Vito Lopez is a classic poverty pimp. He has his fingers in every publicly-financed social program in that community and there's non way he wants to miss out on a piece of this action.

Posted by: Flatbushwhacker at January 17, 2008 12:32 PM in response to Pfizer v. Vito for Rights to Old Pfizer Plant

Land use law clarification: zoning text amendments, unlike changes to the zoning map or special permits, are not subject to the ULURP calendar.

Posted by: Flatbushwhacker at January 18, 2008 10:20 AM in response to AIA’s Zoning Tweaks Draw Heat

The outer L train stops are the ones beyond Broadway Junction.

Posted by: Flatbushwhacker at January 18, 2008 1:18 PM in response to Streetlevel: Yoga for the Outer-L Train Crowd

What's the big deal? These tenants lived in an illegal building, and they enjoyed the benefit of paying lower rent than they would for comparable legal space. The downside was that there was always the potential of something like this happening.

It was good while it lasted, but now the building got busted and it's time to move on.

Posted by: Flatbushwhacker at January 24, 2008 2:15 PM in response to Your Friends and Neighbors, 475 Kent Edition

The corporate welfare and abuse of eminent domain to benefit a private property owner are the aspects of the project I'm most opposed to.

Posted by: Flatbushwhacker at January 28, 2008 11:16 AM in response to Is Atlantic Yards Funding in Jeopardy?

11:26 - it doesn't matter what you wish, if it's not your property he's having the state condemn on his behalf.

Posted by: Flatbushwhacker at January 28, 2008 11:32 AM in response to Is Atlantic Yards Funding in Jeopardy?

I agree with 12:55 about the subway line. I mean, who wants to have breathing room at rush hour? People in Carroll Gardens know their neighborhood is cool, because they get to wait for two packed F trains to go by before they can squeeze on.

Posted by: Flatbushwhacker at January 28, 2008 1:22 PM in response to Residential Sales in Brooklyn

I lived in Park Slope from 1986 to 2003, and as the neighborhood got yuppier and yuppier it got so it was nearly impossible to find a parking space.

I love my driveway.

Posted by: Flatbushwhacker at January 29, 2008 10:40 AM in response to Pols Rallying for Residential Parking Permits

2:20 raises a great point. Resident parking permits would require that people actually register their cars where they live. Now in Brooklyn, the rich register their cars at the country place in Columbia County, the poor don't bother with insurance, and a relative handful of us suckers in the middle pick up the tab for the entire accident pool.

Posted by: Flatbushwhacker at January 29, 2008 3:19 PM in response to Pols Rallying for Residential Parking Permits

Higher education is possibly Brooklyn's best bet at developing an export industry and being something more than a bedroom community for Manhattan. The handful of artists, writers, choreographers, etc. who live and work in Brooklyn are nice, but that doesn't go too far.

I agree that NYU moving back to its uptown campus would be pretty cool. But I don't thinkg CUNY is looking to close Bronx Community College any time soon.

I'm still amazed that NYU has become the number one dream school for kids from around the country. A couple generations back, it was the commuter school for kids who weren't smart enough to get into City College. This was back when CCNY was free, and your punishment for not getting good grades was you had to pay for college at NYU.

Posted by: Flatbushwhacker at January 31, 2008 11:21 AM in response to Violet Tide Coming to Downtown?