A montage of water around the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.

As long as you can read the reg upside down and a little curved, you’ll be fine. This comes from Williamsburg, naturally.

[Photo courtesy of New York Pubic Library]

This is Bedford Avenue at Empire Boulevard in an undated photo that is most likely from the 1930s.

Next Saturday (12/20) is the 109th Annual Christmas Bird Count at Prospect Park Audubon Center. From 12-1pm and 3-4pm, join the Prospect Park Alliance and Audubon Naturalists at the Prospect Park Audubon Center to track the bird population and movement of our area. Binoculars will be provided.
The boroughs of New York City are within a major flyway for over 100 different species of birds that live and/or migrate, and this time of year is a great chance to see many of them. Grabs the kids, fill your thermos with hot cocoa, bundle up and head out to see the birds and help keep track of our changing environment. For more information visit the National Audubon Society.
—Vaduzuvunt

We found this on Bayard Street, the row of buildings that we personally named Karl Fischer Row way back in 2006.

Half-Off Friday at Prospect Park Wollman Rink: Enjoy 50% off regular paid admission to Wollman Rink every Friday. Excludes holiday weekends (12/26, 1/2, 2/20).

Thought there was nothing better than skating on Brooklyn’s only outdoor rink? How about only paying half the admission fee! With the discount, admission is $2.50 for adults; $1.50 for seniors and children 14 and under. Skate rental is $6.50, tax included. On Fridays, the Rink is open 8:30 a.m. – 10 p.m. When it’s time to take a break from skating, visit the Kate’s Corner Snack Bar and sample the freshly brewed coffee, hot cocoa, or a steaming bowl of soup or chili. Best of all, the rink is right near the subway, and if you drive, parking is free.

Click here for more skating information.
—E.C. Stephens

This week, Eat It: The Brooklyn Food Blog, takes us to Buttermilk Channel on Court Street in Carroll Gardens.

I got to try out Buttermilk Channel (524 Court St., at Huntington St., 718-852-8490), the newest addition to dining on Court St. A few months ago, owner Doug Crowell set up a tasting table at the Carroll Gardens Farmer’s Market to give locals a sneak peek at what kinds of dishes would be available. I was excited to learn that he’d be highlighting local, seasonal fare, as well as locally raised organic meats. Buttermilk Channel is described as American Bistro, which includes Southern dishes (Fried Chicken with Waffles), Duck Meatloaf, an alternate take on an old stand-by and homemade pickles. They also offer a separate, just as extensive Vegetarian menu!

Walking in to the restaurant you’re immediately welcomed by the cozy warm glow of the lighting and the dark wood of the floors and bar area. It’s a big dining room, but it feels friendly instead of cold and while it’s decorated with Stoop Sale finds, it’s not cluttered at all. We were seated at what I think was the best table, in the back corner by the window. On the sill sat a big glass vase with cranberries on the bottom in which a tall candle was nestled. The only thing that would’ve made it better was if it had been snowing outside. The wait-staff was friendly and attentive and the owner himself stopped by to see how we were doing. We ended up chatting a bit about the neighborhood and other such topics. Then there was the delicious food. The menu is extensive, offering snacks, sides, appetizers, main dishes, or sandwiches (two types of sausages on a roll with onions and peppers). I chose two starters – the Delicata Squash Tart and the Spice-Rubbed Baby Back Ribs, both of which were delicious and substantial. My boyfriend picked the Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Pasta, which comes with black olives and rosemary butter. The olives went surprisingly well with the other flavors. For photos and more complete descriptions, click here!

We’ve already had a spiritual Henry Radusky building today. Now, we’ve got a 12-story monster rising at 574 Fourth Avenue, which is right on top of the Prospect Expressway. Yes, it’s a Radusky and, yes, car fans, some of these apartments are going to offer exceptionally dramatic views of both the insane traffic on Fourth Avenue and the even more entertaining stuff on the Prospect Expressway. This thing will 80 units and a huge proportion are going to be nirvana for automotive fanatics. Perhaps they’ll name it the Prospexy. We look foward to BIG things from this baby. Sadly, no renderings since it’s a Bricolage Design work but experience tells us two things: (a). an overabundance of bricks and (b). a paucity of windows. The latter, in this case, may be a good thing indeed. We already know that some marketing genius is going to pass this off as “prime Park Slope” when the time comes.

Worried about forclosure? In over your head? Get taken to the cleaners by some sub-prime lending scumbag? Problem solved. Call this number and you can “escape foreclosure.” We trust signs likes these in times like these tethered to telphone poles. Don’t you?

· Driver of garbage truck crushed to death in Bed-Stuy [NYDN]
· Post Notices Astroland Rocket in Danger. Wow. [NYP]
· Why the Obfuscation About the Atlantic Yards Hold? [AYR]
· Three Days to Do a REALLY Good Deed [Bad Advice]
· 277 Gold Topped Out [Brownstoner]
· Empty Playground on a Miserable Fall Day [AYITP]
· Lifestyles on Atlantic Bites the Dust [PMFA]
· Winter Stuff for the Little Ones [BVIB]
· Dedicated Benches in Fort Greene Park [Clinton Hill Blog]
· Remember to Shop Cortelyou [Ditmas Park Blog]

One of the co-founders of CORD, the Carroll Gardens Group that was born around the controversy surrounding the 360 Smith Street Building, has penned a scathing letter about the powerful board to which zoning, DOB and other decisions can be appealed. Among other things, she accused the board of making a recent zoning decision look like “a sham.” Many community activists, who believed it is unashamedly pro-developer, believe it should be abolished. Here’s the letter from Lucy DeCarlo:

Where is the “fairness” and the “equity” or even the common sense at the BSA?
The Board of Standards and Appeals- The BSA was established to promote equity and fairness to developers in NYC. Its history has shown that the higher percentage of decisions favor developers, many who have commenced building and are suddenly presented with a zoning change.

The case of 131 Second Place [360 Smith Street] is unusual in that instead of a zoning change, a text amendment was passed to lift an erroneously labeled designation on 15 blocks in Carroll Gardens. These blocks were designated “wide streets” in 1976 simply because they have long front gardens. At that time it was done without the procedures required presently, which the community had to undergo in order to remove that label and return to the true designation of “narrow streets”, as all other streets in CG.

The Boro President, City Planning and City Council voted unanimously to quickly correct the misnomer. Our leaders saw the urgent need to regulate overdevelopment in our small, low rise, historic community. This support was evident in Amanda Burden’s statement that “the DNA of a neighborhood should not be destroyed.”

Ah, but the BSA disagreed with almost everyone in the city

There’s probably been more than one family from Ohio that’s had a collective bowel movement when they set eyes on the “Brooklyn Bridge” Comfort Inn on Butler Street off Third Avenue in Gowanus. Let’s just say it’s the kind of street that makes people want to fart and dash for the shitter if they’re not familiar with the neighborhoood and don’t understand that, relatively speaking, it’s not pretty, but it’s harmless. We thought the tagging and the sign and the furniture outside sort of summed it up nicely. Rooms are running from $169-$199 right now, but wonder what they’ll be, oh, sometime next year. Manhattan hotels have already announced rates under $100 starting in January. We’re going to look into the Crystal Ball and say $69 a night with a complimentary escort to the subway.

The fugly building erected at 9th and Smith Streets, right next to the old Russo Realty and Notary empire, is getting a spiritual tenant: the Center of Light. Correspondent Max Casey sniffed this one out and was panting while filing the report and photo. While brick would be more appropriate for the Man from Bricolage, here’s what their website says about them:

The Center of Light is a Mystical Christian school and community dedicated to consciousness, spiritual growth, and empowerment. Through practical instruction and divine experiences, hearts are healed, lives are transformed, and souls are awakened. At each of our fifteen Centers across the country, we offer daily meditation, sacraments, seminars, and classes that help seekers come into a direct relationship with God. We are happy you found us! Please contact us if you have questions or would like more information. You can click here to sign up to be on our email list. We have a vibrant spiritual community and offer many free events and gatherings. We hope to see you soon at the Center of Light!

And it’s right there when you get off the F Train or have an epiphany while waiting for the Ikea shuttle. How cool is that?

UPDATE: Brownstoner also had this a while back. We’re going to try to have a word or two with Max because there was no reason to pant about this one.

(Click to enlarge)

This is Bond and Carroll Streets in Gowanus way back in the winter of 2003. The reader who sent us this photo, which certainly brings back some memories, wrote:

This is pre-construction bond&carroll street (2003). 346 bond, the roll-gated building, used to be a hansom carriage repair shop complete with a filled in gutter for drainage of horse manure. It was huge on the inside with multiple skylights and on the left wall, you could see where they bricked up the entrance to the building next door which I THINK might have been the actual stable house. At the time this photo was taken, it was a motorcycle repair shop (the shop’s owner grandfathered the “repair shop” thing in to make the business legal). The building next to it with the windows had a family living in it. On the other side was a metalworking shop of some sort. I was pretty disappointed when they tore the buildings down and I can barely understand how it’s even allowed. I mean, how many of those sorts of buildings still exist? Shouldn’t they be worth saving on some level? Such is Bloomberg’s New York (or Marty’s Brooklyn. Same diff.)

There was quite a bit of anger when the carriage repair shop wen down.

You will be instantly enlightened when you see what’s there now.

PuLsEsTuDiO, on 1100 Dean St., is hosting a Holiday Bazaar this Saturday, Dec 13th. They’ll be convert the whole studio in to “a Middle Eastern market stall, with colorful handmade goods covering walls and floors.”

The point is to throw a little spice into the holiday shopping season and to offer our friends and neighbors beautiful, locally crafted alternatives (yay) to petroleum based plastic gifts from China (boo). 

So far we have pottery, small knit items, hand-woven scarves, art prints, ipod holders and headbands, garlic spread and some jewelry.

—E.C. Stephens

See the full flier by clicking here.

[Photo courtesy of megunski/GL Flickr Pool]

Our favorite abandoned Whole Foods site in Gowanus is starting to get that nice earth tone fall look.

Our community-minded and dear friends at Park Slope Parents are warning the community about an energy scam that’s different than the one we’ve been covering for a month. This one is about people brazenly ringing doorbells and asking for money, presumably from the tragically gullible. Here it is, via the miracle of copy and paste:

A while ago several people wrote about a guy who buzzed people’s doors claiming to be a supplier for Con Edison. I think he then tried to get money if people opened the door. Well, today he buzzed my downstairs buzzer and said the same thing. When I said all the meters were downstairs, he insisted that he needed to come in and see me. I said no and did not go downstairs to talk to him. Please be aware that this is going on in the slope again.

These are some very slick dudes. And, by the way, always check IDs carefully.

If you’re trying to figure out what to get your office’s Secret Santa, or that aunt back home who does expect a little something, how about a beautiful calendar?
Local photographer and writer, Brenda Becker, has been wandering and photographing our lovely Prospect Park and writing her experiences and knowledge on her blog A Year in the Park. Now, she’s put together some of her favorite images and created a full size calendar, which you can buy here for $15 (plus $2.50 first class postage).
—Vaduzuvunt

This charitable appeal has been widely publicized and hit up every blog in Brooklyn for a post (most of which have done so), but it’s for a good cause, so why not join an already large club? Brooklyn Gives, an initiative of Independence Community Foundation is encouraging Brooklynites to make a holiday donation to the many Brooklyn nonprofit organizations, which you can find on their site – anything from bettering public parks to after school programs for the kids to helping the ailing. There is plenty of goodness to go around – you can choose the organization to which you to donate. Look over the list carefully. There are some you might like and some you might want to avoid.
—Vaduzuvunt