Brooklyn 11211

Capital New York - a new online magazine - continues to impress on the content side - this time with a look at why Williamsburg is becoming the meat eating capital of NYC. The article covers the history of Peter Luger, including its salvation in the 1950s by Sol Forman, and covers all of the latest entrants into the neighborhood's meat frenzy - Marlow & Daughters, Pies 'n' Thighs (and all their spinoffs) and Fatty 'Cue.

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349 Metropolitan's courtyard mural
Photo: Curbed

Curbed has photos of the now completed (and now for rent) 349 Metropolitan Avenue (a 11211 favorite over the years). The recladded exterior of the building is a huge improvement, though the building overall is still a mess. But the interior courtyard at least has something worth looking at - a mural by artist R. Nicholas Kuszyk

Curbed also has a bit of revisionist history when it comes to the original facade. The Jerusalem stone was not "defiled" by vandals. It fell off. Whether it was installed improperly or was just not meant for these climes, the installation looked like shit from day one and was failing by day two. It was too long after that the project (under the original development team) went down the path to foreclosure and classic condo blight.

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As I speculated recently, the Brooklyn Paper has confirmed that at least one of the RFPs issued recently by the City's EDC is for the construction of a ferry landing at North 6th Street. Starting sometime around January 2012, residents of the Northside will able to take the ferry to their jobs in Lower Manhattan and to Kips Bay. It's long overdue, but still great news.

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Two new projects on North 8th Street are coming online - an 8-unit rental building at 203 North 8th Street and a 9-unit condo (The Bedford) next door at 205. Both are touted for their proximity to McCarren Park, the L train and "Broulims, a new supermarket, two blocks away".

This raises two important questions (other than why is "The Bedford" between Driggs and Roebling?):

1. Where exactly is this new supermarket that is not a Khim's Millennium?

and

2. Why is Broulim's, an Idaho-based grocery chain, making Brooklyn the location of their first store outside the Mountain time zone? (I see they have a store in Driggs, Idaho - are they making that a theme?)

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It has been discussed for ages, but it looks as though the City is really moving ahead with its plans to expand the East River ferry service to all of North Brooklyn. In addition to the action at India and Java Streets that I discussed yesterday, the Post has some vague details about a new RFP for a "Williamsburg ferry landing" (distinct from possible future landings at "Northside and Greenpoint"). The City has two requests out - one (due tomorrow) is for the North Williamsburg Ferry Landing; the other an invitation to bid (which is what I think the Post is talking about) for the "Passenger Ferry Landing at Williamsburg Project". I'm assuming the North Williamsburg Ferry Landing is at the Edge - the RFP describes it as connecting to an existing pier. But where the Ferry Landing at Williamsburg is to be located is a mystery to me.

Still, by this time next year, there should be ferry landings at Schaefer Landing, the Edge, India Street and possibly one other mystery location. That means more riders, which is good news for the viability of the East River ferry service. But until fares come down and there is a free transfer between ferry service and the buses and subways, this will not have anything more than the slightest impact on L train ridership.

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Stiles Properties' proposed Java Street (bottom) and India Street piers, as seen in a 2009 rendering.
Source: Architects Newspaper

Last month, the City's Economic Development Corporation issued an RFP for the redevelopment of the Java Street pier. This is the only City-owned pier on the North Brooklyn waterfront (it's actually a pier in concept only - the actual pier structure was demolished in 2000). EDC's current call for proposals seeks to carry out that mission, by transferring ownership of the .

EDC's RFP says that the agency

aims to identify and select a qualified and experienced developer that has the financial capacity to construct improvements on the Site, including a new pier structure that will allow for vessel moorage and provide local residents with safe and enjoyable access to the East River waterfront.

Public access to the waterfront is sorely lacking in Greenpoint*, so any progress on this front is a big step forward. But according to Councilman Steve Levin's office, this may all be part of a deal between EDC and the developer of an adjacent waterfront site, Stiles Properties. According to Levin, Stiles and EDC have already applied to the Army Corps of Engineers to start the construction of the pier.

So what's in it for Stiles? Three words - FAR. Even though this property is in the middle of the East River, it is still a "parcel of land", and it comes complete with development rights, zoning restrictions, etc. Stiles owns the adjacent property between Java and India Streets, west of West Street. With its R8 zoning, the ±18,000 square feet of (underwater) land would generate up to 40,000 square feet of additional development rights by Levin's calculations. Those development can only be transferred to adjacent properties (like the one which is owned by Stiles Properties).

Is this a bad thing? That's not entirely clear. Greenpoint needs access to the waterfront, and an innovative public/private partnership may be what is needed to kickstart a very moribund development environment on the Greenpoint waterfront. Certainly the City isn't in a position to build out the pier and provide the public amenity. So this may be the best way for the City to follow through on its promises from six years ago, and for the Greenppoint community to start to reclaim its waterfront.

But as an adjacent property owner, Stiles is in a unique position to capitalize on the development rights here (as is the owner of the block to the south, who - by the way - claims that he owns part of the site that the City is trying to transfer). Stiles presented plans for a Java Street pier to Community Board 1 almost a year ago. The fact that Stiles has already applied to construct a pier on Java Street indicates that they have some expectation of winning the RFP. The RFP itself is very aggressive in its timeline - it has a one-month turnaround (sorry - the deadline already passed), and requires that applicants demonstrate that they are "prepared to commence construction within six (6) months of closing and complete construction within eighteen (18) months of commencement". And with the work their architects (Pelli Clark Pelli) have been doing over the past couple of years, Stiles has a clear advantage in the requirement to submit architectural plans on short notice.

The transfer of the air rights is - presumably - as of right. Assuming that the additional floor area can be squeezed into the height restrictions of the existing zoning envelope, the floor area can be moved from underwater onto land through a zoning lot merger. No special permits or other discretionary actions that would trigger public review are required (although it may be subject to some review for disposition of City-owned property). (Stiles has a separate proposal to generate floor area by acquiring India and Java Streets themselves - that would be subject to additional public review. It's not clear if that is still on the table, or if this pier acquisition makes it moot.)

The RFP raises other questions. It says that the use of site must "serve a public purpose", but what are the requirements for public access? Would it be transferred to City Parks as other waterfront esplanades and piers are required to be? Would it be open to the public at all hours, or would it be treated differently? Will the additional floor are generated come with a requirement to build 20% affordable housing, or is it all market rate?

In the end, a lot of the concern is about transparency. Greenpointers were upset when the Palin development on the block to the north (India/Huron) went up to 40 stories by moving existing bulk within the same property (no additional FAR was generated in that move). But that was done with a public review. This proposal would increase the as-of-right development by 6% or more - from 660,000 sf to approximately 700,000 sf, all without public input on the design and use of City-owned property or any public review at all.

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* No private developments have broken ground in Greenpoint, so the waterfront esplanades that you see going in at Northside Piers and the Edge are far off in Greenpoint's future. The City recently broke ground at Transmitter Park (expected to be completed for Summer, 2012), and has constructed a small park at the head of Manhattan Avenue. Larger open-space projects in Greenpoint are on hold - 65 Commercial Street is stuck in MTA limbo, Barge Park is awaiting the demolition of the Sludge Tank and Bushwick Inlet Park is waiting on the City to take action to acquire a series of (environmentally suspect) private sites.

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Titus Andronicus, Bad Credit, No Credit and Bottle Up & Go are doing a benefit concert for NAG this Wednesday at Glasslands. Tickets are only $15, and there are still a (very) few left. Get 'em while you can.

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The Times is out with a quick article on Karl Fisher and the Brooklyn condo boom. Fisher (along with Bob Scarano and a handful of lesser lights) are certainly responsible for changing the face of North Brooklyn. But with "only" 50 buildings to his name over the past 8 years, Karl's output pales in comparison to his late 19th-century peers. Architects like Theobald Engelhardt would routinely design 50 or more buildings a year.

[It sure sounds as though I am hiding behind "what other people think", but that was the question the reporter put to me. It's always strange to see 15 minutes of conversation boiled down to one quote.]

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Movable Type and SQL are annoying me lately, so I've (at least temporarily) set up shop at Tumblr - at least for the linked posts. My latest over there - Vans is opening up a 20,000 sf retail shop in Greenpoint - smack dab in the middle of what should be Bushwick Inlet Park (I hope its a short lease).

(PS - if you haven't noticed, I'm also on Twitter. None of this social media stuff is aggregated yet, but I'm working on it.)

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In this 1982 Atlantic article James Fallow talks about writing on his computer, a ca. 1978 custom word processor built around an Intel 8080 chip. The computer had 48k of memory ("each K represents 1,024 bytes of information ... the machine can handle documents 6,500 to 7,500 words long"). Some fond memories here, including:

you don't need to stop at the end of the line for a carriage return (the computer automatically "wraps" the words onto the next line when you reach the right-hand margin), and you never come to the end of the page, because the material on the screen keeps sliding up to make room for each new line

and

the floppy disk, which is essentially magnetic recording tape pressed into the shape of a small record and then enclosed in a square cardboard envelope, 5 1/4 inches on each side

It's all here, including tape drives, VisiCalc, Compuserve ("computer mail"!), CP/M (the state of the art operating system in 1982) and DECMates (the first word processor I used was a DECmate I, 8" floppy and all) and the Personal Computer (capitalized).

[via @pourmecoffee]

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Now Renting: 333 Kent Avenue

333 Kent Avenue has been on the market for a few years now. It seems the $6 million price tag (reduced from $13 million!) was a bit steep for this market, so now they are trying a different tack - renting.

From the listing, it looks as though they are pitching the whole building (15,000 sf) and looking for a nightlife venue ("potential rooftop dining"). In typical broker hyperbole, they tout the spot (on the "corner of 125th Street") as "in the center of Williamsburg's fashion, design and arts district". The broker also takes a very glass-half-full to the Domino development that will be under construction across the street for the next 10 years or so - "a 2,200 residential unit building coupled with 220,000 sf of retail, community, and commercial space under development".

(If you're still interested in buying, Stribling has it on the market now for $5 million.)

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Ben Losovsky's article at the WG News + Arts certainly got a lot of attention today. In case you missed it, here's a rundown of the articles and blog posts on Domino's non-binding affordable housing guarantee (but start with WG - it's their story).

New Domino plan passes key hurdle with no essential modification; is affordable housing subject to same loopholes as with Atlantic Yards? [AYR, and kudos to Norman Oder for understanding the issue a week ago]
For the New Domino, newly unveiled MOU casts doubt on affordable housing promises [AYR again, on today's developments]
No More Promises [DMI's John Petro at HuffPo]
At New Domino, Affordable Housing Promise More of a Pledge [NYO Real Estate]
Brownstoner: Afforable Housing in Question at Domino [Brownstoner]
City set to approve Domino plan -- without guarantees [NY Post]
New Domino: Worst Mega-Development in NYC, Or Just One of the Worst? [gbNYC]

As many of these articles note, the issue here isn't just whether or not the developer is going to build the housing, or even what promises the developer made about the affordable housing (although those are pretty darn important as far as issues go). The bigger policy issues have to do with the wisdom of an ad hoc approval process that relies on unenforceable community benefit agreements (CBAs) and the question of why the city is on the hook for subsidizing a third (or more) of the affordable housing at this project (and why that was never made public during the review process).

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Obviously I knew that WG was working on Domino MOU story, so I was a bit surprised to see it in the Post first. As it turns out, WG had the story first, but I've only just now found it.

WG also has a copy of the signed memorandum of understanding between HPD and the developer (The Refinery LLC is the official entity). There, it is clear that any affordable housing beyond 20% is not guaranteed ("this MOU is not a legally binding instrument and [does not create] any legally enforceable rights or obligations").

Reading between the lines, it is also clear that some - if not all - of the incremental affordable housing units rely on public funding and subsidies. If those public subsidies don't come through, the project is limited to 20% affordable. So in addition to relying on the good will of a limited liability corporation (and its successors), we are also have to rely on future administrations supporting this administration's unfunded mandates. (Speaking of which, how much was The Refinery LLC promised in public subsidies - the MOU is silent on this point.)

What could possibly go wrong?

And finally, I might be wrong, but this whole agreement seems to give lie to the developer's cross-subsidy argument. The developer said all along that the huge increase in market-rate units was required to pay for things like the affordable housing (and the open space, the waterfront esplanade, the preservation of the refinery and so on). But if the incremental affordable housing (the difference between 440 units and 660 units) is really contingent upon (and funded by) public subsidies, what are the 500 or so additional market-rate units paying for?

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In today's Post, Rich Calder reports that the City's agreement on the Domino development does not provide any guarantee on the promised 660 units of affordable housing. 20% of the units (440 under the current development scheme) are codified in the new zoning for the property (on which the Council is set to vote on Thursday). But the additional 220 units - the whole basis for the massive over-zoning of the site - is not required under the zoning*. Instead of memorializing the additional units in a restrictive declaration, which would run with the deed of the property, the City (via HPD) and the developer have entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding.

One of the things that the Community Board pushed for in this rezoning (as in others) was an ironclad agreement on the developers promises (the developer told the Board that this would be the case). This was not out of any particular mistrust for the current development team (Community Preservation Corporation Resources and Isaac Katan, in a joint venture), but rather out of concern for what happens if some or all of the project is sold to another entity. (This also begs the question - what else is not guaranteed? There were a host of promises made to secure the backing of the community - are these now non-binding as well?)

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* And, for technical reasons, maybe it can't be - the City's Inclusionary Housing zoning calls for 20%. Changing that number might require a citywide text amendment, not something that can be undertaken for one project.

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Inspired by the closing of Relish, Eater looks at eight neighborhood restaurants that are no longer. I'm not sure that I would include Coney's among the first-wave Williamsburg restaurants, and Bonita only counts if you're looking at Southside pioneers (2002 is way too late for "first wave", no?). Still, some great old neighborhood restaurants, including Oznot's (ca. 1994? - a true first waver) and Brick Oven Gallery (which happily has been reincarnated at Kenny's Trattoria down the block).

So long as we're strolling down memory lane, why not go all the way? What about the L Cafe and Planet Thailand (the Bedford Avenue one, not the bloated pan-Asian disaster on Berry)? What are the other true "first wave" Williamsburg restaurants - it's a short list, but I know I'm missing some.

(And for extra credit - what was the name of the restaurant that occupied Diner before Diner? It was started, ca. 1995?, by a female chef from Manhattan.)

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Joe Lentol is sponsoring legislation to outlaw the siting of radioactive storage facilities within 1,500' of schools. This legislation - inspired by Luis Garden Acosta's "toxic-free school zone" idea - would force Radiac, located at the corner of Kent and Grand, to cease radioactive waste storage. (As Luis says, if we can have drug-free school zones, why can't we have toxic-free school zones?)

Lentol's press release is reproduced in full, below:

Legislation to Close Radioactive Waste Site, RADIAC, Next to Elementary School Passes Both Houses

Legislation Forbids Radioactive Waste Facilities Within 1500 Feet of Any School
Assemblyman Lentol Urges the Governor to Sign the Legislation into Law

Assemblyman Joseph Lentol (D-North Brooklyn) is thrilled to announce that legislation he wrote and sponsored making it illegal for Radiac Research Inc., a radioactive waste storage facility, to continue to operate at its current location in North Brooklyn has passed both the Assembly and Senate. The legislation is on its way to Governor Patterson and Assemblyman Lentol urges the Governor to sign the legislation into law.

“This legislation would be a real victory for the North Brooklyn community and the safety of our children,” said Lentol. “I want to thank Senator Martin Malave Dilan for sponsoring it in the Senate and all of my colleagues in the legislature for helping me to take this important step towards ensuring that there is a plenty of space between our children and radioactive waste.”

At issue is the company’s close proximity to a local elementary school PS 84; so close it is actually in violation of NYC code. Despite the site typically storing medical low-grade radioactive waste that many experts see as relatively safe to store, Assemblyman Lentol refuses to gamble with the health of his constituents. This has been an especially worrisome because the City of New York has recently closed Fire Company 212 which was the engine company specially trained to deal with facilities such as RADIAC. Also, the Department of Justice has stated that such facilities are at high risk of terrorist attacks.

Lentol believes that any company storing radioactive waste should not be located in such a populated area. “No one wants to live next to a dump, let alone one that contains radioactive waste. It is only common sense that my constituents be safeguarded against potential health hazards that are completely avoidable. It is appalling that the students in this community are going to school next to radioactive waste, if the Governor signs this legislation it will be a real victory for the environment for health, for safety and for our children,” said Lentol.

Assemblyman Lentol teamed up with local students from the El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice to create the legislation. The legislation prohibits any kind of radioactive waste facility within 1500 feet of the boundary of a school. In order to write the legislation Assemblyman Lentol needed to know exactly how many feet were between PS 84 and the toxic waste facility. So as a special project, the math class at El Puente went out in the community and measured the exact distance.

"El Puente's over 20 year struggle, launched by our Toxic Avengers and, today, embraced by all, is poised to take a major step in reclaiming the safety and environment of our communities, especially, our school young. With Governor Patterson's support we look forward to 'Toxic Free School Zones' across New York State, heralding our human right to clean air, green and open spaces as well as renewable, sustainable energy. Our schools can, now, teach another 'R' - the Right of North Brooklyn and all communities to peace and environmental justice," said Luis Garden Acosta, the founder, president and CEO of El Puente Academy.

“El Puente has a long history of being involved in community and the environment and without them this legislation would not exist. This hands on project gave students the opportunity to learn not only math but also about the environment and government. I am grateful for their crucial role in this process,” said Assemblyman Joe Lentol. “It is my hope that these students’ work will go the full length of the process and be signed into law by Governor Patterson,” he continued. “If it does, those students will have played a crucial role in protecting all of the students who come after them. They should be very proud,” said Lentol.

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