We don’t know why it’s so hard to find sidewalk sofas in the winter, but they’re a symbol of spring because that’s when they start to appear. The corner on which we found this one–Metropolitan and Kent Avenue in Williamsburg–seems to be a magnet for sidewalk couches. We’ve photographed a several of them there since […]

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We kick off another semi-regular feature today called “What Were They Thinking?,” which is something that will be limited only by our own ability to shoot enough photos and to get enough reader submissions. “What Were They Thinking?” buildings come in all sizes, shapes and forms. The only thing that qualifies them is that they […]

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Things at the Jackson Foundry at Manhattan Avenue and Jackson Street in Williamsburg are coming along fine as the photo shows. In this case, the thing on top sort of blends–at least better than many things on top. However, our real question in this case is, what is that thing on the side? We can […]

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The fight over the future of two closed Brooklyn firehouses went to the City Council’s Land Use Committee yesterday and some community leaders are content while others are fuming about the outcome. There are two different outcomes, actually, with Cobble Hill’s Engine 204 to be leased for ten years for a community use and Williamsburg’s […]

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Looks like the South Slope Mosquito Plague might be averted. The Department of Buildings is working with a building to drain a big lake at 230 16th Street. South Slope community leaders, in fact, say they got an email from a Department official noting a “pro-active DOB.” The Department says it was aware of the […]

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Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and images. Summer is Coming: Hampton’s Jitney New Brooklyn Line [The Beach] Hampton’s Jitney to Stop in Dumbo [Brooklyn Enthusiast] Brooklyn Hampton’s Jitney Service Starts Friday [Sun] Countdown to Celebrate Brooklyn [Brooklyn Record] Non-Seasonal: The Atlantic Yards Effect on Property [No Land Grab] Parents Raise Concerns About […]

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What can we possibly say about this creepy FSBO Specimen on Eckford Street in Greenpoint, except that we’re glad we don’t live next to it? It comes to us courtesy of the camera of our Greenpoint correspondent. Asking price is unknown.

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Our friends at The Beach first noted the coming of the Hamptons Jitney to Brooklyn starting this weekend and the Sun writes up the Brooklyn service today. We noted that not one, but two, of the stops are on Fourth Avenue. One is at Union Street and the other is at Ninth Street, both of […]

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The other day, we watched a family unit trudge out of Prospect Park to their parked car on Prospect Park West. Before packing them all in, mommy said, “Does anybody have to go?” Clearly, someone did, as dad took one of the children to a nearby tree, where in full view of everyone, the Little […]

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One of the things that has astounded us about the Roebling Oil Field, the development site with oil at N. 11th and Roebling Streets in Williamsburg, is the difficulty of getting public information and of the curious role that the Department of Environmental Conservation has–or hasn’t–played in responding to community concerns. As we have noted, […]

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We made our first visit to the increasingly well-known Red Hook Ball Fields this weekend. The scene is going strong and, this year, they’ve moved the food stands into the park, which gives it a nicer, more open feeling. If you’re not seeing the slideshow, you can go over to the flickr photoset here.

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Among the many places those new glassy bus shelters have popped up in recent weeks is Columbia Street in Red Hook. We’re still not sure how we feel about them as part of the streetscape, although we suppose we more like them than not. We like that they’re labeled as to location of the stop, […]

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We are endlessly fascinated by the possibilities of the stucco facades that are increasingly and tragically popular, particularly in North Brooklyn. For instance, a couple of weeks ago, we brought you what we called the Pepto Bismal Building. This specimen, dubbed The Doublemint House, comes courtesy of the Dog Shit Queen of Greenpoint, who, these […]

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Ah, summer in Brooklyn. Nice walks around the neighborhoods. Outdoor parties. Celebrate Brooklyn. And, monster swarms of mosquitoes from the construction site next door. We’ve spied a couple of these water-filled babies in Williamsburg and thought they would be God’s gift to mosquitoes as soon as the season arrived. Now, from the South Slope comes […]

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Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and images. Arabic School Fight Continues: Arabic School Fight Moves to Boerum Hill [NYT] No Room in Boerum Hill Either for Arabic School [NYP] Rev. Meeter is “Very Unhappy” with BP Coverage of Arabic School Issue [Old First Blog] Other News & Info: Activist Journalism and Brooklyn […]

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Yesterday, Greenpoint’s Miss Heather hit us off with a couple of photos of signs in Greenpoint that had come out on the losing end of battles with construction and scaffolding. This brought to mind a new feature that we’ll be doing from time to time called “Say What?” featuring signs that have in some way, […]

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Given that we single out construction sites when they’re a threat to public safety (even if the Department of Buildings often chooses to look the other way or can’t seem to find them), we figure it’s only fair to take another look if they clean up their act. So it is with 296 N. 7th […]

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It’s hard to say exactly what is being planned for the huge parcel of land between Kent Avenue, Wythe Avenue and N. 3rd and N. 4th Street in Williamsburg, but something very, very big appears to be in the works. Several properties on the block now have ownership that traces back to the Chetrit Group, […]

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Don’t look now, but Red Hook is turning into Brooklyn’s Gardening District. Can a Plant War with vicious price cutting and hortacultural skullduggery be far behind? No less than three garden shops are now open in the Hook. The Chelsea Garden Center Brooklyn has been operating for a couple of weeks at 444 Van Brunt […]

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[Photo courtsey of Nate Kensinger] We know that irony is in the eye of the beholder and we’re also aware that timing is everything. And so, we’ll say up front that we missed the fun at the opening of the excellent Brooklyn Waterfront Artist’s Coalition show this weekend by about 45 minutes. Nonetheless, we arrived […]

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A couple of things to report on the Park Slope food scene: 1) Moim, a new Korean restaurant (“Modern Korean Cuisine,” actually) is getting ready to open at Garfield and Seventh Avenue after a massive construction and renovation effort. One neighbor who watched the work joked that so much dirt and other material was taken […]

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As today’s GL Construction Site du Jour, we nominate 70 Berry Street for the fence trouble it had this weekend, exposing the (not too deep) hole and an excellent mountain of excavated dirt to public use. Dirt boarding, people! This isn’t the first time we’ve found this fence challenged to fulfill its role as a […]

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These signs are pasted up on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope between Garfield Street and Carroll Street, where they will be shooting Baby Mama this week. It’s a comedy with Sigourney Weaver, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey and Dax Shepard and is directed by Michael McCullers. It’s described by IMDB as follows: ” A single professional […]

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Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and images: Today’s Information: Meet Non-Hipster Williamsburg: 47% of the Population Gets Public Assistance [amNY] Atlantic Yards Keeps Coming Up in Brooklyn Development Discussions [AYR] Park Slope Arabic School Controversy Spreads to Dean Street [Sun] Jehovah’s Witnesses Cashing in on Brooklyn Heights Real Estate [NYP] Kensington is […]

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The city’s plan to close the Red Hook container port and redevelop the waterfront for a variety of uses seems to be taking another curious twist. Today’s Sun reports that the city is “backing away” from some expansion plans, including adding another cruise terminal, and considering “a dramatic scaling back.” It may even consider keeping […]

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