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Environmental Assessment For Empire Stores and Tobacco Warehouse Released; Public Hearing Next Thursday

By on June 14, 2013 12:07 am in brooklyn bridge park, DUMBO, Environment, Fulton Ferry Historic District, Government, Legal

The Brooklyn Heights Association has advised us that an Environmental Assessment has been completed concerning the proposed adaptive re-use of the Empire Stores and Tobacco Warehouse buildings, located along Water Street in the Fulton Ferry Historic District and DUMBO. Links to the Environmental Assessment and Draft Conversion Application are here; they may also be reviewed [...]

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Actor Sean Penn Testifies For Release Of Imprisoned Brooklyn Heights Man

By on May 21, 2013 9:15 am in Brooklyn Heights, Legal

Actor & activist Sean Penn testified Monday before a U.S. House Foreign Affairs subcommittee that a Brooklyn Heights businessman being held in Bolivia is a “Dead Man Walking.” Jacob Ostreicher, 54, has been held without charge for nearly two years in the South American country and remains under house arrest even though 13 of his [...]

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Baby Brigade! Moms Plan Stroller Rally Saturday Against LICH Closing

By on April 12, 2013 1:45 pm in Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Commercial Real Estate, Events, Health, Legal, News, Parents

Here’s a new twist. Brownstone Brooklyn moms whose kids were born at Long Island College Hospital are planning a stroller a march Saturday, April 13, to protest its planned closing.

Cobble Hill mama Liz Holden tells the New York Daily News, “We are bringing out the baby brigade to save our hospital. We want folks to call the governor’s office. Cuomo can stop this.”

Read more on the Cobble Hill Blog. (Photo: NY Daily News)

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Judge Rules SUNY Board Acted Illegally on LICH Closing

By on March 15, 2013 10:20 pm in Cobble Hill, Government, Health, Legal, News

The Times reports that New York Supreme Court Justice Johnny Baynes, who earlier extended a temporary restraining order against SUNY’s shutdown of Long Island College Hospital, has ruled that the SUNY board acted in violation of New York State’s open meetings law, and vacated the board’s decision to close LICH. According to the Times: The [...]

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Court Puts LICH Closing Back On Ice

By on March 8, 2013 9:56 pm in Cobble Hill, Health, Legal, News, Real Estate

The temporary restraining order that prevents SUNY from going ahead with its plan to close Long Island College Hospital was, according to Crain’s NY Business, extended “indefinitely” today by Judge Johnny Lee Baynes. The issue, which Judge Baynes promised to review “expiditiously,” is whether the SUNY Board’s vote to close LICH in a meeting closed [...]

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Brooklyn Heights Assn. Implores Gov. Cuomo To Reconsider LICH Closure

By on March 5, 2013 4:31 pm in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn History, Cobble Hill, Commercial Real Estate, Health, Legal

Brooklyn Heights Association President Jane McGroarty has sent a letter to NY Governor Cuomo and Dr. Nirav Shah, Commissioner, NYS Department of Health, urging them to take an in-depth look before allowing closure of SUNY Downstate’s Long Island College Hospital, “a hospital that is critical to the increasing population of downtown Brooklyn.” BHA notes, “In [...]

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Court Puts Brakes On LICH Closure

By on February 21, 2013 1:09 pm in Cobble Hill, Health, Legal, News

According to this NY1 story, a court has issued a temporary restraining order that blocks SUNY Downstate from implementing its just issued plan to close Long Island College Hospital. The judge who issued the order has scheduled a further hearing for March 7. Petitioners in this case are unions representing nurses and hospital workers; however, [...]

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Two Members of the Central Park Five Visit Packer Collegiate

By on February 7, 2013 9:31 am in Brooklyn Heights, Education, Legal, movies, News

On Wednesday at the Packer Collegiate Institute, students and faculty listened raptly as two members of the Central Park Five shared their stories of being arrested, convicted, and jailed for the infamous 1989 Central Park jogger assault—a crime they didn’t commit. Raymond Santana and Yusef Salaam spoke to members of the Packer community for two [...]

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Thousand-Dollar Pooch Poop Fine Sign Is… A Fraud!

By on December 24, 2012 10:45 am in Brooklyn Heights, Legal, Police Blotter

After reporting on BHB December 14 that signs had suddenly appeared on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade mandating an exorbitant and sudden escalation of a $1,000 fine for failing to scoop your pooch’s poop, it turns out… the signs are phony! News 12 Brooklyn shares that Department of Sanitation officials say the wrong health logo is [...]

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Yassky Tapskys A Taxi Appsky

By on December 12, 2012 3:37 pm in Government, Legal, News, Transportation

Smartphone apps serve every practical purpose these days, from locating an escort service for Cousin Ernie to finding the lowest price on Ducks in Blue Bonnets Collectibles for Aunt Hester. Now, an app exists for finding a taxi within your vicinity. It’s currently operating in San Francisco, with the potential to gear up in NYC. [...]

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THURSDAY: Free Post-Hurricane Legal Advice From Brooklyn Law School

By on November 15, 2012 8:15 am in Brooklyn Heights, charity, Legal

From 9 a.m. to noon TODAY, Thursday, November 15, the Brooklyn Law School, in association with Borough Prez Marty Markowitz and the Brooklyn Bar Association, will host a free “Brooklyn Sandy Relief Legal Clinic” at Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon Street, between Court and Adams. The Clinic will be staffed by disaster relief-trained law students and [...]

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Lawsuit Over BBP Stainless Domes Settled

By on October 25, 2012 9:09 pm in Architecture, brooklyn bridge park, Brooklyn Heights, Kids, Legal

Today, the NY Post reports that the resulting lawsuit from the dangerous stainless steel domes in Brooklyn Bridge Park has been settled.  Reportedly, the plaintiff, who was one year old at the time, will receive $17,500.  According to the NY Times, the Brooklyn Bridge Park  Corporation and the park designer, Michael Van Valkenburg Associates, will [...]

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Brooklyn Heights ‘Signs’ Off On DOT’s Mixed-Case Lettering Mandate

By on August 16, 2012 7:30 am in Brooklyn Heights, Government, Legal, Transportation

Street signs in Brooklyn Heights will soon be following the letter of the law. The Federal Highway Administration has mandated that your tax dollars be spent on replacing 250,000 capital-letter street signs in New York City with mixed-case—specifically utilizing a condensed version of the Clearview typeface (licensed as ClearviewHwy). So far, about 11,000 street name [...]

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Yassky Zapskys Cabsky Appsky

By on August 10, 2012 10:34 am in Brooklyn Heights, Legal, Transportation

Not so fast there. A new smartphone app hailed as a tech-savvy way to find a taxi could be a major boon for illegal gypsy cabs. The ZabKab app, released Wednesday, allows anyone with an iPhone to register free as a driver—even if they’re not licensed by the Taxi and Limousine Commission, according to a [...]

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BBP & Bossert To Be Addressed At Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable

By on July 24, 2012 11:22 am in brooklyn bridge park, Brooklyn Heights, Commercial Real Estate, Events, Government, Legal

The Brooklyn Historical Society will host a Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable Luncheon, on Tuesday, August 7, from noon to 2 p.m. Among those scheduled to speak are Clipper Equities principal David Bistricer, who will outline his vision for redevelopment of the Bossert Hotel into a boutique hospitality property; and Regina Myer, Brooklyn Bridge Park president, [...]

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Should They? Chipotle On Montague Offers Cops A 50% Discount

By on July 19, 2012 6:47 pm in Brooklyn Heights, Food, Legal

While the north side of Montague Street, between Clinton and Court, has been obstructed with scaffolding for what feels like forever, it seems that a bargain cannot be hidden. According to a story in The New York Times, “At Chipotle, an Unofficial and Prohibited Discount for Officers” that talks specifically about the Brooklyn Heights locale, uniformed [...]

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Here We Go Again: 20 Henry Street & Magic Johnson Just Can’t Score

By on July 18, 2012 10:50 am in Brooklyn Heights, Development, Legal, Real Estate

Magic Johnson is back in the news regarding his alliance with the agonizing completion of 20 Henry Street—and it’s as ugly as ever. The Real Deal reports that a labor dispute has erupted between Hudson Meridian Construction and the baller’s Canyon Johnson Urban Funds. The contractor has threatened to walk off the job at the [...]

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Reminder: Montague Street BID Annual Meeting Is Today

By on June 14, 2012 9:03 am in Legal, Real Estate

A reminder that the 15th-annual meeting of the Montague Street District Management Assn., part of the Montague Street Business Improvement District, convenes today, Thursday June 14, 4-6 p.m., on the second floor of Eamonn’s of Brooklyn at 174 Montague Street. Addressing the group will be keynoter Seth Pinsky, President of the NYC Economic Development Corp., [...]

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Prominent Law Firm Cullen & Dykman Takes A Heights Hike

By on June 5, 2012 5:12 pm in Development, Legal

There will be a lot fewer suits walking the streets of Brooklyn Heights. After decades as one of the neighborhood’s preeminent law firms, Cullen & Dykman LLP has vacated the borough. As of Monday, staff at its 177 Montague Street headquarters, above Chase Bank, had relocated to Wall Street, where they will sadly blend in [...]

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Rent-Stabilized Residents At 85 Livingston Fuming Over Rent Hike

By on May 29, 2012 5:16 pm in Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, Legal, Real Estate, Seniors

Residents of 85 Livingston Street at the Brooklyn Heights/Downtown Brooklyn border are battling a $60 to $90 a month rent hike for 30 or so rent-stabilized units in the coop building, saying it will “devastate” the mostly elderly folks living in those apartments. While the majority of the building was converted to coops in 1989, [...]

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BHA, Other Groups Settle with City and State over Park Land

By on May 22, 2012 1:00 pm in brooklyn bridge park, DUMBO, Government, Landmark Preservation, Legal, News

Last year, neighborhood and preservation organizations, including the Brooklyn Heights Association, prevailed in lawsuits in both federal and state courts in which they contested the actions of the National Park Service and the city and state governments to transfer the Tobacco Warehouse site from Brooklyn Bridge Park for use as a new home for St. [...]

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June 14: Annual Montague Street District Mgmt Assn Meeting

By on May 15, 2012 12:38 pm in Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, Legal

The 15th-annual meeting of the Montague Street District Management Assn., part of the Montague Street Business Improvement District, will convene Thursday June 14, 4-6 p.m., on the second floor of Eamonn Doran’s at 174 Montague Street. Addressing the group will be keynoter Seth Pinsky, President of the NYC Economic Development Corp., and guest speaker Tucker [...]

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Last Minute Weekend Suggestions

By on May 4, 2012 12:47 am in Arts and Entertainment, Events, History, Legal, movies, Nature, Theater

The Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont Street (corner of Clinton) will present a screening of Nancy Buirski’s film, The Loving Story, a love story about a couple whose wedding set the stage for the Supreme Court’s decision, in Loving v. Virginia, that struck down statutes prohibiting interracial marriage. The show begins at 3 p.m. Saturday, [...]

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BREAKING: Verdict In Death of 84th Precinct Officer

By on May 2, 2012 11:50 am in crime, Downtown Brooklyn, Legal, News, Police Blotter

A Brooklyn jury has just returned a verdict of not guilty against George Villanueva on a charge that he murdered 84th Precinct Officer Alain Schaberger last year. Villanueva was, however, convicted on a charge of aggravated manslaughter, and his status as a repeat felony offender may result in a life sentence. Officer Schaberger fell over [...]

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Manager of St. George Dorm “Gouging” Students: Post

By on February 19, 2012 12:52 pm in Brooklyn Heights, Education, Legal, Real Estate

Educational Housing Services, the not-for-profit entity that manages the dormitory for students and interns at the St. George Hotel building, Henry and Clark streets, is giving its residents a bum deal while paying top managers choice salaries, according to an article by Annie Karni in today’s Post. New York Post: New York City college students [...]

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BLS graduates sue BLS

By on February 5, 2012 3:18 pm in Brooklyn Heights, Education, Legal

In a brief news item reported Sunday, February 5, 2012, WNYC radio discussed litigation brought against four law schools in New York State, one of which is Brooklyn Law School.  In dispute is whether the four law schools exaggerated the salaries and employment statistics of their graduates, which enticed people to attend these institutions.  Does [...]

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NYTimes looks at Appellate Division on Monroe Place

By on January 26, 2012 12:46 am in Architecture, Brooklyn Heights, Legal

Recently, the NYTimes offered a superficial and frustrating article entitled: “A Judgeship With Prestige, and, Oh, What a Grand Room“.  The article fails to include any significant historical or architectural information about this building.  On the bright side, at least the St. Ann’s “smoking lounge” didn’t get included in the photo. 

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Update on Billboard: “Not Illegal” says TA

By on January 20, 2012 10:34 pm in Environment, Legal

Following up on our inquiry, prompted by reader Andrew Porter, Brooklyn Heights Association Executive Director Judy Stanton got on the phone and found that the City Department of Buildings has no jurisdiction over the billboard (see photo) near the north end of the Promenade, because it is affixed to a building owned by the Transit [...]

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Billboard Near BQE and Promenade Illegal?

By on January 20, 2012 12:58 am in Legal, Transportation

Responding to our post about an illegal billboard that was blown down by last Friday’s high winds and blocked the southbound lanes of the BQE, a local resident noted that there is an illegal–because it is within 200 feet of a highway–billboard near Brooklyn Heights. It can be seen in the photo and from the [...]

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State Court Rules Bloomberg Administration and State Acted Improperly in Tobacco Warehouse Transfer

By on December 13, 2011 5:32 pm in brooklyn bridge park, Government, Landmark Preservation, Legal

While the attempted turnover of the Tobacco Warehouse for use as a new home for St. Ann’s Warehouse Theater was effectively stopped by a federal court’s decision in July (and St. Ann’s has found a new, if temporary, home in DUMBO), a New York State court ruled in a parallel action brought by the same [...]

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