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DAILY SLOPE | Park Slope Neighborhood, Brooklyn, NY.
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
We spoke with jodi miller who posted the following story on a Brooklyn bike list:
“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
BrooklynSwordStyle writes in the Prospect Heights Message Boards: “…I live right next to the Atlantic Yards tracks, and every time there is a big snow, they roll out a jet engine to clear it. Not a snow blower–a big-ass jet engine mounted on a railcar that they run up and down the tracks.”
“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
Who Was Running Around Naked on Plaza St. During the Blizzard?
Old Whiskey River
metulj writes in the : “I love Fermented Grapes. They’ve got my favorite bourbon in stock. Endorsed by Willie Nelson, dammit. If the Redheaded Stranger puts his name on something you can’t go wrong. Then again, he probably owes someone money….
“I guess the point is: Whoo hoo for our local merchants!!!”
Drink:
Can Fulton Mall Be Gentrified?
I walked down to Fulton Mall the other day. Beyond the mind-numbing procession of cell phone huts, electronics retailers, sneaker shops, and junk jewelry stores, there were a few interesting finds, including Beat Street Records, and a roving barbershop-on-wheels.
Of course, the ubiquitous Developers, who won’t rest until every authentic experience is converted into “An Experience”, think Fulton Mall is the next frontier. Check out this piece in The Brooklyn Papers:
“… planners believe the mall’s future calls for transforming it into a buzzing, 24-hour destination — thanks to a Soho-like residential conversion of dozens of vacant offices above existing retail spaces.”
“Some of the spaces are truly beautiful … But many have been boarded up for 40 or 50 years. Some of the vacant offices have no infrastructure at all.”
Michael Burke, director of the Downtown Brooklyn Council: “I think everyone wants to keep the current, hip-hop, urban market, but we want to bring in new markets, too.”
“Once a way station along the Underground Railroad … it later became known for stately brick buildings and upscale department stores. Now, it’s known for cellphone stores.”
Blizzard 2006: Cool or Uncool?
Super Cool: 86%
So Not Cool: 16%
So Not Cool: 16%
:
daniel: “Cool…except when you can’t get a taxi home to Brooklyn from the city. Bastard taxi drivers, one after the other, denied us a ride. One, after we were already in the cab, suggested that we take a subway instead. I caxlled 311 with their medallion numbers, but was told that they wouldn’t do anything unless I was willing to appear in court. Lame.”
nybt: “Who’s got the over/under on the number of days ’til the snow is gone?! Not consulting any weather info, i’m going with 4 days ’til bare sidewalks…”
VOTE:
11 Vacant Storefronts on Flatbush Ave.
lovemynabe writes in the
message boards: “Just counted 11 empty storefronts on Flatbush Avenue between 5th Avenue and 8th Avenue. Is this a sign of a slow ecomony or is it that landlords are asking too much for rent?”
message boards: “Just counted 11 empty storefronts on Flatbush Avenue between 5th Avenue and 8th Avenue. Is this a sign of a slow ecomony or is it that landlords are asking too much for rent?”
Read comments: message boards
Vanderbilt & Sterling = *kablam*
alafairnadia writes in the Prospect Heights Message Boards: “given this, I’m glad I was using a cameraphone (and not insta-blogging, either, through my ultra-hip flickr acct) to capture this …”
Captain M writes: “Saw them picking up the pieces this am… one of the cars looks like an undercover cop car. Its been a while since I’ve seen a bad crash on Vandy.”
ana.log writes: “I was actually walking right there when this occurred, though I only heard the bang, and didn’t see what exactly happened. it wasn’t pretty though.”
“That’s the second time this has happened to me — I witnessed a woman get hit by a car on 5th Avenue in Park Slope last week (and then the car subsequently backing up and racing off – a hit and run; thank god the victim was more or less OK).”
“I hope there isn’t some force field around me that causes accidents.”