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April 9, 2008
It came from the Blogosphere...
Curbed.com, Prospect Heights Residents Tired of Destructoporn
The Dean Street Block Association sent a letter to Gov. David Paterson and to the head of the Empire State Development Corp. asking for the bulldozers to take a time out until the status of the project is clear, lest the neighborhood be left with wide-open 1960s Urban Renewal-style cleared land that stays empty for a decade or two or three. It asks for "a moratorium on demolition until such time that the communities surrounding Atlantic Yards can be assured that rational decisions are being made to protect the area from the blight associated by dormant sites, over-scaled inefficiently situated construction staging, and surface parking lots." The ESDC, however, already appears to have indicated the demolition porn will keep coming.
NY Magazine, "Daily Intelligencer", Neighborhood Watch: Prospect Heights
Now that the area's massive Atlantic Yards project is stalled and may never be completed, locals want the state to freeze the demolition of buildings that were slated to come down…including these adorable (and, uh, occupied!) little townhouses. [Brownstoner]
Who Walk in Brooklyn, ¡Sunset Park No Se Vende! (& Other Two Fisted Tales)
Protest. As for the Brooklyn Museum of Art (a whore like the rest): we await their retrospective on the Architecture of Bruce Ratner, beginning with Metrotech & the so-called Atlantic ah, luxury!Center Mall. Perhaps one of the great real estate bloggers of today can write the monograph, since they regularly report on the full ethnic, environmental & economic range of Kings County. (Don’t they?) Surely, if somebody can tour a big box store in Red Hook without once writing the words “Municipal Solid Waste,” it’d be a cinch for them to whip up a quick social-cultural history of downtown Myrtle Avenue… or at least enough of one to compare before & after Bruce Ratner. (Who’s merely giving back hijacked taxpayer money in the first place, wake the fuck up.)
The Gowanus Lounge, Ratner Post-Gala: Did Marty's Wife "Hoarde" Murakami Swag?
The Brooklyn Museum Bruce Ratner Gala continues to produce interesting stories. Radar, which always entertains us, but doesn't often offer up Brooklyn fodder, is doing so in a big way with a story about the wife of a certain Brooklyn Borough President allegedly cornering the market on Murakami swag after the big, controversial event.
One commenter alleging firsthand knowledge asserts that the coverage is unfair, stating, "I was seated at their table and we willingly gave our 'swag' to Jamie."
Another grasped the metaphor:
Actually, a great story... reflects perfectly the current zeitgeist in Brooklyn. Grab as much as you can as fast as you can, and screw your neighbors.
Museum Hours, Museum Minutes: Special Brooklyn Museum Takashi Murakami Edition
Some news items surrounding the opening of the Murakami show in Brooklyn... protesters, performers, swag fights, mock fake handbags, MTV and a penthouse tour...
The Gowanus Lounge, More Brooklyn Museum Fun: Crowd-Curation Succeeds!
Brooklyn super-blogger Robert Guskind posted this item at both his paid and unpaid gigs:
A GL reader sent us this image that was submitted to the "Click!" crowd-curated photo exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. It's not clear whether it went in pre- or post-Bruce Ratner Gala furor, but it is certainly a statement in its own way and talks about the "changing face" of Brooklyn and "sterile condos, fusions restaurants, hand-bag poodles..." and the "irony of an art institution paying homage to such a changing face." Click over to our Curbed post to see the full image after the jump there, along with the warning that it's not a work or kids-looking-over-your shoulder kind of picture.
Posted by lumi at April 9, 2008 4:22 AM