Snow about an hour ago on Underhill Ave. It’s still coming down.
100 Views of the Arch at Grand Army Plaza
DAILYHEIGHTS moves – FREE KITTENS for everyone!
If you can read this, you’ve made it to the new home of DAILYHEIGHTS. If you bookmarked or linked to the old Typepad site, please update! That site will be going dark very, very soon.
What do you think of the new layout? Please give some feedback below.
UPDATE: The comments pages are now readable. “Recent Comments” are activated. What else?
UPDATE to UPDATE: I just rebuilt the entire database… argh. Does the Events Calendar work for anybody?
[LIVE] from "Marty and Letitia talk about Atlantic Yards (at PS9)
“Great urban planning incorporates many different uses into a cohesive neighborhood, and truly great urban planning invites the public to participate in the space, whether they work there or live there or they’re drawn there to visit.”
– Bruce Ratner, 2003, quoted by executive director of group (PICCED)that produced independent study finding that Forest City Ratner (1) has not made provisions to integrate the Atlantic Yard project into the surrounding neighborhood, and that (2) has eschewed the public review process.
“The Project does not appear to utilize street-level design to incorporate the project into the community.” – PICCED researcher
“The process so far has not been participatory or accountable.” – PICCED bottom-line finding.
HIGHLIGHTS:
The PICCED report will be updated with new information on the “Memorandum of Understanding” (MoU) signed between Forest City Ratner, the City and the State last Friday.
The MoU puts the Atlantic Yards project on the map. “Until last week, the project had no official formal existence” beyond press releases and websites, the PICCED executive director said. Now it’s “an official relevant public project” as of last week: “in some ways, the formal public process is just getting started.”
ATTACK ON PRATT Several people are calling Pratt’s “objectivity” into question, partly because black residents were underrepresented in a Prospect Heights neighborhood survey on community concerns about the Atlantic Yards project. PICCED’s executive director is urging people to read their report, which they claim is “probably the most objective document” written about the project. With regard to the survey, they say they helped a neighborhood conduct a voluntary survey and they didn’t represent it as anything else.
UPDATES CONTINUE…
"Hear what the Ratner project could mean to our neighborhood in terms of:
- displacement of residents
- impact on schools, police and fire services
- effect on small businesses
- transportation issues"
"The presentation will also include a discussion of the project’s
claimed community benefits as well as its financial impact to city and
state taxpayers." Monday, March 7, 7:00 PM; P.S. 9, 80 Underhill Avenue (between St. Marks Ave. and Bergen St.); Invited officials: Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz; Councilmember Letitia James
TODAY: Tish James and Senator Montgomery on the Ratner "Memorandum of Understanding"
Senator Velmanette Montgomery: "This agreement is non-binding. This is a PR stunt to convince the public that the arena and skyscraper complex is a done deal. That is far from the truth. The MTA reserved the right to sell the land to a higher bidder. Just like with the West Side stadium, we need open bidding to get fair value for this land."
PRESS CONFERENCE TODAY 2 PM: Council Member Letitia James and Senator Velmanette Montgomery in response to the recent Memorandum of Understanding on Atlantic Yards; City Hall Steps, Manhattan, 2 pm
WHO: Council Member James, Senator Montgomery, Congressman Major Owens, Council Member Charles Barron, Pratt Area Community Council, Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, Downtown Brooklyn Leadership Coalition, Bob Law, Darnell Canada of Rebuild, Brooklyn Vision, Prospect Heights Action Coalition
Coming Soon – New Coffee Shop on Flatbush
"Heights Coffee Lounge" is coming to 335 Flatbush, across the street from that little coffee shop that sells Krispy Kreme donuts, and a few doors down from Wing Fat (now Wing Fat, Inc.).
This is the storefront formerly occupied by Slope Heights Realty, which has moved a few doors down the street.
Weekend plans: Beast Now Has Beer (and More)
Jose reports on Beast: "Deb (the owner) emailed me … Beast finally has a liquor license and will be fully stocked for Friday night."
Beast | 638 Bergen St. at Vanderbilt Ave.; 718-399-6855.
Reality Check: Ratner Strides Ahead with Nets Stadium Deal
Despite the relentless stream of dire predictions for the Atlantic Yards project, Forest City Ratner just cleared another major hurdle. The New York Times reports today that "the city and the state have signed an agreement with the developer Bruce
C. Ratner to build a new home for the Nets basketball team and at least
4,500 apartments as part of a $2.5 billion project at the Atlantic
Yards in Brooklyn."
Of course, there are still plenty of obstacles that Ratner must pretend to be concerned about… The project "still must go through a lengthy environmental review,
condemnation proceedings, approval by the state Public Authorities
Control Board and possible lawsuits … The Empire State Development
Corporation would shepherd the project through the review process and
take control of any land the developer has not already acquired." PATTI HAGAN quoted: "This project is too big … We don’t want to supersize Brooklyn."
UPDATE: City Lighting "Closed Forever"
"11217" writes: "City Lighting has a sign up that says Closed for
Renovations. Why would you renovate a place that is so new? Looks closed
to me."
UPDATE 10:02 am: Out running errands, DH caught this crew "renovating" all of CL’s furniture into this moving van. Are they going to reopen? "No, just closed forever," one of the moving guys said. "I don’t know why."
UPDATE 1:50 pm: "Friend of a friend" confirmation from Stargirl: "They weren’t making enough money. Sad."
[UPDATE] AMORINA Cucina Rustica opened, and …
UPDATE: So, speaking of (hopefully) decent pizza in Prospect Heights… What’s the verdict on Albano Ballerini’s new place? What are your first impressions of this place? And don’t be fooled by that awning: the name of the place is Amorina.
As EXCOM notes in the Comments below, he/she just posted a mini-review of Cucina Rustica Amorina on Chowhound. Excerpts:
"Sausage and mushroom: a great, earthy slice. The sausage
(homemade?) and crimini mushroom combined beautifully. I think the same
fresh sauce as the Margherita ... nice extra virgin olive oil in
the background ... They do have wine ... The prices are more than fair for what you get. I
didn't see a pie that was more than $13, nor a slice more than $2.50."
(Actually, ALMOST everything is less than $13… we had dinner there over the weekend, and the octopus-containing pizza is $14.)
Amorina (Cucina Rustica) | 624 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11238. 718-230-3030.