Mr. J. tries the fare at Governor, the latest dining venue by the folks who brought us Colonie and Gran Electrica. The food at Governor, located at 15 Main Street in DUMBO, elicited a new adjective, SOOO-perb! Afterwards, Mr. J. took the short walk to Pier 1 to catch the opening of this summer’s SyFy Movies With a View series, E.T. (The Extra-Terrestrial). Video after the jump.
Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43686
The 13th annual “Movies With A View” series, sponsored by Syfy, begins its 2012 season this Thursday, July 5, with “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.” DJ Ayres from Brooklyn Radio will kick off the evening at 6 p.m., with the FREE flick beginning at sunset.
The location for “Movies” is the Pier 1 Harbor View Lawn. A bike valet is provided by Transportation Alternatives. The summer series will continue each Thursday through August 30. For the complete schedule, see here.
Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43651
We’ve received word from the office of State Senator Daniel Squadron that the “pop-up-pool” near Pier 2 in Brooklyn Bridge Park will open Friday morning, July 6, at 9:45 a.m. The Senator will be there, along with Park President Regina Myer, Park Conservancy Executive Director Nancy Webster, Assemblywoman Joan Millman, City Council Member Steve Levin and a representative from Borough President Marty Markowitz’s office (evidently Marty, hearing that the pool is only 3’6″ deep, decided to give it a pass).
Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43631
Yesterday morning I took my usual walk along the Promenade and down Squibb Hill to Pier 1, Brooklyn Bridge Park, where I joined the group assembling for the bird tour. Our guide was Carolyn (at left, in green top, in the photo) who began by regretting how hot it was and noting that this meant birds would be harder to find than usual. Nevertheless, our little expedition enjoyed some success. More photos and text after the jump.
We didn’t have to go far before encountering some birds of several kinds, including barn swallows, mockingbirds, a rock pigeon (not as common as before, Carolyn noted, because of the increase in the population of hawks and peregrine falcons in the city) and two different kinds of sparrows. Unfortunately for me and my little point-’n’-shoot camera, by the time I could aim and shoot they were gone.
There was a catbird in here a moment ago, I swear!
Our luck improved as we got near the water.
Here’s a mother mallard and two youngsters paddling past the pilings. Carolyn said the males leave in spring after the ducklings hatch. (No doubt they repair to a place where they can smoke cigars, drink beer, and watch the Stanley Cup playoffs.)
We also saw this gull perched on a piling as kayaks passed.
Another gull was soaring overhead.
A house sparrow glides to a landing.
Here he displays his black breast, marking him as male. House sparrows are an invasive species, brought here for sentimental reasons and because they have a prodigious appetite for insects. The story of how they were brought to New York and of their subsequent conquest of North America is told on a sign at the northwest corner of Hillside Park.
After the tour, Carolyn showed her feather collection.
All in all, not as productive of good photos as the tour I took last year, but very informative, thanks to Carolyn’s considerable knowledge.
This morning, I took an early walk down to Pier 1 and saw lots of birds, including this mockingbird pair perched on a park bench.
Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43362
The Brooklyn Bridge Park “pop-up-pool” as seen from the Promenade Sunday afternoon, is filled with water and evidently ready for swimmers. It’s scheduled to open this week; there’s more information at the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy’s website.
(Photos: Chuck Taylor)
Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43356
The Photoville exhibit located along the uplands of Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 3 from June 22 to July 1, has added a rustic touch to the Brooklyn Heights waterfront. In fact, it makes the former powder blue warehouses that lined the locale look downright charming.
Brooklyn-based art cooperative United Photo Industries’ “photographic village” comprises 30 enervated metal shipping containers offering a “celebration of photography,” alongside exhibitions, lectures, hands-on workshops, nighttime projections, a mini dog run and beer garden.
A look down from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, however, reveals a scene that looks more like the remains of Kurt Russell’s apocalyptic 1981 film “Escape from New York.”
RELATED: TK Small Gets Results: Exhibit Made More Accessible
The Photoville website describes its mission as “a Brooklyn-born, art-presenting cooperative dedicated to identifying, harnessing and occasionally conjuring unexpected exhibition opportunities. All in the name of fostering conversation, championing new directions in photography and cultivating ties within an ever-expanding, globe-trotting community of photographers.”
(Photos: Chuck Taylor)
Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43300
Yesterday (Wednesday) evening the Fieldhouse road show continued in Willowtown, at a meeting arranged by the Willowtown Association and hosted by their President, Ben Bankson. The opening presentation was similar to that at St. Francis on Monday, except that Fieldhouse Executive Director Greg Brooks stressed even more–no doubt anticipating the questions he knew would come–that this was a meeting to hear concerns and get information from the community, not to offer answers. Also, the design portion of the presentation was handled by Jean Phifer (photo) of Thomas Phifer and Partners, instead of Greg Smith, of that firm.
Kate Collignon, of consultant HR&A Advisors, Inc., fielded the first volley of questions. The opening question was, what is the expected daily usage of the Fieldhouse? Ms. Collignon said there is no specific expectation at present; this will have to await information from local schools and other community organizations about their needs and desires. The next question was: How, then, can projections of traffic be made for the supplemental Environmental Impact Statement without full information about usage? Joralemon Street resident Frank Ciaccio said the issue of transportation needed to be addressed first. Others quickly seconded this, some noting that Joralemon between Hicks and Furman is already overburdened with auto (especially livery cab) traffic seeking a shortcut to the BQE. There was general agreement that the best solution to this problem was to block entrance to Furman Street from Joralemon. It was suggested that this could be done with retractable bollards that could be lowered to allow passage of emergency vehicles when needed. However, this would require assent of the City’s Department of Transportation, as well, perhaps, of other agencies.
Parking was also a concern. Some residents noted that parking in Willowtown had become more difficult since the playground on Pier 6 had opened, and anticipated its being much worse with the Fieldhouse. Ms. Collignon noted that one of the ways to encourage people to use mass transit instead of cars was to provide jitney service from nearby subway stations. Mr. Ciaccio suggested opening a tunnel from the Clark Street subway platform to Furman Street, which he said could be done at minimal cost.
One resident, noting Ms. Phifer’s emphasis on the lightness of her firm’s buildings, said she had spent a winter fostering a family of abandoned dogs in the the then derelict area where the Fieldhouse is to be constructed. She said the winter time she spent there showed the site to be extremely cold and windy, and she hoped that the architects, who were proud of their “light” buildings, would design something strong enough to withstand the weather. Ms. Phifer assured her that they would.
Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43232
The possibility of a permanent 9,000 square foot floating pool in Brooklyn Bridge Park is being floated by a design firm that appears to be making strides amid a tenacious engineering, environmental and bureaucratic process. In an ideal world, the project, deemed “+Pool,” could become reality by Summer 2015. BHB first reported the project last June (link includes video). Mind you, this is a far cry from the 3-1/2-foot temp pool opening this summer at BBP’s Pier 2.
The +Pool would be designed as four pools in one: with children’s, sports, lap and lounge pools. Each can be used independently or combined to form an Olympic-length lap pool, or opened completely into a fully open 9,000 square foot pool.
Behind the ambitious feat are designers Dong-Ping Wong of Family Architects and Archie Lee Coates IV and Jeffrey Franklin of PlayLab. According to their website, “After we test and prove the filtration, we’ll go through the long and arduous process of getting required city and state approvals.” The project was launched with the ideal of improving use “of the city’s natural resources by providing a clean and safe way for the public to swim in New York’s waters,” they add.
Curbed reports in an interview with Dong-Ping Wong that among the challenges ahead: Traffic in the river causes waves that could move the pool around, so the team must figure out whether tethers will allow it to glide up and down. In addition, +Pool’s design filters river water through the its walls “like a giant strainer dropped into the river,” so it would remove bacteria, contaminants and odors, leaving only safe and swimmable water that meets city, state and federal standards of quality. The pool would be the first of its kind.
Permits, meanwhile, could take anywhere from six months to a year-and-a-half, while +Pool also needs additional funding from investors and the public (via Kickstarter).
(Photo: +Pool)
Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43160
This Saturday, June 30, Audubon New York aficionados will guide “birders” and bird enthusiasts on a walk through Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 1. The educators will teach attendees how to spot and identify common and popular NYC feathered friends. The event takes place from 10-11 a.m., and is free to all enthusiasts. More information is here. A second bird-watching tour will gather Saturday, August 18.
Last year, BHB’s Claude Scales went on a similar bird tour of Pier 1; his report, with photos, is here.
Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43059
At yesterday evening’s meeting at St. Francis College, New York City Fieldhouse, Inc.’s Executive Director, Greg Brooks (photo) said the project is in its early planning stage, and that the organization’s goal is to “meet public demand.” He said inquiries had revealed strong demand for indoor recreational facilities from area residents, community groups, and schools (the last was later seconded by Dr. Larry Weiss, Head of School at Brooklyn Friends). Mr. Brooks noted concerns about transportation and traffic, and said that an environmental impact statement would have to be prepared and filed.
Gabe Smith, of Thomas Phifer and Partners, the architectural firm retained to design the facility, said the goal was for the facility to be as environmentally and site sensitive as possible. He noted that, in addition to providing a facility for track cycling (Mr. Brooks had earlier noted that this would be only the second such indoor facility in the U.S., the other being at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles) and facilities for other sports and recreational activities, the agreement with Brooklyn Bridge Park povides that it must also provide a maintenance facility for the Park and restrooms for park visitors as well as for those using the Fieldhouse. The maximum footprint for the Fieldhouse is 115,000 square feet, but the designers’ intent is to make it as small as possible, consistent with the need to include the bicycle track. It is possible that the maintenance facility and the Fileldhouse may entirely or partially occupy the same space. Tony Manheim, a longtime park supporter who was in attendance, suggested that space could be saved by placing part of the Fieldhouse under the slope of the berm that is to be constructed to shield the Park from noise from the BQE. He also said that the Fieldhouse itself could add to the noise abatement, and that federal funds may be available to defray some of its cost because of that.
Representative of cycle clubs present at the meeting said they had polled their members and found that all were willing to pay a fee to use the velodrome track. The question was raised whether the Fieldhouse as a whole would be operated on a membership basis, so that all using the facilities would have to pay a fee. Mr. Brooks said this was not likely.
There will be another meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) evening in Willowtown to discuss the Fieldhouse project.
Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43010