Back At It At P.S. 110

It would appear that our nocturnal contractors have progressed from earth moving and now have taken to pouring cement at 11:00 p.m. on Monday night. My informant (who has the dubious pleasure of living next to this site) writes:

There was another episode — this time involving concrete pouring — last night (Monday) around 11. I tried to take some camera phone pictures, but they just look like blob montages.

Anyway, I am happy to report that I navigated the slings and arrows of 311 and made a successful noise complaint. However, I was advised that public schools enjoy a different set of permitting criteria, and so the off-hours-ness of the construction may be entirely legit, and blah, blah, blah, call some other people during business hours. Which of course I have as yet failed to do, other income-generating parts of my life having taken a higher priority.

So there have you. Public schools are (ostensibly and) legally allowed to do what many developers hereabouts do anyway: raise an unholy ruckus in the wee hours of the night. I for one am happy to know the city cares so much about our little ones getting a brand-spanking new elevator. I am certain this will make standardized test scores go through the roof. It would be nice, however, if the powers that be would take into account the quality of life for us adults.

Miss Heather

THIS WEEK: United Friends of McCarren Park

Thursday, April 3 at 7:00 p.m. the newly formed United Friends of McCarren Park will be meeting at the Automotive High School Library. Some items on the agenda for this event are as follows:

1. The “group structure” subcommittee will present a proposal for an ongoing structure and format for the group. It is going to change the way you think about democracy.

2. If the structure proposal is agreed upon, UFMP will vote on members of a Steering Committee. Those interested in taking a leadership role in this new group will be asked to introduce themselves and say a few words about their interest in the park, etc.

3. Ideas for continued outreach to other park users, etc.

Those of you who are not familiar with U.F.M.P. is about will find this synopsis from their latest announcement informative:

The best way to get the parks we deserve is through persistent community attention to each park. GWAPP (Greenpoint Waterfront Association for Parks & Planning) wants to help kickstart a big (and sustained) Push for Parks all across our North Brooklyn neighborhoods by helping to create (where one doesn’t exist) support (where one does exist) and unite (where, as with McCarren Park, several active groups co-exist) park-specific Friends Groups.

The purpose of these groups will be to gather information about the way the community uses the park, the issues and needs of each park and, most importantly, establish a community representative (or two or six or twenty) of that park, acting as a watchdog and persistently (key word) pushing for improvements – whether from the city, the Open Space Alliance (www.openspacealliancenb.org), neighbors, local businesses, grants…

We have an opportunity, with this particular Mayor and the promises made regarding the McCarren Park Pool, Ice Skating Rink and Skate Park, to push for real improvements in McCarren Park. We need to make sure we have a unified and coherent voice in the way the park is maintained and plans made for future developments. With the Pool reconstruction underway (design-wise at least) it seems the various user-groups of this potentially wonderful park have a shared purpose. Let’s use it to make the park better

Anyone who is interested in attending April 3rd’s meeting, has suggestions for the meeting format and/or agenda or wants to suggest other park user-groups who might wish to participate should contact Dewey Thompson at:

dthompson (at) pickerelpie (dot) com

In closing, I will leave you with some materials I recently acquired that hail back to the McCarren Park of yore. I am not too certain when they date from (my guess is the 1980s), but they bear testament that to the fact that the only way we, as residents of North Brooklyn, are going to effect any real and lasting change regarding our public spaces is to unite and hold our public officials accountable for the promises they have made.

The more eagle-eyed among you will notice closing Driggs Avenue to vehicular traffic is not such a new idea after all.

Comfort Station– in disrepair

Despite the radical changes Williamsburg and Greenpoint have undergone the last ten years I find it perversely comforting (no pun intended) that some things remain the same.

Miss Heather

P.S.: Be sure to check out the enlarged rendering of the old park plan which graces the beginning of this post. It is quite interesting.

Back In Business!

As some of you might have noticed, the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory experienced an electrical outage this winter which required them to close to make repairs. Well, as of my latest walk down Commercial Street Sunday evening I noticed they are back in business. Just in time for a spring time scoop (or two)!

Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory
97 Commercial Street
Brooklyn, New York 11222

All you sweet tooths out there should take note that this establishment keeps rather unusual business hours: Thursday – Sunday 3:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Miss Heather

What Is Wrong With This Picture?

I stared at this poster for a good five minutes before I finally got up the gumption to take a photograph of it. Naturally my fellow Crosstown Local patrons were curious as to what I found so interesting. So I showed them.

CHANGE IS: a copy editor who needs a refresher course in geography.

Everyone within earshot found my discovery quite amusing. A man to my right summed it up beautifully when he said:

What do you expect? It’s the G train.

Our humble subway line might take its (well deserved) lumps. Sure it is crowded. Granted, it is slow. Very slow. But at least we know where we’re going.

Miss Heather

AntiWHAT?!?

I found this product gracing a shelf laden with an assortment of anti-headache and diarrheal medicines at Bagel on the Run. At a mere $2.50 a pop I had to own one for posterity. Given that this neighborhood recently received lavishly illustrated signs admonishing the citizenry not to drink in public parks, I am certain this product will be a big hit.

Miss Heather

Greenpoint Photo du Jour: Lorimer Street

Speaking as someone who was forced to watch the Challenger launch (and explode) in school this gives me the creeps. Only Florida would issue commemorative license plates like this.

On the bright side, at least this wasn’t affixed to a Pinto.

Miss Heather

Hmm…

Yesterday as I was knocking around McGolrick Park I remembered that I had yet to get a nice photograph of P.S. 110. So I took a moment, found a nice vantage point and shutter-bugged to my heart’s contentment.

It is not very easy to get a good shot of this beautiful building. As you can see the trees present a bit of an issue. Maybe a close up would be more feasible?

Yes, that is much better. Very nice indeed!

I wonder what is going on next door? Methinks I will go in for a closer look.

I cannot shake the feeling I have heard about this work site before. Oh wait, I remember! I received an email about it last Thursday at 11:48 p.m.:

…My bedroom window overlooks the North-facing yard of PS110 (corner of Driggs and Monitor). Some sort of elevator-shaft construction is happening to the building, and as I email screechy earth moving equipment is shuffling dirt from one mound into another. This totally stinks. Can you advise?

Let’s see. The sun rises before 7:00 a.m. and sets after 7:00 p.m. nowadays. Our fair city permits construction to occur from 7:00 a.m. through 6:00 p.m. weekdays (provided of course an after-hours variance has not been issued). I wonder why they need flood lights?

Miss Heather

The Sunview 300

Many of my fellow Greenpointers are aware that the Sunview Luncheonette was shuttered by the Department of Health earlier this year. Among the violations cited were:

1. Evidence of flying insects or live flying insects present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
2. Toilet facility not maintained and provided with toilet paper, waste receptacle and self-closing door.
3. Facility not vermin proof. Harborage or conditions conducive to vermin exist.

Frankly, this describes a number of restaurants I have patronized over the years. In fact, it sounds uncannily like my apartment (on occasion) or the McGolrick Park bathroom (which is located just across the street). Except no one has yet to cite me or the “McGolrick Park Crapper of Death”.

Even if they did I doubt such an act would create as much rancor as the closure of the Sunview Luncheonette has. So this establishment racked up a whopping 47 points? While pretty abysmal I have a very difficult time believing this is the worst score lurking in the bowels of the Department of Health’s records for north Brooklyn. The Subway franchise at 821 Manhattan Avenue racked up 36 points for such tasty transgressions as:

1. Plumbing not properly installed or maintained; anti-siphonage or backflow prevention device not provided where required; equipment or floor not properly drained; sewage disposal system in disrepair or not functioning properly.
2. Hand washing facility not provided in or near food preparation area and toilet room. Hot and cold running water at adequate pressure not provided at facility. Soap and an acceptable hand-drying device not provided.
3. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
4. Cold food held above 41°F (smoked fish above 38°F) except during necessary preparation.

yet they have not been shuttered. Interesting.

The way I see it, what’s a little stomach discomfort compared to the utter chaos that will undoubtedly result if this space becomes home to a second Starbucks?

Miss Heather