Open Thread Wednesday

By on October 5, 2016 12:17 am in open thread

What’s on your mind? Comment away!

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  • AEB
  • Justine Swartz

    In spite of the tremendous public opposition to demolishing the Brooklyn Heights Public Library, and the fact that the library was the work of a famous architect Francis Keally. The trial court determined that an environmental impact statement was not necessary. The Petitioners fighting the loss of the library respectfully disagree, and have filed an appeal from that decision. There are many reasons why an EIS is necessary, and by not complying with the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act by doing an EIS, the approval to demolish the library should be voided. Petitioners are optimistic that the Appellate Court in Brooklyn will agree and fulfill its obligated duty.

  • Karl Junkersfeld

    Oy Vey, please give it up.

  • regularmike

    Why? It’s true that it may be too late now, but the sale and destruction of the library is a tragedy and if some people want to continue to fight the good fight I don’t see any reason to be dismissive.

  • Pierrepont
  • John B

    Why should they give it up? Skipping an environmental impact survey and statement is pretty unusual. Very unusual really.

  • Emily Pulaski

    I’m also sad to lose a close-by library. The basement is a good bandaid, but even the Clinton library isn’t great. But you can’t make that point without claiming the architect is “world famous.”

    World famous? He doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page!

  • StudioBrooklyn
  • Justine Swartz
  • Emily Pulaski

    Yeah, but that’s not HIS wikipedia page.

    You can make a good argument for why having the Cadman library was a good thing, but claiming that an utterly forgotten architect is “world famous” is a bit of a reach.

  • Justine Swartz

    THE LANDMARK BUILDING
    WORLD FAMOUS CENTRAL LIBRARY
    Grand Army Plaza
    Brooklyn, New York City
    Area 2.8 acres (1.1 ha)
    Built 1911-1940
    Architect Raymond F. Almirall (1911); Alfred Morton Githens and Francis Keally (1935)
    Sculptor Thomas Hudson Jones and C. Paul Jennewein (bronze gateway)
    Architectural style Beaux-Arts and Art Moderne
    NRHP Reference # 01001446[1]
    Added to NRHP January 11, 2002
    The Central Library of the Brooklyn Public Library, located at Flatbush Avenue and Eastern Parkway on Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, New York City, contains over a million cataloged books, magazines, and multimedia materials. Each year, over one million people visit the library.[2]

    FRANCIS KELLY WAS
    THE ARCHITECT

  • Emily Pulaski

    You keep using this word “famous.” I do not think it means what you think it means.

  • AEB

    Ha! But only 150%?

  • DIBS

    Doubtful.

  • Jorale-man

    Poor pigs…

  • Diesel

    No pigs at the Halal bro.

  • Diesel

    So is that the only metric millennials use to measure the worthiness of a persons fame, Wikipedia? Kind of sad…
    Anyway, Ms Swartz never said “world famous” just famous. FYI a Google search of “Francis Keally Architect” yields over 6500 hits. So it appears he has some notoriety.

  • meschwar

    I used to be able to see that place from my window. This was a common occurrance.

  • Emily Pulaski

    6500 Google hits is pretty darn low. Heck, I get 7,480.

  • Cranberry Beret

    A shout-out to “South Brooklyn” in today’s Times. Subtle use of an old-school name to match the old-school topic (bricks & mortar bookshops), or just because they’re too confused to figure out in which neighborhood Court Street falls?

    http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/10/06/business/smallbusiness/the-neighborhood-bookstores-unlikely-ally-the-internet.html

  • Vanessa Gutierrez
  • Vanessa Gutierrez

    We miss him If you have any information please contact flower shop. REWARD no question ask. 718-624-0270
    Thank you
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3e1646d1d9d45a550948c04072ad7444c0ef5de7bd30c3a0bae967b05659438c.jpg

  • Mark

    Actually, I checked and 97.3% of those are for the world famous trapeze artist who shares your name, and another 2.5% are attributable to the great 19th-century Parisian mime Emile Pulaski.

  • Roberto

    Yesterday, there was a hearing at the City Council’s Zoning Subcommittee about the wisdom of erecting a huge tower at 141 Willoughby in a context of feeble infrastructure by the Savana company. Underlying the arguments was the call for affordable housing units. I’m hoping that Councilman Levin and his colleagues in the Council will make a real effort to alter the income levels which define eligibility for affordable housing. At this point, the neediest people are left out. In the view of many, the Council is taking the easy way by maintaining such a low bar in the eligibility table, while congratulating themselves on their efforts to find housing that is “affordable.”

  • bpelle

    The real estate bubble is getting close to popping. 42K units are coming on-line in NYC between now and the end of 2018. The interesting thing is that there will be a double hit to the landlords. Any increase in interest rates (via the Fed or concerned bondholders) will pop the property price bubble AND the Wall Street boom caused by low rates will fissile causing the financial services salaries jacking up rents will also fall.

  • Andrew Porter

    Thanks for referencing the film, “The Princess Bride”!

  • DIBS

    Pffft.. Are you referring to rental units or for sale? There are 24,000 rental units coming on in 2016 and even that’s not enough. 42k of either over three years isn’t a big deal.

  • MonroeOrange

    lol..good one Mark!…i guess she’s not as famous as she thought she was!

  • bpelle

    It’s an all-time record and it exceeds household creation in the city. Prices are already turning around and will continue to fall at an accelerating rate as the bubble collapses. Even real estate brokers are starting to wake up and they’re always the last to know. Do a search on Bloomberg and you’ll see a ton of stories.

    Rental and for sale are two sides of the same coin. Landlords collect cash yield on rent and condo owners “collect” use-value from the condo they live in.

  • Greg
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