Jane's Carousel Still Doesn't Have a Home in Park

The story of the wonderful carousel painstakingly restored by Jane Walentas in Dumbo is an odd one, given how hard she and her husband David have been trying to secure a place for it in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The Walentases have covered the cost of restoration and have contracted with Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel to design a pavilion for it. They would pay to have the structure built. Yet, the Park hasn't committed to space for it and apparently won't right now. NY Magazine's Intelligencer reports:

Regina Myer, new president of the park-development authority, calls the carousel “awe-inspiring.” But her priority, she says, is to get park-infrastructure construction up to speed after years of dithering. Which means the carousel and its pavilion will just have to wait, Pritzker or not. And so the carousel still sits behind a padlocked gate in a former spice warehouse in Dumbo, awaiting its fate. “I wake up every morning and ask myself, ‘How do we get the powers that be to get off their dime?’ ” Jane says. “We’re tired and a little worn down.” And she worries that if the current state of limbo stretches too long, this prospective jewel of the park may eventually end up elsewhere. “There’s a guy in Dubai who wants to buy the carousel,” she says. “I guess they have children there, too.”

For the time being, the carousel is housed in a former warehouse building on Water Street in Dumbo.

Empire State Development Corp's Patrick Foye Resigns

Interestingly, one of the first personnel changes in the aftermath of the transition from Eliot Spitzer to David Paterson in Albany was that of Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) Chairman Pat Foye, who was a friend of the departed governor. Norman Oder of AYR took a look at the sudden departure (on Friday it had been reported that Foye would be staying on the job) and wrote:

What does that mean to Atlantic Yards, shepherded by the ESDC? Were new Governor David Paterson undecided about AY, the transition to a new chairperson, who'd have to get up to speed on pending projects, might be thought to slow things down. But Paterson told the Daily News he'll continue support for Atlantic Yards. That suggests that work from the ESDC--contractual wrangling, legal strategy, site supervision--can continue without a chairman and, given delays in the project and emerging doubts from Crain's New York Business, leadership from the top may not be crucial at this point.

Crain's, by the way, put the odds of Atlantic Yards going ahead at 50-50.

Bklink: On the Waterfront

Have a look at some cool photos of the Brooklyn Heights waterfront and some relics here and there of another era. There's some detail of National Cold Storage on Furman Street. There's a reminder of the New York Dock Company from 1917. And, of course, the Dept. of Sanitation's Encumbrance Depot.--Fading Ad Blog

Brooklyn Bridge Park Demolition Starts

The Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy sent out an email blast yesterday afternoon with this photo and the title "Brooklyn Bridge Park is on the Move!" Pre-demolition work has been ongoing for weeks, with a lot of trees on the property being cut down and other site clearance activity going on. This is Pier One coming down.