[Photo courtesy of New York Public Library]

The Gowanus Canal looking south from the Carroll Street Bridge in 1930

And, now, a selection of musical events through the weekend:

Thursday 1/8/09
Bell House: The Depreciation Guild, Dead Leaf Echo, Luxa (Indie/Electronic/Rock)) Free!!, 8:00pm * There is also free Brooklyn Lager from 8-9pm (Shhhhh….don’t tell too many people)

Friday 1/9/09
BAM Café: Marshall Crenshaw (Pop/Rock) Free!! 9:00pm

Saturday 1/10/09
BAM Café: Takka Takka, Tamar Eisenman (Indie Rock) Free!! 10:00pm

Music Hall of Williamsburg: John Doe and Exene of legendary L.A. punk band X (Folk) $18 Advance/$20 Day of Show, 9:00pm

Southpaw: Crooked Disco Presents: DJ’s Morsy & Kestar (Disco, House, Breakbeat, Hip Hop, and Baile Funk) Free!! 11:00pm

Sunday 1/11/09
Barbes: Stephane Wrembel presents The Django Experiment (Gypsy Jazz) $10, 9:00pm

Here’s a sad excerpt from Lola Staar’s latest email. We like Lola and appreciate her unbridled–if sometimes over the top–enthusiasm for and boosterism of Coney Island. Once again, her outspokenness has led to a kick in the ass from Thor Equities. This was news on Christmas Eve. But this is the story in Lola’s own words:

It breaks my heart to tell you that, as a result of some pathetic bargaining game with the City, Thor Equities is evicting me from my shop on the boardwalk. Nine years ago, I opened my fabulous Lola Staar Souvenir boutique on the boardwalk in Coney Island. For nine years I have worked with every bit of energy and passion inside me to grow my business and to contribute in a positive way to the community of Coney Island. Owning my shop on the boardwalk has been the most challenging and extraordinary experience of my life. A few days before Christmas, Thor Equities (the developers who have bought most of the property in the amusement area of Coney Island) began evicting longtime tenants by cutting off locks, asking for triple the rent, or refusing to discuss 2009 leases. On Christmas Eve, huge custom-sized “Space For Lease” banners were put up on Ruby’s Bar & Grill, Nathan’s Boardwalk store, Cha Cha’s, and others businesses on Thor’s property in Coney Island. I was evicted from my shop because of my involvement in Save Coney Island and my opposition to Thor’s plan to build condos, high rises and shopping malls in Coney Island’s historic Amusement District.

We know Lola and we know she will not go quietly into the Coney night. Perhaps, Mr. Sitt enjoys the thrill of public battle and diminutive, chatty red headed fashion designers leading protests against him. Screwing with Dianna Carlin is a bad idea, “Joey Coney Island.” All we can say is stock up on Prilosec and, perhaps, Valium, Xanax and Ativan.

[All photos by E.C. Stephens]

Oh that crazy election night (11/5) a lot of people were excited. So excited, in fact, that a now notorious and somewhat violent scene happed in Williamsburg (Bedford Avenue and North 7th St in Williamsburg to be exact). The police became nasty, roughed up some people and arrested others. Were you there? Did you whip out your handy dandy iphone and take some shots quick snap? If so, Williamsburg110408 wants to see them. Even if you don’t have photos they’re taking statements too. They’re trying to help those that were arrested that night and none of the material will given to the press or published. Contact them at williamsburg110408@gmail.com. The video we’ve seen shows some pretty clear police misconduct and mild brutality.
–Vaduzuvunt

Naturally, the great Park Slope Fresh Direct debate continues on Park Slope Parents, where our dear and valued friends are pleased to raise issue of import to the community at large. We’re going to highlight several more opinions as to the Satanic or God-like nature of FD before we stop beating this dead horse. We go to the copy & paste:

I’m late to this, but as a transportation professional (I own a moving company), I really appreciate Fresh Direct. All of their trucks run on B20 Biodiesel, so they don’t give our kids asthma when they’re driving through the streets. As far as professional delivery people go, their drivers are safe and law abiding and rarely block traffic. Driving a truck in a densely populated area with little available parking makes that no small feat. Also, as the owner of a moving company, I frequently suggest to people that Fresh Direct boxes are perfect for packing books.

The problem with suggesting people use local stores is that they’re really not a better alternative. My little family lives in the Columbia Waterfront Neighborhood. The Met on Henry Street is a couple of blocks away, and we go there in a pinch, but never with our girls because they stack things in the aisle and I can’t get my stroller through. This isn’t something that has happened once. It’s happened over and over again. Plus, while they have a good selection of basic foods, a half gallon of organic milk is $4.98, compared with $3.19 for Fairway’s grass fed, relatively local organic milk. There’s a small grocery on the corner of President and Columbia. It smells as though something died in there, and the cans of food are dusty. Granted, I have been in there only a couple of times in four years, but nevertheless, that’s not a local business I want to support.

Much more retail discord to come.

[Photo for GL courtesy of Meg Groome]

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· Smith Street’s Patois Closing for Good on Sunday [CHB]

We got this email from a reader a few days ago: “Rumor has it Catty Shack was closed down on New Years, and may remain closed.” Now, there’s an interesting discussion on Brooklynian about whether Park Slope’s fave lebsbian bar is doneski. One poster yesterday afternoon writes: ” I hear they got shut down for no good reason. I also hear there is a silent partner trying to sell out the space or something like that, but details are not immediately available to me. Anyone have info, beyond the usual boy-type complaints re: butch ladies?”

We love a drama, and this one gets bizarre.

If you invest a couple of minutes of your time today looking at some amazing photos, take a look at the photos in the slideshow below that Jack Szwergold shot from inside Astroland yesterday. There are amazing angles and photos of the iconic rocket that was senselessly removed from the roof of Gregory & Paul’s on Tuesday. It’s almost like looking a photos of a crime scene. These pictures are gripping in the disgusting and premature destruction of a Brooklyn landmark that they show. We told Mr. Szwergold that we envied him for getting inside Astroland, but are glad that we haven’t seen this with our own eyes. We’ve seen enough crap with our own eyes during our lifetime, including towns destroyed by war, in this case, the pictures will do. Mr. Szwergold writes: “The Astroland rocket—a former ride and longtime icon on the boardwalk—was taken down from the top of Gregory & Paul’s on January 6th. I came down the next day and took some pictures of the rocket on the ground in what remains of Astroland Park. I lucked out since the gate was open, and the attendants there let me roam around and score some excellent shots.” Thank you, sir, for adding to the visual record of what happened on January 6, 2009, so that our children and grandchildren will know the travesty that Joe Sitt, Micheal Bloomberg, Amanda Burden and Lynn Kelly allowed, years before it needed to happen. The flickr set can be found here.

Just last week we called the Toll Brothers proposed condo on the banks of the Gowanus one of our five rotting corpses of 2009. That’s because we think the project will be approved but won’t be built in the current economic climate. The Toll firm itself so deep in financial shit that Robert Toll is struggling not to get a mouth full. In any case, the City Planning Commission held its hearing yesterday and there’s every indication (surprise) that they’ll vote to approve the zoning changes the firm needs on February 17. The Real Deal has the full story. The City Council will have 50 days to vote on the project after that. The development has mainstream political support but is about as popular among many residents of the Gowanus Canal flooding the neighborhood to the third floor of their homes with raw sewage. Per the Real Deal:

Toll Brothers Senior Vice President David Von Spreckelsen told The Real Deal that the developer is confident it will pass this stage of the ULURP, and Community Board 6 Chairman Craig Hammerman offered a similar opinion. “I don’t think [the City Planning Commission] would have certified [it for ULURP] it if they didn’t plan to approve it,” Hammerman said.

The project would have 460 residential uses, 2,000 square feet of commmunity facility space and 2,000 square feet of retail. It would be elevated to try to avoid being flooded by the Gowanus, which fills with raw sewage during heavy rains. We still believe this is an empty exercise as we can’t quite envision the Toll firm getting financing for canal-side condos right now.

[Photo courtesy of Captain Nemo]

We have absolutely nothing to add to this.

[Photo courtesy of Meg Groome]

This photo from outside a church in Park Slope does raise an interesting question.

[Photo courtesy of chadwbecks]

Shot in Brighton Beach and/or Coney Island. Gorgeous.

Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration is currently exhibiting “Legacy: The Next 50 Years” through Saturday, January 17. This exhibition features eight incredible and primarily figurative African American artists of the 20th century that will captivate you: Otto Neals, Miriam Francis, Edward Bates, Onaway Millar, Violet Hewitt Chandler, Emmett Wigglesworth, Brian Strong-Wind Williams, and Brent Bailer. This multi-media exhibition “affirms and celebrates the lives and history of this generation of African-American artists and people, while providing inspiration for all, but especially aspiring artists and today’s young people.” Also running is an additional exhibition by Islamic designer Nzinga Knights. Nzinga Knights designs were inspired by her mother, sisters and the women from her large, Brooklyn Islamic community. The exhibition features: eveningwear, a documentary about the designer and images from the Nzinga Knight’s fashion line. Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Plaza -The Skylight Gallery, 1368 Fulton Street (Brooklyn & New York avenues)

—E.C. Stephens

This one didn’t take long to hit the market. There are permits in place for a five-story building designed by Burg architect Philip Toscano, but we’re guessing that in this market that plans for 105 Metropolitan Avenue, which is behind the garden at the popular eatery Relish didn’t work out. It’s on the market via Massey Knakal for $900,000 and they did get that foundation dug in time for it to qualify for a 421-a tax abatement. Did someone say “developer blight”?

At first we thought the danger at this intersection near Seventh Ave. and Flatbush Ave. was just because of shitty trash. And then we realized courtesy of McBrooklyn that, oh no, the danger is that the freaking lamp post might electrocute you. One would think they’d fix it instead of just putting up a danger sign.

Here’s what’s up at the former JJ Byrne Park in Park Slope which is now Washington Park. Above is the dog in the Boymelpark, which was looking pretty popular when we visited, but which is unlit, creating very dangerous conditions for people at night. We don’t know how many complaints Community Board 6 has gotten from Novo Park Slope residents about people playing handball, dogs barking and fighting and, especially, the skateboard park.

Washington Park has mounds just like Washington Square Park.

Hall Street Self-Storage (at 12 Hall Street) opened as the country’s first green self-storage facility back in May 2008. Now it seems they’re going one step further and becoming their own brand – iStoreGreen. As a leading local company using 100% Green-E renewable energy, iStoreGreen is growing to meet even more environmental needs to assist the urban community living in their small spaces or maintaining their pack rat lifestyles, with a conscious effort to not add to the ever growing carbon footprint.

Now, under the iStoreGreen brand, still more green actions have been added, including desks for the company’s offices and shelving for the storage spaces made from the wood reclaimed from the remodel of the Brooklyn building; solar hot water heating; and the creation of a booklet (printed on recycled paper with soy ink) given to customers and members of the local community with ideas for taking green home with them. Future plans include innovative ideas like a fleet of Pedi vans, which will use cycling power to transfer local residents’ possessions to their storage spaces for a zero-emissions move.

You don’t think Steve Jobs is going to be upset about the iStore business do you? Did they copyright starting words with little “i”‘s?
–Vaduzuvunt

[Click to enlarge photo]

A very, very kind GL reader sent us this photo of Coney Island in its prime that he purchased years ago. It shows the Steeplechase Pavilion that was murdered by Fred Trump and to its right the Thunderbolt roller coaster, which was slaughtered by Rudolph Giuliani. The date of the photo is unclear, but we would place it in the 40s or 50s. Steeplechase was demolished in 1964, and Keyspan Park and a parking lot now stands in its place. The Thunderbolt lot is a huge vacant city block over run with weeds.

Borough President Marty Markowitz supports the reopening of the Brooklyn House of Detention, but is against the Jail with Retail expansion plan. (Well, he is for a Jail with Retail, but not for a bigger one.) In a statement he says: “It is my understanding that the DOC is within its right to reopen the HOD and that it also intends to increase capacity due to current limitations on Rikers Island. However, I vehemently oppose the envisioned expansion. I believe that a larger facility would be a burden to neighborhood residents, and would not be an asset to the area’s evolution as a modern gateway into Downtown Brooklyn.” Mr. Markowitz says he supports the jail because “each borough should do its fair share when it comes to many services required for city life, and it is thus our obligation to deal with those who are awaiting trial, a good number of whom are from Brooklyn and whose families have a right to see them.” Actually, he says, to be fair Brooklyn should house even more prisoners and that “I feel strongly that Brooklyn families have a right to expect reasonable commuting to visit detained relatives as opposed to the extreme burden of traveling to Rikers Island.”

GL ANALYSIS
So, there you have it. Your Borough Presidents wants his cheesecake and wants to eat it too. He supports the reopening of the jail, digs the retail, but doesn’t want the expansion. Of course, there is vehement neighborhood opposition to reopening the jail in any way, shape or form and a suit to stop its reopening or expansion. Yet, Mr. Markowitz thinks adding stores to the House of Misery “would unify Atlantic Avenue as a shopping street and link the Fulton Mall with the boutiques and restaurants thriving in Boerum Hill.” Which may be the first time in our many decades of reporting that we have ever heard any American public official claim that reopening a jail will be great for boutiques and restaurants. (Which only proves that if you live long enough you will hear everything.) All this time, we thought jails were good for lawyers, bail bondsmen and all the other members of the Prison Industrial Complex that thrive on human misery. Now, we know jails are cool for Marc Jacobs and Jim Mamary too. Perhaps, the former could open a shop called Commissary and the latter an eatery called Big House Slop. Sounds like a plan. And we can reassure everyone that Mr. Markowitz has not suggested a Frank Gehry-designed prison at Atlantic Yards should Bruce Ratner cut bait and run, leaving the Beepster twisting in the wind of one of New York’s most historically disastrous failed megaprojects.

Times are tough for everyone right now, I’m sure we all know at least one person that has been laid-off or is looking for work. According to the Department of Labor we are experiencing the largest decline in private sector jobs in more than 7 years! Unemployment rates are only climbing higher in 2009 and it’s not a pretty sight. With this in mind we found an interesting conversation is happening on the Brooklynian Park Slope board all started by a member who wants to know, “How long should one be allowed to be unemployed before they are called a bum?” A poll has been started with the cap at “after 3 months they should probably kill themselves.” Ouch! Luckily there are more sympathetic souls out there. One member chimes in with her personal experience:

In a market like this, temp jobs will be scarce. I went through this in 2003. There was NOTHING out there. I was unemployed for 18 months, and it was terrifying. I am still paying off the credit card debt I racked up on just basic living expenses.

Another member jokingly remarked:

Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?

Care to share your unemployment experience? Have any tips on a job opening (seriously, let me know!) or  are you a Park Slope bum? Let us know in the comments.

—E.C. Stephens

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Park Slope being Park Slope, the Fresh Direct tipping discussion has turned into a war about Fresh Direct itself. Thus far, the emails seem to be far more supportive of good old FD than bashing them. We go to the copy and paste, which is what we do when presented with thing like this. Here is the email that starts the debate:

Dear group, I do not mean to be incendiary and I know this might be an irritating forum to raise for many but I would love to open up a debate about the ways in which Fresh Direct hurts or helps our community. I feel that the noise and congestion Fresh Direct trucks bring to our already crowded area, which is full of independent groceries, bodegas, and fruit stands is a serious environmental detriment. I am endlessly frustrated by their enormous, polluting trucks blocking traffic on our small streets. Not to mention all their extra, unnecessary, wasteful packaging that comes with each order. I don’t understand why this service is necessary in a community like ours where groceries are available nearly everywhere. I think the “footprint” Fresh Direct leaves on our neighborhoods is big, fat, and smelly. Am I alone?

Ho. Ho. Ho. Here is a response:

As a full-time working mother of 4 children with 4 separate schedules that need tending to, and a husband that I really like, I am most thankful for the concept of Fresh Direct. On top of everything else in my life I don’t relish working in a trip to C-town or volunteering at the co-op. Time with my family is what I want. Fresh Direct is my guilty pleasure. Come on now, we all have one. Some of us have 5 guilty pleasures, or 10. Let me have my 1 for goodness sake.

Look at all the cars our neighbors own. I don’t own one. I take the F train. I pick up dog poop in front of my house and I don’t even own a dog. Consider Fresh Direct as my personal way of messing up the neighborhood, if you will. If these other Fresh Direct customers on the list are anything like me and suffer from what appears to be early Alzheimers, you can trust that they still support their local corner stores. Probably every.single.day. I should actually put my order in now, come to think of it.

Actually, they are an evil necessity.

There have been dozens of post on Park Slope Parents over the last couple of days about how much to tip the dudes that deliver stuff for Fresh Direct. (It has sense degenerated into a classic PSP debate about whether FD is a Satanic scourge or a neighborhood God.) Most people talked about tipping a dollar a box and this email sums it up:

So the vast majority of people who responded said they tip in the $3-$5 range, with others tipping a dollar a box (which still usually came to like $3-$5). A couple of generous souls said they tip in the $7-$10 range. And one cash-short mama once tipped a cupcake and gained a friend for life. We’ve been tipping around $5, but we were curious if we were being stingy/generous/right on the mark.

All well and good. Now Fresh Direct is not exactly known for its generous or good treatment of its workers, so this one email jumped out at us from a gentleman whose income is unclear:

All in all it doesn’t sound like a bad gig. If the delivery folks are making $12 an hour from their employers and hit 3 houses per hour they work (I am pretty sure they hit more, because they drop the boxes off at our house and take flight as fast as they can) they’re making at least $27 an hour, according to the tip averages reported here.

Hmmm. $27 an hour? To carry heavy boxes to the top floors of four-story Slope Brownstone walk-ups? Sounds like a great gig to us.

As captured by Captain Nemo, who has done everyone a great service by documenting the murder of Astroland in a very methodical fashion. While we feel like throwing up watching this and our ears are almost ringing with rage, we are grateful for your work, sir.