Open Thread Wednesday

By on May 4, 2016 12:11 am in open thread

What’s on your mind? Comment away!

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  • StudioBrooklyn

    Liberty a couple mornings ago, through a viewing machine on Pier 2.

  • rubenkincaid

    What is that gigantic ship in the new marina? It dwarfs the Nantucket Lightship. Is Dr. No in town?

  • DIBS

    Got a photo? It could be the invasion of the 1%. Build a marina and they will come.

  • http://selfabsorbedboomer.blogspot.com/ Claude Scales
  • gc

    The Topaz was here yesterday but has been replaced with the Northern Star. It is 250 feet long and is listed for sale at $115,000,000.

  • http://selfabsorbedboomer.blogspot.com/ Claude Scales
  • rubenkincaid

    An article in Sunday’s NYT stated that the marina “is not just another thing that’s an amenity for the rich.” I guess that’s only partly true.

    The Topaz was quite elegant, though. This thing is massive.

  • http://selfabsorbedboomer.blogspot.com/ Claude Scales

    Thanks for the photo. It is huge.

  • DIBS

    Thanks for the links & photos

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Maybe if the one percenters are partial to playing basketball while ashore things will balance out at Pier 2?

    All the makings of a Hallmark movie where the rich girl from the yacht falls in love with the troubled boy from the projects as they bond over hoops; she learns to appreciate the gritty present of urban street life, he learns that if he applies himself he, too, can have a piece of America. America is the name of the yacht. It’s also where her father has laundered her inheritance. During the credits they flash blurbs about the real people the characters were based on. The troubled boy was actually from a wealthy upper east side family as well.

  • Concerned

    If you threw Iron Man in there, you could make a billion…

  • Andrew Porter

    I notice that after I flagged the comments of a certain poster here, his posts, under a wide variety of names, have disappeared. Apparently Disqus found his remarks inappropriate and inflammatory.

    Meanwhile, apparently the reconstruction of the Brooklyn Bridge will last another 6 years, until 2022. Details here:

    http://tinyurl.com/gmdjql8

    Then there’s the sale of the sliver (remember the controversy over those?) at 67 Schermerhorn Street, owned by the JWs, who used it as a dormitory, to be converted into office space:

    http://tinyurl.com/jemqz2o

    And that’s newsnotes from all over for today.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Um, pretty sure Tony Stark’s yacht would dwarf this one. He probably moors it next to the driving range at Chelsea Piers, where slippage fees are part of their own tax haven.

  • CHatter

    Sloop Dreams

  • Concerned

    Ok, how about Tom Hanks and Dabney Coleman? F-O-X.

  • Concerned

    That’s really good.

  • Jorale-man

    There’s a report on the (very slow) plans to address the crumbling BQE beneath the promenade: http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2016/4/28/city-issue-rfp-17b-brooklyn-heights-bqe-rehab-design-may

    “The structure is in appalling shape. Concrete on the BQE’s walls is missing in places, exposing reinforcing bars that are completely rusted. Netting has been installed under the decks to prevent concrete from falling.

    “Neighborhood concerns include maintaining traffic flow without clogging local streets, protecting adjacent buildings, and the project’s effect on recent development, including Brooklyn Bridge Park. During previous work on the BQE, Pier 6, now covered with flowers and pathways, was used as a staging area.”

  • StudioBrooklyn

    I wanted to share that after my white pigeon post on last week’s open thread Disqus generated an email to me that the same certain poster had responded with a predictable joke about political correctness, which never materialized on the actual thread. He’d already been blocked, but I guess the filter is set up so that the blockage occurs after the response notification email automatically generates.

  • AEB

    I suspect that Claude had a role in the removal of the aforementioned posts. No, Claude?

  • Remsen Street Dweller
  • ColumbiaHeightster

    I think the disappearance was the result of many, many, many flags and complaints. Well done community!

  • Andrew Porter

    There was once a proposed tunnel to take the BQE underneath the Heights, eliminating the need for the cantilever entirely. Here’s the link to the story in the BHB, in 2010 (note: architect Allen Swerdlowe is my cousin; he was once head of the Fulton Ferry Association):

    http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/21630

  • Andrew Porter

    The history of the Behr Mansion, at the corner of Henry and Pierrepont, is on Curbed, here (with exterior and interior photos):

    http://ny.curbed.com/2016/5/4/11591834/brooklyn-heights-behr-mansion-nyc-history

  • Still Here

    Yes. Allen first proposed the ‘Brunnel’, as an alternative to the BQE, and its impending renovation, in 1996 at a FFLA community meeting. Seemed like a good idea then and now.

  • Henry VonCadman

    BY the way, what was the point of the Brooklyn Bridge work done on the Cadman exit? They tore down nice old walls and replaced them with boring concrete. I had thought they were going to at least widen the ramp but it’s exactly the same…the traffic is worse.

  • Sheila Kaplan

    Small world. Allen’s your cousin? I know Allen from summer camp. Are you also related to Roberta?

  • gc

    I believe the ship now moored on the south side of pier 5 is the racing yacht Freedom, winner of the 1980 America’s Cup.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    We live nearby, and have had the luxury of hearing many different versions of that history from passing loudspeaker-wielding tour guides.

  • rubenkincaid

    I hear the same tour guide each day at noon on his loudspeaker, giving a thumbnail history of the Lowe Mansion. The loudspeaker is really annoying.

  • Karl Junkersfeld

    Andrew, thanks for the article. Personally, I find the history of the owners son and the titanic the most intriguing. How did he get on one of those lifeboats? “Women and children first…. ” The embellishment of what happened to this location following “The Palm” and prior to the drying out of the brothers is pure poppycock. (no pun intended) Yes, it was an SRO where ladies of the night rented rooms to pursue the oldest profession but to say it was a formal brothel is absurd. Sounds good but not true. Times were tough and unemployment widespread in NYC. Given this ideal location next to shipyards, who could blame some women renting rooms to support themselves.

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