On the Sofa: GL Reader Comments

Once a week, we highlight a few random comments left by GL readers during the previous week. Here are some from the past seven days:

Toll Brothers Gowanus Development Gets Scoped. “People are raising the toilet problem. Unfortunately, City Planning could care less about that since it doesn’t fall within that agencies purview. The people who should be protesting the loudest are Toll since raw sewage is not exactly a selling point.” [Anonymous]

Atlantic Yards Opponents: “Dear Governor Paterson”. “No Brooklynite I have ever ever met anyhwere has anything but WRATH for Ratner and is ill-conceived MEGA-BOMB project. Let’s pray Paterson will save us from this disaster we will all live to regret in its current format. Let’s GET A ULURP NOW for AY!! That was one of countless unnecessary, human, greedy errors with this over-sized monster from the start…” [Anonymous]

Atlantic Yards Opponents: “Dear Governor Paterson”. “I think the new Gov will have truly important things to deal with and stopping this exciting project should not be one of them. I’ve lived in the AY part of BK for close to 20 years and I am looking forward to this innovative and architecturally stunning renaissance of what has been an ugly hole in the middle of Brooklyn for way too long.” [Annika S.]

More Fun with the Carroll Gardens Hell Building. “It’s a monstrosity. This developer has a ‘history’ with doing this sort of thing. I’m not against development—as long as it’s in keeping with the neighborhood and the neighborhood can sustain the change. But I live a 1/2 block away from this and it’s having an 8+ story high-rise in the middle of brownstone Brooklyn.” [Anonymous]

On the Sofa: GL Reader Comments

Every Sunday we highlight a random selection of comments left by our GL readers during the previous seven day’s. Here are a few from this week:

Plans for Controversial Carroll Gardens Building Coming in April. “it will be interseting to see what the lower rung of rogers marvel have planned for this spot. with all the fantasy monster buildings in the public space and the governors island win, little 340 court street could be designed by temps…All this sharing with the nabe just isn’t helping. I think what they all do is design one monster thing, show it to the neighborhood and everyone freaks, then, they go back to their offices and get the not so monster drawings, wait a week, and show again. Just to make it look like they want to work with us. It’ll be a glass nightmare, people.” [Anonymous]

New Look Prospect Park: PLG Getting a Big Glass Tower. “Paging all archi-geeks: Somebody whip up a rendering of what this alien vessel is going to do to the view of the treeline from within Prospect Park! And, um, aside from the benighted Ebbets Field project, isn’t this thing going to be grossly out-of-scale and fingerlike? It looks like two suburban office buildings stacked clumsily atop one another. However, it was considerate of them to include a “park” on the roof; that will spare the residents the inconvenience of having exit into PLG and walk a block or two to the magnificent, historic REAL park that their monstrosity will overshadow. Maybe they can name their building the ‘Stratos’; only Trekkies will get the joke (see “the Cloud Minders”).” [Brenda from Flatbush]

The Unhappy Life of 333 Carroll Continues. “Hopefully, the new firm will have blow torches to cut that thing down and concentrate on the actual brick shell. The neighborhood has had enough of this.” [Anonymous]

Gowanus Meeting on Toll Brothers Project Draws a Big Crowd. “…Some people want the block remain “as is” which is unlikely. If residential isn’t allowed, then expect some major retail store to just build under the existing zoning.” [Anonymous]

On the Sofa: GL Reader Comments

Every week, we like to take a totally random sampling of a handful of comments left by GL readers during the previous seven days. There is always far more to highlight than we can choose for one post:

More Public Place: Hudson Companies “Gowanus Green” in Detail. “Well that all looks pretty fascinating in a Planet of the Apes futuristic sort of way. Love the photographer with the long lens and camera bag. What could be of interest? Toxic waves? Bloated dead fish floating in the canal? I love the woman strolling with the shopping bag. Where is she going? To Joe’s Superette on Smith for some rice balls??? Why isn’t there a rendering of the dirty, filthy packed F train platforms? Or the, probably, finished by then, Smith & Ninth station? This all looks promising enough and it could be much more hideous.” [Anonymous]

Canadian Picked to Run Huge Ikea in Red Hook. “Local organizations, especially Red Hook Rise, are confidant that IKEA will offer lots of jobs to locals. Fairway set a good precedent. Most of the employees there are local, and the service is excellent. To be sure, it’s not Madison Avenue, but the will is there, at least for customers willing to take their assistance with a bit of funk.” [Matthews]

Things Get Crappy at the Bergen St. 2/3 Station. “That will teach you to use the trashcan. Drop your trash at your feet as soon as you are done with it. Don’t think about it, merely let the useless cup, wrapper, paper fall from your hands when it is no longer needed. No need to walk the extra distance to the trashcan and look what it got you.” [Anonymous]

“Terrible Service” at the Park Slope Library? “If you’ve not already done so, get registered on the Brooklyn Public Libary web site and figure out how to search for and reserve books throughout the Brooklyn system. If you know what you want, you can ask them to get it for you. They will deliver it to the branch you select, and send you an e-mail when it arrives. [Nicola]

On the Sofa: GL Reader Comments

Every week, we like to take a look at comments left during the previous seven days and highlight a few. Here are this week’s selections:

Carroll Gardens News: Monteleone’s Up for Sale. “The true Monteleone’s died back in 2006 when they shuttered it for renovation. That place was a gem, and the people who worked there were great. When it reopened all the charm was gone, from the place and the people. The service was surly and terrible, and the clientele, who seemed to drive in from Goombaland, used to stare at the local residents like they had two heads.” [Anonymous]

Carroll Gardens News: Monteleone’s Up for Sale. “Yes Carroll Gardens is most certainly dead. It will soon look very very very bland. I heard even Carroll Park is up for sale too. They want to put like 2000 new units on it linked to the Toll Brothers development on Bond Street with a skyway. This would give CG a kind of Minneapolis feel and keep all those thousands of new residents off the street where they won’t fit anyhow. Nobody will need the subway.” [Anonymous]

Another Building Going Up on N. 10 Street. “What are the japanese tourists going to do not being able to take pictures of those hearts?” [Anonymous]

The Great Park Slope Hating Debate, Part 134. “People hate on Park Slope because that’s what people do. Hate on stuff. Where’s the fun in espousing the positive of something or of some place? Hating makes for good reading. Just look at Joyce or Bukowski. It’s not just Park Slope either. People hate on every single neighborhood in this city. People hate no matter what city they are in. This is not news. You have to admit that reading all the hate is just as much fun if not more than reading the police blotter.” [Bryan]

New “Movement” Developing in Gowanus & Carroll Gardens? “Once again, NIMBY central on The Gowanus Lounge. Out of curiosity, has there *ever* been a new development profiled on this site with anything other than outright horror? God forbid anyone builds any additional housing in this city – good thing there isn’t, you know, a housing shortage.” [Anonymous]

On the Sofa: GL Reader Comments

Every week, we take a look at a few comments left during the previous seven days by GL readers. Here are a couple from the last week for this President’s Day:

Bklink: Terrorist Photographers. “It’s fun to imagine witty replies to such coercive tactics, such as “Is this a police state” “Are you a fascist?” “Aren’t you supposed to be protecting my rights?” but there’s no point as cops do not engage in any kind of repertoire. In fact, most cops do not think and I don’t mean that as an insult. They’re paid to do as they’re told. They are told to man a wasteful and expensive toy bought by the city, that’s what they do. The current policy by the commissioner is to intimidate and harass peaceful protestors and photographers – and that’s what they do. If tomorrow they got orders telling them to stand in front of the skywatch and smile for pictures… then that’s what they would do. So the next time you’re engaged by someone like that, just have a laugh because “are you a terrorist?” is the equivalent of “do you want fries with that?” for NYPD. [Jamie]

Carroll Gardens 340 Court St. Building Gets Death Fence. “Stunning. I can’t wait for it to be covered with posters like the corner of Smith and Douglass has been for the past 2 years. Please let there be some useful retail as part of the plan and not another drug store.” [Ginger the Dog’s Dad]

The Starting Bell: Toll Brothers Reveal Gowanus Plans. “This is what my Psychic on 5th Ave. tells me: “Let’s see. 2011… that’s um… two years after the economic crash that will bankrupt new york city (once more)… which means they’ll be building the shells of buildings for the junkies and drug dealers who troll Bond Street at night. Public Housing, at long last!” Not my two cents – my five dollar psychic’s!” [Anonymous]

On the Sofa: GL Reader Comments

Every week, we like to highlight a few comments left by GL readers during the previous seven days. Here’s this week’s somewhat random selection:

No Spike in Park Slope Muggings (and a Map). “These statistics really aren’t helpful, because many, many, people who have been mugged have concluded that reporting the crime is more trouble than it’s worth. (I don’t agree, by the way, but I’ve heard this often enough to not trust the NYPD’s numbers).” [Anonymous]

Coney Island #3: Grimshaw to Design “Coney Island Center”. “This man is an awful architect. Especially his newsstands, how can people accept this trash? It’s like our Mayor is pushing a “new” new york on all of us! Stop it! Protest! Fight Back! Resist corporate takeover and the destruction of our communities!” [Anonymous]

Bklink: Nooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!! “Before it was Schnack, it was a small grocery store run by a nice couple. Manny worked at fish markets when he was younger and every morning he drove to Fulton and picked the freshest best local fish that was available and arranged it lovingly in a small ice counter just inside the door. He’d sell it at a fair price to folks in the nabe, cleaned and filleted for free. I’d rather have Manny back than 100 Schnack type sh** shacks.” [Anonymous]

MTA Harasses Photographer at Atlantic Yards. “Yes, photographs are allowed of just about anything from a public sidewalk. Many property and store owners don’t know this (even some police don’t know this) and will give you trouble. It’s a good idea to be as polite as possible, but emphasize your rights and carry a copy of the Photographer’s Rights (a free downloadable PDF) and the phone number of the local precinct. Kindly offer to call the police if anyone hassles you. And she was right, they never, ever, ever have the right to confiscate your camera or film. You can successfully sue anyone who does so, including the police.” [Dalton]

On the Sofa: GL Reader Comments

Every week, we like to a highlight a few of comments left behind by GL readers during the previous seven days. Here’s a selection from this week:

More Renderings of the Domino Glass Box. “Surely with all those giant massive towers filled with apartments, does this really need a glass topped whatever? Hell, it could be a heliport cuz I doubt anyone rich enough to buy into this are gonna want to take the L train. Oh, no, right, these people will all have cars and will be jammin’ the bridges every rush hour…” [Anonymous]

Red Hook #3: Removed Beard Street Paving Stones Reappear. “I love Ikea and they did a great job reincorporating them. You assholes will never be happy. Always looking for something to complain about.” [Anonymous]

Gowanus Update: Slow Going at the Bunker on Bond. “Design by Scarano. Facade by IKEA! It’s awful . . . not as awful as I thought it would be, but still Stasi approved.” [Gary]

No Day of Rest at 340 Court, as Application is Filed. “Ok Rogers Marvel, are you a licensed architect? How do you feel about non union labor? Please, show us what you have up your sleeves. A glass and cement richard meire fake? A brentwood cluster? a paramus strip mall? Please, we are all very interested…” [Anonymous]

2nd Street Cafe Closing Followup: Seventh Ave. Retail Bummer? “BTW, it is not just 7th Avenue. Take a walk down 5th and you’ll see more boarded up store fronts with landlords waiting for some chain or bank to move in. Rumor has it that a certain french restaurant on 5th Ave and 4th is about to go under, and several others are teetering on the edge of solvency.” [Anonymous]

On the Sofa: GL Reader Comments

Every week, we highlight a few comments left by GL readers during the previous sevent days. Here are this week’s selections (with a thank you to the GL reader that suggested a tweak to our logo):

Weeks Later, 340 Court Posts an Asbestos Sign. “So far Clarett is off to a shoddy job. The community really wants to work with them to make this development fit the site and community…Developers can work with the community toward a good result. That is what the Carroll Gardens community wants.” [Anonymous]

PM Update: Days of Some Carroll Gardens “Wide Streets” May End. “the width of the street will effect the bulk of the building if the developer ops to use the quality housing program. If he uses height factor zoning, the building height will remain governed by the sky exposure plane, (the neighborhood is zoned R6). to help the neighborhood, it sould be eather be rezoned R6B or made into a special LH (limited height) district like Brooklyn Heights.” [Anonymous]

Mommies & Toddlers Eighty Sixed from Slope’s Union Hall? “OK, so Park Slope is overrun by mommies and babies and dogs and strollers and general upper middle class white horribleness… no surprise there. So why do all these complainers move there? It’s PARK SLOPE, what do you expect?!” [Anonymous]

Dispatches from the Frigid Mass Eviction at 475 Kent in South Williamsburg. “anybody wholesale labelling the residents of 475 as ‘hipsters’ clearly doesn’t know what they are talking about. people in this building lived there when NO ONE wanted to live in williamsburg. they came over for affordable space. they took risks, but so did the people who moved into commercial spaces that predated the loft law. when i heard that 475 was targeted, my first thought was, ‘they’re going after them all now’. 475 was the granddaddy of these buildings in williamsburg. these were not spoiled rich brats living in here, even now. that said i could give FDNY a list of buildings they should have gone after before this one. i agree on the retaliation point, but there had to be some basis in fact or they wouldn’t have charged in on one of the coldest nights of the year.” [Anonymous]

On the Sofa: GL Reader Comments

Every week, we like to pick a few comments that GL readers have left during the previous seven days and highlight a few of them. Here are this week’s somewhat random selections:

340 Court Street #2: Collateral Damage Edition. “You don’t think anything can shake these brownstones until a backhoe starts banging away in the next lot, then it does seem like London in the Blitz. We live about 100 yards due west of this house and our block shook like this when they were sinking a new elevator shaft for the library’s new handicapped entrance. We had some interior wall crack; we also had to fix water damage to our side wall foundation walls when their excavation exposed it to the elements.”

J.J. Byrne Park: Slow Going in Boymelgreen Section. “The building’s nowhere near finished. The building owner’s caught in the money crunch, like many other developers of his type. His other building on Atlantic Ave. across the street from the jail is having the same problems – exterior looks mostly finished but there’s a lot inside that needs work.”

A Beautiful Carroll Gardens Recollection. “I feel that Carroll Gardens is not alone in what this person is saying. I live in a building where a woman lived and so did half of her family. She moved nextdoor and raised 5 children in one or two apartments. Back in the day when If someone moved out, you could claim that space and move right in. She has stories of the delis and movie theatres that lined court street. The old bars along the Waterfront. I think there is comraderie among some of the new guard, but, not all. I have been watching the generational ebb and flow for almost 20 years. I am hurt, now, when I walk into a store on Smith Street and am followed, as if I am a shoplifter. Even more saddened when I am percieved as a cold hearted “Liberal”. The days of stoop chats are waning, especially in CG. Soon our beloved row houses, which I had taken for granted all these years, will all wear caps of glass and steel and no one will care, years from now, what came before…downsize, now. Preserve what is unique for future generations.”

Citypoint Tower: 65 Stories on Flatbush. “For me the problem’s not height, per se, and it’s not a matter of NIMBY-ism. The problem with Downtown Brooklyn is that within five years it will be a Rich People Only, zone and have only a tiny smattering of non-white faces. That’s boring and ugly.”

On the Sofa: GL Reader Comments

Once a week, we like to feature a few comments left during the previous seven days by GL readers. Here are a few of them:

GL Reader Question: Why So Many Cash Only Restaurants?:
“It used to be more of a thing in Manhattan than it is now. I think in Manhattan they realized they had no choice, but there are still holdouts. I am only truly annoyed by it if the restaurant does not clearly indicate that the establishment is cash only, and/or if the server and other staff cannot immediately tell me where the closest ATM is. It is a detriment to the restaurant and they understand this but they also clearly need positive cash flow at all times. That outweighs any desire they have to get that extra $20 out of you. What irks me these days is ‘no credit cards for delivery’. I’m tired, I’m hungry, I worked until 8:30. I should have gotten money on the way home but I thought there was still X in the fridge. I call and suddenly it’s ‘no credit cards for delivery’? Talk about losing business. [Jukebox Graduate]

“It’s tax evasion. No credit card receipts, no record of how much they actually did in sales that night. Sure they don’t have to pay fees, but they also can evade getting caught paying taxes. It’s the restaurant industry, folks!” [Anonymous]

The Ugliest Karl Fischer: Now on Full View. “Just think of “inner” williamsburg as Rego Park for middle class hipsters. Sorry you can’t afford the really nice stuff.” [Anonymous]

Smith Street’s No. 1 Laundry is Victim of Massive Rent Increase. “What and who will pay the rent? A gullible restaauranteur with lots of capital. Its a corner spot on Smith. Some fool will put a French bisto up in no time. Or the 11th Thai restaurant.” [Anonymous]

Meet the Nightmare on Pacific Street. “This reminds me of the horrific buildings on the outskirts of Sarajevo.” [Anonymous]