i'm not sayin, i'm just sayin

Roundup of Apple Tablet Details from Alleged Beta Tester Jason Calcanis, Others

2010-01-27T07:54:00.004-05:00

The blurry camphone pic above may be the first legit photo of the Apple tablet device (yes, name still withheld) seen in the wild. It was posted by tech entrepreneur Matt Schlict around 2:30 am Pacific Tuesday night, just hours after (apparently) the NDAs signed by a number of Apple beta testers expired.

Schlict and fellow tech investor Jason Calcanis tweeted a bunch of new details on the device, which (assuming this is not a hack nor a publicity stunt), include the following:

Tablet will come in 3 sizes / memory levels, priced at $599, $699 and $799

Connects to other tablets over wifi for gaming.

Two cameras - one on the front and one on the back. Video conferencing built-in.

Custom Farmville application (no, I'm not making this up)

Chess application that came in second software build (not all testers had seen it...suspicious?)

OLED screen

Back has solar pad for recharging

Verizon and AT&T connectivity

Two thumbpads - one left and one right side - for mouse gestures and thumbprint security

Battery life is "good in ebook," and only 2 -3 hours when playing games or using wi-fi.

Runs an iPhone OS "with ability to have multiple apps running at the same time"

Wireless keyboard and monitor connection for TV

Built-in HDTV tuner and pvr

Auto-syncs with iPhone

Will NOT go on sale today

Apple Tablet Spoiler! 2 Cams, OLED, Solar Charging and...Farmville?

2010-01-27T07:03:00.003-05:00

Tech entrepreneur and angel investor Jason Calcanis appears to have dropped a mother lode of specific details about the Apple tablet device 16 hours before today's big announcement. Calcanis - founder of Weblogs, Inc and owner of Mahalo - an angel investor company with money in electric sportscar startup Tesla Inc - made the revelations on his Twitter account @Jason Tuesday evening.

According to Calcanis' verified Twitter account, "as a pundit," he was given a tablet to beta by Apple ten days ago. Among the revelations he (or a clever hacker) posted to Twitter last night:

The device has two cameras, comes in three versions (priced at $599, $699, and $799 "based on size and memory), and a "custom Farmville for Apple tablet is a huge game changer". That last bit makes us wonder if the comments are really from a hacker.

Another suspicious Tweet: "Yes, there are 2cameras: one in front and one in back (or it may be one with some double lens) so you record yourself and in front of u." One would think a guy as sharp as Calcanis, having had the tablet for ten days, would know whether its two separate cameras or "one with some double lens".

On the other hand, Calcanis appears to Tweet back and forth with other apparent beta testers, who begin dropping their own bombs just after midnight when their NDAs with Apple expired. In any case, here's the text of the Tweets, verbatim. You decide if they're real - and we'll all know in a few hours:

... also, Farmville for Apple tablet is a huge game changer. I know for a FACT Mark Pincus is onstage tomorrow with Jobs. about 4 hours ago from UberTwitter

Off to bed, but I assure you I'm not joking and the specs are real.... Most of all that this is best gadget ever made and NOT overhyped.

apple tablet connects to other tablets over wifi for gaming. There will be LAN parties with these things, people playingFirst personshooters

Sorry, @snappme can't show device or say actual name.

For background: apple asked me to do press tomorrow on cnbc, cnn, etc. As a pundit they gave me tablet 10 days ago. 3people dropped it off!

Apple tablet games are sick. Basically nintendo wii-level innovation. Custom farmville app is insane. Mark pincus is demoing with steve tmmr

Ok, I'm going to bed (with apple tablet after reading nytimes+Vanity Fair on it!), steve jobs outdid himself, its greatest device ever!!!

Apple tablet's 2 cameras is sick feature for video conferencing: u shoot what's in front of you + yourself. Augmented video conferncing!

Yes, apple tablet is oled + back has solar pad for recharging, but it really doesn't work quickly. More a gimmic. Verizon+att,wifi yes!

Apple Tablet has thumbpads on each side for mouse guestures, reads fingerprint for security. Up to 5 profiles by finerprint for family.

Yes, there are 2cameras: one in front and one in back (or it may be one with some double lens) so you record yourself and in front of u.

Well @joshgrenon, I can tell u the battery life is great in ebook reading mode but not great when on wifi or playing games. 2-3hrs

Yes @HappyDrew, the apple tablet is running an iphone os flavor with ability to have multiple apps running at same time (ie pandora, browser

Ok, I will take two questions about the new apple tablet which I have right here. Go ahead... My nda is basically over. :)

The price will be 599, 699 and 799 depending on size and memory in apple tablet. Also, wireless keyboard + monitor connection for tv

Also, the apple tablet is really amazing for newspapers. Video conferencing is super stable, but nothing new.

The best part ofthe apple tablet as beta user has been the built in HDTV tuner and pvr, and the chess game.

Note to press: No, not going to break my NDA w/ Apple/steve so u can get jump on announcement. It is the most *amazing* device ever.

Yes, it's true... I've been beta testing the Apple tablet for the past two weeks and it's amazing.

about 10 hours ago from web

A Burger to Die (on the Cross) For

2009-10-05T18:10:00.003-04:00

Apparently the folks at Bob's - a Brazilian burger chain - have cooked up a Big Mac knockoff that's fit for Jesus Christo Himself. We saw this on Saturday at Rio de Janeiro's international airport. The wall-sized ad shows the 'Big Bob' perched on the outstretched hand of Rio's iconic "Christ the Redeemer" mountaintop statue, as if Jesús is keeping the double-burger handy for the inevitable post-miracle munchies. The slogan below translates roughly to "Brazilian as you like" (we'll leave it at bikini waxing, thanks: Bob's burgers are horrendous).

Gotta wonder if this campaign came out of DDB's Brazil office? You know, the shop that gave us the culturally-sensitive "9/11 was no biggie" pitch to the World Wildlife Fund last month.

Either way, we're sure glad that Christians aren't as touchy about cartoon images of their deity (for burger-peddling purposes or otherwise) as the Muslims, right?

Brawling Under the Bridge:Dumbo Fight Night 2009

2009-08-01T19:40:00.009-04:00

There's a fistfight going down under the Manhattan bridge right now, and the cops are just standing by watching.

We grabbed a few shots of the USABoxingMetro sanctioned event and posted them here Its the third annual Dumbo Fight Night, but the first time its been held outdoors under the newly-opened archway that runs beneath the Brooklyn Anchorage of the Manhattan Bridge.

The amateur boxing event is a benefit for the Dumbo Improvement District and The Archway, and partners include Dumbo stalwarts Gleason's Gym and Halcyon Records.

Fight Night [flickr photoset]

Gettin Wet at the Pool Party!

2009-07-26T20:00:00.005-04:00

Pool party washout set on Flickr!

As frustrating as it had to be for JellyNYC, having booked another great lineup - to have their funtastic show blown out by Mama Nature before the headliner could take the stage...still, today's crazy thunderstorm was kinda, well...fun!

Arriving around 2:30, we were swept into a long but quick-moving line and soon regurgitated into what's normally the very uptight, NY State Parks-run East River State Park.

Against all odds, the funnest show in New York - whose demise was widely predicted when it's namesake (McCarren Park Pool) was shuttered last fall for (!) a totally paid-for multi-million-dollar renovation (!!) - was in force and holding it down. With the East River and midtown Manhattan as its backdrop, the show that's (in three short years) become a mini Burning Man for Brooklyn's funnest neighborhood - seemed alive and well.

But overhead, the Summer Fun Gods were conspiring. Huge thunderclouds formed, then drifted away, then reformed.

On stage, the Black Lips set resonated with the storm building overhead: lead singer Cole Alexander swung his axe against show security guards sent to protect the band from an overzealous crowd. At times in their set, the green-shirted rentacops outnumbered the band two to one.

Meanwhile, the beer flowed, the sky darkened, and by the end of the Lips' set, lightning bolts began to strike the midtown skyline behind the stage.

The State Park management told the promoters to pull the plug - before headliners Trail of Dead could plug in and play a single power chord. Lightning is kryptonite to outdoor shows (remember the girl that was struck by lightning at the Free Tibet show at RFK Stadium in '98?).

As security guards tried to clear the park, the sky grew dark and the wind began to whip. A hipster couple in the VIP area stood on a picnic table for a wind-whipped photo op. The jib camera op hurried to disassemble his rig, and the crew from Music First set about packing up a quarter-million dollars worth of audio gear as a driving drizzle set in.

With most of the audience clear...shift focus to the grid of pop-up tents that formed the beer and wine bar (and storytelling tense to 'present'!). By now a the breeze has grown to a stiff wind, and has begun to lift the lightweight shelters. We see the bar and security staff hooked to tent corners, adding their body weight to the existing ballast buckets and fighting the gusts that want desperately to pick up the lashed-together tents and turn them into a giant box kite. And we join them in their futile but noble fight!

The park rangers - having been given orders to clear the park (no exceptions!), approach the human ballast insisting that the folks holding the tents abandon ship and leave the park. We protest briefly: We've seen what happens when the wind gets its way with Ez-Up tents. But the state park rangers are insistent, and several of the holders concede. And at that moment, the tent-city's fate is sealed. We bail with the rest of the tent-hangars, and take shelter with a couple of smart Salvadorans who are low and dry, under the nose of the refrigerated beer trailer.

Almost immediately, the tent city blows by our little bunker, tumbling and tangling as the metal frames somersault along, dragged by wind-filled nylon canopies. The sky suddenly opens and an unbelievably hard-driving rain sends anyone still in the open scurrying for cover...except the three girls outside the park fence on North 8th, who - in their inebriated bliss - have decided to embrace and celebrate the furious summer storm. They dance and spread their arms into the gale, accepting nature's fury head-on, and mugging for my camera.

And then - as suddenly as it set in, the sky brightened - the sun cutting through sheets of rain, a rainbow emerging, rain stopping, dripping-wet hipsters emerging from unseen crevices. The Music First guys have somehow saved all their gear and are now plucking up damp-but-intact flight cases into their truck.

The beer vendors are not so fortunate; their pop-up shelters are a tangle of aluminum and nylon - but no-one's been injured. The Converse-branded basketball hoop stands triumphant in the sunset. The music fans have scattered up North 8th Street, absorbed into spontaneous parties that have popped up in garages and backyards, and into Bedford Avenue bars and restaurants, whose managers are thankful. And another successful pool party fades into a hazy, shiny, wet Williamsburg summer evening.

New Brooklyn Bridge Bike Striping:Sure to Have Everybody Griping

2009-07-20T10:43:00.004-04:00

During our morning run across the Brooklyn Bridge today, we got a quick ankle wash from a DOT crew power-washing the old center stripe off the wood planks of the shared pedestrian/bicycle promenade. Passing the bridge's Manhattan tower, we discovered that the workmen were busy replacing the fading center-stripe that's long been the Maginot line between angry, rapacious cyclists and clueless, meandering pedestrians crossing the famous span.

On any given day - especially summer weekends - a crowd of tourists and local commuters clog the south side of the pathway; mostly staying within their 50% of the 13 ft width. But invariably, as the pedestrian side gets maxed out with folks of varying gaits - many stopping for posed photos, or just generally meandering - walkers begin spilling into the bike lane. Some folks - apparently unfazed by the fact that thousands of others have dutifully crammed into the opposite lane - walk defiantly three and four abreast in the bikeway. And cyclists angrily swerve around them, muttering or shouting derisive comments as they pass.

For a second this morning, we though the DOT was acceding to the tangible pressure one feels when faced with a lane heaving with humanity sharing equal real estate with a bike lane mostly devoid of matter (pedestrians on the bridge probably outnumber cyclists by 100 to 1 on any given day). At first glance, the new striping gives the walking lane 15 or 20% more width than the bike lane(!)

But we paced it off, and cable-to-cable, both lanes are still around six and a half feet each - identical! We think there's a bit of social engineering going on here by the DOT: by painting an outside lane stripe on the north side, it appears that cyclists have much less room than the non-edged walking lane. Which - perhaps - will make pedestrians feel slightly superior. And having been awarded additional real estate in acknowledgment of their superiority, presumably they will acquiesce to the cyclists, allowing them to grovel within their skinny, inferior boundaries.

The DOT can play ignorant, maintaining that the outside lane stripe is only necessary on the bike side, where cyclists riding too close to the bridge cables are likely to get their handlebars hung up and have a wreck. And everyone (or more likely no one) will go home happy.

Monday Eye Candy: Unforgettable Sky

2009-06-29T11:08:00.003-04:00

Even though it was beaten to death online all weekend (including one "we saw Michael's face" photo that Fox 5 has since taken down), we couldn't resist one more look at Friday's amazing 'mammatus' (yes - that's Latin for 'boobs') sunset cloud formation. This view taken from Bryant Park.

Mysterious NY HarborWay Banners:Premature Elaboration

2009-06-26T13:14:00.007-04:00

Overnight Thursday, dozens of "NY Harborway" banners were installed on utility poles throughout Dumbo. Having followed the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, the Mayor's PlaNYC 2030 scheme, Brooklyn Bridge Park development - and just about anything to do with the Brooklyn waterfront over the past few years, we were surprised we hadn't heard about this one.

Thinking we'd missed some new Bloomberg pre-election PR initiative, we quickly Googled the phrase "NY HarborWay". Nuthin. Tried all the iterations: "nyharborway". Nada. "NYC harborway". Nuh uh. "+NYC +harborway". Bzzzt!

NYC.gov offered up "did you mean ARBORWAY?" Nah. Google News, Google Blog Search: Nope. Neverheardovit.

A friendly 311 operator offered up the observation "oh yes, you folks have a port in that area, where ships come in, right?" Um, well sorta...but this is on Water Street and Pearl, about half a mile from where the Water Taxi stops.

Following a hunch, we called up the folks at NYC & Company, the city's 'official marketing and tourism organization.' They're the people behind the nycgo.com banners in the city, including the hilariously tongue-in-cheek "Rainbow Pilgrimage" campaign seen recently riding poles around the West Village.

A frustrated NYC & Co. staffer explained that the banners are indeed theirs. NY HarborWay is a new designation soon to be announced by the city, to promote the connection of waterfront districts and parks by bicycle, public transportation, and - eventually - ferry service. The banners were ordered a while back, and were meant to be held and installed in conjunction with the official press announcement. Apparently whoever is in charge of installation (the DOT?) jumped the gun by a few weeks. Maybe they wanted to get them up during Thursday's break in the nonstop monsoon rains.

In any case, keep an eye out for the official announcement from the Mayor's office. We're curious to see how this does (or doesn't) tie in with the Greenway Initiative; how it may impact the ongoing bike lane controversies; and whether there's more city funding in store for East River ferry service. If there's one thing way under-utilized in NYC, its our miles of waterfront. Here's hoping NY HarborWay is more than just a banner campaign.

Gone Fishin'...Be Back Soon!

2009-03-17T15:33:00.003-04:00

Dedicated readers of imnotsayin may have noticed that our posting frequency has dwindled from a trickle to just an intermittent drip lately. We apologize for that and assure you that we haven't given up, closed up shop, nor laid ourselves off ("...another victim of the Global Economic Meltdown...").

Rather, we've begun a three-month gig, traveling alongside a major music tour and performing some relatively modest production chores for the tour's sponsor. We'd love to blog about that - but we promised not to at the beginning, and we'll keep to our word.

The good news is that upon our return to Brooklyn in mid-May, we're planning a long-overdue overhaul of the blog. And planning to expand our scope, posting much more frequently and filling in what we perceive as some gaps in the online coverage of Brooklyn news, history and culture. And more pictures!! (Everybody loves pictures, right?).

So Happy Spring! Thanks for reading and thanks for your patience. We're looking forward to new beginnings. Here's to bigger and better things to come!

Bob Guskind: We Miss You

2009-03-09T00:51:00.012-04:00

photo by Flatbush Gardener

Robert Guskind, author of the groundbreaking and prolific Brooklyn blog Gowanus Lounge, passed away on March 4th. His untimely death has been widely published and discussed, especially across the NYC blogosphere.

Though I didn't know Bob much beyond a steady stream of emails, IM's, and cross-postings over the past couple of years, I considered him very much a friend and a mentor. Much of imnotsayin's readership is directly attributable to Bob's frequent coverage of our posts on Gowanus Lounge and Curbed. Indeed, he gave us one of our first external links, and the resulting traffic sparked our enthusiasm for blogging - especially blogging about Brooklyn.

Bob's style and method has always informed our writing here, but his work ethic and sheer volume of posts left us (and perhaps all other NYC bloggers) in the dust. He lived 20 minutes from Williamsburg by car, but would often beat us to stories happening on our own block. Once, we both posted nearly identical stories - completely independent of each other's knowledge - within minutes of one another. We had a good chuckle when we realized we were both wired so close to one another that we wrote the same story at the same time. We cross-posted the piece, each giving the other partial credit for the scoop.

The breadth of Bob's reporting in Brooklyn - even while simultaneously covering the whole NYC real estate world for Curbed - was mind-boggling. He'd post coverage of Greenpoint goings-on in the morning, then somehow have his own photos and story of a demolition in Red Hook or Coney Island up by lunchtime. He was a fixture at neighborhood events - you could pick his big gentle frame with his SLR out of the packed crowd at Pool Party shows, or predictably find him covering a street party or blogger event; but were just as likely to see him walking alone in the Northside, shooting the latest street art, ridiculous bit of new architecture, or laughably-abandoned sidewalk sofa.

In the past year, Bob shared with me that he was having some personal difficulties, and I tried to be supportive from a distance. I'd recently had some tumultuous times in my own world that had worked out for the best, and I tried to reassure Bob that even extremely difficult things can have happy endings. I (and his thousands of devoted readers) were thrilled when Gowanus Lounge returned after several weeks' hiatus in September. But I knew that Bob was still struggling personally.

A few weeks ago, I'd planned to meet up with Bob socially, for a long-overdue dinner. He'd recently been laid off from his paid gig at Curbed, and he sounded a bit desperate to have someone to commiserate with; I had some new ideas I wanted to share about the two of us collaborating. That day I emailed him some encouragement, saying that I thought the economic downturn was camouflaging some potential business opportunities for bloggers and citizen journalism in general. He responded that afternoon:

Thanks for the pep talk. My feelings about this ping pong between, hey, there is opportunity here to "I am doomed, where do I buy hemlock?"

But I was feeling lousy that day, and I wound up canceling at the last minute. Looking back, I wonder if I failed to read between the lines and recognize the extent his despair: had I missed an opportunity to connect and inspire him that could have made a difference? I'll never know.

That said, lets remember Bob for the smiles he brought us: his LOL drubbings of serial starchitect Karl Fischer he dubbed "Hot Karl"; his relentless use of his own renames for some of the projects he was critical of, eg. "The Roebling Oil Field Building" and "The Giant Fart Cloud Building"; and his amazing eye for the sublime beauty in things as pedestrian as an abandoned couch on a Brooklyn street.

Often when meeting up for drinks after work, my girlfriend Christine and our close friend Amy's conversation would begin with "did you see what Bob posted today?" His coverage of Brooklyn goings-on created our subliminal agenda, and inspired us to go on frigid walking tours of far-flung neighborhoods, or crawl down a manhole to explore the Atlantic Avenue tunnel. Bob's Gowanus Lounge was one-stop shopping for Brooklyn politics, controversy, history, and culture, and was truly an unrivaled pulse for Brooklyn residents.

Bob's final post on Gowanus Lounge was this eerily serene musing from his recurring Street Couch Series:

I believe that - if not on the surface - then deep inside, Bob left us at peace with himself.

We miss you Bob, but we won't forget you. YOU brought US great joy!

Last Call at Kent and North 3rd?

2009-02-07T18:20:00.003-05:00

A twinge of sadness when we passed the former Duff's at Kent Avenue and North 3rd this afternoon: the patio was demolished, the sign was gone, and Jimmy Duff's hearse - the Deathmobile - was packed to the gills with what appeared to be remnants of the wonderful heavy-metal-themed hole in the wall bar.

The business was originally a check-cashing business that served (much like the recently-deceased diner next door) blue collar employees of the rail yards and warehouses that lined the Williamsburg waterfront for most of the 20th century. In 2005, Duff closed his infamous Hell's Kitchen dive Bellevue and opened Duff's in the tiny storefront, filling it with decades worth of rocker paraphanalia and effusing it with a friendly bikers' lair charm.

In December, Duff's moved to new digs on Marcy Avenue in South Williamsburg, but Duff retooled the Kent Avenue and North 3rd corner as The Bunker. A wholesale remodel isn't exactly in character with the kind of space it was (we were known to stumble in with our own road-sodas from time to time, and no one ever shot us the stink eye). And we wonder if the apparent closing has something to do with the recent fire and complete blight surrounding the former Miss Williamsburg next door. Our gut says the combined frontage along Kent Avenue is worth more as a development lot than as a great dive bar selling dollar PBR's...

But we'll hold out hope that we're wrong.

Recent Article on Jimmy Duff [NY Press]

Front Row Seats in 'Burg ForRed Bull Snowboarding Event

2009-02-05T16:09:00.002-05:00

Grab your binoculars and your balaclavas and head on down to Grand Ferry Park at the foot of Grand Street! As of 3:30 pm there was wide-open unobstructed views of the Red Bull Snowscrapers event, just across the water in East River Park...for hardy (or heavily-medicated) snowboarding fans.

The East Side event features Shaun White, Pat Moore and Travis Rice plunging down a 9 story ramp built atop a Jenga-inspired tower of cargo containers. Long-time thrashers Anthrax will close out the show at 8:55 pm. But with the wind chill expected to be around six degrees this evening, there's not likely to be much competition for those riverfront benches.

Diner Fire Irony: 'Rescue Me'Was Shooting Across the Street

2009-01-29T17:18:00.003-05:00

We headed back over to 206 Kent Avenue this afternoon to survey what's left of poor old Miss Brooklyn, and found pretty much what we expected. The interior of the fine old diner is completely gutted. Not sure when the owners of "718" gave up on it, but based on the missing counter stools and no sign of kitchen equipment, we'd say the restaurant had been closed for some time.

A musician who'd been rehearsing in the basement of 210 Kent said he thought that the 'Monster Island' building had been spared, save for the windows that had been broken out by firemen. He also mentioned that when his band left the studio at 1:30 am, there was no sign of fire yet, adding "It was lucky - they were filming something over on the corner, so there were a bunch of cops already there." He pointed across the intersection of Kent Ave and Metropolitan, about 80 feet from the burned-out diner.

We'd noticed a couple of leftover 'no parking / film permit' signs about a block away, so we went back and checked it out: sure enough, Denis Leary's FX drama Rescue Me - based on NYC firefighting - had been shooting within spitting distance, perhaps just minutes before the real thing went down.

That leaves two questions:

1. Since no one was hurt, can we call it 'firony'? Or would that just be wrong?

2. When is groundbreaking for the Miss Williamsburg Condos?

More photos of the aftermath [Flickr]

Miss Williamsburg Diner Burns,Monster Island Arts Center Damaged

2009-01-29T02:00:00.004-05:00

An early morning fire gutted a landmark Northside diner overnight, causing damage to an adjacent arts collective at Kent Avenue and Metropolitan.

A fire broke out in the former Miss Williamsburg diner at 206 Kent Avenue just before 2 am Thursday. Ladder Companies 104, 146, and 108 responded along with several engine trucks, quickly knocking down the blaze, which appeared to cause extensive damage to the diner. The two-story building next door at 210 Kent Avenue appeared to have escaped with just broken windows and smoke damage. The building known as "Monster Island" houses two galleries: Live With Animals, and Secret Project Robot, as well as Mollusk, a surf shop.

The diner was originally a fixture for truck drivers servicing the miriad industrial businesses that lined Kent Avenue for most of the 20th century. Later it was reincarnated as an Italian bistro called Miss Williamsburg, and its authentic 1940's interior made it an irresistable location for television and films including Woody Allen's The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, and Stay, which starred Ryan Gosling. More recently it changed hands and reopened as 718.

The exterior of 210 Kent is known for its mesmerizing artwork - often photographed, and recently glimpsed in Charlie Kaufmann's Synechdoche, New York.

More photos of the fire [Flickr]

Flight 1549 Salvage Update:Plane Now Completely Submerged

2009-01-17T17:15:00.009-05:00

At 5 pm today, Twitter user jefns1 - part of the Weeks Marine salvage crew down at Battery Park City posted this photo, showing that the US Airways plane being lifted from the Hudson had slipped entirely below the water.

His 4:50 pm Tweet said simply "running in to snags plane is completly under water".

Update as of 10:30 pm Jan 17th: "tail is up wings starting to break mud lift is good so far"

We suspect this lift is unprecedented. Any aircraft being dragged out of a body of water is typically broken into parts...or at least severely damaged and not holding water. This bird is fully intact and holding the better part of a million pounds of nearly-frozen water - and the goal is to NOT damage it in the process!

Update as of 11 pm Jan 17th: Flight 1549 is out of the water! Again, thanks to Twitter user jefns1, who is working on the salvage operation, for up-to-the-minute coverage.

(click to enlarge)

Friday Eye Candy: Fire & Ice

2009-01-16T18:42:00.002-05:00

"flare" on Flickr

Why we chose a 15 degree evening - with wind chills below zero - to go up to Greenpoint and shoot the back side of the Department of Environmental Protection's Newtown Creek Water Treatment Plant, we're not sure. But now that our hands have thawed, we think Fire & Ice is an appropriate headline.

The DEP's 'digesters' (see our earlier obsessive post re: same) at New York's largest water treatment plant have been online for a couple years now, but got the fantastic purple lighting just last summer. And we think the lighting along with the open flame (likely a 'flare', burning off methane released in the 'digestion' process) - and all the stainless steel, makes for a wonderful, surreal scene in a really narsty section of Greenpoint.

Gotta love New York!

Wider shot of the scene above [Flickr]

US Airways Fight 1549 Crash Flight Path

2009-01-15T17:54:00.013-05:00

Here's a flight path map from the miraculous crash/water-landing of US Airways Flight 1549 we threw together using automated latitude / longitude, altitude, and airspeed tracking data from flightaware.com. We mapped the GPS coordinates onto Google maps, then drew in the approximate path and added the labels.

A couple of interesting things here:

1. It appears the engine trouble occurred between 3:27 pm and 3:28 pm over the Bronx Zoo, where the aircraft, which had been climbing steadily out of LGA to 3,200 feet, suddenly descends to 2,000 feet while still accelerating slightly from 194 knots to 202 knots.

2. The flight path curved inland over the northernmost part of Manhattan - as far East as Harlem River Drive - before the plane curved right to center perfectly over the Hudson. The FAA is reporting that controllers originally suggested a landing at Teterboro Airport in NJ. Maybe the left turn was a momentary adjustment for a Teterboro approach, before the pilot realized that a water landing was the only option?

3. The plane actualy GAINS 100 ft of altitude, from 1,200 to 1,300 feet, one to two minutes after the descent began, while the pilot was centering on the Hudson. News reports are suggesting that all engines were out. Could the plane pull up 100 ft using flaps alone? The altitude data from Flightaware is rounded to 100 feet, so is it possible that the plane was right around 1,250 feet could be explained by rounding errors?

The shared Google Map with points plotted is here. And the Fl ightaware data is here.

UPDATE Jan 16, 10am: What's up with the "ditch switch"?

Last evening CNN reported that perhaps the plane stayed afloat in the river for so long at least partly because the Airbus A320 is equipped with a "ditch switch" - a cockpit control that when activated, seals all ports and openings on the lower fuselage, so that once the aircraft enters the water, it doesn't take on water as quickly as it would normally (via vents, drains, etc).

Not much coverage of the ditch switch this morning either online nor on cable news. Found this 2002 discussion on an aviation forum you might find interesting.

The moderator on nycaviation.com's discussion board says the Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft also have a "ditch switch".

UPDATE Jan 16, 12 Noon: Anyone have info on where the A320 will be barged to?

- A salvage dock in Bayonne, NJ - just across NY Harbor? Lots of mechanical equipment, and easy to secure from the press and public.

- Floyd Bennett Field in South Brooklyn? Floyd Bennett Field is a huge, mostly-disused old airfield that served NYC before JFK rose to prominence. Accessible by sea. The wreckage of AA Flight 587 was temporarily examined there in 2001, although that location is much closer to the 587 crash site.

- Hangar 19 at JFK Airport? - The Concorde currently on display at the Intrepid Museum was decommissioned here a few years back. Accessible by water. LGA is also reachable via New York's inland waterways, but is a much smaller airport with fewer maintenance hangars.

Anyone have other ideas or better info?

UPDATE Jan 17, 12 Noon:

Pretty sure the 'undisclosed location' the plane will be taken to is a Bayonne, NJ shipyard owned by Weeks Marine - the contractor with the crane and barge working to hoist the plane out of the Hudson. Found a Twitter feed from one of Weeks' employees, with pictures and reports from the site, including this one:
Guessing the NTSB inspection will take place at one of these shipyards:

View Larger Map

Update Jan 17th, 5 pm: Salvage effort encounters snags, plane completely submerged - see post here

Calling BS on DIY 'NO PARKING' Signs

2009-01-15T10:20:00.002-05:00

Amid the chaos that's followed the DOT's on-street parking purge of Kent Avenue, the remaining curb real-estate on the Northside has become more precious than Obama inauguration tickets. During our frequent 40-minute morning odysseys, orbiting the neighborhood looking for a legitimate space, we've had ample time to contemplate the mysteries and complexities of New York City parking regulations:

- Does an ancient curb-cut for a former garage entrance turned retail storefront still count? Especially when the business in question keeps "NO PARKING" signs posted on their facade?

- What about a decades-old trace of yellow paint, on a curb that otherwise seems perfectly legit? Will I return to a $45 invoice stuck under my wiper blade?

And today's question - perhaps the most frustrating question if you live and park in Williamsburg:

- Does that malicious "NO PARKING - CONSTRUCTION ZONE - TOW AWAY" sign - done up in red and black Crayola Scentation markers by a contractor's seven year old daughter - actually hold water with Parking Enforcement?

Given that the Northside is littered with dozens of semi-active construction sites, and nearly all of them have some sort of homemade NO PARKING signs dangling from their gaping-holed, broken-plywood perimeter fences...the answer to that question is kind of a big deal.

We surfed around the Internets for far too long last weekend, looking for an answer - and wound up mostly confused, but generally convinced that the answer is NO...those signs are pure BS; a product of developers' and contractors' wishful thinking - combined with a general fear and ignorance on the part of residents who can't afford to take a chance on having their rides ticketed and/or towed to the city's shiny-new Navy Yard impound facility.

Back in November, Queens Crap - a great blog focused on development issues in (go figure) Queens - asked the same question, and came back with the answer YES - you DO have to abide by the temporary signs. Their source however was the venerable Fox 5 News, so we watched the embedded clip with a healthy serving of skepticism.

In the the Fox 5 Investigates report, the correspondent says they contacted the DOT, and concludes

"it turns out that construction crews are allowed to create their own signs, as long as they look official, if they have permits for the project".

To which we call BS on Fox 5 on two fronts:

1. "As long as they look official"...what? Who decides what looks official?! The gaping legal holes in that statement are bigger than the gaps in most construction fences around here.

2. "If they have permits for the project." Any construction project big and ballsy enough to post fake NO PARKING signs had better have permits! We'll betcha anything the DOT meant "if the developer has pulled permits that approve temporary parking restrictions". Otherwise, any schmo with a permit to renovate a bathroom could play 'make your own parking' in front of their building, for the duration of their permit. It just doesn't add up.

We did a deep dive into the online netherworld of NYC traffic rules, DOB building permits, New York State Vehicle and Traffic laws, finding lots of barely-relevant information, along with lots of unrelated but interesting stuff (Did you know that all of NYC was designated a Tow Away Zone under the State’s Vehicle and Traffic Law in 1959? What's that? Oh, you don't care.).

Our online paper trail having gone cold, we did what we should have done in the first place: we asked a friendly neighborhood Parking Enforcement officer whether he would ticket a car in violation of one of the handmade signs (and trust us, these guys WILL ticket anything they legitimately can). He stopped writing a summons and brought us over to a real NO PARKING sign, pointing out the "DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION" printed at the bottom, saying "I can only ticket against signs that are issued by the DOT".

Monday morning we called the NYPD Press Office, and they agreed with the officer on the street: "They (contractors) have to get a permit specifically allowing a temporary change in parking rules. They can't just make up their own sign," adding that they "think if a car is towed because of construction needs, its just relocated" i.e. not tagged and impounded. But they suggested we double-check with the city's DOT "just to be sure". Good news for residents, but not exactly the notorized 'get out of jail free' card we were hoping for. So we called the DOT.

We spoke to Assistant Press Secretary Craig Chin, who invited us to send him photos of the signs in question - and to entertain us while we waited - directed us to NYC DOT's searchable database of active street construction permits. Forty eight hours later, we had a definitive answer:

"You can search online and the only valid permits to restrict parking will have the code 221 on it. The only legal sign you provided would be this picture,"

referring to the photo below, showing a very official-looking metal, DOT-issued 'No Parking - Temporary Construction Regulation' sign screwed to the fence of the development at Kent Avenue and North 3rd:

We searched the DOT's database for the entire Community Board One area, and as of January 15th, found only eighteen valid type 221 permits in the neighborhood. We've created a little map showing blocks where there's at least one valid permit...we suggest you hit the database before parking in front of a questionable sign (select your borough and community district, then select General Permit Type 02, and Specific Permit Type 0221...its the very last choice in the pulldown menu; you can drill down by street and block, or see all the permits for your district).

So there you have it, Northsiders. A veritable parking oasis around dozens of active (and stalled) construction sites, for your parking pleasure...at least until the contractors run out and get valid permits and signage.

Finally, Imnotsayin's caveat emptor:

PARK AT YOUR OWN RISK. This is only our nonprofessional, semi-informed assessment based on unofficial communications with three city employees. NYC parking regulations span multiple departments across at least two city agencies plus the state's V & T laws. Being improperly ticketed (and towed!) by overzealous Parking Enforcement officers happens all the time. So go ahead and search the database, and if there's no current class 221 permits for the DIY No Parking zone on your block - go for it! But don't block active driveways and crosswalks, stay 15 feet from the hydrants, and if you get tagged anyway, please DON'T CALL US!

NYCDOT Active Street Construction Permit database search [NYCDOT]

Gallery of Shady Parking Signs [Flickr]

UPDATE: Northside Pier isJust Another Part-Time Park

2009-01-09T19:20:00.004-05:00

Oh man, when will this stuff end? At some point between 9 am and 4 pm today, next to an already-ragged quit-smoking ad, someone posted an official NYC Parks sign reading "OPEN SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS ONLY". Guessing they stole the copy from the State Park two blocks north, since by all appearances this will be the city's only part-time park.

If NYC Parks is taking cues from the state, then based on East River State Park's short history, here's what we should expect from the pier:

March, 2009: North 5th Pier emerges from beta; goes to 7-day schedule. Still closes at dusk - er, really about 30 minutes before the sunset gets really good.

July 4th, 2009: City announces pier will stay open late for fireworks-viewing. However, Parks workers panic at sight of large crowd, abruptly locking gates and separating families, forcing many to watch fireworks display as reflected off shiny glass of Northside Piers Tower 2.

October, 2009: Squatters, living in the never-sold Northside Piers Tower 2 - and abandoned Tower 1 condos, crowd the pier with makeshift fishing gear, in a vain attempt to harvest meals from the hopelessly-polluted East River.

June, 2010: In the face of budgetary collapse, 3rd-term Mayor Bloomberg announces the pier will close until September '10, saving the city the $120K in salary and overtime for the lucky Parks worker who's sole responsibility it is to lock and unlock the gate each day.

So there you have it. The near-future history of Williamsburg's second part-time park. See you on the pier tomorrow morning!

Update (Jan 12th): We have it from multiple reliable sources that the weekends-only status is temporary. The Parks Press Office says the pier will be open "seven days a week in the spring". On Saturday morning we spent some time on the pier, but on Sunday around 5 pm we went back to shoot some sunset pics and found it locked. Despite the Park Rules signs saying it "Closes at Dusk", the Toll Brothers security guard said the hours are 7 am to 4 pm Saturdays and Sundays. We've put our two cents in to Parks, suggesting that 10 am to 7 pm weekends is probably more practical, given that most 'Burg residents are barely in bed by 7 am...and it would be nice to catch the winter sunsets and twilight over the river and Midtown skyline.

Northside Pier Access IsLike SO Five Days Ago...

2009-01-09T12:28:00.007-05:00

FRIDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: New sign indicates park is Sat/Sun ONLY. Arrrrgh!

What is it about public waterfront access in Williamsburg that makes it about as reliable as Windows Vista? Northside residents waited almost a solid year after East River State Park was effectively complete before it opened in May 2007 - only to be padlocked last week due to state budget cuts.

Monday saw the long-delayed opening of the North 5th Street Pier - the first bit of what is eventually to become a public riverfront promenade behind many of the new high rise developments going up along Kent Avenue. The promenade is effectively a developer incentive - a zoning variance that in return allows Toll Brothers and the other builders to build taller buildings and make more money.

The pier was complete several months ago - benches, lighting - even a silly artistic "shade structure", but remained off-limits to the public while the Parks Department wrangled with the builder over safety issues before taking possession of the pier (under the 2005 rezone, the public promenade is owned and managed by NYC Parks).

But like so many things in New York, blink and you miss it: by the time we moseyed on down to the foot of North 5th to take a look Thursday morning, the city's newest 'park' seemed to be shuttered again.

We checked it out again this morning and found the same padlocked plywood doors (sans the castoff Trinitron) and no one around to ask what gives. The adjacent NYC Park Rules signage indicates the park closes at dusk (sadly, no night photos from this vista!); seems to imply that leashed dogs will be allowed (unleashed between 9 pm and 9 am, when the park is closed?!); but doesn't otherwise give the official park open hours.

We spoke to a contact at Parks who promised to look into the situation. We'll let you know what we find out...

FRIDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: New sign indicates park is Sat/Sun ONLY. Arrrrgh!

What STINKS on the Union Square L Platform (besides the music) ?

2009-01-08T22:21:00.001-05:00

Forget the mysterious maple syrup smell wafting over from Jersey...the real chemical threat is the raw sewage stank that's taken up residence on the L Train platform at Union Square the past three days.

Wednesday the stench was strong enough to permeate the hermetically-sealed train car as we arrived at the popular stop...before the doors were opened! And Thursday the skank persisted, causing us to beg forgiveness from our out-of-town guest (and deny being the source...although technically, we guess smelt it dealt it, right?).

Please MTA: before the money runs out, please locate and purge the source of this scourge! We just threw up a little in our mouth :(

Happy New Year! NowPlease Clean Up Your Crap

2009-01-02T09:35:00.004-05:00

The bars and clubs along North 6th Street in Williamsburg had a big night Wednesday - if the quantity of champagne and beer bottles, party hats and vomit strewn up and down the block between Kent Avenue and Wythe Friday morning is any indication.

We've lived on the block for four years now, so we're used to ankle-deep trash. But this morning, returning from a couple of days in DUMBO, we felt like a parent returning home early from vacation to discover our teenage son had thrashed the house with an all-night party, and slept off the next day in jail instead of cleaning up. As if to say 'it isn't a party until something gets broke', it even appears the ATM in front of Public Assembly was stolen.

We know Thursday was a holiday, but now its Friday...so PLEASE, North 6th merchants and residents, get it together and clean up your shit!

Update: As of 10:45 am, Music Hall had cleaned up their sidewalk, and Public Assembly had a Sanitation Department ticket on their door for leaving the dumpster (shown above) in the middle of the sidewalk. The vomit near Sea was making a nice snack for pigeons, and the trash down near Kent Avenue was swirling in little dust devils that appeared to be signalling the end is nigh...

New York City...Welcome to 2009!

2009-01-01T00:47:00.001-05:00

Fireworks from the Battery, over New York harbor.

2008 Is Gonna Blow This Popstand

2008-12-31T14:12:00.002-05:00

Those of you planning to stumble around NYC tonight, ringing in the New Year, should probably plan ahead when it comes to your exit strategy. Weather Underground is predicting 1 to 3 inches of snow, and winds gusting up to 60 miles per hour into the evening...wind chills approaching zero. You get the picture.

Based on the past few years, getting out of Williamsburg after midnight tonight will involve standing in a block-long line in front of the Northside Car Service base on Bedford (they stop answering calls when they get backed up). In those weather conditions (and in your New Years hipster party frocks), you'd better be either well-insulated or well-numbed (or both).

Happy New Year!

Bike Lane Activists Defiant:Illegal Detour Sign Is Back!

2008-12-31T12:23:00.003-05:00

If you've been closely following the ongoing controversy that's pitted Orthodox Jews in South Williamsburg against proponents of the new Kent Avenue bike lanes, you'll know that the homemade detour sign shown above was installed atop a Kabbalah Energy Drink trailer parked on a lot at Kent Avenue and Broadway. The extremely wordy sign offered southbound drivers on Kent a suggested alternate route to avoid the frustration of school buses that will - by the sign writer's own admission - be intentionally "in an angle blocking the road and bike lane for safety".

You'll also know that by the NY Post's account Sunday, the DOT confirmed the sign is illegal, and Gothamist ran a piece Tuesday titled "Phony Detour Sign Comes Down!" with the requisite "had no idea it was there" quote from the owner of the lot, and even a couple of photos of a guy removing the sign.

The thing is...as of this morning the sign is back, in all its safety orange glory!

Is this a defiant first shot in what will ultimately grow into neighborhood anarchy, pitting angry Hasids against neighborhood cyclists, drivers and the DOT?

Or just a 'screw you' to city and state officials who are likely too busy planning their five-day New Years' weekend to do anything about it until Monday? Stay tuned...

Tuesday Eye Candy: Night Moves

2008-12-02T22:00:00.002-05:00

Jumping the tower crane at Northside Piers' Tower 2 Tuesday evening.

Monday Eye Candy: Lower Manhattan

2008-12-01T11:58:00.003-05:00

From a DUMBO rooftop Monday morning.

Sunday Eye Candy: Avenue J

2008-11-23T18:41:00.002-05:00

Waiting for the Q Train at Avenue J in Midwood, Brooklyn. We'd just taken the BCUE Ditmas Park walking tour and had a couple of life-changing slices at DiFara Pizza. The almost-winter sunset seen through the trees contrasted nicely with the stark fluorescent-lit platform below and accentuated the chill.

Officer Beyoncé in LatestBedford Brutality Incident

2008-11-21T09:22:00.007-05:00

Police roughing folks up at the Williamsburg crossroads of Bedford and North 7th is no longer reserved for political revelers nor panda protesters. In the latest incident shown above, singer Beyoncé Knowles is seen womanhandling a suspected shoplifter at the popular Bedford Avenue bodega Deli Mart, in the new video for her song "If I Were a Boy".

If I Were a Boy [YouTube] (link mercifully jumps directly to the Deli Mart scene)

Burg Transit Riders Would be CrushedUnder MTA's 'Doomsday' Budget

2008-11-18T12:25:00.005-05:00

g train flooded courtesy of Lesterhead on flickr

Of the five subway lines that serve Williamsburg, two would see service cut in half, and one would be closed entirely, under a new "doomsday" budget contingency to be presented at the MTA's monthly meeting on Thursday.

As part of the 'worst case' plan designed to close a projected $1.2 billion budget gap, the M line, and the perennial stepchild G train would both see 50% service reductions, and the Z train, which connects Williamsburg's Broadway Avenue to the Lower East Side, would be eliminated entirely.

The dramatic cuts would likely coincide with a historically unprecedented fare increase of perhaps a dollar per ride or more.

All this, potentially coming at a time when Williamsburg is splitting at the seams with new residents, neighborhood parking availability is at an all-time low, and financial and environmental concerns have seen a big uptick in subway ridership.

Maybe its time to go check out those new Kent Avenue bike lanes?

Report: MTA To Slash Jobs, Multiple Subway Lines [wcbstv.com]

East River State Park Closing for Winter;State Budget Cuts to Blame

2008-11-12T12:33:00.005-05:00

Waterfront access on Williamsburg's Northside will get worse before it gets better. Today's New York Post reports that the park gates will be locked from January through March "as part of Governor Paterson's sweeping budget cuts".

The short article manages to work in a "hipster sunbathers" reference as well as a quote from an NYC parks watchdog group saying "closing a park is unheard of in modern times".

This announcement makes us particularly bitter, as the notion of improved waterfront access was touted as the single real giveback to neighborhood residents when politicians and developers were promoting the 2005 rezoning plan. In exchange for living with years of noisy, dirty construction; a hundred-foot high wall of buildings blocking waterfront views; soaring rental prices; and a permanent increase in traffic and subway congestion, a spectacular new waterfront promenade would provide unprecedented neighborhood access to the East River.

After three years, we've received all the downside, and none of the upside in the form of the promised waterfront promenade. The North 5th Street pier - part of Toll Brothers Northside Piers complex - has been complete for seven months and handed over to the Parks Department, but remains off-limits while city attorneys dawdle over paperwork.

Now the State Park (although not officially a part of the rezone) will be closed for a quarter of the year - effectively sealing the waterfront from Grand Ferry Park at Grand Street for twenty five blocks to the barricaded end of Java Street - that's 1.2 continuous miles of East River frontage suddenly off-limits to residents.

We understand the state is in a fiscal crisis. But we never understood to begin with why the State Park needs to have a locked gate and payrolled park rangers, when most city parks operate just fine with occasional maintenance. East River State Park doesn't even have furniture (besides a few picnic tables) to vandalize or trees to prune for gosh sakes. Open the damn gates and send one of your State Parks cars by every few hours. Consolidate the rangers with the ones watching Brooklyn Bridge park in DUMBO. Bam! Budget problem solved!

W'Burg Park Budget Victim [NY Post]

Ferry Tale Comes True:North 7th Street Pier Underway

2008-11-07T15:43:00.002-05:00

The foot of North 7th Street today...

...the foot of North 7th Street next summer?

Long-time readers of this blog know that one of our favorite memes is our obsession with getting East River ferry service to the Northside. We've posted incessantly about it since rumors were first floated by Toll Brothers that Northside Piers would have a NY Water Taxi stop.

When that bubble was burst with the new suggestion that in fact The Edge complex would get the ferry landing, we wrote an open letter to Mike Bloomberg, MTA CEO Rick Sander, and the principals of NY Water Taxi, urging them to consider a temporary ferry stop at North 7th - with access via East River State Park. We never received a reply.

But LO! On a long-overdue walk down Kent Avenue this morning, we discovered a barge-mounted crane setting piles in the river at the foot of North 7th...and a State Parks ranger matter-of-factly confirmed that the barge was, in fact, beginning work on the ferry pier!

When asked, he said he didn't believe the pier would have public access via the park (but basically acknowledged that he wouldn't know either way). And its probably a stretch - the park would have to be open much longer hours to accomodate commuters (though it IS on the park side of the MTA fan plant). So the implication is that the ferry won't begin service to North 7th until The Edge construction is complete and the North 7th dead end is safe for pedestrians. But the great news is that - by all appearances - when the street approach is ready, the pier will be ready. And that the project is happening at all, given the current economic mess.

We'll have frequent updates on this one, we promise!

Kent Ave Greenway Underway;Safe(r) Cycling Trumps Parking

2008-11-07T15:22:00.000-05:00

The Greenpoint / Williamsburg portion of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway has taken root, with new parking restrictions and bike lane markings along a 1.7 mile section of Franklin Street and Kent Avenue from Quay Street to the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

On-street parking along both sides of the heavily-traveled stretch of Kent Avenue gave way to über-restrictive red "No Stopping" signs in the wee hours of October 25th. The unannounced Saturday change resulted a slew of parking tickets (and vocal outrage) on the Southside, where orthodox Jews were unable to move their cars while observing the Shabbos.

The new lanes are still being striped as we post, but in general the interim bikeway consists of a 68" wide bike lane on both sides of Kent Avenue with a 38 - 40" hashed 'no man's land' separating the cycling and vehicle lanes. At the curve between North 12th and North 14th, the bike lanes squeeze down to 56" with a 28" buffer, to allow an enlarged separation between the north and southbound driving lanes - where drivers typically take the inside of the curve - which would now mean running over cyclists in the new southbound bike lane.

At Quay Street in Greenpoint, the bikeway reverts to existing shared car/cycle lanes, with bike route symbols stenciled in both driving lanes of Franklin Street, north to Eagle. Our understanding is that eventually the Greenway will route a block west to West Street between Quay and Eagle, but no sign of that happening as part of the immediate changes.

While this is all great news for cyclists commuting from Greenpoint and the Northside to the Williamsburg Bridge (and a change we vocally advocated at the 2007 Greenway Design Workshop), it also opens up a veritable smorgasbord of canned worms:

1. Speeding cars and trucks. By eliminating two dozen blocks of on-street parking, the 'no stopping' signs effectively double the width of open pavement, creating a psychological Autobahn for drivers. Studies have shown that the wider the open road, the faster we drive on it - and white pavement stripes just aren't the same threat to your own vehicle as a row of parked cars.

While the new real estate is a relief for cyclists used to being squeezed between careening garbage trucks and parked rearview mirrors, at least in the old days cars and trucks were frequently forced to slow down to negotiate their way around double-parked delivery trucks and protruding construction equipment, so the average speed on Kent was relatively slow. Now, with acres of open pavement in all directions, drivers are emulating Jeff Gordon on the straightaway at Talledega, and any accidents are likely to be all the more spectacular (and tragic).

When we voiced our support for the interim bikeway (over the opposing "lets wait 'til we can build the Greenway on the river's edge" viewpoint), we recommended a 'soft' barricade be provided: a row of breakaway plastic posts, or plastic Jersey barriers, creating a double-width bikeway on the west side only, with warning signage for both bikers and drivers, wherever vehicles are able to cross to the west side of Kent Avenue (much like the West Side Highway bike path in Manhattan).

2. Neighborhood parking. Politically incorect as it may be, we have a vehicle for our business. And parking on the Northside has gone from perhaps the best in the city (dead ends at the river with parking on both sides, all day, every day) - to virtually nonexistant. First went the dead-ends at North 5th, North 6th and North 7th, deeded to the developers for use in their private residential complexes. Then came construction workers by the dozens if not hundreds, nearly all driving and parking on waterfront blocks every morning. Then the 'no standing' regulations on nearly every block of Kent Avenue from North 3rd to North 9th. But there was still the fallback of reliable spaces north of North 10th, if you didn't mind a bit of a hike, and leaving your vehicle in a virtual no-mans land at night.

The Greenway advocates reassured neighborhood car owners at the design summit by assuring them that parking spaces lost to the bike lanes would be replaced by parking structures built under the new high-rises; and by on-street spaces in front of commercial properties - currently restricted during business hours - reverting to regular all-day parking - as the commercial properties were converted to residential buildings.

So far, only Northside Piers has contributed new parking spaces to the neighborhood, and while $400 per month may be a deal compared to off-street options in Manhattan, its a big pill to swallow for residents used to free on-street parking.

3. Enforcement. Since the "no stopping" placards went up, it appears there's an invisible caveat hidden somewhere on the red signs: "NO STOPPING (except for trucks, construction vehicles, and lunch wagons)". The only way the bike lanes work is if vehicles stay clear of them. Take a quick glance up and down Kent Avenue from North 6th, any time between 7 am and 5 pm weekdays, and you're sure to see a half-dozen or more delivery trucks, flatbed trailers delivering steel or prefab concrete, etc. Cyclists are forced to weave back and forth onto the and off of the Autobahn to get around them - creating a situation that's potentially more dangerous than when they puttered alongside parked cars, in plain sight of slower-moving drivers.

--

We don't mean to look a gift horse in the mouth here. Despite the new 20-minute parking adventure most days, we are also long-time bikers and strong advocates of cycling. And any step toward a real Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway is a step in the right direction.

ATM World

2008-11-06T21:54:00.002-05:00

In case there was any doubt that Williamsburg is the ATM capital of the free world - boasting 17.4 cash machines per capita - Northside Car Service has installed three brand new ATMs in front of their base on Bedford, apparently welding the kiosks to their railing.

Mind you that there's already a fourth machine inside the tiny office, should the other three be otherwise occupied. Apparently there's more money in ATM fees than in, you know, driving people around.

Obama Wins! 'Burg Celebrates!

2008-11-05T01:59:00.003-05:00

As soon as the election was called and Barack made his historic acceptance speech, Williamsburg residents poured out into the streets, blocking traffic at Bedford and North 7th Streets for several hours while NYPD choppers circled overhead.

Like a scene from the late 60's, Williamsburg residents crowded hipster 'Ground Zero' from midnight 'til 3 am in a massive outpouring of emotions.

We'll never forget the scene. God Bless Barack Obama and God Bless the United States.

Scene from 'Hoffa' ? Nah, It'sLunchtime at Northside Piers

2008-09-30T12:13:00.006-04:00

Anyone craving a little testosterone-fueled labor movement action should head over to Kent Avenue between North 3rd and North 5th weekdays at noon: for the past month or two, the boys from Laborers Local 79 and their brothers from Carpenters Local 926?? have set up shop daily across from Northside Piers and a block south at the Austin Nichols site, complete with now-familiar (nonunion) inflatable rats, and (as anyone attempting to work from home will attest) a bunch of very loud whistles.

Actually, the unions have a small group of picketers at both sites throughout the workday, but when the air horn squawks the lunch signal, things really heat up. Dozens of laborers congregate around a small "roach coach" serving lunch on the Kent Avenue curb, but many of the workers immediately join the dedicated picketers - chanting, singing, and encouraging passing drivers to honk their horns (on this stretch of Kent Avenue, most drivers have their horn-honking hand on a hair-trigger anyway, so most are happy to comply).

And then there's the whistling. A non-stop, 110 decibel din that lasts 30 to 40 minutes. Mixed with the frequent air horn blasts from passing trucks, it's vaguely reminiscent of the ">exploding head sequences from 'Scanners' (minus the exploding heads of course).

As someone who regularly hires union labor, we're on the side of the Locals on this one. Still, we don't envy the 'scabs': with the building lots backed up to the East River, there's nowhere to go at lunchtime without passing through this gauntlet; and we suspect that's exactly what the Brotherhood is aiming for. We're guessing the nonunion guys are mostly brown-bagging it.

So far - to our knowledge - this hasn't boiled over...although moments before we began shooting this morning, a passerby pointed out where someone had just "accidentally dropped" something out of an upper-story window of the Austin Nichols building, smashing the rear window of a car parked below.

Labor Brawl Scene from 'Hoffa' (1992) [YouTube]

Quit Bitching and Start NAGing:Williamsburg Town Hall Meeting Thursday(yes, you can still watch the debate!)

2008-09-29T18:08:00.003-04:00

For those of us who love to complain (we admit it!) about the state of the neighborhood...and also you curious types who adore Williamsburg but wish you could move beyond friend-requesting the 'Burg on Facebook or gossiping about Billy on Williamsboard, here's your chance to actually get involved and make your voice heard:

The good folks at NAG - that's Neighbors Allied for Good Growth - have organized a town hall meeting this Thursday, October 2nd at 7 pm in the basement of Holy Ghost Hall - at 159 North 5th Street (betweeen Bedford and Driggs). We're pretty sure that's a church hall, not an underground music venue...but around here of course, you can't be sure.

But seriously, pick your personal meme:

- Will the daily L Train mosh pit get better or worse?

- Where's my rezone-guaranteed new open spaces?

- What's happening with McCarren Park Pool?

- Will Kent Avenue get a bike lane or will bicycle/truck death racing become an Olympic Sport?

Now we know what you're thinking: "But Sarah Palin's national TV implosion is Thursday night!" The NAG folks PROMISE the meeting will end with plenty of time to get to Zabloski's or Hugs or Matchless - or wherever you plan on watching the VP Debate at 9 pm. Think of the Town Hall meeting as a local tailgate party - with issues you can actually do something about.

Link to NAG's Town Hall Meeting Announcement and Blog [nag-brooklyn.org]

Mile High Club: Blogging at 38,000 Feet

2008-09-22T22:30:00.002-04:00

From the "because we could" department: we're writing and publishing this post from 38,000 feet above Cleveland, from an American 767 outfitted with pay-per-use 'broadband' wi-fi from gogoinflight.com.

$12.95 gets you unrestricted wireless web access on your laptop or mobile (we tried both and this is being posted from our iPhone, now that the Powerbook is out of juice). We Speedtested the connection at just over 500KB down and 200KB up...which isn't blazing, but feels great for normal photo-heavy pageviews, and adequate for streaming YouTube videos and Internet radio over Flycast. We actually downloaded that app and a couple others, and listened to the Monday Night Football game over an ESPN Radio stream. Couldn't get the iPhone AIM client to connect, but iChat worked perfectly!

Gonna leave it at that for now...we discovered Blogger on mobile Safari wipes a post in progress if you leave the app and return, and we don't have the heart to retype this on the iPhone keyboard.

T-Shirt of the Day

2008-09-16T22:23:00.003-04:00

A little off topic, but wanna bet a variation of this shows up on CaféPress Wednesday morning?

Carpet Bomb: Western CarpetWarehouse Next to Fall?

2008-09-12T09:13:00.002-04:00

Pure speculation here, but in a week where two of our previous outlandish predictions have either come to pass - or at least been seriously discussed - we'll go for it.

We think the half-a-city-block Western Carpet warehouse at 149 Kent Avenue / 202 Wythe is soon to be on the market as a prime development site. Either that, or this summer was a really good season for carpet sales: a peek inside the cinder block beauty reveals that the massive warehouse is nearly empty, and in our estimation has been for some time.

The carpet importer actually occupies two handsome mustard and ketchup-hued buildings facing North 5th Street, and appears to be consolidating operations to the slightly smaller structure on the south side of the block. The massive lot - facing the Northside Piers and Edge developments - is zoned for six-story residential/retail, and would be a logical addition to what's quickly becoming the Northside's condo row.

North 5th Street Pier:A Good Sign

2008-09-09T09:25:00.003-04:00

No official (or unofficial) updates on the possible opening of the North 5th Street Pier, but two Parks Department signs were installed Monday - one at the corner of Kent Avenue and North 5th, and a second, hiding in the trees about half-way down the dead end approach that runs along the north side of the Northside Piers / Palmer's Dock low-rise building.

While officially off-limits to the public, a friendly security guard allowed us to walk all the way down to the foot of North 5th Monday. Tower 2 is well underway - maybe seven floors so far - and the Pier's approach takes you along the north side of that site, which is set back from the public walkway by probably 30 feet, well behind a neat, secure fence. With the addition of a simple sidewalk shed, the public walkway to the pier would be FAR more safe and secure than virtually any of the other new builds in the neighborhood - sites that often have pedestrians stepping over concrete hoses, dodging swinging gates, and often walking in the street to avoid active hazards.

What DOES still appear to be an issue is the barge-based crane which is secured very close to the north side of the pier itself. And the problem - potentially - there is that that crane is setting bulkhead panels for the Edge development next door - NOT Northside Piers. So the idea that the Edge's crane is holding up Northside Piers' final certificate of occupancy (and the opening of the pier to the public - see yesterday's post) is certainly a curious one.

Boxed Lunches: Cargo Container-basedRestaurant Docking on North 6th?

2008-09-08T09:45:00.004-04:00

We've been watching this one develop for some time now, and finally had a chance to speak to the man behind the curious arrangement of cargo containers at 59 North 6th Street. You'll recall that last spring, a sign appeared, touting a flea market on the lot that never actually occurred.

In January, we noted that the number of freight containers was steadily increasing on the lot we dubbed "Williamsburg Container Port".

Over the summer, we watched as someone brought a crane in to rearrange the steel boxes just-so, then began painting them and cutting huge panels out of the sides - one of which was hinged-up to create a makeshift, if not somewhat precarious, canopy. Finally, in the past month or so, the two cans closest to the street have been populated with brand-new restaurant-grade kitchen fixtures: refrigerators, stainless prep tables, deli cases, etc.

So when we saw a gentleman working in one of the containers last week (still separated from the street by cyclone fence), we had to ask: "Are you opening a restaurant?" To which the gentleman said yes, it should be open in a "couple weeks".

We didn't press. Frankly, this seems so unlikely, we were a little frightened to dig deeper. We'll keep an eye on things at the port and promise to unpack this one as soon as we can.

More views of the future portside eatery here, here and here.

Northside Piers' C of O ContingentOn Public Waterfront Access?

2008-09-08T09:16:00.005-04:00

Following up on our Friday rant regarding the fact that in the forty months since the Greenpoint-Williamsburg rezone was ratified, none of the promised public waterfront access components has been realized, NAG (Neighbors Allied for Good Growth) offers this tidbit:

the following have to be true before any market-rate building gets its final certificate of occupancy:

* The required on and off-site affordable housing must be built and occupied.

* The full esplanade must be built with two entrance/exits (based on the mistake at Schaefer Landing of only allowing one)

* The "upland connections" (the privately-owned driveway on North 4th Street) must be publicly accessible.

A visit to the DOB website shows a succession of temporary certificates issued for 1 Northside Piers - most recently on August 14th [pdf]. The C of O states that there are 10 outstanding requirements for obtaining the Final Certificate of Occupancy, and refers back to the BISweb site for details.

NAG: Getting to the Waterfront at Northside Piers

Tropical Storm Special:Fun With Falling Debris

2008-09-06T14:23:00.002-04:00

Wondering how to spend a blustery Saturday night in the midst of Tropical Storm Hannah? We proudly present THINGBLO: the game for poorly-secured construction sites!

Click on the gameboard above, print it, then grab a beer and a bingo marker and post up near your favorite high-rise project. Works best in Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and Carrol Gardens; also fun in Midtown, Downtown, or anywhere close to the Trump SOHO.

Whenever something flies off the vacated jobsite (who wants to work in a hurricane, right?), mark the appropriate square. When you have five in a row - if you're still alive - shout "THINGBLO!" and run like hell back indoors.

For those not lucky enough to live near a construction site (are there any open units in your building?), you can tap up the Gothamist Newsmap and play along at home.

Good luck!

North 5th Street PierRemains Off-Limits For Now

2008-09-05T11:28:00.007-04:00

More than three years have passed since the Department of City Planning's Greenpoint-Williamsburg Rezoning Proposal was officially adopted, and in that time, the Land Use and Waterfront Plan has made an incredible impact on the two neighborhoods - particularly Williamsburg. Walk anywhere in Northside Williamsburg between Bedford and the East River, from North 14th to the Bridge, and you'll be hard-pressed to find a block that's gone untouched by new development.

Everywhere you turn, the neighborhood is dotted by recent demolitions, active (and stalled) construction sites, and newly-occupied residential buildings. In the 11211 zip code, according to permits aggregator site Everyblock, in the forty months since the rezone was approved, 129 applications for new buildings have been reviewed by DOB, and perhaps even more telling: in the same period, 239 demolition permits have been processed in the 'Burg. A modern day Rip Van Winkle, having awoken in the Bushwick Inlet weeds and taken a walk down Kent Avenue would conclude we were in the midst of a real estate gold rush, not a mortgage meltdown.

What does all this have to do with the North 5th Street pier? Simply put - in its first three years, the rezone has been a boon to developers and property owners. But a key component of the plan, designed to provide some benefit to the little guy (you know, the folks who live here) - the Waterfront Access Plan - has so far (beyond meetings and renderings) GONE ENTIRELY UNREALIZED.

Before the commenters jump all over us, pointing out last summer's opening of East River State Park, recall that that parcel had been held by State Parks long before the rezone was ratified. As we understand it, that park would have happened either way. Don't get us wrong - the park is great (when it's open, and if you don't have a dog, or a skateboard, or a tripod, or forget to dismount your bike...). But its not part of the rezone.

All the benefits of the rezone touted to existing residents (and exhaustively fought for by community groups): waterfront greenway, additional open space, enlarged parks, visual corridors - have all languished while builders run roughshod over the neighborhood streets and sidewalks (and morning sleep) of local residents.

Opening the East River pier at Northside Piers to the public will be the first little giveback to the community, and that's why we've grown impatient. The pier has been complete with shiny railings, decorative lighting, and even a funky sculpural "shade structure" for months now. Several inquiries of Toll Brothers staff have produced the same general story (paraphrasing):

'The ball is in the city's court now. NYC Parks has to take over operation before it can open, and the insurance people are concerned about the liability of letting the public pass through the potentially unsafe Tower Two construction area en route to the pier.'

We reached out to Phil Abramson at the Parks Department Press Office. His assistant regarded us skeptically, then told us to email him. Which we did - three times since August 20th - and received no replies.

A well-informed source says that the interested parties (the city, Parks, even Toll Brothers) all want the pier opened - at least on weekends - asap; but that Saturday construction hours, plus a barge-mounted crane that would be easily accessible from an unmonitored pier - are likely to keep the jetty off-limits until at least November.

And so for now, we're left where we started - dodging cranes and concrete pumpers on nearly every block; awaking at 6 am to the sound of pile-drivers and semi's full of rebar parking under our windows; and awaiting delivery of some small payback from a rezoning plan that's obviously been a jackpot to developers.

Panda Riot Blocks Kent Ave;NYPD Brings Air Support

2008-08-16T22:22:00.008-04:00

About 75 Williamsburg hipsters staged a mini riot around 10 pm Saturday evening, waving waving Asian-themed panda banners and sparklers, chanting something about pandas, and temporarily stopping Kent Avenue traffic when they pulled construction barricades across the busy street.

The generally-nondestructive and upbeat mob, walking and riding bikes, moved west along North 6th, leaving sawhorses and newsboxes strewn about the street in front of the Edge sales office. Turning south on Kent Avenue, marchers dragged a long plastic barricade across the entire width of the avenue, then continued down Kent to Metropolitan where they were met by police cruisers and quickly dispersed.

Amazingly, within moments an NYPD incident response truck was at Kent and North 6th, pushing the barricade out of the street as confused drivers looked on. Almost simultaneously, a PD helicopter swung overhead, sweeping the Northside waterfront with its spotlight, looking for...suspicious-looking hipsters?

We thought it was a promotion for the indy band Panda Riot, but they played Rehab back on August 7th and should have been in Athens, GA this weekend. Our better half suggested it was a stunt to promote a new Panda Express location. Anyone got anything else?

Williamsburg Panda Riot photoset [Flickr]

Saturday Night Lost

2008-07-30T21:14:00.002-04:00

This is all that was left of 25 years of Saturday Night Live sets during a recent visit to the Navy Yard. Faced with (still) hotter-than-Tina-Fey Brooklyn real estate values, long-time SNL set builders Stiegelbauer Associates had the treasure trove of pop-Americana that's been stashed away for years in Building 280, literally jackhammered to bits last month.

Our source told us the warehouse was a veritable encyclopedia of scenic goodness: "when they needed a waterfall for a sketch, the set shop would say, 'Which one? We have three." We're not sure who made the call to purge the place - Stiegelbauer or NBC - but we're sad we found out so late in the game. One of our all-time favorite Seinfeld episodes is the one where Kramer rescues the old Dick Cavett Show set from the trash, and rebuilds it in his apartment, forcing Jerry and other guests to sit for 'interviews' when visiting his place.

Alas, dashed visions of 'Weekend Update' or 'Coffee Talk' in our living room...

The (Hopefully Never Leaning)Tower of Williamsburg

2008-07-13T08:57:00.002-04:00

Residents at Kent Avenue and North 6th Street may have a new reason to be living on Edge. Crews worked throughout the weekend installing the neighborhood's first tower crane in recent memory. This particular crane is brought to you by New York Cranes: the same outfit that - you guessed it - owned the two tower cranes that collapsed in separate incidents earlier this year in Manhattan, collectively killing eight people.

While the cause of both collapses remain under investigation, there's been ongoing speculation that the second failure may have been caused by faulty repairs to the crane's turntable - the giant lazy susan that allows the horizontal jib, or working arm, to turn atop the vertical mast.

We're sure the new one being built at the site of the Edge residential development is perfectly safe...though you gotta love that this machine's turntable assembly bears the unlikely serial number "1234".

Another Northside Landmark Gone;Mobil Mews Condos Should be a Gas

2008-06-27T09:50:00.003-04:00

Another seldom-discussed but omnipresent Northside icon: the old Mobil gas station sign that's marked the Williamsburg corner of Berry Street and North 7th since the early '60s - is gone for good as of this morning. A crew replacing the old half-hearted fence around the former filling station said "some guy who came by" got it, adding "a lot of people are asking about it."

The shiny new fence, complete with barbed wire top, almost certainly portends the start of the next life for 131 Berry. Although a check of the DOB info site shows no building permits applied for nor issued, the prime location one block west of the Bedford L-train stop - and directly across from Karl Fischer's soul-sucking Sevenberry condos - can only mean one thing:

Mobil Mews: Full-Service Premium Condominium Living, Filling Up Fast.
Occupancy, Spring 2010

The foundation dig on this one should be fun. At least at the Roebling Oil Fields development over on North 11th (now the Warehouse 11 condos), connecting the blobs meant some detective work. But Mobil Mews begins life as a gas station: DOB "Little E" hazmat restrictions and all.

And as for the iconic Mobil sign - another symbol of Williamsburg's gritty urban past, soon to be forgotten: tanks for the memories.

Monday Morning L-Train Madness:Caught on Video

2008-05-05T09:52:00.002-04:00

OK, so this isn't actually video from the Bedford Avenue platform. But following a complete shutdown of service between Broadway Junction and Eight Avenue just prior to today's normal morning rush insanity, the Japanese "pushers" in this YouTube clip might have been welcomed.

We stood at platform's edge for nearly a half-hour, trying in vain to insert our relatively lithe body onto not one but three overstuffed L's before successful injection (hands above head, crammed between a baby stroller and several visibly annoyed hipsters) onto the fourth.

The MTA has been responsive to the growing commuter crisis, maxing out the frequency of rush hour trains and pushing forward a computer-controlled switching system (affectionately dubbed 'robo-trains' by neighborhood Luddites) that will allow even more closely-spaced lemming-haulers sometime this century.

But given the massive influx of commuters to the L-corridor in Brooklyn (ridership on the line nearly doubled between 1994 and 2005), demand will almost certainly outstrip these improvements over the coming years. That's why we'll continue to beat the drum for year-round ferry service between Williamsburg's North Side and (ideally) East Side destinations between Wall Street and 34th. We realize the Water Taxi isn't a panacea: compared to the subway, its expensive; and waterside landings often mean transferring to a bus or taxi. But for some, it would be a pleasant alternative to the morning madness that's becoming an unpleasant way of life in Williamsburg.

Thanks to Megan for forwarding the hilarious YouTube clip!

At Williamsburg Edge Site, Giant CraneMarks Start of Prolonged Erection

2008-05-01T00:15:00.003-04:00

Late last week, Williamsburg's condo high rise project du jour took delivery of a massive crane and began receiving truckloads of steel I-beams, marking the beginning of real vertical construction at the two-block site. As of Wednesday afternoon, a number of beams had been bolted in place to form the embryonic underpinnings of what will soon grow into two thirty-story condo towers surrounded by six-floor rental and retail buildings fronting on Kent Avenue between North 5th and North 7th Streets.

Gazing out from the imnotsayin offices, contemplating the prospect of the big crane dropping by unannounced some afternoon (through our roof), we couldn't help but wonder why neither this development - nor its next-door frenemy Northside Piers - are using respectable-looking big boy tower cranes. Instead, both sites are using old-school erector set truck-mounted crawler cranes. Is it the potential winds off the East River? The increased scrutiny of tower cranes following the tragic March 15th collapse in midtown that killed seven people? Any thoughts?

Cranes [Wikipedia]

Williamsburg Edge - Official Site [williamsburgedge.com]

Tuesday Eye Candy: Progress

2008-04-22T11:05:00.003-04:00

Anyone who's followed this blog for the past couple summers will recognize the wall behind this brand-spanking-new Shepard Fairey pasteup that appeared some time Monday morning.

The facade of 60 North 6th Street in Williamsburg has previously hosted two Banksy works: the semi-epic Electric Kids in 2006; And more recently (until Monday), Climbover Girl. You might also recall our near run-in with the Splasher there last winter, and a couple of stencils by Faile.

Fairey (aka "Giant", "OBEY", and sometimes even "Obey Giant") specializes in large screenprints and is an unapologetic Obama supporter. His previous work in the Obama series was similar, but emblazoned with the word HOPE.

In any case, we hope the new pasteup is a good omen for today's Pennsylvania Primary.

Con Ed Admits Brooklyn Power PlantIS Being Demolished

2008-04-18T09:55:00.009-04:00

BMT Power Plant interior gantry crane by Gerald Weinstein, courtesy of www.archiveofindustry.com

Just a month after categorically denying the landmark 1905 Brooklyn Rapid Transit Power Plant was being prepped for demolition, the same Con Edison spokesman has admitted the structure is being torn down. In a March 12th post, we broke the story, speculating as much - but quoting Con Ed's explicit denial.

Friday morning's AM New York print edition ran an article headlined "Plant powers down", in which Chris Olert from the utility's Press Office "confirmed that the building was being demolished". In March, the same Chris Olert told imnotsayin "we're just doing some spring cleaning," and insisting we "don't go spinning this into exotica...we're just cleaning up."

We can't say we're surprised that the plant is being razed, but utility's brazen denial to this blog, followed so soon by a 180-degree change in their story - with no followup to us - is frustrating.

The AM New York piece goes on to quote our friend Mary Habstritt of the Society for Industrial ~~Architecture~~ Archaeology, who says "We are losing a lot of power plants, but this is probably the most stunning. It tells the whole story of our subway system."

The article also mentions the fact that the city's Landmarks Preservation Committee passed over the building for consideration (the article erroneously implies Landmarks considered and "rejected" it - in fact as reported earlier here, they actually declined to consider the property). According to the piece, Landmarks spokeswoman Lisi de Bourbon "said it could be reconsidered at a later date."

Unfortunately, "a later date" will almost certainly be too late to save the historic structure.

Community Shocked as Plug Pulled on Historic Power Plant [amny.com]

Kent Avenue Power Plant: Are Renovations Prelude to Demolition? [imnotsayin]

Con Ed: Give Power Plant to Navy Yard [imnotsayin]

Northside Piers Turns on the Red Lights

2008-04-04T08:43:00.004-04:00

Like an older sister trying to ruin her little sister's first sleepover by hovering over the party, reminding sis that she's more grown up than you, Northside Piers lorded over the Edge's sales office opening party Thursday night, showing off the brand-new FAA warning lights she sprouted earlier today.

Just a block from the sales office premiere, the Toll Brothers' tower also beamed with a dozen or so apartments left conspicuously lighted. This is the first visible sign of life from within the formerly dark tower, whose Temporary Certificate of Occupancy was issued last week.

Seeing the new aircraft warning lights on the Williamsburg tower for the first time last night was a particular wake up and smell the coffee moment for us. For Brooklynites (outside of downtown), the glowing red beacons are a Manhattan thing - like hovering news choppers, and those convoys of silently-blinking cop cars.

Our little Williamsburg is growing up, and sometimes we hardly even recognize her.

Con Ed: Give Power Plant to Navy Yard

2008-04-02T20:02:00.006-04:00

As exclusively reported here a couple of weeks ago, Con Edison is in the midst of some very heavy-duty "spring cleaning" at the historic BMT Powerhouse at 500 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg. Though the utility officially denies prepping the building for demolition, our sources tell us otherwise.

Meanwhile, a November 5th Brownstoner post, confirmed by the New York Post a few weeks later, revealed that the Brooklyn Navy Yard (now a 300-acre, city-owned industrial park) has hatched a plan to fill a long-unused basin at the north end of the Yard, annexing up to 16 additional acres along Kent Avenue including the city vehicle auction lot, a road-salt depot, and a former gas plant site.

Which brings us back to the power plant. The hulking Renaissance Revival structure borders the anticipated Navy Yard annex on two sides, and fits perfectly within the wide range of existing industrial buildings on the former Naval base. The huge, high-ceilinged turbine room could host a set-building business or serve as an additional soundstage for Steiner Studios. The plant is also filled with smaller-scaled industial floors perfect for warehousing or light manufacturing. And the street side fronts directly on the sidewalk, meaning it works with the Navy Yard's proposal to include some retail frontage along the desolate stretch of Kent Avenue.

Handing the powerhouse over to the Navy Yard would avoid the inevitably drawn-out preservation fight: the one where prospective developers insist the structure is too polluted to convert to housing and therefore must be demolished and replaced with a glassy high-rise. Con Ed gets a liability off their books, and the grand old plant gets a second life helping new businesses grow and providing some badly-needed commercial diversity by adding new industrial jobs at a time when blue-collar jobs are rapidly being squeezed out of the city.

Are Renovations Prelude to Demolition? [imnotsayin]

Navy Yard Watch: Multi-Use Complex for Kent Avenue [Brownstoner]

Dredge Report: Brooklyn Gaining Navy Yardage [NY Post]

Pier Review: Northside Pier Nearing Completion

2008-04-02T08:51:00.003-04:00

Checking in on progress at the namesake for Toll Brothers' Northside Piers development at Kent Avenue and North 5th Street - the East River jetty now sports a sharp-looking stainless steel railing and an assortment of benches and small tables. No obvious sign of a water-taxi launch from our vantage point.

A couple additional details on the development trickled out in a March 12th article in The Real Deal, an NYC real estate trade publication:

Toll Brothers has no plans of offering free rent for its retail space, as Two Trees Management did back when Dumbo lacked neighborhood amenities...a waterfront restaurant is planned for the second tower, which will have 274 units. That tower will overlook a giant sculpture by local artist Mark Gibian that could be 30 feet tall and weigh eight tons, according to one estimate.

Under city zoning laws, Toll Brothers is required to create a waterfront esplanade on its property along with a pier that contains some shade element, which is how the sculpture came to be.

As sales of units in the nearly-complete tower have slowed (by Toll Brother's own admission), the developer has programmed several arts installations on the property to maintain traffic through its waterfront sales office. The events have included a mid-March fashion show, a performance by the Opera Company of Brooklyn, and curating a show for Slate Gallery in its lobby.

Here's hoping that Toll Brothers allows immediate public access to the new pier as an additional lure to prospective buyers.

Toll Brothers hopes to get Northside Piers back in fashion [The Real Deal]

Smart Car Prototype In Drive-By Shooting;Crashes Into Concord Street House

2008-04-01T09:00:00.002-04:00

Happy April Fool's Day! Its actually a Didik Long Ranger - an upgraded version of the Vanguard CitiCar, a street-legal electric car produced in Seabring, Florida in the mid-1970's at the height of the oil crisis. The car is parked in the "yard" of 167 Concord Street in Downtown Brooklyn (aka Albee Square or maybe even RAMBO), the home of inventor Frank Didik. The house, btw, dates from 1762 and according to the owner, was used as part of the Underground Railway.

CitiCar History and Brochure [didik.com]

Albee Square Neighborhood History [forgotten-ny.com]

Grand Ferry Park to Reopen in Late April

2008-03-25T15:29:00.010-04:00

Weather permitting, one of our favorite Northside Williamsburg haunts - Grand Ferry Park - will reopen in late April, according to the NYC Parks Department.

The tiny waterfront park at the foot of Grand Street on the East River has been fenced off since mid-October for a half-million dollar capital improvement project. The site of the park, which officially opened in 1998, plays a crucial role in the history of Williamsburg. According to the Parks Department's own history:

It is named for the 19th century Grand Street Ferry, which once carried farm goods and passengers across the East River to Manhattan.
In 1802, Richard Woodhull, spurred by the idea of creating a residential suburb of Manhattan, began a ferry service from today’s Metropolitan Avenue to Corlear’s Hook across the East River. He purchased 13 acres of land surrounding the ferry and named the area Williamsburgh around 1810, after Colonel Jonathan Williams (1750-1815), the original surveyor of the site.
In 1811 Woodhull went bankrupt, but the idea of Williamsburgh was viable; Noah Waterbury built the neighborhood’s first distillery in 1819, and David Dunham (ca. 1790), called the “Father of Williamsburgh,” began operating a steam ferry in 1827. During the mid-1800s, wealthy professionals frequented the private clubs, beer gardens, and resorts abounding in the neighborhood, while companies like Pfizer Pharmaceutical and the Havermeyers & Elder Sugar (now Domino Sugar) Refineries laid their roots in the area.

Interestingly, at some point between 1802 and 1847, the actual ferry launch moved from Metropolitan Avenue down to Grand Street, as shown on this 1847 Map of Lower Manhattan. At that point, the ferry connected Grand Street in Williamsburg to Grand Street in Manhattan - despite the fact that the two streets don't align geographically. Also fascinating is the idea that the company that makes Viagra got its start right there at the site of the diminutive park, as part of the 19th-century sugar and molasses trade that dominated the waterfront until the neighboring Domino Sugar plant closed its doors in 2003:

A red brick smokestack rising above a circular pattern of cobblestones was part of a molasses plant that Pfizer Pharmaceuticals used in the early 20th century for work that led, eventually, to the large-scale production of penicillin.

But we digress. According to Christine, a Parks representative in the Capital Projects office, the park was closed for "bulkhead repair" (surprising, considering that the park never had a bulkead) and there still remains some "rough grading to be done, as digging takes place for the swale." Peering through the construction fence, it appears that a short concrete bulkhead has been installed, but that the river will still be accessible by climbing across the riprap. Grand Ferry is one of the few shoreline parks in the city where one can still get down to the water - at one's own risk - instead of being fenced-in behind a steel railing atop a concrete-and-steel bulkead. Its one of the things that makes the park so special.

Its worth noting that the park - and the dead-end block of South 5th, just south of the Domino complex - are both DEP combined sewer outflow points (CSOs), meaning that during heavy rains, raw sewage can overflow into the river from culverts at both locations. And both locations are under construction. So we're guessing that the park construction may have something in common with the project on South 5th. Could even be preliminary infrastructure work that anticipates future Domino luxury condo owners won't be sweet on the thought of being bookended between matching sewage spouts.

Less likely is the possibility that the city is prepping for a return of ferry service to the site after a 90 year absence. The park has been batted around as a possible landing for the NY Water Taxi, but Parks had no knowledge of that, and our money is still on Northside Piers as the new jumping-off point for Williamsburg's would-be waterborne commuters.

Nightswimming - A Grand Ferry Photoset [flickr]

Grand Ferry Park History [NYC Parks]

Anytime Williamsburg Denies Demise;Tater Tot Death Watch Begins

2008-03-18T15:21:00.009-04:00

Love it or hate it (and there's plenty of reasons for either), Anytime at 93 North 6th Street has been a Northside institution for years (since 2001, we think). Delivering anything from chicken fingers to beer and cigarettes until 5 am, and serving $1 PBRs at the bar, well, anytime, one can imagine why the place has a big following.

In the past few days, the familiar Anytime sign has been removed and replaced by an even more-familiar "Commercial Space for Rent / Capri Jet Realty Corp" placard. As of 5 pm Tuesday, the restaurant was still answering their phone and accepting take-out orders. The staff chuckled when we asked about the signage swap, insisting the owner is just "renting out commercial space" and that the restaurant is still doing business as usual. A call to the realtor was not returned as of this posting.

Even though 90% of the menu items are mediocre at best (Free Williamsburg categorizes the cuisine as "Shit"), and three years ago, the kitchen went from 24 hours down to 4 pm til 5 am – forcing the owners to add a blinking neon "at night" to the sign - if Anytime does close, it will leave a huge void in late-night, post-binge knoshing.

For the record, imnotsayin IS a big fan of the rosemary-laden lamb Anytime Burger, served in a pita and slathered in minced cucumber and tomatoes...though even the burger suffered when the kitchen stopped serving it with a side of tahini.

But the real tragedy here would be loss of the TOTS. Yes, the Anytime tater tots - packed in a hole-studded cardboard carton, and included with burgers as a gigantic hot, steamy, salty, greasy, crispy box of paradise. Losing the tots would rank right up there with the death of Pies N' Thighs' pulled pork goodness.

Update 1: Anytime's bar / dining room was open as usual Tuesday evening.

Update 2: The realtor from Capri Jet corroborated the staff's contention that Anytime is NOT closing. The rental sign refers to the second-floor commercial space. The tots are safe, at least for now...

Northside Pier: And There Were Lights

2008-03-13T08:15:00.002-04:00

Last time we checked in on progress at Northside Piers' East River jetty, it was just a concrete slab. Since then, its gotten a wood plank deck, and Wednesday, it became studded with modern-looking lampposts.

We're hoping that means our prediction was correct and there will be at least some public access (and maybe, just maybe a NY Water Taxi landing?) just in time for Spring.

Historic Kent Ave Power Plant:Are Renovations Prelude to Demolition?

2008-03-12T10:45:00.005-04:00

Name a massive historic industrial building on the Brooklyn waterfront and there's almost always a sordid tale of contentious development plans, a neighborhood preservation battle - or worse - to go along with it. Consider the landmarked-then-delandmarked Austin, Nichols & Co. Warehouse at 184 Kent Avenue; the historic Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse complex, which burned in a spectacular 10-alarm fire in 2006 before it could be preserved and converted to housing; and the development-melee du jour: the Domino Sugar plant, whose partially-landmarked status, and weekly-revised renderings from the developer have neighbors and preservationists spinning to keep up with the developers' plans – just to name a few.

One significant parcel that's received amazingly little public discourse during the past few years is the gorgeous old Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit (BMT) Powerhouse at 500 Kent Avenue (at Division). Originally built for the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, the Powerhouse was built in stages in 1905 and 1936, and supplied power to the BRT's streetcar and elevated lines; in 1950 it was sold to Con Ed, who used it as a regular power plant for nearly 50 years before retiring it in the late 1990s.

Between 1999 and 2002, Con Ed attempted to sell the plant (pdf), along with 4 other parcels – including the nearby North 1st Street Oil Terminal. But in a remarkable string of circumstances chronicled here (pdf), all five properties became unsuitable for auction. In the case of 500 Kent, soon after the auction was approved, it was discovered that the city already had an outstanding agreement with various community groups to investigate the site as a potential location for subsidized housing. Shortly thereafter, the City came to its senses about the cost to remediate the asbestos-ridden property. Cushman and Wakefield, whom Con Ed had retained to sell the properties, had their own doubts:

C&W did advertise and market the site, but did not receive any serious expressions of interest in it. Based on the environmental analysis of the site, and Con Edison's estimate of the cost to remediate it, C&W advised Staff and the company that it was questionable whether the site would be considered attractive to anyone.

Fast-forward five years. In the past few months, Con Ed has been granted permits for a ground-to-rooftop scaffold and sidewalk shed along Kent Avenue, as well as this curiously-described renovation:

Application filed for interior demolition throughout building and to create openings in 1st floor exterior wall. Remove portion of 2nd floor slab of 6 story section of building. No change in use, egress or occupancy.

We visited the site last week, and sure enough, there's several new gaping holes in the building's south wall, and crews appeared to be actively removing asbestos from the north end of the 1936 addition. We identifed ourselves to the security guard as a neighborhood blogger, and asked if Con Ed was demolishing the building. The guard happily answered "yes", and attempted to summon the contractor's foreman for a more official comment. The foreman, without leaving his trailer (to be fair, the crew was on their mid-morning coffee break), told her (and she reiterated to us) something to the effect of "That's not our job. Our job is to bring the place down."

In its September 2007 newsletter, the local chapter of the Society for Industrial Archaeology (SIA) published an article titled "Preservation Alert! Kent Avenue (BMT) Powerhouse" that began:

We have heard from a reliable source that asbestos abatement is beginning at the Kent Avenue Powerhouse in preparation for removal of equipment prior to demolition of the building for construction of luxury residential units.

The article (accompanied by a gorgeous photo of the plant taken shortly after it opened in 1905) goes on to detail the Powerhouse's fascinating history, and the group's concern over the disposition of "dynamos from Edison's historic Pearl Street Station [that are] stored here." (Pearl Street was the first central power plant in the US, located in lower Manhattan beginning in 1882). Several calls to the Society this week went unanswered, but the group's newsletters and tour schedule are outstanding if you're fascinated by New York's industrial history.

We spoke to SIA's source ourselves, who appears both reliable and very knowledgeable about the site. While asking to remain unnamed, the source was unflinching when asked if Con Ed is prepping the building for demolition: "Definitely they are." Although the time line is unclear, the giant holes in the south wall, and the unusual renovation work described in the building permit appear consistent with removal of historic machinery that would likely happen in advance of razing the structure.

Mary Habstritt, Chair of SIA's Roebling Chapter Preservation Committee, and author of the newsletter article on the Powerhouse, sent a Request for Evaluation for the property to the City's Landmarks Preservation Commission, asking that 500 Kent Avenue be considered for landmarking. A veteran of several landmarking struggles including the ongoing Domino Sugar proposal, Habstritt expected the standard "we'll take it under consideration" form letter from Landmarks. Instead, she was surprised with a personal letter from the Commission that states:

...a senior staff committee of the Landmarks Preservation Committee has reviewed the property for consideration as a potential landmark. At this time, the property will not be recommended to the full Commission for further consideration...

The decision not to recommend further consideration is based on our current priorities. This decision could be reconsidered at a later date should additional information become available.

This despite the building's undeniable grandeur; its design by Thomas Edward Murray (second only to Edison in the number of patents granted to an individual); and the Powerhouse's role as the site of a historic 1937 sit-down strike that was a key moment in the Transport Workers Union's struggle to represent the City's mass transit employees. Not to mention the fact that the National Trust currently has "Brooklyn's Industrial Waterfront" listed first in its widely-publicized 11 Most Endangered Places list.

You don't have to look far to find precedent for both the destruction of historic power plants, as well as (arguably) preservation and rebirth. Just up the East River on Manhattan's East Side, another of Murray's creations - the spectacular Beaux Arts Waterside Number 2 plant just south of the UN was demolished in 2006 to make way for a still-in-discussion high-rise residential project.

And across Newtown Creek, in Long Island City, another 1905 powerhouse - the original Long Island Railroad generating station - was recently converted to luxury condominiums in an extreme renovation that some consider destructive, and others might hail as adaptive reuse at its finest.

Meanwhile, what's Con Ed saying about the Powerhouse? We spoke to the utility's Media Relations Department late last week, and they insist this is all just "spring cleaning," adding, "We're not in the business of developing condos, and we never will be".

When pressed on why there's suddenly so much activity at the long-dormant plant, Con Ed's Chris Olert replied, "When do you do your spring cleaning? Don't go spinning this into exotica...we're just cleaning up."

Electric Power Plants, by Thomas Edward Murray [Google Book Search]

Society for Industrial Archaeology, Roebling Chapter

BMT Powerhouse Today [Flickr Photoset]

Pedibomber StrikesTimes Square Recruiting Station

2008-03-06T23:02:00.003-05:00

He's got the multiple bombings. He's got the pulled-tight hoodie. Now he's apparently even got a manifesto...

We checked, and the Unabomber - Ted Kaczynski - is still serving his life sentence in a Florence, Colorado prison.

So we think the idiot that's now pedaled up to three NYC buildings in the past three years, tossing bombs from his ten-speed and biking away into the night with barely a gear shift, needs his own name: we suggest the Pedibomber.

We shot the photo above (the ill-fated military recruiting center is at bottom center) as part of a "Times Square by Night" photoset a few months ago. And we're glad we grabbed it when we did: even during the December shoot, we were chased away from the recruiting booth by a friendly pair of cops who said we couldn't shoot with a tripod in Times Square because its "such a sensitive area"...

Times Square by Night [Flickr]

Dust to Dust: National SawdustMilling Towers Demolished

2008-03-06T14:04:00.003-05:00

Anyone who's stood outside Galapagos Art Space or Northsix (now the Music Hall of Williamsburg) smoking a cigarette or making a phonecall between sets, will probably recognize the National Sawdust mill tower in the photo montage above.

The neighborhood landmarks at Wythe Avenue and North 6th Street were part of the former National Sawdust plant, which manufactured aquarium gravel and packing materials, and sold various grades of sawdust from bins in its warehouse across the street at 78 North 6th.

The towers were pulled down this morning by a crew from Ancor Demolition of Long Island City. Note Ancor's 89-year-old owner (seen at lower left in a dress overcoat and hat), who according to one of the employees, still supervises every demo job in-person.

According to a source familiar with the parcel, the corner lot is being cleared for construction of yet another residential mid-rise building, though as of yet no building permits have been filed.

Another One Bites the Dust [imnotsayin]

Northside Piers: Public AccessTo New Pier Coming Soon?

2008-02-27T19:11:00.002-05:00

OK, this is pure speculation - but that's one of our favorite pastimes.

We think the folks at Northside Piers read our December post proposing that they open their East River pier asap - and provide a new, potentially profitable landing for struggling New York Water Taxi.

The Water Taxi stop may be a long way off, but judging by the new, extra-tall consumer-friendly wood fence going up along the west side of their property, it looks like Toll Brothers intends to offer at least some consumer access to the new jetty some time in the near future.

The fence separates the parcel's East River frontage from the recently-excavated phase 2 construction area, just west of the nearly-complete phase 1 tower - connecting the sales office area to the pier, by way of a safe, tidy, temporary walkway along the water's edge. If the developer didn't intend to provide consumer access in the near term, they almost certainly would not have divided the lot that way, or would have used something more utilitarian, like cyclone fencing.

Our hunch is that they'll allow access to prospective buyers only: in recent months, the developer has created a spruced-up pedestrian walkway from Kent Avenue to the sales office - complete with paving stones, trees, and flower beds - running along the south edge of the lot. Despite a generic sidewalk sign that says "Pedestrian Walkway", when we attempted to approach the sales office last weekend, we were intercepted by an elderly security guard who told us "only folks with an appointment" could enter the property.

We're guessing they'll use the pier as exclusive-access buyer-bait, keeping the riff-raff out of the way until someone realizes that a publicly-accessible waterfront promenade is part of their zoning requirement.

Edge Fence has Gone Ghetto

2008-02-27T09:17:00.002-05:00

We've been hating on the Williamsburg Edge development's logo-wrapped construction fence since it first went up last spring. The two-block site fronting on Kent Avenue sports a cyclone fence swaddled in a vinyl mesh scrim that's slathered with inane (and occasionally nauseating) marketing slogans aimed at convincing prospective buyers that living in a riverfront high-rise with a 11211 zip will allow them to partake in whatever vestige of 'cool' that might remain when the development opens in 2009.

Examples of the blather we've been staring out at for the better part of a year:

ROCK
Indy Bands + Stone Countertops

Huh?

SHOP
The Hippest Zip Code + The Coolest Dress Code

Ewww!

Anyway, to be fair, to-date the Edge's site has been one of the cleaner, more professionally-run construction sites in the neighborhood (trust us, that ain't sayin much).

But the winter winds, regular douchings of road salt, and general Williamsburg grime have taken their toll. The fence is caving in in several places, the scrims are tattered and dirty, signage is broken and dangling. The thing has become an eyesore that deserves to be spruced up before their sales office opens across the street in a few weeks.

Tuesday Eye Candy: Misty

2008-02-12T08:34:00.000-05:00

Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges as seen from DUMBO, Brooklyn Saturday evening.

misty, larger size [Flickr]

Democrats: Don't Forget WorryAbout the Delegates!

2008-02-05T08:41:00.000-05:00

The Sound of Democracy by Joe Shlabotnick on Flickr

For all the wall-to-wall media coverage of Super Tuesday, no one bothered to mention that - at least in New York State - when you get into the voting booth, beneath the Democratic candidates' names, you'll find a row of delegates' names.~~Apparently you need to pull those levers - as well as the the headliner's lever - to really make your vote count.~~

UPDATE: A good friend called BS on this, so we dug a bit deeper into this mystery, got a little more confused, became somewhat fascinated, and realized we were at least partially mistaken. We'll leave it to NYTimes.com commenter 'FlyOnTheWall' to explain:

The distinction between voting for delegates and for a candidate is this: Your vote for the candidate determines how many delegates they will receive, your vote for delegates determines who those delegates will be. So, for example, if Hillary were to win 3 of 5 delegates in a district, the Hillary delegate with the highest vote tally would win the first slot. Then the Hillary delegate of the opposite gender with the highest vote tally would win the second. And then the Hillary delegate of the same gender with the highest vote tally would win the third. (Each CD is allocated a certain number of delegates of each gender, to ensure overall balance.)

Sorry for the confusion. The good news is, unless you're a potential delegate, bucking for a seat at the Denver Convention, those other levers don't make a damn difference.

One other milestone on this Super Tuesday: for those of us who grew up in New York State, this is the last Primary - and the final year - that we'll get to use the gunmetal grey, stolidly mechanical, reliably solid-state voting booths we grew up with. The 1950's era booths - beloved for the confidence-inspiring 'thunk' of the candidate levers, will be retired after the general election this fall in favor of mandated (and often unreliable) electronic voting machines.

Flickr member Joe Shlabotnik (thanks for the photo) put it perfectly: "I'm especially going to miss the resounding CHHUNK sound the big red lever makes when you pull it. To me, that's the sound of democracy."

The Levers of Power [Joe Sclabotnik is my Hero]

Mystery of New York Democratic Delegates, Explained [nytimes.com]

Where are You Watching theSuper Tuesday Primary Results?

2008-02-04T18:41:00.000-05:00

"Hope - Obama (Shepard Fairey poster)" by Steve Rhodes on Flickr

Today we were chatting about where in NYC to watch watch the Super Tuesday Primary results come in, and a quick Google of the topic revealed a relative dearth of online discussion on the topic. Late last week there were plenty of blog posts and commenter suggestions on where to watch the Super Bowl, but despite a Friday ABC News Poll suggesting that nearly as many Americans were more excited about Super Tuesday than its testosterone-fueled NFL counterpart (37% for the Primary vs. 40% for the Big Game), there's not much chatter about the best places to count delegates while swilling overpriced drinks and munching questionably-clean bar snacks.

Our thoughts on the matter mostly revolve around finding a place with plenty of hi-def, wide-screen TVs: CNN-HD clogs the extended margins of their 16:9 broadcast with confusing delegate count estimates, and with 22 states holding primaries Tuesday, they'll need all the screen real estate they can get.

Another consideration is candidate preference: do you prefer a lopsided crowd, all cheering for your guy (or girl)? Or mixed company, where opposing fans can BOO-YAH each other as the networks project winners in backwater states splitting a half-dozen delegates between close running candidates?

Please comment with where you plan on watching the results.

The candidate websites have event search engines, mostly chock-full of "visibility" events, i.e. "help us hold signs near polling places"...all very noble and wonderful, but a bit of scrolling reveals a few dedicated "come watch the results" parties as well. Here's some short cuts to the event searches centered on 11211 for your clicking pleasure. Be warned, outside of Obama's site (95 events) and three on Hillary's site, as of Monday evening there isn't much of anything listed for Tuesday in NYC on the other candidate sites...

Barack Obama events [my.barackobama.com]

Hillary Clinton events [hillaryclinton.com]

John McCain events [johnmccain.com]

Mitt Romney events [mittromney.com]

Mike Huckabee events [mikehuckabee.com blog]

Ron Paul events [ronpaul.meetup.com NYC]

Maptastic: Brooklyn Navy Yard

2008-02-02T11:39:00.001-05:00

For those of us long-fascinated by the mysterious Brooklyn Navy Yard, here's a little cartographic tease of what's hiding behind the walls.

Since the former US Navy base reopened as a members-only industrial park in 1971, the 300 acre tract of East River waterfront has been more or less off-limits to all but tenants, authorized guests and delivery men.

At the Yard's north end, notable tenant Steiner Studios recently announced it would expand into the historic Navy Hospital, renovating the abandoned (and presumably rotting) structure as a studio backlot.

Down at the southern extreme, controversy rages concerning the disposition of the (even more) historic Admiral's Row residences: last Fall, developers were revving up their bulldozers, preparing to demolish the remains of the 19th-century Second Empire-style residences - to be replaced by a supermarket - when a federal government panel released its surprise assessment that the formerly lavish buildings may in fact be in better shape than suspected, making them potential candidates for preservation.

Indeed, the history of the Navy Yard - both distant and recent - is a microcosm of American history. In its two-plus centuries, the Yard has launched war-changing battleships, inspired iconic heroine Rosie the Riveter, and served as an early model for public/private business development. The Navy Yard's website has a great timeline of significant events (click on About the Navy Yard > History)...its worth checking out.

The Visitor Map above fills in a few blanks for us outsiders: street names, building numbers, dry dock numbers, and parcels belonging to the NYPD Tow Pound and DEP water treatment plant are all details missing from Google Maps. In fact, this map is a great compliment to the Google Earth view of the Navy Yard.

Funny to think that publishing this map sixty years ago would have gotten us hung for treason. Now they're printed on tear pads - like fast-food tray liners - to help keep the FedEx guy from getting lost.

Navy Yard Visitor Map [Flickr]

Thursday Evening Eye Candy:Williamsburg Bridge Sunset

2008-01-31T19:43:00.000-05:00

From Schaefer Landing, Williamsburg.

Full-size image [Flickr]

Union Rats are Made in a Non-Union Shop

2008-01-31T10:55:00.000-05:00

Go figure.

On a rare trip to Midtown East for a meeting Wednesday morning, we spied an all-new yellow "union rat" peering into the second floor windows of an office building undergoing a (presumably) non-union renovation, and got curious about the nasty-looking inflatable critters and where they come from.

Turns out they're made in a (according to a 2003 Fast Company article) non-union shop based right in the midst of Big Union Country: Chicagoland.

Big Sky Balloons & Searchlights, a Plainfield, IL manufacturer of cold-air inflatable advertising balloons, offers a line called "Rat Pack / Union Balloons" that besides giant rodents, includes "Greedy Pig", "Cockroach", "Union Skunk" and a "Corporate Fat Cat", clutching a helpless construction worker in its meaty corporate paw.

Interestingly, we always assumed the airbrushed patch of boils and sores that appears on the loins of many of the blow-up rodents was a vague "scab" reference. But according to the same Fast Company piece, Big Sky's owner Mike O'Conner added the "pink belly with festering nipples" at a union member's request for a meaner-looking beast.

The Inflatable Union Rat [Fastcompany.com]

Rat Pack / Union Balloons [bigskyballoons.com]

At Northside Piers, a Pier Appears;Can it Save East River Ferry Service?

2008-01-10T08:57:00.000-05:00

Back in July, we served up a modest proposal to bring NY Water Taxi service to Northside Williamsburg by building a temporary floating dock at either the foot of North 7th Street or within East River State Park, giving 'Burg commuters an alternative to packed L-trains, and offering the struggling ferry service access to a much larger pool of riders.

We're still waiting for appreciative phone calls from Mayor Bloomberg and NY Water Taxi owners Tom Fox and Douglas Durst. Actually, since we posted the suggestion, we've determined that NY State Parks is barely amenable to opening the Kent Avenue park for park-goers; the chances of them providing access to Water Taxi riders is probably a pipe dream. The MTA's financial black hole is unlikely to start coughing up grants to private-sector competitors any time soon. And most disappointing: in December, NY Water Taxi itself announced a five-month suspension of East River service due to high fuel costs and lack of ridership.

But one positive development could provide incentive for an early return to the East River Route: down at the foot of North 5th Street in Williamsburg, a large red crane has quietly been unloading prefab concrete slabs from waiting barges the past few months - and out of sight of residents, development bloggers, and construction sightseers, a long concrete pier is quickly taking shape.

Readers will be quick to point out that a mile down the Williamsburg shoreline, the Water Taxi stop that formerly put the landing in Schaefer Landing, is now closed - despite having been touted as an amenity to prospective buyers. To that we have three rebuttals: 1. Location 2. Location 3. Location.

Schaefer Landing is halfway between the Navy Yard and the Williamsburg Bridge, and despite the large Hassidic community nearby, the immediate neighborhood hasn't seen the massive influx of residents that the Northside neighborhood has. And based on the thousands of new housing units coming online in the next two years - that trend will only continue. Indeed, Schaeffer Landing itself has been unable to attract buyers and retail tenants, due at least in part to its remote location.

Toll Brothers should actively woo NY Water Taxi to its new pier at Northside Piers. The site has a newly-planted, pedestrian-safe walkway that leads to its sales office. That walkway could easily be extended to the new pier, and create significant foot traffic to the showroom as the developer sells units in two upcoming towers. Manhattan realtors could encourage midtown and downtown commuters to take the ferry to open houses at the site. And Toll Brothers would gain first-mover advantage toward permanent Water Taxi service at Northside Piers - an amenity that's currently being promoted by neighboring Williamsburg Edge.

Access to Northside commuters - and weekend sightseers from Manhattan - could be the key to making the East River ferry route economically viable.

Williamsburg Container Port

2008-01-07T22:47:00.000-05:00

Who says cargo port operations are nearly extinct in Brooklyn? The volume of containers handled by the curious lot at 59 North 6th Street recently doubled, when the three iconic blue and green containers that have been there for at least three years were joined by three new rust colored twenty-footers, presumably fresh from a Chinese ocean freighter.

We wonder if that makes the Northside block eligible for Homeland Security dollars?

Congressman Eyed Bushwick Inletfor Park...in 1896

2008-01-01T21:33:00.000-05:00

We had a chance to shoot some photos around the Bushwick Inlet property (Kent Avenue at North 14th) recently, and in poking around online for some history of the site, we came across an article in the NY Times archive, dated March 6, 1896, in which the Grand Street [Brooklyn] Board of Trade discusses the "wretched pollution" and "pestilence" caused by terrible smells emenating from Bushwick Creek inlet. The problem was significant enough to warrant Congressman James R. How's return from DC to attend the meeting.

What we found particularly interesting, however - given recent moves by the city to begin acquiring the surrounding properties for a future park - a was this line:

[Congressman How] also suggested that the city authorities should be asked to purchase the territory around the creek for park purposes.

The creek was eventually filled in, leaving the inlet surrounded by fuel processing and storage operations. And 111 years later, the city is taking Congressman How's advice, making initial moves to exercise eminent domain proceedings and move forward with the park. The wheels of change do turn slowly indeed...

The former creek and present-day inlet do have a storied past, including having been the birthplace of the US Navy's first ironclad warship, the USS Monitor. If you have a few minutes, hit the links below.

Bushwick Inlet photoset [Flickr]

Greenpoint History [nyc-architecture.com]

The Condition of Brooklyn's Streets and Houses - Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 9, 1885 [www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com]

Williamsburg Movie Theater:Website Now Showing,Jobsite Not Going

2007-12-31T13:58:00.001-05:00

Based on the Stop Work Order dated October 10th, we suppose this is old news - but it seems to have been overlooked by the local press and bloggers. Work on the forthcoming independent cinema being built at 136 Metropolitan Avenue in the 'Burg apparently ground to a halt several months ago when the Department of Buildings cited the developer for "work [that] does not conform to approved plans", and the fact that neighboring "134 Metropolitan Ave has not been underpinned".

On the other hand, things in the virtual world are shaping up quite nicely, with the quiet launch of a great-looking "beta" website for the theater, which seems to suggest that the three-screen complex will be called the Cassandra Cinema (a January '06 press release from Ocularis, the not-for-profit film collective behind the development, said the theater would open in Spring 2008 as "The Brooklyn Kinetoscope").

Our friends over at Curbed reported on the development - which BTW includes nine apartments upstairs - back in September, in a piece that linked to the architect's website which includes some nice renders and elevations of the finished product (see "Metropolitan Cinema and Apartments" in the "Work" section).

This is one film project we truly hope gets greenlighted and released.

136 Metropolitan interior and exterior shots [Flickr]

Cassandra Cinema / Brooklyn Kinetoscope Beta site link

Here's Williamsburg's Metropolitan Cinema & Apts. [Curbed]

Jack's Cancellation Shoes

2007-12-30T13:17:00.000-05:00

We've walked past Jack's Cancellation Shoes at 161 Havemeyer (between North 2nd and North 3rd streets in Williamsburg) a million times, and always wondered "why Cancellation shoes??"

Well we finally got around to Googling the phrase, and according to the American Marketing Association's Marketing Terms Dictionary, in this context the term cancellation means

A notification to a vendor that a buyer does not wish to accept ordered merchandise. Also, it is merchandise declared surplus by retailers, often sold in broken lots to discount houses or liquidators. (Out-of-style or slightly damaged shoes are frequently sold as "cancellation shoes".)

A glance around Google's results suggests that 'Cancellation Shoe' stores were a mid-20th century phenomenon in the US, and that there's only a couple of stores left using the phrase - including Jack's, and one Dan's Cancellation Shoes in Philadelphia.

SPLASHER CASHES IN

2007-12-28T11:26:00.000-05:00

In February 2008, suspected Splasher Zach Dempster confirmed suspicions that he was behind last winter's spate of street art paint-splashings in Williamsburg and the Lower East Side, by opening Splash, an art and clothing gallery in Dumbo. The store features paint-splashed Faile and Swoon pasteups and spattered American Apparel t-shirts, and is open only "when you can catch me," according to Dempster.

In August, Dempster went mainstream, announcing a line of Splasher-branded apparel exclusively sold at retail giant Target, and a line of paints and wallcoverings to be carried by Home Depot. The decorator products will be sold under the moniker Splasher, by Dempster and will include exterior paints in a range of neon colors, a proprietary paint-shooting squirtgun, and a catalog of manifesto-themed wallpapers that are hung using glass-infused wheatpaste.

DEVELOPMENT TRUMPS ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS; YASSKY RADIATES WITH PRIDE

2007-12-27T09:17:00.000-05:00

In November 2008, Donald Trump and Councilman David Yassky announced Trump's first Brooklyn venture: the Trump Irridium, a 29-story residential tower to be built at Kent Avenue and Grand Street in Williamsburg. The annnouncement ended a contentious year-long landmark fight over the Radiac Building at 33 South First Street.

At a Kent Avenue press conference, a radiant Yassky explained the historic compromise that involves preserving the iconic stucco structure by building the residential tower atop it, and demolishing the neighboring block of historic commercial buildings.

The newly-cleared properties will provide convenient street-level parking and allow the tower to comply with zoning setback requirements. The resulting transfer of air rights and rejiggering of Floor Area Ratios gives the Irridium the height variance necessary to exceed the six floor maximum for structures East of Kent Avenue - mandated by the 2005 rezoning of Williamsburg's waterfront.

"I've never been a believer in second chances," glowed Trump at the press conference. "The Radiac property is going to be given a second chance." (Radiac has served as a transfer depot and storage facility for low-level radioactive waste for 25 years at the Williamsburg location).

The Irridium will feature 78 units of market-priced co-ops; six units designated "affordable" - to be located in the historic first floor former Radiac facility (these units will be marketed as "Geiger's Green"); and a basement-level Whole Foods store.

Wednesday Eye Candy: Giraffes

2007-12-26T10:12:00.000-05:00

Giraffes on the NJ Plains from imjustsayin on Flickr

Ikea Opens in Red Hook;Park Vendors Save Day

2007-12-25T21:03:00.000-05:00

In March 2008, Ikea opened its Red Hook, Brooklyn store – the Swedish home furnishing retailer’s first outlet within the five Boroughs. The resulting snarl of New York drivers – who soon discovered that there's only four city streets connecting the 'Hook to the rest of the universe - created gridlock that stranded some drivers in their cars for up to thirty-six hours.

In April, the long-suffering Red Hook Park food vendors were awarded a special Mayor's Citation for feeding the stranded motorists throughout the ordeal. Days later, the celebrated Latino entrepreneurs were evicted by the Parks Department and replaced with standard hot dog and roasted nut carts, which hold official (but costly and tough to obtain) city vending permits.

In a show of community involvement, many of the displaced vendors were offered jobs by the Ikea store, where they now cook and serve Swedish Meatballs to weary furniture shoppers.

swedish meatballs from Ikea courtesy of Pengrin™ on Flickr

Brooklyn's Answer to High Line:We've Got 'Friends' in Low Places

2007-12-24T10:24:00.000-05:00

In June 2008, amid the excitement over the opening of Manhattan's High Line Park, a Brooklyn organization Friends of the Atlantic Tunnel received a $500,000 grant from the Bloomberg administration's OPENYC parks initiative to begin planning an underground park to be built in the long-forgotten Atlantic Avenue Tunnel (aka the world's oldest subway tunnel) which carried passengers to and from the Brooklyn waterfront from 1844 to 1859.

The new park, tentatively dubbed The Low Line, will have a decidedly subterranean theme, with initial concepts for development that include a fungus garden, a bowling alley - where night-vision goggles are rented alongside bowling shoes, and an interactive edutainment exhibit tentatively titled "Exploring Brooklyn's Other Underground Railroad".

Oil and Water Taxi Don't Mix

2007-12-23T11:43:00.000-05:00

Required by the city to match the new "green" standards required of automotive cabs, in early 2008 the New York Water Taxi ferry service converted all of its vessels to run on biodeisel - made using waste cooking oil from its food concession at the company's popular Water Taxi Beach club.

In August 2008, it was discovered that NY Water Taxi's state-of-the-art biofuel storage depot in Greenpoint had developed a massive underground leak, adding millions of gallons of french fry grease to the 17 million gallons of petroleum already floating on Greenpoint's water table, giving the Brooklyn neighborhood the distinction of hosting both the world's first green eco-disaster, and the world's largest urban oil spill.

2008: The Year in Preview

2007-12-23T11:40:00.000-05:00

Tis the season for reflection: TV reruns and flashback episodes fill the airwaves, magazines print retrospective pieces, and news outlets clamor to serve up inexpensive-to-produce "year in review" and "best of 2007" specials.

At imnotsayin, we strive to be different. And given the looming likelihood of a blog-writers strike in 2008, we thought it would be prescient to get the whole upcoming year written and in the can now, instead of waiting for the stories to happen.

And so between now and year's end, we offer to you, Brooklyn, our first annual Year in Preview special. We're calling it "2008: Brooklyn's Year in Preview".

Enjoy!

Part 1: Greenpoint - Oil and Water Taxi Don't Mix

Part 2: Brooklyn Heights - Friends in Low Places

Part 3: Red Hook - Ikea Opens In Red Hook

Part 4: Williamsburg - Development Trumps Environmental Concerns

Part 5: DUMBO - Splasher Cashes In

Wednesday Eye Candy: The National

2007-12-19T23:08:00.000-05:00

We shot this fantastic 205 foot long "Infinity Pool" at the National Hotel in South Beach about 15 months ago, but decided to revisit it with the wide angle lens - which nicely exaggerates the whole "disappearing into the horizon" effect.

Here's another South Beach shot - the Collins Avenue skyline as seen from the beach at night.

Peace.

Sunday Eye Candy: Northside Peering

2007-12-16T21:38:00.000-05:00

Now that the Williamsburg waterfront is essentially off-limits to Williamsburg residents once again - at least after dark (East River State Park closes at dusk, and Grand Ferry Park is closed for renovations) - we haven't really been able to see what's happening with the shoreline behind Northside Piers and the old Austin Nichols Warehouse in a while.

Fortunately, we know a guy...and he provided us with a pretty sweet photoset, shot behind the Toll Brothers property Sunday evening. Lotsa mud, a new bulkhead, what looks like some new real estate jutting out into the river (though we could be wrong about that). Oh, and a bonus shot from the foot of North 3rd Street. Enjoy.

Northside Peering [Flickr]

Is the Next Roebling Oil FieldOn Kent Avenue?

2007-12-14T13:46:00.000-05:00

We're really not sayin...its just that when we took a walk down Kent Avenue this morning, when we got to the former Brooklyn Redi-Mix site between North 3rd and North 4th Streets, there was a strong, definitively petrochemical smell in the air. Sweet, light crude, possibly with notes of coal tar. And one of those subsurface soil condition testing drilling rig thingies. Yes, a crew taking core samples on the site of the future Chetrit Group residential building at 53 North 3rd Street (aka 175 Kent Avenue).

Now we're notorious for having a lousy sense of smell, and unlike the Roebling site, we didn't actually see any oil, so we gave it a few hours and walked by again.

Yep, same smell, same spot. Just as strong. More drilling. Just sayin.

If we're right, we recommend referring to the site as the North 3rd Oil Field though, given that Kent is a hella long avenue that likely has plenty more oil fields still to be revealed.

Comfort Inn, Williamsburg

2007-12-14T12:21:00.000-05:00

Oops, actually that's the "affordable housing" portion of Northside Piers, called (apparently) Palmer's Dock. With its tiny sliding windows and integrated HVAC vents, and its reddish-brown brick facade, we think its a ringer for a budget hotel (or state university dorm) circa 1986.

Friday Eye Candy: Ice Bike

2007-12-14T07:30:00.000-05:00

From North 6th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn Thursday night.

Edge Construction Update: First Wall Rises From the Mud

2007-12-13T12:59:00.000-05:00

We haven't reported on Douglaston's "Williamsburg Edge" development in a while since our "Extreme Jenga" post on June 16th, to be exact. Its been pretty much dig, dig, dig...pound, pound, pound since early spring. But in light of this week's posts on Gowanus Lounge and Curbed, we thought we'd mention that as of Wednesday morning, the project has officially gone vertical.

Workers removed forms to reveal the site's first wall - a concrete basement wall at the northwest corner of Kent Avenue and North 6th. Until that moment, all the work had been limited to excavation, pile driving and foundation work. Now the first building is officially "going up" (and our sweeping vista and natural light's days are officially numbered).

The East River site was financed to the tune of $600 million earlier this year, and will eventually sport several towers, some midrise buildings, as many as 900 apartments and 100,000 square feet of retail. Consider it Battery Park City's cousin Vinny from Brooklyn.

Thursday Eye Candy: Silver Bells

2007-12-13T12:19:00.000-05:00

Thursday's snow / sleet / rain / ice pellet mess in New York had its moments of beauty - when the temperature dipped low enough to fill the air with the white stuff.

Above, Manhattanites dash past Paragon Sports on Broadway and 18th Street. Paragon is a New York institution - a locally-owned sporting goods store that's been around since 1908 (boxing gloves and high-wheeled bikes?). One location only, three floors of a grand old building near Union Square, top-notch brands and no mass-market junk. Sales people who really dig (and use) the gear they're selling. No parking lot. Gotta love it.

Anyway, Paragon did a bang-up job of decorating their windows and exterior for the holidays this year, and with the addition of a little snow in the air, you can't help humming the "Silver Bells" song in your head when you pass by.

Treacherous Williamsburg IntersectionAbout to See the Light

2007-12-12T12:46:00.000-05:00

The relentless game of chicken that plays out daily between Williamsburg pedestrians and drivers at the heavily-trafficked junction of Bedford Avenue and North 6th Street is about to end.

Workers from Welsbach Electric have been busy this week digging trenches for a new set of traffic lights and crosswalk signals. Currently the intersection has no means of traffic control - save for painted crosswalks on three sides. Those crosswalks only encourage the Frogger vibe, with drivers unfamiliar with the neighborhood often stopping unnecessarily, and locals flooring it to thread the needle between hapless walkers.

The new traffic signal represents a new opportunity for ~~stoned~~ dazed Williamsburg hipsters to stumble out against a green light, only to glare at oncoming drivers with that glazed "are you really not gonna stop?" look. (In our extensive travels, we've observed that 'Burg pedestrians are perhaps the most prodigious jaywalkers in the nation). Until now, the jaywalking fun's been mostly limited to the light at Bedford and North 7th.

Alia? We Hardly Knew Ye...

2007-12-10T19:24:00.000-05:00

From the Department of Doomed Restaurants: Alia, the fabled Mediterranean restaurant at 95 North 6th, whose main claim to fame was her nearly three-year interior build-out, was shuttered Monday night, after just six weeks in business.

The enigmatic new bearer of baba ghanouj - whose menu teased us with talk of belly dancers - has been shuttered at least since Saturday, when we called to reprise an earlier brick-oven pizza order. The "Locale" pizza was memorably good - though curiously, it arrived in a Fornino box the first time around.

This time we were greeted with a rambling, nearly-unintelligible voicemail message explaining that the restaurant is closed while they're "dealing with a medical condition", and that they "should be open real soon". We're certainly sympathetic to someone's (the owner? the chef? couldn't make it out) medical condition, but it strikes us as odd that the brand-new eatery would simply close rather than find a temporary replacement.

There's no signs on the storefront explaining the sudden closure.

Recall that Alia lives just across the street from the doomed space that once housed government-seized Bull's Eye steakhouse, and more recently the twice-failed Sense sushi club. Maybe there's something in the water down there.

Update 12/13: Great news concerning whomever may have had a 'medical condition': Alia appears to have reopened today.

Sunday Eye Candy: Unloading

2007-12-09T19:41:00.000-05:00

A dry-bulk carrier freighter unloads at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Saturday evening. Lower Manhattan skyline is the background, visible just across the East River.

X-mas Trees, Brooklyn-Style

2007-12-03T12:29:00.000-05:00

Apparently, Bergen X-mas Tree is the Cadillac of Christmas tree dealers. Shot a year ago today, but timeless, don't you think?

Sign of Unintelligent Life

2007-12-02T11:17:00.000-05:00

We spotted this sign in a Bath, NY yard on our return trip from Buffalo last week. The unusual take on "Beware of the Dog" begs the question:

Is the pit bull more or less of a threat than a pit bull without AIDS?

Then again, the same homeowner was proudly displaying a "WAL*MART YES" sign on the same front lawn, so we guess we'll consider the source before we expend much energy pondering it.

Condé Nast Strobes: Epileptic Seizures andDance Fever Paralyze Manhattan

2007-12-01T02:26:00.000-05:00

Tonight's unveiling of new high-intensity marker strobes on the Condé Nast Building's 416-foot antenna mast induced widespread epileptic seisures and caused a spike in reported cases of disco fever throughout Manhattan and certain Brooklyn, Queens and New Jersey neighborhoods.

Actually, the annoying safety strobes are likely part of an FAA-approved dual-lighting tower marking system, which normally operates the familiar red blinking lights at night (when strobes annoy nearby residents) and the strobes by day (when the red lights would be easily missed by low-flying planes).

With any luck, the nighttime flashers are the result of a failed controller or stuck timer, and will be turned off before tonight's Friday Night Lights lead to Saturday Night Fever.

Three In One Day: Blackbird Rising,Alia at Last, and A Bar With No Name

2007-10-17T22:42:00.000-04:00

North Sixth Street is set to gain three new eating and/or drinking establishments in just over 24 hours, with the simultaneous openings of Alia (Wednesday), Blackbird Parlour (Thursday AM), and the still-nameless bar at 108 North 6th.

Blackbird Parlour, which we reported on a couple weeks back, was making final preparations for a Thursday morning opening when we popped in this evening. The café-by-day / cozy wine bar after dark is at 197 Bedford - the corner of North 6th.

Alia, the long-awaited Mediterranean restaurant at 95 North 6th (between Berry and Wythe), threw open its doors - and threw down the possibility of table-side belly dancing tonight, after well over two years of construction.

Across the street at 108 North 6th, the uniquely artful pub we reported on Monday night rolled up its gate late Tuesday, attracting a steady stream of drinkers - and, according to owner Carrie Oelfke, about 20 groups of photographers.

The tunnel-shaped tavern was decorated by a number of area artists, and besides a well-stocked bar, the unidentified establishment features a small performance stage, a weather-friendly smokers' porch (much like nearby Gutter), and - get this - two short lanes of skee ball!

As for the name issue, Oelfke says the joint won't remain anonymous for long. "Its like a new pet," she explained, "you have to play with it and get to know its personality before you go naming it." Get to know it yourself at the bar's official grand opening next Friday, October 26th.

skee ball!

After 2 1/2 Years, Alia Has a Menu;Yes, There are Belly Dancers

2007-10-16T06:56:00.000-04:00

Two new businesses appear close to opening on the 100 block of North 6th this week; one has been publicly in the works for ages, and the other sneaks in with nary a mention in the local press.

On the north side of the block, Alia - a fabled Mediterranean restaurant - has been under interior renovations since early 2005. To put that in perspective, when contractors began work on Alia:

- Northside Piers was still a waste transfer station

- The Edge was a recently-defunct truck rental business and an impound lot

- The Finger building was still...ah, never mind

Alia has sported various "coming soon" banners for much of the past two years. But this week's appearance of a take-out menu - and a website whose FAQ section includes the frequently-asked "Are there belly dancers?" (A: Belly dancing available on request and on special events) - implies that the falafel may finally hit the fryer sometime soon.

Meanwhile - in a tale of two development styles - across the street at 108 North 6th, a yet-to-be-named bar with an extremely cool-looking interior is nearing completion with nary a mention in the press (not even a job posting on Williamsboard or Craigslist). One state liquor authority hearing notice from April '06 is the only evidence the place even exists.

Advertecture Portends FutureTopless - sorry - Tapas Club In Park

2007-10-13T11:13:00.000-04:00

When we first spied this three-story frame painted in eight-bit pastels across the side of 110 Kent Avenue - a nineteenth century brick building blissfully landlocked by East River State Park - we thought to ourselves, "Huh. A giant Space Invaders shield. Thank goodness."

But several days later, noticing the absence of rows of hovering, bomb-dropping aliens above it, we began to wonder if our earlier conclusion was premature. So we asked the building's owner about it.

The 30 ft pastel frame is the outline for an upcoming billboard for a "tapas bar and club" to eventually be developed in the building. From the sound of things, the would-be restaurateur has been haggling with State Parks for some time, and expects a long road to the first evening when park-goers munch boquerónes and albondigas and sip Syrah while watching the sun set over the Manhattan skyline.

Until that day, we'll have a romantic, thirty-foot wall ad to gaze upon and get us in the mood.

SNL's Samberg Ahmadinejad 'Iran'Digital Short Shot on Northside Waterfront

2007-09-29T23:57:00.001-04:00

The foot of North 11th Street and East River State Park on the Williamsburg / Greenpoint border made a guest appearance on tonight's Saturday Night Live, in an R&B music video parody spoofing last week's visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The hilarious short, which includes Fred Armisen as a drop-dead Ahmadinejad in a red cocktail dress (a la Michelle Pfeiffer in the Fabulous Baker Boys), also used the Kent Avenue CitiStorage mural as backdrop. Previous "SNL Digital Shorts" by Samberg have topped download charts. Samberg's collaboration with Justin Timberlake, Dick In a Box, won an Emmy earlier this month.

At press time, YouTube's servers were contemplating taking a personal day on Monday...

And I Ran Video [YouTube]

Dick in a Box [YouTube - requires account]

Lazy Sunday [YouTube]