Holy shit. The Astroland Rocket was removed yesterday afternoon from atop Gregory & Paul’s. Captain Nemo and Pablo Jonesy recorded the sad moment on the Coney Island Message Board. Captain Nemo writes: “It was a sad day, for even the sky was crying. It seemed this wasnt a planned media event. Several photographers seemed to show up the last moment.” What a disgrace. What an utterly shameful and disgraceful thing to allow. We’re grateful we saw it and photographed one last time on Saturday.
GL ANALYSIS:
Everyone involved in allowing this to happen should hang their heads in shame. To allow an iconic symbol that is known worldwide is an act of cultural barbarism of the highest order. We’re talking to you, Mayor Bloomberg, Joe Sitt, Amanda Burden and Lynn Kelly. You are standing by and watching while Mr. Sitt is perpetrating nothing short of the Rape of Coney Island. Does the word “enabler” mean anything to any of you? There is utterly no reason Astroland should be destroyed for the 2009 summer season and NONE OF YOU have lifted a finger to prevent it. You are guilty of this destructive act as Thor Equities, if not more so, because it was the rezoning process that set these wheels in motion.
We stopped by the new Khims Millennium Market at Driggs and N. 11 in the Burg over the weekend, which now occupies the site of the old second-hand junk shop. The look in the eyes of shoppers was something between people sightseeing on Mars on those that had been temporarily blinded by a brilliant flash of light. The place is big. It is well-stocked. And it is the first grocercy in that part of the Burg, which has been adding residents at a very, very rapid pace. We predict a busy future for Khims. Our friends at Racked had the full photo gallery yesterday.
Already? It can’t be. Little League registration will begin this Sunday, January 11th at Long Island University (corner of Flatbush Avenue and DeKalb Avenue) from 10am to 2pm. Parents can register their children for Tee Ball & Farm League ($100), Minor & Major League ($130) and Jr. Pony League ($145). Kids will also be able to participate in an indoor baseball clinic during the same time, but be sure they come dressed in sweats and sneakers. To register you will need to provide two proofs of residency, and new players in addition will need to provide a copy of their birth certificate. $75 registration deposit required.
These are pigeons huddling against the winter cold on the subway overpass over Ocean Parkway in Brighton Beach, just before the road turns right as it reaches the boardwalk and the ocean. And, to all, a good evening.
This is Carroll Street at Bond Street looking toward the Gowanus Canal. The building with the smokestacks is the power plant that is still standing today. This photo is from 1930.
This is a little scene near Union Street on the Park Slope side of Fourth Avenue. It’s been there like that for a while, but Correspondent E.C. Stephens managed to capture the essence of the healthy bike versus the solitary tire.
This is the sad little “shrine” that’s appeared at the boardwalk gate to Astroland in Coney Island, which is in the process of being dismantled. The destruction of this little amusement park at this point in time is pointless, counterproductive and disgusting. All those responsible–and there are many–should hang their heads in shame at what they are doing to Coney Island.
This is 218 N. 9 Street in Williamsburg, where demolition started months ago and then stopped abruptly. Since then, the fence has been more open than closed, allowing for all sorts of sordid activity not to mention being a threat to public safety. That shredded thing above is a city violation and we’re running this to show just how effective and frightening to developers the DOB’s enforcement system is. Someone will eventually die in one of these sites in Williamsburg, which is why we keep running these posts–to create a public record of the bureaucratic ineptitude that is allowing dangerous conditions to flourish. And, it is going to get worse as more and more sites are abandoned as project financing dries up. Oh, we’ve written about this one before, calling it a great spot for a shag al fresco.
January 6th, 2009 · Comments Off on Development Notebook: Metropolitan Cinema & Condos Looking Good
We finally managed to wander past the Metropolitan Cinema and Condos at 136 Metropolitan Avenue between Berry & Wythe this weekend and got some nice shots of the new facade. The building was designed by Caliper Studio and that’s a zinc exterior with glass discs that will be illuminated from behind at night by LED lights. The ground floor remnants of the original building will house the 168-seat indie Casandra Cinema. It’s supposed to open in Spring ’09 and they’re looking like they are on schedule.
Anyone who goes to Coney Island knows this dog and his companion. They guard some of the kiddie rides on the Bowery. This one didn’t really seem to have his heart in barking at us on the day we went to play with him.
Our dear friends at Park Slope Parents raise an interesting issue in a series of emails about whether the little ones can play in the hallways of the condo and what to do if a mean neighbor or (gasp) the all-powerful condo board isn’t into it. Here’s the illuminating email:
I’ve lived in a Brooklyn condo for about 2 years, and during that time my son went from a crawling baby to a high energy 3 y.o. We live in a building with 56 units, and there are currently 35 kids and counting. We have the odd misfortune of being the only parents on our particular floor. All the floors with kids have some playtime in the hallway. Everyone I know tries to respect neighbors by having 15-20 minutes of play b/w 10 am and 7 pm. One couple on our floor finds it abhorrent that we would use the hallway for play, at anytime or on any day. They claim it’s extremely tacky and disruptive to their “luxury living”, that they’re sorry we “couldn’t afford a bigger apartment” so we wouldn’t “use the hallway as an extension” of our place. While we’re in the hallway a few times a week, it’s never for long, and if my kids get too loud, I bring them back inside.
Are there any laws concerning children playing for short intervals in condominium hallways? Or should neighbors just work it out? I’m actually on my condo board, and I’m not aware of any rule/law about this, even in our own bylaws. Our neighbor is claiming that he has the right to peace and quiet by law, and that our children should only be in the hallway when walking to and from the elevator.
It feels like we’ve been covering the contentious issue of the reopening and expansion of the Brooklyn House of Detention on Atlantic Avenue forever. Well, tomorrow (1/6) at 9am there’s to be a rally in front of the Brooklyn Courthouse to protest and there will be another court hearing. The Stop BHOD Coalition, elected officials and community groups are urging community members to come out and show for keeping the jail closed and disposing of the property or reusing it.
January 6th, 2009 · Comments Off on Check Out the New N. 5 St. Pier in the Burg
East River State Park may be closed for the winter unless things change before April 1, but the long delayed N. 5 Street Pier is now open to the public. These were some of the pics we were shooting yesterday before we were accosted by a twentysomething woman who thought she could tell people not to shoot photos because her colleagues were making some kind of amateur artsy video. If we remember correctly, we referred to them as “asshole artists” yesterday. Check out our little photo crypto-fascist female friend here if you missed the post. Her colleague likes to shoot pics of people passed out on the subway. Artsy fartsy self-entitled irony, anyone?
Comments Off on Check Out the New N. 5 St. Pier in the BurgTags:Williamsburg
This is another one of Deborah Matlack’s series of interestingly colored shots of Coney Island. We love the bleakness of the black and white combined with the very faded touches of color.
Writes photographer lornagrl, whose pics we dig a lot: “I guess Bart Simpson had a little too much to drink in Brighton Beach on New Years.” Dude. That’s just undignified.
Comments Off on In the Pool: Bart Simpson Passes Out in Brighton BeachTags:Brighton Beach · In the Pool
January 5th, 2009 · Comments Off on Ironic GL Day Ender: Learn More About Coney Island’s Development
Dear God. We began the day with a post about the disgraceful state of Coney Island and the staggering ineptitude of everyone at every level of the process to ensure that Coney Island remains viable in the short-term. So, if you want to hear the official version you can join the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce’s Real Estate & Development (RED) Committee tomorrow morning (1/6) from 8:30AM to 10:00AM for its panel titled “The Latest in Coney Island’s Development.” RED will hear about the latest developments in one of Brooklyn’s most beloved, historic, and currently ‘developer blighted’ neighborhoods, Coney Island! Panelists will include: Lynn Kelly, President, Coney Island Development Corporation; Purnima Kapur, Director, NYC Department of City Planning – Brooklyn Office; Dennis D. Vourderis, Vice President, Deno’s Wonder Wheel. The cost to Chamber members is free. It’s $25 for non-members. To register contact Lori Raphael at 718-875-1000 ext. 140, or lraphael@brooklynchamber.com. It will take place at Polytechnic University of NYU, Dibner Conference Room – LC400, 5 MetroTech Center. This event is sponsored by Brooklyn Cyclones. —E.C. Stephens
Comments Off on Ironic GL Day Ender: Learn More About Coney Island’s DevelopmentTags:Uncategorized
Given the number of people about who we’d like to write this using a different variant and appending the word “painfully.” We almost pissed ourselves yesterday when we found this on N. 6 Street in Williamsburg. Eat Fruit & Die, indeed.
If you want to flip a switch in our brain that turns us from a nice and normal person to a ranting one simply tell us in a public place that we can’t take a photo. Yesterday, we were enjoying our first look at the public pier behind Northside Piers and shooting a lot of photos. We noticed some people were shooting video at the end of the pier. We were taking pics for a photo feature on the Pier which offers stunning views of the East River and of the Williamsburg shoreline. Then, a twentysomething female approached us and said, “Please don’t take pictures.” We began to lecture her about how it was a public place and it had just opened and we were excited to shoot pics of it and that we had every right to take photos and pointed out that she and her friends were probably doing a commercial shoot without a permit from the Parks Dept. (She claimed they had one. Not that we give a shit, but, uh, yeah, sure, and we’re Richard Nixon.) Again, she said, “I don’t want you to disturb what they’re doing.” At that point we began a raging lecture about no one had a right to tell photographers not to take photos in public place and that we knew plenty of people who’d been manhandled by the cops and menaced by construction site workers.
This is the Dumpling Rickshaw Truck on Seventh Avenue and First Street on Saturday morning. In addition, the Waffles and Dinges truck was only a few blocks away in front of Old First Church. Given the generally horrific nature of Seventh Avenue food. These trucks are a Godsend.
