Just a quick reminder that Gothamist House is open again today (3 to 8 p.m.)! We've really enjoyed spending so much time this week and in absolutely gorgeous Gowanus venue, so come join us at the Bell House for the final show, which includes sets by: Hayes Peebles, The Muggabears, The Depreciation Guild, PWRFL Power, The Forms and Neckbeard Telecaster. All of the details you need are right here. Bonus: 2-for-1 drink specials (we've been......

Though most of the neighborhood around the Gowanus Canal has not yet been rezoned for residential construction, one development company has just won approval for a big condo project with buildings up to 12 stories high and a public park along the canal. Blogger Pardon Me For Asking sat through a "long and drawn out" Landmark/Land Use committee meeting last night (so we didn't have to). She calls the near-unanimous vote "a sad outcome for......

We have some more details about Gothamist House (there's even a Facebook page!), open during CMJ next week (October 22nd through 25th). The shows will run from 2:30 to 8 p.m. daily...and you'll want to get there early because we'll have a limited amount of gift bags each day (a reusable grocery bag from Whole Foods with goodies from Babeland, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Penguin and others). ...

The development company that's pushing for a special rezoning approval to construct several residential buildings by the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn came under fire at a Neighborhood Association meeting in Carrol Gardens last night, with two local architects dismissing the project renderings as deceptive. Chris McVoy and John Hatheway maintained that the developer, Toll Brothers, has provided renderings that make their tallest building—which would be 12 stories and 125 feet high—look more like 85 feet.......

One of the (many) new venues taking root in Gowanus will be opening its doors this week. Back in June we checked in on the progress of The Bell House (run by Union Hall and Floyd owners Jim Carden and Andy Templar, along with Union Hall booker Jack McFadden). To recap, there will be a huge bar in the performance space as well as a front lounge bar, and an entrance to each will be......

This fall Gowanus gets another venue! Located at 622 Degraw Street, this one is called Littlefield and will be housed in an old, 6200-square-foot warehouse renovated with an eco-friendly touch. They tell us "Green elements include a landscaped interior courtyard, sound walls formed from recycled rubber tires, and a bar constructed of salvaged bowling alley lanes." Expect live music, film screenings, and art installations from the owners, Julie Kim and Scott Koshnoodi, as well......

With the Bell House opening on 7th Street in Brooklyn later this year, and the neighborhood's outdoor venue The Yard already open...Gowanus is becoming the next hot spot for venues, so it's not surprising that another new one is being tossed into the mix. This one is currently being created out of a raw warehouse space on DeGraw Street between 3rd and 4th Avenues, just a half mile from the Bell House, and allegedly it's......

Brownstoner has done the math and concluded that there are a ridiculous number of hotels going up near Brooklyn’s lovely Gowanus Canal. The latest new development will be a nine story Fairfield Inn on Third Avenue between Douglass and Butler streets; construction will begin once existing buildings are torn down. So that makes a future grand total of 7 hotels in the Gowanus neighborhood; three already built and four more on the way. With a......

American Girl, by Murphy Zero at flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bias crime on Troy Ave. in Brooklyn, a stabbing at Paul Robeson H.S. in Brooklyn, and a protest on the Queens side of the Queensborough Bridge. The daughter of Rep. Tim Bishop was criticized for earning $270,000 as a fundraiser since 2002. That's between $40K and $50K annually, so we not sure if she's being critiqued for profiteering or underachieving. The......

Sunday’s 3rd Avenue In Brooklyn Is About To Be Rampant With Yuppies Times article glossed over the presence of a new restaurant on the block, Brick Oven Bar Be Que & Pizza. One gets the sense that owner Emmanuel Maropakis is involved in something downright quixotic here. Messages like “Free Coffee” are spray painted on the outside of the brick building, and at different times during the day such words appear only with considerable eye......

The American Institute of Architects is looking to supplant the idea of replacing the Gowanus Expressway with a tunnel, and instead proposes a suspended highway and formation of a Gowanus Greenway. In 2006, the Dept. of Transportation gave a green light to a $12.8 billion proposal to build a 3.5 mile, seven lane tunnel underneath the Brooklyn Waterfront and then destroying the elevated highway. The plan for a Gowanus Tunnel appears to be in perpetual......