The South Brooklyn Neighborhood Alliance–whose formation we noted in an exclusive report here on March 5 and whose name and status we updated last Thursday–has officially announced itself. It involves groups from Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill and Red Hook’s Columbia Waterfront District. A press release from SoBNA went out last night and it […]

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The sunset in Gowanus was spectacular last night, and we happened to be on the Third Street Bridge, just as the clouds turned a variety of shades of fiery yellows and oranges. Enjoy.

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Here’s a short vid taken out the window of the F Train as it goes from Smith-9th Street to Fourth Avenue, on the new flickr video.

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[Photo courtesy of Anna Lewis] This photo from Gowanus, which epitomizes multitasking, comes from GL Correspondent Anna Lewis. It would appear to have a close relative on the streets of Bed-Stuy, except that instead of doing the laundry, one can get something to eat.

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Actually, the good coffee is in Brooklyn. The crappy coffee is in London. The good stuff is at 3B, the new cafe at Carroll Street and Third Avenue and comes out of an $11,000 Clover coffee maker. “I have to say it tasted very good — strong yet light…” The crappy stuff costs $640 per […]

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[Photo courtesy of GL Correspondent Anna Lewis] Of course, yesterday was the first real day of spring. You know, the one where you could take off your coat while walking around. GL Correspondent Anna Lewis shot this photo in Gowanus, where we can verify that people had shed their coats and were out enjoying that […]

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Several weeks ago, we carried the exclusive news that a new coalition of South Brooklyn neighborhood groups (particularly ones concentrated in the Carroll Gardens and Gowanus area) was forming to try to increase their clout on controversial community issues and to try to organize politically for the 2009 local elections. The neighborhoods are facing a […]

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The Gowanus Nursery, which was exiled from Third Street in Gowanus and reappeared on Summit Street in Red Hook and, then, was threatened by new development, is still alive. Our devoted Carroll Gardens Correspondent swung by this weekend to capture the colors, so we got in touch with the owners to check on their status. […]

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“Few residents of Park Slope, Brooklyn are probably aware that they share their neighborhood with a firearms company that has operated in the borough for almost a century. The Henry Repeating Arms Co. is garnering some unwelcome attention this week, however, after it was revealed that the company shipped four of its lever-action rifles with […]

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This isn’t so much an altered or battered street sign as it is an arty street sign, but we like those too. It comes from Union Street near Third Avenue in Gowanus, mere steps from the Holiday Inn Express.

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Opponents of the controversial rezoning of 125th Street in Harlem, which has been bitterly criticized by some community residents, have turned to an obscure provision of the City Charter to try to derail it. The Harlem rezoning would allow up to 2,500 new apartments in the dozens of blocks that it covers and for buildings […]

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It’s been so long since meetings were held last year to talk about the Gowanus rezoning framework that it’s almost easy to forget what was being discussed. In that sense, the discussion about the Toll Brothers Gowanus proposal has served to refresh the memory a bit. At the meeting in Carroll Gardens last week, members […]

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The Gowanus Hotel District continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Yesterday, Brownstoner reported that a Fairfield Hotel will be going up at Third Avenue and Douglass Street not far from the Gowanus Comfort Inn. The nine-story building would bring the total of Gowanus Hotels to seven, including the already opened Holiday Inn Express, Comfort […]

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The city has responded to concerns about work underway at the Public Place site in a letter sent to City Council Member Bill de Blasio saying that the current preliminary work doesn’t pose a threat, but that a water truck and other steps will be taken to contain “fugitive dust” when concrete removal gets underway. […]

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For all of the intense reaction to the Toll Brothers proposal to build a 447 unit development in Gowanus, the project would not be far out of line with what the city is likely to propose for the neighborhood. The outlines of the city’s plan won’t be known for a bit, but buildings of 10-14 […]

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Our Carroll Gardens Correspondent grabbed a shot of the former site of some cool public art near the Union Street Bridge in Gowanus. Leading us to wonder whether a fraying piece of public art is preferable to the maroon paint job that succeeded it. In any case, the “before and after” juxtaposition is interesting.

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Yesterday, we posted about the presentation by a team from the Toll Brothers about their big and controversial project on the Gowanus Canal. Here are some renderings of the development, which has been designed by GreenbergFarrow with landscape architecture by Lee Weintraub, which we posted yesterday on Curbed, but didn’t feature here.

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This was the scene on Thursday night at the opening of Coney Island of the Heart at the Bond Street Gallery in Gowanus. The neighborhood’s first photography gallery is “housed in a 100-year-old townhouse. Inside, it has exposed brick walls, and out back is a tranquil courtyard.” The show features photos shot by Harold Feinstein […]

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A team of architects, planners and others working on the big Toll Brothers project along the Gowanus Canal made a presentation in Carroll Gardens last night. The group briefed the Community Board 6 Land Use Committee and fielded questions from an audience of about 50 people. Despite rhetoric in the community that has been heated […]

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While preliminary work on the Public Place site between Smith Street and the Gowanus Canal only started last week, work crews have already denuded the site of trees and vegetation and it would appear that some digging has started. Neighbors have been concerned about whether the site will be monitored for any possible airborne contaminants, […]

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The Toll Brothers are coming. Well, not Bob Toll himself, but some company representatives (most likely Development VP David Von Sprecklesen) to make a presentation on the big and controversial proposal for housing on the Gowanus Canal. The presentation will be a committee of Community Board 6, which this week weighed in a with a […]

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One of the hallmarks of some of architect Robert Scarano’s work is the use of exterior wood. Among the buildings that have gotten this treatment is the one on Bond Street that we call the Bunker. (The same building with the dogs that attacked people and a small black dog last week.) The vicious attack […]

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Community Board 6 has submitted its written testimony in the “scoping” process for the big Toll Brothers development on the Gowanus Canal. Among other things, the Community Board says the environmental review must look at the development in the context of other big projects that could be coming to the neighborhood and weigh its impact […]

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As we noted on Friday, expected work has started on the Public Place site between Smith Street and Gowanus Canal. Workers are clearing shrubbery and brush and Bovis Lend Lease (the same firm involved in the fatal accident at the Trump Soho condo hotel recently) is removing concrete from the site. The prep work is […]

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As promised by officials earlier this week, some preliminary site work has gotten underway at the contaminated Public Place property in Gowanus for which a large mixed-use development has been proposed. This phase of work involves clearing the site of shrubs and trees and removing concrete. The development itself still has to go through a […]

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