Fort Greene Is Too Cool for Us :(Is Williamsburg “just like” a college campus? Is Fort Greene “too cool” for its own good? Will the sex-toy shop in Park Slope really be “tasteful” and “mom oriented”? And can we ever get enough of scare quotes? “Find out” in today’s “boroughs report.”
neighborhood watch
Pro-Pussy Activists Attack Port AuthorityAnimal activists defend the feral kitties of JFK against collective euthanasia, a stolen bike is rescued by East Village heroes, and a man in Coney Island suffers a craptastic fall — all in your daily dish from the five boroughs.
neighborhood watch
Avenue A’s Most Famous Appendage Perks UpSay hello to “The Collection” in Carroll Gardens, a possible good-bye to notorious Club Kalua in Jamaica, and plain old “WTF?” to a Staten Island kid who won’t give up his Confederate-flag T-shirt. That and more in our daily boroughs report.
Chelsea Clearview West Finally Cedes Dominance to Chelsea ClearviewChelsea: The School of Visual Arts has acquired the Chelsea West Cinemas on 23rd Street for use as auditoriums … and the school’s acting chair, design legend Milton Glaser (who did both the “I Heart NY” logo and the original New York Magazine emblem), will redo the place inside and out. Cool! [Mediabistro via Blog Chelsea]
Cobble Hill: Did some of Spitzer’s ho brokers live here or in Brooklyn Heights? Either way, kinda classy hoods to be associated with this tawdriness, if you ask us. [Cobble Hill Blog]
Coney Island: The city will replace huge, ugly, hazardous gaps in the boardwalk with a concrete-plastic wood-look-alike material … but, fakaktaishly, not until after the summer season. [NYDN]
neighborhood watch
‘Queen of Delancey Street’ Killed in AccidentDumbo: From the offices of “legendary” Brooklyn Paper editor (and self-encourager) Gersh Kuntzman comes news that he’s auctioning off his ankle cast, signed by (self-encouraging) beep Marty Markowitz, with proceeds going to Markowitz’s Camp Brooklyn. The bid’s up to $41! [eBay]
Jamaica: Sure, Jamaica Center may look a bit rough, but you can still haggle over prices here, and find great real-estate deals posted to trees! [Queens Crap]
Lower East Side: RIP to Josephine LaPlaca, the 83-year-old “Queen of Delancey Street,” who was struck dead by a car Wednesday night at the dangerous intersection of Delancey and Allen. [Gothamist]
neighborhood watch
Dancer Boy Does GreenpointCarroll Gardens: Hey, have you heard the one about the yacht that got stuck trying to take a left turn onto Second Place from Smith Street? [Gowanus Lounge]
East Village: Wow, look at that … they actually put two bike lanes on Second Avenue to make it easier for bikers to cross Houston without incurring death from left-turning traffic. [Streetsblog]
Greenpoint: Upper East Side office girls may have Chippendales strippers for their birthday and bachelorette parties. But the lucky ladies of Greenpoint have … Dancer Boy! [Newyorkshitty]
neighborhood watch
Architecture Has Gotten Too ‘Fun’ in ChelseaChelsea: When they put that “decorative” rail around that “edgy” new glass box on 18th and Eighth (RIP the restaurant), they probably didn’t expect dozens of hip-hoppy schoolkids to hang on it all afternoon. Hee-hee. [Vanishing New York]
Forest Hills: The hood might be losing newcomers to hipper zones like Fort Greene. And all because the cribs here look like grandma-type places. And not even cool Golden Girls–type grandmas. [Forest Hills 72]
Jamaica: Should the Macy’s turned Colosseum Mall here, designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merril in 1947, be considered a mid-century-modern gem? [Brooklyn Rail]
Park Slope: Just when you thought the Slope’s collective ego couldn’t get any bigger, one of its own — painter Joan Snyder — has to go and win the half-mil MacArthur Genius Award. Great. [Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn]
Roosevelt Island: The marriage of real estate and money has become a permanent fixture here … the sculpture exhibit, that is! [Roosevelt Islander]
Upper East Side: New evidence finds that if you are a (presumably straight) guy walking around this hood with a popped pink Izod collar, you are very likely a douche bag. [78thand2nd]
Upper West Side: Does Queens council member (and dulcet-toned sometime vocalist) Melinda Katz care more about preserving the UWS’ character and scale than hoods in her own borough? [Queens Crap]
neighborhood watch
Park Slope: The MovieBrooklyn Heights: The city recently took Red Hook Lane, one of the borough’s oldest pathways, off its official map in order to make way for development. [110 Livingston via McBrooklyn]
Fort Greene: Residents will rally this Wednesday against development of an eighteen-story condo that would tower over its three- and four-story neighbors. [Brownstoner]
Gowanus: Seems like work is moving forward on Whole Foods on the Canal … but why are the workers dressed in what look like Hazmat outfits? [Curbed]
Jamaica: The city has yet to take action against a developer whose crane smashed the windows of an adjacent apartment, according to its tenants. [Queens Crap]
Park Slope: Behold the inevitable … the hood will be the set for a forthcoming flick (with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler) about, big surprise, yuppie parenting. [Gowanus Lounge]
Washington Heights: An uptown resident’s association is saying “no” to those who can’t say “no.” They want to block a proposed drug-treatment facility for 200 clients on 159th Street. [Uptown Flavor]
neighborhood watch
Public Art Stops Traffic in Red Hook (For Half a Day)Fort Greene: Happy birthday, Tillie’s! The pioneering boho café on DeKalb is marking its tenth anniversary with a month of events showcasing Brooklyn-based music, arts, and writing. [Clinton Hill Blog]
Harlem: Rumors are flying that the (refreshingly contextual) Gateway II condo project at 114th and Frederick Douglass may unravel, leaving early buyers in the lurch. [Wired New York via Curbed]
Jamaica: The city’s proposal to build up the Hillside Avenue commercial strip is causing a stir among local pols and residents. [Times Ledger via Queens Crap]
Long Island City: If you come, they will build it: a better bike route over the 59th Street Bridge. The MTA wants your input on improved cycling in (and out) of Queens. [Astorians]
Prospect Heights: When the Atlantic Yards–themed “Footprints” exhibition opens February 13 at the Brooklyn Public Library, one work — depicting Ratner’s project as a giant looming toilet bowl — will not be on display. Censorship? [Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn via Brooklyn Record]
Red Hook: At the dangerous intersection of Van Brunt and Dikeman en route to the Fairway, a mysterious “traffic-stopper” sculpture was removed last weekend almost as soon as it appeared. [Brooklyn Paper]
neighborhood watch
We’re As Confused By the M&M Thing As You AreChelsea: Biker bar Red Rock West — a loud, white-trash holdout in overprecious art zone — seized for nonpayment of taxes. [Eater via BlogChelsea]
Dumbo: Everything you wanted to know – and much more – about the refurb of the Jane’s Carousel, a nabe icon. [Dumbo NYC]
Greenwich Village:White powder once again found near nose of towering British supermodel on Houston Street. [Copyranter]
Jamaica:City officials want to rezone parts of the Queens neighborhood to attract investment; locals say it’s too crowded already. [Queens Tribune via Queens Crap]
Lower East Side: Libation, among first joints to bring yuppies and Eurotrash to Ludlow Street, to close amid $5.5 mil asking price for building. [Curbed]
Lower Manhattan: It’s like Stonehenge, sort of: A 50-foot-tall, floating, lime green M&M Statue of Liberty aligned with real statue this morning. [Gothamist]
Park Slope: “You hate me, you really hate me!” Atlantic Yards starchitect Frank Gehry inverts Sally Field schtick in volley with a protester. [Atlantic Yards Report]
