It’s been over a year since litter and cracked pavement were the norm along the Boerum Place median. As of today, shrubs and trees will green the street. The workers installing the greenery said that the trees going in include cherry trees, along with the shrubs and evergreens above. The streetlamps you see above are almost all in, adding more of a “boulevard” feel to Brooklyn Bridge Boulevard. Definitely a major improvement.
The blue pig is a native Brooklyn species, generally known to inhabit the wilds of Brooklyn Heights, specifically the Henry Street ecosystem. It now seems to be carving out a new niche in its habitat along Court Street–the above specimen was spotted outside the Busy Chef at 111 Court Street this past weekend. Our research suggests that conditions are good for this pig’s survival–he likes to feed on ice cream, and it is rumored that 18 flavors will be available at this location.
While overshadowed by the House of D (at least for now), we’re happy to see a permit issued on the site at Atlantic and Boerum Place for a 7-story building with 66 residential units (the site is also a.k.a. 97 Boerum Place). The last rendering we could find is below–anyone have more recent info? Meanwhile across Boerum Place at the former BP station, foundations are in place, and the building looks to be coming along nicely.
Downtown Brooklyn is full of interesting historic architecture, but to many the neighborhood is still unknown, relative to say Brooklyn Heights or Fort Greene. The folks over at the Fulton Mall Improvement Association and Metrotech BID have created an easy guide to check out the area’s better known sites in the form of a walking tour and podcast.
The tour covers the sites of the neighborhood, from Gage & Tollner to Junior’s, and passes through Metrotech. One interesting tidbit is that according to the tour, “the urban department store was invented on Fulton St.”–the south side of the street was protected from the afternoon sun and allowed for viewing the goods easily. Albee Square is also named after Edward Albee’s father, huh. The best line though is where the distinguished historian narrator says in a rich baritone, “the Albee Square Mall was a major staple for urban culture in the 1970s and 80s, and is the topic of a song by old-school rapper, Biz Markie.” Overall, the tour’s theme is that “Downtown Brooklyn has a rich past that you can experience, if you know where to look.” It’s narrated by John Manbeck, editor of the book The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Check it out at FMIA’s site.
Arts group the ISSUE Project Room announced it has been chosen to occupy the historic theater at 110 Livingston. The group envisions a “year-round program of music, film, video, and literature” for the space. IPR is currently located in Gowanus at 3rd Ave and 3rd St., check out their site for a cool video that gives an atmospheric overview of their work. The group was selected from over 100 applicants for a 20-year lease to the space, with the first 10 years rent free. Using the space for arts was one of the conditions placed by the city when it sold the building to Two Trees Management.
The space first served as the grand meeting hall for the Elks organization when the building was built in 1926–at the time Elks Lodge 22 of Brooklyn was the largest in the country. The organization fell on tough times in the late 20s and early 30s, and when the building was sold to the City for use as the Board of Education headquarters, the theater became the hearing room.
For the theater’s next act, IPR’s mission is to create “a vital meeting place for the most disparate forms of creativity whose sole criteria embodies the integrity and spirit of artistic expression and exploration.” To make this vision a reality IPR needs to raise significant funds to renovate the space. The goal? Nothing less than “building a permanent home for the future of experimental culture.”
