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Yo u r Neighborhood — Yo u r News® BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260–2500 • Brooklyn, NY • ©2012 Serving Brownstone Brooklyn, Williamsburg & Bay Ridge AWP/12 pages • Vol. 35, No. 8 • February 24–March 1, 2012 • FREE BOROUGH FALL Pedestrians: Downtown plaza a tripping hazard By Kate Briquelet Instead, they’re filling gap- The Brooklyn Paper ing holes with orange traffic A stroll through the plaza in cones. front of Borough Hall is no walk “People are always tripping in the park — it’s more like a trip over here,” said Jason Alfred, through a minefield, Downtown who works near Adams Street. workers allege. “They’re scared for their lives.” Angry pedestrians say the city Borough President Markow- must replace the broken bluestone itz said that he won’t consider sidewalks in front of Borough Hall another material to replace the Photo by Stefano Giovannini with uglier, cheaper asphalt — bluestone, saying that the historic Rose-Emma Lunderman — a barista at Root Hill Cafe in Gowanus — is one of three calling for function over fashion character of Brooklyn’s City Hall Brooklynites vying for the title of espresso master this weekend at the Northeast Re- before another person falls and must be maintained. gional Barista Championship. breaks a bone. “I wish the city could give my “This is deplorable!” said Su- office the budget so we can be san Detrich, who often traverses responsible for the upkeep,” he the pock-marked plaza, which said. “But in the meantime, we government workers sometimes will strongly urge [the city] to use for parking. “If you don’t glue make the necessary repairs.” COFFEE CLASH Still, no slapdash repair jobs your eyes to the ground, you’ll step into a hole. Forget about how have been enough to protect the Brooklyn baristas take on nation’s best it looks — let’s patch it up.” two-inch bluestone — which can The broken slate surrounding run up to $15 a square foot — By Kate Briquelet ing more than 100 hours grind- The hometown favorite will the People’s House in Columbus against heavy foot traffic, win- The Brooklyn Paper ing beans and frothing milk in battle 28 other doyens of the Park has been a perilous crossing ter wear , and government vehi- This Gowanus barista is do- preparation for the Northeast demitasse at a chichi Manhat- for years, but neither the Borough cles that park on the crumbling ing everything she can to win Regional Barista Champion- tan showroom for a shot at the President nor the Parks Depart- walkways . the cup. ship this weekend. national title this spring. ment has snagged the funds for a Two years ago, a 71-year-old Rose-Emma Lunderman “This is a craft versus going to And Lunderman, who has full reconstruction for the plaza woman fell and landed in the hos- has put her brews, sweat and Starbucks and pressing one but- worked at Root Hill Cafe on bounded by Joralemon, Court, Community Newspaper Group / Kate Briquelet pital for a fractured hip , prompt- tears into becoming Ameri- ton — every little thing counts,” Fourth Avenue for the past eight Johnson and Adams streets and Jason Alfred and M.D. Diallo say they’ve stumbled over Bor- ing the city to fill some holes with ca’s espresso master — spend- said Lunderman. See BARISTAS on page 2 Cadman Plaza West. ough Hall’s loose bluestone many times. See TRIP on page 2 Tracking stink Passed over Sewer pipe sensors could give Despite concerns, Bridge Park’s real-time data on Canal waste walkway won’t get high fence By Daniel Bush The Brooklyn Paper Cleaning the By Natalie O’Neill ing for a bill that requires the city to in- The city says it will finally fig- The Brooklyn Paper stall inward-curved, 8-foot-tall fences ure out just how much noxious-smell- A proposed city law intended to pro- on footbridges crossing over streets ing sewage is pouring into the Gow- Gowanus tect walkers, cyclists and drivers from after attacks against cyclists from a anus Canal. projectile-hurling delinquents would walkway between two Fort Greene The Department of Environmen- flood beyond their capacity. require pedestrian overpasses to be housing projects and a Manhattan in- tal Protection will install sensors in- “We need better data so that we can flanked with tall fencing — except for cident in which children dropped a File photo by Bess Adler side two large pipes along the polluted accurately measure when sewer over- The proposed footbridge into the expensive footbridge planned to shopping cart onto a woman . New meters inside of the pipes waterway that will help wastewater flows happen in real time,” said the Brooklyn Bridge Park won’t connect Brooklyn Heights with Brook- The proposed legislation applies that spew waste into the Gow- experts keep tabs on the quantity of agency’s Commissioner Carter Strick- have a fence tall enough to lyn Bridge Park. to “bridges between buildings” and anus Canal will monitor exactly household sewage and stormwater land. “These new sensors should give prevent people from throwing Eleven councilmembers including overpasses “under the jurisdiction” how much crud gets dumped that drain into the inlet during heavy us that critical information so that we things off it. Brad Lander (D–Park Slope) are push- See BRIDGE on page 2 into the polluted waterway. storms, when the area’s aging sewers See GOWANUS on page 9 Developer: No parking, no problem Planned parking-free development near Barclays Center stokes fear By Daniel Bush age car owners from moving to the traffic- he claims he couldn’t provide the spots The Brooklyn Paper clogged streets near the soon-to-be-finished if he wanted to because his lot isn’t large A developer promises he’s doing the home of the Brooklyn Nets. enough to accommodate the planned build- community a favor by not including park- “We want to make it a better neigh- ing as well as street-level spaces or an un- ing at his planned 55-unit apartment build- borhood,” said Domansky, who is plan- derground garage. ing across the street from the Barclays ning a $20-million five-story luxury rental But neighbors of the rental complex Center, but Prospect Heights residents say complex that will replace the blue, tri- claim its tenants won’t stop driving because he’s only making things worse. angle-shaped Bergen Tile factory, which the building lacks parking — they’ll just Martin Domansky claims he wants to Photo by Stefano Giovannini closed in 2008. park on the street instead, taking precious do away with required on-site parking at A new building will replace the Ber- Domansky will need a variance to skirt spaces away from other drivers in Pros- his proposed apartment building on Flat- gen Tile factory opposite the arena city regulations requiring him to build pect Heights who will soon compete with bush Avenue and Dean Street to discour- — and it won’t have parking. roughly two dozen parking spaces — and See PARKING on page 9 Grimm hire under fi re Picks a staffer scarred by scandal, death Proposed locations for bike-sharing kiosks (black dots) By Dan MacLeod exclude much of North Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Paper Rep. Michael Grimm added to the controversies already swirling Rep’s tough month around his office when he hired a By Dan MacLeod director who played a Dyker Heights activist who once The Brooklyn Paper role in a political pa- OFF CYCLE used her political connections to Rep. Michael tronage scandal that Photo by Stefano Giovannini get her husband a construction job Grimm couldn’t find ended in a teenage City cuts swaths of W’burg, Some Williamsburg residents are outraged about noise — a gig in which his incompetent any love in February. girl’s death. from the Lorimer Street gay bar Metropolitan. management was blamed for the During the month But the Bay Ridge death of a 17-year-old-girl. the Bay Ridge Repub- Republican, a former Greenpoint from bike share Fran Vella-Marrone, a Con- lican has deflected alle- Marine, has no prob- servative party leader, and the gations that he broke cam- lem firing back at his op- By Aaron Short program this week. president of the Dyker Heights paign finance laws and did ponents. The Brooklyn Paper But the proposal omitted bike Sound & fury kiosks east of Bushwick Ave- Civic Association, lobbied for- business with partners who have Here’s a breakdown of his Sharing pedals is going to be mer School Construction Author- criminal records; had to deal most recent battles: easy in North Brooklyn — un- nue and McGuinness Boulevard, Complaints about gay bar ity Trustee Paul Atanasio to give with a recent staffer’s arrest; • The New York Times al- less you live in East Williams- where an estimated 30,000 tran- her husband Gary a job to oversee and then hired a new district See TOUGH on page 9 burg and parts of Greenpoint. sit-starved residents live, accord- By Aaron Short unanimously rejected a Lorimer rehab work on PS 131 in Borough Department of Transporta- ing to 2010 Census data. The Brooklyn Paper Street gay bar’s request for a li- Park in 1998 — an ethics violation tion officials proposed about That means when the bicy- A Williamsburg gay bar is un- quor license renewal last week that ultimately led to the death of A city investigation into the sion” led to Zhao’s death. 300 possible bike share loca- cle sharing program hits the der fire — and neighbors say it’s over complaints that the boisterous 17-year-old Yan Zhen Zhao, who accident determined that a “le- Investigators blamed Atanasio tions in Brooklyn, including streets this spring, no one will not because they’re proud, it’s Metropolitan bar keeps its neigh- was killed when a brick falling thal combination of incompetent for giving Gary Marrone the job, 20 on Bedford Avenue in Wil- be able to hop on a rental at the just because they’re loud.