Film Shoot Moratorium Short-Lived: Remsen Street Site For ‘Amish’

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Film Shoot Moratorium Short-Lived: Remsen Street Site For ‘Amish’

By Chuck Taylor on May 23, 2012 5:53 pm in DUMBO, Movie shoots, Parking

So much for New York City’s two-month moratorium on film shoots in Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO. The Brooklyn Paper reported May 10 that following persistent complaints from neighbors about parking restrictions, lights, power cables and trailers, filming was halted from April 1 until the beginning of June.

However, here in the third week of May, a notice is posted at the bottom of Remsen Street that says filming for “Insomnia TV—Amish” is taking place Wednesday May 23, beginning at 4 p.m. (Mind you, as of 5:30 p.m., there were no signs of action, nor were cars ordered to vacate the block.) Continue Reading →

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

By Claude Scales 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. Ann’s Warehouse Theater, as well as the Empire Stores building for possible commercial development. Following the court decisions, BHA and the other successful plaintiffs began negotiations with city and state officials to establish rules governing possible development of these sites. Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg announced that an agreement had been made under which, among other things, additional land will be added to Brooklyn Bridge Park should the Tobacco Warehouse and Empire Stores be made available for non-park use. Continue Reading →

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Roof Cornice Breaks Off At 7 Old Fulton Street

By Chuck Taylor on May 21, 2012 2:15 pm in brooklyn bridge park, Brooklyn Heights, Commercial Real Estate, DUMBO, Landmark Preservation, Video

Our faithful videographer & correspondent Karl Junkersfeld was on the scene on the Brooklyn Heights/DUMBO border as a piece of the roof cornice at 7 Old Fulton Street—which houses a restaurant by the same name and has apartments above—collapsed onto the street, at 12:45 Monday afternoon. Fortunately, no one was injured. Karl notes that a similar incident recently took place at Grimaldi’s Pizza up the street. See his 1:21-minute report below. Continue Reading →

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Heights’ Downtown Neighbor Reclaims Residential Rights

By Chuck Taylor on May 18, 2012 7:16 pm in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn History, Downtown Brooklyn, Real Estate

In recent times, the 15,000 folks that reside across the half-square mile of Brooklyn designated as “Downtown”—unfolding at the ends of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges—have again earned the right to call their locale a “neighborhood.” With a massive influx of new residential projects, it is no longer merely “near Brooklyn Heights” or “on the edge of Boerum Hill,” says Nora McCauley, who has lived in the destination for six years. “I’ve started to say just that I live Downtown.”

That’s the calling card of a Thursday New York Times story titled “To the Heights and the Slope, Add ‘Downtown’.” Continue Reading →

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June 14: Annual Montague Street District Mgmt Assn Meeting

By Chuck Taylor 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 Reed, President of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership. Continue Reading →

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Century 21 Department Store Commits To Fulton Mall: Opening In 2015

By Chuck Taylor on May 12, 2012 12:14 am in Brooklyn Heights, Development, Downtown Brooklyn, Shopping

Following Downtown Brooklyn’s gentrification with the recent arrival or soon-to-open Shake Shack, Gap, Panera Bread, H&M and T.J. Maxx along Fulton Mall, the latest retailer committing to the rapidly expanding shopping destination is Century 21 Department Store.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the high-end label discount retailer has signed a deal to open a 125,000 SF store in the City Point development: the first new department store in Downtown BK since the 1970s. Continue Reading →

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Babs Returns To Brooklyn Roots With October Barclays Concert

By Chuck Taylor on May 10, 2012 7:26 pm in Arts and Entertainment, Brooklyn Heights, Celebrity Residents, Events, Other Brooklyn

Barbra Streisand’s Brooklyn roots are certainly no secret. She was born & raised in the borough and graduated in 1959 from Erasmus Hall High School in Flatbush. However, she has not performed publicly in BK since then, some 53 years ago… until now. As the mainstream press has proclaimed, Babs, now 70, is returning home for a concert Thursday October 11, at the spanking new 19,000-seat Barclays Center.

Streisand said, “Brooklyn to me means the Loews Kings, Erasmus, the Yeshiva I went to, the Dodgers, Prospect Park, great Chinese food. I’m so glad I came from Brooklyn‚ down to earth. I guess you can come home again.”

Wonder if home will also mean a stop by the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, where she filmed scenes for 1974 film “For Pete’s Sake,” with Michael Sarrazin. Continue Reading →

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City Issues Cease Fire On Movie Shoots In Brooklyn Heights & DUMBO

By Chuck Taylor on May 10, 2012 10:11 am in Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, Movie shoots, War On Fun

It’s a good thing NBC’s hit series “Smash” has wrapped its first season. The city has imposed a two-month moratorium on film shoots in Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO—bringing a cease fire to movie-making in two of the borough’s most cinematic communities.

The Brooklyn Paper reports today that the clamp-down follows persistent complaints from neighbors about parking restrictions, lights, power cables and trailers. Continue Reading →

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Brighton Beach $14M ‘Mansion’ Listing Humbles Heights’ 2012 Multi-Mill $ales Records

By Chuck Taylor on May 2, 2012 1:05 pm in Other Brooklyn, Real Estate

Take that, 36 Garden Place. A 9,200-square foot single-family home at 2134 Ocean Parkway bordering Gravesend and Sheepshead Bay has trumped Brooklyn Heights as the double-digit million dollar borough capital. The “palatial” property has an asking price of a whopping $14 million: $4 million more than Brooklyn’s previous record-setting Garden Place listing, which hit the market in late February.

The asking price also bests the Heights’ other lofty 2012 residential sales, including the Capote House at 70 Willow ($12M), 183 Columbia Heights ($6.6M), 161 Columbia Heights ($3M) and 50 Orange Street ($7.1M). Continue Reading →

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BREAKING: Verdict In Death of 84th Precinct Officer

By weegee 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 the railing at 45 St. Marks Place while assisting in Villanueva’s arrest. At issue was whether Schaberger was deliberately pushed or accidentally fell during a struggle.

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Brooklyn Heights Montessori School Adds 11,000 SF

By Chuck Taylor on May 2, 2012 11:48 am in Cobble Hill, Education

The Brooklyn Heights Montessori School—the single such accredited preschool-8th grade facility in NYC—is expanding its facilities and programs for students. The school has purchased a property adjacent to its base at 185 Court Street (technically in Cobble Hill) at 12 Dean Street, which adds 11,000 square feet to the property. Continue Reading →

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Has Eric Adams Taken The Lead In Brooklyn Borough Prez Race?

By Chuck Taylor on April 27, 2012 2:33 pm in Government, Other Brooklyn

As terms limits usher Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz out of Borough Hall in 2013 (after 11 years in office), State Sen. Eric Adams appears poised to have his name carved in gold lettering on the front door. The ex-cop—best known for his “Stop the Sag” campaign to get kids to pull up their britches, and for suggesting transit workers carry Tasers to zap bad guys—is now in the lead, after his primary competitor, fellow Democrat Carlo Scissura, dropped out of the race Thursday to accept a post as President & CEO of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. Continue Reading →

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Image Of The Week: Markowitz, Bloomie & Ratner Embrace Barclay Center’s Creation Of ’2,000 Jobs’

By Chuck Taylor on April 26, 2012 9:12 pm in Brooklyn Heights, Commercial Real Estate, Downtown Brooklyn, Government

On Thursday, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz joined NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Forest City Ratner Cos. Chairman/CEO Bruce Ratner to rally around the 2,000 jobs they insist will be created by the fall opening of Downtown Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

Markowitz said, “Bringing the Nets to Brooklyn means more than exciting in-your-face basketball with a Brooklyn attitude: It will create 2,000 sorely needed full- and part-time opportunities for jobseekers, with priority placement for Brooklynites Continue Reading →

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Ceiling Burglar Sought

By weegee on April 26, 2012 4:34 pm in crime, DUMBO, News, Police Blotter

NYPD

Police are looking for a man who, they say, broke into an office at 68 Jay Street this week and stole a laptop computer. The suspect, pictured here, apparently got into the office through a hole in the sheetrock ceiling at approximately 4:15 a.m. Tuesday, where surveillance video shows him removing a computer. His getaway was less dramatic: He used the door. Continue Reading →

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