The beginning of the end?

The beloved light blue warehouse on Bond Street gets a fence to be prepared for demolition. I left this morning to this.

And came back to this.

 

Damn I'll miss this building.

 

Snowy Night on Bond Street

Peace and a Happy MLK Day to everyone. Glad the Israeli's have stopped bombing and that we are going to have a NEW PRESIDENT on Tuesday! Anyone having an inauguration party Tuesday night? Let me know!!!

CB6/Toll Brothers Meet Thursday 6pm

Recently added to the building on 3rd and 3rd. Very timely.

The Toll Brothers comes before the Community Board 6 on Thursday night for the next round in the rezoning process. Be there if you care and you can speak for or against if you want to. Read the details below for the specifics.

Discussion and formulation of a recommendation on ULURP No. C090047ZMK, an application for an amendment of the Zoning Map.

Discussion and forumation of a recommendation on ULURP No. C090048ZSK, an application for a special permit to modify height and setback requirements, rear yard regulations and inner court regulations at 363-365 Bond Street (Block 452, Lots 1, 5, 15, 19 and Block 458, Lot 1).

Also! Has any one read this pro-Toll Brothers editorial in the Brooklyn Paper? I always knew they were all for it as their journalism has been slanted throughout (under reporting the amount of people that show up for community meetings for one example!) They claim that the Toll Brothers are saving "the soul of the Gowanus"! What a load of raw sewage Batman!

Read the crap here and prepare to roll your eyes.

The meeting is being held at:

P.S. 32 - Auditorium
317 Hoyt Street
(Union/President Streets)

6:00 PM

Photo compliments of Brian Berger.

Gowanus/Bond Street Area News.....

I received a "courtesy call" from the dry cleaning facility (a wholesaler that also had a walk in business for locals) located on the corner of Bond and 2nd Streets yesterday. They said that "I should come and get my clothes today or tomorrow because they are relocating." So I take a walk across the street to pick them up and the place is completely barren except for about 3 racks of clothes and one lone woman sitting behind the desk take caring of these last transactions. It seemed to be a pretty hasty exit as the place seemed to running as normal the last time I went in about two weeks ago. The woman said the other business on the block "Fiberwave" is moving out as well.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I heard that the businesses on that block were operating on 6 month leases because they are located where Toll Brothers are to build condos. I keep hearing that the zoning will not be changed (from industrial to residential) for another two years, if that is so, why are the businesses out now?

Also, I heard that there was a meeting held by Toll Brothers last week that was not open to the public, unveiling their their building plans for the banks of the Gowanus between Carroll and 1rst Streets. It is disturbing to me that things are moving so quickly while the canal still will not be cleaned for another couple years and the shores most likely toxic and NONE of this is deterring HOUSING developments along the canal. It seems a shoe- in that the zoning willl be changed as planned despite lack of a clean up before they start breaking ground.

Meanwhile almost every building on Bond Street between 2nd & 3rd Streets is for sale. I don't know what my point is here but I just had to say something. It seems although the time table is slow as far as rezoning (supposively 2 years as told to me by Bill DeBlasio himself) and cleanup (3 years up the line MAYBE) all this other stuff is happening far in advance. How come?

Latest Carroll Gardens "Developments"

Check out the CORD Blog (Carroll Gardens Organization to Respectfully Develop) to find out the latest on what is happening with the building plans for 360 Smith Street. The lot has been cleared (not that was hard-it was a parking lot!)and the brownstone next door vacated. Apparantly the city says that 2nd Place is a wide street, if you know 2nd Place you know that it is EXTREMELY narrow, I guess the "gardens" of Carroll Gardens are considered part of the street...it's such a joke that they say it is "wide", if you are in a car it is IMPOSSIBLE to pass another car on that street! In fact it is even difficult to WALK by a car on that block.I recall that they were planning to put the entrance to the underground parking garage there. Yeah just what we need at the subway station, cars exiting and entering where there is heavy foot traffic on a narrow sidewalk. Brilliant.

I guestimate once all the Scarano buildings are done along with the lowrise condos on Bond Street & Third there will be over 500 new residents...uh ya think we could get a supermarket we can WALK to? Or is it assumed we will all go to Whole Foods which will be built long after these buildings go up!

Some thoughts on what they want to build on my end of the hood at 3rd Street and Bond. They will be building low rise condominiums, this is an "as a right " property as well. I was wondering if they have tested the toxic waste dump that they will be sitting on. I heard through the grapevine that clean up will be "minimal". I guess being a block away from the Whole Foods site (which has been sitting unbuilt upon for almost four years) makes the ground at 3rd & Bond Street ALOT different! I'm SURE the levels of cyanide, mercury, benzene, pesticides, V.O.C's & PCB's are MUCH lower! Can the sewage pipes handle the approximate 300 new residents to the block (90 units, I'm just guestimating) probrably not. I am told that they can barely handle the few homes and businesses down here as it is.

Ah well Bond Street will no longer be my "Tobacco Road" nothing lasts for ever....if anyone reading this is part of that "Friends of Bond" group contact me with what is going on, the people that organize it seem to be M.I.A , I'm feeling like a one man army.