Brownstoner on 360 Smith

A lively comment thread on the Scarano rendering for 360 Smith. Yours truly representing.

Long Overdue Bleecker - Broadway-Lafayette Connection Unveiled

Second Avenue Subway Sagas has renderings and information on this planned connection between two dysfunctionally-conjoined subway stations.

Needless to say, this project will greatly improve the utility of the F line. Investing in transit makes people's daily lives better. More like this, please.

Photo credit: Lee Harris Pomeroy / www.wai.com

360 Smith Street: Stop Scarano Project!

Alternative title, Gowanus Lounge: Now Multimedia!

Walking down Smith Street this morning, someone has put together a great protest display against the Scarano project for 360 Smith Street, proposed to straddle the Carroll Street subway entrance. Included in the display were printouts of a Gowanus Lounge blog post on the proposed project.

Important takeaways:

Community Board 6 meeting this Thursday, 5/31
http://www.brooklyncb6.org/calendar/
This project is not listed on the calendar, but it never hurts to show up and make a statement.

Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association Meeting 6/11
Scotto's Funeral Home, 7:30pm

More Gore: Al in NYC over Memorial Day Weekend

Azi Paybarah at Politicker with transcript excerpts from Gore's interview with Charlie Rose before a live audience. Photo credit to Joyce Culver via 92Y Blog.

Gore is out pushing his new book, The Assault on Reason, which is on my wish list at the moment. What I've read already is a fantastic look at everything that's wrong with our current political discourse. And I especially love the title of Paybarah's post: Gore on the Cowardly, Vacuous, Catch-Penny Political Press.

Brooklyn Public Library Facade A Grand Complement To Plaza, Parks

From the Brooklyn Paper:

The Brooklyn Public Library threw open its front doors this week after almost two years of work on its front plaza.

We walked past this beautiful building two weeks ago, en route from the Botanical Gardens to Park Slope for a bit of lunch. It's a grand structure that nicely complements the park, the museum, the plaza and the Gardens. If you've got family in town or just a day to relax, you can make a great circuit of those sights. I'm looking forward to the day when Grand Army Plaza has been spruced up and made safer for pedestrians.

Photo cribbed from Brooklyn Paper.

NYMag: Renderings of Governor's Island Design Competition

Renderings and blurbs on 5 competing plans accompany the article. Interesting stuff.

UPDATE:
My favorite so far.

The Gowanus Lounge: Upcoming Community Board 6 Meetings

The Gowanus Lounge: Upcoming Community Board 6 Meetings

Sigh. I always seem to have another commitment for the good meetings. The Gowanus rezoning is a big deal for the 'hood.

But I should be able to make the Public Forum on June 11th on same-sex marriage. It's ridiculous in this day and age that gays don't have equal marriage rights. Spitzer is doing the right thing:

June 11 Public Forum--On Gov. Eliot Spitzer's bill to amend the New York State domestic relations law in relation to the ability to marry, which would provide same-sex couples the same opportunity to enter into civil marriages as opposite-sex couples. CB6's Executive Committee will convene after the Public Hearing to formulate its recommendation. The meeting will take place at Park Slope United Methodist Church, which is located at 410 6th Avenue (between 7th/8th Streets). It starts at 6PM.