Magic's Kingdom

BROOKLYN’S REAL NEWSPAPERS Including The Bensonhurst Paper Published every Saturday — online all the time — by Brooklyn Paper Publications Inc, 55 Washington St, Suite 624, Brooklyn NY 11201. Phone 718-834-9350 • www.BrooklynPapers.com • © 2005 Brooklyn Paper Publications • 16 pages •Vol.28, No. 21 BRZ •Saturday, May 21, 2005 • FREE Magic’s BORO’S BEACON kingdom Our 9-11 memorial dedicated in Ridge By Jotham Sederstrom NBA Hall-of-Famer buys The Brooklyn Papers On a breezy, sun-filled day eerily reminiscent of the September morning when two commercial jets were flown into the World Trade Center towers, several hundred people, many of whom wit- Williamsburgh Bank tower nessed the destruction from the 69th Street Pier in Bay Ridge, returned to that dock for the unveiling of Brooklyn’s first-ever By Jess Wisloski borough-wide memorial to victims of those attacks. The Brooklyn Papers Fire and police boats quietly circled Monday morning as, one-by-one, He conquered the NBA, he’s a giant in the officials involved with the Brooklyn Remembers memorial project stepped retail franchising field and now Earvin behind a podium and carefully reflected on the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. A “Magic” Johnson towers above Brooklyn with light fog blurred an otherwise clear view of Lower Manhattan. his latest purchase — the Williamsburgh Sav- “You can understand what a perfect place this is for a memorial. Just ings Bank tower. look around you,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg during the May 16 cer- An investment fund led by the NBA Hall-of- emony, adding later, “We saw blazing towers go down. But human beings Famer teamed up with a New York developer to have the capability to mourn while also looking to the future.” purchase the building at 1 Hanson Place, the bor- More than 400 men and women, many of them relatives of the 283 Brook- ough’s tallest, the partners announced this week. lynites who died that day, appeared stoic, if not a bit solemn, as Bloomberg They plan to convert the city landmark office and other elected officials took turns praising the memorial, a bronze sculpture building, which stands 34 stories and 512 feet tall, depicting the once prominent trumpet used by firefighters to announce danger. into luxury condominiums with ground-floor retail. See BEACON on page 5 The Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund, which incor- porates Johnson’s development company — which also has another luxury condominium project in progress in Park Slope, at 45 Park Place — “focus- es on the development of urban properties in under- served neighborhoods,” according to a press re- lease by the company. They teamed up with the Dermot Co. to purchase the building. One report had the price tag at $71 million, although that could not be confirmed by press time. From the time it was built in 1929 until 1962, the Williamsburgh Bank building’s four-sided clock was the largest in the nation. A city landmark, the grand limestone building, which combines Ro- manesque and Byzantine elements, is overdue for a facelift. Besides HSBC bank, which sold the tower and will vacate its eight floors, the building houses the offices of many dentists. Aproject manager for Canyon-Johnson, Bobby Turner, said he saw the Williamsburgh tower op- portunity as “unrivaled” and “unbelievable.” “The whole mandate of the fund that we manage is to revitalize densely populated and ethnically di- / Tom Callan / Tom verse communities, and look for unique opportuni- / Tom Callan / Tom ties to contribute in development,” Turner said. “Here’s a building that was built in the 1920s that is unparalleled in its landmark status and archi- tectural design. It has the fourth largest four-faced clock in the world, it’s got unobstructed views of The Brooklyn Papers The Brooklyn The Brooklyn Papers File The Brooklyn Manhattan, we are strategically located at the front The Williamsburgh Savings Bank tower, at 1 Hanson Place, door of one of the largest business transit terminals Firefighter John Dilillo (Engine 14, Manhattan) with his mother, Angela Dilillo, visit Brooklyn’s Sept. 11 memorial, “Beacon,” on has been purchased by Magic Johnson and partners. See MAGIC on page 5 the 69th Street Pier in Bay Ridge on Tuesday, the first night it cast its beam of light into the sky. Fort Ham Nords March Children from the Fredheim Lodge, Sons of Norway, ride in a mockup Viking Boat during last Sunday’s Norwegian Day Pa- survives rade down Fifth Avenue. At right, Miss Norway 2005 Karen Freely acknowledg- cut-backs es her adoring fans. By Jotham Sederstrom The Brooklyn Papers Fort Hamilton made the final cut. The 175-year-old garrison in Bay Ridge will re- main active, according to a base closure list released by the Department of Defense this week that calls for shutting down more than 150 military in- / Greg Mango / Greg stallations nationwide. Mango / Greg Although the list awaits final approval, elected officials who helped spearhead a campaign to save the base say they are confident, finally, that Brook- lyn’s only military outpost will survive a final deci- The Brooklyn Papers The Brooklyn sion in September by President George W. Bush. Papers The Brooklyn Since 2003, many Bay Ridgites have worried that the base might be included in the push to con- solidate the nation’s military might. “We didn’t take anything for granted, and we won’t take anything for granted,” said Bay Ridge- Staten Island Rep. Vito Fossella, who created a task force last year to study the consequences of a pos- sible closure. “We felt passionately about Fort UN in Brooklyn could clog streets Hamilton because of what it’s meant to our national security. It’s not just a piece of land.” By Jotham Sederstrom the issuance of $600 million in one reason he blocked the bid headquarters on the East River Designed as a major push to United Nations and its slew of Fossella cited community activism as one reason The Brooklyn Papers bonds to fund construction of a for new digs in Manhattan. is being renovated. retain back-office space in New diplomatic license plates, inter- the base was spared. Although many supporters 35-story skyscraper next to the Secretary-General Kofi An- Besides its staff of 3,000, the York City and keep corporations sections all along Flatbush Av- contend that it was never in danger, a 15,000-signa- Even with hundreds of new United Nations’ current head- nan said in a report issued last U.N.’s General Assembly meet- from fleeing to New Jersey, the enue are predicted to see added ture petition in support of the garrison was sent to parking spaces included in the quarters, said that a move to week that the United Nations ings require a conference hall Downtown Brooklyn Plan, traffic. It cited Willoughby Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld earlier this Downtown Brooklyn Plan Brooklyn would almost certainly may have found commercial big enough to seat 1,800 — passed by the City Council in Street in particular, of which de- month. Combined with a 66-page report detailing redevelopment project, the usher in traffic and parking woes. space in Downtown Brooklyn which a development proposed August, is expected to encour- veloper Joseph Sitt has said Fort Hamilton’s role in homeland security and mili- arrival of some 3,000 United “They don’t respect the traffic that could serve its Secretariat on the southern corner of age more than 6 million square U.N. officials inquired. tary recruitment, the campaign sought to enlighten Nations employees would laws of the city of New York, so and General Assembly needs Willoughby and Flatbush av- feet of office development in ad- “Willoughby Street would an otherwise uninformed ad hoc committee in drown the area’s already I expect them to be parked all while its iconic glass-and-steel enues might be able to provide. dition to 1 million square feet of function as the primary access charge of selecting the closures. packed streets with wall-to- over the place,” said Golden. retail space and residential de- corridor for much of the com- Leading up to the May 13 announcement, Fos- wall congestion, not to men- “So in Downtown Brooklyn, velopment — in part by allow- mercial development that would sella and other officials touted the 35,000 new re- which is already congested, it PAGE 7 ing buildings to rise up to 400 occur with the proposed ac- cruits that pass through the base each year as well tion deplete an already bleak will just continue to go on. feet. tions,” it states, before adding: as the $1.3 million saved annually by providing parking situation, a traffic They’ll need more meter maids, But according to a draft envi- “The east-bound left-turn move- space on the base for the Army Corps of Engineers, expert and an elected official which will cost taxpayers more Where ronmental impact statement for ment from Willoughby Street which would otherwise be faced with renting pri- warned this week. money.” the Downtown Brooklyn Plan onto Flatbush Avenue Extension vate property at the expense of taxpayers. State Sen. Marty Golden, of The failure of U.N. officials and how released in November 2003, experiences congestion in all But most crucial, they say, is the fort’s unique Bay Ridge, who blocked a vote and foreign diplomats to repay to tan whose authors could not have peak periods.” See FORT HAM on page 12 in Albany over whether to allow parking violations, he said, is foreseen the added impact of the See CLOGGED on page 15 ©The Brooklyn Papers.

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