77TH YEAR, NO. 3,945
THURSDAY, MAY 4, 2017
TWO SECTIONS
50 CENTS
Pier 6 Talks Fall Through; Back to Court for BBP, BHA SEE PAGE 2
Puppets on Parade in Brooklyn Heights: THE 32ND ANNUAL SAINT ANN’S PUPPET PARADE, A RITE OF SPRING IN BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, MADE ITS COLORFUL way down Pierrepont and Montague streets and along the Promenade on Monday afternoon. See pages 3-4.
Heights Press photo by Francesca N. Tate
Pier 6 Talks Collapse; Back to Court for BBP, BHA Hearing Now Set for June By Mary Frost
Brooklyn Heights Press
Settlement talks between the Brooklyn Heights Association (BHA) and the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation over a controversial development project inside Brooklyn Bridge Park (BBP) have fallen through.
Now it’s full steam ahead for the lawsuit brought by BHA to block two residential towers at Pier 6, at the southern end of the popular park. The case will be argued before state Supreme Court Justice Lucy Billings in early June. During two previous court appearances in April, Billings had urged the two sides to try to reach a compromise, and she continued her efforts last Wednesday. The attempts to find common ground were unsuccessful, however.
“Unfortunately, no progress was made towards settlement,” BHA said in a statement on Wednesday. “Barring further discussions between the parties, the next step will be an argument before Justice Billings on the merits of the lawsuit on June 7 or 9.” Last Thursday, BHA Executive Director Peter Bray told the Brooklyn Heights Press, “The BHA has been consistent in its position that the Pier 6 development would violate the Park Corporation’s legal commitment to build only the minimum development needed to maintain and operate the park. The BHA is confident in the merits of its case and is looking forward to presenting its arguments in court in June.” The park declined to comment.
‘Fake News’ of a Secret Deal A kerfuffle had broken out about a week ago when rumors of a “secret deal” between BHA and the park, which would leave out community groups long fighting the towers (Brooklyn Bridge Park Defense Fund and the People for Green Space Foundation), began to circulate. BHA squelched the “fake news” in an e-blast on April 21, saying, “The BHA has not and would not enter into any resolution of the Pier 6 issues without consulting with our community and we have consistently said just that to the court and to the respondents, i.e., the other party.” BHA continued, “We have asked the respondents numerous times, both in and out of court, to obtain permission to include our community partners in future discussions, and yesterday they agreed we could expand the confidentiality tent to include the two community leaders with whom we have worked most closely from the beginning of this case.”
BHA Says Towers Not Financially Necessary, Park Says They Are In June 2016, the park’s board voted to approve a joint venture of RAL Development Services and Oliver’s Realty Group to develop the two residential buildings at the Pier 6 site. The taller building is set to be 30 stories high, while the shorter building would be 16 stories. Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen, who chairs the park’s board, touted the affordable affordable housing aspect of the project. Mayor Bill de Blasio has made affordable housing one of his top priorities. BHA says the park’s approval of the project violates the law that governs development at the park. An agreement with the city requires that real estate development in the park be limited to only the amount necessary to fund the park’s financial needs. “Do they really need as much revenue as they say they do?” attorney Richard Ziegler, representing BHA, asked the court on April 12. He said that real estate taxes have increased dramatically, thus bringing in more income than the park projected, and claimed that the park corporation hadn’t made a case showing financial need for the Pier 6 development. Attorneys representing the park said that the park corporation board had determined that income from the entire Pier 6 development was needed to fund the park, and that BHA would not be satisfied with “anything short of preventing affordable housing and changing the project in a major way.” Ziegler responded that the community began fighting unnecessary development in 2005, “long before affordable housing was a factor in the project.” BHA is suing the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation (BBPC); Empire State Development Corporation (ESD) and its subsidiary, the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation; and developers RAL Development Services and Oliver’s Real Estate Group.
To Advertise in the Brooklyn Heights Press, Call 718-422-7400.
2 • Brooklyn Heights Press • Thursday, May 4, 2017
Annual Saint Ann’s Puppet Parade Welcomes Spring to Brooklyn Heights
Heights Press photos by Francesca N. Tate
By Mary Frost
Brooklyn Heights Press
The 32nd annual Saint Ann's Puppet Parade, a rite of spring in Brooklyn Heights, made its colorful way down Pierrepont and Montague streets and along the Promenade on Monday afternoon. The parade features puppet caricatures with giant heads, animals on strings and eclectic life forms on sticks, led by drummers and cavorting clowns. Continued on page 4
Brooklyn Heights Library Demolition Underway
Heights Press photo by Mary Frost
A worker takes a break from demolishing the Brooklyn Heights Library at 280 Cadman Plaza West on Monday. Developer Hudson Companies plans to build a 36-story luxury tower with a new, smaller Brooklyn Heights branch at the original library site. A group called Love Brooklyn Libraries, Inc. is appealing a court decision allowing the sale of the city-owned site. Thursday, May 4, 2017 • Brooklyn Heights Press • 3
Annual Saint Ann’s Puppet Parade Welcomes Spring
Continued from page 3 Puppetry classes, taught by Saint Ann’s puppet master Ronnie Asbell, are offered to fifth through twelfth grades. Younger children build puppets with their classroom teachers, and the whole school participates in the parade. It’s a “celebration of life and spring,” Asbell told this paper at a previous parade. “It’s about bringing the whole school together with the community in joy and celebration.”
About 150 students come to the studio and build puppets, she said. One year, eighth-grade students Natassia Walley and Isabel Rower created an amazingly accurate papier-mâché puppet of
Asbell herself. The puppet took three months to create, the students said. “We wanted to thank her,” said Natassia. “She started the puppetry class — she’s been here forever!”
Heights Press photos by Francesca N. Tate
4 • Brooklyn Heights Press • Thursday, May 4, 2017
BROOKLYN EAGLE Beckett in B’klyn: From Waist Up, Wiest Rules Stage SEE PAGE 8
Photo by Gerry Goodstein
Volume 17, No. 36
Two Sections
THURSDAY, MAY 4, 2017
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Captivating ‘Endless’ Black Whirlpool Opens in Brooklyn Bridge Park
Situated next to the Brooklyn Bridge and underneath the famous Watchtower sign, "Descension" whimsically plays with the minds and eyes of its viewers with the East River in the background. Photo: James Ewing, Public Art Fund, NY
‘You Feel the Earth Actually Trembling’ By Scott Enman Brooklyn Eagle
No, it’s not the seemingly endless squabble over real estate development in the park. It’s live art. Kids peered on in awe, bewildered, wondering what they were looking at. One child asked, “Is it a swimming pool?” Another hid behind his mother. A parent urged her daughter not to get too close. What could be mistaken for a contraption straight out of a sci-fi film is actually the latest art installation from Mumbai-born, Britain-based sculptor Anish Kapoor. Entering from Brooklyn Bridge Park’s (BBP) Pier 1, visitors maneuvered their way through a pebblelined pathway to discover a 26-footwide never-ending vortex of black water. Situated next to the Brooklyn Bridge and underneath the famous Watchtower sign, the everlasting whirlpool, dubbed “Descension,” open-ed to the public on Wednesday morning and is on display through Sept. 10, 2017. The exhibit, which is surrounded by a railing, demonstrates how an ordinary substance like water can interact and behave in extraordinary ways. And with the East River only a few hundred feet away from the project, the whirlpool complements, contrasts and interacts with the city’s vibrant waterway while also whimsically playing with the viewers’ eyes and minds. “‘Descension’ thrives here because it’s an extraordinary work, it’s very powerful, it’s a very visceral experience,” Director and Chief Curator of Public Art Fund Nicholas Baume told the Brooklyn Eagle. “It’s not just a visual encounter. It’s physical. It’s sound. You feel the earth actually trembling. “All of that happens in this extraordinary setting at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, right on the East River with the Lower Manhattan skyline across the river in this extraordinary park that is filled with New Yorkers of all kinds … It really is a melting pot of New York City, which is what Brooklyn is all about. It’s an extraordinary symbol.” The whirlpool creates an opaque, ostensibly endless hole of darkness. The exhibit creates negative space that seemingly spirals into the ground. 2 • Brooklyn Eagle • Thursday, May 4, 2017
Public Art Fund is curating the exhibit as part of its 40th anniversary season. Public Art Fund, according to its website, “brings dynamic contemporary art to a broad audience in New York City and beyond by mounting ambitious, free exhibitions of international scope and impact that offer the public powerful experiences with art and the urban environment.” Baume credited BBP’s sprawling size, openness and breathtaking views as complements to “Descension.” “[BBP] has scale, this is a big park,” Baume told the Eagle. “A lot of sites that we work at in Manhattan are wonderful, but they’re small footprints. Here, this work can breathe, it’s surrounded by lawn, trees and this landscape. “It just feels open in a way that certainly sites in Manhattan very rarely do.” “Descension” was displayed in a solo exhibition at Versailles in 2015. This is the first time that the large-scale outdoor piece is on display in North America. Kapoor is no stranger to major open-air sculptures in New York City, having had his “Sky Mirror,” a 35-foot-wide concave mirror, installed at Rockefeller Center in 2006. Public Art Fund presented that exhibit as well. Public Art Fund recently curated another outdoor sculpture at BBP’s Pier 6 by London-based artist Martin Creed. It featured a 25foot-tall, 360-degree rotating sculpture that read “Understanding.” It was on display from May through Oct. 23, 2016. Following “Understanding,” “Descension” is the third temporary art installation that has made its debut in BBP. Deborah Kass’ yellow “OY/YO” sculpture opened in November 2015 and was on view through August 2016. The sculpture read “OY” when looked at from Brooklyn, or “YO” if seen from Manhattan. Anish Kapoor gave a Public Art Fund Talk in collaboration with the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School yesterday, where he discussed “Descension” as it relates to his art practice and public space.
INSET: An up-close view of “Descenson.”
Photo: James Ewing, Public Art Fund, NY
Anish Kapoor
Photo by Jillian Edelstein
Our World In Pictures PHILADELPHIA — Remembering Fallen Officers: A woman places a flower on placards bearing the names of loved ones during an annual ceremony for fallen police and fire personnel at the Living Flame Memorial in Philadelphia on Wednesday. AP Photo/Matt Rourke
VENEZUELA — Residents Rally Against Constitution Change: Bolivarian National Guards stand on a highway overlooking an anti-government march trying to make its way to the National Assembly in Caracas on Wednesday. Driving the latest outrage is a decree by President Nicolas Maduro to begin the process of rewriting Venezuela’s constitution, which was pushed through in 1999 by his predecessor and mentor, the late President Hugo Chavez. AP Photo/Fernando Llano
Thursday, May 4, 2017 • Brooklyn Eagle • 3
Newtown Creek: Here’s How to Fix Combined Sewage Overflow Problem By Scott Enman Brooklyn Eagle
“The wind blew and the sh*t flew,” were the first words the Brooklyn Eagle heard one morning before climbing aboard the Riverkeeper patrol boat to explore Newtown Creek. While many Brooklynites know of the Gowanus Canal — arguably one of the dirtiest waterways in America — fewer are aware of Brooklyn’s almost equally polluted body of water: Newtown Creek. The 3.5-mile estuary runs through a part of the border between Brooklyn and Queens and along the edges of Greenpoint and East Williamsburg. The Eagle had the privilege of joining Riverkeeper’s Patrol Boat Capt. John Lipscomb — the man responsible for the aforementioned rhyme — on his patrol through the waterway. On a rainy December 2015 morning, the Eagle spoke with clean water activist Christopher Swain after he swam in Newtown Creek. “There were used condoms, turds and sewage, and my eyes were burning underneath my goggles from the oil,” Swain said. He added, “This was the most polluted swim I’ve done in two decades. Newtown Creek made the Gowanus seem charming.” In both accounts, a common toxin encountered in the water was human feces. Excrement is prominent in New York City’s waterways due to Combined Sewage Overflow (CSO). When it rains, New York City’s sewer systems are flooded with stormwater and CSO is subsequently sent into more than 400 locations along the coasts of the five boroughs. Newtown Creek and the Gowanus Canal are notorious for their CSOs. Willis Elkins, program manager of Newtown Creek Alliance, told the Eagle that Newtown Creek has 22 CSO pipes and four major pipelines. To fix the CSO problem, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) created a CSO Long Term Control Plan (LTCP) in March 2012. According to the agreement, “DEP will develop 10 water body-specific LTCPs, plus one citywide LTCP to reduce CSOs and improve water quality in the city’s waterways.” The goal of each LTCP is to “identify appropriate CSO controls necessary to achieve water body-specific water quality standards, consistent with the Federal CSO Policy and the water quality goals of the Clean Water Act.” Last week, a review of several alternatives for solving the CSO problem was discussed at the Newtown Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant. One option included digging a 2.5-mile long tunnel that would capture sewage runoff rather than let it enter the waterway. A range of options was proposed by DEP, including four preliminary tunnel routes. Two of the routes run along the creek while the others are situated more inland under the streets of Queens. While the length of the tunnels remains the same, the diameter of each of the corridors and the percentage of CSO capture rate varies. For example, one storage tunnel route with a 10-foot diameter with a 25 percent CSO capture rate would cost $335 million.
A 35-foot diameter with a 100 percent CSO capture rate for the same route would cost $980 million.
installed in November and will have two 8 million-gallon tanks installed along its shores in the future. The canal’s green infrastructure includes a Sponge Park and 70 curbside rain gardens. They improve the health of the Gowanus Canal, clean the air around it and beautify the neighborhood. The $1.5-million, 1,800-square-foot park captures and cleans stormwater that runs down Second Street before it enters the canal. The park will collect an estimated 1 million gallons of stormwater annually. The curbside rain gardens, which were designed by DEP and the Department of Design and Construction, are spread out across the Gowanus Canal Watershed in Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, Gowanus, Park Slope and Prospect Heights. They have the capacity to collect and absorb more than 6 million gallons of stormwater each year. Both the park and rain gardens capture stormwater and allow it to be naturally absorbed into the ground, therefore reducing sewer overflows into the Gowanus Canal.
Other Options
INSET: Clean water activist Christopher Swain swam the length of Newtown Creek in December 2015 to bring attention to the waterway’s toxic state.
Other options presented include installing sewage and stormwater retention tanks, creating new pumping stations and creating green infrastructure along the creek. The Gowanus Canal, for example, had green infrastructure
Photo courtesy of Christopher Swain
Newtown Creek Alliance Program Manager Willis Elkins (right) in a canoe on a recent expedition with the Brooklyn Eagle on Newtown Creek. Eagle file photo by Cody Brooks
Image courtesy of NYCDEP
A second of four preliminary tunnel routes proposed. This option is more inland and would run under the streets of Queens. Image courtesy of NYCDEP
One of four preliminary tunnel routes proposed. This option would run next to the creek. Thursday, May 4, 2017 • Brooklyn Eagle • 5
Our World In Pictures CHINA — Preparing for Ceremony: A Chinese honor guard member inspects rifles laid out before a welcome ceremony for Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday. AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
LOUISIANA — Justice Department Finds Officers Innocent: Damon Brumfield, a student at Southern University of Baton Rouge, poses while his friends take photos in front of a mural honoring Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge on Tuesday. The U.S. Justice Department has decided not to charge two white Baton Rouge police officers in the death of Sterling, whose death was captured on a cellphone video, fueling protests in Louisiana’s capital and beAP Photo/Gerald Herbert yond.
6 • Brooklyn Eagle • Thursday, May 4, 2017
Our World In Pictures PERU — City Keeps Up Tradition: In this Monday photo, a soccer fan lights a flare from an apartment building balcony overlooking the Little World Cup street soccer championship in Lima. The working-class neighborhood ritual in El Porvenir began in the 1950s as a challenge to the Manuel Odria military dictatorship when playing in the streets was forbidden. AP Photo/Martin Mejia
SPAIN — Athlete Celebrates Win: Rafael Nadal of Spain jumps into a swimming pool after winning his men’s finals match against Dominic Thiem of Austria during their singles final match at the Barcelona Open Tennis Tournament AP Photo/Manu Fernandez on Sunday.
Thursday, May 4, 2017 • Brooklyn Eagle • 7
Dianne Wiest Rules the Stage in ‘Happy Days’ At Brooklyn’s Polonsky Shakespeare Center In this scene from “Happy Days,” Winnie (played by Dianne Wiest, at right) eyes a smutty postcard Willie (played by Jarlath Conroy) has handed to her.
Photo by Gerry Goodstein
By Lore Croghan Brooklyn Eagle
A Torrent of Talk to Stave Off Sorrow Winnie’s only companion in the sunscorched landscape of this play is her husband, Willie. This nearly wordless role is played with verve by Jarlath Conroy, an Irish-born film, TV and stage actor. Willie is a mostly mute old gent with some loathsome habits and a penchant for reading the newspaper while wearing nothing but a straw hat with a filthy handkerchief tucked under it. For long stretches of “Happy Days,” Willie is hidden from sight — ours and Winnie’s. Occasionally, she wonders if he has left her or died. Otherwise, she assumes he is sleeping or ignoring her. She spends her time talking to him anyway, explaining that “just to know that in theory you can hear me even though in fact you don’t is all I need.” For Winnie, cheerfulness is an act of willpower. In Act I, she does a valiant job of being upbeat, though “sorrow keeps breaking in,” as she says. Wiest skillfully takes the audience through emotional arcs from ebullience to the brink of
Jarlath Conroy plays Willie in Samuel Beckett’s “Happy Days” at Polonsky Shakespeare Center. Photo by Henry Grossman 8 • Brooklyn Eagle • Thursday, May 4, 2017
Dianne Wiest plays Winnie in “Happy Days” at Theatre for a New Audience’s Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Fort Greene.
Photo by Gerry Goodstein
Winnie is carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. And her shoulders are just about the only part of her that isn’t trapped in a mountain of earth. She is being buried alive. Here stands the heroine — though you can only see her from the waist up — of Samuel Beckett’s existential play “Happy Days.” This is widely considered the foremost female role in all of modern drama. Academy Award-winning actress Dianne Wiest handles it with awe-inspiring artistry. She’s the star of a Yale Repertory Theatre production that just opened in Fort Greene, at Theatre for a New Audience’s Polonsky Shakespeare Center. It is directed by James Bundy, who is both Yale School of Drama’s dean and Yale Repertory Theatre’s artistic director. When staged at Yale last year, the production was acclaimed. Here in Brooklyn, Wiest is mesmerizing in the Dublin-born Nobel Prize-winner’s funny and deeply moving work about bravery, endurance and the cruel futility of human existence. She is a magnificent presence onstage,
vibrant and vulnerable, a bouyant soul pinned down but not vanquished by the imprisoning earth.
grief, over and over again. She makes us laugh by struggling to read the fine print on a toothbrush handle and silences us by warning, “Words fail, there are times when even they fail.” Wiest leads us along a winding road of recollections that include snippets of lines by Shakespeare, Milton and Thomas Gray, the 18th-century poet who coined the phrase, “Where ignorance is bliss, ‘tis folly to be wise.” She remembers a long-ago day when Willie admired her golden hair. In Act I, Wiest deftly intersperses her torrent of talk with fussy little rituals that help time pass more quickly in the wasteland, like opening a parasol and unpacking a black bag full of personal effects. That’s where the toothbrush came from. Another item in the bag is a revolver she calls “Brownie.” She kisses it the first time she pulls it out of the bag. “Oh I suppose it’s a comfort to know you’re there, but I’m tired of you,” she tells the gun later, all the while caressing it affectionately. In Act II, Winnie’s situation is dire. The earth has almost entirely swallowed her up. Only her head remains above the ground. The gun lies beside her, unreachable. Her thoughts are fragmentary, and often veer towards distress. She says she doesn’t pray any-
more. In this act, Wiest has only her facial expressions and voice to deploy as acting tools. That’s all she needs to break our hearts.
Iconic Role, Acclaimed Actresses “Happy Days” was first performed in 1961 at the Cherry Lane Theatre in the West Village. Over the years, acclaimed actresses who have played Winnie include Peggy Ashcroft, Irene Worth, Jessica Tandy, Estelle Parsons and Fiona Shaw. Wiest — who told the New Yorker last year the role is “the Hamlet for actresses” — has won two Oscars and two Emmy awards. Her considerable stage experience includes a role in the 1976 American premiere of Beckett’s play “Footfalls” under the direction of Alan Schneider, an important interpreter of the playwright’s works. Wiest is currently appearing in the CBS TV series “Life in Pieces.” Samuel Beckett’s “Happy Days,” starring Dianne Wiest, runs in a strictly limited engagement through May 28 at Theatre for a New Audience’s Polonsky Shakespeare Center. The playhouse is at 262 Ashland Place in Fort Greene. For tickets go to tfana.org or call 866-8114111.
Thursday, May 4, 2017 • Brooklyn Eagle • 9
New Public Portal at Bklyn Navy Yard Will Bring Visitors, Retail and Food New York State’s Oldest, Most Venerable Manufacturing Center Embraces Job Training and High-Tech Production By Andy Katz
Special to Brooklyn Eagle
Continuing its growth and diversification, the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation’s (BNYDC) latest project is development of Building 77 as the Yard’s new public portal. “It will be a small version of what’s happening in the Yard as a whole,” BNYDC Chief of Staff Clare Newman explained. “It will be open to the public and have 3,000 people working within. We expect it will become a hub of activity, with food and retail shops on the ground floor. It will be a place where all the yard businesses can come together.” The 16-story building, originally designed as a windowless warehouse, will benefit from a $185 million-dollar build-out that will leave it with two penthouse floors and a 60,000-squarefoot ground floor, slated to include, among others, Russ & Daughters and Brooklyn Brewery as tenants.
No institution has mirrored the ups and downs of its home borough more precisely than the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Commissioned by President John Adams in 1801, the Yard housed the nation’s first formal naval college, the Naval Lyceum. U.S. Navy men of war launched from its docks would go on to fame and become emblazoned onto the nation’s consciousness, including the first armored steam cruiser, Fulton II, the USS Maine, USS Arizona and Mighty Mo’ herself, the USS Missouri. After Japan’s formal surrender on the Missouri’s veranda deck, the Yard continued to build and launch U.S. Navy ships, but at much slower pace. When Secretary of Defense Robert MacNamara closed the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1966, it was the oldest continuously operated industrial plant in New York state. Today, with more than 300 businesses now on site, the BNYDC offers recruitment services to
BNYDC CEO David Ehrenberg (far right and inset) makes a point to tour guests.
Press and BNYDC staff on tour of HITN recording studio
Thumbnail Sketch: Brooklyn Navy Yard 300 Acres, 40 Buildings 4 Million Sq. Ft. ‘Under Roof’ 300-Plus Businesses 7,000-Plus Jobs help place and train workers for their tenants. “[BNYDC coordinators] go out to the businesses [and] find out what their needs are,” explained Chief Administrative Officer Jocelynne Rainey. Continued on page 12
BNYDC Chief of Staff Clare Newman discusses plans for revamped Building 77.
Kingsbridge Garment Care proprietor Richard Aviles describes state-of-the-art dry cleaning in his plant.
Eagle photos by Andy Katz
Thursday, May 4, 2017 • Brooklyn Eagle • 11
New Public Portal at B’klyn Navy Yard Will Bring Visitors, Retail and Food Continued from page 11 “And then we start the recruitment process … at no cost to the seeker or to the business,” she continued. Rainey went on to explain that funds from the New York Small Business Services help offset the wages of new workers as they undergo training. Clusters of men and women filled the Albert C. Wiltshire Employment Center, some completing employment applications, others working assiduously on computer screens. In a classroom, employment specialist Sam Vega discussed interview strategies with about a dozen students ranging in age from late teens to middle age. “Our model,” explained BNYDC CEO David Ehrenberg, “is not a social service. We’re trying to make the right placement for companies, because that’s what brings them back.” “We also have an internship,” Rainey said. “Which gives students the chance to make money over the summer. When we started, we used to have to beg businesses to take our interns. Now, they’re calling us to request our interns. It’s a way to give back to the community.” Covering more than 300 acres, navigating around the Yard on foot is daunting. Hence an in-house transportation system consisting of shuttles and buses is available. Our first stop on one such bus was Kingsbridge Garment Care, a dry-cleaning plant. Proprietor Richard Aviles conducted a tour with an enthusiasm for all things dry cleaning that rivaled Willy Wonka. “We’re a family here,” Aviles said. “Our staff has the equivalency of a Ph.D in stain removal! Everyone here has jurisdiction over the processes that took place before the item came to them. If, for example, there’s a wrinkle in the garment, they can send the item back with the attitude, ‘Thank you very much for letting me do quality!’” “This is really a great place for us to be,” said Jose Luis Rodriguez, founder and CEO of Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network. “We’re expanding. We’re hoping to get funding to build a new studio on the roof, and by 2018, we plan to have 30,000 square feet of space … and a lot of that is due to the mentorship of the Navy Yard.”
A look inside of the hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network control room.
Eagle photos by Andy Katz
A look at the interior of the Kingsbridge Garment Care plant.
Employment Center Administrative Assistance Eileen Martin has worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard for 45 years. 12 • Brooklyn Eagle • Thursday, May 4, 2017
Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network founder and CEO Jose Luis Rodriguez extols virtues of the Navy Yard as a location for his enterprise.
A Special Section of BROOKLYN EAGLE Publications
May 4-10, 2017
Architectural Eye Candy in Victorian Flatbush SOME FAB HOMES HAVE CHANGED HANDS recently in Victorian Flatbush, such as 1305 Albemarle Road (above), which recently sold for $2.75 million. This is the only place in the city with a subway station that's a landmarked woodframe cottage (inset). Read all about these and other neighborhood properties in EYE ON REAL ESTATE, pages 9-12INB. INBrooklyn photos by Lore Croghan
Brooklyn Public Library’s 20th Annual Gala Draws Robust Community Support
BPL Board, Staff Plan Expansion of Services to Public
ABOVE: Pictured at the gala are Susan Marcinek, Nina Collins, Peter Aschkenasy, Robin Shanus and Michael Liburd (left to right). INBrooklyn photo by Andy Katz By Andy Katz
Special to INBrooklyn
In a time when Google, Kindle and Wikipedia threaten to render the venerable public library obsolete, it was heartening to witness Brooklyn Public Library’s drawing power as its 20th Annual Gala unfolded within the Williamsburgh Savings Bank's classically elegant interior, now the Weylin event space. Half-a-dozen City Councilmembers mingled with major league developers, attorneys, philanthropists and business leaders in a cocktail reception before heading upstairs to the main dining room to fete this year’s honorees — Peter Aschkenasy and Anna Deveare Smith. Despite an ongoing controversy over what critics characterize as the “sale and shrinkage” of library resources, speakers emphasized the increasing availability of existing branches. “We are now open six days a week,” CEO Linda Johnson told the audience. Library board trustee and Treasurer Peter Aschkenasy credited the financial leadership of Mayor Bill de Blasio and Borough President Eric Adams with permitting the library to extend its hours and provide greater resources to users. Addressing controversy over the sale of the Brooklyn Heights Library branch for development by the Hudson Companies (whose CEO, David Kramer, sat at a table a few feet away), Aschkenasy pointed out: “The branch was old and poorly designed ... The sale would provide a surplus that will fund state-of-the-art facilities in less affluent neighborhoods.” Continued on page 3INB
2INB • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • Week of May 4-10, 2017
ABOVE: Author and actress Anna Deavere Smith (left) chats with New York Times journalist Charles Blow at the Brooklyn Public Library gala. INBrooklyn photo by Andy Katz Continued from page 2INB Aschkenasy went on to defend the board’s process in moving ahead with the sale: “Linda and her staff formed a series of community meetings to get input and understand their [the community’s] concerns,” he said. He also credited trustee Alexandra Bowie with keeping elected officials informed, ultimately winning approval of the deal from the City Council. “Every day I was anxious my books were overdue,” Anna Deveare Smith confessed to New York Times journalist Charles Blow as they sat on stage for a casual discussion in lieu of a speech by Smith. “The library is a safe place,” Smith went on to say. “All of us in our professional lives have the opportunity to go where things or ideas or community doesn’t work as well and show that safety and those ideas we have ... Arts institutions have an incredibly important role to play in bringing people together, bringing them into discourse together.” Brooklyn Public Library Coordinator of Older Adult Services Taina Evan told of a woman at the Flatbush branch, recently diagnosed with breast cancer, who turned from inchoate anger at everything around to her expressing herself through poetry and literature after attending one of the branch’s workshops. After the presentations were finished, trustee Michael Liburd presided over a silent paddle auction, encouraging patrons to purchase library carts or access to library resources for incarcerated people. According to library staff, some $830,000 was raised from among the more than 450 library friends and patrons in attendance. See more photos on page 5INB.
Week of May 4-10, 2017 • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • 3INB
4INB • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • Week of May 4-10, 2017
Scenes from the 20th Annual Brooklyn Public Library Gala
Pictured at the Brooklyn Public Library’s 20th Annual Gala are Frank McDonald, Andres Pazmino, Antonio Reynoso and Rob Erdmann (left to right). INBrooklyn photos by Andy Katz
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams (left) and attorney Nicholas Gravante, Jr.
New York City Councilmember Rafael Espinal, BPL President Linda Johnson and Councilmember Antonio Reynoso (left to right).
Week of May 4-10, 2017 • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • 5INB
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MYBROOKLYNCALENDAR.COM Calendar Events May 4-10
Arts Dry Heat 2017 A video installation by Perry Bard and Richard Sullivan. When: Thursdays-Sundays through May 7th, 1 – 6 p.m. Where: Bushwick/STUDIO10 (56 Bogart Street) Do What I Want: The Experimental World of Arthur Russell Twenty-five years after Arthur Russell’s death, BAM Visual Art, Russell’s estate and Tom Lee (Russell’s partner) present a selection of materials belonging to the late composer, cellist and electronic music pioneer. This first-ever public exhibition features more than 150 pieces of original ephemera and reproductions, including a selection of Russell’s own notes, scores, photos, test pressings, show fliers and album covers alongside never-beforeheard recordings from the artist’s personal working tapes. When: Daily, through May 14 Where: Fort Greene/BAM Peter Jay Sharp Building (30 Lafayette Ave.) American Reclamation A solo exhibition of photographs by Stephen Mallon. When: Wednesday through Sunday, through May 14, 1-6 p.m. Where:Wiliamsburg/Front Room Gallery (147 Roebling St.) Francesco Simeti: Swell Francesco Simeti presents “Swell,” a theatrical installation that explores human impact on the environment. When: Thursday through Saturday, through May 27, 2-6 p.m. Where: Park Slope/Open Source Gallery (306 17th St.) Triad: Yevgueniya Baras, Mike Cloud and Zachary Wollard “Triad” brings together the work of Yevgueniya Baras, Mike Cloud and Zachary Wollard, all 2015-16 residents of the SharpeWalentas Studio Program. In the painting practices of each, notions of iconography, history, language and material coalesce in startlingly personal ways, offering a refreshing take on discourses surrounding contemporary painting, community and inner worlds. When: Thursday through Saturday, through May 28, 1-6 p.m. Where: Fort Greene/Five Myles (558 St. Johns Place) The Battle Days/Alex Sewell The exploration and representation of cultural identities, the attachment to childhood totems and the use of semiotics are at the core of some of Sewell’s recent works, exhibited in the PlusSpace. When: Thursday through Sunday, through May 29, 1-6 p.m. Where: Crown Heights/Five Myles (558 St Johns Place) Sounds Unseen Between December 2015 and May 2016, Sarah Hickson photographed “The Calais Sessions,” a live music project among musicians living in the UK, the “Jungle” camp in Calais and La Grande Synthe in Dunkirk. For the refugees she met, “The Calais Sessions” provided a welcome opportunity to tell their stories, to play and share the music from their homelands, or to pick up an instrument and join with other musicians. “Sounds Unseen” chronicles the evolution of this remarkable collaboration and celebrates a vital human connection forged through the common voice of music. When: Tuesday through Sunday, through May 28; Tuesday through Friday, 1-6 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. Where: DUMBO/St. Ann’s Warehouse (29 Jay St.) 27 Years in the Alps A series of new paintings by Peter Gergely in a solo exhibition. The landscapes of “27 Years in the Alps” are the result of 27 years of a love affair with the Alps of northern Italy. When: Thursday through Saturday, through June 2, 6-8:30 p.m. Where: Sunset Park/Tabla Rosa Gallery (224 48th St.) Sights in the City During the summer of 1980, under the direction of his photographer father, Jamel Shabazz armed himself with a Canon AE1 SLR camera and began to photograph the landscape of his native New York City. Composed of color and black-and-white photographs taken between 1980 and 2016, many of which have never been published, “Sights in the City” is the testament of Shabazz’s visual journey. When: Tuesday through Saturday, through June 17, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Where: DUMBO/United Photo Industries Gallery (111 Front St.) Kajahl: Obscure Origins This exhibition presents a focused survey of Kajahl’s portraits, which combine iconography from African, Asian, European and Pre-Columbian traditions. The fusion of these symbols results in the creation of enigmatic artworks that bring the forgotten past into the foreground and reanimate minor artifacts of history into transformative assemblages. When: Thursday through Saturday, through June 18, 12-5 p.m. Where: Clinton Hill/Tillou Fine Art (59 Cambridge Place)
“The Battle Days/Alex Sewell” will be on exhibit at Five Myles through May 29. Image courtesy of the artist Multilocational See multilocational artworks by Natalia Nakazawa and Cecile Chong. Multilocational is defined as “of, pertaining to, or being present in more than one location.” It subtly plays on the words multicultural or multinational, or “of mixed ancestry or residence.” When: Fridays, through June 25, 3-6 p.m. Where: Park Slope/Old Stone House (336 Third St.) Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern This exhibit takes a new look at how the renowned modernist artist proclaimed her progressive, independent lifestyle through a self-crafted public persona, including her clothing and the way she posed for the camera. The exhibition expands our understanding of O’Keeffe by focusing on her wardrobe, shown for the first time alongside key paintings and photographs. It confirms and explores her determination to be in charge of how the world understood her identity and artistic values. When: Wednesday through Sunday, through July 23, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. (Thursdays, 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.) Where: Prospect Heights/Brooklyn Museum (200 Eastern Parkway) Forged Worlds This outdoor photography exhibition showcases work by seven artists whose photographic practices revolve around the physical construction of fictional landscapes. Installed on a fence beneath the Manhattan Bridge, this photo installation invites viewers to take a closer look and perhaps allow themselves to be carried away — if even for a moment — in thoughts and lands so strange, yet so familiar, so close to home. When: Daily, through July 31, 2017 Where: DUMBO/Manhattan Bridge (Adams Street, Plymouth Street and Anchorage Place) Truman Capote’s Brooklyn: The Lost Photographs of David Attie In the spring of 1958, a young photographer named David Attie was led through the streets of Brooklyn Heights and to the Brooklyn waterfront by an unexpected guide: 33-year-old Truman Capote. The images Attie took that day were to illustrate Capote’s essay for Holiday magazine about his life in Brooklyn. Decades later, these largely unseen photographs are being exhibited for the first time. When: Wednesday through Sunday, through July 31, 12-5 p.m. Where: Brooklyn Heights/Brooklyn Historical Society (128 Pierrepont St.) Next Stop: Second Avenue Subway Tracing nearly 100 years of history, the New York Transit Museum’s newest exhibit explores how the Second Avenue line fits into New York’s past, present and future transportation landscapes. When: Tuesday through Sunday, through Sept. 3, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. (Saturday and Sunday hours, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.) Where: Downtown Brooklyn/New York Transit Museum (Corner of Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street) Infinite Blue The works of art in “Infinite Blue” feature blue in all its variety — a fascinating strand of visual poetry running from ancient times to the present day. In cultures dating back thousands of years, blue — the color of the skies — has often been associated with the spiritual, but also signifies power, status and beauty. The spiritual and material aspects of blue combine to tell us stories about global history, cultural values, technological innovation and international commerce. When: Wednesday through Sunday, through Nov. 5, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Thursdays, 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. Continued on page 7INB
6INB • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • Week of May 4-10, 2017
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Bklyn Designs will be at the Brooklyn Expo Center May 5-7. Continued from page 6INB Where: Prospect Heights/Brooklyn Museum (200 Eastern Parkway)
Books & Readings Franklin Park Reading Series: Nonfiction Night Hear outstanding new work from Ben Greenman (“Dig If You Will The Picture”), Sarah Gerard (“Sunshine State”), Kristen Radtke (“Imagine Wanting Only This”), Garnette Cadogan (“Freeman’s: The Fire This Time”), and Mensah Demary (Vice, Literary Hub). Free admission, $5 drafts, plus a free-to-enter raffle for the authors’ books. When: Monday, May 8, 8-10 p.m. Where: Franklin Park (618 St. Johns Place) Eat, Drink & Be Literary See author Claudia Rankine and moderator Lorin Stein. Rankine is the author of five collections of poetry, including “Citizen: An American Lyric.” When: Tuesday, May 9, 6:30 p.m. Where: Fort Greene/BAMcafé Live (30 Lafayette Ave.) Body Horror: Capitalism, Fear, Misogyny, Jokes A reading to celebrate the release of Anne Elizabeth Moore’s essay collection, “Body Horror: Capitalism, Fear, Misogyny, Jokes.” When: Wednesday, May 10, 7-9 p.m. Where: Greenpoint/Word Bookstore (26 Franklin St.)
Image courtesy of Bklyn Designs
Educational Bklyn Designs Brooklyn’s premier design event showcasing a cross section of design, architecture and art. When: Friday through Sunday, May 5-7, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Where: Greenpoint/Brooklyn Expo Center (72 Noble St.) SheTek Conference 2017 SheTek Conference promotes the interactions of women doing business and explores the careers and talents of women in music, TV, film and technology. Several dynamic female panelists will discuss the latest trends in their particular career fields and engage the audience in Q&A discussions. Panelists are exclusive to women, as a way to empower and push forward their relevant roles in entertainment. When: Saturday, May 6, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Where: Brooklyn Heights/St. Francis College (180 Remsen St.) Tree ID Workshop As home to more than 9,000 trees, Green-Wood Cemetery’s collection of maples, oaks, beeches and gingkoes is one of the best in New York City. But how can you possibly tell them apart? Arborist Bill Logan leads an intensive, five-hour workshop that begins with a close study of an array of twigs and leaves, and learning how to classify those using dichotomous keys. When: Saturday, May 6, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Where: Greenwood Heights/Green-Wood Continued on page 8INB
Week of May 4-10, 2017 • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • 7INB
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MYBROOKLYNCALENDAR.COM Week of May 4-10, 2017 Continued from page 7INB Cemetery (500 25th St.) Buying Your First Home Dreams do come true. Buying a home in New York City seems overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be an insurmountable task. Join Alison McQueen from The Corcoran Group for this first-time homebuyers’ workshop and bring all your questions. When: Monday, May 8, 6:30-8 p.m. Where: Prospect Heights/Brooklyn Brainery (190 Underhill Ave.)
Family Fun Israeli Family Shabbat and Dinner Brooklyn welcomes in Shabbat with singing, storytelling and dancing followed by a delicious themed dinner. People of all ages, from toddlers to seniors, socialize and form friendships. RSVP and full payment are due by May 2. When: Friday, May 5, 6:30 p.m. Where: Bay Ridge/Bay Ridge Jewish Center (405 81st St.) High School Musical, Jr. Enjoy family fun. When: Friday, May 5, 6 p.m., and Saturday, May 6, 2 p.m. Where: Bensonhurst/Seth Low I.S. 96 (99 Ave. P)
Family Bowl Bring the whole family and get your bowl on. When: Saturday, May 6, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., and Sunday, May 7, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Where: Williamsburg/Brooklyn Bowl (61 Wythe Ave.)
Film Jiang Wen Rising BAMcinématek presents “Jiang Wen Rising,” a series dedicated to the work of the wild man of contemporary Chinese cinema, Jiang Wen. Jiang Wen is that rarest of talents: both a magnetic screen presence and a risk-taking auteur, whose films confront the last 100 years of Chinese history with subversive humor and a surplus of style. While he has moved between art house prizewinners and blockbuster spectacles, all his films share an offbeat sensibility, freewheeling visual style and ability to smuggle ingeniously veiled political critiques past state censors. When: Daily, May 3, through May 11 Where: Fort Greene/BAM Rose Cinemas (30 Lafayette Ave.) Leslie Thorton A full-career retrospective of American filmmaker and artist Leslie Thornton. When: Mondays, through May 8, Various times Where: Fort Greene/BAM Rose Cinemas (30 Lafayette Ave.)
Paint the Owls Children ages 3-10 are invited to paint the metal cut-out owls along the gate of the children’s playground in Owl’s Head Park. Children will meet in the playground and must be accompanied by a parent or caregiver during the duration of the workshops. Materials are provided by Owl’s Head Park volunteers. Visit facebook.com/owlsheadvolunteers. When: Saturday, May 6, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Where: Bay Ridge/Owl’s Head Park (67th Street and Colonial Road)
Health
MMDG Family Fun: Broadway Songbook Come together with the whole family to sing and learn some great Broadway hits and popular music. When: Saturday, May 6, 4:30-5:30 p.m. Where: Fort Greene/Mark Morris Dance Center (3 Lafayette Ave.)
2017 Dime McCarren 5K Run This marks the second year of Dime’s multiyear commitment to serve as the Title Sponsor of the Dime McCarren 5K Run/Walk for Youth, which benefits local children in North Brooklyn through the St. Nicks Alliance. When: Saturday, May 6, 10 a.m. Where: Williamsburg/Greenpoint Beacon Center (424 Leonard St.)
Yoga for Toddlers Toddlers have a chance to explore the exciting world of yoga under the supervision of an experienced and expert instructor (Age Group: Birth to 5 years old). When: Thursday, May 4, 10:30-11 a.m. Where: Williamsburg/Leonard Library (81 Devoe St.)
Shape Up NYC: Saturday Sweat This total-body workout increases muscle strength and endurance while keeping the heart rate up to burn calories and strengthen the cardio respiratory system. Continuous simple moves to great music make it fun. When: Saturday, May 6, 10-11 a.m. Where: Williamsburg/Williamsburg Library (240 Division Ave.) NYRR Open Runs Whether you’re a first time runner, a seasoned marathoner, or you prefer to walk, you’re welcome to come along. No need to register in advance; sign-in takes place on site. Open to all ages. Strollers and dogs on leashes welcome. When: Tuesday, May 9, 7 p.m. Where: Brooklyn Bridge Park/Pier 6
Nightlife SEA (Singular Extreme Actions) A wild kaleidoscope of action heroes, events, machines and music. Come for an hour that proves that action knows no time. When: Thursday through Sunday, through May 7; Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 5 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Where: Williamsburg/StrebLab for Action Mechanics (51 N. First St.) New Found Monday A night of shameless nostalgia. Join emo enthusiast Kevin O’Brien as he spins songs that remind you of the time when your bangs were swoopy and getting a straight edge tattoo seemed like a good idea. As one of the few DJs who actually encourages requests, the ever-gregarious O’Brien loves swapping stories that inspired each song selection. Emo. Pop-Punk. Post-Hardcore. All sub-genres, eras and scenes are welcome as long as you aren’t a poseur. When: Monday, May 8, 10 p.m. Where: Bushwick/The Starliner (1446 Myrtle Ave.)
Theater/Music Olive & Pearl For ages 2-5 and their families, this show tells the story of a Continued on page 15INB 8INB • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • Week of May 4-10, 2017
Victorian Flatbush’s Other ‘Gone With the Wind’ House Is Under Renovation
This Prospect Park South Historic District house, 1305 Albemarle Road, is under renovation by new owners who paid $2.75 million for it. INBrooklyn photo by Lore Croghan
It’s Right Down the Street from Michelle Williams’ Mansion By Lore Croghan INBrooklyn
Eminent Victorians. And we’re not talking about the ground-breaking book of biographies by Lytton Strachey. In Brooklyn, the most eminent Victorians are houses. Stand-alone houses more than a century old, made of wood shingles or clapboard or sometimes stucco and painted Easter-egg pastels, cherry red, or vibrant shades of blue. A couple of them look like antebellum mansions straight out of “Gone With the Wind.” Indeed, one of them is nicknamed the “Gone With the Wind” house. More about that in a minute. Many of the Eminent Victorians have fine porches or terrific turrets, or both. Some of these homes are big enough to house entire soccer teams. They’ve got lawns of lush grass, flowerbeds full of posies — and also driveways and garages, which are rarities in so many of the borough’s neighborhoods. Prospect Park South is prime territory for the Eminent Victorians, though the 10 other mini-neighborhoods that are also part of Victorian Flatbush all have special charms. Can you name all these neighborhoods? If your answer is no, Mary Kay Gallagher Real Estate’s website has a map that will jog your memory. But back to the Eminent Victorians. The most eminent among them, in this day and age, is 1440 Albemarle Road. Academy Award-nominated actress Michelle Williams purchased it for $2,500,001 in 2015, city Finance Department records indicate.
The Prospect Park South Historic District home was dubbed the “Gone With the Wind” house by Mary Kay Gallagher Real Estate’s Alexandra Reddish. Williams is doing a historically appropriate renovation of the century-old mansion. And ICYMI, she is building a swimming pool, as we recently reported. See brooklyneagle.com to read about it.
Albemarle Road’s $2.75 Million House Right down the street from Williams’ home, there’s another mansion that also looks like a “Gone With the Wind” house. This second Tara look-alike is 1305 Albemarle Road, which is also located within the Prospect Park South Historic District. In late January, Stephen Tanenbaum and Alisa Stratton purchased the house for $2.75 million from Albemarle Holdings Corp., whose president is Iskyo Aronov, Finance Department records indicate. The entity headed by Aronov had owned the mansion for about a year, having bought it for $900,000 from Harriet Salzarulo in October 2015, Finance Department records show. The white clapboard jaw-dropper has four 30-foot fluted Ionic columns flanking its front door, mullioned windows that look like giant spider webs and porches all over the place. It sits on on the corner of Argyle Road. The eye-catching house drew media attention months before its sale closing. Continued on page 11INB
INSET: Actress Michelle Williams, photographed at the Oscars in February, is building a swimming pool at her Prospect Park South Historic District mansion. Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP Week of May 4-10, 2017 • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • 9INB
Brooklyn’s Second-Quirkiest Landmark Is in Victorian Flatbush
This landmarked wood-frame cottage is the MTA’s Avenue H Station in the Fiske Terrace section of Victorian Flatbush.
Here’s a glimpse of the Avenue H Station’s interior, with its eye-catching ceiling. INBrooklyn photos by Lore Croghan
An Old-Fashioned Cottage Is Now the Avenue H Subway Station By Lore Croghan INBrooklyn
Is this a mirage? A squat but charming country cottage stands before us. It has a chimney in the center of its pyramid-shaped roof. The columns on its wrap-around porch are logs with the bark peeled off them. There are rocking chairs on the porch. It looks like an old-fashioned weekend-getaway home in the Adirondacks. What’s it doing on Avenue H, with a subway sign attached to its wood-shingle exterior? Welcome to the second-quirkiest city-designated individual landmark in all of Brooklyn. If you need to take a ride on the Q train, step right in. Even if
you don’t, go inside anyway so you can look at the former cottage’s ceiling, which is wood-paneled. The address of the Avenue H Station is 802 E. 16th St. It is in Fiske Terrace, one of the 11 mini-neighborhoods that make up Victorian Flatbush. As the city Landmarks Preservation Commission’s 2004 designation report about the property explains, it was built in 1906 by Thomas Benton Ackerson as a realestate sales office for the planned suburbanstyle community he was constructing there. The following year, Ackerson sold the wood-frame cottage to the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Co., whose tracks were thisclose to the building. In the ensuing decades, the train line and the sweet-looking station passed through different owners’ hands and ultimately became part of
the New York City subway system. It is the only Metropolitan Transportation Authority subway-station building that was originally constructed for some other use. An informative rownstoner.com story by architectural historian Suzanne Spellen says that in 2003, the MTA announced it was going to demolish the cottage-turned-subway station. The community wanted it saved. The building was landmarked the following year — and we say ra o to everyone who worked to make that happen — then thoroughly renovated several years later. By the way, since we’ve called it Brooklyn’s second-quirkiest citydesignated individual landmark, surely you’re wondering what’s the very quirkiest one. We promise to tell you soon.
ABOVE: See brooklyneagle.com to find out who recently bought this Fiske Terrace house, whose address is 74 Wellington Court. Its original owner was Henry W. Ackerson, vice president of the company that built the cottage which is now the Avenue H Station. INSET: The columns on the porch of the Avenue H Station are logs with the bark peeled off them. 10INB • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • Week of May 4-10, 2017
Victorian Flatbush’s Other ‘Gone With the Wind’ House Is Under Renovation
When you are ready to move out of NYC, or a vacation home close to NYC, here are 10 Top Reasons you should talk to me: 6) Home of Pleasantville Country Club, which boasts a 9-hole, double-tee course, complete with locker rooms. Afterward, relax and dine at Unique Affairs Restaurant, catering to all tastes, overlooking the built-in pool and 3,000-sq-ft. condos
INBrooklyn photo by Lore Croghan
(Look for Another Reason Next Week!)
This Prospect Park South Historic District home is 114 Westminster Road, which recently sold for $4.25 million. Continued from page 9INB The seller hired high-profile brokers Ryan Serhant and Rachel Simons of the Bravo TV series “Million Dollar Listing New York” to market 1305 Albemarle Road. Last July, the brokers, who work at Nest Seekers International, revealed on Instagram that they sold the house about two hours after listing it. Curbed.com was the first to report their news. A story in Luxury Listings NYC says it appears that Serhant re-listed the house last September. A summary of 1305 Albemarle Road’s listings history on Zillow.com indicates that, too. BTW, Bravo just announced that Serhant will star in a spinoff TV series called “Sell It Like Serhant.”
The house is seen in scenes in which his lawyer Alan Dershowitz, played by Ron Silver, preps for a legal appeal of von Bülow’s conviction for the attempted murder of his wife, Sunny. The new owners of the grand mansion are now in the process of renovating it. Tanenbaum, an architect whose firm specializes in high-end residential renovations, has experience in fixing up Prospect Park South Historic District homes. Continued on page 12INB
An Architect Bought 1305 Albemarle Road But back to 1305 Albemarle Road. The Colonial Revival-style mansion was built in 1905 for George E. Gale. The architect was H.B. Moore. The late architectural historian Christopher Gray, who wrote the New York Times’ “Streetscapes” column for many years, called 1305 Albemarle Road “the gem of the street.” It has 22 rooms — including a ballroom, a music room, a billiard room, a library, a wine cellar and 10 bedrooms. There’s a garage, too. The house was used in the filming of “Reversal of Fortune,” the 1990 film with Jeremy Irons in the Oscar-winning role of Claus von Bülow.
Week of May 4-10, 2017 • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • 11INB
DESPITE CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT, B’KLYN REAL ESTATE FINANCING SHOULD HOLD FIRM By Matthew Dzbanek, Director of Capital Services & Katherine Speltz, Analyst Special to INBrooklyn
As the U.S. economy continues to strengthen, the Federal Reserve is expected to tighten monetary policy further in 2017, ultimately leading to higher interest rates. While higher borrowing costs could suppress loan origination, commercial real estate financing, particularly in Brooklyn, should hold steady as a host of new lenders and a conducive economic climate keep borrowing activity buoyant. A robust labor market and firming inflation has the Fed, following years of lackluster growth, confident that the economy is strong enough to withstand the impact of higher rates. This was evident when the Fed’s policy-making arm raised shortterm interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point in March, pushing the Fed funds target rate up to a range of 0.75 percent to 1 percent. It was the central bank’s second increase in three months and only its third since last decade’s financial crisis. Interestingly, long-term 10-year Treasury yields have been on a downward trajectory after hitting a two-year high of 2.61 percent in March. While risk aversion stemming from geopolitical events and concerns about the economy have pushed yields lower, interest rates are expected to head higher. Indeed, minutes from the Fed’s latest meeting showed that policymakers discussed the possibility of reducing its massive bond portfolio later this year. This move should put upward pressure on rates and eventually lead to higher borrowing costs on consumer and business loans. At between 3.500 percent and 3.875 percent, interest rates on five-year multifamily loans are roughly 50-75 basis points higher than where they were a year ago. However, despite the uptick, interest rates remain historically low, which should keep the lending landscape favorable.
For most of the past decade, record low interest rates fostered feverish demand for New York City real estate, which, in turn, sent prices substantially higher. Therefore, a move higher in rates in many ways is a positive development in that it should “normalize” market conditions, with sellers possibly inclined to lower prices to attract buyers who are more capital-constrained. Larger transactions drove dollar volume to record levels in 2015, while in 2016, small-tomid-size transactions played a more dominant role, causing New York City total dollar volume to drop dramatically compared to the prior year, according to Ariel Property Advisors’ research. As property sales slowed last year, lenders infused less money into the New York City market. Commercial real estate financing volume fell 17 percent year-over-year to $82 billion in 2016, according to The Real Deal, citing a report from lending database CrediFi.
New Lenders in Brooklyn Fill Bank Void While 2016’s drop in real estate financing reflects a market that was cooling off from an extremely busy 2015, it also indicated caution on behalf of lenders. Indeed, the market for commercial mortgages is starkly different from a few years ago when banks binged on multifamily commercial loans. Banks have dramatically pulled back on lending, primarily a result of concerns regarding overleverage and government regulation. In 2015, federal banking regulators cautioned banks of overexposure to the multifamily asset class and its impact on their financial stability. Banks appear to have heeded their warning, with New York City’s two biggest multifamily lenders, New York Community Bank (NYCB) and Signature Bank, slashing deal volume last year. NYCB, which was the top lender in 2015, fell to fifth place in 2016, with its loan origination vol-
Matthew Dzbanek, director of capital service for Ariel Property Advisors
Katherine Speltz, analyst for Ariel Property Advisors Photos courtesy of Ariel Property Advisors
ume shrinking a remarkable 53 percent, according to CrediFi’s report. And while Signature Bank maintained its No. 2 status last year, lending volume fell by 13 percent versus 2015. As the top lenders of the past pulled back, new alternative lenders, both individual and institutional, swiftly emerged with a fresh appetite to lend in Brooklyn. Last year, Deutsche Bank replaced NYCB as the most active lender, with the firm’s total commercial real estate origination volume increasing 37 percent from 2015, CrediFi reported. Other new entities in the lending arena already own and develop real estate. Institutions like Blackstone and Starwood Capital have been active lenders in the last two years, and commercial real estate firms such as RXR Realty, Kushner Cos and SL Green, have also hopped onboard the financing train. Brooklyn’s economy has improved markedly in recent years, with New York state data showing employment in the borough rising to 1.176 million in February, up 13.7 percent from a year earlier.
The unemployment rate stood at 4.8 percent in February, mostly in line with the national average, but sharply below its year-ago level of 5.7 percent. The dollar volume of all mortgage activity in Brooklyn nearly mirrored the overall New York City market in 2016, falling 18 percent to $2.29 billion from 2015’s $2.80 billion. However, while the number of mortgages slid 15 percent to 798, mortgage activity was higher than 2014’s tally of 781, according to Ariel Property Advisors’ research. As more and more people call Brooklyn home, institutional and private investors will likely continue to seek mortgage financing in New York City’s biggest borough. Rising rates may have senior lenders pulling back as properties qualify for less but could drive stronger demand for loans higher up the capital stack, utilizing mezzanine financing or preferred equity more frequently. Overall, Fed tightening reflects a robust economy, and therefore we expect capital markets to remain strong this year, allowing investors ongoing access to attractive and reliable financing.
Victorian Flatbush’s Other ‘Gone With The Wind’ House Is Under Renovation Continued from page 11INB He renovated nearby 114 Westminster Road, a house he and his wife Stratton owned and lived in with their kids. The couple sold the house three days before closing on their purchase of 1305 Albemarle Road.
The $4.25 Million House The Westminster Road house is located on the corner of Albemarle Road, one block away from their new home. An LLC with Zachary Sturges and Parvin Moyne as members paid $4.25 million for 114
Westminster Road, Finance Department records indicate. The peaked-roof Colonial Revival-style house was designed by Seth H. Cutting, the president and chief architect of Ascutney Realty Co., and built in 1915. Three years ago, Tanenbaum allowed Eye on Real Estate to see the interior work he was doing at 114 Westminster Road. He had carefully repaired wood floors in the house, remodeled the kitchen, opened up the living room to the sun room and found a salvaged, historically appropriate chandelier for the dining room.
INBrooklyn photo by Lore Croghan
This is Michelle Williams’ Prospect Park South Historic District home, 1440 Albemarle Road. 12INB • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • Week of May 4-10, 2017
Week of May 4-10, 2017 • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • 1 INB
--- CROSSWORD ---
(See answers on page 19.)
HOW TO PLAY: Fill in the grid so that every row, every colmn, and every 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9 only once. Each 3x3 box is outlined with a darker line. You already have a few numbers to get you started. Remember: You must not repeat the numbers 1 through 9 in the same line, column, or 3x3 box.
See answers on page 19. 14INB • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • Week of May 4-10, 2017
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Image courtesy of Red Hook’s Showboat Barge
MYBROOKLYNCALENDAR.COM
“Amelia & Her Paper Tigers” will be on stage Monday, May 7 at Red Hook’s Showboat Barge. Continued from page 8INB young girl named Olive who is raised by her Granny Pearl. Centered on thematic elements of home and what a home means, young audiences are invited into a cozy and gentle world, rich with sensory experiences. When: Thursday throuh Monday, May 4-8, 11 a.m. Where: Fort Greene/BAM Fisher (321 Ashland Ave.)
Latin and Afro-Cuban jazz scene, both in New York City and nationally. Known equally for his improvisational artistry and his virtuosic compositions, his unique confluence of authentic Cuban roots music and jazz has isn’t something to be missed. When: Saturday, May 6, 8-10 p.m. Where: Flatbush/Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts (2900 Campis Road)
A Length of Rope Schmidtke will be presenting her solo contemporary circus show “A Length of Rope.” The show explores the significant choices we come to in life, with a rope and trapeze suspended on opposing sides of each intersection. These two circus apparatuses represent the struggle of choosing between different directions — be it a choice of place, identity, friendship or love. When: Friday, May 5, 8-11 p.m. Where: Bushwick/The Muse (350 Moffat St.)
Natalie Douglas: Four Women “Four Women” celebrates the music of Nina Simone, Lena Horne, Abbey Lincoln and Billie Holiday. These extraordinary women changed the face of musical storytelling. When: Saturday, May 6, 8-10 p.m. Where: Manhattan Beach/On Stage at Kingsborough (2001 Oriental Blvd.)
BAMcafé Lineup: Santana Redux w/ The BRC Orchestra The radical all-stars of Black Rock Coalition (BRC) present an electrifying retrospective of Carlos Santana for Cinco de Mayo, in a nod to black-Latino rock collaborations and the icon’s own Mexican heritage. As a united front of black musicians who reject the industry’s creative straitjackets, BRC is known for its acclaimed tributes to boundary-defying artists like Santana,who has been cited by BRC cofounder Vernon Reid as an influence. In honor of the guitarist’s halfcentury of work, transcending genres, cultures and generations, “Santana Redux” is a chance to pay the legend back in kind. When: Friday, May 5, 9 p.m. Where: Fort Greene/BAMcafé (30 Lafayette Ave.) Yosvany Terry Afro-Cuban Sextet Since his arrival in the U.S. in 1999, Cuban saxophonist/percussionist/composer Yosvany Terry has been at the forefront of the
Joanie Leeds & The Nightlights Joanie Leeds & The Nightlights will celebrate the release of their new album “Brooklyn Baby!” with a free family show right in the heart of Joanie’s home borough of Brooklyn. Fans are invited to join Joanie Leeds & The Nightlights for a meet-and-greet with autographs, lemonade and butter cookies at the Flying Tiger store. When: Sunday, May 6, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Where: Downtown Brooklyn/The Atrium at City Point (445 Albee Square West) Amelia & Her Paper Tigers A family show that celebrates a strong, inspirational woman: Amelia Earhart. The play is highly physical, laugh-out-loud funny and incorporates an array of skills, including stilt walking and puppetry. When: Monday. May 7, 2 p.m. Where: Red Hook/Red Hook’s Showboat Barge (290 Conover St., Pier 44)
Tours Birding in Peace Before the gates open to the general public, birding expert Rob Jett leads peaceful Sunday morning walking tours to discover the many birds that call Green-Wood Cemetery home. When: Sunday, May 7, 6:30-8 a.m. Where: Greenwood Heights/Green-Wood Cemetery (500 25th St.)
Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts presents Yosvany Terry Afro-Cuban Sextet on Saturday, May 6.
Image courtesy of Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts
Historic Trolley Tour Experience the most magnificent and historic 478 acres in New York City. Join expert tour guides to hear fascinating stories of Green-Wood Cemetery’s permanent residents, plus see breathtaking views of Manhattan, tread where George Washington and his troops fought the Battle of Brooklyn — and much more. When: Wednesday, May 10, 1-3 p.m. Where: Greenwood Heights/Green-Wood Cemetery (500 25th St.)
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