Movies At The Farm (Red Hook)

This is the stuff that makes city living great, courtesy of an email from CB6:

Bring a blanket, bring the family, then grab a lemonade or some locally-produced ice cream, and lean back on a hay bale for this summer's Movies on the Farm!

THIS WEEK:

Mad Hot Ballroom (PG)
A documentary about NYC kids and competitive ballroom dancing!
Thursday, July 26th
8:15 PM

IN AUGUST:

When We Were Kings (PG)
A documentary of the 1974 heavyweight championship bout in Zaire between champion George Foreman and underdog challenger Muhammad Ali!
Thursday, August 16th
8:15 PM

COMPLETE SCHEDULE:
Red Hook Movies in the Parks are happening every week from now through August 16th- in Coffey Park, at Valentino Pier, and on the Farm. For more information and a complete schedule, check out: http://www.redhookmovies.org

YOUTH-PRODUCED SHORTS:
Before each feature, Hook Productions presents short films produced by neighborhood teens! Check out the local talent at: http://www.hookproductions.org/index2.html

... And don't forget to come down to the Farm on Saturdays for our Market and Volunteer days! This week we're harvesting greens, string beans, bell peppers, hot peppers, summer squash, radishes, carrots, beets... and the Sun Gold cherry tomatoes are starting to turn orange...

Directions to the Red Hook Community Farm:

Subway:
AC/F train to Jay Street Borough Hall Exit the station. Cross Jay and Pick up the B61 going towards Red Hook. Take the B61 to Van Brunt and Van Dyke Street. Exit the bus and cross Van Brunt Street. Walk up Van Dyke three blocks to the Farm.

F/G to Smith and 9th Street. Exit the station to the rear of the train (there is only one exit in this station). Transfer to the B77 (right in front of the station) Take the B77 to Van Dyke and Dwight street. You’ll find yourself in front of the Liberty Heights Taproom. Take a left crossing Dwight Street and proceed up Van Dyke to Red Hook Community Farm (one block walk, from the bus stop you can actually see the farm at the end of the street).

Cement Factory, or Public Space?

I had known for some time that discussions were under way for cleaning up the large, overgrown empty lot at the corner of 5th Street and Smith abutting the Gowanus Canal. When we lived on 4th Place (up until earlier this year), we passed this parcel on a regular basis.

What I was not aware of was the plans to boot the cement factory adjacent to the parcel as well. Via the Brooklyn Paper, that is part of the plan for the site.

But now, as the city moves forward with a plan to build residential towers and parkland on the 5.8-acre Public Place site, the 35-year-old company could be evicted within the year, with not a cent of reimbursement.

Gowanus Lounge also has blogged about this project on occasion, but I wasn't a regular reader back in the day (now, it's at least a daily visit).

On one hand, it will be nice to clean up that parcel and do something positive with it. On the other hand, it is a very industrialized area with working businesses. The cement factory is busy, which I can attest to having lived a block and half away for a couple of years. Where are these businesses supposed to go?

This, along with the American Stevedoring business and countless other industrial uses, are also a part of the community. Like it or not, we need cement, we need working waterfronts, and we need the jobs they provide.

If they do end up booting the cement factory however . . . how about the grain silo in Red Hook? Recently a Mr. Quadrozzi was proposing that site as a cement storage facility, the site is dormant, arguably in an even better location, and conveniently, could be leased from the city.

CORRECTION/UPDATE: The Columbia Street Grain Elevator and surrounding acreage were sold by the Port Authority in 1997 to a private entity called the Gowanus Industrial Park, Inc. The President of Gowanus Industrial Park is none other than John Quadrozzi, Jr., who also owns Quadrozzi Concrete. Quadrozzi's own proposal for re-use of the grain terminal as a cement storage facility makes a lot of sense, and he presumably would not be inclined to hand over the plum site to Ferrara Brothers.

UPDATED AGAIN:
From the Google, this Village Voice article from 1998 yields an interesting spippet:

One mob-tied company, Quadrozzi Concrete, gave $3000, starting with $1500 in November 1996, at the very moment that Marlin approved the no-bid, discounted sale of a 43-acre, authority-owned grain terminal to the firm. John Quadrozzi, who was awaiting sentencing for making payoffs to the Luchese crime family when the deal closed, was allowed to buy the site even though he was barred from doing business by another state agency, as well as the federal government. The law firm that represented Quadrozzi on the transaction, which was approved by Marlin, donated another $500.

Every time I think I'm done with this post, they keep pulling me back in.

CB6 Purged!

Gowanus Lounge has the rundown on the CB6 purge.

Interestingly enough, Markowitz, Yassky and DeBlasio are all term-limited out after this term. I don't think any of them are retiring from politics . . . maybe building some new alliances in preparation for their next moves, respectively?

Streetsblog: CB6 Committee Approves 9th Street Project

Good news today from Streetsblog (and from the CB6 transportation committee) on dangerous stretch of 9th Street.

Plan for traffic calming and bike lanes approved by the Transportation Committee last night. Nice.