January 30, 2008

Closing Bell: It's Good To Be The King

Of Dumbo, that is. As if his Clocktower pad wasn't already sweet enough, David Walentas recently had work completed on the solarium, just in time to avoid any pesky dealings with the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
1 Main Street Rooftop Solarium [Dumbo NYC] GMAP<-->

January 24, 2008

Closing Bell: Raising the Roof on 2nd Street

Tonight Community Board 6’s landmarks/land-use committee will consider a Certificate of Appropriateness application submitted to the LPC that involves building a new mezzanine addition on the rooftop of one of the houses on 2nd Street between 8th Avenue and Prospect Park West (in addition to some changes to the rear of the house). As the photo above shows, most of the historic district block has an uninterrupted roofline. so if this is to have any chance of approval it'll have to be set back from the sight line. GMAP

January 22, 2008

Closing Bell: New Bus Shelter for Vanderbilt

No more huddling inside of Tillies waiting for the B69 bus to take you to Park Slope. As of this week, the new bus shelter at the corner of Vanderbilt and DeKalb should be fully functional. GMAP<-->

January 16, 2008

Closing Bell: Move-In Day at One Hanson

Welcome to the neighborhood, One Hanson residents. And welcome back, functioning clock.

January 14, 2008

Closing Bell: 5th Ave. Botanica Torching Still a Mystery

The perps behind the "fire bombing" of the Botanica on 5th Avenue and Douglass Street in November haven't been caught, according to a representative for the FDNY, and the case it still open. The owner of the former religious artifacts store is apparently MIA, according to a sign pasted to the front that reads "Botanica La Fey is closed due to a fire that occurred on 11/15. The owner has NOT provided any further contact information to any of the neighboring businesses." According to an employee of one those neighboring businesses, some of the building's tenants have moved back to their apartments despite the fact that all its windows are boarded up (see photo on jump).
Botanica Torched on Park Slope's Fifth Avenue [Gowanus Lounge] GMAP

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January 11, 2008

Closing Bell: Avalon Myrtle Demo, From Above

Earlier this week, a reader who works at Etsy.com at 325 Gold Street sent in this photo of the demolition going on at the Avalon Myrtle site next door. Nice shot!
Avalon Myrtle: A Lot Can Happen in a Week [Brownstoner] GMAP<-->
Avalon Myrtle Demo Beginning, Ever So Slowly [Brownstoner]
Dev Watch: Prepping for Demo at Avalon Myrtle [Brownstoner]
So That's What Avalon Myrtle Will Look Like! [Brownstoner]

January 7, 2008

Closing Bell: Christmas Tree Decorations in the Slope

The photo above comes from a reader who asks, "I'm wondering if you know what's up with the Christmas trees placed on top of cars in Park Slope? Is this the work of prankster kids? The sanitation dept.? Some sort of performance art?" That, or folks could have just been gearing up for MulchFest.

January 2, 2008

Closing Bell: For the Birds in Greenpoint

A reader sent in this photo (more here) with the following note:

I was walking down Franklin in front of Bushwick Inlet the other night and saw this art thing/sculpture/? erected there. Maybe someone knows what it is?

Anyone know? Has it been roosting there for awhile? GMAP

December 21, 2007

Closing Bell: Left Turns Nixed on 4th & Union

4th Avenue’s transformation from traffic-choked truck route to residential strip got a little boost from the DOT recently. The department bowed to the wishes of the Park Slope Civic Council and eliminated northbound left turns at 4th and Union. The Civic Council argued that the turns were unnecessary since the westbound traffic lane ends at 3rd Ave. and Union, a block away, and that they endangered pedestrians. GMAP

December 17, 2007

Closing Bell: Park Slope Armory Lookin' Hot to Trot

It seems like the Park Slope Armory's $16 million revamp into a sports complex will indeed be finished late this month or sometime in January. The track has been completed since we last checked in on it in late August, and the bleachers appear more or less done. All in all, the humongous space looks pretty spectacular to us (see additional photo on jump). GMAP

Continue reading "Closing Bell: Park Slope Armory Lookin' Hot to Trot"