Business

For weeks, there has been a media hullabaloo concerning the possible closure of up to 40 Brooklyn post offices. But it may be much ado about nothing, locally at least: The Brooklyn Paper reports that many of the offices feared doomed aren’t even on the list for consideration. Specifically, the offices in neighborhoods like Park Slope, Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, and Red Hook will be spared the gallows. The less fortunate offices will be studied by the USPS and considered for consolidation or closure. Additionally, the Times reported on August 4 that only 14 branches will be closed city-wide, and none of them are in Brooklyn.
Brownstone Brooklyn Spared [Brooklyn Paper]
Feds Go Postal on USPS [Brooklyn Paper]
USPS Full Study [USPS]
Postal Service May Close 14 Branches [NY Times]
Photo by Kate Leonova via PropertyShark

Less than two weeks ago, we heard that Brooklyn was poised to lose 6,000 jobs. But the Daily News reports that we have a secret weapon in the employment department: diversity. “”It goes back to how diverse our economy is,” sats president of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, Carl Hum. “We have virtually every business sector here.” Brooklyn’s food and health service sectors will actually increase by 1,500 jobs, and hotels, arts and retail should hold steady. The article predicts that the addition of restaurants and cafés to Bed Stuy and Crown Heights will help keep those areas booming, and some small manufacturers might add jobs, too. Thought you guys might need a dose of optimism… Although, actually, those 6,000 jobs are still expected to be lost.
Businesses Hang On Because of Diverse Culture [NY Daily News]
Dead-End Jobs. Photo by lilpixiegirl03.

Dumbo residents by and large have plenty of cash, they just haven’t had a lot of choice about where to put it. For the past couple of years, a sole Sovereign Bank has served the burgeoning community between the bridges. There was a limit to how useful it was: After all, how many people actually do their banking at Sovereign. Which is why it’s such great news that a Chase branch will be opening in the ground floor of the J Condo at 100 Jay Street. According to workers, it should be open just in time for all the condo dwellers to return from the Hamptons at the end of the summer.

Photo by Wendy Hope

Brooklyn native Adam Suerte is a painter, an illustrator, a graphic novelist, co-owner of Brooklyn Tattoo (located at 99 Atlantic Avenue), and the artist behind the awesome Brooklyn Bridge ink that we posted a while back. We spoke with him about body art and borough pride — two topics that are intimately linked for him.

Do you get a lot of requests for borough-related tattoos?

I get many requests for tattoos with Brooklyn themes. I have done the clocktower over a dozen times, the Brooklyn Bridge is a constant theme in my work. I have thrown the Brooklyn House of Detention into many a background. I am working on a sleeve for a carpenter from Bay Ridge where it shows the Verrazzano Bridge, and under that is the R train coming off the Manhattan Bridge, with the Brooklyn Bridge in the reflection of the train window… very distorted, but we got it all in there.

Another sleeve from a local that starts out on his wrist with Coney Island, and goes up through different Brooklyn landmarks ending up at Fort Green park on his upper arm, and I have done countless words and phrases relating to Brooklyn, and parts therein.

Theres a huge sense of Brooklyn pride, even with people who weren’t born here but now consider it home. They always ask me if that’s “uncool” — I am not one of those locals that think it’s stupid to be prideful of where you live, even if you haven’t grown up here. Many of my Brooklyn-themed tattoos are on people who were not born here. (more…)

Fourth Avenue turns up the heat with the addition of Salsa Salsa Dance Studio. Marcus Gonzalez and Raymond Colón, the owners, saw an opportunity to expand the original Salsa Salsa in Bushwick by opening a second studio in Park Slope. Doors opened in February and classes have been steadily filling. They teach a particular form of salsa, called On 2, or New York club style which refers to the beat on which dancers change direction. Beside salsa, classes are offered in tango, hip-hop, ballroom, and soon tap, Bollywood, and ballet.

This past Saturday, Marcus Gonzalez taught Beginning Salsa from 1:30 to 3:30. Wearing a headset microphone over his white bandana, he faced ten students in a line before him. They watched him demonstrate turn patterns and steps, laughing at his jokes and feeding off his enthusiasm. The narrow studio is painted a peachy hue, and a mirrored wall reflects the dancers and the matching light fixtures behind them. Two standing speakers on either side of the room project a full, quality sound of the lively salsa music from a sophisticated soundboard. Shoe cubbies and coat hangers keep the space neat and the floor clear while students shuffle around the floor. For a small space, it is organized and well planned—they have even thought to include a small vending machine stocked with Gatorade. Extended periods of salsa can be tiring, after all.
After the jump: An eclectic crowd, one-on-one attention.
Photo: Marcus Gonzalez explains how to incorporate an accidental elbow to the jaw into your salsa moves (more…)

The future home of Pacific Standard

According to Citysearch.com, Brooklyn offers over 1200 bars to choose from on any given Friday. So it takes a certain type of courage to enter another watering hole in the liquor-saturated playing field. Two men brave enough to give it a shot, John-Christian Rauschenberg and Jon Stan, aren’t scared of these numbers. After dreaming about opening bar together since they met at Berkeley ten years ago, they signed a lease late last year for a place on Fourth Avenue. The Brooklyn Record caught up with them over the weekend to ask what it takes to open a bar in the Borough of Kings. Pacific Standard, a name that fondly recalls the owners’ West Coast roots, is set to open by May and after months of jumping through Brooklyn’s bureaucratic hoops, Stan and Rauschenberg are more than ready to sit back and have a beer. (more…)

According to the Daily News, “Last year, 4.2 million New Yorkers filed their income taxes online, and many are saying there’s no going back.” Anthony Giammarino, a steamfitter from Brooklyn, told the paper “Automating the process won’t make it harmful. Last year was the first year that I e-filed and had my refund direct deposited. I thought it was excellent.” According to the article, “The IRS contends that tax returns filed electronically are 20% more accurate than paper returns.” And apparently, the IRS is trying to make e-filing even easier… (more…)

Well, it’s tax time again, and over on the Brooklynian boards almost everybody is recommending Joe Colacino (at 304 7th Avenue) as the best accountant in Park Slope. There’s even one commentor who travels from central Jersey to have the guy prep his taxes — so he must be pretty good. Does anyone else have tax prep recommendations — in Park Slope or in other neighborhoods?

Tax preparers in Park Slope? [Brooklynian]
Joseph Colacino Tax Partners [Homepage]

Just two months after Mayor Bloomberg broke ground on six new industrial buildings at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, eleven new businesses are moving into the space. The newcomers include a computer refurbisher called Budget Computer, woodworker Christian Galesi, and Thoughts in Grey Circles, a music producer for television and movies. “I got tired of Manhattan,” said Emmy-nominated composer Gil Talmi of Grey Circles. “I love the views from here and I have space to expand. Everything I need is here.”
Brooklyn Navy Yard gets even biz-ier [NY Daily News]

“Is there a super-secret plan to move the New Jersey Nets to Queens instead of Kings?” asks Gersh Kuntzman of The Brooklyn Papers. Forest City Ratner spokesman insists, “We are currently in the public approval process for Atlantic Yards and as we have repeatedly said our plan is to move the Nets to Brooklyn in time for the ’09’10 season.” But The Brooklyn Papers noticed in interesting clause in the Nets’ new lease — which had to be extended due to delays in the approval of the Atlantic Yards project. Kuntzman writes:

“The new lease allows the Nets to leave New Jersey early — and without penalty — if the team moves to Brooklyn or Queens. Or Queens? It’s not so inconceivable…

(more…)

You might have noticed that Fulton Street in Bed Stuy and Clinton Hill has been one giant construction site for the past few weeks. The reason? We can only guess it has something to with the Transportation Safety Act that resulted in a$4.48 allocation to repair Fulton Street from Clinton Avenue to Bedford Avenue as well as “upgrade the streetscape for pedestrian use.” The goal, presumbly, is to create a more shopper-friendly experience. Bring it on, we say.

Steiner Studios, merely a glimmer in founder Douglas Steiner’s eye back in 1999, has grown into a 280,000-square-foot production center for major Hollywood flicks like The Producers and Inside Man. Steiner has spent $120 million to date building 5 sound stages. Despite the existence of the Kaufman Studios in Queens, Silvercup Studios in Long Island City, and the Chelsea Piers Studios in Manhattan, Steiner thought the Navy Yard presented a unique opportunity: “Brooklyn had an allure for me. The history of the navy yard was part of that.” By history, he’s talking about the original shipyard that was built by revolutionary fighter John Jackson in 1781. To the increasing irritation of some residents, the city and state have created tax incentives to encourage more film production in the city. Now if they would offer etiquette classes to the production assistants who prevent you from walking down your own block.
Taking on Hollywood from Navy Yard [NY Sun]
Project Summary [Steiner Studios]