It’s the gift giving season and if you thought everyone on your list was covered, you might want to think twice. It seems there’s been some talk over on the Brooklynian board about what, if anything, you tip your sanitation workers, postal carriers, supers and even landlords, with many stating that tipping is out of control in this city. We might have to agree, especially in light of the notoriously bad Park slope mail service we endure. One member put it best:

I would never in a million years tip my postal worker considering the crappy job he does! half the time i don’t get mail, the other half the time, we get mail for other people/buildings! Besides myself, i am sure no one else in my building even knows who the mailman is. As for sanitation workers, we live in a small co op building and we have never done that nor have I ever seen any of my neighbors standing outside waiting for the garbage trucks to come by so they could hand someone an envelope. how would you even know if that was your regular garbage people anyway? The only person like that I tip is my UPS man. he has been my UPS man for 3 years and he is just a great guy. Carries things up the stairs for me, will even catch me out on the street to give me a package. Love him!

We seem to hear this same question come up each year, so tell us what you think. Do you give a holiday tip? Feel free to rant or rave about your mail carrier or building super in the comments.
—E.C. Stephens

Two new shops have opened on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope. One is the UGGs store (above), which fills the space that had been occupied by Beacon’s Closet, which moved much further down the block. The other is called Celine, which bills itself as a discount fashion shop and which we believe also has a Manhattan branch.

Evan from the Brooklynian message board is warning retailers in the Park Slope to keep an eye out for a couple of would be con artists that are tricking cashiers and grabbing cash in registers. Here’s his first hand account and how he saved the day for one lucky employee:

just a heads up to any retail folks in the slope. yesterday i was in a shop on 5th ave and a guy in front of me, along with a guy outside, were running a set up on the worker behind the register. the guy in line was buying a soda, originally paid with a $5 and then was like “wait, i have exact change” and as soon as the register was open he walked away from the register a bit and started reaching behind the counter, leading the employee to walk away from the register (still open) to see what he was doing. as soon as she did this a guy from outside stepped in the door which was right by the register and grabbed all of the $20s out of the register. i don’t think anyone else saw him, but i stepped towards the door and told him to drop the money. just his arm and shoulder were in the door, and i thought i’d have to slam the door on him to get him to drop the money, but when i told him to put it down (in my best teacher voice) he just dropped it and took off. the clerk closed the register and told the other guy to leave. so yeah, if someone is acting weird when you’re ringing them up, changes his mind about how he wants to pay, and then starts reaching behind the counter make sure you close the register. their strategy was well worked out and i’m impressed that it pretty much worked, but based on the fact that the guy just dropped the money i’d imagine they aren’t pros – maybe just folks (they were both around 50-60) feeling the economic crunch at christmas time and getting a bit desperate.

Congratulations go to Evan on his quick thinking and stay alert folks, tis the season.
— E.C. Stephens

· Surprise: Brooklyn Pysch Ward Sucks [NYDN]
· Greenpoint’s Viridian Going Rental [Curbed]
· Slopers Trying to Get Planes Out of Sky. Good Luck. [Brownstoner]
· Degraw Delight [Lost City]
· Ruby’s Bar and Grill Still Waiting for a 2009 Lease [Kinetic Carnival]
· Stripped Car [Gunset Park]
· Protecting the Brookyn Bridge in 1916 [PMFA]
· Gowanus Nest Colony [Sail Brooklyn]

The ongoing Wiliamsburg Bike lane wars, which have pitted bicyclists agains the Hasidic community, will take an interesting turn on Wednesday when Bike Clowns show  up to protest. This Wed (12/17) from 8:30-10am, clowns will be riding amuck through the streets from the Williamsburg Bridge and following a route South on the new Kent Ave bike lane, and loop thru Williamsburg? Why? To defend their turf!!! It seems a number of people are thinking the new Kent Street bike lanes are there for their own personal double parking needs, and they’re just getting in the way!

The Bike Clowns will ride on Kent Street and clear the bike lane of motor vehicles so that the bike lane is safe for cyclists commuting to work. The Bicycle Clowns will use theater to comically draw attention to the serious danger faced by cyclists without safe, protected bike lanes. They will educate bike lane opponents that removing bike lanes only encourages more people to drive, which further clogs our city’s streets and taxes our country’s oil resources.

Hipsters and bicycle riders high and low, come forth and straddle your bike in full clown garb (as modest or immodest as you like) to say “Out of our way!” to those parkers and anti-bicyclists who are trying to steal the Kent lanes, force cyclists into the dangerous street and just all-around ruin your peaceful, environmentally responsible lives.

The rest of the press release ahead.

Sunday night we heard this alarming news from the Brooklynian message board:

Several NYPD cruisers were parked at and near the corner of Park Place and Underhill tonight. It looked like the police were going door to door along the brownstones and townhouses on the south side of Park Place near Underhill. Anyone know the scoop?

After some discussion it’s now revealed that last Sunday the police finally captured two 15-year old burglars that have been breaking into multiple buildings in Prospect Heights though roof top access. An informed member reports:

They were both 15. Caught on a rooftop on Park Plc. They tripped a silent alarm when trying to enter a house. They were stopped by a security gate mounted inside the window. When trying to flee the top floor tenant heard noise on the roof and called 911 in addition to the alarm company calling. There have been several unsuccesful attempts to burglarize that home and many many many successful burglaries in the surrounding area.

We’re glad to hear they were caught but saddened at the audacity of these teenagers and even more upset at the state of Brooklyn’s, and for that matter the larger country’s, youth.
—E.C. Stephens

[Photo courtesy of Nifty Pete/GL Flickr Pool]

It’s a train leaving the Smith-9th Station high above the Gowanus Canal and valley.

GL’s resident poet, Graziella Radici, is not quite pleased with the Pubic Place cleanup plans and the way in which it’s being presented to the community.

Public Place: The intended use is housing, and lots of it

Public Place,
That vast, contaminated tract of land in Carroll Gardens,
The intended use is housing, and lots of it.
Public Place,
might be “sick,” but
The intended use is housing, and lots of it.
“We can fix this site for its next intended use,”
Department of Environmental Conservation,
assured the Land Use/Landmarks Committee
of Community Board 6 last week,
assured the community,
The intended use is housing, and lots of it.
The City presented the clean up efforts
to Community Board 6 this week.
Odors and dust are likely nuisances during the clean up efforts
that will take three years,
The intended use is housing, and lots of it.

c. Graziella Radici 2008

We want to give special thanks to our contributors today, without whom there wouldn’t be much of a Gowanus Lounge today. We were occupied with some most unpleasant logistical issues most of last night and they stepped up to the plate and helped us fill in a lot of slots. Special thanks to E.C. Stephens, Vaduzuvunt, Meg Groome and Deborah Matlack. You guys rock!

Just somewhat symbolic, that’s all, with the destruction of the park goiing on within. Video from the intrepid Captain Nemo.

[Photo courtesy of lornagrl/Gl Photo Pool]

To not only get a pic of a street couch of Ocean Parkway, but have it leather and include a sofabed is magic. This comes courtesy of GL Contributor and Master Southern Brooklyn Photographer lornagrl.

This song reduces snarky assholes like us to streaming tears for obvious reasons and for very private and personal ones. These are few vids made using Death Cab for Cutie’s Coney Island. We posted one that we’d made a couple of years ago yesterday, and it, too, is on this list. This song combined with Coney images touches our souls in a very special place. Everthing was closed in Coney Island, indeed.

[Photo for GL Courtesy of Deborah Matlack]

Veteran and dedicated GL Contributor and talented photographer Deborah Matlack dropped this one into our inbox over the weekend. It show the tree under the arch at Grand Army Plaza. Sadly, once again, there are no Prospect Park in Lights. We sure wish a corporate sponsor would have stepped to the plate and helped get them up again after that wonderful tease a couple of years ago. Ms. Matlack managed to capture a stunning angle on the tree and arch in this pic.

And now, some musical selections between today and Wednesday:

Monday 12/15/08
Jalopy: Country Blues Jam: Bring you fiddle, accordion, banjo, washtub, mandolin, guitar, or maybe even spoons and participate in an open jam session. Free!! 9:30pm

Tuesday 12/16/08
Bar 4: Open Mike Night: Hosted by Tanya Buziak.
Pre-list @ 6:15pm, Sign up @ 8:00pm, Start @ 8:30pm (mostly Singer-Songwriters) Free!!

Barbes: Jenny Scheinman (Violinist/ Composer) $10, 7:00pm; Slavic Soul Party (Funk/Gypsy-Jazz/Balkan/Soul) $10, 9:00pm

Wednesday 12/17/08
The Bell House: Holiday Karaoke & Dance Party: Featuring: Kevin Barnes (Of Montreal), Kurt Braunholer, Kristen Schaal, Eugene Mirman, and more. $10, 7:30pm

Music Hall of Williamsburg: Gene Ween Band, Pajo (Experimental/Rock) $22, 9:00pm

—Dan Bennis

Over the weekend, the Times ran a story about the likely closing of the Montessori School’s “Little Room” at Court and Bergen Streets. The highly-regarded facility serves children with special needs and “has become a nationally recognized program for 3- and 4-year-olds with speech and language delays across Brooklyn and Manhattan.” Someone forwarded us a couple of letters from our good friends at Park Slope Parents, who always encourage us in the strongest terms possible to spread news to the community at large, particularly by copying and pasting their thoughts. Here is letter number one:

I am also the parent of a Little Room child. This is an amazing program, that has been around for nearly 40 years. The changes that I have seen in my child and in other children there have been nothing short of miraculous. The teachers and therapists at this school are of the highest caliber, and are among the most kind, caring, dedicated people that I have ever known. For those who have tried to access special education services in Brooklyn and the New York City area, you may be aware of how hard it is to find services and how few services are available for our kids. Yet these early preschool years are so important in helping our children catch up developmentally, and can have a lifelong impact! This program provides evaluations and related services such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and counseling for many children throughout Brooklyn, not just for the preschoolers who attend the program. So the unnecessary closing of this program would affect many children in the New York area who need the help the most.

We realize as a community that this is a private school, and that they have the option to kick us out if they choose to. We are asking as a community that they at least give us some time, at least till the end of summer 2010, to make a transition, save the program, and find a new site or sponsoring agency. There is great interest in saving this program and other agencies that are interested, if they will just give us the time as opposed to simply destroying the program. Please, if you care about saving services for children, support the children of Brooklyn as Jody suggested, by sending an email to: Chair of the Board of Trustees Helene Banks (hbanks AT cahill DOT com); Head of Brooklyn Heights Montessori Dane Peters; dpeters AT bhmsny DOT org. Also please feel free to pass this information on widely, and to other Brooklyn parent lists if you are on them. Thanks so much for your help and support.

Of course, there’s another letter.

There are new developments with the nightmarishly long process of building the LIRR station at Atlantic and Flatbush Avenue. First, the scaffolds are back on the building as God Only Knows what is being done, but secondly the sidewalk in front is now open to pedestrians who no longer have to risk their lives walking in traffic on Flatbush Avenue. Progress!!! There is always hope, friends.

· Equador Burial for Bushwick Hate Crime Victim [NYP]
· Justice is Served: Greenpoint Can Shit on New Jersey [NYDN]
· South Ferry Artists Have Red Hook Studio [NYT]
· Times Says Hipsters Kind of Have SROs [Brownstoner]
· Go Hang Out in Harlem Instead of Brooklyn [Metro]
· The 2008 ‘List of the Dead’ [Lost City]
· Work Starts on Brookyn Bridge Park [BHB]
· Know Parking [New York Shitty]
· Fire Escapes are Great Places for Nativity Scenes [PMFA]
· Don’t You Love Red Carpets at Shithead Banks? [McBrooklyn]
· Wow, a Tree on the Ismael Leyva Development Site on Fourth Ave [BIB]
· Sunset Christmas Lights [BVIB]

GL’s Meg Greene checked out the Polar Bears on Saturday at Coney Island and came away with a bunch of photos and a lot of observations. She wrote us:

Today was a perfect day to take pictures at Coney Island, the light was great and it was a bit warmer than yesterday. After taking a depressing series of pictures of the destruction of Astroland we were cheered up by the sight of a procession of people in their bathing suits. Sunday’s are “winter bathing” day for the Coney Island Polar Bear Club and they were out in full force today enjoying the rather balmy 40 degree weather. The crowd was bundled up in their hats, gloves, and scarves, cheering on their friends and trying to keep warm. The most surprising thing to a new observer is not that all these people get into the water, it’s that they get out and socialize on the beach in their dripping wet swimsuits and dangling towels like it’s the middle of August.

There’s more about it on her own blog.

[Photo for GL by Meg Groome]

After much rumor and speculation, a Hanco’s Vietnamese Sandwich and Bubble Tea sign appeared outside the old Tea Lounge on 7th and 10th in Park Slope. If it is anything like its twin in Boerum Hill, this Hanco’s will offer vietnamese sandwiches, bubble teas, and other vietnamese snacks. What is a vietnamese sandwich you ask? Grilled pork or chicken with cucumbers, cilantro, carrots, and noodles on a toasted baguette.
–Meg Groome

(We are thrilled to announced that Meg Groome, who is known on flickr as megunski, has joined GL as a contributor. We adore Meg’s photography and are honored to have her as part of our community GL contributors.)

Given the hornet’s nest of opposition stirred by a relatively small project like Billy Stein’s 360 Smith Street and the intense hostility directed at the Toll Brothers Gowanus condo rezoning proposal, there has been relatively little discussion about the huge Gowanus Green (Public Place) development between Smith Street and the Gowanus Canal. The picked the Hudson Companies development team to build ‘Gowanus Green‘ at Public Place between the Gowanus Canal and Smith Street. Rogers Marvel is the project architect. The original development was to include 774 apartments, 38,000 square feet of retail and 100,000 square of open space. Since the original announcement, more land has been added and the total number of residences could be close to 1,500. Yet, again, there has been very little public protest.

Until this weekend. That is when the city shot itself in the foot by scheduling a “scoping meeting” on the environmental impact study for Tuesday (December 16) at the height of the holiday season. Even worse, the news was only widely circulated starting on Friday. CORD, which fought hard against 360 Smith Street, circulated this email:

To: Elected officials and community groups surrounding the Public Place site

From: Gowanus Green Partners

We wanted to remind you that a public scoping meeting for the Gowanus Green proposal (aka Public Place) will be held on Tuesday, December 16, 2008, at 5 PM at Brooklyn Borough Hall, 2nd floor auditorium (the Court Room), located at 209 Joralemon Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201. HPD is the lead on the proposal. The environmental documents are available for download on the HPD website at:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/developers/Gowanus-Green-proposal.shtml We hope you will join us at the scoping session and provide your thoughtful comments and feedback on the proposal there, and in writing until January 23, 2009.

We can’t even find an emal from Community Board 6 in our inbox, although we did find several invitations to their holiday party at Aunt Suzie’s on Fifth Avenue tonight. (Maybe we’re just missing it or deleted it by accident, but we don’t think so.)

Even supporters of the project are pissed off….

[Photo courtesy of spiffae/GL Flickr Pool]

It is red. It is round. And it does have a surf shack look about it. Maybe it’s the next Shake Shack.

[Photo for GL Courtesy of Adrian Kinloch/Brit in Brooklyn]

Aren’t the way new buildings blend with old ones great, either during the construction phase or when they’re done? GL Contributor and Brit in Brooklyn blogger Adrian Kinloch caught this shot at Carroll Street and Fourth Avenue where a building that was oirginally supposed to be a Robert Scarano but was taken over by Armand Quandrini is rising.

We had intended to go to Coney Island to shoot the destruction of Astroland yesterday, which we’ve beenn avoiding because it personally hurts, but some things happened to interfere with that. We’re putting up this old vid for a very special old friend whose kinship we will miss dearly. With deep thanks for all. Maybe another time in Coney Island.

This is more like a sad poem than one our usual Sunday Missed Connections but we had it in an open tab for day and feel like running it. Some will think it’s sappy. We think a few people will relate to it:

I forgive you. LET’S REMEMBER THE GOOD. Even if its over. – w4m – 39

I can remember how
I’d melt reading your emails before we met
how I THOUGHT FINALLY HE’S THE ONE
we finally came face to face that day was magical
how we danced
so freely not concerned
with who was watching
since we were out doors
as I stood on the bench
since you were so tall
we spent 10 hours together
the truth is didn’t want the night to end
—————————————————–

Click here to read the rest.

“This is Martin Luiten’s soundtrack to the film Coney Island. It is part of an experiment where one film gets many soundtracks to see what sound can do to the feel of a film.”