No Brooklyn Super Bowl Bus Stop; Citi Bikes' Designers Go Belly Up; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Brooklyn should have its own stop on the exclusive $50 "Fan Express Bus" going to the Super Bowl. [About]

- The company that designed Citi Bikes declares bankruptcy. [Queens Crap]

- Greenpoint residents could receive local toxic site map. [TRD]

- NYPD to keep close eye on Super Bowl fans. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Chuck Schumer proposes legislation to honor Avonte Oquendo. [NY Magazine]

- Retail changes on Flatbush and Fifth within walking distance of Barclays. [Atlantic Yards Report]

- Jay Z sued for $600 million over Brooklyn Nets trademark. [BoomBox]

- Grace Church Winterfair next Saturday. [BHB]

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City Releases Gas Into Subway Tunnels, But Not to Worry

Photo: LimeTech

NYC is carrying out some pretty serious terror tests, with the first of three gas releases yesterday.

According to the Brooklyn Eagle, air flow monitors have been stashed around the city in 200 locations to see where perfluorocarbon gas goes after being released in Manhattan.

The gas is a stand-in for whatever airborne toxin some sicko decides to drop in the subway, such as "radiological contaminants or weaponized anthrax."

We asked NYC emergency personnel (off the record) if Downtown Brooklyn would be a likely landing place for airborne particles from Manhattan. We were told that typical air patterns would more likely bring airborne particles to Coney Island.

"What about New Jersey?" we asked.

The answer: "Who cares about New Jersey?"


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Recreate the Russian Meteor Impact with Online Simulator

Want to recreate the Russian meteor hit? You can use Purdue University's "Impact: Earth!" online program to run various impact scenarios and see what would happen if an asteroid or meteor crashed into the Earth near Brooklyn.

This simulation lets you vary the size of the meteor or asteroid, its density, degree of impact, speed of flight, the distance (you are) from impact and what the meteor crashes into.

 The program then tells you what happens at various distances from the place of impact.

 We tried the program out by simulating a meteor 55 feet across, like the Russian meteor. Less dense meteors didn't have a dramatic effect, so we made ours of high-density iron, and had it coming in at an 89 degree angle at a fast speed (71 km/sec) hitting rock.

What happens if we're standing one mile away from the impact:

The air blast arrives 28.7 seconds after impact. Maximum wind velocity is 210 mph. Sound intensity is 93 dB (causing ear pain).

Multistory wall-bearing buildings collapse; wood frame buildings collapse almost completely.
Glass windows shatter. Up to 90 percent of trees blow down; the remainder are stripped of branches and leaves.



That scenario is not the end of the world -- though it would be the end of much of Brooklyn.

A much larger meteor, however, would be. To feed our need for visual stimulation, we found the above realistic simulation of a 300 mile wide asteroid striking the Earth, as depicted in "Miracle Planet: The Violent Past."

(Spoiler alert:
There are no survivors.)


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New Gowanus EPA Cleanup Plan Calls for Armor, Tanks

Photo: Dept. of City Planning

The Environmental Protection Agency released last Thursday a new half-billion dollar plan to clean up the Gowanus Canal, lay down cement and "armor" layers to cap contaminated sections, and install 3 - 8 million gallon retention tanks to prevent raw sewage from overflowing during storms.

The EPA will accept public comments on its proposed plan until March 28, 2013. Public meetings will take place on January 23 at 7 p.m. at Public School 58 (the Carroll School), 330 Smith Street, Brooklyn and on January 24 at 7 p.m. at the Joseph Miccio Community Center, 110 West 9th Street, to discuss the proposed plan and answer questions.

Judith A. Enck, EPA Regional Administrator, encouraged residents to attend one of the meetings.

The EPA is proposing to dredge approximately almost 600,000 cubic yards of highly contaminated sediment. In some areas where the sediment is contaminated with liquid coal tar, the agency is proposing to mix the sediment with concrete, then cover it with multiple layers of other material.

In other sections, the canal will be capped with an "armor" layer and topped with a layer of sand to help restore habitat.

In 2010, the Gowanus Canal was added to the Superfund list of the nation’s most contaminated hazardous waste sites.

More than a dozen contaminants, including PAHs, PCBs and heavy metals were found at high levels in the sediment in the Gowanus Canal -- but consumption of fish from the canal continues to this day, according to EPA.

For information on how to comment, visit the EPA website.

Related:
- Quadrozzi Wants to Expand Brooklyn Shipping Empire with Toxic Sludge
- Join In On New Gowanus Canal Hurricane Flood Map
- Hearing on the Lightstone Group's Gowanus Project

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Wait -- Has Whole Foods Given Up On Gowanus? Yes. No. Yes. No.

The story so far:

1. The Brooklyn Paper reports that Whole Foods has finally given up on building a store in Gowanus.

2. Whole Foods issues a letter saying that they definitely haven't given up on Gowanus.

3. The Brooklyn Paper insists that Whole Foods said they are giving up on Gowanus, and prints an email sent by a Whole Foods representative that sounds like they might be giving up on Gowanus.

4. Whole Foods again denies they are giving up on Gowanus, saying, "Whole Foods Market is actively working on plans for a store at the Gowanus site, and we want to be sure that the Brooklyn Paper's readers understand that fact."

Yes? No? Gosh, we don't know who to believe!

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Whole Foods Has NOT Given Up On Gowanus

It seems that the Brooklyn Paper dropped the ball when it said that Whole Foods has given up on Gowanus. Not so fast, says Mark Mobley of Whole Foods Market. This letter from Mr. Mobley was forwarded to us by Craig Hammerman, District Manager of Brooklyn Community Board 6:

I am writing with just a quick update to let you know that recent reports of Whole Foods Market's demise in Brooklyn seem to have been greatly exaggerated! As you may have seen, the Brooklyn Paper published a story this week that inaccurately suggests we have definitively decided not to pursue the development of a store on our property at 3^rd Street and 3^rd Avenue and further that we are planning to sell the property. This is simply not true and we have sent a letter to the Brooklyn Paper editor clarifying our position and requesting a correction.

You may recall that last Fall I sent you a memo explaining that Whole Foods Market had begun re-evaluating our plans for our property and that we would be working to identify potential development partners for a Brooklyn store. That is exactly what we have been doing in recent months and we are continuing these efforts in hopes of arriving at a potential development scenario that will enable us to finally come to Brooklyn.

Therefore, while nothing has yet been finalized and we are still not in a position to be able to share any additional information, please be assured that we will be back in touch as soon as we are able to provide more details about our plans.

Mark Mobley, Whole Foods Market

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Blue/ Green Slime Invades What Remains of Cadman Plaza Park

A thick layer of blue/ green slime was shot from a high-powered hose all over what remains of the only natural dirt in Brooklyn Heights (uh, Downtown Brooklyn) Thursday -- the north end of Cadman Plaza Park. That's the part not covered in synthetic turf, which is still fenced off from the public.

It turns out that the slime is actually grass seed, suspended in a bluish gel and paper mulch. As the sign explains, the seeds should sprout in about two weeks.

A Parks Department employee said that the "hydro-seeding" is quite expensive, and he hoped that park-goers didn't knock down the fence and run on the turf before the seeds got established.

The 800-odd kids from a nearby private school who use the park as their daily playground/ gym/ sports field will have nowhere to run until the fences are removed from both sections of Cadman Plaza Park -- the now synthetic field to the south, and the newly seeded blue/ green oval to the north.

See previous Cadman Plaza Park stories here.

Photos by Brooklyn photojournalist MK Metz.

Greenpoint is Oh So Toxic -- See the Video Here

Gawker brings to our attention this VBS-TV video about just how terribly toxic Greenpoint actually is. In Gawker's words: "Not that that's news, exactly, but we do like their implication that anyone buying one of those lovely million-dollar lofts springing up in the neighborhood is just asking for a great big case of cancer. They've got the obligatory quote from the hardened longtime Greenpoint resident, who tells the camera, 'If I had that type of money I would be so out of here it wouldn't even be funny.' "