Gowanus Lounge: Serving Brooklyn

Entries from March 2008

Park Slope #1: New Look Oshima

March 21st, 2008 · Comments Off on Park Slope #1: New Look Oshima

This is the redone Oshima on Seventh Avenue, which has gotten a serious makeover and come out the other end with a sort of generic, cool gray stone Japanese eatery look.

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Tags: Park Slope

More Potential Starrett City Round 2 Bidders Emerge

March 21st, 2008 · Comments Off on More Potential Starrett City Round 2 Bidders Emerge

The number of potential bidders for the huge Starrett City complex on Jamaica Bay has increased to four. Interestingly, all the possible bidders identified so far are groups involved in affordable housing or with a commitment to keep the development’s nearly 6,000 units affordable. The complex was the subject a deeply controversial $1.3 billion bid […]

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Tags: Affordable Housing · East New York

Say What–Alternate Side Chopped

March 21st, 2008 · Comments Off on Say What–Alternate Side Chopped

This downed sign is from Second Street near Smith in Carroll Gardens. It is hard to tell what caused it to have this fate, but it might be safe to venture that it was an unfortunate vehicular interaction.

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Tags: Carroll Gardens · Signs Under Siege

Bklink: Footwashing at Old First

March 21st, 2008 · Comments Off on Bklink: Footwashing at Old First

Yesterday was Maundy Thursday, named for ‘The Maundy,’ which is what medieval English monks called the Footwashing they did on Thursday of Holy Week. According to Reverend Meeter of Old First Church in Park Slope, the word ‘maundy’ derives from the Latin word mandatum, for ‘commandment,’ as they repeated in Latin the text from John’s […]

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Tags: Uncategorized

Friday Transportation Policy Special: Carroll Gardens Edition

March 21st, 2008 · Comments Off on Friday Transportation Policy Special: Carroll Gardens Edition

It’s Friday, and one some people have off, turning this into a three-day weekend. So, we will dispense with policy discussions of congestion pricing, residential parking permit, bike lanes and all of that for something far more basic: this bicycle, parked for what appears to be a while, on Smith Street in Carroll Gardens.

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Tags: Carroll Gardens · Street Bikes

Upcoming: Easter Bunny at Piramide in the Slope

March 21st, 2008 · Comments Off on Upcoming: Easter Bunny at Piramide in the Slope

Anyone that needs a fix of the Easter Bunny or Easter baskets this weekend can head to Piramide Restaurant on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope. This is because the Easter Bunny will there on both Saturday (3/22) and Sunday (3/23) from 9AM-11AM. Mr. Bunny will greet the children (and presumably the adults) and “distribute free […]

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Tags: Events · Park Slope

Street Couch Series: Bed-Stuy Sofa with Board & Trash

March 21st, 2008 · Comments Off on Street Couch Series: Bed-Stuy Sofa with Board & Trash

From Bedford Avenue in Bed-Stuy we have this specimen with what appears to be panels from a construction fence, painted that unmistakable blue, and some trash bags. It comes to us, of course, from Miss Heather.

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Tags: Bed-Stuy · Street Couches

Bklink: Sunny with Moderate Blowing

March 21st, 2008 · Comments Off on Bklink: Sunny with Moderate Blowing

It’s looking pretty good out there from the Brooklyn weather observatory. Today’s forecast is “windy with sunshine and a few clouds.” The high will bbe 49 and the wind will make it feel like 38. Tonight will be mostly cloudy and cold with a low of 34. It will feel like 24. Enjoy the day […]

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Tags: Shortlink · Weather

Breaking: Big Williamsburg Power Plant is Finally Dead

March 20th, 2008 · Comments Off on Breaking: Big Williamsburg Power Plant is Finally Dead

The big TransGas power plant proposed for a waterfront site between N. 12 & N. 14 Street in Williamsburg/Greenpoint is finally dead. The state Siting Board on Major Electric Generation Siting and the Environment rejected a proposal today to locate an 1,100 megawatt underground plant on the site. The plant had actually been killed in […]

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Tags: Parks · Williamsburg

Smith Street Building Crumbles Somewhat

March 20th, 2008 · 4 Comments

This morning, some pieces came off a building at 170 Smith Street causing some issues with subway service and attracting a large contingent of firefighters. We took these photos of the building around 5:45PM on Tuesday and, fortunately, an emergency scaffold was put up around the building yesterday so that whatever did fall came down […]

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Tags: Carroll Gardens · Construction Issues

Fun with Construction Safety: Ex-Park Slope Hot Sheets Edition

March 20th, 2008 · 2 Comments

We haven’t heard much about 153 Lincoln Place in Park Slope in quite a while. The gorgeous building was what some people called a “brothel” for a long time and others simply called a hotel with hourly rates. In any case, the place was sold in 2002, construction started a couple of years later, then […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Park Slope

Community Board 7 Votes Against Congestion Pricing, Cites Issues with Residential Parking Permits

March 20th, 2008 · 5 Comments

[Photo courtesy of Anna Lewis] GL Correspondent Anna Lewis attended last nights CB7 Meeting and filed this report: Brooklyn Community Board 7 (Windsor Terrace and Sunset Park) rejected Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan at its monthly meeting Wednesday night. It objected primarily to the Mayor’s inclusion of a residential parking permit system within the congestion […]

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Tags: Community Boards · Sunset Park · Transportation · Windsor Terrace

Williamsburg Food & Retail Rumormill, McDonald’s Included

March 20th, 2008 · 7 Comments

Yesterday, we had a photo of a Dunkin’ Donuts sign affixed to the scaffolding fronting the Quadriad Development site on Bedford Avenue. Some readers left comments saying that the sign was attached to some wood that had been put up, so lacking definitive word on a planned DD on Bedford, it’s still in the rumor […]

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Tags: Williamsburg

Previously Backless Carroll Gardens Brownstone Goes Topless

March 20th, 2008 · Comments Off on Previously Backless Carroll Gardens Brownstone Goes Topless

This is 126 First Place in Carroll Gardens, which became known as the “Backless Building” among some residents because it’s back was removed and it stayed that way for a while. Well, the back is still on (as can be seen in the photo below). Now, the top is gone, and the some of the […]

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Tags: Carroll Gardens · Construction Issues

Taking the B61 Headcount

March 20th, 2008 · 7 Comments

Is New York City Transit trying to get a sense of ridership on the B61 route, which terminates in Red Hook and is being extended to the new Ikea when it opens on Beard Street, or are they actually trying to gauge ridership in order to make independent service improvements? A reader emails to say: […]

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Tags: Ikea · Red Hook · Transportation

Court Street’s Trusting Cleaners Closed, Big Farewell Coming

March 20th, 2008 · Comments Off on Court Street’s Trusting Cleaners Closed, Big Farewell Coming

Trusting Cleaners on Court Street is gone for good, the victim of rent increase and an inability of the community to prevail on the landlord to find a way to keep the cleaners open. The Oh family, which ran the shop was much loved in the community as can be seen in this email via […]

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Tags: Carroll Gardens

Bklink: Fort Greene Joe Guide

March 20th, 2008 · Comments Off on Bklink: Fort Greene Joe Guide

Check out one of the coolest neighborhood features we’ve seen in a long time for coffee drinkers: a guide to prices at Fort Greene cafes. “In what we hope will become a semi-regular feature here, we present our first Fort Greene Guide, a view of the cafes in the hood and their prices. We focused […]

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Tags: Fort Greene · Shortlink

Windsor Terrace Alliance Protesting School Cuts

March 20th, 2008 · Comments Off on Windsor Terrace Alliance Protesting School Cuts

A lot of Brooklyn neighborhood activists are up in arms over proposed school budget cuts. We got an email last night from Lauren Collins at the Windsor Terrace Alliance directing our attention to a page they’ve posted with some sample letters protesting the budget cuts and contact information. She writes: Many Brooklyn neighborhoods are rallying […]

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Tags: Education · Windsor Terrace

The Coolest Coney Event of the Year?

March 20th, 2008 · 2 Comments

We are very happy for Dianna Carlin, the Coney Island entrepreneur known as Lola Staar, who is opening her Dreamland Roller Rink in the historic Childs Building on the Boardwalk on Saturday night (3/22). Readers might recall that Ms. Carlin was nearly put out of business by developer Joe Sitt and we had many conversations […]

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Tags: coney island

Bklink: Sideshows by the Seashore

March 20th, 2008 · Comments Off on Bklink: Sideshows by the Seashore

It’s that time again. Sidewshows by the Seashore opens on Easter Sunday. Come see Donny Vomit, Heather Holiday, Insectavora, Serpentina, Twisted Shockmeister Scott Baker and Nick Sin.–Kinetic Carnival

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Tags: coney island · Shortlink

Opposition to Brooklyn Jail Proposal Organizes a Little

March 20th, 2008 · Comments Off on Opposition to Brooklyn Jail Proposal Organizes a Little

The Brooklyn House of Detention expansion proposal now has an organization called the Brooklyn House of Detention Stakeholders Group working to “keep the community informed of the ongoing struggle against expansion of the Brooklyn House of Detention.” Their website is brooklynjail.org. Quite a few groups near the facility, which the city wants to reopen and […]

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Tags: Boerum Hill · Downtown Brooklyn

Broolinks: Thursday First Day of Spring Edition

March 20th, 2008 · Comments Off on Broolinks: Thursday First Day of Spring Edition

Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and images. We wish everyone a Happy Spring and note that the photo above is for celebratory purposes only, as it comes from Prospect Park last spring. Soon, though. End Nears for Koscuiszko Bridge [NYDN] Planner Amanda Burden Speaks [AYR] No Parking at Brooklyn College Dorm [Brooklyn […]

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Tags: Brooklinks

J. Fiber and Yoon Lee at Williamsburg’s Pierogi

March 20th, 2008 · Comments Off on J. Fiber and Yoon Lee at Williamsburg’s Pierogi

With this post, we welcome the contributions of Owen Roberts. His task is clear–to supply us with posts about whatever moves him: The crowd at the opening at Pierogi, on North 9 Street off Bedford Ave in Williamsburg last Friday night was consistent with expectations–older and very white–but the art was far from predictable. The […]

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Tags: Art · Events · Williamsburg

Bklink: Tip Sheet & Egg Hunt Guide

March 20th, 2008 · Comments Off on Bklink: Tip Sheet & Egg Hunt Guide

Trying to figure out what to do over the next few days? Perhaps you need Dine in Brooklyn info? Or want four choices for Saturday night? An Easter Egg Hunt perhaps?–Brooklyn Based & About Brooklyn

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Tags: Events · Shortlink

Gowanus Lounge Photo Du Jour: Seventh Ave. in the Rain #2

March 20th, 2008 · Comments Off on Gowanus Lounge Photo Du Jour: Seventh Ave. in the Rain #2

[Photo courtesy of Anna Lewis] If you catch the first Seventh Avenue photo below, this shot of a little girl in spring colors with matching balloons is a very different sort of rainy day Park Slope photo.

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Tags: Park Slope · Photo du Jour