The 360 Smith development, which was stopped in tracks by the “narrow streets” Zoning Text Amendment that limited the height of buildings on “place streets” has a date before the agency that will decide its fate. Developer Billy Stein will take his case to the Board of Standards and Appeals on September 24 at 10AM. […]

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Late yesterday, the Save Coney Island group distributed a statement from Astroland owner Carol Albert. Several times in the last week Thor Equities spokesperson Stefan Friedman has been quoted as expressing disappointment that Ms. Albert was “giving up” on Coney Island by setting a deadline for negotiating a new lease for the amusement park. She […]

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Bell House, the Gowanus venue on Seventh St. from Union Hall will be opening on September 18, with a free show including Matt Pond Pa and Lilys making it the first major new club to open its doors in the neighborhood. The new website is here. Per a press release from Union Hall: In the […]

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This isn’t normally our cup of tea, but the founder of the Brownie troop in question at a school on Henry Street in Cobble Hill was resourceful enough to email half the blogs in New York City, some of which will run her request. So why not? Here goes: “I am a parent of two […]

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The New York Century Bike Tour takes place on Sunday and a significant part of several of the routes passes through Brooklyn. The tour is expected to attract 6,000 cyclists. There are five routes ranging from 15 miles to, uh, 100 miles. Registration is $20-$75. The event is sponsored by Transportation Alternatives and will take […]

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Infant mortality fell dramatically in two borough neighborhoods where rates have been historically high for years, says new city Health Department statistics. In Fort Greene, infant mortality fell from 7.3 deaths per 1000 births in 2006 to 0.8 deaths in 2007. In Crown Heights North, the rate fell from 9.8 to 4.6. In both neighborhoods, […]

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Are you a member of our rocking Gowanus Lounge Flickr Pool? More than 120 local photographers are and they’ve contributed more than 1,800 photos since Spring. We’d love to see your work and to be able to feature it here. Please join the GL Flickr Pool and/or tag your pics “gowanuslounge.” Also, we do take […]

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Outside the Brooklyn Weather Observatory there is sun. Today’s forecast calls for it to be very warm with sunshine mixing with some clouds. The high will be 89. Tonight will be 69 with occasional rain. Then comes Hanna. The National Weather Service has already issued a flood watch for Saturday afternoon and night with rain […]

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This excellent piece of street furniture comes to us by way of a very special and esteemed Special Correspondent. Our Bushwick Avenue Couch contributor says it was photographed “by grand st. found at 11 am, out with a bunch of other chairs, garbage, etc.”

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We take this with a small grain of salt because we’ve been around this track before, but Astroland owner Carol Albert says she’s closing the historic little amusement park for good on Sunday. She had set 1PM today as a deadline for reaching a deal on a lease with developer Joe Sitt, to whom she […]

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Front and center we have a Classic American Gas Guzzler. Sneaking up behind it we have a food delivery via bicycle that is clearly not guzzling gas. The contrast comes from Williamsburg.

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This is the second YouTube vid posted from the upcoming documentary Save Coney Island. Per the YouTube text: With over 160 hours of footage shot over the course of two years, Peter LiPera, and his fantastic crew present a web series about Coney Island. The series involves a reedit of all the unused footage in […]

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Herewith a selection of music available for one’s listening pleasure today through the end of the Labor Day Weekend: Thursday 9/4/08 Union Hall: Windsor For The Derby, Mr. Gnome- $12, 7:30pm Friday 9/5/08 Freddies Bar & Backroom: Bob Town, The Project H, Seth Kess (Rock/Jazz/Singer-Songwriter)-Free!!, 9:00pm Saturday 9/6/08 South Street Seaport: East Village Radio Music […]

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There has been some controversy lately, particularly on Brooklynian, about rats, rat turds, rat poison and other problems at Prospect Park’s Dog Beach. Here’s another one: “En route to my Cemetery Fence Tour, I stopped by Dog Beach – there’s an awesome stepped hill and grove of trees across the lane that serves as an […]

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These barricades, newly dug and filled hole and pipe come to us from Fifth Avenue in Park Slope near Douglass Street. The site in question used to have a tree stump and we’re not entirely certain how the issue of bicycles comes into play here, except that it clearly does. We’re pretty sure it’s unrelated […]

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There is a bit of Smith Street news and drama to report, thanks to a special Carroll Gardens Correspondent who hit us off with a bunch of different things. To make a long story short, 1) the Boerum Hill Food Company, which has been open from 8AM-4PM may be expanding its evening hours and 2) […]

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The Landmarks Preservation Commission public hearing on the plan for McCarren Pool, a preliminary rendering of which is above, is going to be happening next week. Per info on the WGPA blog, it’ll be happening on Tuesday, 9 September. Since the pool was landmarked last year, the LPC has to approve the renovation plan. The […]

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The mystery of the latest sinkhole on Bergen Street may be close to a solution, per an email making the rounds via the Boerum Hill Group. “DEP came to my house to day and ran a camera through my sewer line. It turns out there are some cracks in my sewer line that could be […]

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The schedule for the Brooklyn Book Festival, which is coming up on Sunday, September 14 fromm 10AM-6PM at Borough Hall has been released. Some of those who will be participating include Joan Didion, Richard Price, Jonathan Lethem, Dorothy Allison, Russell Banks, A.M. Homes, George Pelecanos, Terry McMillan, Jonathan Franzen, Susan Choi, Esmeralda Santiago, Thurston Moore, […]

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Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and images: · Departed Stuckey Spins Atlantic Yards in New Book [AYR] · Follow-Up Detail on Widely Noted A&S Pork Store Move [NYDN] · Vinegar Hill Butcher Shop Was Never a Butcher Shop [Brownstoner] · Live Blogging the Squadron-Connor Debate [BHB] · Film Shoot on Franklin [New […]

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This is 155 N. 4 Street in Williamsburg, a Karl Fischer building that we’ve called the meat in the sandwich because of its position between two other new buildings. This new Hot Karl is going up between Gene Kaufman’s Rialto (on the left) and Mr. Fischer’s own Nforth condo. Sadly, there are no renderings available […]

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So, here’s one about a guy wandering around the fringe of Park Slope that appeared in a post on Brooklynian: Has anyone else noticed a guy hanging out on Dean and Bergen between 4th and 5th? I’ve been seeing him several times a day for the past couple months. He is always carrying a black […]

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A Brooklyn school-bus driver “got lost” for hours on the way home from school and disappeared with several first-graders and kindergarten kids while frantic parents tried to find out what happened. Joseph Gray, 53, was arrested and suspended after he returned to the Achievement First charter school in Brownsville at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said. […]

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[Photo courtesy of stoneyjimrocks/GL Flickr Pool] The photographer calls this one Beach Patrol. We call it horses on the beach at Coney Island. We also think it could mean there is horse shit on the beach?

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“My family is planning to move out of Park Slope, and like so many others, we are looking in Montclair and Maplewood. We have seen a few houses in Maplewood that are in our price range, but we are really not familiar with the neighborhoods there. Some of the places we’ve seen are near Maplecrest […]

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