Smokey Fire on 16th Street

Friday Evening @ 10:00 PM
Park Slope South
16th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues.

It appears the smoky fire started on the second floor and was quickly extinguished. Among the first responders on the scene, Park Slope's Engine Company 220 and Ladder Company 122.

*Click on photos to enlarge.








FDNY Ladder Company 122 in action.

1924 Aerial Photo Tour of the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site

Fulton Manufactured Gas Plant

1880-1930's Metropolitan Manufactured Gas Plant,

12th Street and 2nd Avenue

(Lowe's Home Center)

Est. 1859 Citizens Gas Light Works


For 100 years...
Before the discovery and widespread use of natural gas deposits and electricity, coal was destructively distilled or "cracked" in locally operated factories producing a flammable gas known as "Town Gas". Manufactured Gas Plants supplied residential heating, cooking, and gas lighting to the surrounding neighborhoods via a network of pipelines. These plants operated in Brooklyn from the 1860's up until the 1950's when they became obsolete.

There were three Manufactured Gas Plants along the Gowanus Canal in South Brooklyn- The Citizens, The Fulton, and The Metropolitan Gas plants.
After extracting the gas, the byproducts, one of which is coal tar, were stored in pits or tanks that often leaked into the soil, groundwater and the canal where it sank to the bottom. Coal tar does not break down over time and is carcinogenic.

Note: You can see the MGP's many large circular storage tanks, Gasometers or Gas Holders in the detail photos. In 1924, the Canal's bays used to extend all the way to Fourth Avenue.

The color aerial photos were taken in 2008. The black and white were taken in 1924.
For more photographs visit my flicker page. LINK

A great site for information about former MGPs go to www.hatheway.net.

www.flickr.com

Snow Day

Brooklyn: The Boids.

Confetti Rainbow Polymers, Controlled Chaos, and Free Hot Chocolate

Near perfect fun after our record breaking snowfall. Sharing Prospect Parks slopes with hundreds of future little winter Olympians, each of them intently perfecting their own version of the Double McTwist 12. 
 Very little crying and no permanent head traumas to report.

Brooklyn Downhill Ingenuity: Fresh Direct boxes, kiddie pools, garbage can lids,  black plastic  mortar mixing pans with proprietary rope handles.

Every conceivable store-bought sledding device known to Manchild also present. Inflatable Freezeseeker Sno Tubes, High-Density Polyethylene Eurosleds, Rock 'n' Rip Saucers in Day-Glo colors, Snopedo Bodyboards, old school wooden toboggans, all plunging head first down the slope like synchronized penguins, my seething flockmates and I.

The highly coordinated movements of sledders are among the most fascinating phenomena to be found in all of nature. Our group seems to take turns and maneuver as a massive single unit, changing direction almost instantaneously. Such mysterious movements are a prime example of emergent behavior. 

"The behavior is not a property of any individual, but rather emerges as a property of the group itself. There is no leader, no overall control, instead the 'flocks' movements are determined by the moment-by-moment decisions of individual sledders, all following simple rules in response to interactions with their neighbors on the hill."

Older dudes passing down the three basic rules of safe-sled flocking behavior.


Separation - steer to avoid crowding ones neighbors.
Alignment - steer towards the average heading of ones neighbors.
Cohesion - steer to move toward the average position of ones neighbors.

New Architectural Voyeurism: Park Slope Armory Roofline

Snow Capped Brooklyn Longhouse

Park Slope South: Blizzard hits 16th Street

Hybrid Igloo

Dreamy Winter Wonder Dumpster

10 YARDS 
BROOKLYN 
NEW YORK 

South Slope Tree Sweater Gone Missing. Foul Play Suspected

Update: Sweater has been returned!

Have you seen this sweater?

There was no ransom note left at the scene. I'm going to jump to conclusions and blame an invasive species. Come to think about it, I did see a suspicious looking ginkgo hanging around the block.

TIPSTER SWEATER HOTLINE 718 768 1378

additional sweater photos HERE

New Architectural Voyeurism: 12th Street fire

Ironic Iconic: Brooklyn's EIFS Brownstones

Fascia Transplant

There is an elegant futility in the way this homeowner has decided to upgrade his little South Slope frame house. It's been resurfaced with a kind of imitation brownstone or Exterior Insulation Finish System (EIFS), commonly known by its detractors as plastic stucco. This supposedly water tight plastic barrier system has been plagued by moisture infiltration problems that can result in mold growth and structural decay. The industry itself seems to blame the failure on a multitude of sins mostly having to do with the installation contractor failing to follow the manufacturers guidelines and specifications.

EIFS LINK

Of coarse true Portland Brownstone is not without it's own inherent structural problems as many Park Slope Brooklyn home owners can testify to.

It seems that 100+ years ago, ignorant builders, in their haste, often used quarried stone that had a high water content and was not properly cured or dried out before being applied to the face of a building. Often the sandy stone was cut in such a way that exposed its thin sedimentary layers to the weather and its destructive freeze/thaw cycles, causing it to literally crumble apart. Brownstone buildings sometimes experienced this characteristic flaking, known as spalling, as soon as 10 to 20 years after construction. Unfortunately, resurfacing today's damaged Brownstone facades with a mixture of cement and brown colored masonry pigments can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

We will see what the future holds for these "EIFS Brownstones". My guess is that in the near future, there will be a great demand for contractors specializing in plastic stucco surgery.

The Before Shot

In Context: 8th Avenue

23rd Street Before and After

2010 State of the Borough: Apparently no one walks to the gym.

Eminent Parking Domain

Last night Brooklyn's third term President Marty Markowitz gave his annual State of the Borough Address christening the new YMCA Park Slope Armory Sports Facility.In his speech Markowitz announced that he will provide $1 million in capital funds to help transform the Bedford-Atlantic Armory in northern Crown Heights into a vibrant community center and another $1 million to redevelop the Sumner Avenue Armory in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

"PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IS THE LIFEBLOOD OF EMPLOYMENT FOR MOST BROOKLYNITES."

Dozens of No Parking signs were posted yesterday for both the entire block of 14th Street, 15th Street, and a section of 8th Avenue, apparently to make room for the cars of those who attended the evening's affair. I have to ask, how does turning an entire block into a private parking lot, encourage the use of mass transit and physical fitness? The Armory is actually less than two blocks from the F Train. Why would anyone need to drive their own private car to a political celebration held in a sports facility whose crowning jewel is a multimillion dollar state of the art running track?

What could be less pedestrian friendly than allowing parking on the sidewalk.

The Other Armory.

Glad to see our friends at the Armory Heights Plaza, 406 15th Street, took advantage of this special event, charging automobile commuters by the hour to park in their black-tie, valet operated facilities.

Only problem is that the city has found this use in violation of both NYC zoning regulations and the building's Certificate of Occupancy.

Personally I don't give a flying rat's ass if it wasn't for the fact that the Brooklyn Department of Buildings assured the 16th St. neighbors who happen to live along side the 2 story underground parking lot's only carbon monoxide vent, that the exhaust would never rise to dangerous levels. That is as long as it was used as intended... for noncommercial off-street parking for the building's residents.

What's missing?

I have been playing with this new NYC.gov online mapping system which allows you to see Brooklyn back in the day... 1924 to be exact. So what important landmark is missing from this photo of our beloved South Park Slope/Windsor Terrace? On the right is Prospect Park, towards the bottom left is Green Wood Cemetery. A hint: Construction started almost three decades after these aerial photographs were taken. OK here's the answer.

I thought I would zoom in over IMBY Central Headquarters... That large black rooftop is the Park Slope Armory .

New Architectural Voyeurism: 44 Berry

Demolition of 99 North 11th Street. Up until about two years ago, if you needed service on your forklift, this was the place.

Entrance to the underground parking garage for 34-42 Berry Street Condo.

Brooklyn's Antipodal Architecture

The fine line between Heaven and Earth.

Tree Sweaters Return to South Slope

"Be honest, does this sweater make me look fat?"

Local yarn bomber vows to clothe an entire urban forest, one street tree at a time.

HPD Demos Park Slope Stalled Construction Site

Back When the Walls Were Still Standing...


More bad news for the troubled condo project 400 15th Street. This past week a crew of workers from NYC Housing, Preservation and Development started demolishing the unfinished concrete block walls on the stalled building's third floor.

Looks like the Department of Buildings Stalled Site Team filed an Emergency Declaration after an inspection on 12-3-2009 uncovered the unbraced cinder block walls. In the first photo, you can see the diagonally placed wood boards that were used to support the masonry walls for the better part of a year.

H.P.D. does not usually perform work on privately owned property unless the lord of the land has failed to make ordered repairs to their buildings and they have been declared imminently hazardous to the public. Of coarse H.P.D., through the N.Y.C. Department of Finance, will bill the owner for the cost of the work. If the owner fails to pay the bill within 60 days, a lien is placed on the property.

Some pictures from a rear window perspective of the job site before they stopped work for the New Year's holiday. Yes, that's the massive roof top of the soon to open Park Slope Armory Sports Facility in the background.





There has been a Stop Work Order Violation placed on the site dating back to January 2009. "New building' and "construction fence" permits have expired.














click on photos to enlarge




















This older photo of the 400 15th Street construction site shows the extent to which the neighboring building, 396 15th, had to be repaired after being damaged. The entire front and side facades had to be removed and replaced after the building shifted and cracked during the excavation for the new foundation next door. This accident happened shortly after work began, even before any underpinning could be attempted.

Apparently the new building's grandfathered R6 zoning allows for total lot coverage. You can see there is no setback at the rear yard and the two story wall begins at the shared 16th Street property line.