Brooklyn Bridge

The mighty bridge turns 125 years old this weekend with several celebrations, including walking tours, lectures and a performance tonight by the Brooklyn Philharmonic.

Gillian Reagan, at our sister blog The Culture Czar, has the complete celebration schedule.

Shine on, you crazy diamond!

Break out the bubbly! The Brooklyn Bridge is way way way over the hill at 125 this year and New York is celebrating with several birthday bashes this weekend including concerts, movie nights, fireworks, dancing and ... uh mini-golf.

The only requisite birthday event missing is karaoke but maybe the Brooklyn Philharmonic and Broadway master Marvin Hamlisch can get the crowd crooning with a hearty rendition of "One" from A Chorus Line.

Starting at 7:45 p.m. tonight, at the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park, the Philharmonic and Mr. Hamlisch will kick off the celebration tonight with a concert followed by fireworks.

The Bridge will light up the night tonight and every night from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. through Memorial Day after a ceremony.

You can also take a peek into artist Paul St. George's Telectroscope that allows you to see all the way to London! More information and events from NYCVisit.com after the jump.  read more »

It's the 125th anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge this month and the city is rolling out a nearly week-long celebration through Memorial Day.

The five-day festivities kick off on May 22 with a performance by the Brooklyn Philharmonic at the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park, and a Grucci fireworks show, the city announced today.  read more »

8:30 a.m. A Way of the Cross procession will start at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, East 47th Street between First and Second avenues, and proceed along 42nd Street to Eighth Avenue.

10 a.m. A Way of the Cross procession will start at St. James Cathedral-Basilica, 250 Cathedral Place in Brooklyn, then proceed over the Brooklyn Bridge, stop at City Hall Park, pass Ground Zero and end at St. Peter's Church on Barclay Street.  read more »

Location: What’s the value of living near a New York City park?    read more »

• Homeless families in city shelters hit record.
[NY Times]
• City unemployment rate rises in January.
[NY Times]
• ESDC fires Brooklyn Bridge Park head.
[NY Post]
• Big changes this year to 86th and Lexington.
[NY Post]
• Residents uneasy about new Queens College dorm.
[Daily News]
• Spinola: Affordable housing discourages development.
[NY Sun]
• How rats might affect real-estate deals.
[NY Sun]
• Balazs: In hotels, "boutique" has been "bastardized."
[NY Sun]
• Condos at crossroads of "new Harlem," "old Harlem."
[NY Sun]

Did we miss any New York City real estate news this morning? Please send along tips and links.

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• Stuyvesant Town renters hit with big increases.
[NY Times]
• Condo market collapses--in other cities.
[NY Times]
• Drama surrounds future Plaza Hotel retail.
[NY Post]
• Trump wades into Soho trash debate.
[NY Post]
• Bank wants fifth trade center tower as corporate tower.
[NY Post]
• "Risk-free deal" for Brooklyn Bridge Park condo developer?
[NY Post]

Did we miss any New York City real estate news this morning? Please send along tips and links.

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• An $8.995 million triplex penthouse is awarded "Estate of the Day" honors at Luxist, a Web site that salivates over Arctic retreats and seaside sprawls. This Manhattan home has "raspberry parfait" walls, a wet bar, solarium, and six bedrooms. [Lux]
• What should one get for his wealthy loved one this winter? "It's impossible to go wrong with vintage," but "nature-inspired items are also [a] sure thing this season." Or you can contribute to the $160-billion-a-year home furnishings industry by gifting a "coral-handle salad server" or an "Italian cotton waffle bathrobe." [Forbes]
• A "gleaming, 65,000-square-foot building" beneath the Brooklyn Bridge will be the first home for the city's Emergency Management agency since its World Trade Center command center was destroyed on 9/11. Among other things, the new place has a 15-foot video wall for Bond-villain-like surveillance. [Architect Online/AP]
• As if Gramery Park weren't already haute enough, the neighborhood has become the go-to place for House & Garden columnists who like their wine "very New World and politically incorrect. Very sexy--almost pornographic, really--with its oak and concentration!" [House & Garden]
- Max Abelson
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Neighbors who had sued to keep condominiums out of Brooklyn Bridge Park lost their case on Tuesday, but vow an appeal, the Brooklyn Papers reports. - Matthew Schuerman

I first saw Coliseum Books three years ago, just five minutes after an interview for an editorial as  read more »

Here is a visually arresting piece of literature a reader picked up near the Borough Hall train stop in Brooklyn last night.

Seeing the Statue of Liberty right behind the Brooklyn Bridge kind of catches your eye. But so does seeing the word words "New Era" anywhere near the name Tracy Boyland. Her brother, father and uncle all held an Assembly seat in Brooklyn, and after she was term limited from the City Council, her father ran for her seat. (Gotham Gazette has more here.)

For her current effort, Boyland has filed only one campaign finance statement with the state Board of Elections, showing she received one contribution for $100 and hasn't spent anything yet. A new era indeed.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

Our junior senator thinks condos are all right after all for Brooklyn Bridge Park, after thinking about it for eight days, The Brooklyn Papers reports.

Meanwhile, today the Empire State Development Corporation, which is creating the park, filed court papers to evict three tenants on the piers whose leases, it says, have expired, spokesman Mark Weinberg said.

-Matthew Schuerman

The Brooklyn Papers reported on Friday that Hillary Clinton is bashing the Brooklyn Bridge Park luxury condo plan. Sayeth Hill: "If parks had to be self-sustaining, would anyone have ever built a park?" ... "Public land should be public land."
-Matthew Grace

B61 has the goods on last Monday's Brookyln Community Board 6 meeting with the city's Econoomic Development Corporation about the future of Piers 7 through 20 in Red Hook, 120 acres that run from the Atlantic Basin to the southern edge of the future Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Features of the E.D.C. plan include a second cruise-ship terminal, hotel and convention-center space, the retention of industrial operations, a possible water-taxi expansion and, most exciting, a Conover Street expansion, which would alleviate the traffic problems that are currently causing constant congestion on Van Brunt Street due to the new Fairway and the cruise-ship terminal already extant.  read more »

-Matthew Grace

On Saturday, New Yorkers for Immigration Control and Enforcement will rally outside of the Mexican Consulate for the nationwide "Hands Along the Border" protest against illegal immigration.

Same-sex marriage proponents march across the Brooklyn Bridge and rally in Battery Park.

Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn host a benefit concert at Hanson Place Central United Methodist Church.

Geraldine Ferraro will be honored by Marymount Manhattan College.

Hillary Clinton makes a major announcement with environmental groups at the Town Dock of Manhasset Bay.

Tim Bishop presents military medals to local veterans at the Patchogue American Legion.

Nicholas Spano announces he's running for re-election at the Polish Community Center in Yonkers.

The Independence Party holds its state nominating convention in Colonie.

On Monday, New York Women For Hillary Clinton host a fundraising luncheon at the Hilton.

Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century of New York's Eye on 2008 Series continues with Mark Warner.

And this isn't exactly a listing, but... We're with Ben. —Nicole Brydson

Yahoo/AP has a good story this morning on plans to create a beach on the Hudson, at Piers 52/53.

The story misses a growing movement led by boaters to revive the city's beaches. For instance, the argument is raging now in Community Board 1 over providing access to a beach on the East River just below the Brooklyn Bridge. This beach exists already, and is about 250 feet long—but barriers make it impossible to get to the beach from the streets.

The big secret is that New York harbor has many beaches. A fine new website called NewYork Harbor Beaches offers aerial photography of some of these hidden spots. And it has an important message about the vitality to the city of "dozens of natural sand beaches" in the harbor:

Largely unknown to the public, and frequently uncharted, these beaches are tangible reminders of the thriving estuary and recreational playground that the harbor used to be—and could be again. Beaches are great because they soften the edge of a shoreline that is now mostly concrete and stone. They absorb storm and wake energy, function as natural filters for runoff, and make prime habitat for wildlife, including shellfish and shorebirds.

ERICA: We bought my wedding dress yesterday and from start to finish the entire process took about 17 minutes (yep folks, that includes trying the dress on). I know some brides take months hunting down the perfect lacey, frothy fantasy number, and hey...we all work at our own pace. Mine just happens to be greased lightning.

I'm happy to report that true love IS forever. Me and my long-admired fantasy frock have now been officially united! I only tried on one dress, but that was all I needed.

A picture is out of the question (dream on Greg), but I can share some key details:

* My dress is PINK, not white * It's a Carolina Herrera * It has pockets! (a feature I am seriously in love with--pockets rock) * It is NOT strapless and is NOT a ballgown. Cinderella be damned! * Despite my fears, I did not have to order it in a size that made me want to take a nosedive off of the Brooklyn Bridge (well, maybe a mini nosedive). * They will ship it to California for me, so I don't have to experience a panicked plane ride in which I envision a scene from "24" with terrorists who stow away in the cargo hold, ransack the luggage and use my dress as a parachute.

Best of all, Carolina Herrera was our first stop, so I avoided an afternoon of bridal gown mayhem.

Oh yeah, and I got a veil too! Bada bing, bada boom.

In the morning, Bill Clinton, Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, leaders of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and the American Heart Association President announce an agreement with major industry representatives on childhood obesity at Clinton Foundation Headquarters.

Marty Markowitz hosts a day long 'College to Career Expo' at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge.

In the afternoon, Colin Powell announces a major gift to the City College of New York and the formation of an advisory board for the Colin Powell Center for Policy Studies, in the College's Shepard Hall.

And in the evening, KT McFarland speaks to Staten Island Young Repulicans.

—Nicole Brydson

First, some downtown Brooklyn residents were unhappy when a city-hired consulting firm did not take oral histories of whether Underground Railroad stations existed in their neighborhood. Now that the firm did the study, they are saying the interviewer "intimidated, interrupted and eventually chose when to turn on and off her tape recorder." This according to a press release, pitched by the campaign for state Assembly candidate Bill Batson, announcing a march across the Brooklyn Bridge tomorrow demanding the Mayor's attention.

The march probably won't attract as many participants as today's demonstration for immigrants' rights, but the controversy so far has held up the redevelopment of Duffield Street, which was included in the 2004 up-zoning of Downtown Brooklyn as the location of a 1 million square foot office tower, a park and an underground parking garage.

-Matthew Schuerman

Tonight, John McCain addresses the Irish Immigration Town Hall Meeting, and Yvette Clarke hosts a fundraiser at Trump World Towers.

Tomorrow, a march for the legalization of undocumented immigrants will cross the Brooklyn Bridge.

And on Monday, Senator Lamar Alexander will speak at a luncheon at the Harvard Club on the Federal Consent Decree Fairness Act; and later, the School of Public Affairs at Baruch hosts the Peter Vallone Lecture Series in Government.

—Nicole Brydson

The five-mile-long Hudson River Park was born from the rubble of Westway—the controversial pla  read more »

The five-mile-long Hudson River Park was born from the rubble of Westway—the controversial plan to  read more »

Yesterday the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the demolition of 11 Water Street, an Art Deco two-story warehouse built in 1936, to make room for the Brooklyn Bridge Park. Demolition of the building will begin next year.

According to a spokesman for the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation, the land will be used for a plaza in the summer and an ice-skating rink in the winter. The demolition of the park is necessary because it bifurcates the northern and southern ends of the park; once removed, the parkland will be continuous.

The two-story building is currently the home of the New York City Office of Emergency Management, the same agency that had to be evacuated on Sept. 11, 2001. It's curious that the O.E.M. moved out of the frying pan (the W.T.C.) and into the fire (just beneath the Brooklyn Bridge!--weren't the terrorists planning to blowtorch that?).

We've got a call out to the O.E.M. to see what its plans are for moving. Let's hope it's somewhere away from any obvious terrorist targets.

-Matthew Grace

PS: We're having blog problems today. Comments aren't available for now, but we're trying to fix it up. Patience!  read more »

The Post is reporting that Brooklyn Bridge Park, which won't be completed till 2010 (if ever), might just open up to the public as soon as this spring. Well, some of it anyway. The Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation is considering opening Pier 2, and they're asking the public for suggestions.
But what does "open to the public" really mean? Will there be grass? Trees? Or just concrete? And how the heck are people going to get there?

(via Brownstoner)  read more »

-Matthew Grace

John Spencer has a Hillary spot up on his Web site, dramatizing the Dick Morris argument that wiretaps saved the Brooklyn Bridge. (As I understand the story, wiretaps helped catch a guy who had already decided the bridge was "too hot" to blow up. But still.)

He told Conservative Party leaders today that she "aids and abets our enemies."

The tag line of the ad is kind of amusing, then: "I won't play politics with our security."

Sheldon Solow's development near Robert Moses Park, the privatization of a public park planned for the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, the mounting constructions in downtown Manhattan, and the fight for public parks over market space in the South Bronx: The overtaking of public spaces by private investors and developers has become a regular routine in the city's real estate sections.

Astor Place, modestly reimagined.

The new constructions often promise to maintain a section of park or plaza space, but they are typically out of reach to the public at large. Or large segments of them are parceled off for development in return for private maintenance of the public part of the space. And, of course, there is a difference between wasteful and useful public space—open, sans gate, with seats and maybe food.

The New York City Streets Renaissance Campaign is now focusing on another public space that routinely requires private maintenance—the city's streets. Taken together they are by far the city's largest public space. Tuesday night was the opening gala for Livable Streets: A New Vision for New York , an multimedia exhibit on display at The Urban Center until March 29th that explores how traffic and poor planning affects the quality of urban life.  read more »

Various lucky observers of Brooklyn politics have been cced on a lengthy email exchange between Brooklyn politico Howard Graubard and those he accuses of sabotaging the Brooklyn Bridge Park plan.

Not necessarily newsworthy. Except, how often do you hear the Willowtown Association compared to Al Qaeda?  read more »

As in Graubard's latest email:

"As I said, a purportedly 'pro-park' coalition containing the Willowtown Association is analogous to a purportedly 'pro-Israel' coalition containing Al Queda (sic)."

Last night, Brooklyn Community Board 6 held a public meeting with representatives from the Economic Development Corporation to discuss future plans for Piers 7 through 12 in Red Hook.

(The piers are located roughly in the center of Brooklyn's much-hyped waterfront-renewal project, a map of which is posted to the left; the Brooklyn Bridge Park area is off the map to the north.)

According to E.D.C. executive vice president of infrastructure Kate Ascher, the city has begun the planning stages to develop the piers the site just north of the Atlantic Basin area where cruise ships, starting with the Queen Mary 2, will begin to dock in April.

"Tonight's about a dialogue," Ms. Ascher said. "This is a project I'm really excited about." She said that the E.D.C. had "no specific plans" as of yet, and last night's meeting would be the first of several to analyze what the neighborhood and area residents need from the piers, currently occupied by American Stevedore. She said that residents of the secluded and poorly accessible neighborhood need to figure out how much development they want.

"How many people do we want to come in from the outside?" she asked.

Ms. Ascher presented a timeline of the gradual conversion of the 1.1-mile-long, 120-acre area (both waterfront and upland) from industrial waterfront use to mixed maritime industrial and recreational marina uses:

--December 2005-January 2006: feedback on conceptual framework --February 2006: planning development and marketing study --April 2006: cruise-ship piers (11 and 12) in use --Summer 2006: the uniform land-use review process --Spring 2007: acquisition of Piers 7 to 9B --2007 and on: maritime use of Piers 7 to 9B --2007-09: development of uplands

Ms. Ascher welcomed suggestions from the public for uses of the waterfront, and fielded questions about how local business can begin to prepare for the piers' increased use. The more popular suggestions were for a public boat slip, sewage and infrastructure repair (several people said that the prevalence of sewage and seafood stench would drive out any tourists debarking from the cruise ships), streetscape improvements and the removal and/or beautifying of area industries, especially the garbage-truck lot facing the ship terminal.  read more »

"I think that's something we need to solve, not just work on, before the fancy people from the Queen Mary show up," Ms. Ascher said jokingly.

-Matthew Grace

The Daily News reports on computer simulations that show how proposed condo towers along the Brooklyn waterfront would block views of the Brooklyn Bridge and Lower Manhattan. They also show how sophisticated the opposition has become.

The Mayor is holding up the Liberty Bonds that Larry Silverstein wants for Ground Zero, Steve Cuozzo says, although that won’t stop the Freedom Tower from rising next spring.  read more »

Williamsburgers won’t stand for shutting down the L train on weekends next year, and real estate brokers can‘t be too pleased either: how else will people get to their open houses?

-Matthew Schuerman

Choire Sicha investigates the future of cruising: What do all these new developments in traditionally cruising-friendly areas--waterfronts, windswept canyons between buildings late at night, parks--mean for men who go out in search of tearoom trade?

Jaqui Safra has "quietly" (read: no brokers) put his Upper East Side limestone mansion on the market for $50 million--making him the latest bid to break the record set by Rupert Murdoch, who purchased the Rockefeller triplex at 834 Fifth Avenue for $44 million. Uber-gallerist Larry Gagosian's "people" deny a rapidly spreading rumor that he's buying the place--for the asking price.  read more »

David Walentas, the guy who turned all of the cool factory buildings in Dumbo into expensive lofts, is trying to get a piece of the action as the city begins to parcel out development land adjacent to the planned riverfront park at the Brooklyn Bridge.

Remember when we were worried all those nice Chelsea gallerists like Matthew Marks and Barbara Gladstone were on the way out? Umm, not any more. Brook Mason finds out just how much dough they're raking in these days.

After first denying that the residents of the proposed luxury condos adjacent to Brooklyn Bridge Park would have their own security force, officials at today’s City Council meeting admitted that they would—sort of.

It turns out that some parks have revenue streams that pay for, among other things, a security force operated by the city Parks & Recreation Department, called a Parks Enforcement Patrol, or PEP, and that taxes and fees from the condo towers would pay for a patrol in Brooklyn Bridge Park.  read more »

“The PEP officers are provided in parks where funding is available, like Hudson River Park, Central Park, Riverside Park South,” said Josh Laird, chief of planning for Parks.

-Matthew Schuerman

The proposed Brooklyn Bridge Park takes the idea of a city-in-a-garden to new heights: towers 30 stories high holding 1,200 condos. Before yesterday's mammoth public hearing, Councilmember David Yassky and others pushed for higher taxes and fewer units to meet the state's goal of having the park pay for its $15 million annual maintenance while tamping down the bulk.

Another city-in-a-garden, Forest City Ratner's Atlantic Yards, will displace between 42 and 74 households, according to an official document that signals the beginning of the environmental review process.  read more »

Hey, it's not just Brownstoners who are getting pushed out. Even the really really wealthy can't afford to stay on top at The Sky Club, the 56th floor lounge atop the Pan Am--er, Met Life--building on Park Avenue is closing by Christmas, the Post reports (last item).

Finally, some good news. The Columbus Circle rehab is finished! Oh, wait. It won't be finished until next spring--but let's celebrate anyway!

Why bike over the Brooklyn Bridge--why enjoy the views? why the fresh air?—when you can burn calories indoors instead—and pay $125 a month for the privilege? Crain’s New York Business reports that Equinox Fitness has signed a lease for a four-story facility on Joralemon (pronounced jor-A-la-min) Street in Brooklyn Heights next year. Or, if your belt is already tight enough, check out the new Y four blocks away.  read more »

Something has been missing from the New York night-and when I found out, I felt responsible.I should  read more »

"Is warlike Spain hatching a plot?"You ask me anxiously. "And what

Of Scythia?" My dear Quinctius,  read more »

In an article called "The Brooklyn Bridge as a Monument," published in Harper's Weekly in May 1883,  read more »