On the left is the former International Longshoreman’s Association Building at 340 Court Street in Carroll Gardens. On the right is a building in Prague. We would love to take full credit for juxtaposing these two structures cut from the same cloth, but it actually goes to our special Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill Correspondent who writes: […]

[Read more →]

The rally organized by City Council Member Bill de Blasio to call for fast action on a downzoning of Carroll Gardens and an interim moratorium on any buildings more than 50 feet tall takes place today at 11AM on the steps of Borough Hall. It will include Assembly member Joan Millman, The Carroll Gardens Neighborhood […]

[Read more →]

There is a potentially interesting property mystery in Gowanus on what is suddenly the very hot selling market on Third Street between the Gowanus Canal and Hoyt Street. Last month, two properties went on the market between Bond Street and the Canal (photo below). A very knowledgeable source has emailed GL about a big property […]

[Read more →]

When we passed by the 340 Court Street development site late Saturday afternoon (the site of come contentious asbestos removal, among other things) on our way back from the Idiotarod finish line in Red Hook, all was quiet. Not so on Sunday, however. Our special Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill correspondent reported early yesterday (when people shouldn’t […]

[Read more →]

That thing in the distance? Why, it’s the Carroll Gardens Monstrosity, an addition to the neighborhood skylyine that has risen on Luquer Street. The building was planned several years ago before there was any real organized opposition to out-of-context buildings in the neighborhood.–PMFA

[Read more →]

There is a rally/media event tomorrow (1/29) at 11AM at the Brooklyn office of the Department of City Planning (16 Court Street) to call for quick action on a downzoning of Carroll Gardens and for an interim moratorium on developments more than 50 feet tall. The rally was called by City Council Member Bill de […]

[Read more →]

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 […]

[Read more →]

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 […]

[Read more →]

A couple of weeks ago, we posted about the impending closure of the No. 1 Dry Cleaner on Smith Street, which was being pushed out by a massive rent increase. Well, they’re closed, and if you’ve ever wanted to see a dry cleaning operation taken apart piece by piece, here’s your chance.–PMFA

[Read more →]

There has been a great deal of confusion about the date of the rally being planned by City Council Member Bill de Blasio to support a resolution he is introducing calling for a quick rezoning of Carroll Gardens and an interim moratorium on development more than 50 feet tall. At first, it was said to […]

[Read more →]

The Clarett Group’s 340 Court Street development has generated some controversy over its asbestos removal in terms of (a). neighbors saying that they weren’t adquately notified when it started, (b). the big inflatable rat it attracted last week and (c). work going on until midnight and later, including reports that workers are tossing bags of […]

[Read more →]

Billy Stein, the developer of the controversial 360 Smith building is apparently planning a presentation about his building at the next meeting of the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association. The CORD group has been agitating to get information from the developer about the building and has, in fact, posted 67 questions it would like answered. Mr. […]

[Read more →]

We got three emails yesterday from three different people last night and in the very early hours of this morning about goings on at 340 Court Street. It appears that workers doing asbestos removal continue to toil late into the night. One neighbor reports five men “tossing construction debris” off the roof into a dumpster […]

[Read more →]

Is architect Robert Scarano still working on a controversial Carroll Gardens building? Carroll Gardens blogger Pardon Me For Asking reported that Tom Gray from Council Member Bill De Blasio’s office had told people at the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association Meeting on Monday that Mr. Scarano is no longer working on the project at 333 Carroll […]

[Read more →]

Remember that digging that upset some of the neighbors of the 340 Court Street Clarett Group development back in December? A contractor brought in an excavating machine to dig some holes and the neighbors started complaining bitterly. One neighbor on Union Street that we spoke with this week told us that his house shook so […]

[Read more →]

If only Anthony “Tough Tony” Anastasio were around to have seen the big inflatable rat outside the former International Longshoreman’s Association Building on Court Street yesterday that once bore his name. (Mr. Anastasio, who died of natural causes in 1963 and kept his position with the ILA even after his brother Albert Anastasio was killed, […]

[Read more →]

This story is came to us via an email from the Carroll Gardens group CORD. It is from a third generation Carroll Gardens resident who lives on Sackett Street. It is beautifully done and deeply moved us when we read it late last night. If anyone wonders what a real sense of place and community […]

[Read more →]

One of the more interesting community meeting venues in Brooklyn has been the Scotto Funeral Home in Carroll Gardens where the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association has been holding its meetings for years. No longer. CGNA is moving to a church meeting space a few blocks away.–PMFA

[Read more →]

Every now and then someone leaves a comment on GL that deserves its own post. So it is with this message from someone who appears to be very close to the threat in Carroll Gardens to poison feral cats. Yesterday, Jotham Sederstrom wrote a story in the Daily News about an ugly sign that threatens […]

[Read more →]

The photo of this nut truck in Carroll Gardens was sent to us by a GL reader who wrote, “Who says Carroll Gardens isn’t an Italian neighborhood anymore?” We won’t touch that one, but we’ve got to say that the Carroll Gardens location lends the nut truck a certain something. Pardon Me For Asking also […]

[Read more →]

Ever since the controversy over 360 Smith Street developed, Carroll Gardens residents have been pushing for fast action on a downzoning of their neighborhood, although the time frame that has been heard most often is 24 months. In response, the CORD group has been pushing for an interim moratorium on buildings more than 50 feet […]

[Read more →]

Someone is threatening to poison feral cats in Carroll Gardens, having posted a sign at an empty lot where someone leaves food for them that he/she will poison the cats. One sign says: “Every time you place cat food here, I will soak it in ammonia.” Another one says: “The owner of this property insists […]

[Read more →]

Some new art work and information has been added to the Carroll Gardens Democracy Wall in the plaza outside the Carroll Street subway stop. One of the ways the wall has been used is to repurpose newspapers article and blog posting about neighborhood development issues, as these pics show.

[Read more →]

Here are few vids for this Sunday that have originated on Smith Street.

[Read more →]

We’re a day late and dangerously close to a dollar short in posting this, but we figure that it’s still worth pointing out that the Union-Sackett Block Association is having a meeting today (1/12) at 11:30AM at the Carroll Gardens Library. Representatives from both State Sen. Martin Connor’s office and Rep. Yvette Clarke’s office will […]

[Read more →]