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Brooklyn Heights: It’s For The Birds

Brooklyn Heights: It’s For The Birds

The Urban Wildlife Guide, a website maintained by Julie Feinstein—a Brooklyn resident, author & collection manager at New York’s American Museum of Natural History—keeps watch on animals, birds and insects located in public areas throughout the city.

For Brooklyn Heights bird-watching aficionados, Feinstein noted that with the unseasonably warm weather, migrant fowl are returning early from winter locales, feasting on insects and blossoming flowers. In Cadman Plaza Park, she located Continue Reading →

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WSJ: ‘A Storm Is Raging Over Plan For Brooklyn Bridge Park’

WSJ: ‘A Storm Is Raging Over Plan For Brooklyn Bridge Park’

Is the sloooowly buregoning Brooklyn Bridge Park designed to encourage the interaction of those who visit the waterfront oasis—or is it little more than a handsome front lawn for wealthy homeowners, alienated from the surrounding community and lacking those things that make urban public spaces dynamic? That’s the question posed in a Wall Street Journal story Monday, titled “Conflict In Park Plans.”

The piece leads a more or less academic discussion over aesthetic disagreements between developers of the half-completed park’s future. Portions of Pier 1 and Pier 6 opened in 2010, with a new pier and footbridge slated for the latter part of 2012—while a majority remains on the drawing board. Continue Reading →

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Is Brooklyn Heights Walkable? You Bet!

Is Brooklyn Heights Walkable? You Bet!

I decided to take my own advice as well as test the theory L Magazine proposed, as reported here by Chuck Taylor. I had an errand to run at the Greenmarket, but I decided to go there, with camera, by a circuitous route, down the Promenade and Squibb Hill to Pier 1, Brooklyn Bridge Park, then up the hill to Middagh Street, then to Cadman Plaza Park, across to the Greenmarket, then back by way of Remsen Street. The flowering cherry tree in the photo is at the north end of the Promenade. More photos follow the jump. Continue Reading →

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Last Minute Weekend Suggestions

Last Minute Weekend Suggestions

The forecast for this weekend is for temperatures reaching the 70s and little, if any, chance of showers, so it should be a very good time to see spring blossoms and foliage in Brooklyn Bridge Park (photo), in gardens well tended by Jonathan Landsman and crew beside the Promenade, or in window boxes and gardens along the streets of Brooklyn Heights.

On Sunday, April 15 (you get an extra day two days–thank you, Karl, and the District of Columbia’s Emancipation Day holiday–to file tax returns this year) the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra will present a concert at St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church, Clinton and Montague streets (enter from Clinton) starting at 3:00 p.m. The program includes Mussorgsky’s “Songs and Dances of Death”, featuring bass-baritone Mark Peters; Greenhoe’s “Sojourn”; and Rachmaninoff’s “Symphony Number Two in e-minor”. Admission is free, but with a suggested donation of $15.

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Earth Day 2012: NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg Claims To Love Brooklyn Bridge Park

Earth Day 2012: NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg Claims To Love Brooklyn Bridge Park

With Earth Day coming up on Sunday April 22—which aims to preserve and protect the environment—grassroots environmental organization Sierra Club posted a video offering a slew of notable public figures sharing their favorite “pieces of America.” Actor Corbin Bernsen names Yosemite National Park, “That ’70s Show” regular Laura Prepon cites Big Sur and HBO’s “True Blood” actress Kristin Bauer hearts the redwood forests of Northern California. And then there’s NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who names Brooklyn Bridge Park, “because it gives you a front row seat on one of the great harbors in the world.” See the Earth Day video on YouTube here.

Bloomberg’s pronounced adoration for BBP is ironic, given his persistent distractions to develop Governor’s Island and other areas of the city, instead of focusing on sluggish progress along the Brooklyn waterfront. Continue Reading →

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For Fourth Year, Macy’s Says Nope To July 4th Fireworks Over Brooklyn

For Fourth Year, Macy’s Says Nope To July 4th Fireworks Over Brooklyn

Once again, Macy’s has decided that its annual 4th of July Fireworks spectacular will entertain viewers along the Hudson River facing New Jersey, rather than the West River toward the New York City borough of Brooklyn.

A public rally Monday from elected Kings County officials and neighborhood leaders from Brooklyn’s waterfront communities gathered a collective voice to show disdain over the NYC-based department store’s ongoing snub. In 2009, Macy’s relocated its Independence Day tradition to the Hudson to commemorate Henry Hudson’s exploration of the waterway 400 years ago—and has kept it there ever since. Continue Reading →

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Squadron, Levin Lead Rally Tomorrow to Bring Macy’s Fireworks Back to East River

Squadron, Levin Lead Rally Tomorrow to Bring Macy’s Fireworks Back to East River

State Senator Daniel Squadron, City Council Member Steve Levin, and other elected officials and community leaders will hold a rally tomorrow (Monday, April 2) at 1:45 p.m. to demand that Macy’s restore its annual Fourth of July fireworks display to the East River, where it can be enjoyed by more New Yorkers, including Brooklynites. The rally will be held at the northwest corner of Pier 1, Brooklyn Bridge Park (enter from Old Fulton Street). Continue Reading →

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Last Minute Weekend Reminders

Last Minute Weekend Reminders

Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Spring Fling will be held tomorrow (Saturday, March 31) from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., in the vicinity of Jane’s Carousel. Admission is free; there will be lots of activities for kids and parents, live band performances, and the Brooklyn Bridge Park Bunny.

On Sunday, April 1, starting at 2:00 p.m., Colm Tóibín and Mick Moloney will discuss Irish fiction and fact at the Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont Street (corner of Clinton). Admission is free for BHS members, $6 for adults; $4 for seniors over 62, students over 12 (college students must show ID) and teachers; and free for children under 12.

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Work Begins on Squibb Pedestrian Bridge to Park

Work Begins on Squibb Pedestrian Bridge to Park

As seen on my morning walk today, work has begun on the pedestrian bridge that will provide access from Squibb Park, off Columbia Heights near the foot of the path that leads to Middagh Street, across Furman Street and down to Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier One.

As the photo shows, an opening has been made in the fence where the bridge will begin (with orange netting across the opening for safety) and a construction platform has been positioned just below the opening. Plans call for the bridge to be completed this summer. Click on photo to enlarge.

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See Spring Plants at Pier 1 With Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Handy Guide

See Spring Plants at Pier 1 With Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Handy Guide

Brooklyn Bridge Park has created a guide to plants growing on Pier 1 (the pier accessed from the foot of Old Fulton Street).

Each year the vernal equinox heralds the start of the spring season. At Brooklyn Bridge Park, springtime is celebrated by the returning blossoms found in planting beds, along the edges of lawns and in the wide variety of trees planted just two years ago. Whether it is the large, fragrant flowers of the Saucer Magnolia, the small, buttery clouds of the Corneliancherry Dogwood, or the much anticipated first-bloom of our 8,000 Spanish Bluebells, spring in the park is exceptionally eye-catching and colorful. In homage to the start of spring and the beauty that it brings, Brooklyn Bridge Park is pleased to release our inaugural Spring Plant Guide. Continue Reading →

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BHA Gets BBP Back in Heights Congressional District

BHA Gets BBP Back in Heights Congressional District

Brooklyn Heights Association President Jane McGroarty has alerted us to a change the BHA was able to effect in the redrawing of Congressional district lines that has just been made final. As proposed, the new map will put all of Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, and Carroll Gardens in the 7th Congressional District, now represented by Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez.

However, as proposed by the Federal District Court that drew the new district boundaries, the area west of Furman Street, including Brooklyn Bridge Park, the proposed hotel and condo complex next to Pier 1, and the existing One Brooklyn Bridge Park condo and retail building, would have been in the district of Congressman Jerrold Nadler, which runs down the west side of Manhattan, then crosses the water to take in shoreline areas of Red Hook and part of Sunset Park.

At the urging of the BHA, which argued that the park and adjoining buildings are part of a community of interest with Brooklyn Heights, the three judge panel reviewing the redistricting plan agreed to redraw the boundary so that the area west of Furman out to the ends of the piers is now in the 7th District. You can see the final district maps on Politicker.

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Mockingbird

Mockingbird

Another harbinger of a spring that has arrived early, this migrant from the South was spotted between Piers 1 and 2, in Brooklyn Bridge Park, resting on a branch of what appears to be sumac, with drupes. Click on photo to enlarge.

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Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 4/5: Signs Of Progress?

Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 4/5: Signs Of Progress?

Since your BHB correspondent’s credentials are in crafting sentences and not engineering, I’m hard-pressed to explain exactly what’s going on in Brooklyn Bridge Park around the areas of Pier 4 and 5 (north of 1 Brooklyn Bridge Park condos, just south of Montague Street). But over the past week, trucks and crews have been pushing forward with what appears to be tangible progress, including some sort of water rampart at the shoreline (see larger image below the jump).

In any case, it’s a pleasure to see any sign of action, aside from DUMBO’s rehab at Fulton Ferry Park. According to the BBP’s website, completion of Pier 5 and a portion its “uplands”—comprising 5 acres of multi-use active recreation and a picnic peninsula with concession, barbeque and play area—is scheduled for completion in Fall 2012. See The Daily News update here. Continue Reading →

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Report on Park Progress at CB2 Committee Meeting Monday Evening

Report on Park Progress at CB2 Committee Meeting Monday Evening

Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation President Regina Myer, or a representative, will report on recent and pending changes to the Park at a meeting of Community Board 2′s Parks and Recreation Committee, to be held this coming Monday, March 19, starting at 6:00 p.m., in Dining Rooms A&B (off of the cafeteria) at Brooklyn Hospital, 121 DeKalb Avenue at St. Felix Street, in Fort Greene.

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Brooklyn Bridge Park: Spring Fling & 5K Race 3/31

Brooklyn Bridge Park: Spring Fling & 5K Race 3/31

Brooklyn Bridge Park has two events coming up on Saturday, March 31: Its family-oriented Spring Fling and the annual Eileen C. Dugan Memorial 5K race.

First up: Spring Fling takes place from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Empire Fulton Ferry section of the park. Admission is free, and includes egg decorating, music, dancing, yoga, face painting, storytelling and an egg roll. The Wiyos will perform at 10:30 a.m., and Audrarox at noon. Continue Reading →

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