Greenpoint
Cafe Cito Bogota
Greenpoint Photos Du Jour: SPRING!
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic
West Street
Franklin Street
Manhattan Avenue
Huron Street
Lorimer Street
Miss Heather
A Girl And Her Blog
It would appear that politicians (and the developers to whom they are beholden) have done a smashing job of removing “urban blight” (READ: the working class/poor) from north Brooklyn. Who needs nuclear bombs when re-zoning, complicity and bureaucratic incompetence/apathy will do the job? Nonetheless the end product is more or less the same: a community whose quality of life has been compromised.
Follows is a revue of developer-induced blight in north Brooklyn I captured yesterday, April 5. I have entitled it After The Gold Rush.
The sad reality is re-zoning, tax bennies, and easy credit have done little to benefit my neighborhood. There were once businesses that gave people decent, well paying jobs. Affordable rental property was once in abundance in Greenpoint as well. No more. Thanks to our city’s leadership much of my wonderful neighborhood has become a wasteland peppered by vacant lots, failed condominiums cum overpriced rental property, illegal hostels and super-sized tourist destinations operated by and for the affluent.
The time is long overdue for north Brooklyn to be developed in a manner sensitive to the needs of the people who constitute this community, not the ones Mayor Bloomberg’s rich cronies envision living here.
TO BE CONTINUED.
Miss Heather
P.S.: This one’s for you, Bob.
Greenpoint Street Appliance Du Jour: Silence
From Java Street.
Miss Heather
Greenpoint Photos Du Jour: Along The Waterfront
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic
Late Sunday afternoon the Mister and I braved the blustery weather to explore some of north Greenpoint’s waterfront. Our persistence paid off: the fog provided a certain “mood” which rendered our experience thoroughly enjoyable (if a wee bit chilly). Follows is a Flickr slide show I created featuring my favorite shots. Enjoy!
Miss Heather
New York Shitty Day Ender: Urban Fur
Driggs Avenue
Bedford Avenue
North 9 Street
Franklin Street
West Street
Miss Heather
Greenpoint Photos Du Jour: West Street Story
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic
Taken March 21st & March 26th, 2009.
Miss Heather
New York Shitty Day Ender: A Revue Of Greenpoint Street Furniture
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic
West Street
Green Street
Miss Heather
The Pencil Factory Lofts Get A Very Greenpoint Welcome
I am certain a number of you (like the gentleman above) have noticed the new sales office for the Pencil Factory Lofts on Franklin Street. I know I have; I have been watching it manifest with rapt interest for the last three weeks.
I am pleased to announce as of last weekend (and perhaps a tad earlier) it is open for business on Franklin Street! A number of things interest me about this development. Purchasing one of said “lofts” is not one of them. I neither have the means of affording one nor do I have the desire to co-habitate with their target clientele base (which, from what I can deduce is affluent 20-somethings and 50-something men with 30-something trophy wives). It’s nothing personal; I am certain a number of the previous people are perfectly nice. Rather, it is a matter of class: I have none. Which brings me to this.
I understand (especially given the current state of the economy) that the wizards behind the Pencil Factory Lofts want to move as many units as possible. It is also very obvious that 122 West Street (as seen at the beginning of this post) is nowhere near completion. This requires that a sales office be located elsewhere. I suppose 131-135 Franklin Street is a nice enough building, but the overflowing garbage cans and detritus which perennially grace the front of this edifice do not strike me as putting a good “face” on their organization. Quite to the contrary: aside from being an eyesore the above tableau highlights the stark difference between the lives of the people actually live in Greenpoint and that of the kind of people businesses like The Pencil Factory Lofts want to live here.
The inequity of this (which is all too pervasive nowadays) has been nagging at me for sometime. And I’ll be perfectly frank: it makes me angry. Yesterday as I walked down West Street I learned I am not alone.
It would appear that 122 West Street has received a little “added value”. Somehow I do not think this was what the architect had in mind when he filed plans with the Department of Buildings.
Talk about your genuine, gritty “urban” experience. It doesn’t get much more authentic than this.
Or this.
Or this.
Now that I think about it maybe having a sales office at 135 Franklin Street (which is a healthy distance from the above hilarity) isn’t such a bad idea after all.
Miss Heather
Dung Of The Day: Fun With Urban Blight
FRANKLIN STREET, 12:45 p.m.
I am growing weary of this, Paul.
<3 Greenpoint.
WEST STREET, 1:00 p.m.
Oh…
my…
GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Miss Heather
Reader Contribution Du Jour: Greenpoint After Dark
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic
Earlier this week I met up with The Professor for a couple of drinks and some long overdue catch-up time. Some of you might know that the Professor is a D.J. by trade. He spins at The Beauty Bar every Tuesday night. I also have it on very good intelligence that Greenpoint’s very own CoCo66 is going to give him a trial run soon. When I get a confirm on the date and time I will pass it along here.
In addition to his love of music The Professor is an extremely gifted photographer. Follows is a sampling of his latest work. Enjoy!
You can see all the above shots and much, much more via The Professor’s Flickr page. Check it out!
Miss Heather
NYS Flickr Pool
