruition anytime soon. If that’s the case, that is the second affordable housing project in a week to put an affordable housing promise on long-term hiatus.

You Can Also Read Our Story in the New York Post

Apparently, it’s not just bloggers who get their scoops scooped up by the Post.

Crown Vic

06/29/2011 | Comment

Interesting item on CB1’s crowded liquor license agenda this month – an application for a bar at 60 South 2nd Street, to be called Crown Victoria. A bar, on a list of 34 bars and restaurants (it was a quiet month), is not that interesting.

But the location is – this is a site that was just rezoned for residential use. The garage at 60 South 2nd, soon to be converted to an eating and drinking establishment, sits on the portion of the property that is slated for affordable housing as part of a larger development. According to the owners of Crown Vic, they have a 10-year lease.

Why Brooklyn Lives Up To The Hype

06/28/2011 | Comment

Gothamist has a sure-to-linked-to (and debated) list of 100 reasons why Brooklyn lives up to the hype.

We do seem to be living in a moment of Brooklyn triumphalism, so it’s to be expected there’s a backlash against Brooklyn’s hyped hip cachet. But what’s remarkable is that as overhyped and overmarketed as Brooklyn gets, it still manages to live up to its reputation—and often exceed it. Over the past twenty years, we’ve watched as Manhattan’s character has been steadily stripped away and strangled into a strip mall of American homogeneity. Meanwhile, Brooklyn keeps getting better.

Some local highlights:

100. Street art
95. Peter Pan Donuts
88. Singing Subaru Guy
87. The Prettiest Little Sewage Treatment Plant in Town
83. Saltie
81. Giglio Lift
79. Graham Avenue Meats & Deli
77. Brooklyn Kitchen & Meat Hook
74. Kent Avenue Bike Lane
69. The McKibben Dorms
68. Dressler
66. RUBULAD
61. Brooklyn Flea [1/2 point to Fort Greene]
60. Bowling
53. Smorgasburg
51. Pizza [Roberta’s and Motorino among others]
50. McCarren Park
49. Coffee Dominance
47. Agrarianism
46. City Reliquary
43. Franklin Street
42. Open Space Alliance
39. DIY Music Venues [Todd P and Glasslands, among others]
33. Third Ward
29. Old School Italian [no mention of Williamsburg/Greenpoint, tho]
28. Ferries
25. NAG [Hell yeah!]
23. Art
22. Spectacular views
17. Low-Budget Films, Homegrown Filmmakers, and the Festivals That Love Them
9. Brooklyn Beers
5. Small Presses, Literary Journals, & Art Mags

Lesbians, Gays, Firemen & Teachers

06/24/2011 | Comment

This evening, teachers were spared layoffs, firehouses were saved from closure, and gays and lesbians were given the right to marry.

Not bad for a day’s work, New York.

Bushwick Creek, The Movie

06/23/2011 | Comment

Filmmaker Brian Walsh has made a movie about Bushwick Creek and what lies beneath. The movie was based in part (or maybe inspired by is a better phrase) a blog post I wrote over four years ago, and which was, in turn, inspired by Bob Guskind’s reporting on the “Roebling Oil Field”.

Brian’s film is posted in five parts – part 1 is shown here, but go watch the rest. It is well done, and an interesting – and eye-opening – look at the environmental legacy of North Brooklyn.

Bushwick Creek – Part 1

UPDATE: Original video link was missing sound for the first few seconds. Fixed.