Streets – Brooklyn Bugle

Arts and Entertainment, Brooklyn Heights, Events, Food

‘Summer Space’ Returns To Montague Street, September 9 & 23

August 23, 2012

Coming up Sunday, September 9th and September 23rd, the Montague Street BID presents its annual Summer Space, with a bevy of fun, free events. Closed to traffic and re-imagined as a pedestrian oasis from noon to 5 p.m. both Sundays, Montague Street restaurants will expand outdoor seating and hand out free samples, while other retailers will offer special promotions and services. Hundreds of tables and chairs will also line the street.

The fun includes opera by The Martha Cardona Theater; AfroBrazilian Samba Reggae by Batala New York City, an all women’s drumming band; Muzik by DJ Ricardo Campos; and dances by the Brooklyn Ballet’s Company and Youth Ensemble. The Brooklyn Heights Association will host the Third Annual Brooklyn Heights Dog Show September 23 from 1-3 p.m.; local dogs may be entered to win from a variety of categories. (For information about the dog show, visit www.thebha.org.)

In addition, there will be free outdoor yoga and Zumba classes, as well as chess tables, courtesy of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle; Etsy New York Team presenting craft-making demonstrations; and for the kids, a photo booth, scavenger hunt, hula-hoops and chalk drawing. For a full schedule of events & more details, click here.

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/46220

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Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn

Looking Up: Half-Dozen Skyscrapers On The Rise In Downtown BK

August 15, 2012

It appears the historic Williamsburg Bank building at 1 Hanson Place, which stood for decades as the tallest structure in Brooklyn, at 512 feet & 37 stories, is now just one of the crowd. As gentrification continues in Downtown Brooklyn, at least a half-dozen highrise residential towers are in the works.

The New York Observer tallies the progress, noting the skyline along Flatbush Avenue “has been utterly transformed” in recent years, as six new apartment towers rose during the last building boom: the Toren, the Brooklyner, the Oro, Avalon Fort Greene, the DKLB and Forte.

Adding to those projects (with BHB research from Brownstoner, Real Deal, Curbed):
* The Oro 2 at the corner of Gold and Johnson Streets is now getting off the ground, which will rise to 35 stories with 208 apartments.
* Billionaire John Catsimatidis is preparing the second of four buildings on Myrtle Avenue between Ashland Place and Flatbush Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn. At the end of June he filed for a 15-story mixed-use building with 160,000sf of residential and 13,000sf of commercial.
* 29 Flatbush Avenue, where construction is well under way. The 42-story rental building is slated for 2013 completion.
* Two Trees is developing a formerly city-owned property at Flatbush & Lafayette near BAM, which is said to include a residential tower and public open space.
* City Point Phase 2 facing Fulton Street Mall, is set to begin construction in the coming months. The nearly complete Phase 1 (due to house Century 21) comprises 45,000sf of retail space; while Phase 2 will include a 250-unit 19-story tower and a 400-unit 30-story tower—both residential rental—connected by a four-story structure containing a half-million square feet of retail. Phase 3 is supposed to be a 54-story tower, but so far remains penciled in on the drawing board.
* Still in the planning stages: The Hub from movie moguls David and Douglas Steiner, which calls for a 52-story, 720-rental unit tower at Flatbush and Schermherhorn.
* 85 Flatbush Avenue Extension—a triangle-shaped parcel at Flatbush, Tillary and Duffield—remains ripe for development, after Brooklyn-based North Development Group, led by developer Isaac Hager, planned to build a 21-story, 108-unit residential condo tower at the vacant site, which stalled at year-end 2011.

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/45622

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Brooklyn Heights

Massive Mess: 111-115 Montague Street Sidewalk Will Be In Tatters For 3 Months

August 14, 2012

While the massive hole in front of 200 Hicks Street and Montague continues to get wider, deeper and messier, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Beginning this week, the entire sidewalk from the Chinese Hand Laundry and McCurdy Real Estate at 111 Montague up to Subway sandwiches at 115—which also encompasses retailers Peerless Shoe Repair and Connecticut Muffin—will be torn to bits.

The superintendent for the Berkeley and Grosvenor apartment buildings at 111 & 115 Montague tells BHB that infrastructure work below the sidewalk will endure for a minimum of three months. Oh, joy!

(Photos: Chuck Taylor) At top, the mess at 200 Hicks. Below, a last look at the sidewalk on Montague along the impacted area.

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/45728

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Brooklyn Heights

Clamorous Construction Continues Messing Up Montague

August 11, 2012

After crews spent a month widening the corners of Montague Street at Henry Street and another few weeks digging a sizable hole for telephone work in front of the Bossert Hotel—and separately replacing pipes & cables there—now the cacophonous construction mayhem has moved across the street in front of 200 Hicks Street.

You can’t escape the irony that some residents of that residential building are already fuming over potential noise from the Bossert Hotel’s conversion to a hotel… They must be loving this.

On Saturday, a gaping hole had been dug in front of 200 Hicks, as a yellow hydraulic bucket excavator darted with daunting speed about Montague & Hicks. Meanwhile, the majority of Montague Street is beginning to resemble a pastiche of paved patchwork. What a damn mess. (More photos below)

(Photos: Chuck Taylor)

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/45440

From the Web

Brooklyn Heights, Real Estate

Are Itty-Bitty Domiciles The Wave Of The Future?

July 24, 2012

After a lot of media attention over the Brooklyn Heights couple that swears their 240-square-foot, $1,500/month apartment is sweet & cozy—along with NYC Mayor Bloomberg’s bizarre notion to inundate the city with “micro-apartments” averaging 275-300sf—Curbed decided to have a jolly good time by searching out the 10 smallest units for sale in Brooklyn.

Among contenders it found on Streeteasy are three humble Heights apartments, including 155 Henry Street, 5C, offering 400sf for $275,000. Curbed writes, “Maybe the residents of that $1,500/month Brooklyn Heights studio should move here. With a 20% down payment, monthly payments would be just $1,510, and the closet space is far more ample.”

Also offering 400sf is 60 Remsen Street, 3G, asking $299,000: “This Brooklyn Heights studio faces a courtyard, and the apartment has a separate dressing area/office. To the extent that we ever advocate living in very small spaces, we like this one.”

Next up is 70 Clark Street, 4H, whose 415sf runs $289,000: “This place has a sunken living room and allows pets and pied-a-terre dwellers, as well as subletting after two years. Which is probably about the time it might start to feel too small,” Curbed suggests. Indeed.

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/44612

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Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO

DUMBO’s Brooklyn Bridge Park Entrance Vies To Become Pedestrian Plaza

July 12, 2012

While there’s hardly a similar open space in Brooklyn Heights, the DUMBO Improvement District is proposing an intriguing option: to close off traffic along Anchorage Place—which serves as the north entrance to Brooklyn Bridge Park—and turn it into a pedestrian plaza. A hearing on the plan was held Wednesday eve to air both sides of the proposal.

McBrooklyn reports that at least eight local businesses back the plan, citing pedestrian safety and more room for seating next to the colorfully painted Pearl Street Triangle. But Doreen Gallo, Executive Director of the DUMBO Neighborhood Alliance, believes that closing the street will take away from the “grandeur” of the neighborhood. She told the Brooklyn Eagle, “People can’t imagine this space and how this should be the Grand North Entrance to Brooklyn Bridge Park.”

Sadly, the Heights has no such “grand” entry point, after Mayor Bloomberg emphatically nixed a proposed BBP throughway from the most obvious entryway: along the southern tip of the Promenade. The best we’ve got is the coming Squibb Park Bridge that will connect the neighborhood from Columbia Heights across Furman Street to Pier One.

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/44110

From the Web

Bang! Bang! Another Weekend Of Montague Street Mayhem

June 30, 2012

Last weekend, Montague was blocked as crews work on the street’s subterranean infrastructure. Ditto this weekend, as vehicles were re-routed from motoring down Montague between Hicks and Henry streets. The predominant construction is taking place in front of the Bossert Hotel at 97 Montague, where a peek inward reveals a cavalcade of wires, pipes and beams hearkening projects through the decades.

In addition, new sidewalks are being paved at Montague and Henry, in front of Corcoran Realty, while the opposite corner near City Chemist is being reshaped along the curb area. See photos below the jump.

(Photos: Chuck Taylor)

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43275

From the Web

Brooklyn Heights

Brooklyn Heights’ Most Modest Park: Grace Court’s Greenstreets

June 28, 2012

Residents of Brooklyn Heights have likely ventured down Grace Court and seen the curiosity that must be the smallest named “park” in the neighborhood. At the end of the street, where it dead ends before the BQE below, is a tiny little green space tagged Greenstreets.

It’s not a particularly pretty destination, considering that it’s marked with a bright yellow “End” sign and striped black and white metal markers to insure that motorists don’t roar down the street to what would likely be death’s door.

Its 12×8-foot (approx) interior comprises scrubby green bushes and a cobble-stoned walkway that leads to nowhere… A chicken-wire fence that surrounds the back end of the space forces spectators to walk around the “park” to the sidewalk facing the BQE. Its origin: This little patch of heaven is courtesy of the NYC Parks Department’s Greenstreets initiative.

(Photos: Chuck Taylor)

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43092

From the Web

Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, Food

Starbucks Deems Fulton Street Mall a Worthy New Locale

June 27, 2012

While it’s certainly no problem getting a morning java fix in Brooklyn Heights, a new Starbucks is coming to Fulton Mall, at 348 Fulton Street, next to Bank of America and across from Shake Shack. Obviously, the ubiquitous chain is demonstrating belief in the rapidly gentrifying Downtown Brooklyn nabe.

In May, the Heights’ Bucks relocated to 134 Montague Street from its former location at 112 Montague. Meanwhile, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reports that the new location has posted signage and appears to be nearly ready to open inside. It’s located in a one-story building that most recently was home to men’s clothing store Porta Bella, and has 1,334 square feet of floor space.

Already over the past month or so, the area’s onetime primary shopping mecca has welcomed the Gap Factory Store, with Century 21, TJ Maxx, H&M and the massive multi-use City Point on the way.

(Photo: McBrooklyn)

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43022

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