New ATM Real Eyesore on Smith Street

It seems that every time I walk down Smith Street, I notice yet another automatic teller machine that has been installed on Smith Street. Reader J. alerted me to yet another one that was "thrown in" on the corner of Smith and Union Street.  And what an eyesore it is. 
It's bad enough that the installation looks less than professional. Even worse, a niche was cut out of the old brick wall in order to make it fit.
The Smith Union Market building is one of my favorites on Smith Street.  Yes, there are already billboards attached the side wall, but those can easily be removed in the future.  The ATM (and the hole in the wall) is way more offensive. 

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Carroll Gardens: A Neighborhood Worthy Of Protection

I recently wrote an op-ed piece for the Carroll Gardens Patch on the importance of landmarking more of our unique brownstone neighborhood in order to maintain it for future generations.

Thought you may want to read it in case you haven't yet.

Carroll Gardens: A Neighborhood Worthy Of Protection

by Katia Kelly on Carroll Gardens Patch

For decades, the Brooklyn neighborhood now known as Carroll Gardens, has been a quiet residential enclave, a time capsule of beautiful mid-1800's brownstones. Its unique, charming front gardens offer a wonderful feeling of space, air and tranquility and provide a sense of relief from the turmoil of city life. The fact that today, Carroll Gardens retains much of its 19th century atmosphere and charm is a testament to the thoughtful and visionary planning by surveyor Richard Butts, who understood what made a neighborhood livable.

Today, Carroll Gardens is one of the oldest planned communities in the United States.It is therefore surprising to many that only a very small section of this unique neighborhood is landmarked.

Continue reading here

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