In other L-train news, Wired took a look at “The Dreamers of the L-Train Shutdown,” noting how the impending L-pocalypse has really spurred some quixotic creativity in New York, inspiring such proposals as gondolas, pontoon bridges, and inflatable bridges.
Meanwhile, the Village Voice asked, “Is the Rest of the Subway Ready for the L-Train Shutdown?” focusing on the impact that service changes will have on our beloved G train. For example, “No station illustrates the scale of the challenge, or raises questions about whether the MTA is doing enough to mitigate the impact of its own planned work, better than Court Square in Long Island City, where internal MTA documents warn that corridors could be “crush-loaded” once erstwhile L riders crowd onto the G.” Get ready for the crush, Greenpoint. Continue reading →
The pace of change is swift here in the city, what with permits for new developments constantly being filed (like these for 85 and 87 Calyer Street), but this week, area residents are remembering the bygone gems of the early aughts, like Monkeytown, the performing arts paradise which began in a loft space at 222 Leonard street in 2003. (For those looking to relive the glory, Monkeytown may make an appearance in Mexico City later this year.)
Dealice Fuller at the CB1 meeting on November 14, 2017
As we mentioned last month, the regular CB1 meetings are a great opportunity to support our local community (or at least know what the hell’s going on around here) from the comfort of your own couch—so make some popcorn, throw back a few beers and throw on the livestream. Between committed neighborhood busy-bodies, awkward and often inane comments from the peanut gallery, and Dealice Fuller’s formidable facial expressions, the CB1 meetings are thoroughly entertaining. You can watch last night’s meeting (11/14) in full, here on YouTube. The agenda can be viewed as a PDF here. The next CB1 meeting will be held on December 5th at the Swingin’ 60s Senior Center (211 Ainslie Street) at 6pm, and will also be livestreamed via Thirteen.
Here are the highlights:
Neighbors are concerned that the crowds from Painting Lounge (309 Roebling Street) could be a boon for “drug peddling and mayhem,” and that perhaps applying for a liquor license is a clever way for the humble-seeming business to disguise its true motive of actually operating as a bar. Others brought up that there are already two liquor stores nearby, and, citing prohibition, questioned whether the community is being too harsh: “Is this 2017 or is this 1917?” And:“Am I in some lala land where this quiet little place where women come and paint is the thing that’s gonna wreck a whole community?” A motion was passed to recommend denial on the lounge’s application for a beer and wine license.
The question was brought up and not resolved… Should CB1 be recommending name changes to businesses with potentially offensive names?Xixa (241 S 4th St) is Yiddish for a non-Jewish woman, Traif (229 S 4th St) refers to non-Kosher food, and now there’s Greenpoint newcomer Ramen Mafia (opening at 208 Franklin Street).
A rendering for the Pfzier Rezoning Plan, via NewYorkYimby
Yesterday, when Joe Rickets, the billionaire founder of TD Ameritrade, who owned DNAinfo and Gothamist shut down those sites – putting 115 people out of work – following the reporters’ vote to unionize, we got another reminder of how easily a powerful individual can wantonly affect the lives of so many people according to his whims.
Powerful business interests have been flexing their muscles here in Greenpoint, too. Both the waterfront development firm Greenpoint Landing Associates, and the pharmaceutical conglomerate Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) scored some good press this week by making grants to the local community. Greenpoint Landing Associates donated $250,000 to the Greenpoint YMCA (99 Meserole Ave) to renovate the gym, fitness room and spin center. PhRMA pledged $2,000 to P.S. 34 Oliver H. Perry Elementary to support the school’s science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs. Continue reading →
Dealice Fuller, throwing some full on Maya Rudolph level sass.
The monthly Community Board 1 meetings are highly entertaining if you have even a passing interest in local goings-on, and as we’ve previously reported, if you don’t want to attend in person you can watch them from the comfort of your own home livestreamed via public channel Thirteen on YouTube. At the meetings, you get to find out who’s applying for liquor licenses, which block association has beef with which developer, and watch bright-eyed millenials with new business ideas get torn a new one (pass the popcorn). One of the most enjoyable parts of watching the livestream of the CB1 meeting is the closeups on chairperson Dealice Fuller’s face—this woman does not play. She’s badass and amazing. You can watch last night’s meeting in full here.
Here are the highlights from last night’s meeting (which ran over by about an hour): Continue reading →
An ongoing study by Columbia University’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, in collaboration with the local community organization Neighbors Allied for Good Growth, has been testing Greenpoint’s soil for lead. Since this spring, the Columbia team has analyzed 264 soil samples from 52 neighborhood backyards. Their preliminary results show that 92% of Greenpoint backyards have soil with lead concentrations that exceed what the EPA considers safe for residential soil. Some of the soil samples exceed that mark by 7 or 8 times the safety limit — which makes them more adulterated than soil found in some polluted Peruvian mining communities. Continue reading →
And that’s not the only wild feat in the news this week. Christopher Swain, an activist swimmer who has already plunged into the Gowanus Canal and Newtown Creek, swam the East River last Thursday from Greenpoint to Brooklyn Bridge Park in order raise awareness for the global refugee crisis. He took off from Greenpoint’s India Street Ferry Dock, and finished his journey at Pier 5 in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Continue reading →
The end of the old Kosciuszko Bridge. Via Brooklyn Paper
So far this summer, New Yorkers have reacted to the demolition of the Old Kosciuszko Bridge in a variety of expressive ways. There were the illicit parties held on the Bridge ahead of the scheduled July demolition, and the group of urban vigilantes ready to defend the bridge from demise with wolves and swords.
The city itself decided on a more muted end to the 1939 span that crosses Newtown Creek, connecting Greenpoint to Maspeth, Queens, than these events, or even the Bridge’s namesake, Tadeusz Kościuszko, a Revolutionary hero in both Poland and the United States, might warrant. Instead of the scheduled July explosion, the main span of the bridge was lowered onto a barge in Newtown Creek.
The suspect in the fatal stabbing of Greenpoint resident George Carroll, Gary Correa, was apprehended today after being on the run for the past few weeks. The victim’s fund on gofundme has climbed to nearly $23,000, with the community rallying support.
Cops on Thursday arrested a teen wanted in the murder of a Brooklyn man who was stabbed in front of his wife — and they busted him right near the crime scene, according to police sources.
Gary Correa, 19, had been on the run from police for more than a week, but seems to have been hiding in plain sight — he was caught just blocks from where Greenpoint man George Carroll was knifed outside McGolrick Park on Aug. 18, sources said.
Correa, who lives at the nearby Bushwick Houses, allegedly stabbed the 42-year-old actor after they crossed paths on Monitor Street near Driggs Avenue that night.
Carroll and his wife, Christina Romero Carroll, 41, were walking home when the husband made eye contact with two men standing on a stoop.
“What are you looking at?” one of the men said, according to Christina, who said her husband shot back: “I’m lookin’.”
More words were exchanged before the men chased Carroll down the street, and he was stabbed in the left side of his chest.
Witnesses later identified Correa as the knifeman, according to police.
The 19-year-old has 13 prior arrests, including grand larceny, armed robbery, burglary and criminal possession of marijuana, according to police sources.
Do you feel like things have been pretty quacked in Greenpoint this week? You’re not wrong. On Monday night, a leashed duck boarded the G Train, and as you can see from the video, he was not too pleased to be there.
