-00,'03#3&",*/(/&84&7&3:8&&,%":"5#300,-:/1"1&3$0. Yo u r Neighborhood — Yo u r News® BrooklynPaper.com U (718) 260–2500 U Brooklyn, NY U ©2009 DOWNTOWN, PARK SLOPE & BAY RIDGE EDITIONS AWP/16 pages U Vol. 32, No. 27ÊU Friday, July 10, 2009 U FREE FREE-FALLING Borough housing prices plummet By Mike McLaughlin April to June, compared to 1,145 during the The findings continue a trend begun last The Brooklyn Paper same period last year. year when the volume of sales plunged from D’Arrigo Noelle After bucking a national trend for more than The good news — if there is such a thing Newtown Creek to the Narrows. Yet prices a year, home prices in Brooklyn are finally in amid the gloom and doom — is that there still continued to rise in the Brownstone Belt free fall, a new study revealed on Monday. were eight percent more sales in this quar- through the end of 2008, until taking a wal- The average sale price dropped 18 per- ter than during the first quarter of 2009. loping hit last quarter, according to analy- cent, to $548,560, during the second quar- “Prices continued to decline, which is no sis by a different firm. ter of 2009, compared to the same period surprise, but there was a slight pickup in the The study looked at sales data from 15 The Brooklyn Paper file / last year, according to the study from HMS sales activity from the first quarter to sec- neighborhoods for one-, two-, three-, and Whole Foods has abandoned its plan to open a store on this site near the Gowanus Canal. Associates, an appraisal firm. ond quarter of this year,” said Sam Heskel, four-family homes, condos, and co-ops. More concerning was the drop in total the executive vice president of HMS Associ- It found that the biggest drop was in the amal- number of sales — typically a barometer of ates. “Because sellers have been more realis- gamated neighborhood of DUMBO, Boerum whether a prevailing price trend will con- tic and prices have come down, we are seeing Hill and Downtown Brooklyn, where the av- tinue. Last quarter, the volume of sales plum- more activity as buyers feel more comfort- erage price crashed 22 percent to $754,000. meted 52 percent, with only 545 sales from able making offers.” See FALL on page 6 £8IPMF¤MPU $BGnTVFTPWFS LJMMFSXBUFSGBMMT PGOPUIJOH By Mike McLaughlin one.” He declined to elaborate. for The Brooklyn Paper Earlier in the week, he was more talk- The posh River Café has dished up a ative. He told the New York Post, the Man- After 5-year tease, natural foods $3-million complaint against everyone as- hattan tabloid that first reported the litiga- tion, that the spray from the Waterfalls “left sociated with last summer’s tree-killing Wa- Jessica Firger megastore abandons Gowanus site terfalls art installation, charging that salty the place destroyed.” mist from the falls damaged the eatery’s “They did nothing. They knew it was hap- By Mike McLaughlin woman Mara Engel Weleck, who lot, which some critics pointed manicured grounds and facilities. pening, but the waterfall kept on going,” The Brooklyn Paper suggested that the land would be out was bigger than many sub- The complaint, filed in Brooklyn Su- O’Keeffe told the Post. urban stores. preme Court on June 29, blames everyone The the Public Art Fund denied that Elias- Whole Foods has shelved its sold. from the city Parks and Recreation Depart- son’s art spigot caused substantial briny plans to open its first Brooklyn Whole Foods would have be- “We welcome the idea of ment to the artist Olafur Eliasson for kill- harm. The Brooklyn Paper file/ branch on Third Avenue near the come part of a growing gourmet Whole Foods … but from the ing trees and warping the windows, lighting “Trees and other vegetation impacted by The waterfalls turned the River Café’s Gowanus Canal, The Brooklyn movement in Brooklyn, joining beginning, we felt their plan was and painting, among other alleged misfor- the waterfalls have almost without exception famously verdant landscape brown. Paper has learned. such big-time grocers as Fair- highly inappropriate because it tunes, due to the design and location of the shown excellent new growth this spring. The The grocery chain, known way and Trader Joe’s to hawk ex- called for a huge parking lot,” Eric few trees that may need to be specifically for its high-end food and prices pensive edibles to the borough’s McClure of Park Slope Neigh- man-made cascade beneath the Brooklyn levels of salt 10 times higher than normal Bridge. addressed are being addressed,” said Gabby to match, said on Wednesday well-heeled consumers. bors said after learning about the in samples taken from the River Café. The The suit says that the River Café, owned Fisher, a spokeswoman for the group. that it does still hope to come But its proposed site between store’s demise. by Michael “Buzzy” O’Keeffe, “continues The lawsuit culminates almost a year of report also showed elevated levels on the to Brooklyn, but it won’t be at tony Park Slope and Carroll Gar- Still, legions of fans will be to suffer damage and business loss as a re- denunciations by O’Keeffe and others in fabled Promenade, though far lower than its polluted parcel at the corner dens was contentious from the disappointed by the prolonged sult of the defendant’s negligence.” Brooklyn Heights about damage inflicted at the refined restaurant. of Third Street. start, not only because of the wait for their favorite corporate Despite the court paperwork seeking $2.983 on flora from the nearby cataract. That high-sodium diet allegedly con- “Whole Foods does not have toxicity of the canal-zone loca- heath food shop to finally open million in damages, O’Keeffe told The Brook- Last October, the Brooklyn Heights As- tributed to the silent spring in the Weep- immediate plans to open in tion, but also because of the in- in Kings County. lyn Paper that “the River Café is not suing any- sociation revealed a soil study that showed See SUIT on page 6 Brooklyn,” said company spokes- clusion of a 420-space parking See SITE on page 6 Mess mystery solved! Prospect Park had nowhere to put the July 4th garbage By Gersh Kuntzman Restaurant”–style explanation. of the weekend. A Brooklyn Paper reporter saw The Brooklyn Paper “The Parks Department had a As you might imagine, this did an officer in a Cushman scooter Offering an explanation that sufficient number of cleaning crews not go unnoticed. The disgusting not writing summonses near the sounds like it came from an old working all weekend,” he said. “But condition of the park was Topic 1 Ninth Street entrance to the park Arlo Guthrie song, the Prospect on Saturday [July 4], the Brooklyn in the Slope for most of the holi- on Sunday, despite dozens of ille- Park Alliance says the fabled dump was supposed to be open, day. gal barbecues set up in non-bar- greensward was so filthy over and it wasn’t, so the drivers had “The garbage left [near] Ninth becue areas. the long holiday weekend be- to go to the dump in Queens.” Street and Parkside Avenue is be- The park was back to its nor- cause there was no place to put And that dump had limited hours, yond disgusting,” reader Josie mal self by midday Monday. Julie Rosenberg the garbage! too, Patron said, leaving workers Marino told The Brooklyn Pa- Patron said that the city’s nor- Hours after The Brooklyn Paper unable to swiftly get rid of all the per. “There is no excuse for folks mal big Sunday cleanup could not reported on the disgusting condi- garbage. Plus, its distance from using the park as their backyard … be accomplished until Monday tion that followed the hordes of bar- Prospect Park meant more time but the real stupidity is that there because park users were already becuers and freedom-celebrating for garbage truck drivers on the are not enough garbage cans in picnicking — and creating more The Brooklyn Paper / park-goers on July 4 and 5, Pros- road, rather than in the park. these popular areas.” garbage — as workers fanned out Prospect Park was a victim of its own popularity during the July 4 weekend, as hundreds pect Park Alliance spokesman Eu- A backlog ensued, leaving the Marino suggested that po- on Sunday morning. of illegal barbecuers set up camp. The mess lingered. gene Patron offered this “Alice’s park in a horrific state for much lice should write more tickets. See MESS on page 6 “This is reality. This is not a hy- pothetical. This is my community,” Oedipus Recchia Recchia yelled at Seth Pinsky, presi- dent of the city’s Economic Develop- ment Corporation at last Wednesday’s (SFBU"NFSJDBOIFSP Councilman leads charge against hearing. “Yes or no?” Recchia insisted. Joey Chestnut Bloomberg on behalf of pal Sitt Pinsky deflected the question, say- ing, “We do not intend to use em- By Mike McLaughlin ney Island), who was shout- inent domain.” But later, after bests Kobayashi The Brooklyn Paper ing from the start, ag- several other councilmembers Mayor Bloomberg’s controversial gressively questioned followed the same line of at- with a new plan to redevelop Coney Island came Bloomberg’s emissar- tack, Pinsky said he could under a blistering attack from a hostile ies on the possible use not rule out using the city’s world record City Council committee last week.