Open Thread Wednesday

What’s on your mind? Comment away!

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  • Annoyed

    Happy Festivus everyone. Let’s start with the “airing of the grievances”. I’ll begin by thanking the dog owner who smeared dog poop on my block this morning.

  • DIBS

    Lovely opening.

  • Roberto Gautier

    As the new construction season approaches for Brooklyn Heights and downtown Brooklyn, I urge the growing population of techies and nerds in our neighborhood to develop a solution to the intrusive, sleep and health problems caused by motion (backup) alarms on vehicles. The alarms are designed to wake people and they needn’t. Even OSHA allows for disconnection of such alarms under certain conditions. Speak up and help alter the much-used mantra: NYC, the city that never sleeps.

    Happy New Year.

  • Roberto Gautier

    With the upcoming demolition of the library on Cadman Plaza West, I suggest that artists and photographers document the inside and outside of a beloved community hub that will be replaced by a luxury condo and miniaturized version of a library. Note the politicians who have collaborated with developers to accomplish this redesign of the neighborhood. Their portraits could be part of the art project. There are models for this kind of endeavor by those who photograph and record the passing of Mom & Pop stores throughout the city. You might contact BRIC for assistance.

  • AEB

    Actually, what will become of the wonderful bas reliefs, do much of their time, that decorate the building’s facade?

    Does anyone know if they’ll be preserved?

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Will be posting a few historic photos of our neighborhood I found in this book earlier this week. Sorry if this is a rerun from anyone else’s post…

  • StudioBrooklyn

    If you look carefully you can see the actual binoculars shared by the original members of the Willow Street Watch.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Grace Church back in the day

  • StudioBrooklyn

    My wife and I wonder whether this is still a single-family residence. It’s a beautiful one.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Borough Hall. Kinda blah. I dunno.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    I didn’t realize Monroe Place was especially wide but I guess it sort of is, isn’t it?

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Bonus points for the typo in the description.

  • Concerned

    LOL.

  • Concerned

    Annoyed, I’m concerned as well. The selfishness, laziness, etc… with these dog owners/walkers is terrible! I am a dog owner and it pisses me off beyond belief. The thing is, it only takes a few irresponsible owners/walkers to ruin the sidewalks. A dog that goes 2 times a day, without clean up, with crap that lasts days (and longer in the snow) adds up very quickly. So, if you stop one person, you can make a big impact. I am always on the look out for some jerk who doesn’t clean up after his dog. It is our duty as community members to call such people out. If you’re afraid of confrontation, take a picture of the offender with your phone and post it on this blog.
    To those offenders out there, your laziness/selfishness in not cleaning up after your dog is a reflection of who you are as a person.

  • GHB

    Can you not fill up the Open Thread with images that you have no rights to post?

  • Teresa

    I share the concern about posting images that may be copyrighted…probably not a great idea.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Alan Burnham was unavailable but considering I’m not selling these images and no one is profiting from their distribution in any way, I figure he and his publishers won’t mind, especially since he’s clearly credited in the first photo I posted.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Please see my response to GHB. In anticipation of that very concern I posted the cover, showing the title and editor.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    I’d be happy to look it up and provide more citations if you think that’s necessary.

  • Teresa

    I saw that. Giving credit doesn’t equal permission to post. Photographers will attest to that and it’s likely that neither they nor copyright law will share your opinion that’s it’s OK to post them without permission. More info here: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/copyright-fair-use-and-how-it-works-for-online-images/

    The blog is responsible for overseeing appropriate use of photos and can be charged for their use. I recognize that that’s unlikely in this case, but it seems appropriate to enforce across the board rather than case-by-case. If you can’t get permission to use them, it’s best to not post them. Thanks.

  • DIBS

    If the blog admin deems it inappropriate, I’m sure they will be removed. Otherwise, the overwhelming concerns are not necessary.

  • Teresa

    And believe me…I know it’s frustrating. I teach a digital publishing course and go through this with my students all the time…as well as every time I post something here and don’t have a photo handy of what I need.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Yeah I kinda figured what DIBS said in his first sentence there (just now). One of the things we artists learn about pretty thoroughly is the relationship between credit and permission, and the implications of reposting material. With the internet things are even more complex, so if you don’t mind I’d prefer to wait until an admin weighs in, and until then, I hope everyone enjoys the photos (which was the entire reason I posted them).

  • Heights

    Colonnaded row houses are on Willow Place, not Willow Street.

  • mac

    Does anyone know if there will be fireworks on New Year’s eve this year? Trying to check online and it’s very unclear. thanks!

  • GHB

    They’re not overwhelming concerns. I work with publishers (book, magazine, etc.) daily, and posting these images is not cool.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Oh SNAP! You’re right! My mistake.

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

    I share GHB’s concern. When I post photos on BHB, they are either mine (like the one on OTW today) or publicity shots (e.g. from a performer’s website) that clearly are meant to be used freely. Otherwise, I seek permission. In this case, where the photos are clearly subject to copyright, I wouldn’t use them. For what it’s worth, the only time I recall BHB being challenged over unauthorized use was when another poster used a photo from Flickr without asking the photographer’s permission.

    While commenters here aren’t engaged in commercial activity, BHB itself is, as we carry ads.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Thanks Claude, totally understood. I’ll remove the posts momentarily.

  • DIBS

    If the photos arer removed can we remove all the commentary about the photos????????