Greenpoint
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Culture on the Cheap
New York Shitty Day Starter: The American Playground
Kicking off this sunny— if brisk— weekend I present to you this bit of leisure time captured at the American Playground yesterday.
For those of you who are wondering, the area adjacent to 49 Noble Street is still cordoned off due to falling debris. For those of you keeping track this makes over three months and counting.
It would appear, however, that some kind of detritus catcher has been put in place. What can we expect in the way of action to follow this most auspicious development?
If this (from the Department of Buildings web site) is any indication, I’d say not much.
Miss Heather
The Word On The Street: Dyke
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, The Word On The Street
This item hails from Franklin Street and serves as good opportunity as any to remind everyone about tonight’s benefit for Barie Shortell, The Gay Bash, at Blackout Bar. You can get all the deets by clicking here. otherwise the inimitable Steven Thrasher has a really nice interview with Mr. Shortell over at the Village Voice. Check it out!
Miss Heather
Spotted On Franklin Street: Grand Opening
I spied this while running errands this morning and felt it would be of interest to my fellow north ‘Pointers: a bodega has opened shop at 214 Franklin Street. I did not have the wherewithal to pop in (I got soaked while strolling the waterfront*) but at a casual glance it appears to sport the usual fare: diapers, toiletries, basic groceries with a little produce tossed in for fair measure.
New Bodega (no name given)
214 Franklin Street
Brooklyn, New York 11222
Miss Heather
*No worries, I have some seriously neat treats to share from my jaunt!
From The New York Shitty Inbox: A Dispatch From The Astral
Filed under: 11222, Criminal Activity, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic
A tipster (who sent me the above photo) writes:
This is why I always lock my door when I am home. It goes without saying that I lock it when leaving the apartment. My neighbor noticed it, too, but had no ideas as to which apartment it was. I’m guessing the note writers didn’t want to divulge that information. No idea if the police, the landlord or the super were informed.
Unrelated to that, she also told me that last summer shots were fired outside the building. She called the police. I had heard the noise but was unsure of what it was. The police came and found the gun tossed into one of the garbage cans out front. Yikes.
Sigh. Feel free to share the note photo via NYS if you like.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. While Greenpoint is one of the safest neighborhoods in the city bad things and can do happen here. I cannot over-emphasize how important it is that we s citizens take simple precautions such as keeping the front doors of our buildings and individual apartments closed and locked. As the above anecdote clearly proves there are people here waiting for the right opportunity to cause trouble.
Miss Heather
Presenting D.O.G.G.O.Ne.
Some of you might recall that yours truly received a rather disgruntled email from a dog owner regarding the ban on dogs at Barge Park Playground and dearth of dog runs in north Greenpoint in general. Well, instead of merely complaining my friend T has decided to do something about it! To this end he has created Dog Owners Group of Greenpoint on Newtown, or, DOGGONe. Although I have already updated my prior blog post with information about this endeavor I will do so here again. T writes:
Ok, we’re in business! I’ve named the group D.O.G.G.O.NE – Dog Owners Group Greenpoint on Newtown
here’s the link to the yahoo group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/doggone_brooklyn
email address is doggone_brooklyn@yahoogroups.com
Miss Heather
From The New York Shitty Inbox: No Dogs Allowed At Barge Park?
My friend T (who hails from Eagle Street and sent me the above photo) writes:
Well, another dog friendly park bites the dust. I discovered this on Sunday morning as I sauntered over to Newton Barge Park for my routine morning walk with my dog around the lovely concrete. As I approached the park I noticed a bunch of Park employees doing their usual Sunday morning clean up. What I did not notice was the new sign, a photo of which is attached. I was bee-lining for the entrance when from about 30 yards away a Parks dude starts gesticulating and pointing. I thought it might be epilepsy..no words were issuing from his mouth…but then his colleague also started gesticulating and pointing.
Concerned, I shot them a “What??” They responded with more gesticulating and pointing. I re-iterated my query. One of them managed to utter “Read the sign” to which I replied “I can read…how about you talk to me like a human being and explain what’s going on”. To which I got more pointing and gesticulating. When I finally convinced one of these dudes that I wasn’t going to just sulk away with my and my dog’s tails between our legs, he came over and said “I don’t want to get political with you, but we got so many 311 calls after the snow about dog crap in the park that we had to do this”.
My God… THEY HAD TO! If only there were some law….something on the books that might be used to discourage these fecal polluters…some tool or mechanism for those burdened to Protect And Serve us to use to quell this tide of irresponsible dog owners. I mean, maybe the giant sign that says CURB YOUR DOG 1,000 DOLLAR FINE which has been there for years is just someone’s idea of a silly joke. Must be since I’ve never seen anyone get a ticket.
What I want to understand, given that there is not a SINGLE other enclosed, dog-friendly park in Northern Greenpoint, is how the Parks Department goes from “We’ve got complaints” to “Shut down that park for dogs” without first trying to actually enforce their laws. I mean, no one enforces all the non-dog related laws in that park – the littering, the loitering, the drinking, the glass, etc etc, yet they haven’t closed the park to humans.
Here were the options I was given by the Parks dude:
1) Go to McCarren Park. Uh huh. I could also drive Westchester…probably be just as practical
2) There’s gonna be a new park on Commerical Ave. Uh huh..you meant the one that the MTA is making no signs of evacuating?
3) The new park on Greenpoint Ave will be open in December. Thanks, man! My dog only shits bi-annually so that will come right in handy
4) Go screw yourself. Yup, that’s the one that works for me!Fortunately, I talked to Mr. Moustache* (Community Board 1’s Public Safety Chair, Mieszko Kalita — Ed. Note) at Beata this morning. He said that if I organized an official group of dog owners and than came to a CB1 meeting and presented a request for a dog run, that the city would actually give me fencing, wood chips, garbage pails, a lock, etc, as well as a parcel of land, and then I could run my own dog park. So, help me spread the word, Heather! I need about 20 dog owners who are willing to start some kind of loose group to run a dog park.
Here’s the deal: one of the items on the ballot regarding the funds allocated by the Department of Environmental Conservation to foster parks development/improvement in communities impacted by the Shit Tits was a dog run at Barge Park. I, despite not being a dog owner, voted for it because as my friend has clearly pointed out one is clearly needed! Certainly there are twenty north Greenpoint dog lovers reading this who would like to see a dog run in our fair corner of the neighborhood? Anyone?
Update, 8:16 p.m.: T has started laying a foundation to get this endeavor rolling. Here are the deets!
Ok, we’re in business! I’ve named the group D.O.G.G.O.NE – Dog Owners Group Greenpoint on Newtown
here’s the link to the yahoo group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/doggone_brooklyn
email address is doggone_brooklyn@yahoogroups.com
Miss Heather
*I can assure this is not at all derisive. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it is high praise. Yours truly happens to know for a fact that the idea of dedicating a Facebook fan page to this chap’s mustache has been bandied about. I’m not kidding.
From The New York Shitty Photo Pool, Part III: The Franklin Street Pinball Parlor Is Back!*
Taken by Gina Herold.
Miss Heather
*As first tipped off to yours truly back in 2009!
From The New York Shitty Inbox, Part II: Rats at the Astral?
Although I have asked this tipster for more information I feel compelled to “crowd-source” this item, which involves one of the Garden Spot’s more renowned buildings: none other than the Astral. J writes:
I’m sure you’ve seen the explosion of rats at the Astral since the blizzard. What can we do to get Astral Apts. or the city to remove the rats?
Actually I have not seen nor heard anything about this— thank god. However, I’d wager the woeful lack of garbage pick-up that followed our blizzard(s) has a lot to do with this. Since J has not indicated where these rats are to be found, I am going to presume they are within the Astral’s premises.
Here’s the deal: New York City apartment dwellers are to having a safe and “livable” domiciles per something called the “Warrant of Habitability”. Here’s a brief run-down of what this entails per RentLaw:
Tenants are entitled to a livable, safe and sanitary apartment. Lease provisions inconsistent with this right are illegal. Failure to provide heat or hot water on a regular basis, or to rid an apartment of insect infestation are examples of a violation of this warranty. Public areas of the building are also covered by the warranty of habitability. The warranty of habitability also applies to cooperative apartments, but not to condominiums. Any uninhabitable condition caused by the tenant or persons under his direction or control does not constitute a breach of the warranty of habitability. In such a case, it is the responsibility of the tenant to remedy the condition. (Real Property Law §235-b)
Although rats are not explicitly stated above, methinks it would be safe to presume they would be classified as vermin just as insects are. Now let’s take into account that the Astral is a rent-stabilized building and as such J’s means of recourse are a little different than regular New York City apartments. If (or when) this gentlemen calls 311 his complaint will be referred to an entity called Housing Preservation and Development. To keep it stupid simple, this agency oversees public housing and rent-stabilized apartments. This organization will send out an inspector to assess the problem. If he (or she) notes the presence of vermin the building owner will be notified and expected to fix the problem. Exactly how long this process will take is anyone’s guess.
If the problem is not addressed— and HPD has noted the presence of vermin tenants may file for a reduction of his (or her rent) via the Department of Housing and Community Renewal for (and I quote) “decreased services”. This can be filed for individual apartments or building-wide. You can view the requisite forms by clicking here. Yours truly has successfully done this in the past. Be advised it takes several months.
But hopefully it will not come to this for J and his neighbors. It goes without saying that the first thing he and his should do is contact the landlord. In the case of Pistilli Realty (and I have been told this by someone who residents in one of their buildings) the key is to be persistent!
In closing, this is a very general (and laywoman’s) synopsis of what recourse J has for this situation. It should go without saying that if the vermin problem persists he should enlist the services of an attorney. The previous caveat/disclaimer having been made, has anyone in the Astral noted the increased presences of rats? If so I would very much like to hear from you. Please send you accounts and/or photographs to: missheather (at) thatgreenpointblog (dot) com. It goes without saying your identity will remain anonymous if you so desire.
Thanks!
Miss Heather
NYS Flickr Pool
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