New Development Will Add a Full-Service Restaurant and Other Tenants to Already Vibrant Retail Corridor in Booming Neighborhood

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz today announced that United American Land will develop 49,000 square feet of retail space in the City-owned Brooklyn Municipal Building at 210 Joralemon Street in Downtown Brooklyn.

United American Land will transform the western portion of the first, second, and below-grade floors of the space; creating a lively, pedestrian-friendly, and unique retail space that will serve as an anchor for the Court Street retail corridor in the City’s third largest Central Business District.

While tenants have not yet been selected, there will be multiple retail tenants in the space and one of them will be a full-service restaurant. Construction is expected to begin in 2012, and the project will create 64 full-time construction jobs and 114 permanent jobs.

The space is currently being occupied by the Department of Finance, which will relocate and consolidate within the building and to other City-owned space. This development will build upon the City’s efforts to revitalize Downtown Brooklyn and is a product of a City initiative, announced in the 2010 State of the City Speech, to use space it owns and leases more efficiently.

The Brooklyn Municipal Building is a 13-story, 383,000 square foot structure erected in 1925 and designed by architects Mckenzie, Voorhees & Gmelin.  Adjacent to the iconic Brooklyn Borough Hall, the site has excellent transit access and is served by 14 subway lines, 16 buses, and yields over 1,800 pedestrians per midday hour.  The area around the building is a vibrant mix of cultural and community organizations, civic and academic institutions, commercial and residential buildings, all interspersed with open space.

Since its rezoning in 2004, Downtown Brooklyn has been undergoing a dynamic transformation as a result of billions of dollars in public and private investments, and has become a shopping and dining destination attracting more than 150,000 shoppers daily.

Already one of the city’s most active central business districts, Downtown Brooklyn is home to one of the busiest retail corridors in the nation and more than 100,000 office workers, over 40 arts and cultural organizations, as well as eight universities and colleges educating some 57,000 students. 

Since 2006, Downtown Brooklyn has experienced some 7.8 million square feet of development including over 590,000 square feet of retail space and 236,000 square feet of office space. This space will complement and add to the growing retail landscape in Downtown Brooklyn.

Major retailers have opened nearby and many more projects are underway. The first phase of the nearby CityPoint development includes 50,000 square feet of retail and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2012. DeKalb Market, an open-air market occupies the space where future phases of the CityPoint development will occur.

After being closed for three weeks, the Harlem School of the Arts reopened Saturday April 24th, 2010.

Mayor Bloomberg said, “With the help of dedicated New Yorkers, private funders and arts education advocates working together with the City and local officials, the Harlem School of the Arts is now on a path to a new and sustainable future, and that’s great news for everyone.”

Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer added, “The Harlem School of the Arts is an important cultural institution, and I am very pleased that the Bloomberg Administration, the City Council, the Department of Cultural Affairs, and local advocates have been able to work together to save the invaluable contributions that the School will now be able to continue to provide,”

“For 45 years, the Harlem School of the Arts has been an integral part of Harlem’s and the City’s cultural community, providing invaluable arts education to thousands of students,” said Mayor Bloomberg.

Mayor Bloomberg fulfilled a 2010 State of the City pledge today by providing New Yorker’s with access to free legal services if they are in danger of foreclosure.  In the 2010 State of the City address, Mayor Bloomberg pledged to launch the most ambitious home foreclosure prevention effort of any city in the nation.  The program will be implemented by NYC Service, and will increase the availability and effectiveness of free legal representation for those facing foreclosure by training and dispatching 300 volunteer attorneys to expand legal services provided by non-profit organizations.

“The City’s legal community has a long, proud history of pro bono work, and we are tapping into that tradition to bolster our comprehensive effort to prevent foreclosures,” said Mayor Bloomberg.

NYC Service Legal Outreach aims to recruit 300 volunteer attorneys over the next three months.

Volunteer attorneys do not need expertise in real estate law to be a part of the program. All volunteer attorneys will be supported by a comprehensive foreclosure and litigation skills training program, an up-to-date website that will include substantial resources on foreclosure work, and daily supervision by experienced legal services staff.

JOIN the NYC Service Legal Outreach

Volunteer attorneys can participate in the program in two ways:

• 100 volunteer attorneys will be stationed at appropriate courthouses to screen homeowners and provide them critical counsel about which legal process to engage in, based on their individual situations. In addition, these screeners will assist families in attaining appropriate free legal representation. The volunteers conducting screening may also provide limited advice and counsel to homeowners wishing to represent themselves.  Attorneys will participate in one day of training and serve a minimum of two days volunteering at courthouses.
• 200 volunteer attorneys will be directly matched with individual homeowners and will advocate for individual homeowners throughout the foreclosure settlement process. Attorneys will participate in one day of training and several court appearances over the course of several months.

Thanks to the great reporting by Juan Gonzalez!

Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn –

“Governor Paterson’s proposal to increase the MTA payroll tax on New York City employers by nearly 60% is outrageous and simply unfair.

“The additional tax increase on City employers – including businesses, the non-profit sector, and the City government – would suffocate growth and job creation in the City just as we are on the cusp of recovery from worst economic downturn in generations. City employers should not have to pay for forecasting errors by State Dept of Taxation and Finance.

“The transit system benefits not just employers in the City, but also those in the suburban MTA counties where many users of MTA commuter railroads and busses live and work.  Those communities will suffer as well if job creation is choked off by an inequitable tax burden on City employers.

“Enough is enough. We urge in the strongest possible terms that the Governor and Legislature reconsider this proposal.”

Transportation Committee Chair James Vacca –

“Only weeks ago the Governor stated that he would not raise taxes, and here he is putting forth a multimillion-dollar tax increase that not only unfairly targets New York City, but also hits local businesses at a time when thousands of people are desperate for a job. Meanwhile, we continue to see reports of cost overruns, uncollected fees, and general mismanagement at the MTA. Raising taxes so we can throw more money at this agency is obviously not the answer.”

Finance Committee Chair Domenic M. Recchia, Jr. –

“Tax increases and vital service cuts on a City crawling into economic stability is offensive. Now, the governor has proposed to raise the mobility tax for New York City, but to spare all New Yorkers above the Bronx and east of Queens. We in the City of New York will not stand for clear unequal treatment.

“The City Council saw this MTA budget crisis coming and we proposed a plan that would help alleviate their deficit, a plan that would save student metro cards, save our senior transportation and not raise our mobility tax. Our tolls, metro fares and taxes are already some of the highest in the state.

“I am going to work with our City’s Assembly and Senate representatives in Albany to ensure we are treated fairly and we will not be taken advantage.”

State and Federal Legislation Chair Helen Diane Foster –

“The proposed mobility tax increase will strangle our City’s economic recovery and hurt growth in our neighborhoods. We will not allow for a state budget that disproportionately harms our City. Cutting our city’s vital services, while still raising taxes puts an unfair burden on New Yorkers.

“I will work side by side with our representatives in Albany to ensure we are given a fair and balanced budget in the state.”

“First the Governor proposed a state budget that slashes support for New York City but not the suburbs, and now he proposes to wallop city businesses with more taxes while lightening the load for businesses in the suburbs. The idea that the State can spare the suburbs while sacking the City is terrible economics, grossly unfair, and contrary to every principle of good regional development. We in New York City saw the MTA’s problems coming and came up with a plan that would have created a steady stream of revenue for capital programs. Now the Governor proposes to shift an extra half billion dollar burden onto New York City taxpayers, who are the economic heart of our region. I will work night and day with our City’s delegation in Albany to stop this wrongheaded proposal from moving forward.“

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1JNMRy_cNM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgyeyvoI7M4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx1nDuKH5nc

Here is some video of City Council Woman Speaker Quinn at a rally on October 1st 2009, calling on the Rent Guidelines Board to act.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rK_go2iucw

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“Earlier this month, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (“DEC”) issued draft rules governing natural gas drilling without banning this dangerous activity in the watershed supplying drinking water to New York City. We needed the strongest possible environmental protection, and instead we got half measures.

The first step has been taken toward correcting this mistake. The State announced yesterday evening that a public hearing will be held in New York City, at Stuyvesant High School, the evening of November 10. That will be the place for State officials to hear from the people of New York City. We have 47 days left before the end of the public comment period to demand a ban on gas drilling in the Catskill / Delaware watershed. I am confident that once New Yorkers have spoken their piece, sanity will be restored, and hydraulic fracturing will be banned in the watershed.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZSHUBG47ks

]]> http://TheDailyNewYorker.com/news/council-member-gale-brewer-discusses-the-hazards-of-bed-bugs/feed 2 http://TheDailyNewYorker.com/news/mayoral-candidate-rev-billy-talen http://TheDailyNewYorker.com/news/mayoral-candidate-rev-billy-talen#comments Fri, 04 Sep 2009 22:14:51 +0000 JW http://thedailynewyorker.com/?p=663

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vtCZ9f_x44

Learn more about Rev. Billy’s campaign at their website.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzC3QI8JenU

From their site:

NYC CAN now calls upon its thousands of members and millions aware of the egregious inadequacy of the 9/11 Commission Report to help ensure our fight for a real investigation does not go unnoticed by the larger public. Nearly 80,000 New Yorkers have put pen to paper to call for the right of all New Yorkers to vote an impartial, independent investigation into existence. This momentous step forward in the quest for truth about September 11th will be looked upon with admiration across the globe. Through the ages those who have fought for justice did not win by backing down when their government said no. We will continue this fight and future efforts with the same determination that has gotten us to where we stand today.

The Summer of 2009 will be remembered as a very rainy season full of thunder, lightning and perhaps after tonight a renewed respect for trees. After only a few short weeks since Google engineer Sasha Blair-Goldensohn was hit by a falling tree branch and knocked into a coma; this evening’s thunderstorm caused property damage along Manhattan’s Central Park West. Uprooted trees knocked over street lamps, signs, smashed cars, and blocked the length of CPW and the upper 90′s. thankfully there have been no reported injuries.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fnPKRqF8P8

“No one should have to live near something as filthy, and potentially dangerous, as this swamp, and the time for pretending that someone else is going to clean up this mess is over. This has been a problem for years, and now poses a real hazard to the New Yorkers that live nearby. As we enter the height of mosquito season and the threat from the West Nile virus increases, the city needs to take immediate action to drain and clean the swamp and protect local residents.”  Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum said.

The City Department of Health (DOHMH) detected the West Nile Virus in NYC mosquitoes for the first time this season, collecting the mosquitoes from Ferry Point Park in the Bronx. In the past 10 years, 28 Bronx residents have tested positive for neuro-invasive diseases due to West Nile Virus, such as encephalitis – an inflammation of the brain or spinal cord – and flu-like illnesses.

Mike Medina, a resident of one of the buildings located directly on the swamp, said, “We can’t open our windows because of the mosquitoes, and we constantly worry about the young and the elderly getting bitten, especially now with the threat of West Nile. We can’t spend time outside or have barbeques in summer– it’s like living in a prison.“

Wally Nash, a community leader and ACORN member, said, “The swamp is
1.5 miles long and growing, after 4 years of inaction. Dead animals and a human body were found in the tunnel part of the swamp. We can’t let people get sick while the city tries to identify who is responsible– they must clean the swamp right away.”

In its announcement last week, DOHMH recommended certain measures to reduce exposure to mosquitoes, such as: “Eliminate any standing water from your property as they are breeding sites for mosquitoes…Standing water is a violation of the New York City Health Code.” But, as Public Advocate Gotbaum noted, the city has allowed a substantial volume of standing water to accumulate and fester under its watch: “To issue this warning to individual property owners while tolerating an enormous case of standing water on abandoned grounds is the height of hypocrisy. The city’s failure to make the connection between the swamp and its own health advisory is an insult to all residents of Mott Haven.”

Between the Bruckner Expressway and St. Mary’s Park in the South Bronx, a stretch of abandoned railroad tracks has evolved into a swamp, filled with trash, vermin, and muddy water. According to a Daily News article, the tracks were part of a rail line operated by a private company until 2004. Now, there is no clear ownership over the tracks, and the city has yet to take responsibility for maintaining them.

In April, the Public Advocate visited the swamp and called on the city to clean it up before mosquito season. On a visit to the tracks, representatives from the Public Advocate’s office spotted running rats, animal carcasses, and swarms of mosquitoes rising above the filthy muck.

“DOE has created an environment that both encourages cheating and allows the Mayor to claim achievements that cannot be verified,” Comptroller and Mayoral candidate Bill Thompson says regarding a recent audit of the Department of Education.

“My office raised a number of questions about inconclusive records of monitor visits, checklists, and reporting of testing irregularities, and the Department offered excuses equivalent to ‘the dog ate my homework,’ even including explanations that monitors have other duties and often have to cancel because of other responsibilities,” Thompson said.

Among the audit’s findings:

• The Department failed to keep track of monitors who were required to be at schools and complete mandatory checklists to ensure test integrity. Often, those monitors showed up late, or didn’t show up at all.
• Monitors indicated they oversaw certain activities that they could not possibly have been able to monitor. Seventy one percent of monitoring forms indicated “yes” to questions that were impossible for monitors to answer.
• The Department stopped performing data trend or erasure analysis to identify possible cheating or testing irregularities in 2002.
• Portions of tests remain at schools for many days, increasing the risk of being inappropriately manipulated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMsD4WFUij8

Additionally, monitors did not always ensure that test administration procedures were followed. Monitors are required to arrive at assigned schools by 7:30 AM to ensure that test booklets are still in shrink-wrapped packaging and secured in a locked place.
However, auditors found that 32% of monitors arrived at the schools after that time; 16% arrived at or after 8:00 AM; and, one arrived as late as 10:20 AM.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a5JyHvYhUo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYBMBBMdzCU

The section of Hudson Street between Perry and West 11th Streets is now known as “Jane Jacobs Way”, in honor of writer and activist Jane Jacobs. Jacobs championed new, community based approaches to planning for over 40 years, and has inspired generations of urban activists.

“If not for Jane Jacobs, New York City would be a much less humane, less textured and less neighborhood-friendly place,” said U.S. Congressman Jerrold Nadler, “Long before her contemporaries, Jacobs recognized that cities were made for people, and she worked tirelessly to ensure that the Village maintained its neighborhood history, identity and community.”

“The place where we stand today, and the face of New York City itself, would be dramatically different if not for the pioneering work of Jane Jacobs,” said Speaker Christine C. Quinn. “She taught generations of New Yorkers that communities standing together have the power to triumph over destructive outside interests. Her legacy lives on today in the work of Doris Diether, and all those who fight to preserve the quality of life for their fellow New Yorkers.”

Born in Pennsylvania, Jacobs moved to New York City during The Great Depression. During the 1960s she became involved in urban activism, spearheading local efforts to oppose the top-down neighborhood clearing and highway building championed by New York City Parks Commissioner Robert Moses.

In 1962 she became chair of the Joint Committee to Stop the Lower Manhattan Expressway, in reaction to Moses’ plans to build a highway through Manhattan’s Washington Square Park and West Village. Her efforts to stop the expressway led to her arrest during a demonstration in 1968, and the campaign is often considered one of the turning points in the development of New York City.

“The influence of Jane Jacobs can be felt here in Greenwich Village, New York City as a whole, and across the country,” said Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, “Jane Jacobs was someone who understood the human aspect of city life and knew how to preserve our neighborhoods as livable communities.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BCOkftt86E

“Jane Jacobs and Doris Diether have both been an inspiration to me and generations of others who care about neighborhoods and the built environment,” said Council Member Rosie Mendez, “These grand dames of preservation have known how to speak truth to power – and in a voice that power can hear. I am proud to have fought by Doris’ side on many issues and to follow the proud legacy.”

“Jane Jacobs, the original champion of the livable city, taught us the critical importance of diversity in our communities, and showed us the pivotal neighborhood role played by small businesses and the arts,” said Council Member Alan J. Gerson, “We should still be fighting to implement her theories; they are more relevant now than ever.”

“Jane Jacobs’ understanding of urban landscapes and passion for sustaining their dynamism and diversity continue to guide and influence the Commission to this day,” said Landmarks Preservation Chairman Robert B. Tierney. “I am very pleased that her legacy will be commemorated on the block where she lived, wrote and waged her successful fight to save Greenwich Village.”

“It’s hard to believe that Jane Jacob’s ground-breaking work, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, was published almost 50 years ago. The ideas that she presented, are as fresh today as they were, heretical, then,” said Community Board 2 Chair Jo Hamilton, “When she passed away in 2006, Ms. Jacobs was lauded nationally and internationally, for her transformational work as an urban theorist. She articulated a vision of planning that was rooted in acknowledging the ‘expertise’ of the ‘locals’ – and rebuked the Robert Moses’ model of reliance on the ‘out of touch’ professionals. Those tributes are in history books around the world.”

The defeat of the Lower Manhattan Expressway was an important victory for the local community and an instigator of Moses’ fall from power. Jacobs’ harsh criticism of “slum-clearing” and high-rise housing projects was also instrumental in discrediting these once universally supported planning practices. Jacobs is also known for her influential book ‘The Death and Life of American Cities’.