June 2010 ~ Travel

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

A Moment In Time: The Barber Of Angel's Barber Shop

Published on: 7:15 AM by Unknown - Leave a Comment

It was late in the day

and the place was empty

except for the barber

of Angel's Barber Shop

on Court Street.

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Construction Site Still Dead: Karl Fischer's Luquer Street Monolith

Published on: 5:34 AM by Unknown - Leave a Comment

100 Luquer Street near Henry Street

From the Nelson Street side

The last time I checked out the 11 story finger building designed by architect Karl Fischer at 100 Luquer Street was in November 2009, so I decided it was time for another visit.

Construction on this incredibly out-of-context project started in 2007 , but was slowed down by several stop-work orders. By 2008, the glass façade on the Luquer Street side finally went up, but then construction stopped again. There was a brief period of action in 2009, however, since last fall, the site has been dead.

I am certainly no expert on abandoned sites, but it was rather alarming to see that a section of plywood construction fence separating the neighbors' yards on the Nelson Street side, had fallen down, making it possible for someone to venture right in.

No wood was placed in front of ground street openings either. Instead, a wooden staircase allows easy entry into the building itself.

A full dumpster was just sitting on the site as well and it now looks as though someone dumped a pile of branches over the chain link fence.

Unfortunately, the Carroll Gardens Contextual Re-zoning passed in October 2009, which limits the height of buildings in the neighborhood, came much too late to stop this monstrosity.

What do you think of this building, dear Reader?

To read more about 100 Luquer Street, click here.

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A Moment Back In Time: Frankie's Parents Got Married 63 Years Ago Today

Published on: 7:08 AM by Unknown - Leave a Comment

THE REAL BROOKLYN

6/29/47

This is for you, Frankie!

Life long Carroll Gardens resident and reader Frankie sent me this sweet photo of his parents' wedding day, taken exactly 63 years ago today, on June 29, 1947.

Frankie writes:

"Don't mind me for asking, but how wonderful if you placed this on your website.

It is my mom and dad's wedding, taken in front of St. Stephen. I can't help but say, over the years, everyone had a cup of tea or coffee at my parents' kitchen. It was so full of love.

You know, the picture tells a story how a few people, joined together, and, not intentionally, just by doing good things, working, raising a family, etc., well,...that was Brooklyn.

Now, you get a few hobos standing on the corner with a "Brooklyn" T-shirt."

I am happy to oblige by posting the photo, Frankie. Thanks for sharing it with everyone.

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"Get Your Lemonade": Young Neighborhood Entrepreneurs

Published on: 6:50 AM by Unknown - Leave a Comment

Carroll Gardens In the Summer

If you are a young neighborhood entrepreneur, what better place to set up a lemonade stand than right in front of the F train station on President Street at the corner of Smith Street. As a steady stream of local commuters spilled out of the sweltering subway yesterday evening, these two kids were offering them their cool, refreshing beverage.

Most everyone had a smile on their face when they spotted the lemonade stand.

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Doehler Die Building At 505 Court Street All Wrapped Up

Published on: 5:24 AM by Unknown - Leave a Comment

I hadn't actually walked by the Doehler Die Building at 505 Court Street at the corner of Huntington Street for while now, but yesterday, I was at that end of the neighborhood and was surprised to see that the building's exterior is undergoing some major repair.

Most of the windows on one side were sealed off and chunks of the concrete were chiseled out of the façade.

The former manufacturing building built in the 1920's had been converted to rental apartments in the 1980's. In 2005, the building went condo and the apartments were sold off under the new name of The Court Street Lofts. ,

During the conversion from rental to condo, some renters warned that the building had lots of problems. Elevators did not work, windows rattled and were tough to open and the maintenance was high.

Most disturbing, the concrete sections on the exterior were deteriorating quickly and would require a costly repair.

I guess the time to address the issue has finally come.

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Summer In The City: Fun July Events In Carroll Park

Published on: 2:55 AM by Unknown - Leave a Comment

If you are going to stick around the neighborhood this summer, make sure to check out the cool events scheduled in Carroll Park, thanks to the Friends Of Carroll Park, the wonderful volunteer organization, that maintains the plantings and brings you the yearly Flea Market and the Kids' Concert Series. Below is a list of events scheduled for July.

JULY IN CARROLL PARK

July 13, 2010: Bloodmobile “Little Doctors” Workshop #1 , 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Join us on the Bloodmobile for the first of a two part hands-on session for 8-12 year olds. They will learn about the dynamics of blood donations, the critical need for blood, and barriers to recruiting blood donors. Our little doctors will also help market and run our park blood drive at the end of the month! For more information or to register, please email friendsofcarrollpark@yahoo.com.

July 18, 2010: Kids’ Concert Series – Randy Kaplan
The concert will kick off at 4:00 p.m., shine only. We’ll have food and crafts from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., so come with pocket money for crafts and treats. All proceeds to benefit Friends of Carroll Park.

July 20, 2010: Bloodmobile “Little Doctors” Workshop #2, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
The second and final session of the Bloodmobile training program for 8-12 year olds, learning how the community can work together to address a critical health issue.

July 27, 2010: Carroll Park Blood Drive, 3:00 – 9:00 p.m.
“It takes all types” describes both Brooklyn and the New York Blood Center! Come support the graduates of our two-part Little Docs program as they don disposable scrubs and help run our neighborhood blood drive. Whether you’re solo or you rally your neighbors to join you, we hope you’ll give the gift of life when the Bloodmobile spends the day in Carroll Park!

July 31, 2010: Electronics Recycling Event, 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Declare your independence from E-waste by disposing of your unwanted electronics at Smith Street between President and Union Streets, right off Carroll Park. The event will be held rain or shine and the following items are acceptable: Working and non-working computers, monitors, printers, scanners, keyboards, mice, cable, TV's, VCR's DVD players, phones,audio-visual equipment and PDAs. Hosted by Friends of Carroll Park and sponsored by Council Member Brad Lander. For more information, please contact the Lower East Side Ecology Center at www.lesecologycenter.org or 212.477.4022.

Make sure you check out the Friends Of Carroll Park web site often so that you don't miss out on any fun.

You can also become a Facebook Friend of Carroll Park here.

In addition, Bruce McDonald, president Of Friends of Carroll Park has put together a great Google Calendar of summer events throughout the city. Check it out here.

I have also linked it to the Pardon Me For Asking calendar on the left sidebar of this page.

With all this information, you should have a great event to go to every day during July and August...and beyond.