Open Thread Wednesday

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  • Jorale-man

    What is with the cars with no mufflers joyriding through the Heights at all hours? I’ve been hearing the same vehicle rumbling past my apartment every 10 minutes this morning. Last I checked it’s illegal to drive without a muffler but this appears to be a thing now.

  • Pierrepont

    Kimmelman, the architecture critic on the NYT, has a great piece out today that a virtual walking tour of the neighborhood. Highly recommended! https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/20/arts/design/brooklyn-virtual-tour-virus.html?action=click&module=Editors%20Picks&pgtype=Homepage

  • AEB

    Wonderful–thanks!

  • afmichaels

    Hi all! I know a lot of local CSAs are closed this year due to Covid restrictions, so wanted to put out there that Sweet Pea CSA (on Pierrepont Street) is operating as usual this summer. For anyone looking for an easier way to get fresh fruits/veggies/eggs/meat/cheese without braving the grocery store, details are below.

    First pick up is Saturday, June 13.
    Sign up here: https://csa.farmigo.com/join/gardenofevefarm/SummerFall2020

    Or learn more about our CSA and the precautions we’re taking for Covid-19, here: http://www.sweetpeacsa.org/

  • Bornhere

    That guy has been plaguing Joralemon for about two months—but in the last couple of weeks, it seems that it’s becoming a “thing” and there are others. Yippee….

  • http://www.yotamzohar.com StudioBrooklyn

    Is it a white car—maybe a BMW sedan—with gold rims? Maybe blue headlights? If so, that guy’s been doing that in the neighborhood for at least a year.

  • Bornhere

    Hmm. No. The one I’ve been seeing/hearing is a nondescript, grayish car that sounds more Harley than loud car, but definitely moronic.

  • Jorale-man

    Yes, that sounds about right. I haven’t seen the BMW but this is a dark sedan – like a Hyundai or a Buick – maybe with some cheap ground effects and tinted windows (?). Really obnoxious.

  • L

    What is Brooklyn coming to when I can’t find a Manhattan Special anywhere in the neighborhood?

  • CassieVonMontague

    Landmarks finally approved the plaza under the Brooklyn Bridge, and construction will start in the fall.

    https://newyorkyimby.com/2020/05/new-public-plaza-under-the-brooklyn-bridge-expected-to-break-ground-this-fall.html

    They tore down the Purchase Building that was on the site since 1936 twelve years ago. I thought it would’ve made a nice visitors center for the park.

    https://www.brownstoner.com/development/1936-purchase-b/

  • CassieVonMontague

    It the new trend. The main street in my parents’ small town in Jersey has become a drag race/car show every night.

    Pilots are taking advantage too and flying their single-engine planes all over NYC since there’s no air traffic.

    As they say, never waste a good crisis.

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7nPOzGeyaw Arch Stanton

    There is a device that can be installed on cars to bypass the muffler at will. Of course its use is illegal in most states…

  • Cranberry Beret

    The May 8, 12:45am downtown BK fireworks get a write-up in Gothamist (with links to video via Twitter)

    https://gothamist.com/news/booming-late-night-fireworks-are-waking-new-yorkers

  • CassieVonMontague

    Homeless placed in hotel on Tillary and Flatbush.

    https://nypost.com/2020/05/20/homeless-ride-out-coronavirus-in-brooklyn-hotel-spark-resident-fears/

    “There were people lined up outside the hotel and they weren’t wearing masks and gloves. They weren’t social-distancing at all,” said one resident,

    and

    But two men both of whom were openly smoking pot outside the hotel, and neither of whom was wearing a mask — told The Post that they were never tested for the bug.

    “They didn’t test us for s–t,” said one of the homeless men.

  • CassieVonMontague

    Record number of sublet listings in NYC

    https://www.renthop.com/studies/nyc/record-number-of-nyc-renters-looking-to-sublet-their-apartment-in-light-of-pandemic

    This is something I’ve noticed on Nextdoor. Listings increased 150% this month

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7nPOzGeyaw Arch Stanton

    Defonte’s in Redhook is the only reliable place I know, also one of the, if not, the last place to get a really good Italian sandwich.

  • travy

    where was this week’s photo taken? i’m stumped!

  • RD H

    I’m guessing that’s that charming “sideways” house on Henry looking towards Joralemon. Just a guess.

  • Andrew Porter

    Wonderful piece. I made it into an e-mail, forwarded it to about 70 people around the world. Great views of the Heights in it, too.

  • Andrew Porter

    Remember the film Gangs of New York? They transformed the Brooklyn Bridge tower for the film, and I took photos of the sets, including this one:
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/17089a79225fe5934bf6eaf53f3d5b6f4e2019acfad8ecb7a9f639b62f7d3886.jpg

  • Andrew Porter

    Decades ago some moron with a motorcycle and no muffler drove down my street, just to hear the echo. Then he came around again. On the 4th circuit, I waterbombed him with a milk carton full of water. Hit the street just behind him.

    For some reason, he didn’t come back for another go…

  • Bornhere

    Shot from the east side of Henry, facing southwest-ish, between Joralemon and Hunts Lane.

  • Andrew Porter

    That building, and the area around it, were where NYC dumped all the office equipment and street and highway signs they didn’t want. Artists used to climb over the wall, looking for material. Here’s my photo from the 1970s showing two friends there, surrounded by the accumulated stuff:
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5f71e770947257800566c69dc03d5990541556304785fa3497dae93aa7a1f60d.jpg

    It was used after 9/11 to sort through WTC debris, looking for human remains.

  • travy

    of course. should’ve recognized the tree. i think the street sign broke up the facade and made the place on the right look like a carriage house. thanks!

  • cool

    this afternoon’s helicopter traffic brought to you by: TECHNICAL RESCUE
    05/22/20 12:06 (MANHATTAN – NYPD SOD) ESU HARBOR & AVIATION HAVE A CLIMBER ON THE MANHATTAN STANCHION, S SIDE OF THE BRIDGE. EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES STAGED. [MAR101]

  • Reggie

    Put another way, this afternoon’s helicopter traffic is part of a coordinated effort by NYPD to prevent someone, which the police department characterized as “despondent,” from ending his life. I can live with the noise.

  • Cranberry Beret

    Willow Street (whole length from Middagh to Pierrepont) joins NYC Open Streets starting Sat May 23:

    https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/pedestrians/openstreets.shtml

  • South Brooklyn Boys

    Can you take a picture? We can then all keep an eye and film him and send to the precinct?

  • Jorale-man

    That would send a message! I just heard/saw the car go by. It’s royal blue, with dark tinted windows. I didn’t get a look at the make – it was sputtering off down Clinton Street by the time I could get a look (and sorry, South Brooklyn, no photo).

  • CassieVonMontague

    I recommend Campanella’s book. It’s real Brooklyn history written very well. Not the usual tour guide tidbits that you already know or hastily written error-filled lists by armchair historians. His book is a quarantine must-read for those who miss the Brooklyn that’s right outside our doors.