New York magazine and design periodical Dwell are co-sponsoring the City Modern Brooklyn Home Tour, with five renovated homes in Boerum Hill and Brooklyn Heights, on Sunday, October 7. The starting point is modular design retailer Module R, 141 Atlantic Avenue (between Clinton and Henry).
For more information, see the Brooklyn Heights Blog here. (Photo: Peter Aaron/OTTO)
Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/7836
The ever-entertaining end-of-summer Atlantic Antic—which brings madness, music and playful mayhem to a 10-block stretch of Atlantic Avenue, bordering Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill—will convene Sunday, September 30, noon to 6 p.m.
Sponsored by the Atlantic Avenue Local Development Corporation, it offers 500+ retailers and pop-up shops pawning goodies, food, dancing, family fun and more, between Hicks Street & Fourth Avenue. Read all about it on the Brooklyn Heights Blog here.
(Photos: Chuck Taylor)
Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/7801
The adult child inside me has always believed that Legos are the coolest toy ever invented, allowing limitless imagination… as long as those pesky kits are avoided. That was the idea behind New York artist and sculptor Jonathan Lopes’ recreation of his Boerum Hill neighborhood as a small-scale replica using nothing but Legos, which is featured on Apartment Therapy. Cool!
This isn’t Lopes’ first Lego replica. The New York Daily News profiled the guy last year after he spent four years and used about half a million bricks to build a detailed train scene that takes up 400 square feet of his living room. He also built a replica of the Williamsburg Savings Bank, 4 feet tall, out of 12,000 Lego bricks.
His Boerum Hill neighborhood comprises buildings that Lopes passes every day, including a flower shop on Hoyt Street and Firehouse Engine 226 on State Street. Every detail of his Lego-land is made entirely with the bricks, including storfront signs. He doesn’t cut or paint the blocks, instead relying on ingenuity to create effects like cracked and peeling paint using blocks with subtly different tones. See his portfolio here.
Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/7793
The Brooklyn Book Festival has announced its comprehensive lineup for the first-ever weeklong series of “Bookend Events” that will take place at venues throughout the borough from September 17 through September 23. The seventh-annual event is presented by Brooklyn Tourism and the Brooklyn Literary Council, initiatives of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, with support from AT&T.
It’s billed as the largest free literary gathering in New York City, with numerous events taking place in Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Fort Greene and Park Slope. See the full schedule here.
Markowitz commented, “Brooklyn has more writers per square inch than almost anywhere else in the country, all contributing to our growing reputation as the epicenter of the literary universe—where authors from across the globe gather each fall for the Brooklyn Book Festival, one of the world’s most prestigious free literary festivals. This year, the Festival expands from four days to an entire week of diverse literary offerings.”
Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/7785
The Atlantic Avenue BID is applying for a city grant with the intention to make the underpass beneath the Brooklyn Queens Expressway more inviting to pedestrians—and to drive more foot traffic between the businesses along Atlantic Avenue and Brooklyn Bridge Park.
According to DNAInfo.com,
the BQE currently creates a divide between Brooklyn Bridge Park and the shopping strip on Atlantic Avenue. Josef Szende, executive director of the Atlantic Avenue BID believes that because of a lack of signage, pedestrians at either location have little knowledge “that there are opportunities on either side of the tunnel.”
Szende adds, “The underside of the BQE is an unpleasant place to be or to walk through. We want pedestrians to feel there’s something interesting or interactive all the way down Atlantic Avenue to Brooklyn Bridge Park.”
To gain funding and support, the Atlantic Avenue BID is applying for an NYC Department of Small Business Services BID Challenge Grant, which would provide $75,000 toward the project. Earlier this month, the BID met with urban designers of Planning Corps, a volunteer group helping non-profits plan and resolve design issues, and to brainstorm ways to make the tunnel under the BQE more interactive, appealing and useful to pedestrians passing through.
Read more here.
Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/7777
Streetwear sneaker brand and skate shoes retailer Supra has leased a shop at 288 Atlantic Avenue near Smith Street in Boerum Hill, according to real estate firm CPEX, which rented the space. Brownstoner reports that the store The Southern Cali-based company also has a store at 4 Prince Street in SoHo. The store flanks nearby Lululemon Athletica, Brooklyn Industries, Brooklyn Tattoo and Brooklyn Heights Bike Shoppe.
Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/7758
Boerum Hill has gotten its own outpost of Park Slope denim destination Rivet, which has opened its new store in a two-room space at 115 Smith Street at the corner of Bergen. The hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Racked reported earlier this month that the vibe is all-American, with exposed brick walls and vintage design objects. Jeans for men and women hang on racks, and are also stored in a shelving unit made up of wooden boxes and accessible by ladder, like a denim library.
The new store carries most of the same labels as the 7th Avenue location: J.Brand, AG, American Vintage, Ben Sherman and LA Made. But, as Racked points out, because it’s twice as big, there’s space for more jewelry (including geometric pieces from In God We Trust) and shoes, leather goods, bags, candles and antiques.
Its Park Slope stores are at 103 7th Ave. and 203 Garfield Place (as Warp and Weft).
Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/7747
A 27,582-square-foot parking lot at 71 Smith Street in Boerum Hill is on the market for a whopping $40 million, according to a story in the New York Observer. The property, between Schermerhorn and State streets, is primed for development, legally permitted to accommodate 206,530sf of residential space and 105,271sf of commercial space.
Nat Rockett, an EVP with Cushman & Wakefield’s Capital Markets Group, which is marketing the property with JRT Realty Group, believes it could be converted into a residential building, hotel or school. He says, “Boerum Hill is one of Brooklyn’s most exciting neighborhoods, and a development at this site is positioned to capitalize on its access to its countless amenities, superior access to transportation and rising population of young professionals.”
The Observer says that according to Streeteasy, comparables in the area for new townhouse and residential space range from $810-$860 per square foot. Rockett expects the land to trade for about $130 per square foot, which would translate into about $40 million. Continue Reading…
Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/7696
Out of the Closet Thrift Store has opened its newest location in Boerum Hill, at 475 Atlantic Avenue. The destination benefits the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Regional Director Adam Ouderkirk tells DNAInfo.com that the shop will work in the community with other AIDS agencies to provide testing, information and treatment in the borough.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation was founded in 1987 by a group of men in Los Angeles who saw their friends dying of AIDS in the streets and in the hallways of hospitals. They wanted to provide a place to die with dignity and sponsored California legislation that enabled creation of the first licensed HIV/AIDS facility for the terminally ill in that state. Today the Foundation is the largest provider of HIV/AIDS medication in the U.S., according to their website. They also provide medicine and advocacy to people in 22 countries.
Out of the Closet was created to benefit the foundation. Community members donate clothing and accessories and for every item sold, 96 cents of each dollar benefits AIDS prevention and advocacy programs and services. There are several branches in San Francisco and Los Angeles, plus stores in Miami, Amsterdam… and now Brooklyn.
Ouderkirk tells DNAInfo, “We want the Brooklyn community to really own the store and feel that its theirs.” There will be free and confidential HIV testing every day in the store, plus a pharmacy that provides HIV medications.
According to Ouderkirk, while the Brooklyn borough has the third-highest AIDS/HIV rates after Manhattan and the Bronx, it also offers the fewest amount of services.
“Brooklyn was an important place for us to be. And being near the Atlantic Terminal, hopefully people from all over Brooklyn will have access to the store and its services.”
The store’s manager is Carlos Cartayas, who is known as “Peanut.” He says, “We have had several boxes of clothes donated from L.A. but none so far from the Brooklyn. I don’t think people know we’re here yet.” To donate, call 718-614-5949 or drop off clothes any weekday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m at 475 Atlantic Avenue.
Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/7638
New York’s City’s highly touted bike share program that included 600 locations in Brooklyn—but blew off Cobble Hill until at least Spring 2013—has been delayed because of what Mayor Bloomberg blames on a computer software glitch.
Boerum Hill was granted one of the CitiBike’s docks, on Fourth Avenue and Dean Street, with accommodations for 27 bikes, which was supposed to be installed in late July. But now the entire project has been stalled because “its software isn’t working yet,” Bloomie told the New York Times City Room blog. In typical flippant fashion, he added, “It’s fascinating. The people who did not want bicycle lanes at all are now screaming, ‘Well, where are they? Where are they? I want them quickly.’”
It’s unclear when the software issues will be resolved; the program’s website assures a start date sometime before the end of the summer. The bike share kiosks, most of which will be based in Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Boerum Hill, Downtown Brooklyn and Brooklyn Heights, include touchscreen monitors allowing riders to pay with credit or debit cards.
Aside from Boerum Hill, the closest bike share locations in the borough are in Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Bed-Stuy.
Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/7612