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Columbia Street Waterfront District

The BQE trench from Kane to Sackett Streets

It was a part of South Brooklyn without a name.

When the boom started, Tiffany Place was an oasis in a sea of empty storefronts, limited transportation, and cut off from its Brownstone neighbors by the ditch of the BQE.

Realtors began calling it Cobble Hill West, giving it legitimacy. The Columbia Street Waterfront District is poised to become a new playground. Unfortunately, the neighborhood is caught in a massive reconstruction project that brings back memories of the birth of Smith Street, now one of Brooklyn's hottest restaurant and nightlife locations.

The $17 million Capital Construction Project will change the face of the waterfront in South Brooklyn. Like Smith Street before it, the infrastructure of the waterfront has not been touched in over 30 years. The influx of residents to the area was a major factor in the timing of the efforts. Columbia Street is receiving new roadbeds, water mains, sewers, sidewalks, and street lighting.

Columbia Street is one of the few areas in South Brooklyn that still maintains a feel of the 20th century. Live poultry markets operate in close proximity to trendy restaurants. Trucks use the route as an alternate to the BQE causing untold damage to the roadbed. The stacks of cargo containers on the west side of the street block the Manhattan skyline from street level and remind us of our maritime roots. Some of the businesses have been there for years.

Moonshine, located at 317 Columbia by Hamilton Avenue, opened three years ago in a space once known as Rocco's, a bar that served the dockworkers from 1937 to 1975. Owner Nick Forlano discovered the former bar and immediately decided it was for him. As he renovated, he kept much of the original bar and woodwork intact. The kitchen gave way to a pool room with Blues Brothers' chicken wire seperating it from Big Buck Hunter II and Miss Pac-Man. The back yard replaced the kitchen with two gas grills and a Bring-Your-Own-Meat policy, drawing parties and those with no-outdoor-space apartments. It is a Cheers of the neighborhood, a place where everybody knows your name.

Automated slide show of Columbia Street reconstruction

"I knew that the 'shine would be the diamond in the rough for some time until people caught on to the potential of the neighborhood," he said. "Brooklyn is Brooklyn. People love it here. The growth potential on Columbia StreetÊis enormous."

Mayor Bloomberg, in his PlanNYC speech on Earth Day 2007, proposed major changes to Brooklyn's waterfront and addressed the issue of the BQE ditch.

"Our plan calls for doubling the amount of land available for possible housing development," he said. "We can do it by decking over railyards and highways, and using government land more productively."

PlanNYC documents show a completely covered BQE opening nine-blocks of land two blocks from the waterfront to development. Columbia Street would once more become a part of the surrounding neighborhoods.

The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway trench was rammed down the throat of the neighborhood during Robert Moses' great expansion of the highway system in the 1950's. The BQE and the Gowanus Expressway created a barrier, cutting off the waterfront and Columbia Street from its affluent neighbors.

In 1975 further setbacks struck the area. During construction of a sewer trunk line at Columbia and President Streets, water seeped into the constuction trench. As workers pumped it out, the water table fell, weakening the foundations of nearby buildings. Two buildings collapsed, and one man was killed. 33 buildings were demolished as a safety measure, and many remaining businesses and residents were pulled out. The area was designated for urban renewal, with the city pledged in part to assist in housing reconstruction.

In 1984, Columbia Terrace was constructed from President to Summit Streets. The first phase, consisting of 51 condominium units in three-story buildings, sold out instantly. Tiffany Place, a cobblestoned street one block east of Columbia Street, saw the former factory of Louis Comfort Tiffany converted to condos in 1986. The neighborhood seemed poised for recovery.

The recession of the early 1990's halted the march. Many projects were put on hold as property prices plummeted.

As property prices recovered, Columbia Street seemed to lag behind the fierce building boom in its eastern neighbors. The exception is Tiffany Place, which quickly became the hottest location west of the BQE.

The construction is causing new headaches for the businesses along Columbia Street.

"Columbia Street is the last vehicular route in South Brooklyn area to be exploited as an alternate route to the BQE," said Whitlock.

During the project, many of the streets suffered direction changes. Columbia Street is now one way going north from Hamilton Avenue to Degraw Street. Van Brunt Street is one way going south on the same blocks. Coming from Red Hook and the Cruise Ship Terminal, parts of Columbia Street are nearly inaccessible. Concrete barriers are in place and traffic agents are stationed regularly in the area.

Cranes at American Stevedoring, the Red Hook Container Terminal

The cranes on the waterfront and the views of Manhattan are side by side on Columbia Street.

"We are cut off from the Cruise Ship terminal by the Battery Tunnel, separated from the end of Brooklyn Bridge Park (ending at Atlantic Avenue) by working docks, and the ditch of the BQE is between us and the main residential areas," said David Whitlock of the shop Main Street Ephemera. Whitlock moved Main Street Ephemera from Smith Street in 2002 when rents spiraled out of control on the trendy boulevard.

Dealing in paper collectibles from movie posters to vintage postcards and magazines, Columbia Street was a complete change from Smith Street. The neighborhood businesses on the street were few and far between with many empty storefronts and little foot traffic. Whitlock was joined by Consuelo's Corner within his shop, featuring vintage cosmetic jewelry.

The Red Hook Container Terminal is the last vestige of large shipping in the Columbia Street Waterfront District. With natural 40-foot depths and up-to-date facilities, the terminal accommodates fully loaded ships with deep drafts. Its existence is the source of major debate on nearly every level of government and local residents. In negotiations with the city, American Stevedoring (which operates the container port) was unable to receive a long term lease. Granted a three-year extension in 2005, Economic Development Corporation officials refused to guarantee that the Red Hook port would remain open through 2009. The city wants to make way for a hotel and shops, a boat repair facility, a Brooklyn Brewery plant and tourist-friendly beer garden, as well as a smaller industrial port, a ferry connection to Governors Island and a second pier for cruise ships.

Residents point to EDC's claim that the new usage "would triple the number of jobs on the waterfront." In the past, however, EDC's projections have not come true. The addition of The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, for example, created just 10 full-time jobs and 245 part-time jobs, while EDC originally said 370 full-time jobs would be created.

Now, the EDC is claiming that the container terminal currently supports just 133 full-time jobs -- a number it intends to greatly improve. But American Stevedoring, which operates the port, claims the number of jobs stand at 623.

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"It will be a sad loss to lose the Red Hook shipping terminal," said Mark Ehrhardt of MoversNotShakers, located at the intersection of Columbia Street and Hamilton Avenue. "They are good, steady jobs for Brooklyn." Ehrhardt moved into the former restaurant location four years ago. He worries that as the street gains reputation and status, businesses like his will be priced out.

"We felt much more out of the way four years ago," said Ehrhardt of the location for his moving company. "There are plenty of people who like the remoteness of Columbia Street and that is slowly being stripped away."

"The one ways are terrible. It makes it tough for the people getting off the BQE," said Lynette Wiley. "I Meet a lot more people giving out directions to Fairway."

Lynette and Geoff Wiley opened Jalopy, an eclectic performance hall with a community arts center feel. Sporting a vintage instrument store, espresso maker and wireless internet access, they quickly became a neighborhood hangout. With live music, movie nights, and music classes, they quickly joined and became a major player in Columbia Streets burgeoning nightlife scene.

The times will change on Columbia Street. If the BQE is covered, if the greenway is extended from Brooklyn Bridge Park, if the waterfront becomes accessible -- not quite as overwhelming as it sounds. The times, they are a-changing.

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HAPPENING archive of stories ......

A Dream becomes Reality: The Ant debuts at The Invisible Dog

A five-year-old boy in France learns a poem that captures his imagination….

An 18-meter long ant With a hat on its head That doesn’t exist, that doesn’t exist….

And for the next 30-years as the boy grows into a man, he asks himself “Why Not?”

On January 23rd, that little boy, Xavier Roux, will debut The Ant on Bergen Street for the grand opening of The Invisible Dog, a creative arts space in Cobble Hill. The sixty-foot-long sculpture made of structural steel and nylon balloons will fill the gallery space, and the imagination of all.

The poem’s author, Robert Desnos, wrote The Ant after his arrest by the Nazis and deportation to Auschwitz. The 18-meter length was the size of a cattle car used by the Gestapo to transport their prisoners to the concentration camps….

View The Ant at The Invisible Dog in Brooklyn

The Sopranos Invade South Brooklyn

Paulie Walnuts (Tony Sirico) and Rosalie Aprile (Sharon Angela) wait outside Christ Church in Cobble Hill, renamed Our Lady of Victory Roman Catholic Church for the episode.

The Sopranos took over the landmark church to film a wedding for the sixth season of the HBO series featuring the marriage of Mob boss Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni's daughter.

View more photos from the Sopranos in Cobble Hill

White Collar

Brooklyn Eats event at Steiner Studios April 30, 2008 - Scallop ceviche from Dressler In Williamsburg

Tim DeKay (center) and Sharif Atkins (right) play FBI agents in White Collar

Law and Order may be gone, but there are still plenty of other TV shows and movies using the neighborhoods of Brooklyn as their sound stage.

This past week, we got a taste on our block as USA network's "White Collar" came to film a scene.

It wasn't the fact that we couldn't park on our own block that made us despise them. It was the security guards at each end of the block with orders to not allow anyone to walk down the sidewalk that really perturbed us. We live here, you don't.

So now they create this unreal sound stage in New York. Two cars come screaming down our street, tires squealing as they skid to a stop. Like that would happen on our narrow street that usually has cars parked on both curbs. The "Municipal Utility" workmen with tools behind the parked panel truck (not even ConEd?) turn out to be FBI agents who charge down the street to the bad guys' cars with guns drawn.

View more images from White Collar
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See a giant Ant sculpture and its history

William Wegman surprises and amuses
by Mark D Phillips

William Wegman Click for larger view

I thought William Wegman was just about cutesy dogs.

Then I saw William Wegman:Funney/Strange at The Brooklyn Museum running from March 10 through May 28, 2006.

Wegman is an experimenter who happens to use a funny looking dog as his main subject. His photographs are combinations of form and texture, shapes that capture the imagination. As Wegman says, "They are shadows and hues. They inspire me."

His work is as accomplished in all mediums. I went to the show expecting to only see dogs. Wegman's paintings and video work were every bit as captivating as his still images of dogs.

View more of William Wegman's work

Manufactured Landscapes: The Photographs of Edward Burtynsky
by Mark D Phillips

Edward Byrstynsky It's not very often that photographs of man's destruction of the environment can be called "beautiful." Or that one photographer will heap praise on the works of another photographer. But, such is the case with the new exhibit, Manufactured Landscapes: The Photographs of Edward Burtynsky, at the Brooklyn Museum of art.

Travelling the world in search of devastation is usually done by the photojournalist in a quest to show news. Not so with the work of Edward Burtynsky. His images are not a political statement nor are they meant to celebrate technology. According to Burtynsky, they are just great visuals that he wants to share.

Several adventurous projects have taken Burtynsky on a worldwide quest to photograph extraordinary landscapes. Most recently, he traveled to the construction site of the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydroelectric engineering project, located on the Yangtze River in the People's Republic of China. The dam is of unprecedented proportions, and it has required the relocation of millions of people. In addition to the dam itself, Burtynsky also photographed upriver sites of mass displacement, where residents destroyed their own homes at the behest of the government, recycling many of the materials in order to rebuild on higher ground.

As a photojournalist in 1995, I travelled to Feng Jie to document a world record high wire walk above the Yangtze River in Qutang Gorge. Feng Jie was a sprawling city stretching from the riverbanks of the Yangtze to the mountaintops of Qutang Gorge and was our base of operations for the length of our stay. One of the oldest towns on the river and rich with history, it was cut off from the world in a way that is hard for many outsiders to understand. From Beijing, I travelled to Feng Jie in the same manner as Mr. Burtynsky almost ten years later, by train and boat.

View more of Manufactured Landscapes of Edward Burtynsky

The Changing Face of South Brooklyn: The Gallery Players bring Broadway to Park Slope
by Mark D Phillips

Nestled in the basement of the Park Slope Family Neighborhood Center on 14th Street off 4th Avenue is a hidden South Brooklyn jewel.

The Gallery Players, Brooklyn's premiere off-off Broadway theater, is marked by a sign set by a side door of the building leading to their 99-seat space.

"Local residents don't even know we are here," said Matt Schicker, a board member and heralded director of many of the Players' productions, including their newest, "Side Show," opening February 18, 2006.

With a reputation well beyond the boundaries of South Brooklyn, the Gallery Players have never had a problem filling seats. Their season consists of four plays, three musicals and the annual Black Box New Play Festival, World Premiere performances of works by tri-state area playwrights. And the fact that their alumni make leaps to Broadway hasn't hurt.

"The secret of our success is we treat every production as a professional show," said Schicker. "The Gallery Players have become a great first stop for many new drama graduates nationwide."

View more about The Gallery Players of Park Slope, Brooklyn

Queen Mary 2 welcome to Brooklyn ceremony

Queen Mary 2 Click for PHOTO GALLERY

A Queen comes to Kings
by Mark D Phillips

Looming out of the fog was the largest ship Red Hook has seen moored to its shore.

The Queen Mary 2 arrived in the wee hours of the morning on April 15, 2006, for its inaugural stop at the new Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook. For the county of Kings, and particularly Red Hook, the terminal is the first step in a revitalization of the long-neglected waterfront.

The ship was a sight to behold.

View the Queen Mary 2 in 360° images and more

South Brooklyn Hidden Treasures

Lady of Lebanon and Normandie People always ask, "What are those beautiful doors on Our Lady of Lebanon Church?"

When Our Lady of Lebanon moved into the old Congregationalist Church of the Pilgrims on Henry Street in 1944, Monsignor Mansour Stephen planned extensive changes to the interior of the building.

The Normandie was the greatest passenger ship of its day, and suffered a terrible end when fire ravaged the ship, causing it to capsize at the dock on Manhattan's west side.

The Monsignor heard that the Normandie's salvaged treasures were to be auctioned, and with the blessings of his parish, attended the event and purchased the bronze doors and ten placques. The doors, which once were the entryway to the majestic banquet room of the luxury liner, now grace the entry to the church in Brooklyn Heights. The ten placques were added to the doors. The cost of the doors was $1,025 and all ten placques for $975.

Angels and Accordions headlines OpenHouseNY

Angels & Accordions Finale at Greenwood Cemetary

View a PHOTO GALLERY from this year's Angels & Accordions by CLICKING HERE!

For the sixth year, Angels and Accordions brought Greenwood Cemetary alive.

With its unique presentation of accordions, singing, striking visuals, and creepy graveyard scenes, Angels and Accordions is a site-specific show, with the audience taken on a mile-long walking tour, punctuated by scenes of angels around different memorials.

Greenwood Cemetary is one of the most beautiful sculpture gardens in the world. With mausoleums structured from pyramids to Greek cathedrals and statues for war dead to cherished child, the stages for angels are designed by Martha Bowers of Dance Theatre Etcetera.

Martha's visions come to life within this unique venue. Angels sing from a vine covered path, bringing "Over the Rainbow" to a chilling feeling of sorrow.

Some of the simplest can be the most striking, such as an angel frozen on the steps of a grand mausoleum or reading names from an alcove in the catacombs. View these images in our online photogallery on SouthBrooklynInternet by clicking here.

As the premier event of Open House NY, Angels and Accordions has been a free event. Will it remain a free event? Probably not. But believe us, it will be worth the admission price.

View a photo gallery from this year's Angels and Accordions on SouthBrooklynInternet

Order a copy of the Brooklyn Bridge's 125th Anniversary from SBN ©Mark D Phillips

Friends of the Brooklyn Bridge launches mybrooklynbridge.com

In 2008, the Brooklyn Bridge celebrated its 125th anniversary, and this monumental occasion presented the Dumbo Improvement District the opportunity to unveil a new and improved pedestrian experience on the Brooklyn side of the Bridge.

Working with Emphas!s Design and artists Linnaea Tillett & Karin Tehve, the Dumbo Improvement District undertook this great project to provide a sense of direction and place to the one million tourists who cross over the Brooklyn Bridge each year. In the past when pedestrians reached the Brooklyn end of the Bridge, they frequently turned around and returned Manhattan when confronted with uninviting entrances, poor lighting and inadequate signage. Today, pedestrians are greeted with signage welcoming them to Brooklyn and a large map highlighting attractions within walking distance.

“This Way” serves as a grand entrance point to the fine borough of Brooklyn.

This Way light installation on the entryway to the Brooklyn Bridge walkway
©Mark D Phillips, 2008

The Friends of the Brooklyn Bridge was formed by the Dumbo Improvement District to bring together the resources to maintain improvements made to the world's greatest bridge. The initiatives website, mybrooklynbridge.com, will be a major resource for the bridge. Share your memories of your favorite experience on the Brooklyn Bridge. Watch an 1899 movie by Thomas Edison Studios of a train travelling over the bridge, and read the history of the construction.

Contributions to Friends of the Brooklyn Bridge will be dedicated to the supplemental maintenance of this project. With donations of $150 or more, you will receive a framed image of your choice from our collection, including historical images of the bridge from our partner, the Brooklyn Historical Society, and new images by Mark D Phillips. They make great gifts.

For more details, visit mybrooklynbridge.com

Brooklyn House of Detention with abandoned sites are a blight on Atlantic Avenue -- ©Mark D Phillips -- (VIEW LARGER)
THE JAIL BATTLE
According to the NY Post's Rich Calder:

Foes of City Hall's plan to reopen and expand a Brooklyn jail scored a victory yesterday when the city agreed to temporarily halt work on the $440 million project and cap the number of overnight prisoners there.

Comptroller Bill Thompson, Councilman David Yassky and civic groups cut the court-OK'd deal just days after suing the city for "secretly" and "illegally" repopulating the Brooklyn House of Detention in family-laden Boerum Hill with 31 prisoners.

The agreement runs through Dec. 18, at which time the case is to return to court. Under the deal, the jail may accept up to 50 prisoners.

NY Post - Nov 21, 2008

The INTREPID Returns!

The USS Intrepid returned from its two-year restoration in Staten Island Thursday, October 2, to Pier 86 on the West Side. Two hundred fifty former Intrepid crew members took the short voyage, passing by the Statue of Liberty and Ground Zero.

IKEA comes to town. Will anything be the same in Red Hook? -- They came from miles away to line up for the grand opening of Ikea Brooklyn. TV stations did live shots and asked if this was the start of Red hook.

GOING GREEN --- Movers Not Shakers brings environmentally friendly service to an age-old business.

THE WATERFALLS --- Were they good or bad?

Read our Archive of South Brooklyn Stories

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Read about
Movers Not Shakers
Green Initiative!

Mazzone True Value
The online location for Sutherland Welles Tung Oil

Jerard Studio
They make the cow in "Spamalot" and the pigeons for "The Producers". Learn more about this incredible Red Hook business!

Dance Theatre Etcetera in Red Hook Brooklyn

Dance Theatre Etcetera
Bringing the Red Hook Waterfront Festival to life.

DUMBO Improvement District
Learn more about DUMBO.

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