Etchings at 9/11 Memorial Are Called Both Anguished Tributes and Vandalism - NYTimes.com

Etchings at 9/11 Memorial Are Called Both Anguished Tributes and Vandalism - NYTimes.com

The panels at the National September 11 Memorial containing the victims’ names must constantly be inspected for graffiti scratched into the bronze surfaces, a memorial spokesman said on Tuesday.

“While there have been instances when scratches have been discovered on the bronze panels of the memorial, our staff works very hard to address them immediately,” the spokesman, Michael Frazier, said in a statement. “The panels are cared for by hand and with a deep sense of responsibility and sensitivity by our dedicated staff.”

An article in The New York Post on Tuesday said that about “40 anguished messages” had been scratched into the panels, seemingly by victims’ friends and family members wanting to leave tributes.

Given that the messages were typically expressions of “love, grief and remembrance,” The Post said, “law-enforcement officials have declined to pursue investigations based on possible footage of the vandals in action.”

Continue reading the main story

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“There have been no reports of disrespectful scratchiti,” the article said.

Photo

The memorial bears the names of the dead in bronze. CreditHiroko Masuike/The New York Times

A visit to the memorial on Tuesday afternoon painted a different picture.

Brooklyn leads the city in job growth: Report - am New York

Brooklyn leads the city in job growth: Report - am New York
(Excerpt)
A report released Tuesday by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli found the borough's private sector employment spiked 19.8% between 2003 and 2012, the highest level on record and nearly double the amount of growth compared to the rest of the city, which was 10.6%.

To Hollywood, All Things Hip Lie in Brooklyn - NYTimes.com

To Hollywood, All Things Hip Lie in Brooklyn - NYTimes.com

(Excerpt)
“Manhattan has always told the story of aspiration and wealth,” said Laura Berning, a longtime location scout. “Now Brooklyn is telling the story of a really upwardly mobile person.”

To be sure, Brooklyn has had many cameos onscreen. There was the pink house on Rugby Road in “Sophie’s Choice.” The streets of Bay Ridge in “The French Connection.” A Coney Island roller coaster in “Annie Hall.” Brooklyn Heights in “Moonstruck.”

Dick Zigun: Surveying His Coney Island Realm

Dick Zigun: Surveying His Coney Island Realm - NYTimes.com

(Excerpt)
As the unofficial mayor of Coney Island, Dick Zigun, 61, craves the craziness of summer. He is the founder of Coney Island USA, which runs the Coney Island Museum, the Coney Island Circus Sideshow and the Mermaid Parade. He spends Sundays strolling the boardwalk, chatting with locals and tourists, eating hot dogs and checking out the rides. He also spends time with his wife, Patience Mukoro White, 50, who performs in the sideshow as an escape artist, as a glass walker and as Madame Twisto, a contortionist. They live with their cat, Buddy, in a Coney Island loft that is being renovated, a project that was delayed by Hurricane Sandy.

Brighton Beach, Coney Island About To Get More Handicap Accessible » Sheepshead Bay News Blog

Sheepshead Bites » Blog Archive Brighton Beach, Coney Island About To Get More Handicap Accessible » Sheepshead Bay News Blog
by Ned Berke on May 22nd, 2014
Gone are the days that the wheelchair-bound are limited to enjoying the beach from the brink of the boardwalk, rather than on the sand itself. In 2007, the city unveiled special mats that allowed the handicap and seniors better access to the water’s edge, and now the Parks Department is moving forward with plans to install three new locations.
The handicap- and senior-friendly installations, called Mobi-Mats, debuted seven summers ago, making it easier to walk or roll on top of sand. The department has agreed to install three new mats on the Riegelmann Boardwalk, at West 33rd Street, West 5th Street and Brighton 6th Street, stretching 200 feet towards the ocean. The announcement was made by Councilmembers Mark Treyger and Chaim Deutsch, who said they advocated for the expansion.
“I am thrilled that Southern Brooklyn’s great beaches will be even more accessible this summer and proud that I was able to work with Brooklyn Parks Commissioner Kevin Jeffery to successfully meet this important request. Every resident of Coney Island and Brighton Beach should be able to take advantage of the wonderful amenities right in our backyard. I heard from many seniors throughout Coney Island, especially in the West End, who have been unable to safely and comfortably walk across the sand in years past, so this is great news for our entire peninsula,” said Treyger.
“Nobody, regardless of their handicap, should find New York City’s public resources inaccessible — especially our wonderful beaches,” said Deutsch. “I’d like to thank the Parks Department for working with us to enhance the lives of the elderly and disabled residents of Southern Brooklyn.”
In addition to representing stretches of the waterfront, both elected officials represent districts with large senior populations.
This summer, mats will now be down at the following location: West 33rd Street, Stillwell Avenue, Brighton 2nd Street, Brighton 6th Street, Coney Island Avenue, and West 5th Street. They will be in place from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

A sign in Brooklyn in need of an old "Q"

Design folks will tell you never to mix fonts on a line as it is here at the Ocean Parkway subway station at Brighton Beach Avenue.  But here the old  coexists with the new and I guess that the old lettering is somewhat nostalgic with a sense of the past to it.
We don't need to renovate the whole station when a little scraping and painting of this small sign can restore this piece of our memory. And maybe someone could find a "Q" in the old font and style to join the rest of the family up there.

#BrooklynHalf returns to Ocean Parkway on Saturday

2013 BrooklynHalf Photos

Click here for more photos from 2013.

A New Story Told at Ground Zero - NYTimes.com

A New Story Told at Ground Zero - NYTimes.com
The National September 11 Memorial Museum
(VIDEO)
When the twin towers collapsed, multiple floors of concrete, drywall, carpeting and furniture were compressed into single, meteorlike objects. Two of these fragments, known as composites, were recovered during the excavation and were among the many thousands of artifacts considered for display in the National September 11 Memorial Museum.

Though the composites had been tested and showed no evidence of human remains, debate ensued. Should the objects be included in the museum at all? If so, how should they be preserved? And where?

A history museum crafts a narrative about the past by making choices. But in this case the choices that define the story have been predictably fraught. The museum must speak to competing audiences: survivors and families, those who watched on television, others not yet born, New Yorkers, and tourists from around the world.

The resulting museum is the product of years of conversation among architects, designers, curators, Sept. 11 families, psychologists and historians. Every detail has been considered, from the placement of a 58-ton steel column to the display of a woman’s shoes.

So it is that one of the composites now sits in a secluded alcove in the footprint of the north tower. Not too far away there is a stand with a box of tissues — also placed there by the exhibition designers.

Sept. 11 Memorial Museum at Ground Zero Prepares for Opening

Sept. 11 Memorial Museum at Ground Zero Prepares for Opening - NYTimes.com
Click the above link to go to full article.

"The first thing to say about it, and maybe the last, is that it’s emotionally overwhelming..."

Mother's Day on the Coney Island Boardwalk without flowers

8 naked feet on a magnificent day

The Ice Cream Boy's Club

A bicycle can be an accessory

Hold her hand, dammit!

First annual #UFT 5K family run for disaster relief

#UFT 1st Annual 5K Family Run for disaster relief on the Coney Island Boardwalk pic.twitter.com/7ky0R571tb

— Brooklyn Views (@BrooklynViews) May 10, 2014

Bike Lanes Rolling Into East River Waterfront along FDR Drive

Bike Lanes Rolling Into Murray Hill Waterfront - Murray Hill - DNAinfo.com New York
By Heather Holland on May 7, 2014

MURRAY HILL — New bike lanes are coming to the East River waterfront, officials announced.

The Department of Transportation unveiled plans to add a bike lane along several blocks of the FDR Drive, as well as to add or improve bike lanes on 35, 37th and 38th streets, to ease waterfront access for cyclists and pedestrians, according to Ted Wright, the director of greenways for DOT.

“A lot of things moving in the area [are] making this project a reality,” Wright said, "including the improvements at the nearby Glick Park, the addition of a Citi Bike dock on 35th Street and the increasing popularity of the East River Ferry.”

The new two-way bike lane along the FDR between 34th and 37th streets will begin closing the gap in the East River Greenway, which currently ends at 35th Street and resumes near 59th Street. The project will add signage and repave the street to make the lane more visible.

“As it is now, the path doesn’t look very good and there’s a lack of markings and signage on 37th Street to let cyclists know they can use it,” Wright said.

The DOT also wants to install a two-way protected bike lane on First Avenue between 37th and 38th streets, and another one on 37th Street between the FDR and First Avenue. In addition, the DOT is proposing a shared lane for cyclists and cars on 38th Street between First and Second avenues, and another one on 35th Street between the FDR and Second Avenue, Wright said.

The proposal is awaiting approval from Community Board 6, which will vote on the project in June.

"The goal is to create a greenway network by providing a gateway on 37th Street," Wright said.

Sheepshead Bites » Blog Archive Coney Island Gardeners Gain Small Victory Against Planned Amphitheater »

Sheepshead Bites » Blog Archive Coney Island Gardeners Gain Small Victory Against Planned Amphitheater » Sheepshead Bay News Blog

The Coney Island Boardwalk Community Garden received an agreement from the city to stop construction of the amphitheater on the site of their recently destroyed garden. Construction will be postponed until June 10 when the Kings County Supreme Court will hear the case.

The local garden community lost their greens, cats and chickens last year during a midnight raid by the city that left the whole garden completely destroyed. The destruction happened only 10 days after former Borough President Marty Markowitz received permission from the city to begin construction on the amphitheater. The proposed 5,099-seat Seaside Park and Community Arts Center was to be the permanent home of Markowitz’s summer concert series and was seen as a personal project of the beep’s, even after Community Board 13 voted the theater down.

The displaced gardeners had filed the lawsuit in March.

The land the garden sits on is city-owned, and is where seating for the amphitheater will be located. It’s next to the Childs Restaurant building, which will be the stage – and which has not yet been purchased by the city.

Some information on the two conflicting claims, via our earlier reports:

[The] outraged gardeners say that the city failed to do its due diligence, and that the West 22nd Street greenspace was legally a New York City park and the group had an agreement with the city to operate the garden, which should have at least delayed the demolition.

The city, though, previously claimed that the garden was decommissioned as a park in 2004, Brownstoner points out. The group says the city never told them that and let them continue to operate for years, according to NY1.

The Jamaica Bay Greenway: A Resilient Ring for Southern Brooklyn and the Rockaways

Urban Omnibus » The Jamaica Bay Greenway: A Resilient Ring for Southern Brooklyn and the Rockaways

(Excerpt)
In 2012, the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) was awarded a federal grant to develop an implementation plan for the Jamaica Bay Greenway, a 19-mile pedestrian and bike trail around the western half of Jamaica Bay. The trail, which runs along existing streets through southern Brooklyn; Howard Beach, Queens; the Rockaway peninsula; and Floyd Bennett Field, was first proposed in the 1980s. Aided by leadership from the Regional Plan Association, National Park Service, and the Jamaica Bay Greenway Coalition, the Greenway has proven its potential as a means of generating interest in and increasing recreational contact with the Bay. Using existing roads has given the Greenway a ready base from which to implement the DOT plan.
But with a few adjustments, the Greenway could also assume a larger, more multivalent role for this part of the city, one that addresses coastal protection and economic development as well as recreation. This alternative route would depart from the course proposed by the DOT by moving the trail out along the edge of the Bay, thereby bringing people closer to the water and offering the promise of a continuous experience along one of New York’s most diverse and varied shorelines. This would mean diverging from Flatbush Avenue to follow the eastern shore of Floyd Bennett Field, continuing along Brooklyn’s southern shore, and bringing the trail out along the edge of Spring Creek Park, rather than proceeding down the center of Howard Beach on Rockaway Boulevard. And instead of running through the middle of the Rockaway peninsula, it would follow its northern edge, between Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge and the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge. This plan creates the possibility of using the Greenway, in places like the northern shore of the Rockaways, as a barrier to protect communities that occupy some of the most precarious locations in New York City. In other parts, such as the area west of Broad Channel, it may actually span the water for brief stretches via the construction of new pedestrian/bicycle bridges.

In Prospect Park, Dog Owners and Bird Watchers Fight for Space (Video)

In Prospect Park, Dog Owners and Bird Watchers Fight for Space - NYTimes.com

(Excerpt)
Prospect Park’s 585 acres have always been a marvel of urban ecology, a delicate balance not just of flora and fauna, but also of  children, joggers, mountain bikers, weekend racers, Frisbee players, sunbathers, and, of course, dog owners and bird watchers.

But this time of year, between the throngs trying to glimpse the prothonotary warblers, the yellow-bellied flycatchers and other migrants making their way up the coast, and the Brooklynites trying to give their corgis and springer spaniels a few moments of freedom and fresh air, it has been difficult to find a middle ground.

Sheepshead Bites » Blog Archive MTA Incompetently Operating B44 And B36 Buses: Part 1 Of 2 » Sheepshead Bay News Blog

Sheepshead Bites » Blog Archive MTA Incompetently Operating B44 And B36 Buses: Part 1 Of 2 » Sheepshead Bay News Blog
by Allan Rosen on May 5th, 2014

(Excerpt)
"So how has everything been working out? Not very well, I’m afraid. The MTA has had nearly six months to get their act together regarding the B44. They will never produce statistics like the ones you are about to see. Theirs will only show how great SBS is, and will omit all the negatives. The anticipated demand in southern Sheepshead Bay to take the B44 SBS to the Flatbush Avenue station never materialized..."

Subway derailment involved rail installed just weeks ago: MTA

Subway derailment involved rail installed just weeks ago: MTA  - NY Daily News

(Excerpt)
‘Clearly, age of the rail is not a factor in the investigation of this derailment,’ says Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Adam Lisberg. The MTA was working around the clock to fix the damaged 500-foot stretch of rail, and efforts paid off when local service resumed on the E and F lines Saturday.

Thunderbolt tracks climb vertically up the launching pad.

Thunderbolt construction continues as bright orange tracks are placed vertically up the tower.

Race Walk on the Coney Island Boardwalk

19 Injured After Subway Train Derails in Queens

19 Injured After Subway Train Derails in Queens - NYTimes.com

(Excerpt)
An F train derailed in Queens on Friday morning, the authorities said, injuring 19 people and setting off a wide-scale effort to reach about 1,000 passengers who were stranded underground.

The Fire Department said that four of the injuries were “potentially serious.” The rest were believed to be minor.

The derailment occurred around 10:30 a.m., about 1,200 feet south of the station at 65th Street and Broadway in Woodside, Queens, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The authority said that the six middle cars on the eight-car train derailed; the lead car and the final car remained on the tracks.

Parks Dept. spruces up part of Brooklyn's historic Ocean ParkwayPh

Photo of the west mall.  But it is the
 east mall that is being repaired.

Parks Dept. spruces up part of Brooklyn's historic Ocean Parkway - NY Daily News
BY REUVEN BLAU  NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Tuesday, April 29, 2014, 2:00 AM

A small part of the nation’s oldest bike lane is getting a $1.8 million makeover.
The Parks Department is sprucing up the bike route and adding asphalt on Ocean Parkway from Ave. O to Kings Highway.
The fixes along the path, originally built in 1880, will add shiny pavement markings along the path and bring new wood and concrete benches, and trees that will be planted in empty pits. It is unclear when the work will be finished.
“Ocean Parkway is one of the most widely used promenades in Brooklyn — from seniors who play chess to children who walk with their parents,” said City Councilman David Greenfield (D-Flatbush), who is paying for the work with his discretionary funds. “And that’s why I’m proud to have invested millions of dollars to improve it.”
Other spots along the 4.86 mile path — which runs from Prospect Park to Brighton Beach — remain in need of an upgrade.
rblau@nydailynews.com