Extreme Makeover in Dumbo: Biggest Brooklyn Designs Ever

It was a great weekend in Dumbo for design fans as thousands flocked to the biggest Brooklyn Designs ever. Contemporary furnishings, home decor and accessories by about 70 Brooklyn-based designers filled four venues this year -- the DUMBO Arts Center, Smack Mellon, St. Ann's Warehouse and the Tobacco Warehouse.

Sustainability was a common theme, as was modular. Here are just a few design-type things that caught our untrained eye:

Palo Samko (top photo) was showing really touchable pieces made from solid woods and recycled materials. (Ooh, feel that table!)

UM (middle photo) -- we're not sure what it was, but even we knew that it was just as cutting edge as could be.

Uhuru, based in Red Hook (third photo from top), makes their furniture out of wood, metal and found objects. Looks comfortable, too.

Post Logic Studio (below) was exhibiting wall surfaces, architectural wall panels and "Victorian-inspired" animal motif wallpaper. Lots of people seemed to be taken with it.

For the first time, accessories and smaller items were on sale (cash and carry) in the BD+ exhibit in the Tobacco Warehouse.

Heroes Will Rise was selling these odd bone-shaped flexible toy kind of things with magnets at each end, call Geemo (photo, right). They stuck to each other and to metal. People seemed to get a kick out of building free-form shapes out of them.


Now here is what got McBrooklyn all excited: We loved this tiny little Airstream, designed by architect Chris Deam (the husband of "Dwell" founder Lara Headberg Deam). It was parked right behind the Tobacco Warehouse in Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park.


This little silver bungalow on wheels comes with a full-size bed, complete kitchen, storage areas, huge windows -- we seriously want one.


Photos copyright MK Metz

Lost Bologny in Brooklyn Heights

A little pale blue parakeet -- named Bologny -- is lost somewhere in or near Brooklyn Heights (possibly Cobble Hill as well). He can fly fast and high, but he's tame. Reward for information leading to his safe return home. Click on the photo for more information.

Photo by MK Metz

Something Big Coming In at One Pierrepont Plaza, Brooklyn Heights?

For years the windows were blocked and no one really thought about what was inside the huge ground floor space at Forest City Ratner's One Pierrepont Plaza in Brooklyn Heights (bounded by Pierrepont Street, Clinton Street and Cadman Plaza West).

Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and the U.S. Attorney for Eastern District are major tenants in the the 19-story, 650,000-square-foot building, and Independence Community Bank (now called Sovereign) has/had some space as well.

Now the windows on the Clinton Street side are unobstructed and WOW what a space! Workers are preparing it for -- something.

Rumors are flying around as to what might be coming in. One (totally uncorroborated) has a media company looking at the spot.

Photos by MK Metz

Minerva Saunders Is Missing in Brooklyn

She was last seen in front of 1605 Fulton Street. Click on photo for details.

Photo by MK Metz

Kid's Best Friend, at MetroTech

Sculptures come, sculptures go. But there's something about Tony Matelli's "Stray Dog," a life-size resin sculpture of a lost seeing-eye dog at MetroTech, that continues to delight.

For more photos of "Stray Dog" in all seasons, see:
- Man's Best Friend
- It's Not Always What It Seems

Photo by MK Metz

Sean Bell Demonstrators March in Downtown Brooklyn

As part of the citywide protest against the verdict in the Sean Bell Case, several hundred demonstrators set out from the House of the Lord Church on Atlantic Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn Wednesday.

Traffic in the area was disrupted as their march took them to both the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, where police turned them back, and to the BQE entrance on Tillary, also blocked off.

About 50 demonstrators were arrested in the middle of Tillary Street, the Brooklyn Eagle says.

The video (top) shows the demonstrators marching back from the BQE along Tillary at rush
hour (where they were again prevented from entering the Brooklyn Bridge).

From there they marched onto Adams Street, past the Brooklyn Marriott to Atlantic Avenue. Chanting "We are all Sean Bell," and the numbers 1 - 50 (for every shot), they surged past the Brooklyn House of Detention (top photo) and back to the House of the Lord Church.

Even though traffic was snarled during the march, drivers passing by the other way honked their horns in solidarity.

According to the NY Sun, Rev. Sharpton, two survivors of the Sean Bell shooting, and the slain man's fiancee were among about a dozen people arrested near the base of the Brooklyn Bridge on the Manhattan side.

- Civil Disobedience Across City Planned for Wednesday
- Plan to Shoot Up Brooklyn's 75th Precinct Stationhouse?
- Just Another Thursday in Downtown Brooklyn: Wobblies, Immigrants, Civil Rights Groups, Judges and Falun Gong All Convene To Protest ... Everything

Photos and video by MK Metz

Brooklyn American Idol Reject Accused of Child Molestation

If you're going to be a child molester, then don't try out for American Idol. And if you're a child molester and do try out for American Idol, don't be a pathetic failure. Because after you're arrested, people will play back your awful tryout video over and over.

Such is the case with Brooklyn school volunteer and American Idol reject Colin Leahy, 23, who allegedly maintained a relationship with a 12-year-old male student through text messages at PS 236 (on Avenue U in Mill Basin), according to 1010 WINS news. Many of the text messages are said to contain sexual references.

"We're both camp counselors," said Leahy during his American Idol tryout, comparing himself to Idol 2 runner-up Clay Aiken.

The Television Without Pity website said of Leahy:

"He tells us that he's a camp counselor, just like Clay. And he likes kids. And he likes to make people happy and smile. He seems kind of creepy..."

UPDATE: Someone at American Idol must have gotten annoyed with the (probably unauthorized) video. It was recently removed from YouTube. Take our word for it: Very. Bad. Tryout.

'The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3' Filming in Downtown Brooklyn Today

Big production: The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, starring John Travolta and Denzel Washington, is being filmed all around and inside the Schermerhorn and Bond Street subway station in Downtown Brooklyn today. The area is crawling with cast and crew, and a large number of trailers and equipment trucks are parked on Schermerhorn.

A remake of the original thriller The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, the movie's plot revolves around a terrorist group taking over a subway train and its passengers, threatening to kill them if their ransom is not paid.

According to Wikipedia, Danzel Washington plays portrays Zachary "Z" Garber, the chief detective of security for the subway. John Travolta has the role of Bernard Ryder, the leader of the hijackers.

Several blocks in Downtown Brooklyn have been transformed into a movable studio. Signs on lampposts tell the crew where to find the set, the food, or makeup.

The Belarusan Church on Atlantic Avenue (photo below) is being used for makeup, wardrobe and holding.

Filming will take place on Atlantic Avenue later today as well, according to signs posted up and down the street. (We wonder if this will conflict with Rev. Sharpton's Sean Bell pray-in -- at the Church of the Lord -- scheduled for exactly the same block on Atlantic Avenue today?)

The film is scheduled for release in July of 2009.


Photos by MK Metz

Manhattan Law Firm Moving Some Offices to Brooklyn. Brooklyn Paper Cries Foul, Has Fun Making 'Podcast'

The Brooklyn Paper has issued another entertaining "podcast," starring BP editor Gersh Kuntzman and BP's Senior Reporter Mike McLaughlin. (It may not be a podcast but it's moving pictures, people.)

This one claims that Forest City Ratner Vice President Mary Anne Gilmartin "fabricated" some big news at Tuesday's Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable Tuesday. McLaughlin, who attended the Roundtable, claims that Gilmartin said that the big Manhattan law firm of Weil, Gotshal would soon relocate to 15 Metrotech.

"She said it was going to be front office space," podcasted BP editor Gersh Kuntzman. "What did it turn out to be?"

"The direct opposite: back office space," podcasted McLaughlin.

Another Forest City Ratner lie? Or just an overeager misinterpretation by an inexperienced observer? The story will no doubt roll out over the next day or so.

The Real Deal simply says that Weil, Gotshal is expanding into the space, which it will sublease from Wellpoint. The firm will use the office for "its information systems, finance and operations departments," according to the Real Deal.

But The Real Deal doesn't have a podcast.

UPDATE: Atlantic Yards Report has more about this story.

Watchtower Denies Brooklyn Heights' Bossert Sold, But Levine Pays a Little Visit

Monday Brownstoner received a tip that the Bossert Hotel -- "Brooklyn's Waldorf Astoria" -- at 98 Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights has been sold for $90 million.

But Tuesday Richard Devine, a spokesperson for the Watchtower organization (also known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses), was "emphatic" when he told the Brooklyn Eagle, “The Bossert has not been sold.”

He said that Brownstoner never called him about the sale. (NOTE: Read Brownstoner's comment below.)

But wait: When the Eagle called Robert Levine of RAL Development Services, said to be the purchaser of the hotel, a receptionist told the Eagle that Levine “is at the Bossert now.”

The tale grows tangled ...

The Grand Foyer of the hotel is still on this weekend's Brooklyn Heights House Tour.

- Brooklyn's Bossert Hotel Reported Sold
- Brooklyn Heights House Tour This Saturday
- Watchtower's Hotel Bossert -- Brooklyn's 'Waldorf Astoria' -- Up For Sale
- Watchtower Continues to Sell Its Heights Property

Photo by MK Metz

E-Waste Recycling Friday at MetroTech

Finally you can get rid of all those old keyboards and mice, cell phones, electronics and even old clothes, and do some good at the same time:

MetroTech BID in Downtown Brooklyn is hosting a free e-waste recycling event this coming Friday, May 9th, from noon to 4 p.m. For more infprmation, visit www.metrotechbid.org

Donate old phones to Verizon's HopeLine program, old electronics for LES electronics, and gently used clothes for the "Dress for Sucess" HOPE program. (There will be music, too.)

Thanks to Tanya for this information.

Inside the Brooklyn Heights Gristedes

Here's the interior of the Brooklyn Heights Gristedes as it looks today, more than a month after the fire that ruined everything inside the Henry Street supermarket. The top two photos are shot (roughly) from the area where the dairy department was. That's a phone hanging down from the ceiling in the top photo.

This bottom photo is shot from (roughly) where the eggs were sold. At the top right is the front of the store, where the cash registers were.

The manager confirmed last Friday that the store will be closed until at least the first week of July.

- The Line at Peas and Pickles
- Brooklyn Heights Gristedes: Closed Until July
- Schumer Endorses Former Aide in Front of Burnt-Out Grocery Store
- Fire-Damaged Brooklyn Heights Gristedes: Pharmacy To Reopen?
- Cleanup Begins at Brooklyn Heights Gristedes
- Brooklyn Heights Gristedes Fire Dismal Aftermath

Photos by MK Metz

Brooklyn's Bossert Hotel Reported Sold

A tipster has told Brownstoner that the Bossert Hotel -- "Brooklyn's Waldorf Astoria" -- at 98 Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights has been sold for $90 Million.

The Grand Foyer of the hotel -- painstakingly restored to its full glory by the The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society -- is on this weekend's Brooklyn Heights House Tour.

- Brooklyn Heights House Tour This Saturday
- Watchtower's Hotel Bossert -- Brooklyn's 'Waldorf Astoria' -- Up For Sale
- Watchtower Continues to Sell Its Heights Property

UPDATE here.

Photo by MK Metz

30,000 Bikers Cross 5 Boroughs on Beautiful Sunday Ride

The weather was fabulous yesterday for the Five Boro Bike Tour: 42 miles, and 30,000 riders kept on coming -- and coming -- onto Old Fulton and Furman Streets, along the Brooklyn waterfront (the site of the future Brooklyn Bridge Park), then onto the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to Staten Island.

It was an awesome sight -- the bikes flowed by in a steady stream for hours. The video (top) was taken along Old Fulton, as the riders passed Grimaldi's Pizza. The first photo was taken after the turn onto Furman Street. The bottom shows the riders under the BQE and the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. To the left is the place where the Floating Pool Lady was docked last summer. This route will someday be lined with the rolling hills of Brooklyn Bridge Park.

The Line at Peas and Pickles

Ever since the fire at the Brooklyn Heights Gristedes, the lines at Peas and Pickles next door are longer than ever.

Their good luck has been extended till midsummer -- the manager of Gristedes confirmed Friday that the store will be closed until at least the first week of July.

Peas and Pickles has stepped up to the plate. Lately there are two staff members operating the registers (if not, the efficient Russian guy operates both all by himself). If they don't know a price there's none of this running back to the aisles to look it up -- they just make one up and get on with it.

The Brooklyn Heights Blog wonders if they're shaking us down. (Prices do seem a bit high.) But another possibility is that the fire coincided with a general raise in food prices everywhere.

- Brooklyn Heights Gristedes: Closed Until July
- Schumer Endorses Former Aide in Front of Burnt-Out Grocery Store
- Fire-Damaged Brooklyn Heights Gristedes: Pharmacy To Reopen?
- Cleanup Begins at Brooklyn Heights Gristedes
- Brooklyn Heights Gristedes Fire Dismal Aftermath

Photo by MK Metz