Cherry on Top!
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PIER 6 SETTLEMENT TALKS FAIL; JUDGE TO HEAR, DECIDE ON CASE By Lauren Gill civic group’s lawyer. state Supreme Court Justice Lucy Billings’ cham- “barring further discussions.” nance on the timber piles holding up the pier Brooklyn Paper “There was an attempt to settle and the next bers trying to work out a deal they both could live The Heights Association is alleging the park over the East River from wood eating crusta- A lawsuit over two controversial towers thing is an argument on the merits. We are looking with . On April 26, reps for the park and Heights has plenty of cash and is violating its agreement ceans called marine borers. planned for Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park forward to being heard by the judge on the merits Association shuffled in and out of the private dis- to only build as much housing as it needs to The groups will have an opportunity to make lies in the hands of the court after reps for the of the claims,” said attorney Richard Ziegler. cussions for two hours. The next day, the civic sustain the meadow. And green space honchos their arguments on either June 7 or June 9. green space and Brooklyn Heights Association The litigants had previously spent the majority group told the Brooklyn Eagle it had made no say they need the money from the two towers The Brooklyn Heights Association did not failed to reach a settlement, according to the of their court appearances behind closed doors in progress and the case will move on to arguments, at the foot of Atlantic Avenue to fund mainte- return a request for comment. Yo u r World — Yo u r News BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260–2500 • Brooklyn, NY • ©2017 Serving Brownstone Brooklyn, Williamsburg & Greenpoint AWP/12 pages • Vol. 40, No. 18 • May 5–11, 2017 • FREE MARKET DOWN Brooklyn Flea bouncing from Williamsburg By Lauren Gill But the feng shui was thrown out of whack so little park space here in North Brooklyn,” Brooklyn Paper when the bazaar moved in and organizers want said Williamsburg resident and former Flea It’s a flea for all! to reclaim the space to put everything back vendor Andre Van Hoek. High-end bric-a-brac bazaar Brooklyn Flea in balance, according to Demby. Van Hoek added he noticed signs this week- is leaving Williamsburg’s East River State Park “We just needed that ‘second slab’ for end banning anyone from bringing food or less than a month after it moved in because it seating, hanging out, general crowd flow,” drink into the park, despite it being a pub- clogged up the space where people sat to enjoy he said. lic space. the food from its sister market Smorgasburg, The market — which has occupied sev- “The signage is really egregious,” said according to one of its organizers. eral parks since its 2008 inception — is now Van Hoek. “It became clear within a few short weeks that seeking a new location and will still operate But the signs were actually there to let peo- the addition of a second market was preventing in Dumbo around the Manhattan Bridge arch- ple know they aren’t allowed to bring glass or us from optimizing the event experience in the way on Sundays. plastic into the market, according to Demby, world-class way our audience deserves and ex- The Flea has had a rough relationship with who claims Smorgasburg isn’t producing any pects,” said co-founder Eric Demby. Williamsburg residents over the years — lo- waste this year and all of the trash goes to a The trinket emporium moved into the Kent cals complain it directs business from brick- composting facility. Picnickers, he said, can Avenue park in April, sharing the waterfront and-mortar shops and takes away valuable bring in whatever they want. space with Smorgasburg on Saturdays. Orga- green space from April to November. And “The signs give advance notice that glass nizers set up the Flea on the concrete slabs next the addition of the Flea on Saturdays took up or plastic items should be disposed of before Photo by Stefano Giovannini to the food stalls, which previously housed ta- a large chunk of the meadow , angering one entering the park and market,” he said. Horn to by wild: Die-hard cosplayer Kato Mito and a friend came to Brooklyn Botanic bles and seating where Smorgasburg attendees denizen who says the state must start pre- A parks department spokesman said the Garden’s Sakura Festival in full regalia. chilled out and chowed down on their meals serving its greenswards. signs won’t be back up for future incarnations — a weekend tradition for some residents and “I believe strongly that this is our public and green honchos are working with Demby many out-of-towners since 2013. space and it is important space — we have to make sure the wording is clearer. Cherry on top! Kosciusz-go! Garden gets colorful at blossom festival By Colin Mixson Brooklyn Paper Cuomo heralds new span The Brooklyn Botanic Garden has turned Japanese! By Colin Mixson nized to city-themed ballads such The famed cherry blossoms at Brooklyn Bo- Brooklyn Paper as Frank Sanatra’s “New York, tanic Garden were in full bloom last weekend, Brooklyn celebrated the grand New York,” and Billy Joel’s “New and New Yorkers celebrated by donning sam- opening of the first of two spans York State of Mind,” but it was the urai armor and dolling themselves up as pink- that will replace the aging Ko- surrounding industrial wasteland haired anime tweens for the garden’s long-awaited sciuszko Bridge last Thursday that really gave the light show its Sakura Festival. night with a dazzling light show flavor, according to one local. Five-borough Japanophiles waited all year for before traffic was allowed onto “It was interesting to see this the hotly anticipated chance to show off their the first new bridge to grace the big spectacle in an otherwise dif- Photo by Mark Hallum sweet cosplay duds, and last weekend’s festivi- city’s skyline since the Verrazano- ferent kind of environment,” said ties were the best yet in the event’s 36-year his- Narrows Bridge connected Kings Greenpoint resident Willis Elkins. Governor Cuomo cruised into the celebration behind the tory, according to one. County to the Rock in 1964. “The area is heavy industry, it’s wheel of a ‘32 Packard previously owned by President “I really like Japanese culture and I really like The light display was synchro- Franklin D. Roosevelt. the cherry blossoms,” said Danny Chen, who at- See BRIDGE on page 11 tends the festival every year in his homemade gold samurai armor. “It’s like my Christmas.” The event featured numerous traditional Jap- anese spectacles, including Taiko drumming en- ON THE RADIO sembles and fencing exhibitions, along with more contemporary performances, including a show from J-rock band Uhnellys. Hordes of other revelers turned out in their fin- The boys talk bike lanes with pros est Japenese-themed getups, while more diehard Photo by Stefano Giovannini costumers walked the runway for the Cosplay Bushido blossom: Cosplayers Danny By Moses Jefferson $300 million, so that’s huge,” the man with Show host Gersh Kuntzman of the New York Fashion Show, where they competed for brag- Chen, Taylor Delgado, and Ven Keta were Brooklyn Paper the apt middle name said on Tuesday morn- Daily News said there are still far too many ca- ging rights, according to garden spokeswoman all dressed up. Build it and they will hum. ing’s barn-burning episode of Brooklyn Pa- sualties — more than 150 cyclists and pedes- Elizabeth Longoria If the city would design better roadways, per Radio. “Casualties are going down and trians were killed on city streets in 2015. Of course, many festival-goers are drawn merely but this year’s planners hit the nail on the head, drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians would all life is coming back to the street because we But White said that number is going down by the fleeting allure of the garden’s famed cherry Chen said. be singing “ Kumbaya ” instead of screaming, are investing in more protected bike lanes, by “roughly 10 percent per year” because of Vi- blossom orchard, which was in spectacular bloom “Most of the times it’s about half and half, “Get the f--- outta my way, a------!” slower vehicular speeds and taking care of sion Zero strategies — and he wants more. over the weekend. depending on the weather, but this year it actu- That’s the conclusion of Paul Steely White, our pedestrians.” “Enforcement and educating drivers will help, “It was awesome,” said Phil Szeto, who was ally bloomed on time and about 90 percent was head of Transportation Alternatives, the pedes- That’s why White’s group supported the con- but it comes down to design,” he said. “There attracted to the festival’s horticultural attractions in peak bloom,” Chen said. trian- and cycling–advocacy group, which is troversial Prospect Park West bike lane a few is often controversy over streetscape changes more than the performances. The cherry blossoms’ bloom is a short-lived championing Mayor DeBlasio’s latest boost for years back and is now backing a redesigned because some people have a static view of what The festival, which is planned as much as spectacle, which usually lasts only a few weeks, his so-called Vision Zero street safety plan. Fourth Avenue, which would add a protected streets can and should be. But streets are flexi- three years in advance to accommodate book- but plant lovers who missed the weekend’s fes- “It’s a $2.5-billion capital commitment bike lane in hopes of slowing car traffic on a ble and we can design them differently.