Could the newly reopened Sam's be better than the original?

Hey Neighbors -

Happy Saturday. Today is the second to last official day of summer, and my plan is to celebrate every last Brooklyn second. 

As soon as I’m finished with the newsletter (ugh, yes, I missed my Friday deadline), I’m heading to the Carroll Park Fair. I’m on the hunt for a cute top for the Ward 6 party on 9/24 (everyone is invited - see below!). I’ve found some killer vintage/used clothes at past fairs.

Then I’ll work my way to Abolitionist Place in downtown Brooklyn, where 40 life-sized human-powered buffalo puppets (150 puppeeters!) will begin to roam our streets at 2:00 PM. I’ve been so obsessed with this project since I first heard about it last month. See the map below for the route, street closures, and info about the performers.

I will end my day in Red Hook for Pioneer Works/PortSide’s “Observe the Moon” event.

Who needs Manhattan?! 

Celebrate Ward 6’s first anniversary and our fabulous Brooklyn communities.

Here’s a hint of some of the fantastic raffle donations:

Post #52: Vote! Mail-in ballot deadlines are fast-approaching; the $14 million Henry St. “estate” at the center of actor Chris Pine’s lawsuit is no longer on the market; could the newly reopened Sam’s be better than the original? my lovely night at Sam’s and day trip to Light Switch; a local food writer’s newly launched Strong Buzz School where she’ll share her tricks of the trade; why did the DOT not include Red Hook in its truck route redesign and what it means for all of us; more magical thinking about the BMT traffic conundrum + the BMT/BQE mess and Ward 6 joins Red Hook’s The Long Table- sign up!

If you love Ward 6 as much as I love writing it, please share with a friend or update to $6 a month to keep me in business!

I know November seems like a long way off, but you don’t want to miss voting in the midterm elections. Here is a sample BK ballot. It’s a long one and includes four Charter Amendments, which definitely require some research.

Oct. 24th is the deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot or to register to vote; Nov. 2nd if you apply in person. 

BTW, I just finished my poll worker refresher course. Wow. Mamdani, talk about an agency that could use your attention. I hate to say it, but the Board of Elections needs some young blood. Not because I have doubts about its ability to run NYC’s elections–I have zero.  But they need to do a better job attracting poll workers and creating an engaging training course. 

I squeezed in some time to quickly grab a drink at Sam’s last week. The friendly bartenders made a perfect Perfect Manhattan, the meatballs were delish and owner/operator Georgia Fulton made sure we felt welcome. I’d love to hear more about the food if you’ve eaten at Sam’s ([email protected]).

I also visited Light Switch, also on Court St., for two meetings this week and it’s now my go-to spot. It’s large enough to meet someone to talk business but not too large a space that it doesn’t feel cozy. Andrea Strong of The Strong Buzz newsletter introduced me to the British word “snug,” which the owners borrowed from traditional pub design, which usually refers to a cozy, more private space.

🎞️For my readers with an extra $14 million, I’m sorry to report the for-sale sign is no longer up at the uber-luxury Henry St. “estate.”  

You might remember this 5-bedroom property is at the Chris Pine (Star Trek, The Catch, Poolman, Princess Diaries) against a Cobble Hill-based developer, who spent years renovating the house. The actor had a short-term rental deal for the townhouse, while it remained on the market for $14 million (the original purchase price, according to Real Deal, was $4 million). 

In July, the actor sued the co-founder of Eckstrom developers for allegedly failing to return his $100K security deposit and first month’s rent. I tried to get an update, but neither party returned my calls.

👖Madewell’s signage is up on Bergen St. A tipster told me last year that Madewell was taking over Invisible Dog, the nonprofit art space that had occupied the funky 19th-century former belt factory as long as I’ve lived in Brooklyn. 

I was down on the building’s owner for leasing to Madewell (even though I wear their jeans) until I learned he was committed to maintaining affordable artist space upstairs “indefinitely.” The family who owns Ko Arts Studio on the 2nd floor told me they now have a more affordable and larger space above Madewell than they had on Smith St. In an email exchange with the landlord, he said he is “fond” of the artist’s community. 

📰 I heard from a reliable source that journalist and podcast host Ezra Klein is moving to Boerum Hill.

👗The Consignment Shop on Atlantic Ave is having its “Garage Sale” this weekend, which might mean some good deals on some high-priced items.

I’m still working through my notes from Thurday’s Brooklyn Marine Terminal Development Corporation (BMTDC) meeting. If and when the waterfront proposed plan is approved, its this group of 23 people who will be tasked with implementing it, which includes negotiating contracts, raising additional funds, and meeting community commitments. 

Since the NYC Economic Development Corporation’s (NYCEDC) controversial BMT “vision plan” is currently undergoing an official city environmental impact review, the BMTDC’s work has not really started yet, other than looking for an executive director.

So, at the meetings the NYCEDC and its consultants report to the board updates on BMT design work or mitigation planning, such as traffic or flood resiliency or upgrades to the piers, and maritime workforce development, which is part of the EDC’s portfolio as managers of the container port, for example. 

Not up for discussion is the centerpiece of EDC’s real estate project, 6000 units of housing, 30+ luxury 30-40 story towers and 20,000 new residents. And the port, which is supposed to be the actual centerpiece has been relegated to a much later topic for discussion. 

However, the EDC did tell the board that a critical upgrade to the port, a cold storage facility, is no longer guaranteed as long promised. A cold storage facility would allow the port to store perishable goods and become a vital part of the city’s proposed blue highway, which aims to utilize the waterways for deliveries and significantly reduce the number of pollution-causing trucks on our roads.  

Cold storage would allow offloaded goods at the BMT to go directly to port-NJ, for example, rather than going from the BMT to the Bronx’s Hunt’s Point Market and then to NJ and beyond. 

This news did not go over well with the Columbia Street Waterfront Association’s VP John Levya. 

Highlights from the meeting:

🚘Once again, traffic was a big focus. The project's traffic engineer reiterated to the board that the BMT will generate traffic (with the addition of 20,000 new residents). However, drivers on the congested BQE will no longer be incentivized by Google/Waze to use neighboring streets to bypass traffic in the trench because, well, the side streets will have tons of traffic as well. And if traffic sucks everywhere and there is no faster route, the engineer told the board, fewer people will decide to use their cars. So by flooding our neighborhoods and the BQE trench with even more traffic will eventually lead to less traffic. 

“There will still be bypass traffic,” said the engineer. “That bypass traffic will fill the local streets it will fill the capacity that is left.”

I ran this theory of more traffic will lead to fewer cars by one of the BMTDC board members. He said this theory can work, but only in“transit-rich areas (downtown Brooklyn, for example) which have an abundance of subway lines.”  The BMT area has one bus, the B-61, which he said “is a recipe for a disaster.”

🚧There was a lot of discussion about the mayor’s decision to exclude from his larger BQE renovation proposal the closure the Atlantic Ave BQE on-ramp, and how it will impact the BMT project.  

It’s “arguably the biggest transportation issue we have for both of these project,” said State Senator Andrew Gounardes. 

We all know how terrible the Hicks/Atlantic and Columbia/Atlantic intersections are and the traffic that builds up in every direction as cars head toward the BQE on-ramp. It’s also a huge safety issue for both drivers and pedestrians

Both Gounardes and former Cobble Hill Association president, Amanda Nichols, asked if the EDC could include the closure of the on-ramp in the BMT project. “It directly impacts the site [BMT traffic] circulation,” said Nichols.

Gounardes said “we have a problem” if neither the Department of Transportation’s BQE renovation team nor the BMT project team plan to deal with the on-ramp issue. If “there is zero commitment at any point from the BQE team or this [BMT] team it will hamper our ability to see these projects to completion.”  

The on-ramp doesn’t fall under city jurisdiction so to include it in either the BQE or BMT projects would require federal involvement. NYC only controls 1.5 miles of the BQE, including the Triple Canitlever. The rest belongs to the state and federal government. 

Board member and former DOT Commissioner Hank Gutman recommended temporarily closing the on-ramp as part of the BQE project in order to study its impact on traffic in the surrounding areas. He said NYC would be allowed to do this even if the on-ramp is not part of its jurisdiction.

BMTDC board member and DOT strategist, Tiffany-Ann Taylor assured Gounardes and the rest of the board that her BQE team is aware of the issue and has already held high-level meetings with “core” BMT people (assume she is talking about the NYC EDC).  

Taylor told the board that if the EDC included the on-ramp in the BMT project “it would slow down the process.”   Seems to me that by advocating for the status-quo and not addressing the choke point that impacts congestion for miles and the quality of life in our communities, is not the smart way to go. 

She added,“Another big concern is how will we do community engagement? We don’t want to overwhelm people, and we don’t want to take them away from other important things in there lives.”   I need to understand what she means here.

PLEASE JOIN! Monday. Sept. 28th 6:00 - 8:00 PM, Brooklym Marine Terminal Community Forum. Come learn about the proposed development and the latest updates. RSVP.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, here’s a quick community board explainer.

Some highlights from CB6:

📱If you like databases and maps, District Manager Mike Racioppo has been busy building a bunch of them, which are available on the website. He did the heat map I posted a few weeks ago, which compares the temperatures of our neighborhoodsto and he recently finished a rental price database. I also just noticed Brooklyn history jeopardy. 

🚴 The Department of Transportation is still looking for community input for its design of the Bergen and Dean bike boulevard, “low-speed, low-traffic streets that prioritize bicycle and micromobility travel and pedestrian comfort while maintaining local vehicle access.”

Fun fact: “The City’s most popular 'bike bus,” a caravan of parents and students who bike to school together every week” uses Bergen St.

Whether you are for or against the Bike Blvd, I suggest you also tell the DOT which design option you prefer, as I suspect this will move forward one way or another. 

🚛 CM Alexa Aviles (Red Hook) updated the community on the DOT’s redesigned citywide truck route, which is the result of legislation she introduced in 2023.  I was surprised to read that the network has not been redesigned since the 1970s.

Our neighborhoods see the impact of these outdated truck routes all the time, especially since COVID and the surge of last-mile deliveries from Amazon in Red Hook. I’m sure you’ve seen the videos (thanks to ColumbiaStreetWaterfront) of massive trucks trying to maneuver on our narrow streets, getting stuck, blocking traffic, and, at worst, sideswiping cars. 

“To say I’m frustrated with the results is an understatement,” Avila told the meeting attendees. In a recent letter to the DOT, Aviles outlined her expectations for the truck network redesign: 

Aviles also pointed out the omission of Red Hook, a “hot spot for last-mile facilities” such as Amazon, where “20 percent of vehicles” are trucks and commercial vans. 

The main corridor in and out of Red Hook is Van Brunt St., which we all know is used not only by delivery trucks of all sizes, but cars, MTA and school buses, and cyclists. Then there is the insane Uber/Lyft traffic on the weekends.

The plan, she wrote, “does nothing to address these conflicting uses.  I urge the DOT to examine the proliferation of last-mile facilities and deliveries in Red Hook, consider the role of blue highways in shaping our city’s truck network, and make sure this community is included in the redesign of the truck route network.”

Today, 2:00 PM - 4:30 PM | Return of the Buffalo: Takanka Owe Akupi. Music, dance and storytelling. 40 buffalos, 150 puppeteers! Read more about it here.

Today and tomorrow, 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM | Red Hook Market, 161 Dikeman St. 60+ artists, makers and fun activities.

Today! September 19th, 1:00 - 4:00 PM | “In celebration of back-to-school season, join us on our Hoyt Open Street for an afternoon of fun. There will be crafts, coloring, and literacy games thanks to Read718, author and artist Melanie Hope Greenberg, and The Brooklyn Public Library. We will also have a free book giveaway courtesy of Brooklyn Book Bodega, come pick up your next favorite read. The Hands on Project  joins us for a one-of-a-kind activity exploring the art and expression of textiles (register here). All of our events are free, for all ages, and open to the public.”

Monday. Sept. 28th 6:00 - 8:00 PM, Brooklym Marine Terminal Community Forum. Come learn about the proposed development and the latest updates. RSVP.

Saturday Oct. 10, 6:30 - 9:00 PM | Red Hook Long Table! I’m thrilled to join this fantastic community event. RSVP.

Thanks for reading! JLH