Cobble Hill resident Carl Foner’s Change.org petition asking J. Crew to set up shop somewhere else and not displace the Pacific Green Gourmet market from 151 Court Street has topped 1300 signatures. Earlier this week Foner wrote to supporters when the list hit 1250:

We’ve reached 1250 signatures!

We’ve reached 1250 signatures so far. Thanks everyone for signing the petition, sharing information, and spreading the word. Thank you also to those who have offered ideas and suggestions. It’s great to see this community coming together to work towards something we care about.

We’ve gotten a lot of good press since the last update: Brooklyn Bugle, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Grub Street, and more. (See our Facebook page for more details.) It’s great to see the story spread.

We’re continuing to press forward. We’ll be sure to keep you up to date with any more news. And feel free to pass along any news you encounter as well.

Thanks again!

Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/8913

According to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Carolyn E. Demarest on Thursday ordered SUNY Downstate to present a full accounting of all LICH property, assets and funds transferred to Downstate, the income derived from the properties, details about the other LICH properties SUNY plans to dispose of and more, no later than August 5.

The Eagle article says “LICH’s money trail is murky at best.” It notes that LICH’s previous owner, Continuum Health Partners, with which SUNY contracted to handle LICH’s billing after the hospital’s sale, has been accused by LICH physicians and staff of failing to bill for many services performed after the sale. Judge Demarest’s order also requires SUNY to account for $15 million it withdrew from a fund last year that was supposed to be used exclusively to pay for LICH’s costs of operation.

In a related development, the Daily News reports that retired New York Supreme Court judge, former state senator, and city councilman William Thompson Sr., father of mayoral hopeful William Thompson, has been appointed by Judge Johnny Lee Baynes to act as a “mediator” in the dispute between LICH doctors and nurses and SUNY over SUNY’s attempt to close LICH.

Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/8892

The Brooklyn Heights Association urges us all to write, call, or e-mail (or all three) Governor Cuomo asking his help to save Long Island College Hospital. While acknowledging that there are allegedly seven suitors possibly interested in buying LICH, nevertheless:

SUNY Downstate has failed to turn over the LICH financial records parties have requested. Moreover, SUNY Downstate has made representations about LICH finances that are simply not true. Without open books, potential suitors cannot evaluate LICH’s economic viability — and there is no assurance that the disposition of LICH will be a fair one. SUNY Downstate’s actions have revived fears that its real goal is to sell the land to a real estate developer.

Instructions on how to contact the Governor are on the BHA website.

Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/8799

Sure Lululemon may have just lost its CEO, sending its stock plummeting as we speak but come this Friday (6/14) Cobble Hill will be blessed with one of its stores at the spanking new 166 Smith Street. Have no fear, those transparent yoga pants are so totally not available anymore.

Here’s the full rundown from their Facebook page:

FRIDAY:

Complimentary coffee, ice cream and pastries from Brooklyn-based Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream (first come, first served)

Candle light Yoga from 8:30-9:30PM with Mala Yoga instructor and past showroom ambassador Daniella Rosales- Friedman.

SATURDAY:

Complimentary juice and smoothies from Green Pirate Juice Truck (first come, first served)

Run Club from 9-10AM. 3-4 miler to Brooklyn Bridge Park with Brooklyn triathlete coach Mike Olzinski.

SUNDAY:

Complimentary Kombucha Brooklyn (first come, first served)

Sunday morning yoga from 9-10AM with store ambassador, Prana Power Yoga and Prema Yoga instructor Be Shakti. Featuring live music!

Celebration for Father’s Day! 1-3PM demo with Columbia Street CrossFit owner and coach Nate and complimentary pizza from South Brooklyn Pizza.

**We will also be giving away passes for lucky guests to “experience the neighborhood.”

Experience the neighborhood? Hmmm…

Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/8775

This dispatch just in from the Cobble Hill Association about a new traffic signal coming to the neighborhood:

CHA: Every day, scores of local residents cross Court street where there is a ADA accesible curb cut but no pedestrian signalization. As part of the Court Street corridor improvement plan which the Cobble Hill Association advocated for last year, a new crosswalk will remedy this danger and bring a signalized intersection to the pictured spot where Bergen becomes Congress Street. Latest word is that the safety enhancements should be installed by early summer, but fortunately you can already see the gray metal box in the ground which will soon house pedestrian signals. It’s a small but significant improvement and one we are thankful to the Department of Transportation for taking action upon our request.

Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/8690

Susan Kuhlmann, the Principal of Linden Tree Preschool in Cobble Hill, informs CHB that the facility it has used for the past nine years, Christ Church at 180 Kane Street, is being closed permanently after the building was struck by lightning and severely damaged last July.

At that time, Kuhlmann says, for safety reasons, the school had to immediately vacate, “being told by Christ Church we’d be back within weeks.” Since, it has been operating out of St. Stephen’s Church in Carroll Gardens. But now, “weeks and months have gone by and in January (2013), we were informed by Christ Church that they are closing Linden Tree Preschool as of June 30, sending families clamoring for alternate preschools and leaving nine dedicated staff members unemployed.”

Linden Tree Preschool is now searching for a new permanent home. Kuhlmann notes:

In order to continue to serve our families, staff and greater community by providing a beautiful preschool experience, myself and a colleague, Jennifer DeLuna, have formed our own LLC, Building Bridges. We require a minimum of 3,000 square feet but are willing to exceed that for the right opportunity. We are also willing to sign a long-term lease.

As you know rental space in our community is costly and difficult to come by. We have been searching for months and continue to. If anyone can help us please reach out, we need a home and can provide a nice income stream for a rental space. We appreciate any assistance.

Susan Kuhlmann: susan@lindentreepreschool.com
Jennifer DeLuna: jennifer@lindentreepreschool.com
lindentreepreschool.com
718-687-8141

Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/8426

The Times reports that New York Supreme Court Justice Johnny Baynes, who earlier extended a temporary restraining order against SUNY’s shutdown of Long Island College Hospital, has ruled that the SUNY board acted in violation of New York State’s open meetings law, and vacated the board’s decision to close LICH. According to the Times:

The trustees’ use of a vague notice, a “skeletal statement of purpose in the written agenda,” and the timing of a two-hour closed executive session on Feb. 7, the day before the public vote, “seems intentionally designed to shield the purpose of the meetings from the general public and obstruct the transparency required by the Open Meetings Law,” the decision said, noting that the trustees “are not unsophisticated.”

The story also quotes a SUNY spokesman as saying that “the ruling hinges on a procedural technicality” and that “the board Would move swiftly to fix the problem.” If, as expected, the board again votes to close LICH, the plan must then be submitted to the State Department of Health, which could refuse to approve the closure, as it did a plan by LICH’s former owner, Continuum Health Partners, to close LICH’s obstetrics and pediatrics departments just over four years ago.

Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/8216

The beloved Leske’s Scandinavian Bakery in Bay Ridge will be opening a second location in Park Slope, at 588 5th Avenue, a space last occupied by Sweet Treasures Bakery. Leske’s has been a Brooklyn institution since 1961, and has 5,700+ Facebook followers, reports the South Slope News.

The bakery is renowned for traditional Scandinavian baking, Danish, B&W cookies and Brooklyn blackout cakes. According to its Facebook page, the South Slope location will open before Valentine’s Day. (Photo: South Slope News)

Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/8177