In the time before Brooklyn Bridge Park is built we have something pretty great to tide us over: a planned 14-mile waterfront greenway for bikes and pedestrians stretching from Greenpoint to Sunset Park. This means access to waterfront views (and biking to Fairway) will be that much easier. It will be the result of a detailed planning effort by the non-profit Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, founded in 2004 but whose work stretches back to 1998.
We just received in the mail an impressive User’s Guide to the Greenway–with a lovely map even cooler than the one above–we’d recommend requesting one from them via email (see their site). Also for the spring to-do list: check out their open house at their new offices on Columbia between Kane & Degraw on April 26, at 5 p.m., and take the greenway bike tour on May 5th at 9:30 a.m. from the foot of the Manhattan bridge. Or check out another map of the plans.
In a self-styled “broadside” the Daily Eagle comes out clearly against the reopening and expansion of the House of D on Atlantic Ave.:
Should a jail exist in today’s Downtown Brooklyn and in today’s Downtown residential communities? The obvious answer is, of course not. It makes no more sense today than a jail would at the World Trade Center site, at Hudson Yards or at the Javits Convention Center.
The article gives a brief historical overview of the jail’s interactions with the community. It notes the city has quietly renamed the facility “Brooklyn Detention Complex”–suggesting that plans have been in the works for another building for a while–and ultimately demands a study of alternatives:
Until the issue of available alternative sites is thoroughly and honestly addressed (and it hasn’t been), the cards are stacked… a detailed financial study of a jail elsewhere and private development at the current site needs to be undertaken and made public.
Excellent news — the TGI Friday’s which stole Gage & Tollner’s rightful place in New York culinary history has closed. Now we can only hope something more appropriate goes in at this landmarked interior — like maybe Gage & Tollner?
From a 1956 review of G&T (which was founded 1879): “I’m told the belly broil, using only the belly of the soft clam, is a gem of a dish for $1.35. I say try the deviled crab for $1.85.” Check out the full review for a cool old photo of the interior.
Photo by enrevanche
From NewYorkology:
Not only will access to the island remain free this summer, but more of it will be open to the public and for more days, according to the schedule released Monday by the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation.
We think the photo says it all!
Update: New York Mag has a feature on a concept for futuristic farming on the island.
