The planned Whole Foods in Gowanus has drawn a negative review from a Gowanus group. Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus (FROGG), have submitted comments to the Department of Environmental Conservation calling on it to reject the grocer’s current clean up proposal for the environmentally-challenged site. There is much in the seven-page document (which is […]

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Park Slope Neighbors, which led the campaign to get Commerce Bank to make the design of its Fifth Avenue branch more community-friendly, has launched an online petition campaign aimed at the Gowanus Whole Foods. The organization is asking the grocer to reduce the amount of parking at the site, to replace rooftop parking with a […]

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We keep running into boats in Brooklyn in the oddest places. A couple of weeks ago, we had the boat on a scaffold at the Aqua Condo in Greenpoint. Now, we have this, inside an old plane fuselage. The location is inside the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and we’re sure there’s an interesting back story as […]

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As word continues to bubble up about Wal-Mart’s continuing interest in building a store at Albee Square in downtown Brooklyn (on the site of The Gallery mall, which is currently owned by developer Joe Sitt and his firm Thor Equities), there is now a Wal-Mart protest planned for next week. The Albee Square site could […]

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The City Council has voted to toughen up on architects and engineers that may take liberties grading their own homework. Engineers and architects had previously been able to certify their own permit applications and building plans as meeting city codes, leading to some well-known accusations of abuse that made the press in the last year. […]

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Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and images. Whole Lotta’ Links: Times Writes About Barclays Atlantic Yards Arena Naming Controversy [NYT] Doctoroff Talks About Robert Moses and Making Omelets Without Breaking Eggs [AYR] The First Thing to Go with Brooklyn Development is the Truth [Brooklyn Papers] Markowitz Hints at Running for Mayor [NYP] […]

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[Photo courtesy runs brooklyn/flickr] When last we heard about Broken Angel, a transaction had taken place so that it could be redeveloped and sold as individual condos. The plan came in the face of city threats to demolish the building and significant cost to bring the building up to code. The new Real Deal fills […]

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Here’s another vintage Brooklyn shot, this one from Coney Island, circa June, 1947. It’s from the Brooklyn Public Library’s extensive and fascinating photo collection. The caption that goes with it reads: “Looking down on Coney Island–Photo taken yesterday from the parachute jump at Steeplechase Park shows Coney Island’s largest crowd this year, attracted by ideal […]

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Another day, another Coney Island story. Today’s news is a possible new “world-class” outdoor concert ampitheater that would replace the little bandshell in Coney’s Asser Levy Park. The 5,000 seat venue would cost $30M-$35M and is being proposed by Borough President Marty Markowitz and local Council Member Domenic Recchia Jr. There is no community response […]

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“Unfortunately, it is sad to say that much of Coney Island will be closing down at the end of the ’07 season due to new development plans that Joe Sitt has in store for us.“–Janet Lazaro, Brooklyn High School Student While it sounds like something that Gowanus Lounge might write, the words come from a […]

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While everyone was busy chuckling about the possible landmarking of the Pussycat Lounge in Lower Manhattan, a number of WPA-era swimming pools, including McCarren Pool in Greenpoint/Williamsburg came up for discussion at the end of Tuesday’s Landmarks Preservation Commission Hearing. Ultimately, no action was taken on landmarking McCarren or other pools such as Red Hook’s […]

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[Photo courtesy of wnbc.com] Last night, WNBC pulled together 130 New York City bloggers for a “Bloggers Summit” for a discussion about the future of TV news and blogging. It was a fascinating event and we’ll be especially interested to see how many blog posts appear about it over the course of the day since, […]

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Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and images. On Thursday, we focus on food. Food: Monteleone’s: A Cream Puffs in Brooklyn [Gothamist] Farm on Adderly: Fries So Good You’ll Need a Support Group [The Strong Buzz] Brooklyn Fresh Pasta Suggestions [Chowhound] How About a Vegan Club Sandwich? [Green Brooklyn] Savoia on Smith Street: […]

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The scorched earth-style tear down of the Revere Sugar Plant in Red Hook, which began without any consultation with or warning to the community, and which followed vague promises to possibly preserve structures on the site, is not necessarily making friends in Red Hook. (Although it does not seem to have led to the level […]

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The first tower at Northside Piers, the Toll Brothers project on Kent Avenue in Williamsburg, has passed the halfway mark. A 29-story endeavor, it is the first of three towers that will rise on the site just north of the Austin Nichols warehouse, aka 184 Kent. Four more highrises will start to rise sometime this […]

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We’ve been running historic photos of Gowanus, and in the process of tracking them down, have come across other fascinating Brooklyn images, which we’ll be running as part of our “Back in the Day” series from time to time. This one, from the Brooklyn Public Library’s superb collection of vintage photos, show downtown Brooklyn from […]

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