Canadian Picked to Run Huge Ikea in Red Hook

The job of managing the massive Ikea in Red Hook has gone to a Canadian who has worked for the multinational retailer for 14 years, according to a press release issued yesterday, which notes that the massive store will open this summer (August has always been mentioned as the most likely date). Ikea is hiring 500 people to join its "Swedish family" at the store although it's not clear how many will be Red Hook residents or Brooklynites. Many of the management jobs are expected to go to non-Brooklynites. The new top person is named Mike Baker and started with Ikea in North York, Ontario. A big part of Ikea's public relations strategy was promising large numbers of jobs for Red Hook and Brooklyn residents. It gave Red Hook residents a two-week head start in applying for jobs, although it's not clear how many applied and how many will be hired. If the news is good, there will no doubt be many press releases; if it is not, expect that the breakdown will be hard to get.

Things Get Crappy at the Bergen Street 2/3 Station

If you are averse to stories about mounds of crap or if you are eating breakfast, lunch or dinner, stop reading and move on to the next item. If, like us, you find such tales of shitty misfortune compelling in a weird sort of way, read on. This comes from the Park Slope Forum on Brooklynian, where it was labeled a "horrifying, gross story." Here goes:

This morning, I stepped in a huge pile of SH*T on the subway platform at the Bergen Street station. MAN! I was so freaked out. The worst thing is there was no way to clean it off my foot! I left the station and found a puddle but it wasn't sufficient, trust me.

And I'm pretty sure it was human sh*t! AARRRRGGGH! I'm assuming it was from some homeless dude. The crap pile was right by the garbage bin, and I was stepping up to it to through out my coffee cup. Someone was squatting there defecating, trying to keep out of view obviously.

This reminded me of the discussion we had about peeing in public, and on the subway platform. Trust me, this is much worse!

Some demands for photographic evidence produced this follow up:How about go to the Bergen Street station, and look next to the garbage can on the Manhattan bound platform, and you'll see all the evidence you need. . . . a pile of crap with a footprint in the middle . . . wasn't in the mood to whip out my phone and take a pic. It didn't occur to me someone would want to see that . . . .

Always look down.

Park Slope Friday #7: Red Hot Death Scene Revealed

And, now, the last in our special Leap Friday focus on Park Slope retail & restaurants.


Whatever happened to Red Hot Szechuan, the latest restaurant on Seventh Avenue to kick the bucket, appears to have occurred very quickly. (As in, everyone took off running for their lives.) A look inside reveals menus still stacked on the counter and cables where computer equipment was disconnected. The "specials" sign is still in the window as are the Chinese New Year's decorations. In a related development, Hunan Delight on Union Street has added three delivery people and a satellite kitchen on Seventh Avenue. Just kidding.

Bklink: Cops Vs. Museum?

"A cop-bashing art exhibit at a taxpayer-funded museum in Brooklyn portrays the city's Finest as trigger-happy racists who have put bull's-eyes on the backs of black New Yorkers. Police abuse victims, including African immigrant Amadou Diallo, are depicted as shooting targets in the 'The Blue Wall of Violence' exhibit at The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts."--NYDN

Park Slope Friday #6: Laila is Turning Japanese

South Slope Middle Eastern Laila closed suddenly a month or so ago. We can now report, based on our keen powers of observation, that it's going Japanese. The new place appears to be called Ten Japanese. We are certain the appearance of yet another Japanese restaurant in Park Slope--which has its share of them on Fifth and Seventh Avenues--will induce many shrieks of delight in the neighborhood.

Construction Site Du Jour: Busted on Bayard

The site of the former Beauty Addiction Building, which had been the one lone holdout on Karl Fischer Row in Williamsburg, has been cited by the city for a problem again. We last featured 14 Bayard as a Construction Site du Jour in late January. Since then, the construction fence has been padlocked closed again, yet, the curious missing side of the fence remained. Hence, the Yellow Slip from DOB. As Burg construction sites go, it's a benign one. For instance, this is only a couple of blocks away and hasn't been cited recently.

Bklink: Brooklyn Ghostbusters

Having trouble with supernatural issues? Got a pesky ghost in your condo or coop or apartment? Need the place blessed? Call Sal at Brooklyn Ghost Investigators. Seriously. --Pardon Me for Asking

Park Slope Friday #5: Behind the Second St. Cafe Paper

A big "for sale" sign is now gracing the window of the defunct 2nd Street Cafe on Seventh Avenue. The space on the market via Brenton Realty, which doesn't appear to have an online listing up for it. In the meantime, some of the paper has been peeled back, allowing a glimpse into the former Park Slope restaurant.

You Can't Photograph That, Continued

Photographer Tracy Collins, who is creating an important photographic record of the Atlantic Yards footprint and project, had a bizarre encounter of the finest kind while taking photos of the closed Carlton Avenue Bridge. He calls it another episode of "You Can't Photograph That." This time, the photo vigilante wasn't a police officer, but could well have been an employee of the developer developer or a public agency, although there's a possibility she was just a private demented person. Here's a sample from Mr. Collins' blog, Not Another F*cking Blog:

so, yesterday, while taking my usual (almost) daily stroll around the Atlantic Yards footprint, i notice that the gate to the recently closed Carlton Avenue Bridge has been left partially open. seeing this as an opportunity to snap a few unobstructed photos of the soon-to-be-demolished bridge, i walk to a spot just outside of the gate, being careful to remain outside of the fenced-off area, and begin to shoot. ["soon-to-be-demolished" is subjective. it's been closed for over a month with no visible signs of demolition] i manage to take about a dozen shots when i hear a shrill woman's voice yelling:

"You can't photograph that! It's private property!!"

There is more and it makes fascinating reading. Mr. Collins' flickr sets are available here.

[Image courtesy of Tracy Collins]

Park Slope Friday #4: Bank Space Goes Red

The temporary wooden front at the former D'Agostino's/Gothic Cabinet Craft space at Seventh Avenue and Sixth Street has acquired a coat of red paint. As we first noted last April, part of the space is becoming a branch bank. At the time, we were told it would be a Bank of America. The identity of the new bank hasn't been revealed, but there is only one bank that we know that uses a red color scheme: Bank of America. Unless the red paint is a coincidence or they couldn't get standard issue construction fence blue because the paint store was out. There is no work going on in the other one-third or so of the space, and a "for rent" sign is still in the window.

Bklink: Rat-Squirrel Shed

"The world is now safe from the Rat-Squirrel House. Relatively, anyway." Some scaffolding has gone up around Cobble Hill's most compellingly interesting structure. "Imagine the first floor surrounded by a green wooden box of scaffolding on top of blue metal poles and capped with a sprawling plywood bowl the shape of a giant catcher's mitt—all the better to catch the cornice and air-conditioner when they fall."--Lost City

Park Slope Friday #3: Tempo Presto Concerto for Power Saws

This is the former Tempo Presto space at Seventh Avenue and Third Street in Park Slope. What's not clear from the photo is the cacophony of construction work yesterday afternoon that was going on inside behind the grates that were pulled down and locked up tight. If one had passed by with earplugs on, one wouldn't have noticed anything at all. But coming from inside was loud hammering and power saws. The fascinating thing to us is that any type of substantive renovation work requires permits from the Department of Buildings and not a scrap of paper has been filed for the address in nine years, when a permit was granted to put up a sign for Mojo. OTBKB has noted that the newsstand person next door says it will be a Mexican restaurant. There is some crazy speculation in Park Slope that it will be Burritoville, but it's just that--totally crazy speculation that isn't based on anything. Yet, given the neighborhood rent structure and some early statements about "chains" being interested in the property, it's not as far fetched a possibility as one would think.

Park Slope Friday #2: Park Slope Books Closed

Park Slope Books on Seventh Avenue, which is the second bookstore to shut down on the block between Second and Third Streets, is done. The lights were still on yesterday, but the store had been emptied. It is reopening on Montague Street. The "for rent" sign is still in the window.

Brookbit: Action at Court Street Blockbuster?

Something was going on yesterday at the old Blockbuster location on Court Street in Carroll Gardens. Blogger PMFA photographed a contractor wearing a dust mask going in and out of the building. The building, however, is still listed for sale for $3.8 million and also for rent, presumably whichever comes first. Also, no building permits have been filed. There were early rumors of McDonald's being interested in the space, but the mystery continues.

Park Slope Friday #1: Brooklyn Industries in Its New Location

The great Seventh Avenue space swap that brought Brooklyn Industries to the corner storefront at Seventh Avenue and Ninth Street and relocated Urban Optical to space that once housed a salon, is now somewhat complete. Brooklyn Industries is now in its new digs. Urban Optical is in its new space. All that remains now is for the former Brooklyn Industries space, which was a bread shop called Uprising for a while.

Bklink: Rental in the Burg

The first sizable new rental building to be completed in the Burg is going up at N. 8 Street and Driggs. It will be a six-story building with 50 apartment being developed by Kalmon Dolgin. Rents were expected to range from $2,500-$3,850 per month for 1BR and 2BR apartments with the penthouses priced around $5K monthly. The design comes from the Stephen B. Jacobs Group.--Curbed

Organic Bok Choy on the Gowanus May Take a While

Don't expect to see construction equipment soon at the big, polluted site at Third Avenue and Third Street where Whole Foods is planning to build a large grocery. Our friend Gabby Warshawer at Brownstoner has been talking to state officials and found that it could be a while. While the cleanup plan for the toxic-laden site has been approved, she reports that the Department of Environmental Conservation is "still reviewing Whole Foods' application to build on a wetlands...Whole Foods must prove that the store's location next to the canal won't adversely affect the general public and that the supermarket won't harm the canal by virtue of its existence next to the waterway." There is so much irony laced throughout the Whole Foods Gowanus proposal from building a store on a floodplain that will be mostly underground to selling organic produce from a site laden with toxins that it's almost impossible to know where to start. So, which will come first: a full blown recession and a decline in the real estate market or the start of work on the much-delayed store? Remember the tote bags Whole Foods was handing out last summer at Celebrate Brooklyn that said "opening in 2008"?

Broolinks: Friday Leap Day Edition

Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and images:

• Call Atlantic Yards Affordable Housing "Delayed" [AYR]
• Brooklyn Condo Market is Driving Miss Brooklyn [AYR]
• Atlantic Yards Reports Shorts [No Land Grab]
• Thoughts on the Revived 421-a Developer Tax Break Debate [Brooklyn 11211]
• "Notorious Brooklyn Punk" Causes Fatal Car Crash [NYP]
• Miss Brooklyn is a Manhattan Resident from Virigina [NYDN]
• Inside Third & Bond, Week 26 [Brownstoner]
• More on Dumbo Rezoning [Dumbo NYC]
• Burg's Gimme Coffee! Talks About Starbucks [Metro]
• Less Than Two Weeks Until Atlantic Ave. Urban Outfitters [Racked]
• Check Out the Carolina Country Store on Atlantic [Gothamist]
• Appreciating 4th Avenue Burning & Heating [Brooklynometry]
• Prospect Park Pods [A Year in the Park]

Fun on the Gowanus, 1903 Edition

We happened upon this story from the October 23, 1903 edition of the New York Times and were amused enough by it to offer it as diversion here:

Battling with a big blaze on the bank of Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn, last night, the firemen were driven back by the sudden breaking loose of a great volume of electricity supplying a motor used for operating a drawbridge across the canal. This was a spectacular feature of the fire, in which half a dozen firemen were partially overcome by smoke and which caused about damage to property, destroying the big coal pockets of Nelson Brothers, at Hamilton Avenue and the canal...The pockets immediately adjoin the big draw-bridge over the canal at Hamilton Avenue. In a small frame structure beside the bridge was electrical machinery used for opening and closing the bridge. The wires were burned through and the machinery deranged. Then followed a display of electrical pyrotechnics which startled the neighborhood and drove the firemen back. Great sheets of white flame shot out in all directions and the freed electricity flashed along the ironwork of the bridge like streaks of lightning, causing the crowd looking on there to scatter in alarm. The woodwork of the bridge near the little shed caught fire, but the firemen could not get to the spot because of the electricity which filled the air...Two of the crew, armed with axes, made their way cautiously and chopped away the transforming apparatus and the wires about it, and cut off the current from the supply wires leading into the motor. The somewhat awe-inspiring electrical display then ceased, and the firemen put out the blaze on the bridge before it could do much damage...The fire caused a complete tie-up of traffic on the Hamilton Avenue trolley line at a time when travel from Hamilton Ferry was heaviest.

Ah, the old days.

Upcoming: Brooklyn Greenway Presentation

There's a presentation on the Brooklyn Greenway next week for Community Board 1's Parks, Environment, Waterfront and Transportation Committees. It will take place on Wednesday, March 5 at 6:30PM at Lady of the Snow Society, which is located at 410 Graham Avenue (between Withers and Jackson). The Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway project area covers 14 miles of Brooklyn waterfront from Sunset Park to Newtown Creek in Greenpoint. The full right of way, which would be 30 feet wide, is still being assembled. For more info, click here.

Bklink: Brain Bank Freeze King

We've never heard of the Bank Freeze King and we keep seeing "Brain Freeze" every time we see the phrase, but he's a lawyer who is alleged to put a freeze on bank accounts when he represents creditors or buyers of debt. There are a lot of complaints about the so-called Brain Bank Freeze King on one of those websites where people tormented by debt collectors and their (sometimes) illegal tactics complain. He froze the brains bank accounts of an entire coop in Park Slope.--OTBKB

Street Couch Series: Finished

Our wonderful Carroll Gardens Correspondent provides this image of furniture on the street, which is clearly done with the living room part of its existence and just kind of out there with the trash.

Bklink: Snow & Rain Tonight?

It will be sunny today and cold, with a high of 33, but clouds will increase as the day goes on. As things stand right now, the forecast for tonight calls for snow mixing with rain and a low of 32. At least, that's the call as of early this morning.--Accuweather

Carroll Gardens Hell Building Burns Bright at Night

The building at 333 Carroll Street that has been nicknamed the Carroll Gardens Hell Building is looking bright this week. Someone in the area sent us photos and noted "Looks like some signs of life at 333 Carroll Street. Lights were on last night leading me to believe they're up to something." The photos of the top floor lit up like a beacon were taken on Tuesday night. Daytime work has been going on at the building, which had a Stop Work Order lifted before the holidays. The building has been a lightening rod for controversy and earned the nickname "Hell Building" because of how badly early work on the structure disturbed people on Carroll Street. The huge addition on top designed by Robert Scarano increased sentiment in the neighborhood for a downzoning.

Piano Finito: Big Ratner Tower is Dead

The 100-story tall Renzo Piano tower at Tillary and Jay Street that would have been developed by Bruce Ratner is dead. Both the Daily News and the Brooklyn Paper report the tower has fallen victim to rising costs and the credit crunch. Forest City Ratner would have built a dorm and lab for City Tech in return for $300 million and land to build the Piano tower, estimated at 70-100 stories tall. A CUNY exec told the Brooklyn Paper that it was a "was a mutual decision" and a statement said "timing and complexities" of development didn't match with the school's "immediate need." City Council Member David Yassky, however, blamed finances, saying Ratner "may be overextended right now." He added that "a lot of developers are re-evaluating their numbers and feel that residential buildings don’t work right now." CUNY will go ahead with building a new lab and dorm, probably in the range of 10 stories.

"Terrible Service" at the Park Slope Library?

We always find tales of "customer service" interesting, so we were drawn to this item posted on the Park Slope Forum at Brooklynian asking if other people have had "terrible service" at the Park Slope Branch Library. The short answer is that some don't like it and some say that the staff is helpful. Here's the original comment:

It seems that every time I am at the Park Slope branch library (usually Saturdays) I get terrible service from the check out and returns staff. The clerks at the desk are always deep in conversation with each other, and I have to wait for them to finish the latest neighborhood gossip before they acknowledge my existence. More often than not, they will physically have their backs turned! I went last Tuesday night to pick up a hold book, and the woman didn't even look me in the eye. I have such a great experience with my NYC library near work being friendly, but my Brooklyn home library makes me feel like I am interrupting them in the middle of something very important. I tend to get my reserved books from Brooklyn faster than NYC, but is it worth it? Am I just being overly-sensitive or are they that way with everyone else? (Hearing that they are just plain rude to others might actually make me feel a little better!)

One person agreed, saying, "I have had similar experiences. When I go there they often have teenage girls at the counter that couldn’t care less. Last time I told one of them to try harder, she looked at me like I was nuts." Another, however, said "I haven't had any problems...I've actually had discussions with them about books." Yet, another suggested buying the books at Barnes & Noble. So, the answers seem to be coming down all over the place.

[Photo courtesy of Paula Jenkins/Picassa]

Brookbit: Slope's Red Hot is Totally Dead

Red Hot Szechuan, the Chinese restaurant on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope, whose fate has been the subject of much speculation since the steel grate was rolled down a few days ago and failed to open again, is definitely dead. Its demise has been confirmed although no cause of death has been offered, leaving Park Slopers with a hunger for hot and sour soup, and a dose of MSG, scrambling for delivery alternatives. Up next: the 'what will take its place?' game.--GL Inbox

More Public Place: Hudson Companies 'Gowanus Green' in Detail

This is Gowanus Green from the Hudson Companies team. The design is from Rogers Marvel Architects and landscape designers West 8 and Starr Whitehouse. (Rogers Marvel and West 8 designed the winning proposal for Governor's Island and the architectural firm is also designing the redo of McCarren Pool and 340 Court Street in Carroll Gardens.)

Bklink: Tips

Here are a whole lot of miscellaneous kinds of tidbits that could be of interest from the custom Ork Brooklyn map to the really good local taqueria that just reopened on Myrtle Avenue. There is a lot of music, dance, arts, and a drink or two in between.--Brooklyn Based

New McCarren Park Group Forming

We were going to categorize this as an "Upcoming" event, but it's more than that because the meeting is about forming a group tentatively called United Friends of McCarren Park that will try to build support for and work on a variety of McCarren Park-related issues. An email has gone out from the Greenpoint Waterfront Association for Parks & Planning (GWAPP) about the meeting, which will take place on Monday (3/3) at 7PM at Automotive High School on Bedford Avenue. The email says in part:

The best way to get the parks we deserve is through persistent community attention to each park. GWAPP...wants to help kickstart a big (and sustained) Push for Parks all across our North Brooklyn neighborhoods by helping to create (where one doesn’t exist) support (where one does exist) and unite (where, as with McCarren Park, several active groups co-exist) park-specific Friends Groups.

The purpose of these groups will be to gather information about the way the community uses the park, the issues and needs of each park and, most importantly, establish a community representative (or two or six or twenty) of that park, acting as a watchdog and persistently (key word) pushing for improvements – whether from the city, the Open Space Alliance (www.openspacealliancenb.org), neighbors, local businesses, grants…

I am volunteering to help set up an initial meeting of what, for now, might be called the United Friends of McCarren Park. We have an opportunity, with this particular Mayor and the promises made regarding the McCarren Park Pool, Ice Skating Rink and SkatePark, to push for real improvements in McCarren Park. We need to make sure we have a unified and coherent voice in the way the park is maintained and plans made for future developments. With the Pool reconstruction underway (design-wise at least) it seems the various user-groups of this potentially wonderful park have a shared purpose. Let’s use it to make the park better.

Among the issues up for discussion are: requesting a comprehensive survey & study of park usage & potential, a status update on the McCarren Pool project, seeing if "comfort stations" adjacent to the pool can be rebuilt first, seeing if the park's wading and spray pool can be running by summer and the fascinating topic of "Fieldhouse 'Comfort Stations'--the most disgusting bathrooms in Brooklyn?" Also up for discussion are benches & paths, gardens & trees, dog runs, a plan to put artificial turf on a paved field next to the park's tennis courts, a plan to study de-mapping Driggs and/or Union Avenue through the park and entertainment programming, which is enough for a 12-hour meeting. The emails says that "Anyone interested in working together to improve McCarren Park is welcome."

Bklink: Seventh Ave. Corner of Death Going Mexican?

The guy at the newsstand next door to the space that was Tempo Presto at Seventh Ave. and Third Street and before that Mojo Cafe and before that....says it's going to be a Mexican restaurant. They are doing renovation work. It looks like they took the bathroom out and are putting in new doors. (Curiously, no permits have been filed for work on this space with the Dept. of Buildings since 1999, so the work must be the cosmetic type that doesn't require DOB permits.)--OTBKB

Dumbo: Rezoning Issue Gets Instantly Hot

We have to say that the issue of rezoning a small part of Dumbo to allow for higher density residential development almost seemed to come out of nowhere. On Tuesday, the Architects Newspaper reported that the Department of City Planning is considering rezoning an area bounded by Bridge Street on the north, John Street on the west, the Manhattan Bridge on the south and Front Street on the east. Yesterday morning, the Dumbo Neighborhood Association had a meeting to announce its own very detailed proposal ahead of City Planning. Our friends at Brownstoner attended that meeting and offered a full report by lunchtime yesterday. The city's idea will be revealed at a closed meeting today. So, in the span of 48 hours, there is not only a proposal that would could result in taller 10-12 story buildings in some places, but a counter proposal from the neighborhood itself. Per a quote in Brownstoner, the neighborhood proposal aims to create "contextual zoning both for historic preservation and new development." The plan was developed in response to a Two Trees proposal to build an 18-story building on the St. Ann's Warehouse site. There is, of course, more detail at the Architect's Newspaper.

Bklink: Fighting the Power

As we've noted many times, the Williamsburg waterfront power plant proposal is still, astoundingly, alive. An obscure state agency called the Siting Board will meet next month to (again) determine its fate. The GWAPP group "urgently needs volunteers in the weeks leading up to the meeting. There are jobs big and small for anyone with some time and energy to contribute (flyers to pass out, phone calls to make, e-mails to send - easy stuff!)...If having a nice big power plant on the waterfront is not your cup of tea, mark your calendars...February 28 at 7:00 p.m. GWAPP will be conducting a brief meeting for interested volunteers."--New York Shitty

New Online Petition to Link the G to Trains at Atlantic Avenue

There's a new online petition to help push an idea to connect the G Train, which stops in Fort Greene near BAM to trains that stop at Atlantic Avenue. The MTA is promising to study whether such a connection between G and the lines at the Atlantic Avenue–Pacific Street subway stations would work, but construction of a pedestrian tunnel could take 5-10 years. The petition pitch says:

Help improve life in Brooklyn and Queens, connect the G train to Atlantic Terminal! The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has promised Councilmember Letitia James this week that it would study what it would take to connect the G line Lafayette Avenue stop with the Atlantic-Pacific station, a move that would simplify commuting for tens of thousands of people. The time is now to tell the MTA that Brooklyn and Queens need this!!!

The petition can be found here.

Brooklinks: Thursday Elvis, Cell Phones & Measles Edtion

Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and images.

Cell Phones & Measles:

• Some Brooklyn Students Getting Cell Phones with Free Minutes For Getting A's [NYT]
• Health Dept. Probing Measles Cases [NYDN]
• Brooklyn Measles Cases Raise Concerns [Sun]

Other Stuff:

• Why Didn't Forest City Ratner Announce Miss Brooklyn Cuts? [AYR]
• Deals by the Dozen Offered in Brooklyn Court to Gambino Members [NYP]
• Bay Ridge Hospital May Close ER [NYDN]
• Carroll Gardens Development Doings [Brownstoner]
• Mystery Solved: Starbucks Was Teaching Baristas to Make Frothier Foam [OTBKB]
• Residential Parking Forum in March [Kensington Brooklyn]
• Pay Phone Pop Quiz [New York Shitty]
• New 14th Street Slope Armory Entrance [Brooklynometry]
• Unsolved Bed-Stuy Mystery [Bed-Stuy Banana]
• Sheepshead Bay's El Greco Diner May Close [GerritsenBeach.Net]
• Local Writers to Talk About Food [ABL]
• Swizzle Going Out with Bang [BHB]
• Checking Out Rustik Tavern [Clinton Hill Blog]

Bklink: Bookish Ambitions

Dig into the some of the people trying to help the Brooklyn Public Library raise money, which is having a kickoff event on March 8. They're hoping to raise $10,000 this year, but only have 21 members so far and "a ways to go." The goal is 300-500 members by the end of the year and "hundreds" at the Library After Dark event.--New York Observer

Upcoming: "Rezoning the Atlantic Yards Footprint"

There's a session this weekend on "Re-Zoning the 'Atlantic Yards' Footprint." It's presented by the Hunter College Center for Community Preservation and Development (CCPD) and sponsored by the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods. Here's what the email says:

What if our community was given a voice in planning redevelopment over and around the Vanderbilt rail yards? What's your vision for our neighborhood' s future? The original UNITY Plan, the community-created alternative to Forest City Ratner's "Atlantic Yards" project, covered only the publicly owned Vanderbilt rail yards.

FCR has since taken control of and blighted or torn down many properties around the rail yards. But now the financing for "Atlantic Yards" is in doubt, even according to the developer - the bond financing for the arena and the affordable housing may not be feasible! What happens next?

Join your neighbors, elected officials and expert planners for a public workshop devoted to creating a community plan for the entire area - now that the global credit crisis threatens to scuttle "Atlantic Yards."

It takes place on Saturday (3/1) from 10AM to 2PM at St. Cyril's Belarusian Cathedral, which is located at 401 Atlantic Avenue (at Bond Street). RSVP to Hunter College CCPD at 212-650-3328 or to ccpd@hunter.cuny.edu.

Bklink: Dollar Bagels

"At Coney Island Bagels in Brooklyn, a plain bagel with nothing on it has reached the one-dollar mark - up from 60 cents last year." This is still cheaper than some bagel places in Manhattan, though, where they're $1.20. Bagels were 30 cents 20 years ago and 50 cents just five years ago.--NYP

Upcoming: Future of Coney Island Panel

There's a panel discussion on "The Future of Coney Island" coming up at the Museum of the City of New York on Wednesday, March 19 at 6:30PM. We found it via the Historic Districts Council Newsstand and the Coney Island Message Board. Here's a bit about it:

Lynn Kelly, President of the CIDC, will present the latest proposal for the area and join a panel discussion moderated by Brad Lander, Director of the Pratt Center for Community Development. Additional panelists include David Gratt, Managing Director, Coney Island USA, Domenic Recchia, representative to the City Council from the 47th District, and Chuck Reichenthal, District Manager of Community Board 13. Reservations required. $9 for non-members, $5 for Museum members, seniors & students...Museum of the City of New York. 1220 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street.

More info and tickets by clicking here.