Brooklyn Heights Promenade, From the Water

Brooklyn Heights -- like a citadel on a hill. The trees run along the Promenade. Under the Promenade are the two levels of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway; at ground level is Furman Street.

Photo by MK Metz

Citibank's Gender-Based Banking

A funny juxtaposition on the windows at Citibank on Court Street in Carroll Gardens ...

A man's hand is shown "controlling, and remote-controlling" his finances. Contrast that with the woman in the next window -- frantically running while dragging a suitcase and talking on the cellphone. She is described as "running to the bank, and banking on the run."

Photo by MK Metz

Red Hook Dog Owners: Avoid This Tree. You've Been Warned.

Signs on a tree on Van Brunt Street, Red Hook.

Starting from the top, they read:
(1) "I Heart My Pet! You Heart Yours Too! Respect Your Neighbor. Take the 'Poop' With You!"
(2) "Clean Up Your Dog's Shit; Little Dogs Are Included!" (surrounded by American flags)
(3) "R.I.P. Here Lies the Last Dog That Pooped in My Yard" (a rose is affixed to this one)

Photo by MK Metz

McBrooklyn home page here.

Half-Naked Swimmers, Heading to Floating Pool, Scandalize Brooklyn Heights Residents

Scantily clad patrons of the floating pool docked on the Brooklyn Heights waterfront, under the Promenade, have apparently been terrorizing some of the rather staid residents of Brooklyn Heights, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.

“The problem I have is that I don’t want to look at men naked from the waist up, with boobs as big as mine,” said Doris Walton, a 40-year resident of Joralemon Street.

Ma'am, we feel your pain.

More here.

Floating Pool and New Brooklyn Beach Officially Open

Photo by MK Metz

McBrooklyn home page here.

River Cafe, Dumbo, from the Water

Buzzy O’Keeffe's River Cafe is on a barge under the Brooklyn Bridge in Dumbo.




You can dock your boat there and use the gangplank to come aboard.

Photo by MK Metz

McBrooklyn home page here.

Danish Amusement Park at Coney Island?

Economic Development Corporation officials flew to Copenhagen last week to speak with representatives of Tivoli Gardens, a 164-year-old amusement park that is considering opening a Coney Island branch, says the Post via the Real Deal.

The Danish-style attraction would build a new Coney Island without the hotels and time-shares developer Thor Equities has planned.

More here.

Photo by Gripso_banana_prune, Creative Commons license.

Brooklyn in Brief, Monday P.M.

- Lenders have started foreclosure actions on 7,000 homes since January, according to the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project. Three of the hardest hit neighborhoods are in Brooklyn: Bedford Stuyvesant, Flatbush and East New York. Crain's NY Business

- Remember when the Sun called a proposed Arabic-themed school a "monstrosity"? Now a group calling itself the Stop the Madrassa Community Coalition is trying to stop Brooklyn’s planned Khalil Gibran International Academy. Brooklyn Eagle

- A bill passed awaiting Governor Spitzer's approval would make the city's community boards eligible for millions in grant money to study brownfield pollution. The legislation was spearheaded by Brooklyn CB 6 District Manager Craig Hammerman, who has been trying to get money to study the polluted Gowanus Canal. NY Daily News via the Real Deal

- Chowhound's Trader Joe's parking discussion rubs someone the wrong way: "Anyone looking for parking in Brooklyn is a menacing turd." Chowhound

Related article:
Arabic-themed School Finds a Home

Smith Street -- Your Tree Solution Is Right Here

Walk down Smith Street in the summer and it's at least 10 degrees hotter than the side streets or Court Street. Why? Apparently, north of Carroll Street, Smith Street has no trees.

Smith Street merchants, help us out here. Restaurant row is broiling!

According to the Parks & Recreation web site, any property owner in the city can request free street trees -- Ginkgos, Honeylocusts, Sweetgums, Tulip Trees, Dawn Redwoods, Oaks, Lindens, etc.

To make it easy for Smith Street property owners, McBrooklyn has linked to the EZ tree form right here. Just click, fill it out, and trees should be on their way.

Photo by MK Metz

McBrooklyn home page here.

Brooklyn in Brief -- Weekend Edition

- The horrid condition of the boardwalk in Coney Island is still in the news, as the lawsuits ratchet upward. Gowanus Lounge

- The Parks Department opens New York's second surfing-only beach in the Rockaways. Gnarly, dude! New York Magazine

- A Brooklyn woman is too traumatized to return to work after steam pipe blast. Brooklyn Eagle

- Out-of-control-car on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope. OTBKB

- West Nile virus is back. Here are some steps to take. GerritsenBeach.Net

- A backlash against the Brooklyn building blitz. Canarsie Digest/ Courier Life

Brooklyn's Green Bike Lane Marches South

The greening of Henry Street's bike lane marches relentlessly south, from Clark Street in Brooklyn Heights to, most recently, Amity Street in Cobble Hill.

McBrooklyn spoke to the lane painting crew, who gave their unofficial opinion that the Department of Transportation was going to paint bike lanes "green everywhere." Maybe they read the results of the McBrooklyn Bike Lane Color Poll.

Previous posts on this topic here.

McBrooklyn home page here.

Photos by MK Metz

Size DOES Matter on Second Place

Homeowners on 2nd Place in Carroll Gardens/Gowanus are displaying a certain solidarity about restricting neighborhood building heights to 50 feet. Signs hung up and down the block say "Size Does Matter" and asks viewers to sign a petition (www.carrollgardenspetition.blogspot.com) protesting the potential Scarano-designed building at 360 Smith.

(Photos by MK Metz)

Arborcide in Brooklyn Heights, Again

Remember what a stink there was exactly one year ago when five 40-year-old trees were cut down in front of 75 Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights?

Now move west a couple of blocks to the Mansion House at 145 Hicks Street, where the co-op board has decided to chop down an 80-year-old, healthy Elm tree. The reason? A poster in the Brownstoner forum said the board doesn't want to spend the $8,000 to reroute electrical pipes tangled in the huge tree's roots.

Residents of the Mansion House told the Brooklyn Eagle back in April that the endanged tree was "one of the few healthy survivors of the Dutch elm disease that devastated most of these majestic trees in the past century."

Several residents of the building told the Brooklyn Paper that they’ll chain themselves to the tree before they’ll let the board chop it down.

UPDATE: Don't miss the lively comments about this on the Brooklyn Heights Blog.

Another Venue in Brooklyn: Zipcar Spreads Its Mighty Tentacles

Zipcar went all out to promote its latest Brooklyn venue: the Brooklyn Law School dorms on State Street east of Court. The Brooklyn Cyclones-mobile was parked on Atlantic (you can't reserve it though -- a Zipcar rep said it has been taken "off the grid") and a variety of Zipcars were parked near the oddly-shaped Zipcar flags on Court Street.

Meanwhile, the word is that Zipcar is the latest "amenity" (read: Fresh Direct) to be offered at many of the area’s newest developments. Zipcar is partnering with developers across the country, according to the NY Post.

Upcoming developments with on-site Zipcars include "many Brooklyn properties being marketed by the Developer’s Group, including the Aurora in Williamsburg and One Brooklyn Bridge Park," according to the Post.

More here.

Photo by MK Metz

Brooklyn in Brief

- The Brooklyn Eagle's Quarterly Real Estate Roundup is posted on the Eagle home page today. Grab it before it disappears into the Brooklyn Space section.

- Uh, there's a guy who takes his clothes off and has his picture taken in cemeteries. The Brooklyn Paper

- An outpouring of emotion for a disabled pigeon on the Brooklyn Heights Blog.

- Never mind the various controversies over Thor Equities $2 billion plan to redevelop Coney Island. What about Thor's web site -- it's gone all 60s shagadelic! Curbed

- The NY Times follows the judges who are assessing some of the semifinalists on the Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest.

Gowanus Canal Solution: AquaBlock!

The soil around the Gowanus Canal might be so flammable you can set fire to it with a match, but a new solution to the problem of the canal’s toxic underbelly is being explored, according to an article in the Brooklyn Eagle.

Instead of dredging the muck out, the Army Corps of Engineers is considering covering the contamination with a clay-based seal called AquaBlock.

“If the canal is dredged from top to bottom, you’re talking tens of millions of dollars. To use a clay capping like this AquaBlock material, it would be in the single digits,” said one of the engineers.

Is this like recoating your bath tub?

More here.

Brooklyn Garden Diva, Hard at Work

Front yard on Second Place in Carroll Gardens. The sign says "Garden Diva, Hard at Work." (Click to enlarge.)

Can you find the ladybug?

Photo by MK Metz

McBrooklyn home page here.

KeySpan Workers on Tinderhooks as Merger with National Grid Looms

Both Brooklyn-based KeySpan and National Grid -- the British company close to taking over KeySpan, once known as Brooklyn Union Gas -- have initiated an early retirement offer for management-level employees in an effort to cut some 700 jobs, according to Newsday.

The job cuts are crucial for "the promised hundreds of millions of dollars in so-called synergy savings" from the merger. If the voluntary program doesn't do the job, however, the two companies will "review other options."

One KeySpan veteran said the planned cuts have affected worker morale. "Everybody is walking on eggshells," said the worker.

More here.

Previous posts about the KeySpan/ National Grid merger here.

Photo by MK Metz

A Dozen Brooklyn Restaurants Make New York's 'Best Cheap Eats 2007'

The list is out -- and Cobble Hill's Hibino (pictured) at 333 Henry Street near Pacific has been listed as just one of a dozen Brooklyn eateries in New York Magazine's "Best Cheap Eats 2007." Hibino offers home-style small plates, "Japanese comfort food" and various oshi, or pressed sushi, such as "the one layered with shiso leaves, microgreens, and egg, topped with soy-marinated fish."

Other picks include Bocca Lupo in Cobble Hill, Choice Market in Clinton Hill, and Petite Crevette in Carroll Gardens. See the whole list here.

Photo by MK Metz

You Know You Like It -- McBrooklyn Readers Vote For Green Bike Lanes

The results are in! The city Department of Transportation is testing color schemes that would make bike lanes more visible and keep cars away. McBrooklyn readers have voted their preference -- and green bikes lanes have defeated sky blue, blue-green and the wide-open "other" category.

To see examples of these DOT color experiments, see our previous post here.

The final tally:
Green: 47%
Sky blue: 11%
Blue-green: 19%
Something else: 22%

Brooklyn Bikers Seeing Green

Photo by MK Metz

Brooklyn Wednesday in Brief

- DeStefano's Steakhouse in Williamsburg might be the one to vanquish Peter Luger, says Bloomberg. And the servers are women ... friendly women. Bloomberg

- Mystery Bride of Fourth Street: She was dumped because “she was bi-polar and wouldn’t take her medicine." The Brooklyn Paper

- You can ride one of those very old subway trains on display at the Transit Museum (the ones with the straw seats?) on a special Nostalgia Ride. The next excursion will take place on Sunday, August 12. The Brooklyn Eagle

- Yesterday was one big day for preservation and development in Williamsburg and Brooklyn. The Landmarks Preservation Commission decided the future of both the Eberhard Faber complex in Greenpoint and McCarren Pool. And in Williamsburg, architect Raphael Vinoly gave a presentation about the future of the historic Domino Sugar Plant. Whew! The Gowanus Lounge

- The permits on 360 Smith Street are NOT imminent, says the group CORD after a meeting with Councilman Bill de Blasio. Carrollgardenspetition

- It's down to the semifinals in Brooklyn Botanic Garden's greenest block in Brooklyn contest. ABC-7Online

Smith Street: Zombies? Performance Art?

So we spotted a half a dozen pedestrians standing motionless at the corner of Smith Street and Second Place, near the infamous 360 Smith Street. It was hot. The pedestrians didn't move. The minutes ticked by.

Then suddenly, as if they had communicated telepathically, they all hustled off at the same moment and ran down the nearby F train subway steps.

It wasn't till we turned around that we discovered the hidden meaning of this mysterious migration.



We'd heard you could see the F train from a stop on Smith Street but this was the first time we'd seen it in action.

More about Smith Street here.

Photos by MK Metz

Brooklyn Tuesday in Brief

Grocers including Fairway Market have put up signs telling customers that the store no longer sells certain types of Chinese fish, and many shoppers say they are avoiding Chinese food altogether. See Crain's New York Business

Velmanette Montgomery says she has "major reservations" about Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan. At Streetsblog

Pictures from inside the soon-to-open Hotel le Bleu. At the Brooklyn Eagle

The plan to have a company of British and American actors perform classics at both the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Old Vic in England will be delayed for a year due to illness in the family of star Stephen Dillane. Shakespeare's“Hamlet” and “The Tempest” had been on the bill for this fall. More at the New York Times.

Brooklyn Monday p.m. in Brief

Councilman Charles Barron is the first candidate to officially announce that he wants to be the next Brooklyn borough president. He's a former Black Panther who'll be, in his own words, "taking care of black folk. Unapologetically." New York Magazine

An old Eberhard Faber pencil factory in Greenpoint, adorned with 10-foot-tall pencils, will be considered on Tuesday for landmark status by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The New York Times

Davey “Dance” Fishel has danced his way around the world, armed only with an iPod, a famous landmark, a Canon PowerShot, and the gift of improvised dance. Here, he dances on the Brooklyn Bridge. Gothamist Video of the Day

How to hire a day-laborer in Brooklyn, while avoiding Christian bigots, lawyers and other creeps. Brownstoner Forum

Say Goodby to 182 Atlantic Avenue

Take a quick look: a source tells us that 182 Atlantic Avenue, recently the site of the Independence Community Foundation, will pass into the hands of Two Trees Management Wednesday, at which point the wrecking ball will arrive. (ICF has moved to 45 Main Street, a Walentas/Two Trees property recently plagued by a bit of a crime wave, according to Curbed.)

Two Trees has already started digging up the pavement east of 182, once used as a parking lot for Sovereign Bank, which is moving across the street to make room for a Trader Joe's.

After 182 Atlantic is torn down, construction will begin on the 37-unit, six story apartment building Two Trees is putting up behind the bank building. The Brooklyn Eagle has a photo of what the finished product will look like here.

Photo by MK Metz

Brooklyn Spelunking: Atlantic Avenue Tunnel Tours Return

Bob Diamond's famous Atlantic Avenue Tunnel tour has started up again, after a hiatus of roughly five years. Diamond discovered the long-lost tunnel -- which runs under Atlantic Avenue between Boerum Place and Hicks Street) in 1981, after hearing about the legend of a Civil War era rail tunnel on a radio show. After an eight-month search (during which he was repeated advised by City officials to give up on his lost cause) he struck gold -- uncovering, intact, the world's first subway tunnel.



Diamond is Brooklyn's keeper and historian of this historic, cave-like expanse. Down in it's cool, otherworldly recesses, he tells of its building (by hundreds of Irish workers in seven months, including one murder), how it was used and where it led, and what may lie under the unfinished end.

Call 718-941-3160 to reserve a spot on a tour. See the video for a snippet of Sunday's excursion. (These tours are for the relatively hardy. Wear sneakers and bring a powerful flashlight.) Also, visit the web site of Diamond's Brooklyn Historic Railway Association.

UPDATE: The Brooklyn Eagle has more about the tunnel and this tour here.

FURTHER UPDATES:
- Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue Tunnel Is Probably Haunted
- What's Behind the Wall? Atlantic Ave. Tunnel Mystery
- Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue Tunnel: What's Behind the Wall?
- Let Them Laugh: Bob Diamond's Brooklyn Trolley Idea Gains Traction
- Mole People Back in Brooklyn?
- Lineup For Atlantic Avenue Tunnel Tour

Photos and video by MK Metz

Sunset Over Brooklyn

An oddly beautiful day, a crystal-clear night.

Photo by MK Metz

The Ultimate Bike Lane Gridlock Machine

The senior shuttle blocks the bike lane, then the limo blocks everything else, at the corner of Montague and Henry Streets. Perfect bike lane gridlock!

The situation remained static for quite some time as the shuttle unloaded.

Photo by MK Metz

Why There's No One on the Streets of Brooklyn Today

Crowds of wizards and witches roamed the streets of Brooklyn last night in search of The Book.

The line at BookCourt (above) snaked along Court Street and half way down Pacific, but the mood was jolly. Cheers rang out when the first young reader ran out of the store at one minute after midnight, clutching the seventh volume of Harry Potter -- the only book on sale last night.

There was quite the circus at Barnes and Noble on Court Street, where hundreds of costumed kids and quite a few adults milled around, entering contests and having their face painted. There was a rush for wristbands at about 11 p.m., but again -- jolly, jolly crowd.

Photos by MK Metz

Sovereign Bank Moving to Make Room for Trader Joe's

Sovereign Bank's new location at Atlantic and Court -- catty-corner from its present venue in the future home of Brooklyn's first Trader Joe's -- is getting shined up for this week's grand opening.

While BP Marty Markowitz and Co. led a hula parade to the big Trader Joe's announcement, no word is out yet about what special effects he has planned for Sovereign's move across the street.

A Penny Parade? A March of the Auditors?

UPDATE: Turns out a bank party was held July 18, according to the Brooklyn Eagle's Dennis Holt. Independence old-timers went through a lot of old archives and got together with the people from the Brooklyn Historical Society to donate some priceless records, Holt says.

Brooklyn Friday p.m. in Brief

"Over-the-top" preparations for tonight's monster-sized Hatty Potter party at the Community Bookstore in Park Slope. Brooklyn Eagle -- And the neighborhood is virtually sex-offender free! Gawker

Scholastic Corp. is offering hush-money to hundreds of fans who received -- too early -- pre-release copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows this week. Crain's New York Business

Gossip Mill: House next to 360 Smith Street SOLD. The Gowanus Lounge

37-45 Bridge Street in Dumbo had been sold to "slumlord" Baruch Singer Brownstoner

The Empire State Development Corporation, which said it it would put Atlantic Yards oversight measures into place, has failed to implement most of the measures promised. The NY Daily News via The Real Deal

Bruce Ratner eyes more Brooklyn sites Courier-Life

Bay Ridge Home Depot Project 'Will Open Pandora's Box'

Some members of Bay Ridge's Community Board 10 are strongly protesting the Board’s surprising decision to endorse a controversial high-rise project which would bring a Home Depot to a busy site at 62nd Street and Eighth Avenue, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.

Democratic District Leader Delia Schack is also against the decision. “We fought so long to keep it low, and now we have this monstrosity here,” she said. “This will open Pandora’s box."

More here.

UPDATE: Andrew Kohen, president of MSK Properties, the owner and hopeful developer of the proposed Home Depot project, believes that many of CB 10's misgivings have been addressed. See here.

Brooklyn Friday a.m. in Brief

Why did the Metrocard machine not work at the Bedford Avenue stop of the L train? Maybe because someone had stuffed a dead rat in the change chute... Newyorkshitty

A Brooklyn oil delivery company was charged with "systematically shortchanging" customers for 17 years, according to the NY Times.

Borough President Markowitz, who has been "toying with a run for the mayoralty in 2009," is not exactly rolling in fund-raising dollars, according to the Brooklyn Paper.

Chowhounds advise Dave where to find an "epic breakfast" in Brooklyn.

Real Estate Roundup at the Brooklyn Eagle

Atlantic Avenue Standoff: Trader Joe's vs. Sahadi's

Will Trader Joe's bring more business to Atlantic Avenue's Sahadi's, or will Sahadi's lose customers to the new kid on the block? Opinion is running in both directions on Chowhound. The trend:

Sahadi's: lovable, incomparable, avenue stalwart, dusty(?)

Trader Joes: unique, low prices, a yuppie cult thing designed to lure money out of the pockets of fanatics(?)

Main area of overlap: cheese, dried nuts, chocolate, spices

More here: Chowhound

Three Bike Lane Colors in Brooklyn -- Take Your Pick

While the neon green bike lane recently painted on Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights has set off quite the frisson of blogger delight, the Department of Transportation has been quietly experimenting with different bike lane colors in Brooklyn for some time.


We thought we'd put these three choices together for comparison:
a: (upper left) The brightest, shiniest green possible
b: (middle right) Sky blue, on Jay Street
c: (lower left) Blue-green, on Henry Street south of Atlantic

Bearing in mind that the green lane is freshly painted and will eventually fade, which would you choose? Take our poll in the sidebar to the right.

Photos by MK Metz

Filming 'Wackness' in Brooklyn Heights

Filming for "The Wackness", starring Ben Kingsley and directed by Jonathan Levine was not originally slated for the corner of Henry and Remsen Streets in Brooklyn Heights, but filming has taken over that corner today.

UPDATE: A call to the production company confirms that "The Wackness" is indeed filming at Henry and Remsen. The project, which is in the first week of production, began filming late Wednesday night on Columbia Heights.

Photo by MK Metz

Filming for "The Wackness", starring Ben Kingsley was scheduled to take place in Brooklyn Heights along the Promenade and on Columbia Heights Wednesday.

Though filming was rained out, parking was still prohibited along these streets.

Photo by MK Metz

Brooklyn Heights Promenade during Wednesday morning's rain storm.

Photo by MK Metz

Turning Gear in Dumbo

Do the shafts turn in the same direction or in opposite directions?

Photo by MK Metz

Tuesday p.m. Brooklyn in Brief

State Attorney Andrew Cuomo filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Federal District Court in Brooklyn against the ExxonMobil Corporation, demanding that they clean up a 17-million-gallon oil spill in Greenpoint. City Room at the New York Times

More than 500 brokers and guests came to party and experience Brooklyn’s newest icon, The Ikon in Greenpoint. Guests stepped out of their cars to flashes of paparazzi cameras before being escorted along a roped-off red carpet to the custom-built rooftop party palace. Brooklyn Eagle

Filming for "The Wackness", starring Ben Kingsley will take place in Brooklyn Heights along the Promenade and on Columbia Heights Wednesday. Brooklyn Heights Blog

The city announced that Public Place -- one of the more polluted parcels of land in Brooklyn, between Fifth Street, Smith Street and the Gowanus Canal -- will be the home of a mixed-use development and has asked developers for proposals. Curbed

Has City Hall changed its mind about evicting American Stevedoring from Red Hook's waterfront? NYDailyNews

The once trash-strewn parking lot at Pearl and Water streets in DUMBO has been transformed into a sitting area with a dozen planters, tables and chairs. So what the problem? The Brooklyn Paper

De Blasio is on Scarrano like fleas on a rat. Brownstoner

Buddha Buoy

Stuart Nicholson's "Buddha Buoy," part of the Waterfront Artists Coalition's 25th Annual Sculpture Show -- Still Flying -- at Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park.

Previous post: Brooklyn Waterfront Artists -- 'Still Flying'

Photo by MK Metz

Joseph Ades -- NYC's Most Successful Street Vendor Ever -- In Brooklyn Now

He's about 73, and is possibly the most successful street vendor ever in the history of New York City. Born in England but with a voice that recalls Australia, Joseph Ades is a living legend. He's been featured in the Daily News, Vanity Fair and other publications which he displays next to the little table where he sells vegetable peelers.

When McBrooklyn saw him on Court Street in Brooklyn Heights the other day, he was surrounded by a crowd of people who had suddenly realized they needed a peeler. Desperately. Not a cheap, soon-to-rust 99 cent peeler like those sold in stores, but the high quality $5 Swiss peeler available only from Mr. Ades. They flew out of his hands like they were the last peelers in the world.

Many have sought Mr. Ades but could not find him. So McBrooklyn shot the video below of this amazing salesman at work.




Video Copyright 2007, 2008, 2009 MK Metz

'Stop Scarano' Rally at DOB Today

McBrooklyn received a media advisory from Councilmember Bill de Blasio's office that de Blasio, along with other local officials and community activists will gather at the Department of Buildings at 210 Joralemon Street at 11 a.m. this morning to demand that the DOB stop work on all Robert Scarano projects while he is under investigation for professional misconduct.

Mr. de Blasio's office pointed out that Scarano, “an architect with a long history of violating zoning codes, building codes, and practicing unsafe construction,” is currently under investigation by the State Education Department.

Recently the DOB approved plans for 360 Smith Street, where Scarano is the architect.

Past Posts on this topic:

'Protect Our Homes in Carroll Gardens' Petition

De Blasio: Scarano 'Bad Actor and a Cheat'

Photo of 360 Smith Street by MK Metz

There Goes the (Coney Island) Neighborhood

Thor Equities is in contract to purchase some of the land occupied by Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park for $11 million, according to the Brooklyn Eagle. If the deal goes through, Thor Equities would own nearly all of the property in Coney Island’s amusement district. Thor CEO Joseph Sitt has been discussing plans for high-rise hotels, time shares, a new amusement park to replace Astroland and an indoor water park.

More here.

Photo by Judley, Creative Commons license.

Bastille Day in Brooklyn -- La Rue de Smith Sautait!

Dancing in the Street
Smith Street was positively jumping Sunday with the biggest Bastille Day in the U.S. Sand covered the street for the famous petanque tournament, played with tennis-ball-sized metal balls (looked a bit like bocce).

Bar Tabac, a big sponsor (along with Robin des Bois and Ricard) was packed, people were dancing in the street, and the Blue Orchard orchestra (below right) made you feel you were in Paris.















UPDATE: 2008 Info Here.

Photos by MK Metz .....