So, with the economy tanking and so many people losing their jobs, the idea of amusements and spending frivolously like it’s fun times as usual is kind of scary… for some of us anyway. While many have changed their spending habits, many have not. Including the city. When do you say ‘no’ to the fun things? If everyone says ‘no’ how does it affect those industries? Part of Coney Island have already been murdered by Thor Equities, which recently added Astroland to the list of properties it hsa made vacant, but the future of the amusement industry in an era of semi-Depression is still an important one. Today, the Municipal Art Society will be hosting a discussion from 6:30-8pm, at 457 Madison Ave in Manhattan. It’s called “A Serious Business: The Future of Amusements in an Urban Economy,” a panel discussion of amusement professionals from Disney, Six Flags and Astroland, along with Seth Pinsky from NYCEDC. It’s part of MAS’s “ImagineConey” effort and exhibit. There’s a registration fee of $15. ($12 for MAS members and students.) For more information, check out MAS’s site or call 212.935.2075.
—Vaduzuvunt

[Photo courtesy of jag9889/flickr]

At some point today, we can picture some comanding officers at the 76th Precinct in Carroll Gardens turning red and cursing. Very red and a lot. This is because a GL tipster sent us some very interesting information that does not bode well for community-police relations. How to put this? Officers from the 76th have hit a few parked cars in the neighborhood, and for some very interesting reasons. We’ll let our tipster explain:

It seems that the 76th pct has a problem with their officers and their driving skills or lack of. Three residents of Sackett Street between Hicks & Henry have had their cars damaged by patrol cars driving down the block in the early morning hours. Could it be that the officers are falling asleep behind the wheel. In the first accident which happened in Dec, two of the officers in a patrol car fell asleep behind the wheel causing the accident. Three parked cars were damage at that time. The second accident happened on Monday night when yet another patrol car smashed right into a parked car. According to sources, the 76th reported that the officer was looking for a flash light he dropped on the floor. What was he doing looking for a flashlight when his eyes should of been on the road. There seem to be a problem here and we need to address it. Bring it to the public’s attention is the first step>

Well, the first step has now been taken. God, we’ll bet the F Bomb is going to be dropped at a lot at the 76th in coming days. Accidents happen, no?

A while back, Dermot Company announced it would be building a high-rise at 29 Flatbush Flatbush Avenue near BAM. Now, we have a partial rendering from the Dermot site. The building will be designed by an increasingly popular architect in Brookyn Ismael Leyva and will clock in at 44 stories with 333 rental units. The DOB application says the building would be 488 feet tall. This comes to us via 110 Livingston, which found it on the Wired New York Forum, which discovered it on the Dermot website. Interestingly, an early rendering for the site looked like this. Way back when, Brownstoner pinpointed the Dermot site. Dermot says construction is expected to start this year. Okay. The question is, how many rental units can the Flatbush Avenue corridor possibly absorb. Assuming this thing ever gets off the ground. It could just end up being a rendering for a long, long time.

For the original, taller Ismael Leyva vision, click here.

· Hit Me…With It: Top Brooklyn Sales of the Week [Brownstoner]
· Gimme’ Some Love Williamspoint Style [New York Shitty]
· Praise the Lord: Cadman Plaza Turf is Safe [BHB]
· A Flock of Seagulls (No, the Poodle Haired New Wave Ones) [PMFA]
· Finally, Progress at 93 Nevins. Listings Coming. [Brownstoner]
· Fixing Park Circle [Ditmas Park Blog]
· Iron Man of Prospect Park [Englishman in New York]
· Bus Shelter Vandalism: Fan Appreciation Edition [GerritsenBeach.Net]
· The Brookyn Automat As It Was [Lost City]
· Bushwick Galleries Fight On in Shitty Times [Bushwick BK]

We got off the R Train at Pacific Street yesterday so we made a point of going upstairs for a quick look at what MoMA’s been up to at the Atlantic Avenue station. There are now MoMA signs everywhere and reproductions of 59 works of art. (Threre’s even a map on one wall showing where it all is.) We were hoping to be accosted by a friendly press person asking us if we wanted a blogger preview. Alas, no one approached us. Typically, it’s a subway station, so we didn’t notice a heck of a lot of people paying much attention to the art.

On Sunday, we passed by the big Robert Scarano development at Fourth Avenue and 13th Street, shot some photos and posted them on Monday, nicknaming it Big Bob’s House of D because one side of the buiding looks like a jail. On Monday a sign went up identifyng the new building, with a big arrow pointing to a sales office. And there it is above. Mercifully, the building doesn’t have a bizarre name, just 500 Fourth Avenue and the tag “aspire higher.” As for the website, www.500fourthave.com, it still just a placeholder. It doesn’t even give an idea of the price range of properties. Prudential Douglas Elliman will be handling sales.

[Click to enlarge to all its glory.]

In theory, Gowanus could get very big and very crowded, if the parcels of land the city is planning to rezone for residential use are built upon. It’s a big if–given the credit meltdown and the hideousy polluted nature of some of the sites–but that’s what could happen over time if there were to be a full build out. A new document projects the potential addition of 3,200 units of hoursing. Eliot Brown was the first to locate the latest document on the Department of City Planning’s website and post the info in TRE. The rezoning would cover about 25 blocks in the neighborhood, allowing buildings up to 12 stories tall near the romantic canal itself. Here’s the money graph from the document:

DCP has identified 26 Projected Development Sites that would be likely to be developed as a result of the proposed actions. These 26 development sites could result in a net increase of 3,211 dwelling units, 572 of which would be affordable under the Inclusionary Housing Program, a net increase of 34,681 square feet of retail space, a net increase of 32,032 square feet of community facility space, a net decrease of 184,757 square feet of commercial space,1 a net decrease of 543,716 square feet of industrial space, and a net increase of 1,166 accessory parking spaces. In addition, there are 40 Potential Development Sites considered less likely to be developed in the foreseeable future.

Note that the figures assume full buildout, something that is highly unlikely to occur during the lifetime of someone who is, say, 29 years old today. Curiously, the former “Gowanus Village” site with the big old power plant that is on the market is listed as a “potential” development site. Assuming “potential” sites are developed the 3,200 unit figure could climb significantly higher. For the zoning masochist, the full report is available here (WARNING: PDF).

[Photo courtesy of Gary Mirabelle]

A little bit of Bed-Stuy wall art courtesy of local artist and photographer Gary Mirabelle.

Check out Colin Newman, Bruce Gilbert, Graham Lewis and Robert Gotobed, aka Wire–one of the most important bands in rock history–performing one of our favorite Wire songs on TV in 1979. Oh, yes.

[Photo courtesy of spiffae/GL Flickr Pool]

At the lovely intersection of Hamiton Avenue and Smith Street.

Ahhh Valentine’s Day… a holiday dedicated to love… and commercialism. Sure you can succumb to buying your honey an overpriced (or underpriced, if you’re a last minute kinda person or just a cheap bastard) bouquet of flowers, a box of chocolates or some fancy lingerie that’s really more for you than your lover… or you could submit to the holiday without the big business commercialism. Thursday to Friday (2/12-2/14), NYCreates’ The Red Show: A Valentine’s Arts and Crafts Fair and Celebration will be going on at the Brooklyn Historical Society (128 Pierrepont St. off Clinton St.) – Thursday 11am–7pm, Friday 11am–8pm, and on Saturday 10am–5pm. Per the email: “The Fair features high quality and creative hand-crafted gifts – ceramics, jewelry, apparel for adults, plush toys, organic cosmetics, glass works, and home goods – as well as fine art works at affordable prices.” So, while big business has their stimulus plan getting put together to save their butts but not do much for us, step out and stimulate our community members who are just trying to get by and bring a little creativity into our lives. For more information visit NYCreates.
—Vaduzuvunt

[Photo courtesy of New York Public Library]

This is Joralemon and Hicks Streets in an undated photo looking toward the East River, clearly pre-BQE.

We walked by the Crooked Tail Cafe in Gowanus the other day and finally found it open for business. We don’t know how long it’s been open, but it still had the little “grand opening” type banners out front. It’s next to the Canal Bar and occupies the space of what had been a landmark local Italian deli. It’s located at 272 Third Avenue in Gowanus.

Ah, 100 Luqer Street, an 11-story Hot Karl Fischer also known as the Carroll Gardens Monstrosity. It’s in the running with on of the Hot One’s Williamsburg buildings for being the slowest moving as action on this baby has been going on since 2006. This is what it looked like in 2007. But progress is being on the Monstrosity. Exactly how one views it depends on the angle and side from which one sees it as it ranges from fairly ugly to, well, a monstrosity. We’ve got several views of this baby up top and after the jump. While it may not have been planned as such, it’s taken so long and its location is so questionable (right next to where the Gowanus Expressway turns into the BQE in what someone once referred to as the “ass crack of Carroll Gardens” that we’d wager this baby is going to go rental.

There’s a lot more to the monstrosity from the other side.

Uh, let’s see. The call box is out of service. (Who looks for call boxes instead of calling 911 on their cell, anyway?) But what you do is, call 911 and say “I want to report a fire.” On the other hand, if it was a car crash, we suppose you would call and say “I want to report a car accident.” Or if someone was shot you would call and say, “Holy shit. Somebody just got shot right here in front of me. Holy shit!”

This is a gorgeous timelapse from an upper floor in Prospect Heights/Crown Heights of a snowfall in December. Music by Opsvik & Jennings. Do not be alarmed when it begins.

It’s not hard to tell that we’re excited to see the Parks Department finally fixing the disgraceful Coney Island Boardwalk about which we’ve been ranting for nearly three years. We caught some actual workers in the act doing actual work, so we thought we’d share.

Click through for the answer if you don’t know what this is.

· Bed-Stuy Church Annoying Neighbors [NYDN]
· Whacky Times in Crown Heights [Brownstoner]
· Report Says City Wasted Resources on Atlantic Yards [AYR]
· Clarett Came Dug And…Blighted? [PMFA]
· Big Brother Watching on Brooklyn Buses [Gothamist]
· Fulton St Renovations to Begin [110 Livingston Blog]
· Building Brooklyn [WPA]
· Greenpoint Matress Watch [New York Shitty]

[Photo courtesy of Miss Heather]

This baby, which is indeed regal, comes from Green Street in Greenpoint.

The Center of Light Building, the horrendous Henry Radusky building at the edge of the former Notary District at Smith and Ninth Street will be getting a new tenant. Another Uncle Louie G ice cream place. And not just any Uncle Louie G, but what looks like a sit down one. A GL reader tipped up off that the awning had gone up and we took pass a by and there it was. As for the Center of Light there is no sign they are ready to spiritualize the nabe yet. As for Uncle Louie G, how many of these freaking places are there in Brooklyn?

The warehouse occupying a huge portion of the Public Place site between Smith Street and the Gowanus Canal, which was quietly added to the project after a developer was chosen, doubling the size of the development on the toxic site, has been approved for demolition. Word came via an emai from Council Member Bill de Blasio’s office: “The warehouse located at 455-459 Smith Street has been approved for demolition. The permit can be found on the DOB Building Information System…under 455 Smith Street, Brooklyn.” The warehouse would have been demolished anyway as the toxins left as deep as 150 feet underground by the old Manufactured Gas Plant that occupied the site are under it too. The surprise was that the site was added to the overall “Gowanus Green” project, drastically changing the scope and impact of the project and increasing the possible size to nearly 1,500 units of housing. There warehouse demolition is actually behind schedule. It was originally supposed to start in November. We had a post then explaining a bit about the poisons under the site.

[Photo courtesy of Meg Groome]

Ah, the fun of the weeky Polar Bear Club gathering and dip in the bracing waters of Coney Island.

Make it through the first few seconds of this vide and you’ll see the vid of The Forest from 1980. Most copies can’t be embedded. And, yes, that dude playing guitar and singing “The girl was never there/It’s always the same/I’m running towards nothing/Again and again and again” is really Robert Smith. Holy shit. He looked like that once.