We’ve been watching the progress of this building at 126 Fourth Avenue (at Baltic) and it seems like it was just a couple of floors worth of steel beam only months ago. (In point of fact, it was.) The building, which is on the site of a departed Exxon Station, is now approaching ten floors. […]

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New York State is preparing to sue ExxonMobil and four other companies over the toxic horror known as the Greenpoint Oil Spill and other environmental nightmares around Newtown Creek. There have been a number of suits by environmental groups, residents and local officials, but until this suit threated by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo the state […]

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Opponents of a mega-development on the site of The Gallery Mall–sold this week at a $100 million profit by Thor Equities–won’t have Wal-Mart to kick around. While the mall will be demolished to make way for a high-rise, both the city’s Economic Development Corporation and the new owners have said no to Wal-Mart. An anti- […]

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When the Landmarks Commission met last week, it discussed the issue of landmarking McCarren Pool (which advocates have been trying to do for two decades), but took no action. The historic pool opened on July 31, 1936 and ceased operating as a pool in 1984. It was the eighth of eleven giant pools built by […]

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Apartment Sale & Oil Suit: Starrett City Sold for $1.3 Billion [NYT] $1.3 Billion for Starrett City [Gothamist] High Starrett City Price Tags Fuels Fears Tenants May Be Forced Out [NYDN] Starrett City Sold for $1.3B [Sun] 39 Starrett City Sale Stories [Google News] ExxonMobil to Face Lawsuit by New York in Greenpoint Oil Spill […]

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[Photo courtesy keylimesteve/flickr] Our trips to photograph the Revere Sugar plant being demolished by Thor Equities in Red Hook are generally confined to the weekends. So, we look forward to seeing weekday photos made by keylimesteve and others. Steve calls this photo, “Chilling View” and writes that “Freezing temps cause the water between Beard Street […]

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If you didn’t know anything about Ikea’s massive construction project on Beard Street in Red Hook and saw the sign that was posted on the big blue construction fence, you would think that the Swedish retailer was doing some excellent archeological and historic preservation on the site. The sign pictured above, with the excellent “you […]

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The website called thefutureofconeyisland.com, which is registered to Thor Equity’s PR firm, The Marino Organization, has launched. The site focuses on new amusements, job opportunities, community and retail opportunities. It omits mention of more controversial plans to develop luxury housing highrises on the boardwalk. The site is heavy on images of published print media stories […]

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Gowanus Lounge would be indebted to the reader that can tell us what the heck is exactly going at this building on Fourth Avenue, which has become progressively more vacant and boarded up as time has gone on. We certainly can guess what’s going on here–the building is being cleared of tenants so that it […]

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It’s hard to know exactly how many headlines around the country and the world State Sen. Carl Kruger’s proposal to ban walking while listening to an iPod or talking on a cell phone has generated. The thumbnail of the story is that the Senator wants to impose a $100 fine for the offense. His proposal […]

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The times they are absolutely changing. Who would have thought they’d live to see the day when there was a hotel in Gowanus–one that the developer has promoted as having “breathtaking views” of the Big G–called Hotel le Bleu? On Fourth Avenue, next to Staples and Pep Boys and behind a Yellow Cab Depot. Holy […]

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The Finger Building, which came to symbolize change in Williamsburg because of the way it towers over its neighbors, will be staying at its current height of ten stories. In addition to its height, the building was known for the towering crane that appeared on N. 7th Street in the summer of 2005, but it […]

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Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and images. On Thursday, we focus on food. Food: Getting Medieval at Greenpoint’s Krolewskie Jadlo [Porkchop Express] Donna DaVine Wine Bar on Atlantic is Excellent Addition [Chowhound] Mazzat is Worth it “for the Atmosphere Alone” [Gothamist] A Boatload of Brooklyn Valentine’s Day Dining Options [Courier Life] V-Day […]

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While Coney Island boardwalk mainstays such as Ruby’s Bar & Grill and Cha Cha’s have been given a stay of execution until the end of the 2007 summer season by Thor Equities, at least one business has been given the boot: the Lola Staar Boutique. Apparently, the boutique’s owner has been evicted. The eviction is […]

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Don’t look now, but there’s some good old-fashioned hyperlocal neighborhood conflict brewing over a firehouse in Park Slope. The disagreement comes from 11th Street, where neighbors are upset about plans to temporarily house another engine company in the firehouse that is home to Engine 220 and Ladder 122. The temporarily homeless fire company is Engine […]

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So, MTV is going to bee shooting a pilot show about Brooklyn, specifically about “what life is like for the average Brooklyn high school student,” in the words of Brooklyn Tech High School News. (Credit for this find goes to Brooklyn Enthusiast.) The producers are looking for Brooklyn Tech sophomores and juniors. In the words […]

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Here’s a fun one. On the heels of some interesting discussion about New York Citys future that you can check out here and here, we came across a fun prediction in a release about a new show called Futuristic Dumbo that we found out about on Dumbo NYC. It opens tomorrow (Feb. 8) at Gallery […]

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Whatever is built on the site of The Gallery mall on Fulton Street at Albee Square, developer Joe Sitt and Thor Equities won’t have anything to do with it. Crain’s reported late yesterday that Thor is selling its lease for $125 million to Acadia Realty Trust and P/A Associates. Thor acquired the mall in 2001 […]

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Williamsburg, Brooklyn

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Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and images. Considering Amazing Govt. Power on an Atlantic Yards Court Day [AYR] It Came From the Blogosphere [No Land Grab] A Look at the Bleak Greenpoint Terminal Market Landscape in Winter [NYT] More on the Prospect Park Ice Rink [NYP/GL] The Best Landlady in Brooklyn [Evil […]

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We stopped by site of the development called McCarren Park Mews at N. 11th and Roebling–AKA The Roebling Oil Field–and found to our horror that the west end of the site, which has yet to gain a foundation, is oozing even more oil than the east end, which has already gained concrete. The site still […]

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The first of the new wave of demolitions in Gowanus has happened so quickly that if you had blinked, you might have missed the transition phase from building to pile of rubble near the canal. The building that speaks volumes about the future of Gowanus was located at 137 2nd Street (AKA 64 1st Street). […]

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The fight over the proposed 12-story building on 42nd Street in Sunset Park, which has drawn the attention of Concerned Citizens of Greenwood Heights and other neighborhood groups, is escalating. The architects self-certified the building, but the Department of Buildings apparently discovered that they’d, uh, practiced some grade inflation (specifically they found 37 violations in […]

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We were a little dismayed when we read this story saying that Gary Jarvis, who had just past the halway point in his quest to run every street in Brooklyn, was giving up. (The original headline was “Runner quits, ends his Brooklyn dream”.) The article quoted Mr. Jarvis as saying that he was “lazy.” We […]

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Not to overdo the Prospect Park information this week, but we have a couple of more tidbits of information from Prospect Park Alliance President Tupper Thomas‘s presentation to the Park Slope Civic Council, one of which will reverberate with the Park Slope stroller set, even if it doesn’t cause the same controversy as the Park […]

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