Sweep Out Litter in PLG This Saturday, April 30

An informal group of PLG neighbors is organizing a neighborhood-wide clean-up this Saturday, April 30, from 11 am to 3 pm. It'll happen rain or shine (hopefully shine). Meet at the corner of Midwood and Flatbush for the meet and greet, and you may want to bring a broom or dustpan.

 

 

Traffic Calming at Ocean / Parkside Getting Attention?

The dangerous driving at the Ocean/Parkside intersection near the entrance to Prospect Park - long a concern of this blog (and apparently always the case, see photo) - may finally be getting the attention that it deserves. After friend-of-Hawthorne-Street Madeline Fix-Hansen's mother was hit by a car crossing the street, Madeline started a petition (sign it, please) to make the intersection safer and people are taking notice.

WPIX covered the problems with the intersection last Thursday and posted the story online. In it, the reporter and Councilman Mathieu Eugene recreated Carrie's perilous trip across the street and - just like Carrie - were nearly run down for their troubles. In fact, WPIX used a clip of Carrie's video, though Carrie was identified as Madeline in the story.

I assume that WPIX was tipped to the story by this article in The Brooklyn Paper, which gives a pretty good recap of the dangers of the intersection and the efforts made by Carrie and Madeline to make it safer including a reference to the calming plan that Carrie (via PLG Public Works) presented to public officials back in 2009.

If you want to join us in letting the city know that you are concerned, Councilman Eugene and Department of Transportation officials are holding a safety forum at Calvary Pentecostal Church (151 Woodruff Ave. at Kenmore Place) on May 3 at 7 pm.

Photo credit: Brooklyn Eagle, 1937 via the Brooklyn Public Library archives.
Hat tip to The Q at Parkside for noticing all the recent activity on the issue.

Parkside / Calendonian Development Has Begun

This morning's Wall Street Journal reports that initial demolition of the former Caledonian Hospital is underway and that construction on a 270 unit building - mixed condo/rental - will soon begin.

The developer of the property at 100 Parkside, Joseph Chetrit, is one of the owners of the Sears Tower in Chicago and involved in some very large development projects in New York as well. According to Karl Fischer, the project architect, "The rental units may come on the market ... within a year."

In walking past in recent weeks, I've seen lights on and evidence of activity inside the current building. I hope that this means that the building was being prepared for demolition but - given the time that I was walking by - I suspect that it means that there are squatters in the building. I hope that if there are squatters, the new development isn't impeded too greatly. It will be nice to have an occupied apartment building and the activity it would bring to that stretch of Parkside; it is creepy to walk past a large, charmless, vacant building late at night.

Thanks, Sam.

Trees!

It took a while but Hawthorne is now a fully tree-lined street. Thanks to the Million Trees Project, at least 8 new trees (I haven't completed my census) were planted on Friday morning. I didn't do a survey of the types of trees we got but I do know that the two on the north side of the street just off of Flatbush (seen here) are willow oaks.

I am happy that we have trees. My son is happy that there is mulch to get dirty in. And he was even happier that he got to watch the Dragonetti Brothers' front-end loader (see below) scoop and drop dirt for a few minutes.

Note: Anyone who references a certain novel by Betty Smith in the comments will be permanently banned for predictability.

Ocean-on-the-Park Updates Their Sign

PLOG spotted a new sign on the Ocean on the Park condos in the Ocean on the Park historic district. I won't swipe their traffic by swiping their image so head over there to check it out.

PLOG says that the old sign was in violation because they didn't get a permit to hang it, which makes me wonder... how is their new "sign" legal?

New Cafe Coming to Flatbush Avenue

Looks like PLG is getting a new eatery: Cafe Pomidor, headquartered at 721 Flushing Avenue in Brooklyn, has hung its sign on a commercial space on the corner of Flatbush and Midwood.

According to the sign, the "casual fast food eatery" will offer "a variety of healthy soups, wraps, sandwiches, and a salad bar with an abundant selection of fresh vegetables."

Apparently, owners of the company are planning to build it into a chain of "organic sandwich, salad bar cafe eateries." A blurb I found online mentions "soups, hand-crafted muffins, and variety of other pastries which are baked fresh daily." The blurb has an aspirational ring to it, though, and the web site isn't up, so who knows. 

(Thanks, Mindy!)

Thursday April 14: Pant-Hoot Comedy returns to Lincoln Park Tavern

This coming Thursday marks the return of Pant-Hoot Comedy to Lincoln Park Tavern. If you missed the last show, you don't want to make the same mistake twice (right, commenters?).

Going forward, the show will always be on the second Thursday of the month so you can put it in your calendars in pen.  I'll continue to remind you here, but you should consider that a backup plan and stick with writing in your own calendars.

Matt McCarthy (Comedy Central's Live at Gotham and John Oliver's New York; Montreal Just For Laughs Comedy Festival)

Lisa Delarios (Comedy Central's Live at Gotham; HBO Aspen Comedy Festival)

Ritch Duncan (Author of The Werewolf's Guide to Life: A Manual for the Newly Bitten)

Gilad Foss (Gotham Comedy Club)

George Gordon (Bridgetown Comedy Festival)

Hosted by Charles Star (Bridgetown Comedy Festival, host of Adult Education)

Pant-Hoot Comedy
Lincoln Park Tavern
49 Lincoln Road
8:30 PM
Free!

Ocean on the Park, Coopted

The saga of 185 Ocean has taken its latest twist, as the building has announced - like all modern construction must - that it has a name. And what is the name? "Ocean on the Park". I feel like I've heard that name before.

That's right. The decidedly ahistorical development that replaced a frame house and sits in the middle of a row of historic brownstones has named itself after the recently-approved historic district.

Of course, this is in keeping with the development tradition of naming a planned community after whatever species of tree or animal had to be destroyed to make way for the new building.

Thanks to Bob Marvin for the tip and the photo.

Affordable Housing Slated for PLG

A new city program that converts stalled construction projects into affordable housing units will get its start with a building in our fair neighborhood. That building, 382 Lefferts Avenue (between Nostrand and New York), was one of many casualties of the real estate bust. But under the new plan, the former condo development will be transformed into 46 rental apartments for middle-income households: 5 studio apartments, 28 one bedrooms, and 13 two-bedroom units.

City officials, under the Housing Asset Renewal Program, gave developer Tali Realty LLC a $2.9 million subsidy in order to secure the affordable units. Those units will be set aside for single persons with incomes under $55,000 per year year and families of four with incomes under $79,200. (These numbers are based on the Area Median Income. Never mind that $55,000 for one person would make him much wealthier than four people sharing $79,200. I'm sure this makes sense.)

The project is expected to be completed in 2013. There's no word yet on what the rents will be but, assuming they're comparable to other subsidized units in the city, they'll be low enough to be highly desirable.

More info:
Deal on Stalled Condo Project Is First Under a City Program (NY Times)
NYC Housing and Preservation Development press release

CORRECTION: Thanks to Babs for pointing out (see comments) that the top photo is not the site in question but is actually across the street.

Tonight: Adult Education at Union Hall

I'm a little late in posting this, obviously, but I am hosting a great show at Union Hall in Park Slope.

Adult Education, a monthly lecture series run by the Hawthorne Street crew and our Park Slope comrade Jim Hanas, is discussing the Cuisines of the World. I think you should come. If you don't trust me, do you trust The New Yorker? They think you should come also.

ADULT EDUCATION PRESENTS: "Cuisines of the World"
Tuesday, April 5, 2011 - 8 pm (doors at 7:30)
Union Hall in Park Slope
702 Union St. @ 5th Ave
$5 cover (buy tickets online here)

ROBERT REID, "Defining the Sandwich: A Survey in Truth"
Robert Reid considers this humble foodstuff—from its murky origins among celebratory, starved Trojans and its mocked namesake, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, to recent court cases debating what it means to be a sandwich.

CAITLIN MACRAE, "Andre and the Egg"
MacRae explores the impact of brunch on society at large, tackles the nuances of kitchen Spanish, and examines the fine art of crying in a walk-in fridge.

C.A.B. FREDERICKS, "Californian Cuisine"
Fredericks explains how the Donner Party ate (their way into our) hearts.

THE CONFINED NOMAD, "Eating the UN, A-Z, Without Leaving NYC"
Kara Van Malssen, James Power, and David Cianci share methods for finding cuisines from forgotten and unknown corners of the globe, all within the five boroughs (and maybe New Jersey).