With 111 Kent, the mid-rise condo that has gone up at N. 7 Street and Kent Avenue across from East River State Park, the Williamsburg waterfront sales fight is going from two combatants–Northside Piers and The Edge–to three. Not that there’s any comparison between the relatively diminutive 111 Kent, which only has 62 units and […]

[Read more →]

Ah, The Edge. The development site as a huge pit on the waterfront as environmental remediation and removal of debris from the old Eastern District Terminal was done, but now, after a massive foundation job, the buildings between Northside Piers and East River State Park are going up fast. The structures closest to the street […]

[Read more →]

There’s a new North Brooklyn blog from the group NAG, called Neighborhood Watch that has a lot of potential to put some important community information out there. The blog writes:<blockquote>We hope that this blog will serve as a resource to the North Brooklyn community for updates on the neighborhood, useful information for you to deal […]

[Read more →]

Who knew there was so much information around about Williamsburg’s Dunham Place? “Dunham Place was not the first street in Williamsburg to be named after entrepreneur and property owner David Dunham. That honor goes to Grand Street, the lower portion of which (i.e., the stretch west of Bedford Avenue) was once called Dunham Street. Actually, […]

[Read more →]

Urban Green in Williamsburg is one of those projects that has taken ages to get moving. But it’s definitely moving. Its sales office on N. 6 Street is now closed and the building is rising on both the N. 5 and N. 6 Street sides. Early on, we nicknamed Urban Death early on in the […]

[Read more →]

Forgotten New York takes a look today at Dunham Place, a block-long street east of Kent Avenue just south of the Williamsburg Bridge that’s a touch off the beaten path for some people in Williamsburg. Among other things, we learn about who the street is named after: David Dunham (1790-1823), a New York merchant who […]

[Read more →]

A proposal for parkland south of the Williamsburg Bridge has been on the table for several years, but there is a renewed push for one. Community Board 1 member and City Council candidate Evan Thies says that “It’s a complete waste to have trucks parked along one of the most beautiful views in the entire […]

[Read more →]

Do you have what it takes to be a “Williamsburg Extra” and take part in a cool Burg party scene in the indie film The Greatest, which will have a “legendary cast”? Well, your moment has arrived. We found these fliers up around N. 6 St. and Berry St. seeking “cool, eclectic people.” The downside […]

[Read more →]

“I was idly punishing my camera this morning, taking pictures of the backside of 20 Bayard (architect Karl’s crowning achievement), when I noticed 3 long white vans, and a few people milling about in 20 Bayard’s Garden of Splendor. Then out burst what must be the cast of Top Chef. You can tell by their […]

[Read more →]

[Photo courtesy of Rutila/GL Flickr Pool] This is the Rosenwach Wood Tank factory on Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg. It comes to the GL Photo Pool courtesy of Rutila.

[Read more →]

[Image courtesy of Lisacat/flickr] This is a shot of the smoke pouring out of Sweetwater during a fire on Friday morning. We noted yesterday that a sign outside said the restaurant would be closed for a while.

[Read more →]

Yesterday morning there were reports of a fire in Williamsburg around N. 6 or N. 7 Street. As it turns out, the fire was a Sweetwater, the restaurant and bar on N. 6 Street. We passed by yesterday evening and found the pungent smell of smoke outside and people that looked like the owners sitting […]

[Read more →]

This street seating specimen comes from Metropolitan Avenue, pretty much beneath the BQE. The guy walking past with his dog is a nice, extra touch.

[Read more →]

This is 210 N. 12 Street. It will be going up at the corner of N. 12 Street & Driggs, across the street from McCarren Park. It will be an eight-story, 60,000 square foot building with 34 units and come from MDIM Architects, which is set to make an impression on the neighborhood with a […]

[Read more →]

[Photo courtesy of i’mjustsayin/GL Flickr Pool] This is N. 4 Street in Williamsburg. The big building on the right is the Austin Nichols Warehouse, aka 184 Kent, which is currently being renovated.

[Read more →]

This is 208 Varet Steet (aka 198 Varet), which is of interest because it’s just down the street from the “Live Like a Hipster King” loft hostel and commercial condo which has been featured recently. 208 has been under construction for a while and is an 11-story building of 65,000 square feet. Applications to build […]

[Read more →]

Desert Island is one of those places that shines in the consumer retail rough. Proprietor Gabriel Fowler openedthe Williamsburg store in February of this year, with nothing more than a bank loan, a small community of artist friends, and a desire to share some of his favorite comics, zines and books. Fowler grew up around […]

[Read more →]

Here’s one of the more intriguing businesses that we’ve seen open in a long time and one that we think could take off, if only because it will provide health care to uninsured people or allow for convenient appointments for those with insurance who can’t get a regular doctor’s appointment right way. It’s called Hello […]

[Read more →]

These are two new developments in Williamsburg that are nearly (but not quite) neighbors. Both come from MDIM Architects and both are near 80 Metropolitan, the big development on the site of the Old Dutch Mustard Building. The building on the left is 50 N. 1 Street, which is between Kent and Wyth Avenues and […]

[Read more →]

The very slow moving box at 365 Union Avenue in Williamsburg has been making some progress of late, even to the point of getting glass. The six-story building comes from the shop of Robert Scarano and is one of nearly a dozen buildings going up in a small triangle of Williamsburg east of the BQE […]

[Read more →]

This bit of thoughtful philosophy comes from a construction fence on Union Avenue in Williamsburg. The fact that it is a development-related thought makes it even more meaningful.

[Read more →]

There’s been a lot of depressing violence on the Southside of Williamsburg in recent months, and there’s going to be a rally and concert on Saturday, August 2. It will take place from 5PM-10PM at Continental Plaza at Roebling and South 5th Street. There’s a mass at 7PM and it’s sponsored by a number of […]

[Read more →]

[Photo courtesy of sabeth718/flickr] According to Transportation Alternatives, the Williamsburg Walks program doubled foot traffic on Bedford Avenue. The program involves closing a long stretch of Bedford Avenue to cars: “Foot traffic on Bedford Avenue was 96% higher than the average Saturday, based on pedestrian counts. The number of children and seniors using the street […]

[Read more →]

Today is the day that the obscure, yet very powerful, Board of Standards and Appeals hears the appeal of its decision late last year okaying the Finger Building pending the outcome of legal cases. The building at 144 North 8th Street has been stuck at 10 stories for more than a year as the legal […]

[Read more →]

This work from Judith Supine is up on a building on N. 7 Street that had been a magnet for street art (and graffiti) until it was cleaned a couple of months ago. This is the first work to reappear there.

[Read more →]