From The New York Shitty Inbox, Part III: Flooded At 400 McGuinness

October 31, 2012 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

A lass named Laura opines:

My husband took these photos of the shelter. They can’t say they weren’t warned. As I’ve said before, a shelter should be a safe place.

Not only do I agree, I find it sad that our city’s homeless have been (once again) rendered homeless. Closing on a (somewhat) related note, has anyone heard what is going on regarding the respite shelter slated to hours our local homeless? Per our City Councilman, Steve Levin, at the last 94th Precinct Community Council Meeting this was to open November 1st. Now I am hearing November 15th. Given that we have just received our first taste of wintry weather I (and I imagine a fair number of my fellow Greenpointers) are quite concerned as to when this wonderful (and long overdue) endeavor will commence.

If anyone has the 411 on what’s going on please share via comments or email at: missheather (at) thatgreenpointblog (dot) com. Your identity will remain anonymous if you so desire. Thanks!

From The New York Shitty Inbox: “Open House” At 400 McGuinness?

August 20, 2012 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

This comes via a tipster. Anyone who wishes to view this facility, ask questions (Examples: How will the 20 beds allotted to our local homeless be administered? Are there Polish-speaking staff on site?) and/or voice concerns, this is the time to do it! I for one would like to take a moment to thank Mr. Rumore for (at last) reaching out to the community. However, I suspect I write on the behalf of quite a few folks that a little more advance notice would have been nice…

UPDATE, August 17, 2012: Yours truly has received word that this “Open House” is apparently by invitation only. Fascinating. I have, however, received an account from someone who was permitted to attend. This I will relay via a separate blog post in a bit!

Meet & Greet/Open House At 400 BRC’s New Shelter
Tuesday, August 21, 2012 starting at 10:00 a.m.
400 McGuinness Boulevard
Brooklyn, New York 11222

 

New York Shitty Day Starter: 400 McGuinness Is Open For Business

August 14, 2012 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

A person we’ll call “M” writes (via comments on this post):

its open now. boyfriend met a guy who showed him an ID, assured him that the shelter was for people who have jobs. he was rushing back to beat the 10pm curfew. saw him the next night, with another guy from the shelter, a little more drunk than the night before, but still personable. so, not sure about the september opening date, unless i slept through august (which i was trying to do).

After some (somewhat) polite nut-twisting (this) I got an answer from our City Councilman. Here it is:

So there have you. Thanks Mr. Levin.

UPDATE, August 15, 2012: It has been brought to my attention that a temporary Certificate of Occupancy was issued for this property in July.

Looks like someone dropped the ball.

Quicklink: An Update Regarding 400 McGuinness

August 1, 2012 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

Given the fact this facility is slated to open this upcoming  September I feel compelled to pass along this item from the New York Daily News. Follows is a passage I found particularly intriguing:

“Transient residencies are allowed in certain types of manufacturing districts,” he said, noting that 20 beds in the dormitory shelter will be specifically set aside for Greenpoint homeless…”

I for one think this is a splendid step in the right direction— but it does pose some questions. For example: how are these beds going to administered? Taking into account the fact a great many of our community’s homeless are Polish speakers, certainly a Polish speaking staff member will be required. I suspect I speak on the behalf of many of my neighbors (be they for or against this facility) when I write that I want BRC to provide us with a concrete “plan of action” as to how our homeless will be accommodated (Think: outreach, substance abuse counseling, etc.). Methinks this is not too much to ask.

From The New York Shitty Inbox, Part II: What’s Up At 400 McGuinness?

April 11, 2012 ·
Filed under: 11222, Bloomblight, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

Apparently a new floor, per the person who saw fit to copy me on the following email (which included the General Manager of Community Board 1, among others). She writes:

Rebars are being placed on top of 400 McGuiness Blvd. Are they building upward? Does anyone know?

Naturally I was very curious about this, so I did three things:

1. I checked Google Maps so as to ascertain what the roof-line of this complex looked like “pre-rebar”.

I have indicated the work site in question in yellow. As you can see the western part of 400 McGuinness sports an additional floor. The area highlighted does not. Which brings me to…

2. See this for myself.

A new floor has been added and a means of egress/ingress (as highlighted above) leads from the original structure to its new neighbor. In addition, all the entrances save one on Clay Street and one on McGuinness Boulevard have been replaced with windows.

One such former entrance was where this intercom system (which they have inexplicably seen fit not to remove) is located.

And of course here is a shot of the rebar in question— along with a new HVAC unit. Which, in turn, brings me to…

3. Is this legal?

At a cursory search, I honestly cannot tell. Thus I have requested a disinterested party “in the know” about such matters to tender his/her take.

To be continued…

P.S.: On the way to 400 McGuinness Boulevard I noted a few items of interest on Box Street:

The on-going work of art that is 62 Box Street is for sale. Exclusively no less.

And the Box House Hotel is keeping up appearances.

Spotted At 400 McGuinness Boulevard: Smashed

January 18, 2012 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

A pair of simple mishaps or a sign of something more sinister? Given the controversy surrounding— if not outright hostility directed at— the proposed 200 bed assessment center at this location I am not so quick to rule out the latter. Therefore I have brought it to the attention of the head of the 94th Precinct, D.I. Hurson. He has assured me he is looking into it.

UPDATE, 9:45 p.m.: I have word from Mr. Hurson no reports have been filed regarding this. Interesting…

From The New York Shitty Inbox: Rally At City Hall

This item comes courtesy of Rami Metal, the Community Liaison for City Councilman Steve Levin. Next Wednesday, September 21st, at 11:00 a.m. Mr. Levin along with Senator Martin Malave Dilan, Assemblyman Joe Lentol and other notables will be present on the steps of City Hall to protest the proposed homeless assessment center for 400 McGuinness Boulevard. As some of you might recall, our City Comptroller (and Mayoral candidate), John Liu, has initiated an investigation into this shelter and others citing “irregularities“. What will happen with remains to be seen. However, in the meantime anyone who has questions or wishes to RSVP should contact Mr. Metal at the above-listed email address or telephone number.

Rally To Stop The Proposed Assessment Center At 400 McGuinness Boulevard
September 21, 2011 at 11:00 a.m.
City Hall
260 Broadway
New York, New York 10007

Reader Comment du Jour: A Modest Proposal

June 28, 2011 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

Some of you might recall that I featured this piece of wheatpaste work (which hails from the Pulaski Bridge across the street from 400 McGuinness) a few days ago. Well, my blog post came to the attention of the woman responsible and she left a comment. Here it is:

You can read the statement about Jesus’s picture here:
http://www.insideoutproject.net/#/sp/2tCTEG

When you upload your photo you write a description and give its location. And yes, the idea was to declare the fact that people live here, this is not an anonymous point on the map! I like the idea of posting images of our homeless people… Thank you for posting missheather!

This missive— or more accurately the person who posted it— jogged my memory: I remembered that she has contacted me some time ago with an idea she had. Regrettably, it had fallen between the cracks so yesterday I endeavored to catch up with her. What followed was a very interesting dialogue. One, I will add, which resulted in (what yours truly believes to be) a very good idea*— but more about that in a few. First, let’s take the statement about Jesus alluded to in this woman’s comment.  It reads as follows:

Greenpoint sits on the northern tip of Brooklyn and for years has fought attempts to overload this little neighborhood with the services that should really be shared by all New York City neighborhoods (incinerators, waste transfer stations, intake centers). We are home to an enormous sewage treatment center which, in many opinions, including mine, is a marvel of engineering and design! When city government looks our way to host these services, I hope they see the faces of our neighborhood.

Now I would like you, gentle readers, to (re)consider the placement of Jesus. Yes, what this woman is alluding to is our proposed assessment center. It was her thinking that by placing Jesus, a Greenpoint resident, across the street from a facility which is very much opposed by this community she would be in some small way putting a human face on the community which will be impacted by it. I found this to be rather brilliant. So much so, that it got me to thinking— and emailing. Here’s what she and I propose (NOTE: this is still very much in the working stages):

Since this project, InsideOut, is about community awareness/building and given that the man ultimately responsible for this proposed shelter has not seen fit to face the very public he will be saddling with a rotating door of 200 homeless men, perhaps we as a community should use this project to make our presence known? Simply put, we want to get as many Greenpointers as we can to participate and hang posters facing this facility. Since one of the dictates of this project is that these posters must be placed on properties with the owner’s permission, I have reached out to the guys at McGuinness Brake Service (which is located across the street and faces 400 McGuinness Boulevard). As of the writing of this post they seem to be very amenable to the idea. Best of all, it would appear that we can do this as a “group action” per InsideOut’s web site.

Thoughts/ideas, fellow Greenpointers?

Miss Heather

*Especially if we can get our elected officials involved.

POSTPONED: Rally at 400 McGuinness

April 29, 2011 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

Rami Metal of Councilman Steve Levin’s office writes:

Hi Heather.  I don’t know whether or not you were aware of this but Hope Reichbach, our communications director, died yesterday.  We are unbelievably shaken and saddened by her sudden passing and are putting all our energy right now into working through this difficult time and helping her family in any way we can.  The funeral is being held on Sunday at noon.  Needless to say we feel that we need to cancel the planned rally against the homeless shelter and we were hoping that you could help get the word out.  We do not yet have a new date for the rally but will work to figure something out in the next week or so and will definitely let you know.

If anyone is interested in attending the funeral the services will take place at Congregation Mount Sinai, 250 Cadman Plaza West, at noon on Sunday

The Reichbach family will sit shiva Sunday following the service, Monday and Tuesday all day at 148 Bond Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217.

Donations in Hope’s name can be made to: Nicholas Naquan Heyward Jr. Memorial Foundation, Inc., 413 Baltic Street, Suite 1A, Brooklyn, NY 11217

Below is a joint statement from last night from Steve and the Speaker:

Joint Statement by Speaker Christine C. Quinn and Council Member Stephen Levin

This evening we learned of the tragic death of one of the Council’s family. A bright young woman who was at the start of a career in public service is gone too soon. Hope was a wonderful, vivacious, and tough young woman. A beautiful soul who cared deeply about her community and her family. We are deeply saddened by her passing and will miss her more than words can ever describe. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family and her friends, and everyone affected by this loss. We also respectfully request that the media respect the family’s privacy at this most difficult time.

Thanks.

I suspect I speak on the behalf of everyone reading this when I write that my heartfelt condolences to Miss Reichbach’s family, friends and loved ones. She will be missed.

Miss Heather

REMINDER: Rally Against The Assessment Center at 400 McGuinness

April 28, 2011 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

Although I have posted this some time ago, I have recently received a number of inquiries about the proposed assessment center at 400 McGuinness Boulevard (as proposed this time around by the Bowery Residents Committee). I also met a resident of Clay Street earlier this week who had no idea whatsoever such a proposal was in the works. Therefore, I feel compelled to remind everyone there will be a rally to protest this assessment center this upcoming Sunday, May 1st.

Rally to Stop the Proposed Homeless Shelter at 400 McGuinness Boulevard
May 1, 2011 (May Day!) at 2:30 p.m.
400 McGuinness Boulevard (at Clay Street)
Brooklyn, New York 11222

Miss Heather

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