Christmas Creche at Brooklyn Borough Hall

Three wise men, a shepherd, Joseph and Mary admire the Child in his manger in front of Brooklyn Supreme Court in Columbus Park, Brooklyn Heights.

Photo by MK Metz

You Compare: City Tech 'Old Model' to City Tech 'Today Model'

After all of the excitement about the new City Tech/Ratner tower at the corner of Tillary and Jay Streets -- possibly the tallest building(s) in Brooklyn to date -- the NY Daily News reported that Forest City Ratner spokesperson Loren Riegelhaupt claims that the breathtaking rendering being displayed on blogs and in newspapers (seen on upper left) is stale. "This model is an old model," said Riegelhaupt, who said a height for the building has not been decided. "It's an early rendering and not a reflection of what we're considering today."

Compare the rendering to the draft shown today on the City Tech Web site (lower right). The configuration, adjusting for angle, is remarkably similar, though the final height is hard to fathom.

City Tech's site confirms: "City Tech will soon be the home to what is sure to be the architectural landmark of Brooklyn. Standing at the corner of Tillary and Jay Streets, directly across from the Namm Building will soon be the most original piece of architecture since the Brooklyn Bridge, a masterpiece conceived by the celebrated architect Renzo Piano."

- Biggest Building in Brooklyn -- So Far -- Proposed for City Tech's Klitgord Auditorium Site

- Digging For Gold at City Tech's Klitgord Auditorium

Dumbo Snow Scenes

It was about 4:30 p.m. when we headed down to Dumbo. Just a handful of people were on the pebbled beach at the foot of Main Street, quietly watching the water. It felt like New York City was a hundred miles away.

Photos by MK Metz

A Duffield Street Underground Railroad Home Escapes the Wrecking Ball!

According to the Brooklyn Eagle, the city has pledged that it will not use eminent domain to condemn 227 Duffield Street, one of the seven sites on Duffield said to be part of the historic Underground Railroad .

The city, in a settlement filed on Friday, agreed to allow Joy Chatel to retain ownership of her home on Duffield Street. Sources told the Eagle that the city most likely wants to avoid a long, messy legal battle that would delay the construction of a public plaza and parking garage planned there as part of the Downtown Brooklyn Redevelopment Plan.

Oddly enough, one hand of the City recently co-named Duffield Street "Abolitionist Place" in honor of its Underground Railroad past, while the other hand had been steadfastly trying to demolish many of the homes thought to be part of this past.

According to Develop, Don't Destroy Brooklyn, a press conference -- to be attended by a slew of representatives, advocates and others -- is slated to be held Monday at noon in front of the Chatel home.

UPDATE: Monday's toast here.

More here.

- Second Hearing on Underground Railroad Properties in Downtown Brooklyn
- Second Chance for Duffield Street Underground Railroad Homes
- Buildings Shooting Up in Downtown Brooklyn, Why Offer Incentives?
- City to Commemorate Underground RR in Brooklyn -- At Site Where It Wants to Demolish Alleged Underground RR Safehouse
- Goodbye Duffield Street Underground RR Homes
- Video Explains All: Brooklyn's Duffield St. Houses
- Lawsuit to Save 'Duffield Seven' from Downtown Brooklyn Plan
- Brooklyn Underground Railroad Home for Sale for $4.5 Million
- Underground RR Consultants Tried to Pull (Another) Fast One
- Atlantic Yards Consultant Bill Up to $4.8 Million
- Red Hook Lane Demapped, No Longer Exists
- Is $500,000 Underground Railroad Study Bogus?

Photos by MK Metz

Ricky's Brooklyn Christmas

Have yourself a merry little Christmas at Ricky's in Brooklyn Heights.

But don't bring the kids.

- Ricky's Does Halloween
- Wigs, Soap and Yep, Sex Toys Hit Brooklyn Heights
- Wigs, Soap -- and Sex Toys -- in Brooklyn Heights

Photo by MK Metz

Little Christmas Trees

At Peas n' Pickles in Brooklyn Heights.

Photo by MK Metz

Hotels Grow Like Mushrooms in Downtown Brooklyn

Here's the latest look at the burgeoning hotel site(s) at 216-228 Duffield Street. The Lam Group is building two hotels on Duffield, across the street from the famous alleged underground railroad sites, that will add up to 501 rooms. The construction shown above will be a 325-room Sheraton;to its right, work not yet visible, will be a 176-room Aloft hotel.

- Boutique Hotel on Duffield Street, and More Brooklyn in Brief Tuesday
- Goodbye Duffield Street Underground RR Homes


Photo by MK Metz

Bogus Birds Sing at Brooklyn's MetroTech

Or, The Kind of Thing You Sometimes Run Into When You Least Expect It

So there we were, strolling through MetroTech in Downtown Brooklyn when we heard, up in the trees, the sweet warbling of -- wait a minute -- the weirdest, most ungodly "birds" we ever heard. One of them sounded like somebody was croaking out, "Poor Sam Peabody. Peabody. Peabody..." Another sounded like a bunch of Zen monks taking a spin on riding lawn mowers.

Peering up into the branches, we eventually realized that the sounds were not coming from actual birds, but were emanating from overhead speakers placed throughout the trees running down the middle of the walkway running through Metrotech.

"Ha!" we thought. This must be Art. And sure enough, after rooting around a bit, we discovered that this particular piece of Art was Nina Katchadourian's "Please, Please, Pleased to Meet'cha," part of the Public Art Fund's "Everyday Eden" exhibition going on at MetroTech until next September. (Unless the real birds stage a revolt and attack the hell out of those speakers.)

Public Art Fund's Web site describes the project this way: "Please, Please, Pleased to Meet'cha is a sound project inspired by the elusive task of describing birdsong ... Because the human attempt to describe birdsong is a kind of translation problem—from aural to written, from animal to human sound—the artist asked UN translators and interpreters to interpret the sounds, suggesting that human communication might have the innate ability to cross linguistic (even species) boundaries."

Well, okay then. As long as they don't drop any -- you know -- stuff on us as we walk under the speakers.



Photos by MK Metz

A Brooklyn Folly? Someone's Not Happy at 110 Livingston

Stephanie from IntoTheBox.tv sent this video about the lawsuit over alleged square footage fraud at 110 Livingston, the former Board of Ed headquarters that Mayor Bloomberg calleda “notorious Kremlin” and Giuliani wanted to blow up.

Seems like a few unhappy tenants may want to blow it up, too -- or at least their contracts. A couple who paid almost $800,000 for a yet-unbuilt apartment, found that the place was 109 square feet smaller than Two Trees had promised -- a 17 percent difference, and one that they call fraud.

The Observer provides a link to the actual lawsuit here.

Is This the Start of the Recession? Ad Revenue in Newspaper Industry Predicted to Drop 9 Percent Next year

Bank of America analyst Joe Arns cut his rating on the New York Times company to “sell” from “neutral” and reduced his price estimate on the stock to $14 from $21. Mr. Arns estimated that ad revenue in the newspaper industry will likely drop 9% next year as a collapse in the housing market, coupled with a hiring slowdown, reduce the demand for classified advertising. Crains New York