Open Thread Wednesday 3/3/10

Besides all those vacancies on Montague St, there’s also a glut of space on C Henry St– the big basement space in the St. George at Pineapple, the combined, former-Pig’N Out and flower mart spaces, and the former home of the embezzling Busy-Chef/Blue Pig/Oven empire on the “Corner of Cranberry.” Plus Clark St has the ex-Sea Asian space and vacant as well as the huge ex-Palmira’s space in the St. George tower.

Are the property owners looking for unreasonable rents, so that prospective businesses are going elsewhere? Smith St? Park Slope? Williamsburg? Prospect Heights?

I, too, cannot deal with the smokers but it is part of city living. If you live in a co-op, you can ask the board to nix anymore smokers coming into the bldg. Not sure if it’s legal to ask potential buyers if they smoke but I’m sure they’d be able to smell it.. I know the noise is part of city living too but our neighbors scream at each other ALL day and night. Her last husband moved out a year ago with a hammer stuck in the middle of his flat screen tv…freaks.
Anyway, is there a place in Brooklyn to make an anonymous report of animal abuse?

Speaking of phony names, Homer Fink is a false name. The real name of “Homer” is John Loscalzo. Go ahead-google it.

I heard the opening act is the Harvard one-armed amputee multi-racial lesbian midget chorus.

@aliG

Ten years ago dealing with smokers in bars was part of city living. If you told a smoker back then that they wouldn’t be able to light up in bars in 3 years, they would have laughed at you. Residential dwellings are the final frontier for anti-smoking regulations and that frontier is being crossed slowly in California & other areas. The only downside to banning smoking in bars which I recently encountered is some parents bringing their child into the bar.

On a similar carcinogen-related note, the EPA finally designated the Gowanus Canal a Superfund site yesterday. In response, Toll Brothers pulled the plug on their project today which probably gave them a good excuse to back out with current state of the economy. Some people wonder what that designation will mean to homeowners/business owners in Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill & parts of PS.

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/33/10/33_10_sb_gowanus_loans_sidebar.html

@alig: cant even be man or woman enough that you have to report your neighbors animal abuse anonymously? Sigh, Stasi or KGB would have florished in the old communist days here. in this hood..

This discussion of vacancies on Montague dovetails nicely with the New Yorker article. All those delightful stores Patricia Marx visits in other neighborhoods…and we have vacant shops. Something is wrong. Landlords need to wake up and think about creating a healthy business environment rather than losing money month after month waiting for a chain store to come calling.

At what point does the errant parking habits of cars with “official” plaques , license plates or special needs impinge on the safety and quality of life for the rest of us average citizens? During the recent snow storms I’ve witnessed city plows and fire trucks turn away from my street because of cars like these being parked on the opposite side and clearly restricting passage. Ironically, alot of these cars habitually park in their same spot as if they own them; while limiting street cleaning, snow removal and trash pick ups regularly. I understand that some people clearly have limitations for accessing their vehicles. With that in mind shouldn’t they be parking closer to their own premises and consider allowing an adequate right of way and full services for the rest of us? Just wondered?

I’ve had many discussions with some of the independent merchants still remaining in Brooklyn Heights about the difficulties of making it here. The dominance of large chain stores and the growing number of commercial vacancies in our neighborhood is pathetic. my2cents and haystacker are right on – the rents demanded by the commercial property owners for Brooklyn Heights spaces are outrageous and being raised all the time. Very few small merchants who would like to do an interesting start-up here can afford it. Many of the property owners are happy enough to take the loss of an unoccupied space for tax purposes and have fantasies (well, who’s to say what will really happen?) that if they just hang on for a few years the economy will change, Brooklyn Bridge Park will be in, and they’ll get the outrageous rents they want..

On a topic unrelated to rents but related to the mediocre quality of what’s offered on Montague (obviously there are some significant exceptions to that smear), one big reason why most (not all) of the restaurants there are just plain lousy is that they make their big money off the Brooklyn government lunch trade. It’s a captive market, and the food doesn’t have to be any good. The better restaurants towards the end of Henry St. aren’t playing that game, and many are not even open for lunch. And on that note, support Bread and Butter! THe NYTimes review was pretty snarky, and (if you’re listening, B&B) the main suggestion I’d make is to have more vegetables as part of the plates or even as a la carte side dishes that aren’t full of butter and cream. “Comfort food” is fun but can be pretty rich and heavy.

@anti-smoker, I agree with your distaste for having smoking neighbors.

Noise can be blocked by closing windows, wearing low gauge earplugs, or turning up a stereo. You can block exhibitionist neighbors, with drapes, or shades. These measures, while sometimes a nuisance, can lesson the noise or sights.

But there’s no way to lesson smoke in your apartment. It has a way of getting into your clothes, so that even when you go to work you smell it. Fans can be a good way to get fresh air into your apartment, but in the winter you are really held hostage.

What I would suggest is when you leave the apartment to go to work in the morning, open all the windows in your apartment. Sure it will get cold, but you’ll be at work. When you return home you can close the windows. At least your air will be fresher than if you had kept your windows closed all day.

Since you can smell the smoke from the apartment below yours, the construction of the building may be very cheap, or the building so old and leaky that you’ll smell anything. You may want to move into a more solid building. This is causing you a great deal of stress, so it’s better to be proactive; move and improve your life. It’s kind of like the subway: if a smelly homeless person sits next to you, you get up and move.

Bartmann

Where can I find out about the history of the PS 8 building itself? Anyone?
Thank you in advance for your help.

Awesome photo, by the way… :>)

The Pier 6 Dog Run is opening soon! The run is located at the foot of Atlantic Avenue, on the last pier of Brooklyn Bridge Park. It will be opening in late spring. We are currently looking for dog owners/walkers to join the Pier 6 Dog Run Volunteer Group. Email pier6dogrun@gmail.com to stay updated on the run and learn about fun events for you and your pooch.

Nabeguy,

I’m reading “A Collection Of Sherlock Holmes” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and you, my friend, would make him proud with your deductive reasoning. First, for finding the picture I was referring to and secondly, for observing that the construction materials, indeed, appear to indicate that the school is in process of construction. Fact is, the Brooklyn Library has a fine selection of pictures but their dates and locations are sometimes incorrect.

I know what you are going to say, it was “elementary”. (no pun intended)

“It is one of those instances where the reasoner can produce an effect which seems remarkable to his neighbour, because the latter has missed the one little point which is the basis of the deduction.”

In this case, construction materials.

@ Matthew Parker: I am going to report u for animal abuse tomorrow.

@AliG: I am reporting you as a spousal abuser tomorrow.

I apologize for the the minor inconvenience that it will cause to the both of you but its fun and anonymously. I am sure you both are a nice people.

I am not advocating to confront the person involved or doing nothing, but the right thing to do is at least give the authorities your name. I just have the problem with anonymous reporting, dictatorships have been built on them.