Brookspring: Court Street Blooming

Court Street, Cobble Hill

South Brooklyn Neighborhood Alliance is Offiical

The South Brooklyn Neighborhood Alliance--whose formation we noted in an exclusive report here on March 5 and whose name and status we updated last Thursday--has officially announced itself. It involves groups from Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill and Red Hook's Columbia Waterfront District. A press release from SoBNA went out last night and it has a temporary website here. The release says it has been:

created to introduce community-based planning. The primary goal of the SoBNA is to build sound neighborhoods through community-based planning that engages the residents, small businesses, elected officials, city government and developers. We are committed to supporting the unique character of each of our neighborhoods, enhancing the quality of life for our residents through cooperative planning for much needed mixed-use development. It is our goal to advocate for our communities through civic involvement, education and community building.

Groups that a members of SoBNA are: Baltic & Warren Neighbors, Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association, Inc., Cobble Hill Association, Columbia Waterfront Neighborhood Association, Committee for the Historic Integrity of Cobble Hill, CORD, South Brooklyn Local Development Corporation, Union Sackett Block Association and Warren Street Block Association. Two Gowanus groups--Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus and Friends of Bond--are absent from list. A local activist we spoke with on Saturday told us the new Alliance intends to be politically active and wants to make it presence felt in the 2009 local elections. The group may be particularly active in rezoning issues. It will be interesting to watch, as some of the groups have been involved in community activism about some of the most controversial developments and issues in neighborhoods such as Carroll Gardens and Gowanus and do not always see eye-to-eye on them.

Bklink: Remembering the Dry Cleaner

Probably no neighborhood dry cleaner in Brooklyn has closed with more public notice and mourning than Trusting Cleaners on Court Street. The shop closed on March 15 and today about 250 people are expected for a farewell party at the Kane Street Synagogue. The Oh family was in business for 25 years. They had to close because the landlord jacked up the rent from $2,500 per month to $6,000, which a representative of the property owner called "a good offer." The Ohs operated the shop for about 12 hours a day, six days a week. They will be missed by many people. It is safe to say the landlord is not much loved in the neighborhood.--NYT; previous GL Coverage

Bklink: Strong Place Church

Visible work is finally picking up on the conversion of Cobble Hill's 156-year-old Strong Place Church, whose interior we visited before the start of work. "The structure—which has long reminded me of a bombed-out ruin you might find in postwar Dresden—has very visibly been getting the fresh starts of a roof in recent weeks. It looks like Baxt Ingui's January promise that work 'will pick up significantly' is coming true.--Lost City

Signs of Spring: Cobble Hill Edition

Another tree starts to bloom.

Upcoming: Gabriel Cohen at BookCourt Tonight

Local writer Gabriel Cohen, who is a wonderful person and whose work we admire, is doing a reading and presentation tonight (3/11) at BookCourt in Cobble Hilll. He will be presenting the third book he's published in the last year, Storms Can't Hurt the Sky: The Buddhist Path through Divorce. It's a very personal story about his divorce and how Buddhism helped him through the experience. Mr. Cohen has previous written very good Brooklyn-based fiction. If you're not familiar with his work, check it out here. The reading is free and BookCourt is located at 163 Court St near Dean Street in Cobble Hill.

Community Saying Good Bye to Court St. Cleaners

How often does a neighborhood throw a party to say thank you when a business closes? Well, Cobble Hill is throwing one for Trusting Cleaners, the beloved dry cleaners on Court Street who are being forced out because of rising rent and a landlord that has ignored neighborhood pleas, a petition and entreaties from local politicians. The window of Trusting Cleaners on Court Street is currently filled with news clips about the sad story and thank yous from the owners. The cleaners are closing on March 15. Here's an email that's making the rounds via the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association:

Trusting Cleaners, a mom and pop shop on Court Street is being forced to close... a victim of rising rents. The neighbors and I are planning a farewell party for the Oh's, the owners of the business. We wanted to collect money to give them a gift, but they said they would prefer not to have gifts; just dry cleaning in their final weeks. If you need clothes cleaned or need minor alterations; please support this business in the final weeks. Please remember, clothes must be picked up by March 15. On Sunday, March 30, from 3-5 pm we will have a neighborhood gathering to salute these nice people at Sam's Restaurant on Court Street.

Anyone interested in attending the goodbye party for some business people who've both cleaned some clothes and touched some hearts, can email lblyer (at) aol (dot) com.

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

Bklink: Blogger's Rat-Squirrel House Story Spreads

The Rat-Squirrel House of Cobble Hill is one of those stories that you know is going to have legs: a decrepit house amidst valuable property with a possible eccentric person living inside with rodents. Come on, you know it's going to show up on TV and in a couple of papers. The real question is: will anyone credit the blog that brought the story to everyone's attention?--Lost City

Amity Street Development Wide Open

When last we heard about the 110 Amity Street development, the developer had sent out an email saying that they were going back to the drawing board to redesign the project so that it would be more in line with the community's wishes. There had been objections a number of elements of the project, most notably the "mews" design for new townhouses that would be built. Our Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill correspondent past by the development and reported that the "gate was open and there were no workers" on two passes by the site an hour apart. Work has been going on to clear the interior of the 1903 building on the site.

Bklink: Crazy TJ's Rumors Make the Rounds

There are conflicting reports about the status of the Trader Joe's at Atlantic Avenue and Court Street. One the one hand, it may be dead, per a comment on the Cobble Hill Blog: "I work for TJ’s at 14th st store and we were officlally told the store is not coming. Management could not agree with the terms by Two Trees. We heard it was bad.. Management is looking for another location in Brooklyn, maybe around Red Hook area." On the other hand, it may be opening in Spring, per a comment left on McBrooklyn. Time will tell.

Bklink: We Want Our TJ's

What people want to know is, what's up with the Trader Joe's that's supposed to open at Atlantic and Court? "Ah! The steel drums, the calypso dancers… Marty! That was the dreamy scene SIX MONTHS ago when a friggin PARADE announced that Trader Joe’s would open at the corner of Atlantic and Court.. you know in that old bank building. Well here we sit and still — NOTHIN’!--Cobble Hill Blog

Amity Street Developers Go Back to the Drawing Board

The CEO and Chairman of 110 Amity Street developer Time Equities says that the firm is going back to the drawing board to "re-conceive the project." The Cobble Hill development, which would put an addition atop a 1903 building and would have added townhouses on vacant land in a "mews" setting, got a cold reception from some residents and from the Landmarks Preservation Commission. (Our friends at Brownstoner have dubbed the proposal the "Amity Street Horror.") In any case, Francis Greenburger, Time Equities CEO and Chairman left a comment on a GL post that we believe is worthy of its own post:

Time Equities and its partner Lucky Boy do not want to present a project that does not have community support. We thought the mews approach did because it was supported verbally and in writing by a number of community residents and local architects based on meetings we held in November and December. The mews design was also recommended for approval by the Landmarks staff who reviewed the plan.

It may be that some community members who took issue with the mews did not attend these meetings. The benefit of the Landmark process is that it gives all stakeholders a chance to be heard. Several concerns that arose at the meetings led to changes.

We value feedback from the community and the commission and will continue to address concerns, such as those that arose in the early meetings which led to design revisions of the Henry Street façade of the new townhouse.

At this point, we will re-conceive the project in a traditional street wall approach and try to present a plan that is responsive to the input received at the most recent Landmark hearing. As we did last time, we will reach out to the community and Landmark staff prior to presenting the final concept to the commission.

The same email was sent to Lost City and, we suspect, will appear on other blogs later in the day as well. It will be interesting to see the developer's new plans.

Brooklyn As Amsterdam: Here's the BQE Canal

An amusing image of the depressed portion of the BQE running through Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill as reimagined by thisoldhaus.

Words of Encouragement for Cobble Hill

Our special Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill Correspondent found these "It's OK. You're Okay" signs with words of encouragement on the Cobble Hill part of the beat. Detail of the "Don't Give Up" tear-offs below.

Battle of Amity Street Begins

[All photos courtesy of a special GL Correspondent]

Yesterday morning, an email went out with a number of renderings of the building proposed for 110 Amity Street (Amity and Henry) in Cobble Hill. The email said, in part:

The local community is vehemently opposed to this development that changes the block structure around to create a gated community shoe-horned into the block only to maximize profit. They call it a "mews". The plans will be submitted to CB6 January 3 at 6pm at 250 Baltic Street. Please circulate this and tell everyone you know. Please come if you are able to. Following this meeting, the project is scheduled to be presented for approval at the Landmarks Preservation Commission on January 8 (time to be specified).

Back in December, Brownstoner called it a possible "Amity Street Horror." The developer, Time Equities, would put an addition atop an historic 1903 building and build six very large "town houses" next door. Chances on this one getting through unscathed or not causing deep bitterness in the community: Zero.

Bklink: Strong Place Church Conversion, Updated

Early last year, the Strong Place Church conversion to condos got under way. Work is going forward, albeit slowly. "The conversion’s protracted construction schedule probably has a lot to with the developer’s pledge to be extremely preservation-conscious, though we’re wondering how it’s sitting with nearby residents."--Brownstoner

Henry St. Mystery: G&D Gone & Deli Vacant, So What's Coming?

The special correspondent who sent the photo of G&D Television on Henry Street we posted yesterday, went for another look and sent the photos here and filed this report:

Walked past G&D (329 Henry), just a minute ago, and it is indeed empty as is my little deli with the cat. Completely stripped and bare with wide plank flooring. Someone at 329 Henry confirmed the vacate and the deli owners (331 Henry) did take the cat with them. Those plastic signs with the rick-rack trim, red plastic letters and corrugated back are so few and far between these days. I recall M&R Bar on Elizabeth Street in SoHo had one made at a Chinatown place that still had the materials. M&R Bar was a new place trying to look old.

Which brings us to the question of what might be going into these two adjacent storefronts. Perhaps as our correspondent suggested, the sign will stay and it will become G&D Television Wine Bar.

Bklink: Slow (Trader) Jonesing

One best not start counting on buying their favorite Trader Jones products at Atlantic and Court Street anytime soon. A look inside reveals no rush to get the new store open.--Racked

Brookyule #1: Court Street Window

Court Street, Brooklyn
[Photo courtesy of a GL friend]