E I D BROOKLYN S PLUS I N Nightlife Where to SPA REPORT 2005 CALENDAR OF EVENTS BROOKLYN’S REAL NEWSPAPERS Including Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill Paper, The Downtown News, DUMBO and Fort Greene-Clinton Hill 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 • 18 pages •Vol. 28, No. 9 BWN • Saturday, February 26, 2005 • FREE EVEN MORE HOUSING Planners park low-rise homes below promenade By Jess Wisloski addition of housing as the pri- The Brooklyn Papers mary revenue generator. NOT JUST PARK Of particular concern has Those who attended the first pub- WATERFRONT DEVELOPMENT been the plan to build a 30- lic meeting on the redesigned plan story skyscraper near Pier 6 for the Brooklyn Bridge Park com- at Atlantic Avenue. mercial, recreational and housing Audience members who came to the meeting, jointly hosted Feb. 22 by Com- Not including the row-houses pro- development got a surprise Tuesday munity Boards 2 and 6 at Polytechnic posed for Furman Street, which runs be- night when an architect displayed a University in Metrotech, elicited “oohs” tween Old Fulton Street and Atlantic series of townhouses along Furman and “ahhs” mixed with grumbling and Avenue under the BQE, the new plan Street below the Brooklyn Heights head shaking. calls for the construction of 730 market- promenade, which he said planners When Urbanski explained that the rate co-op or condominium units to pay envision adding to the project. housing would serve to block sound off the annual park costs with their com- mon fees. from the noisy, cantilevered Brooklyn- Matt Urbanski, a member of the de- [The Brooklyn Papers reported last sign team led by landscape architect Queens Expressway beneath the prome- week that recent financial estimates Michael Van Valkenburgh, placed the se- nade and above Furman Street, a showed the park would likely need to / Jori Klein ries of three-dimentional pink rectangles woman in the audience interrupted, build more housing within 35 years to along the eastern perimeter of a model of shouting, “So you’ll deflect all the noise keep up with rising operating costs.] the 1.3-mile waterfront site. back into the Heights instead.” When Urbanski finished placing the The new homes sat between taller Urbanski said engineers specializing low-rise mock-ups along the park’s white models of four residential build- in noise abatement would study the ef- perimeter, he explained, “These [low- ings, including two skyscrapers, at each fects of the houses on both sides of the The Brooklyn Papers The Brooklyn rise] buildings are a direct response to end of the project. The recent addition of park. the feedback we got from the public,” Both high- and low-rise apartment complexes are being planned for the waterfront beneath the Brooklyn Heights promenade, those four buildings has created a storm Many of the roughly 300 people who but cautioned, “It’s in the middle of be- an area where both the city and state had promised to build a park to avoid such a development. Pictured above is the Brooklyn of debate among longtime park advo- came to the lightly publicized meeting ing explored right now.” Bridge Park planners’ model showing 30-story high-rise that would be built off Atlantic Avenue at Pier 6 and eight-story resi- cates who historically opposed the place- were keenly interested in the Brooklyn Urbanski touted the Furman Street dence behind it. The buildings surround 360 Furman St., which the Watchtower Society sold for condo development. ment of housing along the waterfront. Bridge Park Development Corporation’s development as a positive way to in- crease the value of the middle section of the park, and create a safer street atmos- phere for foot traffic without hindering views from Brooklyn Heights and the promenade, which are protected under landmark regulations. “It would make basically Furman Public gets first look at new plan Mews, like Furman Street’s nice cousin,” he said of the new road that would be created on the park side of the new By Jess Wisloski meeting included Borough President buildings. He also noted that the difficul- The Brooklyn Papers Marty Markowitz, Councilmen David ties of building next to the cantilevered The presentation of the latest design Yassky and Bill DeBlasio, state Sen. highway were many, starting with no ac- Martin Connor, Assemblywoman Joan cess to light from the BQE-facing sides for Brooklyn Bridge Park, the pro- Millman and a representative for Con- of the buildings. posed waterfront commercial, recrea- gresswoman Nydia Velazquez. Asked during a brief question-and- tional and housing project, were re- The meeting, hosted by community answer period at the end of the meeting ceived with mixed enthusiasm during boards 2 and 6 was, as CB6 Chairman how many stories might be shaved from an open meeting at Polytechnic Uni- Jerry Armer explained, “a chance for our the 30-story tower if development on versity Tuesday night. community to learn about the plans first- Furman commenced, Wendy Leventer, But more prevalent than scornful hisses hand — not just read about them — but president of the Brooklyn Bridge Park or tentative applause from the audience — get them directly from the designers and Development Corp. (BBPDC), a sub- comprised of a smattering of residents the development corporation.” sidiary of the Empire State Develop- from Park Slope, Cobble Hill, Fulton Fer- “A county of Kings deserves an emer- ment Corp. charged with designing and ry, Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO and other ald jewel like the Brooklyn Bridge Park operating the park, said she wasn’t sure. outlying areas — was the ongoing repri- in her crown,” said Markowitz of the 1.3- / Jori Klein / Jori Klein / Jori Klein But in a press briefing that morning, mand that representatives of the Brooklyn mile development plan. BBPDC consultant Tom Montvel-Co- Bridge Park Development Corporation But Millman, who lives in Brooklyn hen told reporters that Pier 6 was likely (BBPDC) received for excluding the gen- Heights, was more critical of the plan and to remain built up, regardless of addi- eral public from meetings to discuss the the process by which it was reshaped. tional housing along Furman Street. plans, which have been held privately since “This is the first meeting we’ve had in Papers The Brooklyn Papers The Brooklyn Papers The Brooklyn “First of all, it’s all very nice to draw the redesign was unveiled on Dec. 18. too long a period of time,” said the Brown- From left, at Tuesday’s meeting: Matthew Urbanski, of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc.; Wendy Leventer, president of boxes on a plan, but if there’s no market Elected officials who turned out for he See FIRST PARK LOOK on page 5 the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation; and lead Brooklyn Bridge Park designer Michael Van Valkenburgh. See MORE HOUSING on page 15 Slope kids bash ASPCA arrests American soldier ‘Hearts’ By Jotham Sederstrom According to the New York hardt, was reprimanded by JHS The Brooklyn Papers Post, which first reported the story 51 Principal Xavier Castelli. Kun- on Monday, one girl wrote that she hardt issued a statement of apolo- Aclass of Park Slope sixth- believes Jacobs is “being forced to gy through the Department of Ed- graders shocked the nation this kill innocent people” and chal- ucation. founder week when it was discovered lenged him to name an Iraqi terror- “The teacher acknowledges they had sent demoralizing let- ist, concluding, “I know I can’t.” that he made a mistake and the Deputy Schools Chancellor principal plans to add a letter of By Jess Wisloski ters to a soldier stationed near The Brooklyn Papers North Korea as part of a social Carmen Farina, the former super- reprimand to his file,” said Alicia studies assignment. intendent of Park Slope’s School Maxey Greene, a spokeswoman The founding director of a Brooklyn an- District 15, who has a nephew for the Department of Education. imal shelter was arrested Tuesday and charg- Several of the letters sent to Pfc. serving in Iraq, said on Tuesday Although Jacobs was not sta- Rob Jacobs by students from JHS ed with 11 counts of animal cruelty following that she would personally issue tioned in Iraq, it didn’t stop the an investigation by the American Society for 51, the William Alexander Middle an apology to the New Jersey sol- pint-size pundits from dashing off School, on Fifth Avenue at Fifth dier and his family. 21 mostly unhappy letters that the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Street, attacked soldiers for partici- The teacher who assigned the seemed to confirm every stereo- Carmello “Mel” Salamone, 51, of Mastick, pating in the war in Iraq. letter-writing project, Alex Kun- type of the liberal Park Slope Long Island, was picked up by 66th Precinct mindset and its widespread oppo- police on Fifth Avenue at 25th Street in Sunset sition to President Bush. While Park, one block south of where he turned over one wrote, simply, that she be- the carcass of a dead pit bull to animal res- Newsboxes removed lieved “this war is pointless,” oth- cuers on Jan. 31 following a raid on the facili- The Brooklyn Papers has ordered the temporary removal of its ty he helped organize. ers weren’t so easy on the 20-year- Callan / Tom on-the-street newsboxes in Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and old soldier. Salamone is charged with “overdriving, tor- Red Hook. While we believe much of the recent legislation reg- In one essay, a student wrote turing and injuring animals and failure to pro- ulating newsbox placement is unconstitutional, we are never- that soldiers were “destroying vide proper sustenance for animals,” according theless making a good-faith effort to comply with those rules.