Look at the Plans to Renovate Slope Park

Existing Site Plan

Pretty much everything in the this playground needs to go or be upgraded.  The climbing equipment is old and dangerous.  The broken concrete/granite water feature is a mess.  The actual ground is uneven with numerous trip hazards like the cobble stones and asphalt that has been pushed upwards by tree roots.  There is no fall protection at all under the monkey bars some with platforms over 6 feet high.  There is none of that thick spongy rubber mat used everywhere now days. 

While Slope Parks trees are magnificent, most of the plantings, the shrubs and bushes, are badly beaten up by the kids, I guess when playing hide and seek in them. Shaded from the sun by the tree canopy, the grassy areas never get enough sunlight, and look threadbare at best.  

Some quick observations about this design. 

Separating the play areas into zones based on age is always a good idea. Keep the toddlers fenced in as much as possible away from the general population.  

I like the plan of moving the 18th Street entrance down to the corner of 6th Avenue. Currently when you enter the 18th St. gate you head down a steep ramp straight into this massive tree.  

It's also a good idea to get rid of the overly large, underused concrete seating area.  No one ever actually played there.  Parents and guardians  need to sit close to where their kids are playing with a clean line of sight.  The water coarse runs down the sunny midsection... that's good.   Plenty of benches... Could always use a few more than you think as the nannies claim the shady ones early.  Awesome spinning disk... check. I see there are swings planned. Don't skimp on the swings for the older kids... No one likes to wait in long swing lines. Slides, where are the slides?  Plural. we need multiple slides, especially a curly-cue one. We could use better (height appropriate) drinking water fountains. No sandbox? In my humble opinion, good riddance.  Who needs pin worms anyway.  

Gotta say pretty exciting.  Overall a huge improvement. There is talk that construction will start soon and take a year to finish, but that would seem optimistic.  What do you think about the new design?

Ideas...My kids love the new spinning dish they installed in Vanderbilt Playground in Prospect Park.

"Dear Tree Sweater Person"

S.B.K. responds to the tree sweater hater out there who swiped the block's entire collection last Sunday.

Below Grade

Cellar 548 Sixth Avenue.

Stoop

nonslip

Millerton House A Hudson Valley Home in Search of New Owners.

"We love this house. But here’s the thing: after eleven fantastic years in Millerton, we’re buying a place in Brooklyn..."

Our very good friends are selling their Millerton house and moving down south to Brooklyn.  Bucolic GreenWood Heights to be precise.  If you're interested in making a change,  you can read what they wrote about their place here.

Twist of Fate
Over the last three years we've spent just about every available weekend minute up-state at our Millerton mountain house- my daughter has it nicknamed "KittyCat Hideout".   Summer, that's when we met this-old-house-for-sale family,  riding bikes along the Hudson Valley Rail Trail.  They stopped to inquire about our old dog, Oskar the Dachshund, who rides with us in a wagon we pull from behind.  Of coarse we ended up being invited back to their big blue house, pictured above, for drinks out on that great front porch.

That afternoon we discovered, after an insanely torrid game of Twister, that both our same-age sons would be attending Brooklyn's PS10 in the Fall and that I'm unable to go "left foot blue" no matter how hard I try.

Oh,the serendipitous mysteries of life.

Stoop

Patience, Fortitude, and Drooper.

Got Wood?: New Facade in the Works for 16th Streeter.

January Update: The windows are in. Six-over-one double hung sash, no less.

South Slopers will know this house by its art-is-anal self-cast poured concrete newel posts.  They forgot to reverse the letters and numbers in the mold and so the word "WELCOME" came out backwards.

Ahhh, symmetry!

This Old House Dumpstered

Building is being dumpstered.  548 6th Avenue is leveled.  
Out stair parts.

Newel Composted

Stoop

Ho Ho Ho

Gowanus Waste Transfer Site Rising.

From the filthy mouth of the Gowanus Canal:  Have not updated my previous report on the ongoing construction of the NYC Department of Sanitation's Marine Transfer Station in more than a year.   Extensive pile driving over the Summer and Fall has been completed and now iron workers are hustling the steel.   Roof decking was being installed when I took these photos from the upper deck of Home Depot's parking garage, the best place to check out the action.

More on this state of the art facility can be found here.   LINK

Stoop 'n chute

Wishing all my merry readers a very special South Slope Stoop 'n Chute.

Brooklyn's Park Avenue Boarded

69 Vanderbilt Avenue Hermetically Sealed.   Hard to believe it but a a Full Vacate Order has been in place since March of 2009.  There are no plans filed for either the demolition or restoration of this wood row house.  Environmental Control Board violations show that the property's owner has failed to maintain the building to the point where it has collapsed in on itself, with beams falling into the cellar and the front porch structurally unsound.  Those familiar with this house will fondly recall the frugal inhabitant's questionable DIY skills.  I seem to remember the porch railings having been reinforced with recycled bed frames in years past.  
The two well maintained frame houses on the right show what might still be possible.  I don't know, sounds like the building's bones might have already turned to jelly.   
Two vacant lots in the very near vicinity have been developed in a much more modern direction.

Posh Park Avenue Address Structurally Unstable

Surprised by the very professional house sealing.... Most of the windows had been without glass even when people lived there.

In Red in the Shadow of The BQE

Stoop

Stoopmetrical Twins

Stoop

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

Stoop

Prospect Avenue

The Future Looks Blight

Past performance is a pretty good indication of future results.

Here's a lazy follow up to my last posting on 548 Sixth Avenue... Looks like that partially dismantled, woody two story is still waiting on its zoning approval and building permits. Seems the first attempt has been disapproved by DOB plan examiners.    


Outlook not so good
If the Green-Wood Heights architectural firm of official record, GEE2000 Architect, P.C., eventually gets its way with the DOB,  then I foresee a 40' tall, 4 story, 4 family, masonryesque building rising on the 25 foot wide lot.  The purple fluid inside my Magic 8 Ball seems to have all but dried up, but I might could tell you that our future building will have off street parking for at least one car. What can we expect?

Built samples from the portfolio of GEE2000 Architects, P.C .....................................................................................................................................

 

South Slope Wood Frame Stripped Bare

 Stripped of most of her exterior cladding,  548 Sixth Avenue shows off her modest bones.  Forensic architectural historians might want to check out the early Twentieth Century building materials and techniques openly on display before she is demolished and a new four story, four family building takes her place.  Judging by the size and placement of the boarded up windows, I imagine some kind of commercial establishment might have been the original occupant.  The interior, it seems, has already been completely gutted.

Tax records show the property was sold 5/27/2011 for $780,000.   The lot is adjacent to  6/15 Green,  the large community garden started in 1987.  There are no demolition permits approved as of right now.  Seems they are waiting for some zoning approval relating to changing the use from a 2 family to a four family.

Corner detail

How many layers?  The protruding nails indicate the depth of the various layers of siding applied over the building's lifetime.

Side wall

IMBY Weekender: Millerton, NY

Sugar Frosted Fall Foliage

Skunk's Misery Road

Two Oaks Down

S T O O P

A M B E R  L I G H T