Huître on Court Street : Will Court Street's Newest Restaurant Ever Open?

Will this place ever open? Construction of the new restaurant Huître on Court Street has been moving at a snails pace. From the looks of it, they are far from opening.
But that did not prevent our Community Board 6 vote on allowing outside tables. The vote was unanimously!
This place does not even have inside seating, yet. How can C.B.6 make an informed decision at this time? The Board always seems to bend over backwards for restaurants.
Pardon me for asking, but what would have been the harm in waiting until the place opens to see if it will be a good neighbor before allowing them to add extra seating outside?
Well, we will see, that is, if the place ever opens up.



Related reading: Huître on Court Street

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Quite A Halloween Crowd In Carroll Gardens!

I bought a ton of Halloween candy, and I mean a ton. (All right, my husband, my son and I ate our fair share of it last night in anticipation) But, knowing that the weather was going to be glorious, I had gotten more M&M's and Butterfingers than I ever had before. Guess by what time I ran out? You will never believe it! I officially distributed my last candy at 5:15 PM. The street was full of little goblins, little Dorothies, ghosts, princesses and witches. What a turnout! There sure are a lot of little people here in Carroll Gardens.



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Free Kiddie Movie At P.S.58

P.S. 58 International Children's Film Series THIS FRIDAY!!! Come and join us Friday for the premiere of PS 58's Cine Club. November 2nd at 6:30 PM in the auditorium
Doors open at 6 PM. Kirikou (Michel Ocelot - French)[Dubbed version] This ANIMATED!! film tells the story of a small African boy’s determination to save his village from the evil sorceress Karaba. It was the joint winner (with "Chicken Run") of the 2002 British Animation Award. Come early and buy snacks to support our 5th graders! The cine club will screen foreign movies. This year, we have selected 7 movies from countries all over the world—France, Zimbabwe, Russia, England and Japan.

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Time To Dress Up: It's Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO YOU ALL

This is not my dog! I wish I had one. And if I had one, I sure would dress it up for Halloween.

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Perfect For Halloween: Carniceria's Ghost Restaurant

When I wrote last about the closing of Carniceria on Smith, I only posted pictures of the outside. Last week-end, I walked by the place again and noticed that at least a month after it ceased to do business, the tables are still set: white folded napkins, fork and knife gleaming in the afternoon sun, glasses ready to be filled with ice-water. Even the Martini glasses await a sweet concoction on the bar. Eerie! Spooky! Haunted? A perfect place for a Halloween Party!


Related: Carniceria Bites The Dust On Smith

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Best Costume Award Goes To...!

Best Halloween Costume goes to ... this broken light post on Smith. This costume has it all: functionality, originality as well as that certain je-ne-sais-quoi. It's just fabulous!

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The Great Pumpkin Comes To Caputo's

A giant pumpkin painted on the storefront of Caputo's bakery. And many, many fall colored leaves, too. Very festive. Very Halloween!

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A Must Read: Atlantic Yards And Bill De Blasio

Norman Oder, author of the Atlantic Yards Report posted a very well written analysis of Bill De Blasio and his stand on Ratner's mega-project, affordable housing and over-development. A must read, especially since De Blasio just declared his candidacy for Borough President. Click here:
The due diligence of BP candidate Bill de Blasio, or the (AY) end justifies the means

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Unicycling Through The Streets Of New York City

Sheer madness, but oh, so fun. Notice that none of the people on the street even turn to look as a unicycle scoots by. Only in New York folks, only in New York.


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Where Was Bill De Blasio For The Last 7 Years?

BROOKLYN CITIZENS AGAINST

BILL DE BLASIO
No, that group does not exist yet, but it should!

Yesterday's email from Bill De Blasio informing us that he is running for Brooklyn Borough President sent shivers down my spine. I knew the announcement was coming, but until now, I had hoped that it would just all go away. No such luck.
I don't want to speak for all Brooklynites. But, here in Carroll Gardens, Bill De Blasio has been mostly absent in his almost 7 years in office. Yes, he shows up occasionally to make an appearance, but he has not ever truly followed through on any of the issues.
During his tenure as councilman, he dropped the ball on so many issues that most Carroll Gardeners just shake their head when they hear his name. In this community, we have come to expect the very least from him and his office.
So pardon me for asking, why are we supposed to vote for him for Borough President?
I hope everyone will remember his lack-luster performance representing our little Council district before making him responsible for all of Brooklyn.

The quote below is taken right from his new and improved Bill De Blasio "campaign" site

To protect our neighborhoods Bill de Blasio believes we need to crack down on out-of-control and irresponsible builders and put the breaks on development that hurts our communities. In the City Council Bill fought hard to encourage the Department of City Planning to down zone Carroll Gardens and has stopped irresponsible architects like Robert Scarano from continuing to violate the city's building code with impunity.

Really Bill? How come our neighborhood is still not down-zoned, how come C.O.R.D. still can't get you on the phone and how come Scarano is still the architect at 360 Smith.

MORE ACTION AND LESS TALK, MR. DE BLASIO

Here is another reaction to DeBlasio's announcement by fellow blogger Lisanne at
FOUND IN BROOKLYN. Its worth reading.

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Sweet Frocks On Smith

The Ohio Knitting Mill Store is sort of an oddity on Smith Street. Selling a collection of sweaters made between 1947 to 1974 in the Ohio mill, one of the countries biggest and oldest, the store window looks like a fashion time capsule. Recently, though, they have very cute little children's clothes on display. Very 50's and 60's looking! And very adorable.

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Empty Shelves At Rite-Aid On Smith

I stopped by the Rite-Aid on Smith Street over the week-end and was a bit puzzled by all the empty shelves in the store. It sure did not look as though they were moving things around, the shelves were just bare. I am sure that the neighborhood hoped that the store formerly know as Eckerd would improve after becoming a Rite-Aid. I for one have not seen much improvement.



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Free Vitamins, Anyone?

Found on Court between President and Union! Free pills, free honey, stacked up right on the sidewalk. If you feel under the weather, you may want to scoot by to pick some up.


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I Got Me Some "No Flier Signs!"

I'm so totally excited. I am holding in my hand two "No Flier" signs.
I know it won't seem like a big thing to my non- Brooklyn readers, but anyone who lives here can probably relate. Theoretically, by posting one of the signs above, I should no longer be inundated by useless paper.
You have no idea how hyped I am. They are going up on my front gate this week-end.
I will have to refrain myself from peeking out the front window and yelling at the first person to stick a flier through the gate...


***Update: I am getting a lot of emails asking where these signs can be bought. I just asked Mr. Pardon Me who picked them up yesterday. Tony's Harware on Smith Street, one block away from the Met Food Supermarket, sells them 2 for $5
on behalf of the Boerum Hill Association

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Water, Water, Everywhere: Hurricanes And The Brooklyn Battery Tunnel

Picture Credit Mark Sudduth

Don't ask me how I stumbled onto this information. (Suffice it to say that it was a rainy day and that strange things pop up when one googles "Brooklyn") I found my way onto the National Hurricane Center's web page. The center has a storm surge simulator for the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel (the tunnel linking Brooklyn and Manhattan.) It is pretty scary but definitely worth watching. The simulation looks at the storm surge after a Category 2 hurricane. Basically, the tunnel would totally fill up with water. Yikes! Not good! And that is only for a level 2 storm.
So of course, I had to investigate further and landed on the site of NASA where I found a flood map after a category 3. It's terrifying. Here is an excerpt from the report:

According to the 1995 study, a category three hurricane on a worst-case track could create a surge of up to 25 feet at JFK Airport, 21 feet at the Lincoln Tunnel entrance, 24 feet at the Battery, and 16 feet at La Guardia Airport. These figures do not include the effects of tides nor the additional heights of waves on top of the surge. Some studies suggest that hurricane strengths may intensify in most parts of the world as oceans become warmer. However, how much more frequently they will occur is still highly uncertain.

Hurricanes have hit New York City in the past. The strongest hurricane was a category four storm at its peak in the Caribbean, which made landfall at Jamaica Bay on Sept. 3, 1821 with a 13-foot storm surge. It caused widespread flooding in lower Manhattan. The "Long Island Express" or "Great Hurricane of 1938," a category three, tracked across central Long Island and ripped into southern New England on Sept. 21, 1938, killing nearly 700 people. The storm pushed a 25-35 foot high wall of water ahead of it, sweeping away protective barrier dunes and buildings.

Just this week I attended the Community Board 6 Meeting about the Gowanus Canal. One topic at the meeting was the flooding of the immediate area after a severe storm. A hurricane would really do a number on the neighborhoods around the canal. And in case you did not know, hurricane season only ends on November 30th.

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Congestion Pricing, Stockholm Style. Almost Looks Sexy!

(photo credit: luis_colan on flickr)

Now if Congestion Pricing could run as smoothly in New York City as in Stockholm, I think there would be less opposition.
I have been skeptical of Mayor Bloomberg's plan for New York City because, in my humble opinion, it would add a traffic and parking burden on Brooklyn and the other Outer Boroughs. However, I watched this little clip from the Herald Tribune with interest. The Swedes make it look downright sexy. (Keep in mind that ! Euro equals about $1.40 these days)
Take a look: here

To read one of my previous posts on the subject, click here.

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A Last Hurrah In My Brooklyn Garden

It got so cool overnight, that I took a look at my backyards this afternoon just to check on how the plants fared after weeks of drought and above average temperatures, followed by a drop of temperature. Well, I can report back, that the end of the blooming season is near, very near.
Most of my lovely annuals are looking sad. Some of the perennials are offering me their last blooms, before they too will retire for the year.
Here are some pictures of those very last, very tired flowers. The last hurrah!

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And So, The Music Ends!

On Second Place, standing alone, it was wondering how it could have gotten to this point. Did it not provide sweet tunes for decades? Is this really how it had to end? Thrown out like garbage?
No more sweet Sinatra, no more Frankie Valle, no more Elvis? Gasp!

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De Blasio Finally Listens To His Constituents!

(Photo Credit: The Observer)

Finally! Someone talked some sense into Councilman Bill De Blasio. He sure took his time about seeing the handwriting on the wall on this particular issue.
DeBlasio did not see anything wrong with allowing developer Two Trees to exceed the height limit by 10 feet in landmarked Cobble Hill for a new apartment building going in at the corner of Atlantic and Court next to the future Trader Joe's. This would have opened the flood gates for future abuses in protected areas, but our councilman did not see it that way.
I guess as long as Park Slope, his own landmarked neighborhood was not being touched, it was all fine by him.
He must have realized that he was the last public official to ignore the protests of the community. Now. finally, he changed his mind. About time, Bill, about time. And now that you got that out of the way, how about FINALLY helping Carroll Gardens down-zone?

Click here to read the Brooklyn Eagle Article
De Blasio Bows to Wishes Of Colleagues on Atlantic Ave. Issue
by Dennis Holt

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The Hunchback Of Carroll Gardens

Much has been said about the beautiful corner brownstone that was f****cked up by some developer who thought that he could make a fortune attaching a hump to it. The building at 45 3rd Place has been divided into two duplexes each going for around $1.5 million.
I took a walk with my husband on Sunday afternoon and by "pure" coincidence, I had my camera with me. I saw this building getting uglified a few months ago and heard that it was now being marketed as two dulplexes . I guess I just needed to confirm to myself that someone actually did this to this lovely old house. Does anybody know if some poor soul fell for it yet?

To check out the real estate page for the duplexes, click here
And on A Brooklyn Life to read about a fellow blogger's comments on the open house

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Carroll "Garden" Berries

So much beauty around, like these fall berries in a neighbor's yard. The bright red color just drew me towards them with my camera. Nature's last gift before winter.

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Sanitizing The Gowanus Canal

(photo credit: f.trainer on Fickr)

This Is a follow-up to: Wishful Thinking, Rezoning and the Mighty Dollar Along The Gowanus Canal


I was pretty depressed after the C.B.6 meeting on Monday regarding the clean-up of the Gowanus Canal. Both the presentations by D.E.P. and The Army Corp Of Engineers left me with so many questions that yesterday, I reached out to my friend Marlene Donnelly who has been a member of Friends And Residents Of Greater Gowanus (F.R.O.G.G.) for quite some time and fully understands the issues.
I sent her an email in the hopes that she could help me understand what these experts are NOT saying about their plans for the Gowanus Canal. And more importantly, what we all need to know as residents of the area.
Here is her very thorough analysis. I think you will all find it very informed and extremely interesting.

The meeting followed on the heals of last weeks meeting held by the Mayor's Office of Sustainability--which was more depressing.
The DEP presentation we saw hasn't changed much from what we were shown in the DEP Gowanus Stakeholders meetings. The main thing that has changes is the time line. Our 2004 Stakeholders presentation shows construction date for the Flushing Tunnel work to begin fall 2006.

The part of this plan that is hard for me to accept is it's limited goal--what does it actually achieve. The canal presently has the NY State classification of "SD". This is the lowest water quality standard of the state. Gowanus and Newtown Creek are the only water bodies in NYC with this ranking. Water bodies of SD classification are for use in industrial areas. All that the DEP is accountable for is maintaining a certain level of oxygen in the water for fish survival. Under this classification, the city is not legally accountable for the level of pathogens in that water--even though the city pipes are the source of those pathogens.

So how is it that the city could even entertain the notion that the land abutting this waterway should be given over to residential use?

And as we heard last night, the DEP is hopeful that when the new pumps are in place in the Flushing Tunnel, the water quality may meet the measures for the next classification up. That is, if all the factors used in their theoretical planning model actually come to pass (like only 37 inches of annual rainfall), the canal just might have enough oxygen in it to support fish colonization. And why we look forward to that possibility, does this change the general environment to support human colonization along the banks of this canal?

But the real frustration in these meetings is the inability to open the discussion to other environmentally sustainably possibilities for the canal most of which would impose on the adjoining lands. That's when you realize that this is not about clean water, it's a land-use battle. The DEP is not being objective in this, they work for the mayor's office and the mayor's office is all about more housing. So here we have it: the mayor's office pushing for the residential land use (which requires the highest environmental standards) next to a class "SD" water way (the lowest environmental standard). But we are all not to worry, because the DEP intends to fully meet that standard.
And the other real issue I see here is that the Atlantic Yards EIS based all their claims on the fully operating Flushing Tunnel. If the State ESDC allows the AY's construction to go forward, there appears to be legal accountability on the part of the state and possibly Ratner in always keeping the flushing tunnel in operation, as long as the AY structures are in existence.
Marlene Donnelly

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Where Have All The Pretty Brownstones Gone On Smith?

In former times: The Corner of Smith Street and 1st Place looking towards 2nd Place

The same corner today

Looking towards the other direction. View down Smith Street towards Atlantic. First Street is on the right. A bit further down on the left is First Place

My local pizza parlor, Giardini's on Smith, has these neat old photographs of his storefront hanging on the wall. I know the city took pictures of every house for tax purposes back in the 1930's. So he probably ordered them from the city archive. They are really quite incredible.
I took my camera into the store on Sunday and photographed them. Here they are for everyone to enjoy.
Times really changed on Smith. All the lovely buildings you see were demolished when the subway was put in. And of course the trolley tracks disappeared shortly afterwards.
The first picture is of the corner of Smith and First Place looking up towards 3rd Place. It is currently the site of the Hannah Senesh School and the 360 Smith Street site along the F train entrance. (Yes, the Stein/ Scarano Site)
The second one is looking down Smith Street towards Carroll Street. The first building at the corner on the right is the site of Giardini's today. The houses on the left are the ones visible in the first picture, just from the opposite direction. The brownstones that used to stand where P.S. 58's school yard is today are also plainly visible.
Does any of this make any sense, or did I just confuse everybody?
Well, you'll figure it out for yourselves, I am sure.

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