Results tagged “gowanus”

Mayor Bloomberg will prove he's not scared of no stinkin' canal when he visits Gowanus later today to announce the “start” of his $150-million effort to improve water quality there. Currently he's up against the fed's push to turn the Gowanus Canal into a Superfund site; something he believes will be too expensive, take too long and ruin the future re$idential area with a toxic stigma.

The Gowanus Canal, currently in the midst of a battle over Superfund status, now has Riverkeeper watching its slimy, green, polluted back. Reportedly the folks at the organization are prepared to sue property owners along it, "including the city, for ongoing pollution problems ... [including] illegally dumping garbage into the already fetid corpse of water." The litterbugs have 60 days to clean up before they'll file the suit.

Okay so now that the secret Brooklyn climbing gym has been outed and allegedly closed down, it's time to move on to the less mysterious open-to-the-public Brooklyn Boulders. The Big Box version of climbing, if you will. Thrillist points to the DeGraw Street space (which is an old Daily News garage), saying it's "an immense 30 ft ceiling'd, 18k sqft climbatorium rigged up with Brooklyn Bridge-like archways separating faux cliff faces and cinderblocks tagged by local graffers (Peek, Diva, Ewok, Kstar, etc)." The business is one of three that some frat boys are bringing to the borough, and will open in two weeks. A day on the faux rocks will cost you $20 with your own gear, or $30 with provided gear and basic instruction. In it for the long haul? There's a lifetime membership for $5,000. Belay on?

The papers have picked up on the dumpster diving story and it turns out the location of the pool is in Gowanus. The address was actually decoded after this video on the project hit the internet last week, meaning people have been coming by and trying to sneak a peak at the private pools.

Gowanus-area residents, there may be a Whole Foods in your future—maybe! After an earlier report that the supermarket was abandoning its plans for a Third Street location, the company sent a memo to Community Board 6. Via Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, Whole Foods manager Mark Mobley writes: "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 3rd Street and 3rd 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..."

Back in 2006, Whole Foods held a groundbreaking ceremony for its first location in Brooklyn, in Gowanus on Third Street. Now, the high-end supermarket chain is abandoning those plans. Brooklyn the Borough reports that a Whole Foods spokesperson said, “At this juncture we do not have immediate plans to open a new store in Brooklyn but do hope to be there someday soon." The Brooklyn Paper also mentions that a spokesperson "suggested that the land would be sold." The demise of Whole Foods had been rumored for a while, given the polluted nature of the area, and there was opposition to the size of the proposed parking lot.

An old tow truck warehouse near the Gowanus Canal might not seem like such a likely location to take in some elegantly highbrow dance/theater, but when you think about it, abandoned industrial spaces have often provided fertile ground for avant-garde performance troupes (The Wooster Group and Radiohole are the first two that come to mind). Still, you'll be pleasantly surprised by the rococo splendor that awaits you inside the Brooklyn home of Company XIV, where their second production, Le Serpent Rouge, unfolds under a lavishly designed, pressed tin proscenium and shimmering curtain.

    

With every venue that shuts down in Manhattan, a new one seems to pop up in Gowanus! We first heard about Littlefield last September, and now the performance and art space is ready to open this Saturday, May 16th!

Earlier this year we heard a horrible rumor that the Yard in Gowanus may have been shut down, but thankfully that was just a rumor. The outdoor space, located right on the polluted canal and host to a summer-long series of events, is back and better than ever. Grub Street reports that there's been a slight, inexplicable name change to BKLYN Yard (but no one will actually call it that), and that this season will launch with an event called Parked that brings food trucks (like Pizza Moto, the Community Juice Truck and Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream) to the space. Bring your appetite on May 23rd for that one! Red Hook vendor Margarita will also return with her huaraches later this summer, and other events include musical performances and a community swap meet. And let's not forget that the Yard always provides fresh fish heads for the courageous foodie on a budget.

Come celebrate the holiday season with us, a bunch of musicians and some Egg Nog n' Maker's Mark—it'll be just like grandma's house...in Gowanus. This Sunday, December 21st, we'll be throwing a seasonal soiree at the big, gorgeous Bell House, in partnership with the After the Jump folk.

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 ordering up some bloody mary's made with McClure's Pickles)! Whole Foods reusable grocery gift bags are still being doled out, with items from: Babeland, Embittermints, the Humane Society, Gotham Girls Roller Derby, RightRides, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Penguin and Insound, and Brooklyn Tattoo's owner even donated some "Brooklyn Love" pins and stickers. And for the gamers, there's a FaceBreaker video game demo in there for you. And be sure to take a gander at the artwork on display from Sam Horine, Paula DiGioia and Shai Dahan. See you there!

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 the community":

Let me just say that no amount of testimony from concerned residents at last month's meeting, no concerns about pathogens in the waters of the canal, nor warnings that the land is in a flood zone were able to sway a majority of our board members from voting yes for Toll's spot rezoning.

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 located in a foyer that connects the two. Located at 149 7th Street between 2nd & 3rd Avenues, the venue was was crafted out of an old 1920’s warehouse once used as a printing press.

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."

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 brought to you by "some of the people involved with the Virgin Festival." Meanwhile, an old bodega in the area (on 3rd Avenue and 7th) is also being transformed into a nightclub (by the folks who brought you Save the Robots in the East Village). Here's a map showing all of the venue locations.

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.

• 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 Manhattan Supreme Court ruled that an applicant to the NYPD had "poor interpersonal skills, paranoid thinking and suffered from anxietey." The candidate who had a fear of dead people and a hatred of women was barred from the force despite the "OK" from the civil service commission.
• A Brooklyn high school student was stabbed in the neck and chest this afternoon.
• Analyzing why smart hot nerds choose to be virgins.
• Not only are pets grandfather-allowed at Stuy Town/Peter Cooper Village for a fee, but puppies are now allowed!
• Toll Brothers' plan to turn previously shunned Gowanus waterfront into the new Venice, was presented to Brooklyn community members yesterday.
• Like many women, Kate Bosworth has to drink to fake enjoying sex well, but she does it for money and is not a prostitute. We only mention it to segue into this drinking-on-the-job video recently received from a hedge fund office.

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 strain, just like one of those old Magic Eye illustrations. Most of the time they’re plainly visible: “Grand Opening NOW SOON says another one. The restaurant’s interior is sprawling and curved, airbrushed with cloudy purple-pink accents. Mr. Maropakis built the restaurant’s brick oven himself, and the Times says it can handle an insane “1,000 pounds of meat at a time.” A big oven is clearly visible from the dining area.

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 stall though, and would take approximately 15 years to finish.