illegat writes: “So I know Brooklyn Industries is a local business that’s fun to support and the water tower logo is cool and all, but has anyone else had problems with these clothes being poorly made and their return policy?”
Then there’s this whole issue about “Bike Culture” not being for sale.
Get the full story: Posted on DAILY SLOPE | Park Slope Neighborhood, Brooklyn, NY
Alright, Whose Hydroponic Pot Farm Leaked?
“Shortly before 8:30 a.m. Sunday, however, a fourth-floor resident called 911 about a water leak.” (…a water leak? Who calls 911 for a water leak??)
“The smell of the marijuana was unmistakable in the hallway of 699 Classon Ave., police sources said, yet it did not appear anyone had called to complain about the odor.”
classony writes in the Prospect Heights Message Boards: “The smell of marijuana is frequently unmistakable in our hallway and I don’t even live on the pot farm floor. Can you imagine if someone called 911 every time there caught a weed whiff?
“Who knew there were over 200 plants though? Our aloe is struggling. Too bad the 5th floor botanists won’t be around to give tips.”
sweet tea adds: “i do wish one of the firefolks i talked to last night had said something to the effect that my apartment was not, say, about to burst into flames.”
“but, you know, it’s good that we clarified our escape-with-cats plan, right? and a little anxiety never hurt anybody. except for cardiac patients.”
Another Suspicious Fire Kills in Prospect Heights
Report on NY1: “The three-alarm blaze started around 5 a.m. at an apartment building at 1033 Pacific Street… One woman was killed after she jumped four floors to escape the flames. Another woman and two small children were also found dead in the building.”
“This is the third fire in less than a week on Pacific Street. While there’s no word on whether the three are connected, investigators say all three were deliberately set.”
we have this thread:
http://dailyheights.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2484
and earlier, this thread:
http://dailyheights.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2222&highlight=fire
And now, this thread:
lotsa fires.
Conspiracy Corner: Municipal Government Colluding With Developers to Shut Out Poor?
“I love the idea of seeing, from way down Eastern Parkway, the Museum and the new Meier building bracketing GAP… But…”
“… new development (is) happening seemingly everywhere that practically ignores the realities of the ‘other half’ … when you see so many other new ‘luxury’ buildings under development, slowly moving into older, poorer, *blacker* nabes, I think you need to start asking questions about who really owns this city.”
Stuart replies: “One of the absolute most revealing things on this subject was printed in the NY Times over the weekend, and, as it was the last paragraph of an article, I doubt many took note. The article is about the unsustainable growth that is projected for the next 20 years in NYC:”
Robert D. Yaro, president of the Regional Plan Association, said that with nearby suburbs nearly saturated, the city was no longer at as much of a competitive disadvantage. Still, he said, “New York’s got to find a place to put another 1.2 to 1.5 million New Yorkers,” adding, “One way to keep these forecasts from happening is to make it prohibitively expensive to live and work here.”
“I will unpack that for all the free-marketeers on this board: The municipal government is encouraging development at outrageous prices as a way to stem the tide of growth due to influx of poor people.“
“I know that’s not what he says exactly, and I know it sounds like a conspiracy, but then again, what else can you call the collusion of developers and the municipal government, especially when things happen like the developer’s own lawyer is supposed to be in charge of an environmental review?”
(Stuart is referring to the revelation that the state hired a lawyer to “independently” review Forest City Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project when the same lawyer had already worked for Ratner on the project.)
Is Half Wine Bar Still Closed for "Restaffing"?
So then we got reports in the message boards that there’s a sign on the door: it’s closed for “re-staffing” … that’s pretty much the same message we saw on the door of Flatbush Ave.’s City Lighting, just weeks before that ambitious venture was gutted and converted into the world’s most garish burrito bar.
A lot of people are hoping Half comes back soon, as it’s a pretty comfortable space that never quite found an identity… wine bar? lunch spot? coffee shop? “lifestyle store”? (come on, they never actually billed themselves as that, did they??)
Word on the street is that this came as a surprise to a lot of people… alafairnadia writes in the message boards: “I heard from one of my many nabe sources that Half didn’t even bother to inform their (former) employees about the restaffing. they allowed them to find out from the nice sign. pleasant, eh?”
LINK: Half Closed for Restaffing [Prospect Heights Message Boards]
PICTURED: One of the last known photos to be taken at Half Wine Bar. Featuring Germans.
Attention Landlords ("Sherita")
… and where is my Home Heating Oil? Why is my apartment so drafty? Does my landlord know about this place? Is the price still right?
Photo taken on the corner of Atlantic Ave. and Classon Ave., 1 block from the Lefferts Hotel.
Electrocuted Dogs: How Many Will Die? Are Your Children Next?
News Flash: One Prospect Park is HUGE
All these “out of scale” concerns about new development in Brooklyn seem a bit overblown… but just take a look at the size of this thing! Can anyone Photoshop this into a photo of the Temple parking lot to see how it will look?
Quote from an article in The Real Deal:
“With his Lower Manhattan projects complete, Meier is turning to Brooklyn. One Prospect Park will be a 15-story glass tower with 119 condos, located along Plaza Street and Eastern Parkway facing Grand Army Plaza and overlooking Prospect Park. It’s scheduled to be completed in summer 2008.”
UPDATE! Thanks to pete_c for this Photoshop:
pete_c says: “w/o a better original, its kind of hard to get anything even remotely accurate, but based on floor sizes I’d think that the lower half will be at or higher than the line of brownstone cornices off to the northeast, along St John’s.”
“I like quig‘s better too! More true to the neighborhood spirit at least.”
…Oh yeah… pete is right. Of course, we can’t forget DH regular quig and his Gehry-esque reimagining of the Meier building:
LINK: Living in glass houses, shunning stone [The Real Deal]
Discuss: Prospect Heights Message Boards
Biking on the Sidewalk: Beating the Rap
“I received a summons in December for riding my bicycle on the wide sidewalk of Flatbush Avenue for one block to get to a store so I wouldn’t have to deal with the crazy traffic that runs onto Flatbush off of Grand Army Plaza. The summons was for violation of NYC Administrative Code 19-176(b) …”
“In case you ever receive a similar summons, I looked up the Administrative Code provision and it says: A person who violates this subdivision may be issued a notice of violation and shall be liable of not more than one hundred dollars which may be recovered in a proceeding before the environmental control board.“
“I went into Criminal Court … and argued to the Judicial Hearing Officer that the court did not have jurisdiction over the case because the penalty could only be recovered in a proceeding before the ECB. The judge agreed and dismissed the case.”
“If the NYPD is going to use public resources to issue these citations, they should at least follow the city’s laws in doing so. However, I am not going to be the one to tell them that they are doing it wrong.”
Walk your bike?? Prospect Heights Message Boards
MTA Snow Plow: A Freaking Jet Engine on Wheels, Running at Top Speed
“They start generally between 1AM and 3AM and run it for a good hour at least.”
“It’s a freaking jet engine running top speed for an hour!”
“There has got to be a more efficient, and less rage inducing way to clear snow from from the tracks. Once again, I’m a tired, angry man after losing a good night’s sleep to that infernal device. And Mrs. BrooklynSwordStyle, who works from home, has informed me that they are at it again right now.”
“If you think I’m exaggerating, I assure you I am not. It really is a jet turbine mounted on a truck that rolls up and down the rails.“
Cover your ears: Prospect Heights Message Boards