At some point, the developments at 360 Smith Street and at 340 Court Street could end up in foot race to see which one wins a neighborhood popularity contest. The 360 Smith building would have an advantage, having had almost a year’s head start. (It also helped spawn a neighborhood-wide downzoning push and a call […]

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The highest foreclosure rate in New York in October was in the 11233 zip, which includes Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights. Federal Reserve Bank data show that one in four homeowners with subprime mortgages in 11233 zip code lost their homes.–NYDN

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Has the mystery of the “gas-like” smell on Grand Street in Williamsburg around Berry Street that we posted about yesterday been found? Perhaps. Yesterday, a number of people left comments on our post about the Eau de Grand. One reader wrote: i have lived in Southside almost 10 years and I have never seen any […]

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So, it turns out that State Sen. Carl Kruger spent $2,475.00 to shut down that Coney Island Development Corp. informational session in November. An online expenditure report for Sen. Kruger’s campaign committee shows a $2,475 payment to Dimino Express.–The Real Estate

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We came across these two on Kent Avenue in Williamsburg and we’re sure there is story that comes with them, about who they belong to and why they own and ride them. Perhaps someone will share. Otherwise, they make for an excellent photo when parked there like that.

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Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and images. Visual: North Toward Dumbo [Blue Jake] Coney Island Creek #2 [seriously excited!] Peeling [Atomische] Ghost Windows [Lost City] Kool Man in Summer [Clinton Hill Blog] Boardwalk [Chris 9/flickr] Luna Park Poster [Brit in Brooklyn] Coney Island Creek #4 [seriously excited!] Less Visual: Magical Vanishing of […]

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While many of our battered street signs come from Williamsburg and Greenpoint, we came across this sign at Sixth Avenue and 23rd Street in Greenwood Heights, in between shooting photos of new developments and peering into construction sites. This sign, like most of those that catch our eyes, has seen better days.

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What do you get at the Greenpoint Coffee House at 4PM on a frigid Sunday afternoon while people are eating brunch? Waffles, of course. And an excellent photo op of a guy wearing a “Brunch is for Assholes” t-shirt, of course.–New York Shitty

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From Marcy Avenue in Williamsburg, this is one that has seen some better days.

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Back in November we posted about a truck that was sucking muck from sewers on Grand Street in Williamsburg between Bedford and Berry Street. At the time, a reader noted that residents kept smelling something like gas but that Keyspan had said there was no gas leak. Readers noted that the trucks were probably just […]

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We had some photos of the mess outside the so-called Minerva Building site at 614 Seventh Avenue in Greenwood Heights, but were not going bother with them since the real mess appears to be inside the construction fence. Concerned Citizens of Greenwood Heights sent out an email last night that seem to show some dangerous […]

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Yesterday, City Council Member Bill de Blasio sent out an announcement that the City Planning Department had agreed to a zoning change that would redefine several Carroll Gardens streets as being “narrow,” significantly changing the height of buildings that could be constructed. Through very old zoning language, an number of streets in the neighborhood are […]

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The $16 million overhaul of the Park Slope Armory into a first-class sports and recreation facility is finished. The only problem is the city hasn’t found anyone to operate it yet. Two firms have submitted proposals are being evaluated. Whoever runs it needs to find a way to make money doing so while allowing many […]

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The first thing we’ll say about the brand new Fort Greene blog called General Greene is that we’re looking forward to big things from it. It’s the work of two Fort Greene residents, Jim Colgan and Scott Lamb, and features an excellent mix of neighborhood posts including some excellent items about the neighborhood’s long history. […]

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Barnes & Noble has reportedly defended throwing a Park Slope mom with a crying child out of their store. The child began crying after the mother had what she describes as an unpleasant exchange with the store’s manager. (We posted about it earlier in the week, after someone sent us an email that had been […]

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We’ve watched the Monolith of Fourth Avenue (aka the Finger of Fourth Avenue) rising at Carroll Street and have watched as walls have been placed on the building everywhere but corner balconies. We’re not the only ones that find the lack of windows odd (although we assume they will be cut into the outer wall […]

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We were never quite sure what fate had in store for this building on S. 6 Street in Williamsburg near Bedford Avenue, but we were surprised, months ago, to learn that it would include being a fitness club. We wandered by this week and found the sign for Soma out front and the workout equipment […]

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Today’s Daily News reports potentially bad news about the beloved Red Hook ballfields vendors. The Parks Department put out RFPs for vendors to use the ballfields last week and bids are due by February 22. The vendors, however, say that they’ll have to use approved food prep carts that cost $15,000-$30,000 per stand and that […]

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Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and images: The Enver Hoxha Awards for Achievement in Architecture [New York Shitty]The Irony of Non-Union Labor & Other Issues at the 340 Court Street [NYDN]Here’s What Has Been Proposed for 10 Jay in the Past [Dumbo NYC]Vito Lopez Wants “Real Affordability” at Pfizer Site in Burg […]

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[Photo courtesy of TresspassersWill/flickr] Ah, the Idiotarod. The annual bizarre race through the streets of Brooklyn takes place tomorrow and, as usual, will be a blogger’s paradise and photographer’s delight. This year, Gothamist reports, there will be “pimped out shopping carts” starting from spots in Long Island City, Dumbo, Williamsburg and Greenpoint. (Last year, there […]

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Work on Marcy Avenue alongside the BQE in Williamsburg has revealed the remains of an old swimming pool, which we guess is the below ground equivalent of finding an old sign painted on a building. The site is at 82 Marcy Avenue, which will get the Hot Karl Treatment with a five-story building from none […]

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The concept of urban gentrification has been a hot button issue since it came into use in the 1970s. Here’s an essay on the topic from 1978 “when the very word ‘gentrification’ was relatively new. The article isn’t perfect; it doesn’t deal with race at all (an important oversight). But it points the way to […]

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There was another meeting in Flatbush last night as part of the Imagining Flatbush 2030 effort to create a neighborhood-based framework for future planning. The Municipal Art Society has produced this video from an earlier session. It starts out with Mayor Bloomberg talking about the PlaNYC 2030 effort and moves on to discussions in Flatbush, […]

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The two proposals to develop the deeply polluted Public Place site in Gowanus/Carroll Gardens are from the Related Companies and The Hudson Companies. Related is partnering with Monadnock Construction Inc., Catholic Charities and Donna Walcavage Landscape Architect. Hudson is joined with the Fifth Avenue Committee, Jonathan Rose Companies and The Bluestone Organization. The Gowanus Canal […]

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Among the many changes that neighborhood activists have been pushing in Carroll Gardens is a change in old city zoning regulations that define some very narrow streets in the neighborhood as “wide streets,” allowing for the possible development of tall buildings. The Department of City Planning has apparently agreed to a zoning text amendment that […]

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