NYU Could Expand into Downtown Brooklyn

- Should the proposed merger between Brooklyn's Polytechnic University and New York University go through, the result would be an expansion of NYU to Brooklyn -- not necessarily limited to Polytechnic’s present real-estate, but into other areas of MetroTech and Downtown Brooklyn as well. Brooklyn Eagle

More Thursday links:

- Had the tornado hit Park Slope or Fort Greene rather than blue-collar neighborhoods of Sunset Park and Bay Ridge, we'd no doubt have more fun YouTube footage of flying Bugaboo baby strollers and airborne Labradoodles... Wired Science

- The Brooklyn Speaks coalition and local politicians called for increased community oversight of Bruce Ratner's controversial Atlantic Yards plan. No Land Grab

- DOB: don't bother doing anything about 18-20 Jackson Place. It fell down. The Gowanus Lounge

- Take a look at this spiffy model of Two Trees' ideal Dumbo. Brownstoner

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Tracking the Path of Brooklyn's Tornado

(Are you looking for the Sept. 16, 2010 storm? That's here.)

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Using Google Maps, we tracked the path of the tornado as it cut it's way through Brooklyn. According to the Brooklyn Eagle, the twister was believed to have started at 74th Street and Shore Road (green tag) before moving northeast to 68th Street and Fourth Avenue, then to Lief Ericson Park, up Sixth Avenue and 58th before swinging out to Midwood along Caton Avenue (red tag) , where it died down.

The National Weather Service confirmed that Wednesday's storm was an EF2-class tornado, winds up to 135 miles-per-hour, causing serious damage to homes in Bay Ridge and other sections of Brooklyn.

Early estimates by state Sen. Marty Golden’s office put damages possibly in the tens of millions of dollars. According to the Eagle, Lief Ericson Park lost between 30 and 40 percent of its trees. Roughly 400 roofs had been damaged, some ripped clean off.

More here.

UPDATE: Another map from the National Weather Service vis the Brooklyn Eagle here.

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Subways Out, Pedestrans Hoof It Over Brooklyn Bridge -- UPDATE: Transit System in State of Chaos

The steady trickle of business-suited pedestrians over the Brooklyn Bridge continued as of 10:30 this morning as most of the mass-transit options into Manhattan remain flooded following last night's massive storm. Here is the MTA's Service Alert Page.

For a brief time this morning, Brooklyn was under a tornado watch. NY1 reports that tornado-like winds ripped the roofs off several houses in Bay Ridge; Flatbush residents also reported damaged houses and crushed cars along several blocks. (A Kensington reader emailed a downed-tree photo to Gothamist.)

The official dedication of the Pearl Street Triangle in Dumbo has been postponed (DumboNYC).

UPDATE: Travelers report it is taking hours to get from Manhattan to Brooklyn, with the transit system in a state of chaos. One commuter says he started at 81st Street at 9:30 a.m. and had to take a patchword of trains and buses -- including a freelance non-MTA bus where the driver pocketed the $2 -- only to arrive in Brooklyn Heights at 12:45.

UPDATE 2: The Office of Emergency Management has set up a command center in heavily damaged Sunset Park, where the mayor, the governor and the police commissioner held a briefing on the storm’s damage. The Mayor asks people to stay home today if possible, as temperatures are expected to soar into the 90s. Cooling centers are being set up. NY1

Photo by MK Metz

If You Don't Think This is Cute, Then Your Heart is Made of Stone

Ducklings, hens, baby goats, pigs and sheep were some of the attractions that kept kids and their parents oohing and ahhing at the 84th Precinct's Night Out Against Crime last night at Borough Hall.

The Gowanus Wildcats Drill Team, wearing bright red, did their drill thing; 84th Precinct Explorer Scouts handed out brochures; faces were painted and kids got pony rides.

It was a good time!

Photo copyright MK Metz

'Another Day on Willow Street' at the Fringe Festival

Park Slope actor and playwright Frank Anthony Polito wrote in to tell us about a play that he's written and will be appearing in/producing along with his partner, Craig Bentley, at the NYC Fringe Festival this coming August 10-26th, called "Another Day on Willow Street."

Set in Brooklyn Heights at the dawn of the New Millennium (some of the scenes take place right on the Heights' Promenade), the play tells the story of two couples--one straight, one gay--who struggle to learn the meaning of love, sacrifice and living for today...before it's too late. Fred Backus and Pamela Sabaugh (married since 2005) will play the straights.

Frank says he began writing the play during his 2nd year of studies at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, where he received his MFA in Dramatic Writing in 2006. This will be the premiere production, following a staged reading on July 28th at The Dayton Playhouse in Dayton, OH. You can read more about it at AnotherDayOnWillowStreet.

In the New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC) more than 200 companies from all over the world perform for 16 days in more than 20 venues.

Lemon Bars of Doom in Carroll Gardens

Apparently, Mayor Bloomberg has announced that Naidre's (Henry and Sackett, Carroll Gardens) is the city's first official Thunderdome. We support that move, but as always, warn all comers to beware the Lemon Bars of Doom.

Photo by MK Metz

Much 'To Do' in Dumbo

In "To Do" -- a project by Illegal Art -- the windows of 70 Washington on the Front Street side in Dumbo were covered with Post-It notes (6,272 of them) several days ago (see Dumbo NYC). Since then, people have been writing their own To Do lists on the Post-Its, things like, "Get a job," "Be honest" and "Dump Bush." Here are a few (photos by MK Metz, click to enlarge):

Brooklyn in Brief, Tuesday

-The DOT-green Pearl Street Triangle will be formally unveiled tomorrow, Dumbo-style. Music by Halcyon the Shop; food by Brooklyn Browns, a mobile gourmet sandwich shop. Dumbo NYC

- Gowanus Lounge and Williamsburg activist Phil DePaolo dispute the so-called DOT "condo crackdown" in Williamsburg. Gowanus Lounge

- Funny doings in Brooklyn Court -- Jerry Capeci, publisher and sole reporter for GanglandNews.com, won't have to testify in a notorious gangland/FBI murder trial he's been covering, again. Brooklyn Eagle

- Are people getting cranky about the floating pool? Gowanus Lounge

Where Does Brooklyn Stand on Congestion Pricing?

If the mayor receives enough federal funding to move his congestion pricing plan forward and if it then is approved by a commission, then the 51 members of the City Council will vote on where they stand on charging cars $8 and trucks $21 to drive into or out of Midtown Manhattan on weekdays. For the plan to pass, 26 council members would have to approve it.

So where do we stand? Gotham Gazette called every single New York City Council member. Of the 47 City Council members who responded, only 23 council members took definite positions.

Of the 16 council members polled from Brooklyn, 3 were for the measure (or leaning in that direction); 5 were against it, more or less; and 8 were either undecided or didn't respond.

Full results here.

Photo by Tjeerd, Creative Commons License

Tribes of New York, Each With Its Own Map

We’re not eight million people sharing a single metropolis—we’re seperate tribes, each living in our own private Idaho, says New York Magazine, which has mapped out the city for ten different urban archaeotypes: the Design Maven, the Cheapskate, the Hedonist, the "It" Girl, etc.

Cheapskates live in a universe of "$2-a-pound clothing, $2.25 dinners, and almost-free dental work," while hedonists see the city as a "constellation of pleasures: custom-made sheets from Bergdorf’s, truffle dinners at Del Posto."

Our favorite map -- Rebel Youth -- is Brooklyncentric, of course; hotspots include serious clubs and gritty bars, alternative shows and parties, and anti-Establishment art centers.

Find your map here.