Open Thread Wednesday

%Arabica Coffee shop (a well-regarded Kyoto-based coffee shop) is nearing their opening date. They are located at 20 Old Fulton Street.

Next door in that same structure, Tsuta will be opening as well. Tsuta dubs themselves the first Michelin-starred ramen restaurant. They are also based in Japan.

Finally, L&B Spumoni Gardens is very close to opening at their location at 46 Old Fulton Street, offering even more competition for the tourist’s dollar at this intersection.

A photo of the massive new building going up on Front Street (on the site of the former Witness parking lot) from the 21st floor of 140 Cadman Plaza West:
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/155db1da352fa7964ca4f853abaefecb0eb8d1e24786f4111db8751bafcd1e91.jpg

New signs are up on Joralemon at Hicks saying that it’s a pedestrian and bike passageway from something like 8am-5pm daily. But the signs are pushed to the side of the street and traffic is barreling down the road as usual. What’s the point of this?

I appreciate the attempt to allow for more social distancing space but today there was even a police car on the corner and it didn’t seem to have any issue with the traffic flow.

Do the signs specifically say “no motor vehicles” or just that it’s a “pedestrian and bike passageway” during those hours. The latter could be a bit ambiguous.

Brooklyn Heights Co-op (75 Henry St.) Cuts No Corners on Garage Repairs

https://www.habitatmag.com/Publication-Content/Building-Operations/2021/2021-June/Brooklyn-Heights-Co-op-Cuts-No-Corners-on-Garage-Repairs

Brooklyn Heights has its own noisy building. Unlike Cobble Hill’s which makes noise in the wind, ours is better. It makes noise all the time. It is The Pierrepont at 146 Pierrepont.

The noise is from the equipment on the building’s two towers on its Pierrepont and Montague sides. They are easy to see as they are lit up at night. The tower on the Montague side is the one making very, very loud constant noise. You can hear it blocks away.

Of amusement, The Pierrepont’s website shows rooftop outdoor seating. No one is going to use that space with all the noise.

Subway opened in Manhattan in 1904 and Borough Hall, Brooklyn in 1908.

What is the deal with the constant water main work on Clinton@cadman? Iassume it’s related to 1 Clinton but I walk past every morning and it’s been going on for what feels like a month! The contractors doing the work don’t seem very interested in helping alleviate the traffic mess their work is creating…

It was one of the best views

https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d2bf1a0f335667e4d3b062aced358adccd9de22f7746d29e486a0f5ce457f5b2.jpg No thru traffic is allowed, so Willow Pl and Columbia Pl are fine. You’re just not supposed to use the street to get to Fuhrman I guess. But they’re supposed to stay under 5mph and yield to pedestrians.
It’s largely ignored – I see a lot of cars go straight to Fuhrman – and many go well over the 5mph speed limit.
That stretch of Joralemon is a huge pain with the narrow sidewalks, so it would be nice to have the extra space to walk.

The cars in the background look like models available only well after 1904.

I googled American cars for the years from 1904 on, year by year. The car in the picture suggest something like 1915, based on the images google found. The cars in 1904 looked much more primitive. I understand that other elements in the picture suggest an earlier date. Can’t explain that.

Talks about when the El was demolished, not when the subway was built.

Brilliant work! Just posted the following to a transit group I’m in:

https://tinyurl.com/7j3yeyfs

7+ minute video by Karl Junkersfeld about demolition of Sands St. Terminal complex and how the current system of parks/NYC buildings came about using photos from the Brooklyn Public Library.

Say what you like about Key Food; I just walked in there to top off my sandwich ingredients for the week, and I hear a saxophone wailing frantically over a drum kit in an odd time:

21st Century Schizoid Man.

They pipe in better music than any other grocery store in America.