Williamsburg is Dead!

City Planning Certifies Domino Sugar Waterfront Dev.

administrator — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 16:53:57 +0000

WILLIAMSBURG — City Planning late Monday approved the new Domino Sugar Refinery Plan. It will now begin its way through the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), seeking approval by Community Board 1, Borough President Marty Markowitz, the Planning Commission and City Council.

Known as “The New Domino,” the plan calls for for an 11.2-acre, 2,200-unit mixed-income community with 660 units (30 percent) of affordable housing, generous open space, access to the waterfront and riverside promenade, according to Michael Lappin, president and CEO of Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), the developer, with CPC Resources Inc. (CPCR) as managing partner.

Architect Rafael Viñoly has created a stunning modular design, Lappin said, that incorporates the landmarked refinery and the famed 40-foot-high Domino Sugar sign. Beyer Blinder Belle has designed the striking three- and four-story glass addition to the refinery itself.

Read more: http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=5&id=32769

Williamsburg Fire Claims The Life Of One, Injures 7 Others

administrator — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:45:56 +0000

Fire officials say they are investigating what may be a suspicious fire in Williamsburg, Brooklyn that claimed the life of one person early this morning.

The fire broke out at 55 Harrison Place, a three-story apartment building, just before 4 this morning. The top two floors were inhabited, while the bottom floor, where officials believe the blaze started, was uninhabited.

Fire officials say the person who died, whom neighbors say was a 17-year-old girl, was one of two people trapped by flames on the second floor.

The other person on that floor escaped with minor injuries.

Four more residents and two firefighters suffered minor injuries, as well.

Read more: http://ny1.com/7-brooklyn-news-content/top_stories/111095/williamsburg-fire-claims-the-life-of-one–injures-7-others

East River Commuter Ferry Service Could Be Halted, Again

administrator — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:07:03 +0000

For almost two years, city officials have extolled a proposal for a five-borough network of ferries, an ambitious plan that the City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, said would make New York “a shining example of urban sustainability for cities all over the world.”

The plan moved quickly. A ferry linking the Rockaways, in Queens, to Manhattan started operating last year; there also was an announcement that service on the East River would be expanded by next spring. Then, in February, came more promising news: The existing East River network would continue to be subsidized by the city through 2010.

Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/nyregion/04ferry.html

Les Savy Fav set to launch Brooklyn Knitting Factory

administrator — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:06:05 +0000

Les Savy Fav have been announced to perform at the opening of the Knitting Factory’s new space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn – with the event scheduled for September 9.

The Brooklyn-based band will be the first of a string of bands slated to perform next month, including Boss Hog, Titus Andronicus, The Raincoats and Melissa Auf Der Maur among others.

Read More: http://www.nme.com/news/les-savy-fav/46647

CAVE Presents BUTOH-KAN PHASE 10/23 Thru 11/25

administrator — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 04:05:12 +0000

From October 23 to November 25, 2009, CAVE will present its fourth biennial Butoh Festival, “The CAVE New York Butoh Festival — Butoh-kan Phase” (nybf09.caveartspace.org), to celebrate and promote the origins and international evolution of Butoh Dance while strengthening the local community with performances, workshops, and conversations with the artists. Events will be presented at Dixon Place in SoHo, Dance New Amsterdam in TriBeCa and CAVE in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Read More: http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/CAVE_Presents_BUTOHKAN_PHASE_1023_Thru_1125_20090803

Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights seek repeat of car-free street

administrator — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:04:19 +0000

Car-free street weekends may return to Brooklyn this summer, the Daily News has learned.

Civic and business associations in Williamsburg and Brooklyn Heights have applied for city permits to repeat last year’s successful projects that limited car traffic to through streets along a several-block stretch of two shopping corridors.

“Last year really helped calm down Bedford Ave. There were no taxis honking; people stuck around for a while rather than just rushing to a subway,” said Michael Freedman-Schmapp, co-chairman of Neighbors Allied for Good Growth, a Williamsburg group.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2009/04/15/2009-04-15_williamsburg_brooklyn_heights_seek_repeat_of_carfree_street_weekends_this_summer.htm

The $300 Makeover: One-Bedroom in Williamsburg

administrator — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 04:03:19 +0000

CLIENT Benjamen Segal, 40; lost his job in January as a sales director for Vaultus Mobile Technologies, a wireless technology firm.

CABIN FEVER SYMPTOM Feeling “the opposite of Zen” in the living room of his one-bedroom apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

DESIGNER Christopher Coleman, principal, Christopher Coleman Interior Design.

“He lives like a kid,” Christopher Coleman said after visiting Benjamen Segal’s apartment for the first time. Amplifiers and guitars piled up in one corner. A stack of books in place of an end table. Plain, unadorned gray walls. And amidst the chaos, a neatly organized record collection. “It’s somewhat collegiate,” Mr. Coleman said diplomatically.

Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/garden/12m-segal.html

Red tape chokes off waterfront in Williamsburg

administrator — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:01:34 +0000

A waterfront park in Williamsburg has been shuttered – and is being kept that way – by red tape, say frustrated residents and local advocates.

A month and a half after state officials and community advocates agreed in principle to a deal to reopen East River State Park – at no expense to taxpayers – the park’s Kent Ave. gate remains locked.

The sticking point has been a community group’s inability to meet a state requirement that it provide liability insurance for all park volunteers.

Read More: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2009/02/27/2009-02-27_red_tape_chokes_off_waterfront_in_willia.html

At an Old Warehouse, a Reversal of Fortune

administrator — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 04:00:14 +0000

ONE thing that the owners of the Austin, Nichols & Company warehouse at 184 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, were firm about throughout the long battle over the building’s fate three years ago was that it was not historically valuable. The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, which declared the 1915 structure a landmark, disagreed, but the City Council took the rare step of overruling the commission and siding with the owners.

A lawyer for the owners, the Kestenbaum family, called the warehouse an eyesore. Councilman David Yassky, who helped lead the fight against designating the building a landmark, described the warehouse as “a nondescript white box,” indistinguishable from anything else on the Williamsburg waterfront. When the mayor stepped in to preserve the warehouse, the Council overrode him, too.

Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/nyregion/thecity/11aust.html