Greenpoint
Lorven Pharmacy
Culture on the Cheap
Crime Prevention Tips From The NYPD
Filed under: 11211, 11222, Criminal Activity, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Williamsburg, Williamsburg Brooklyn
Yesterday I attended a hastily convened meeting at the 94th Precinct regarding crime trends here in Williamspoint. Apparently there was a spike in robberies last week— and this obviously being a source of concern— local neighborhood groups were invited to discuss the matter. Most of the meeting can be summarized by the annotation on the flier to the left: don’t be an idiot. Nonetheless, I will outline the more salient points in this post.
Exercise Vigilance
70% of all crimes in the 94th last year were grand larceny/property crimes. These range anywhere from losing unattended property to smash and grabs; burglary and robbery. All more or less have two thing in common: they’re crimes of opportunity and appear to be perpetrated by a handful of serial offenders. D.I. Fulton cited one such example of this: a group of men who managed to rob three people in a single evening.
Although this is common sense I am going to list a few tips:
1. Watch your property
2. Do NOT leave valuables in your car
3. Refrain from talking on your cell phone and/or texting when walking our streets. Not only does negotiating around such people (who tend to weave around) piss yours truly off in a big, big way, but it makes you an easy target for robbery
4. When going out at night go in groups and refrain from being intoxicated. Public drunkenness makes one a sterling target for robberies and, as D.I. Fulton noted, one should not be impaired when negotiating the marginally secured construction sites hereabouts.
5. LOCK YOUR DOORS AND WINDOWS. This too is common sense, but Mr. Fulton recounted to us a robbery where the woman’s apartment was accessed via a window on her fire escape. If you think you’re not an easy target because you reside on a higher floor, think again.
6. If you see suspicious activity, call the police.
Arrests
Although D.I. Fulton pointed out crime was down 6.7% last year (there were a total of 1,651 arrests last year lest you are wondering), he did list a few areas where more arrests and/or citations are being made:
1. Robberies (as I have already mentioned)
2. Graffiti
3. Truck traffic summonses are up for a third year in a row.
It was also noted that they are also cracking down on derelict bicycles. Which brings me to what is probably the most useful piece of information I gleaned from this meeting: the 94th Precinct is registering bicycles. This service is totally free and anyone interested should contact Elizabeth Moulterie at (718) 383-3879. The 94th’s Community Liaison, Carlos Ortiz gave me a compelling, if darkly amusing, example why bicycle owners should register their rides. He was once contacted by a gentleman whose bike was stolen… and turned up locked to a gate a few doors down on his block! How’s that for chutzpah? Despite his protestations that the vehicle in question was in fact his, since he had not seen the thief take it and there was no serial number engraved on it there was nothing they could do about it.
In closing, I’d feel remiss if I didn’t mention a little chicanery I encountered on the way to this meeting. On Manhattan Avenue between Java and Kent streets a 20-something woman hocked up a loogie— and noticing that she got my attention— tried to sell me a can of Folgers coffee for $5.00. Hot coffee. I was also equally impressed (if that is the most appropriate word to use) to learn at this meeting that apparently some of our local drug dealers are cutting their “product” with sheet rock excavated from the walls of their apartment building. The entrepreneurial moxie of the more criminally-inclined people in this neighborhood never ceases to amaze me.
Miss Heather
P.S.: I have recorded most— but not all— of the proceedings. Given the sensitive matter of some of the material discussed, I did not film the people present. I simply pointed my camera at the ceiling (so as to capture the audio and preserve the attendee’s anonymity). The sound quality is less than spectacular, but here it is.
1. General introduction, Crime rundown
2. Crime rundown, tips for crime prevention, Q & A
3. Q & A, continued. NOTE: last week’s “suspicious death” and Violeete Kryzak are touched upon at the very end. I advise you to give this a listen.
4. More Q & A: concerns about narcotics activity are aired (Speaking for myself, I have observed increasing evidence of heroin use along Manhattan Avenue north of Greenpoint Avenue.)
5. Concluding remarks
New York Shitty Day Ender: 6 Proof Toothpaste
Filed under: Area 51
Today was a very busy one at the junk shop.* I’m tired. The same goes, it would appear, for my Internet connection. Therefore, in recognition of the glory that is Santacon (and my not being terribly endowed in the patience department) I will be concluding today’s postage a bit early.
As I noted earlier I have been sorting my collection of photography. What I did not mention in this post is that I am endeavoring to sort ALL my printed material. The reasons for this are both practical and selfish. I was recently so inspired by a pair of delightful collages posted by a flickr contact of mine, Verbunkos, that I rolled up my sleeves, dusted off the boxes upon boxes of accumulated material I have stashed in Chez Shitty and commenced clipping. It was in a 1961 issue of House and Garden where I stumbled upon the following gem:
Jigger brand Whiskey flavored toothpaste. This morning I brought it to the attention of the Mister.
Me: I found something last night I want to show you. It’s an advertisement for whiskey-flavored toothpaste.
The Mister: !!!
Me: Methinks they have other flavors and it’s even six proof.
The Mister (getting really excited): I want to see this!
Me: Hold on and I’ll find it for you.
Me (rifling through said magazine): Here it is. Here’s my favorite piece of the ad copy:
Night-before feeling on the morning after.
This may sound like a good idea to the “he-man” demographic this product is directed at, but I would not want to face the morning after kissing some dude’s mug that reeks of Scotch-flavored toothpaste. Then again, I guess there’s worse morning breath to be had…
The Mister: I want this.
Me: I strongly suspect the peeps behind this product are no longer in business. However if someone here was to, say, produce V.S.O.P., Remy Martin or vodka-flavored toothpaste there may very well be a market for it. In fact, I’d go so far to say that at the right price a small fortune could be made shilling the stuff.
Thereupon the Mister started devising ways to make whiskey toothpaste. I told him to find a regular, unflavored variety (preferably one with baking soda in it so as to provide effervescence and negate the need for soda water) and mix his liquor of choice in it and see what happens. How the hell the Mister will get it back in the tube is his own damned problem.
I have put far too much thought into this matter than I feel comfortable with already.
Miss Heather
*A piece of advice for prospective hagglers: claiming a dress/skirt does not fit you is not sufficient justification for knocking off $5.00 from the asking price. Moving forward if anyone tries this (again) I am either going to say:
- That dress does not look too big for you.
- Why yes, now that you mention it, you could stand to lose some weight.
Seriously. This is almost as lame as the ever-popular “it’s a gift for a friend” argument. If the person in question is as good as friend as these people (women all) purport, why are these people shopping for him/her at a junk shop? This is not to suggest the junk shop does not have nice stuff: it does. But these items are never the subject of gift-giving haggling. Inasmuch as I can deduce (given the behavior I have just outlined) a good friend merits a $15.00-$20.00 present with anywhere from a $5.00 -$10.00 window of “bargaining” and a LOT of soul-sucking interaction.
From The New York Shitty Inbox: 47 Stories of Fun!
Jessica writes (in an email entitled “Have you seen this?):
I saw this post today on gothamist, and my jaw just dropped. A megalith tower on freaking India street???? Are the thousand yuppies stupid enough to buy crappy condos for $750,000 all going to crowd onto the G train? A-holes.
To answer Jessica’s question: yes, I have seen this. I was especially amused by this quote from the developer, one Jonathan Bernstein:
We are asking for radical changes to the zoning, but we do think it’s way different than anything that’s been proposed on the waterfront… We think it will be a gateway to Manhattan and Greenpoint.
New York Shitty analysis: it looks like Long Island City ate a business park and took a shit.
Miss Heather
Image Credit: Gothamist
From The New York Shitty Inbox: Everything You Wanted To Know About Those Lines On The Pulaski Bridge
Filed under: 11101, 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Long Island City, Queens
(and I do mean EVERYTHING)
Rick writes:
I’m a new-ish fan of the blog, 10-year Greenpointer (what I call “outer” Greenpoint — Morgan near Driggs — as opposed to “upper” Greenpoint, meaning along the Manhattan/Franklin corridor), and bike commuter. I’m also a journalist who just finished a year reporting on urban spaces and infrastructure for PBS and public radio.
So after seeing the markings on the Pulaski Bridge path — and reading your posts — I decided to call someone who’d know what was up: Wiley Norvell, Communications Director for bike advocacy group Transportation Alternatives.
I asked him about three things: (1) the “lane” markings on the ramps; (2) the seemingly-superfluous white lines along the main stretch of the path; and (3) the “Stop and Dismount — Walk Bike” signs.
Wiley checked with NYCDOT and got back to me with the following answers:
1. The lane markings at the entrances “are designed to provide guidance,” he said. Every bridge in the city handles cyclists and pedestrians differently: they’re segregated on the Brooklyn and Manhattan spans; pedestrians move counter to cycle traffic on the Williamsburg; and (iirc) they move in the same direction on the 59th. So, Wiley said, “the DOT’s trying to clarify the rules for the Pulaski.”
2. The white lines are an effort to get cyclists to chill out, for lack of a better way of putting it. “That’s typically done for cars,” Wiley said. “They visually narrow the space. That’s intended to get people to slow down and focus. It make it look like the space is only five feet wide, so it’s a visual traffic-calming cue.”
Of course, Wiley says, none of this deals with the underlying problem on the bridge: That the path is simply too narrow for the amount of pedestrian and cycle traffic it’s already handling. And things are likely to get worse: Between the impending completion of the Kent Avenue greenway (which I rode today and is coming along beautifully) and the coming greenway along the LIC riverfront, there’s likely to be a lot more traffic on the Pulaski path. “It’s like the Brooklyn Bridge path,” he said. “We’re running up against the laws of physics.”
The bridge’s roadbed has the opposite problem: It has too much capacity, Wiley said. The evidence: cars routinely exceed the speed limit over the Newtown Creek by 15-20 MPH. “And that behavior continues on McGuinness Boulevard and into Long Island City,” Wiley said.
So there’s a built-in solution that would solve both problems at once: Take a lane away from the roadbed and turn it into a dedicated cycle path. Wiley says Transportation Alternatives supports that idea, but it’s likely a long way off: The Pulaski Bridge was last rebuilt just 15 years ago, so any reconfiguration is likely years in the future.
3. The signs are mandated by a regulation, likely a federal one, Wiley said. That regulation governs how traffic is supposed to behave on drawbridges. The problem, he said, is that the signs are in the wrong place: Cyclists are supposed to dismount and walk their bikes over the expansion joint between the leaves of the bascule (i.e. at mid-span). The signs, however, are hundreds of feet away from the joint. Even so, Wiley said, DOT doesn’t enforce the rule. “They’re planning for the real world, in which cyclists are riding across the bridge.”
Hope this helps… Keep up the good work!
No Rick, thank YOU for taking the time to give us the 411! If anyone has a question for Rick you can leave them in the comments or contact him via email at: rick (at) technopop (dot) org.
Miss Heather
P.S.: Rick was also kind enough to forward me a DOT presentation regarding the Pulaski Bridge. You can view it in jpeg format by clicking here.
Gratitude
Filed under: 11211, Brooklyn, Greenpoint, New York City, Plagiarism, Williamsburg
I rarely give shout-outs to blogs for the simple reason I do not have the time. After I have completed my posts, sift through the detritus in my inbox and surfed the webs I call it quits. Today I am going to make an exception. Brooklyn11211 writes in a post entitled Behold the Power of the Interwebs:
I can independently verify Einstein’s theory of relativity. That doesn’t mean I should call it my own. The Post has no more right to its “exclusive” based on its own verification of a blog post.
You’re making a very dangerous proposition 11211. You are making the argument that “neighborhood bloggers” (the ghetto print establishment likes to relegate the likes of me and you) and journalists are equals. We’re not. Mr. Ginsberg’s missive makes this all too clear:
Post policy prevented me from crediting you in print. Allow me to do so now. You did a fantastic reporting job. All I had to do was follow your steps (and make a few extra phone calls).
I won’t discuss at length the policy of not crediting blogs (or anyone else). I’ll just briefly explain that as long as we can independently verify every bit of info, we don’t credit…
Looking forward to amplifying more of your good work in the future.
The truly nauseating thing about Mr. Ginsberg’s comment is he thought he was being nice— and that I should be somehow beholden to him for “amplifying” my scoop. I am not grateful. I am pissed off. And no amount of crying “Post policy” is going to change this. If anything, it is a clear indication of a lack of moral/ethical fiber on his part. But I suppose that comes with the territory.
Needless to say when I read Suzi Halpin’s defense of her employer I damned near had an aneurysm:
The New York Post credits blogs, bloggers, and other media all the time, as our readers know.
Except when when your readers don’t know— because your employer, the New York Post, doesn’t cite them. Which is often. Here are a few examples to refresh your memory Ms. Halpin.
September 14, 2008: I wrote a post about how the plaque at Father Giorgio Square was stolen. I happened to walk by when the police were taking a report. There was no way the institution you represent would have known about it save my blog. I published it on a Sunday. The next day Murdoch’s flunkies were on it like flies on shit. They even called the Brooklyn Kitchen to ask about their stolen tree. Is this your idea of reporting? Stolen trees?
May 4, 2009: I get a tip about strange graffiti in Greenpoint. I post it. My readers decipher it— yet it was a New York Post “exclusive”. I take up the matter and get what can be best described as a semi-literate and crazed email from its author: John Doyle. If the previous is an indication of what it takes to be a reporter, god help us all.
May 18, 2009: I wrote a post about a flier I found at McCarren Park decrying the noise made ice cream trucks. Reuven Fenton and his homeboy were on the scene the next day. I know this because a reader and contributor of mine bumped into them:
I was just finishing my run in McCarren Park when I saw a guy sporting two fancy cameras talking to another guy near the pool. Being a sucker for men with big lenses, I ventured over to see what they were up to and it turns out they were from the Post covering a story on ice cream trucks disturbing the neighbors of McCarren Park. I mentioned NYshitty covering the story and I asked them where they heard about this story and they said Curbed and Gothamist. Hmmm… no new york shitty? The dudes names were Reuben and Paul, wait isn’t that like Pee Wee?
I called them on it. And your publication gave me a crumby quote in return. Removed from context and not linked to despite my creation of a mirror site: www.thatgreenpointblog.com.
It was at this point I began to understand that the paper you represent depends on people like me for their livelihood.
Which brings me to your institution’s latest act of plagiarism.
August 19, 2009: I wrote a post about “Cutting Edge Fitness” at the behest of a tipster.
It took awhile for the Post, the publication you represent, to get around to it, but lift it they did!
August 31, 2009
Quite frankly, I was disappointed it took almost two full weeks for your employer to rip off this one, Suzi. I’m not a patient person. Thankfully I was engaged in other things and Alex Ginsberg saw fit to post this comment on my blog:
Post policy prevented me from crediting you in print. Allow me to do so now. You did a fantastic reporting job. All I had to do was follow your steps (and make a few extra phone calls).
I won’t discuss at length the policy of not crediting blogs (or anyone else). I’ll just briefly explain that as long as we can independently verify every bit of info, we don’t credit.
You will find that the Daily News observes the same policy, but the Times does not. (They often write an explanatory phrase like, ‘The investigation into Mr. Spitzer was first reported in the New York Post.’ That’s not a real one. I just made it up. Although I would note that another Times policy would prevent them from actually printing the name of your blog, presenting them with an unresolvable conflict between two inflexible rules.)
Looking forward to “amplifying” more of your good work in the future.
Alex
I wrote a blog post about it. And you have been hired to explain it away. There is no explanation: it is plagiarism, plain and simple.
To drive the point home (because it is all too clear Mr. Ginsberg, you and your employer is too “thick” or arrogant to “get it”) here are a few more examples:
Gowanus Lounge, January 13, 2009:
This is yesterday’s news, because we ran the story on Curbed early yesterday morning, and we’re sure some of the papers are going to be “discovering” the story and having some fun with it today, but The Future of Coney Island website URL was acquired by a Belgian porn entrepreneur. (The Post’s Rich Calder predictably reports the story as though he discovered it without crediting Curbed for breaking the news.)
POSTED May 18, 2009
May 12, 2009: EV Grieve posted this. Your reporter’s “scoop” is pretty much verbatim regurgitation of EV Grieve’s work.
May 28, 2009: the New York Post, your employer, posted this:
Vanishing New York, reported about this as early as May 19,2009. What’s more he (she?) kept at it.
I have just cited seven examples where the New York Post, your employer, has blatantly lifted material from blogs without citing them, Suzi. If you need more I’ll gladly tender them to you.
I understand that you are in a very tenuous position, Suzi. The print media, New York Post included, has not adapted to the reality of online media. I suspect this is why your employer, Rupert Murdoch, is waging war on Google. When defeated the entitled try to change the rules:
Mr Murdoch, the chief executive of News Corp, was among the first to hit out at Google, one of the biggest aggregators through its Google News service.
“Should we be allowing Google to steal our copyrights? If you have a brand like the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal, you don’t have to.” Robert Thomson, the managing editor of the Wall Street Journal which is owned by News Corp, went further in his attack. “There is a collective consciousness among content creators that they are bearing the costs and that others are reaping some of the revenues. “There is no doubt that certain websites are best described as parasites or tech tapeworms in the intestines of the internet,” said Mr Thomson.
I find this ironic given the worst plagiarists I have dealt with to date, as a “blogger” (and by Murdoch’s definition a “parasite” or “tapeworm”) are New York Post reporters. Could you please clarify how your employer is any different from than various and sundry parasites who troll the webs and claim my content (as well as the above-listed as their own), Ms. Halpin?
To take Brooklyn11211’s more nuanced approach: if I can verify via “independent sources” that your employer, Rupert Murdoch, is an unscrupulous shitbag who is doing everything in his power to bully independent media, plagiarizes my blog and others— constantly, spouts right-wing bullshit and wants to suppress free speech do I need to cite him? I eagerly wait your answer to this question, Suzi Halpin.
Given the number of stories your publication has lifted from my blog I have ample credentials to be a “reporter” for crap rag you call the New York Post.
HIRE ME.
Oh wait— I have ethics.
Miss Heather
P.S.: Here’s a (working) honor roll of blogs, big and small, who have found Mr. Ginsberg’s/New York Post’s conduct objectionable:
- Neiman Journalism Lab, Harvard University
- Snapper Patter
- Techdirt
- Gawker
- Media Metamorphosis
- Superpunch
- FAIR.org
- Gothamist (Jen Carlson gets kudos for calling me this asshat’s “muse”. I laughed my ass off when I read that.)
- Queens Crap
- Brooklyn11211
- Citoyen Michel (France)
- Manga Verde
- Blogografia and my personal favorite:
- (shh-no-digan-que-lo-saque-de-un-blog): Puerto Rico represents!
- Journalisten (Sweden) Click here to read it in English.
- Pink Lemon (Tunisia) Click here to read it in English.
- Bed-Stuy Banana
Happy Labor Day From New York Shitty!
Filed under: 11211, 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Williamsburg, Williamsburg Brooklyn
The sun’s out, the weather is pleasantly mild. I cannot think of a better place to while away this Labor Day than a nice walk along the Greenpoint’s waterfront.
(Java Street)
(Kent Avenue)
Or not. A half-eaten sandwich and a dead rat covered with flies are but a fraction of the delights which await you if you decide to visit Greenpoint’s waterfront.
Is it detritus you seek? Kent Avenue has it in spades!
But if you’re looking for a little Greenpoint greenery you’ll be hard-pressed to find it anywhere else.
Who needs parks when we have this?
Although a discarded styrofoam cup sort of defeats the message. You know, after all this walking and tea quaffing I need to go to the bathroom. Methinks I will head over to Kent Street.
It looks like they have locked up the Econoheads. Damn.
Oh wait, here’s a toilet…
and it is even appointed with a sink— very nice! On August 13, 2009 The Brooklyn Paper published an article entitled “Gates of Wrath”. Follow are a couple of quotes from this tome.
Greenpoint continues to have virtually no access to its waterfront and [proposed] parks are still years away from completion… These street ends, once fully open, accessible, and clean, will provide the community with three desperately needed waterfront havens. — David Yassky, City Councilman* for the 33rd District & Candidate For City Comptroller
“It might just be a crumbling street end, but people are eager to get down there and be by the water. — Stephanie Thayer, Parks Employee and Executive Director For Open Space Alliance North Brooklyn.
Only the best for Greenpoint.
Miss Heather
P.S.: To see some late summer rodent love— East Village style— click here. Trust me: it’s worth it.
*Who has been in office since 2001 and is just now “noticing” what anyone who has lived here for a year knows all too well. Way to go, Sherlock-fucking-Holmes.
OSA Chief Faces Criticism: Rebuttal
Filed under: 11211, 11222, Brooklyn, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Williamsburg, Williamsburg Brooklyn
Last week was a hectic one for yours truly. Pet-sitting, work, Photoshop phreakiness, life: the list goes on and on. But at long last I have the time and energy to share my thoughts about the following which hails from Brooklyn11211.
If you point and click your way to this post (which can be done by clicking on the above image) you will learn that Brooklyn11211 is addressing the recent reporting by Aaron Short of the Williamsburg Courier. What was of particular interest to yours truly is the embedded link for “Its (sic) not a sell out”; this directs the reader to the (admittedly rather vitriolic) post I wrote last Thursday.
My colleague down south is right: the fact the Executive Director Open Space Alliance North Brooklyn (henceforth referred to as OSAnb) gets just over half her salary from the city is not a “sell out”. It’s a buy out. There is a difference. Prior to being put on the city’s payroll Ms. Thayer was one of the most vociferous parks advocates Williamspoint had. As I understand it, she was a real pain the city’s butt. So they made a move that was downright Machiavellian in its brilliance: they hired her. It’s much more difficult to bite the hand if it is (in part) feeding you.*
Do I think Ms. Thayer sees it this way? No. I believe she believes (just as Brooklyn11211 does) that by being a Parks Department employee and the Executive Director of OSAnb she can and will be an “inside player/spokesperson” on the behalf of our community. I, on the other hand, do not.
Before I proceed I want to make it clear my opinion is not informed by a degree in architecture or landscape design; experience in public administration (although I have considerable experience with facilities management) or by being a Williamspoint “power player”. It is grounded purely by observing human nature.
I do not blame Stephanie for not “thumbing her nose at the Mayor”, e.g.; limiting attendance to the Bushwick Inlet Park “groundbreaking”. Just like the rest of us she has bills to pay. To be overtly critical of her employer will jeopardize the roof over her head. Who in his (or her) right mind, in these times, would do such a thing? (All I can’t understand is why Steve Hindy was given a shovel— but we’ll get to that in a bit.)
But this doesn’t make the conflict of interest any less troubling. The fact of the matter is one person cannot serve two masters. In this respect I find the 51%/49% breakdown of her salary very instructive; as a Parks employee she is, in fact, working for us. The taxpayers.
It’s the other 49% I worry about. Aaron Short writes in this article:
After a long day of contemplating North Brooklyn’s open space problems and navigating the intricacies of city bureaucracy, a community leader could be forgiven for wanting an ice cold beer. And as neighborhood power players expressed their doubts about the purity of the organization’s motives, now might be a good time to grab one.
Fortunately, Open Space Alliance (OSA) Chairman Steve Hindy, also the owner of the Brooklyn Brewery, doesn’t have to go very far. He originally founded the Open Space Alliance (OSA) with Adam Perlmutter and Joe Vance in 2002 as a way to buy the Bushwick Inlet (North 12th and Kent streets) for public use. (Not the case: OSA incorporated in January of 2003. Here’s a jpeg of their paperwork. It lists the founders as follows: Joe Vance, Steve Hindy and Norm Brodsky. For the curious— or incredibly bored— here’s a jpeg of their Registration Statement on file with the State Attorney General’s office. It too dates to January 2003— and lists Joe Vance and Steve Hindy but now Adam Perlmutter is listed as OSA’s Secretary. Fascinating. — Ed. Note.)
Those plans stalled that year when Motiva, the company that owned the site, was reluctant to sell. So, Hindy and the board turned their attention to raising money to maintain McCarren and McGolrick parks and create new open space in North Brooklyn on street ends along the Williamsburg waterfront…
Let’s deconstruct this. You have a lawyer (Perlmutter) who is on record in this article from NY1, dated April 4, 2005:
…But protestors say the incentives come with no guarantees.
It’s not enough to just tinker with this plan, said City Councilman David Yassky. We’ve got to just start over and get a much better plan; one that’s for the neighborhood, not the developers.
So far, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and the local Community Board have voted down the plan, while the City Planning Commission voted last month to approve it. Now it’s moved on to the City Council, and all sides want to be heard.
Without rezoning we will have power plants, transfer stations and industrial uses that will forever close the door for our community to recapture its waterfront, said community activist (and hired representative of Greenpoint Landing LLC— which would very much like to develop the Greenpoint waterfront*— be sure to watch NY1’s video to hear him say just this— it’s a HOOT!) Adam Perlmutter.
In the clarity that is four years hindsight I suspect most of us agree that David Yassky, Perlmutter, and Markowitz have done little for “the neighborhood”— but plenty for developers. As for Joe Vance, entrusting an architect to be a community advocate in neighborhood facing a radical residential re-zone is sort of like asking the fox to guard the hen house. From the New York City Campaign Finance Board Database:
And last, but hardly least, Steve Hindy:
As you can see Mister Hindy, a resident of south Brooklyn, President of Brooklyn Brewery and “co-founder of OSAnb”, has seen fit to donate $100 to Evan Thies’s campaign. Which brings me to the following (as gleaned from the aforementioned article from the Williamsburg Courier)…
“So far OSA is not on a track yet, said one CB 1 member who wished to remain anonymous. “They’re negotiating contract deals for concerts and that’s not what an open space organization should be doing. This was always my fear as they were setting up the organization.”
Julie Lawrence, a longtime Williamsburg resident and Neighbors Allied for Good Growth organizing committee member, believes that the relationship between OSA and the Parks Department has benefited the city (and businesses, including the Brooklyn Brewery, which are have received or currently have concession rights at the aforementioned events — Ed. Note) more than the community.
“It’s not about raising money for the parks. It’s about raising income for the city,” said Lawrence.
The nonprofit has not released an annual report or formed bylaws, (Not true: Ed. Note. You can read them by clicking here.) despite bringing in donations and revenues of several hundred thousand dollars per year and retaining two full time staff.** According to figures released from OSA board members, the largest contributor to OSA last year was Assemblymember Joseph Lentol (D, Williamsburg), who allocated $50,000 in state funds***…
Councilmember David Yassky (Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights), also chipped in $10,000*** and Borough President Marty Markowitz’s office contributed $400,000 through OSA for renovations to Rodney Park.***
In terms of expenditures, the largest expense has been the stage built for the Pool Parties series that OSA co-sponsors with JellyNYC, a music promotion company. Last year, it cost $600,000 to put on shows at McCarren Park Pool, though the state and OSA will split expenses for the summer’s Pool Party series on the East River.****
OSA also pays for the salary of two full-time employees: Executive Director Stephanie Thayer, who makes $80,000 per year, and Julia Morrow, an assistant director as well as contributes to maintenance costs such as the resodding of park ball fields and refilling garbage bags and soap in comfort stations.
“We won’t spend money until receiving input from the community committee”, said Thayer, (BULLSHIT-***– Ed. Note.) who added that they are currently working on their first annual report. “We recorded a long list of complaints at last fall’s OSA general meeting.”
The primary role of the OSA Board is to raise money. Board members are expected to contribute about $3,000 each, making for a total of $35,000 per year, and help host fundraisers, such as a recent soiree held at a Williamsburg apartment tower that netted $1,300 $13,000.
“We’re working to build the board,” said Hindy, who would like to add eight more board members to the current 12. “I think the effectiveness of OSA will depend on the extent that the community supports it.”
What do you mean by “community”, Mister Hindy? The people who actually live here (the last I checked the median income for a family of four in Greenpoint was ~$36,000 a year) or business owners who can outlay $3,000 a year in dues? Methinks the type of “community support” you seek is a plutocracy.
Which brings me back to Brooklyn11211‘s post. He wrote in closing:
Happily, we have other groups that can fill the advocate role – and keep the City (and OSA) honest (NAG).
First off, why should we, as citizens, have to belong to/rely upon a community group to keep our civil servants honest? When I write this I mean no disrespect whatsoever for NAG— they are doing some great stuff. Rather, what I find most curious (and disquieting) is the omission of any mention of Community Board 1 in Brooklyn11211‘s post. Given that one of the writers for this blog is on CB1.
CB1’s members are ostensibly the representatives of this community. As you will notice in the screencap to the left they have a “Parks & Recreation Committee” and Evan Thies (who is running for City Councilman in the 33rd District) is member. I wonder what they have to say about all of this?
I for one would love to know. If anyone from Community Board 1 is reading this and would like to give his (or her) take on the previous please email me at missheather (at) thatgreenpointblog (dot) com. Whatever you tell me will remain anonymous.
Miss Heather
*Per the Village Voice article entitled “Super-sized Williamsburg on the Way” dated April 26, 2005:
“There is no way that you can say that 40-story towers have anything to do with the existing character of the neighborhood,” complained Stephanie Thayer, a member of the North Brooklyn Alliance, which has been battling to scale back the development.
And yet, four years later, she poses next to the developer poised to build a 40 story tower in Greenpoint and the City Councilman who enabled it. Because they gave chump change to make a mural.
**Why isn’t this org. being audited?
***These figures have since been revised. Upward. Check out the Williamsburg Courier for the 411.
****Which brings me to a tale of two dog runs. A donation was made with the expectation it would be shared. It didn’t work out that way. Although once promised— and much discussed—- the money was used for one. If McGolrick can get $13,000 for a new fence why has been McCarren been relegated to getting sloppy seconds from Sternberg? And $500 to be given to volunteers as “thanks” for assembling said fence— which has not, in fact, been assembled. One such volunteer is the Executive Director of OSA’s brother. His qualification(s): taking a welding class.
Hear Ye, Hear Ye!
(For hypocrisy!)
Ever since David Yassky (and his mother) decided his incompetence should be taken to a higher level, e.g.; New York City Comptroller my inbox has been teeming with missives from his minions about his many good deeds. Usually I ignore them bit this one is such a pisser I can’t resist posting it.
It goes on to say:
The priority of the Brooklyn Heights Association has been preservation of the low scale context of the Brooklyn Bridge and the best site for a new Middle School for the district. The current proposal, as well as the subsequent recommendation from the Department of City Planning, does not adequately reduce the size of the project to a scale that maintains the character of the immediate context or the integrity of the bridge itself,†said Tom van den Bout, President of the Brooklyn Heights Association. “An equally important, yet separate issue is whether the proposed building offers the most appropriate place for a much needed middle school. It is deeply troubling that the site selection process, and subsequent negotiation with the developer, has been so completely opaque. We seriously question whether a more appropriate site, offering a larger size and a more central location is not available.
Once again:
No other civilized country would permit this type of development to encroach upon and dominate its most sacred landmarks, whether we are talking about the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower, or St. Paul’s Cathedral. If this project is approved, future generations will wonder at the shortsightedness of our political leaders, who approved a parking garage and retail spaces within one hundred feet of the American equivalent of the Eiffel Tower.
Yet— Councilman David Yassky— the defender of Brooklyn’s history— had no qualms about cock-blocking the land marking of this Cass Gilbert building, AKA: 184 Kent Street. Probably because the developer/Wolf Block/Kenny Fisher paid him off. Via Gotham Gazette:
Council member David Yassky, who represents the district where the building is located, led the fight to overturn the commission’s decision.
“This is simply not worthy of landmarking,” said Yassky.
Recently, Yassky helped broker a deal for the developer to give $335,000 to build affordable housing in the area in return for permission to alter the Austin Nichols building.
“I believe that the future of the waterfront is in residential development, and that is what we should be promoting,” he said.
Yassky was able to convince most of his colleagues, including Simcha Felder, who chairs the council’s landmarks committee, to support him.
“This is a piece of trash,” said Felder. “We should knock it down and put something nice up.”
So as to build something “nice” like this, perhaps? Or do only the more affluent neighborhoods in your gerrymandered district deserve protection? As a resident of north Brooklyn I wonder at your “short-sightedness” every day Mr. Yassky.
You met with Bob Guskind (deceased) last December. The 16th if my memory serves me correctly. This meeting was at your behest. As a close friend of Bob’s I can tell you he had trepidations about it. He said it would be much harder to “riff” on you if he met you in person, e.g.; you’d come off as a nice reasonable guy, etc. He was a “softie” that way. And as his friend (he recounted your conversation to me)Â I can say you succeeded. Somewhat. He said you came off “politician”. You made all the reasonable arguments. And then some.
Among the “concerns” you raised which he agreed with were derelict and abandoned properties. You laid blame on the MTA and the “city” for lack of planning. Simply put, you “kicked the can”. That’s easy to do when you don’t have to look at the following everyday. So much “trash” and lives trampled under foot by your vision of “progress”.
You are responsible, Dave. As the ostensible chair of the Newtown Creek Monitoring Committee you don’t show up much; you send your “community liaison”, Rami Metal, instead. Rami has started NBPac to get the artists engaged in their own eradication. You are ephemerally fighting for Newtown Creek and yet are against Superfunding Gowanus? Perhaps all the previous are why you are shilling for a to have “illegal” gates torn down and have effectively co-opted parks groups in north Brooklyn in partnership with OSA? And have licked Vito Lopez’s devil’s onion ring? You’ll do anything to get elected, David. You have no principles. Robert Guskind made this all too clear to me.
I didn’t go to the Brooklyn Blogfest this month but someone I know did. This was his first (and hopefully last) encounter with your funky bunch:
I knew nothing about David Yassky until I was approached by his minions at the blogfest last week. He actually got on stage and thank god the sound sucked there because no one heard his 5  minute spiel. His assistants, who, all look like hipsters or at least are in disguise to try and get the hipster vote came up to me prob because i was wearing a superfund gowanus tshirt. This guy with a handlebar moustache started trying to convince me otherwise about the superfund, the timeline being their  biggest worry (it will slow down the course of development) I gave him an earful and i think he didn’t expect me to be as informed about what is going on, who the players are, what exactly is wrong with the canal etc….this other girl stepped in and tried to change the course of the conversation by telling me about some mural project on india street…
I would not elect you, David Yassky, as an apprentice lavatory attendant, dog catcher, fluffer or pin setter at a bowling alley. All the previous “professions” are out-dated. As are you. What frightens me more than anything is the possibility/probability you will drop out of the Comptroller race and run for another term (courtesy of the term limits you overturned) in City Council. So you can screw over my neighborhood more thoroughly.
You will not get my vote either way. And I will encourage everyone I know to vote against you. And yours.
To quote Jack Nicholson:
Miss Heather
Greenpoint Photos Du Jour: Dude, Where’s My Park?
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic
Some of you may or may not be aware that I am on the steering committee for what has been dubbed “WNYC Transmitter Park”.
But most people, my fellow Greenpointers included, better know it as “that vacant lot at the end of Greenpoint Avenue”. I mention this because GWAPP in cooperation with NAG (Neighbors Allied For Good Growth) will be conducting what can best be called a “Park-In” protesting the lack of open space in Greenpoint promised under the now infamous 2005 re-zone. I’ll let the folks from NAG take it from here:
Remember the 2005 Greenpoint-Williamsburg Rezoning? In it, we were told that in exchange for enormous buildings along the water front we would receive a number of parks and open spaces to relax in, to get up by the water, to play soccer, to do whatever we please!
Not one park has been completed, not one has been opened.
So while the rest of New York City is celebrating “It’s My Park Day!” on May 16th, NAG and GWAPP will be instead asking, “Where’s My Park?!?” in an act of community awareness and civic action.
Bring your kids and your grandmas to the NAG Office (N 8th and Kent) at 12:30p to make some pro-park crafts and picket signs, and then join us at 2:00p at Bushwick Inlet (N 14th and Kent) as we march down past several of the promised parks’ locked gates. The day will end with a block party full of music, games, refreshments, and community… in a parking lot.
Come help us make a scene! It’s the only way we’ll unplug the City’s deaf ears across the river.
What NAG’s press release does not mention specifically is WNYC Transmitter Park is one of the “promised parks”. I have been assured the money has been set aside to build it. And by “it” I mean the park, not the pier and water taxi.
Still, when I walk by this site (as I did May 9th which is when the photographs gracing this post date from) to discover a newly built deck, tires and oil drums being employed as planters it makes me wonder…
what’s going on? If the Parks Department (who owns and occupies this land) can enjoy this space why can’t we?
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Bushwick Inlet Park (where the Monitor was built and as such is a historically significant site) and 65 Commercial Street (which is currently occupied by the MTA) are also on the itinerary. The previous should be a park. The latter leaves me with certain trepidations. David Yassky’s lackeys have seen fit to spam a great number of neighborhood groups in north Brooklyn with a petition addressed to Mayor Bloomberg demanding the MTA vacate 65 Commercial Street:
Particularly frustrating is the fact a few months ago the MTA decided, seemingly of it’s (sic) own volition, to remove the buses that had been the main obstacle for leaving the site.
What’s particularly frustrating to me are the manifold ways David Yassky has failed north Brooklyn as a City Councilman and seems unwilling to admit it. Sure, I like the fancy garbage cans with his name emblazoned upon them (for reasons I will not go into here) but I cannot shake the feeling David “I’m running for Comptroller” is simply using us for votes. I have learned over the years that the key to deciphering David is to follow the money. His maligning of the MTA is merely a crass exploitation of popular sentiment against their malfeasance. So as to direct attention away from his shoddy record in our community (take 184 Kent Avenue, for example).
Those of you interested in participating in this event (and I encourage you to do so, you can get more details by checking out NAG’s blog) please do not confuse Mr. Yassky’s recent interest in Greenpoint or financial involvement in its “parks” (READ: India Street) as being genuine concern. Ask him why a parcel of land ostensibly owned by the New York City’s Parks Department has yet to become a park for its own citizens.
March For Parks
May, 16, 2009
Preparations start at the NAG Office at 12:30 p.m.: 101 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn 11211
March starts at Bushwick Inlet at 2:00 p.m.
The odds David Yassky will be soap boxing/shilling for votes when you reach the promised “party”: let’s just say I wouldn’t bet against it.
Miss Heather
P.S.: This the most vomit-inducing plea for money I have seen. EVER.
From The New York Shitty Inbox: Special Earth Day Edition
On April 16, 2009 Kat wrote:
Dear Heather,
I’m a fellow Greenpointer who has been reading your blog ever since Gawker linked to it back in 2006-ish. I always wished I could send you a tip, but I didn’t have any good ones — until yesterday morning, when I saw that the students of PS 110 had launched their very own environmental awareness campaign in McGolrick Park.
It is… interesting.
I took a couple pictures and wrote about it here, if you are interested in either reading it or sharing it with your devoted audience.
Warmest regards from the GPT…
Naturally I pointed and clicked my way over to Pink India Ink. I would recommend you do the same. For those of you who are disinclined to do so the crux of my colleague’s editorial was as follows:
- The placement of this sign is not conducive to getting the word out.
- In the battle between dog piss and the trees of McGolrick Park the trees do appear to be winning.
- There are other, better ways to get children engaged in the environment.
Today I decided to swing by McGolrick to see this sign and the tree it graces for myself.
In my guesstimation this missive is located approximately six or seven feet from the ground— well out of eye shot of even the most statuesque dog owner. And any breed of dog— no matter how large— that comes to mind. But I suppose it doesn’t really matter as I have yet to encounter a canine however bright, that can read. Or can they?
The sign appears to have received a little “water damage”. Was it at the behest of an April shower or a golden shower from a particularly well-endowed pup? Only the tree knows for certain and it does not appear to be talking. If it could, however, I suspect it would say that it doesn’t care much for having four thumb tacks stuck into its body. But this is only an educated guess.
Regardless, it did get me to thinking about how bad dog urine is for our leafy friends so I did a little Googling. Here’s what The Straight Dope has to say about the subject:
…It’s hard to believe you’ve gotten through life without noticing that dog urine can cause grass, shrubs, and other plant life to turn brown and wither. This charming phenomenon is called “urine burn.” It’s caused by the ammonia and urea contained in doggie water (and, for that matter, in the urine of all mammals). Urea and ammonia are both good sources of nitrogen, an important fertilizer. But they’re simple compounds and they break down so quickly that the lawn, hedge, or whatever basically ODs on the stuff. Similarly, if you use too much inorganic nitrogen fertilizer, you’ll get “fertilizer burn.” The urine also makes the soil too acidic. The only cure is to dig up the ruined patch and reseed.
Well, you say, will just one dose wreck the local flora? It depends. One dose is certainly enough to do strange things to the grass. On a lawn where dogs have had free run you’ll see numerous funny-looking tufts where the grass is much taller and greener than elsewhere, having been fertilized by a passing canine. No big deal, you say–mowing the lawn will level things out. Here and there, however, the tufts may consist of a brown patch with lush growth around the fringes. The lush part got the optimum dose of fertilizer while the brown part got too much of a good thing. Mowing is not going to help this problem; time to get out the spade.
Chances are the tufts are the work of female dogs, which like to do their thing out in the open. Male dogs, by contrast, prefer some vertical landmark, such as a tree or shrub. These are generally hardier than grass, and one jolt won’t kill them. But you seldom get just one jolt. Male dogs use urine to mark their territories, and they like to return to the same spot again and again. In addition, when other dogs smell a freshly irrigated canine boundary marker, they often feel compelled to make a contribution of their own…
Ok. So we have established dog urine is in fact very bad for our leafy friends. But as Cecil Adams also points out trees are a lot hardier than grass. It takes more than the occasional gold shower to kill them. And taking into account that I have yet to see 101 Dalmations employ McGolrick Park as their pissoir of choice I have to confess: while hardly indifferent, I am not terribly concerned.
But it does make me wonder about numerous bipeds I have seen who have pressed this public space into service as an al fresco commode/vomitorium. Hows does human waste affect plant life, you ask? I did a little research. What I found was surprising. Per an article from EZine @rticles entitled “Using Human Urine As Liquid Fertilizer”:
OK, so are you over the shock now??? In the not so distant past, we didn’t have the luxury of having a small room in the house where we could flush away our number ones and twos. But did you ever wonder how we managed before the water closet? Not that I want to get into the history of it, but let’s just say that before the times of our current throw-away society, people thought of multiple uses for just about everything.
Well maybe you didn’t know that human urine is the fastest acting, most excellent source of Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium and some trace elements. Not only that, but we all have a constant, year round supply of it and it’s free! There’s not a lot of effort involved in creating this wonderful organic liquid fertilizer.
Some men I know are more than happy to oblige a tree, bush or lawn (out of view, of course)…
What are the advantages of using urine as an organic liquid fertilizer?
- If you’re not flushing this valuable liquid down the loo, you are reducing your water consumption – good for the environment and your pocket
- You’ll be reducing the amount of sewerage runoff
- There’ll be less nutrients in our waterways
- Urine as a liquid fertilizer is available in an ideal chemical form for plants to use
- Gardening costs are less as your liquid fertilizer is free
- It is readily available all year round and there are no transportation costs
Just so that you know, fresh human urine is sterile (unless there is a urinary tract infection: this urine should not be used) and so free from bacteria.
I recommend that you dilute urine to 10-15 parts water to 1 part urine for application on plants in the growth stage. Dilute to 30-50 parts water to 1 part urine for use on pot plants as they are much more sensitive to fertilizers of any kind.
Trees, shrubs and lawn should cope well without dilution. Withhold the use of urine liquid fertilizer on all food plants at least two weeks before harvesting. Apply under fruiting plants, not directly on foliage.
Don’t use urine older than 24 hours (t…t…t…TWENTY FOUR HOURS?!? — Ed. Note) on your plants as the urea turns into ammonia and will burn your plants. If it’s not fresh (*shudder* — Ed. Note), add it to your compost heap. Adding undiluted human urine to your compost heap will help heat it up quickly as it is an excellent activator and will add to the final nutrient value.
As far as antibiotics, vitamin supplements and other medications go, yes they will end up in your urine, but in such minute quantities that I believe to be negligible especially when it is diluted.
So put this excellent source of free liquid fertilizer to good use in your garden, rather than add to the burden that we as humans cause to our environment.
So there have you. It just goes to show you learn something new every day.
Before reading the aforementioned article I thought the above chap was merely a drunk dude taking a piss in a plant bed on McGuinness Boulevard. Now I know better: this man is, in fact, an eco-warrior. What’s more, knowing all too well the commonly-held affection for public urination here in the 11222, Greenpoint could arguably be the “greenest” neighborhood in all Brooklyn! Who knew? In any case I suspect I speak for many when I say that I can only hope P.S. 110 will incorporate my new discovery into their curriculum.
Happy Earth Day Weekend!
Miss Heather
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