justiNYC

Bedford Avenue Gets a Hula Hoop Girl

I knew it wouldn't be long before Bedford Avenue would have its very own hula hooper. Ok, actually i didn't. Nevertheless, with all the boom and bust that is Williamsburg these days, why shouldn't our neighborhood have one of everything?  Usually, the only entertainment to be had on Bedford is the Circus of Fools, but now we are moving into the big time!  Without further ado, I give you the Bedford Hula Hoop Girl (found via Curbed).
Bedford Ave. Hula Hoop Girl from rsguskind on Vimeo. Someone should tell her that giving her show on Hooper Street might be worth a try. Just for fun, here's a short video showcasing our friend the Bedford Dancer (of the Bedford Circus of Fools).

Pleasing the Beverly Hillbillies on Roebling and a Field guide to Williamsburg

So, Williamsburg made it into Gawker yesterday- they published a "field guide!"  For the most part, its pretty accurate.I suppose this means the Burg has finally arrived.  Brownstoner linked it up, along side a few listings from my buddy LoftNinja.

Meanwhile, over at Gowanus Lounge, there's a bit of talk today about the "Roebling Oil Field" at 223 N. 11th Street.  Forget black gold and texas tea, its a bonified slick fest over there!  The Beverly Hillbillies could certainly be a gang of potential buyers, if someone tracked them down....


Technorati Tags: Gawker, Williamsburg, links, field guide,

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Double Dipping in DUMBO

Here are a couple of puddleflection shots i took down in DUMBO two days before I left to head south for the holidays.  GOD I miss NY!  There's just not enough grime and grit anywhere else to satisfy.

Manhattan Bridge

a quickr pickr post

Technorati Tags: photography, DUMBO, Brooklyn, Manhattan Bridge, puddle, reflection

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Williamsburg will soon have nice racks

 
According to a draft plan (above) that the Streets Blog acquired, Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg is undergoing some major changes. As the Streets report

"the plan calls for the elimination of five motor vehicle parking spaces
on N. 7th Street at Bedford Avenue, alongside the subway station
stairwell on the southeast corner (see the corner at the bottom of the
diagram)." 

We will have to wait for the Department of Transportation for an official press release for more information. The plan is expected to remove 5 parking spaces on North 7th Street in order to widen the sidewalk, making room for more bike racks.  Great! So now, Williamsburg will have more room for weekend junk hustlers. Besides, how easy is it to park around that N7th/Bedford madhouse anyway? Fuggitaboutit! But, how many Wall Street kids ride bikes to work? Hmmm
Just last year, the cops were sawing the locks off of bikes that had been secured to the Bedford Ave Station entrance.  A buddy of mine had his impounded for obstructing the sidewalk-(the very sidewalk that is planned for widening).

Gothamist asks the question of whether or not the DOT adding more G and L service would help the (totally packed) chaotic commute to this area brought on by the ridiculous numbers of new residents migrating to the area.  Last year's rezoning is expected to bring 40,000 newbies in this Brooklyn hood within the next decade. Hope they bring bikes!

Will this help the Car Free Bedford initiative? I suppose we'll have to wait for that as well.

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The old Casket Factory

The old Casket Factory, originally uploaded by jUSTINYC.

This building on Kingsland Avenue once sat right where the BQE runs through Brooklyn at Kingsland Ave- pretty much in the exact locationwhere one can purchase a happy meal (if one were so inclined). A close friend of justiNYC's- Carl (age 78) once bought this buildingfor 15 cents per square foot,  waaay before Sex and the City officially deemed Brooklyn as a cool place to live- [yes I blame Sex-City for many of the housing ills in Bk]. He acquired it by way of quick claim deed [example] and in those days, lived with his family and ran the factory. Nevertheless, when Robert Moses began to rule urban planning throughout the
boroughs, the Brooklyn Queens Expressway was built right through the middle of where this old bugger sat, so it was dismantled and moved up Kingsland Avenue a few blocks.

This area isn't jam packed with yuppies and the so called hipsters yet, in part because its to damn far from any train- hence, Greenwick.  However, there are lots of development properties springing up in the area and it won't be long before the adventurous begin to find it on a map.

In many ways, this building is kind of  like a casket.

Here are a few of the other sights one might come across in this neck of the woods:

Amazing display of Shoefitti on Kingland Ave at Jackson

Greenpoint Hospital Outpatient Department
(apparently with no emergencies)

Directly across the street (Maspeth Ave) from the old Greenpoint
Hospital you will find these odd ducks. Looks like some interesting
balconage occurring on the corner at Olive Street

behind the old Casket Factory, some local Flava
Ill, Hellbent, I Spy and more...

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of rapidly changing Kingsland Avenue.

a quickr pickr post

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Enequist Chemical Factory No More

A few weeks back Brownstoner posted a flick i took of the Enequist Chemical Factory, out in Bushwick.  Yesterday, while roaming over around that ghost town of a wasteland I noticed that the building had been knocked the hell down.  So, if you happen to live anywhere near the corner of Randolph and Porter, in Bushwick (and for the life of me, i can't see why you would) and you find yourself short of breath or begin seeing space fairies and flying whosywhatits, perhaps it isn't a dream at all, but rather your body reacting to brain eating toxins that have been set free as a bird.   can hear the children of Eastern Williamsburg chanting now....The chemical co. no more, no more- ding dong a ditch instead. Well, something like that, maybe. Just  thought you may be interested.
I suppose someone is cleaning up Bushwick afterall.

Let us only hope there are no plans for a public pool.

a quickr pickr post

Technorati Tags: bushwick, brooklyn, buildings, brownstoner, linkage

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Williamsburg Movie Theatre Update- Rated "R" for "Really dirty"

Remember the Williamsburg Movie theatre that's being built at 136 Metropolitan?  All seeing Brownstoner does, of course.  Its gonna be a blockbuster for sure.  Caught this shot of the interior as it stands presently, from the soon to be back entrance on North 1st a couple of days ago.
and the front:



Williamsburg Movie Theatre Update [Brownstoner]
Catching Up in the Burg: Movies and Manufacturing [Brownstoner]

The Future Home of Cinema in W'burg [justiNYC]

Technorati Tags: linkage, Williamsburg Movie Theatre

Northside Wall

(n-trpd)

seen @ bedford

williamsburg


Technorati Tags: photography

Greenpoint Brooklyn Seens

Here are some of my latest shots from Greenpoint, Brooklyn.


Technorati Tags: greenpoint, brooklyn, slideshow

The Rubble that was Old Dutch Mustard Building

What you have before you is the site where the Old Dutch Mustard Building once sat.

Technorati Tags: old Dutch mustard, photography, rubble