NoGo for North Gowanus is what my neighbors call it.

Posted by: carfreenation at November 10, 2009 9:47 AM in response to Creative (Desperate?) Neighborhood Rebranding

Thank god this woman can't ruin a perfectly good block that I walk down all the time. Curb cuts in this neighborhood are illegal for a reason. They make the sidewalk, the one refuge from automobile chaos, dangerous. When there's a curb cut, I have to tell my 3 yr old to stop, and look both ways on the sidewalk. Ridiculous!

Posted by: carfreenation at September 25, 2009 8:52 PM in response to DOB Posts Letter of Intent to Revoke on St. Marks Ave

It's not the signs that are ugly, it's all the f***ing cars parked on the side of the street.

Imagine how nice that street would look with wider sidewalks and more trees. It's not as if the residents really need cars. There's a subway stop only a block away.

And of course, the cars don't fit in the historic district either. There were no cars when the homes were built, so parking should require some kind of variance.

So my vote, is no signs, but make the street free of automobile traffic as well.

Posted by: carfreenation at June 3, 2009 9:28 PM in response to Berkeley Bump Bungle?

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for these trees. Many NYC trees are hardy survivors. Still, I went by to look at them several times during the waterfalls and every time I was stunned at how much apparent damage they were sustaining. Just looking at trees along the promenade, you could clearly tell which trees were in the splash zone. The salt-water sprayed trees looked like they were experiencing nuclear winter. As someone who appreciates public art and loves trees, I am so sad that this project wasn't better thought out. It's a shame.

Posted by: carfreenation at April 29, 2009 10:24 PM in response to Closing Bell: Evidence of Damaged Trees by the Waterfalls

We're residents of this neighborhood, and will be making much use of this place. My kids love to climb, and it's also right next to the free pool at the double d.

It's not quite a Korean Grocery, but it's what the neighborhood needed even though it didn't know it needed it.

Posted by: carfreenation at April 29, 2009 10:02 PM in response to StreetLevel: Gowanus Warehouse Rocks On

Back when it was Perri's it was actually pretty good, but then the new people with the funny shirts purchased it, and it really went to hell. The new regime it at least clean, but no beer, and crappy bread, so I have my doubts.

Posted by: carfreenation at January 15, 2009 9:17 PM in response to Streetlevel: Natural Food Store Opening on 4th Avenue

All I can say is thank you to Develop Don't Destroy for delaying this long enough so that what would have been a nice building will look like the rest of Ratner's buildings. Thank you for sticking up for us, so that we can have a parking lot next door for the next 40 years. Thank you for proving that one stubborn guy can stop a billionaire from making something useful. Now whenever I walk by the parking lots that could have been affordable housing, I'll think "Thank you Daniel Goldstein" for protecting me from tall buildings and affordable housing.

Posted by: carfreenation at January 9, 2009 11:07 PM in response to Atlantic Yards Scaled Back, Gehry's Role in Question

Better to toll the bridges than to cut money for education and health care!
Besides, even if it's expensive for those who want to drive, it'll make life a lot better for the 70% of us in downtown Brooklyn who don't own cars, and are sick of the drivers congesting our streets and spewing toxic waste into the air, so they can save $8 that they would spend on the battery tunnel.

Posted by: carfreenation at November 10, 2008 9:49 PM in response to East River Bridges May Not Be Free For Long

I know this block well; my family and I have lived here 16 years. Although I have always liked it here, I can agree with some of the comments that the block has had its problems over the years. For the most part these problems have stemmed from one house, which was city-owned, and was recently taken over by the 5th Avenue committee. That particular house has been blessedly vacant for six months or so, and the block association has been assured that the dealers that lived there are not coming back.

When that particular house became vacant, it was as if the block had changed overnight from the ghetto to Sesame Street, with kids of all races drawing with chalk on the sidewalk together. It's funny how one building can cause so much trouble. If you haven't been here for a while, your impressions are outdated.

It's a close knit block, too. Everybody knows everybody, which I think is rather unusual for a neighborhood in Brownstone Brooklyn with a lot of rentals. Recently, one of the residents became ill, and half the block visited him while he was in the hospital.

The other day, one of my neighbors swept my stoop when he saw that sanitation was ticketing. Saved me a ticket.

We have an older latina woman who sits on her stoop all day, and hugs everyone on the way to work or school.

You get the picture. It's hard to judge from a casual drive by.

Posted by: carfreenation at October 20, 2008 9:57 PM in response to House of the Day: 18 St. Marks Place

The Calexico Cart in Soho has excellent food. I get lunch there at least twice a week, and hopefully this one's related to the carts...

Posted by: carfreenation at September 16, 2008 9:25 PM in response to Streetlevel: New Mexican for Columbia Street Waterfront

Is automobile traffic as inevitable as rain? Will we let our children be run down in the streets, like dogs?

Why does nobody blame the driver, who apparently failed to yield to a young cyclist who had the right-of-way? Not even a measly $25 ticket? I know he felt bad, as he should have, but he broke the law, and it led to a death. In my book, that's manslaughter. Did anyone check his cell phone records? Was he on the phone when the accident happened? Certainly seems like a lot of people driving in downtown Brooklyn are talking on their phones, even though it's the equivalent of driving after 3 drinks.

Why does nobody blame the DOT, who in the interest in auto-efficiency, won't take a lane away so that there's a true protected bike lane on Adams Street? Is one death worth saving a few seconds for people who should be taking public transportation anyway, who are just too cheap to pay the tolls on the Battery Tunnel, where they wouldn't even have the option to run down helpless pedestrians and cyclists.

And why blame the Dad? Wasn't he riding on a city-provided bike path on a Saturday? Perhaps he was going to the protected bike path on the Brooklyn Bridge. Isn't the city encouraging us to cycle. This same accident could easily have happened if they were crossing the street as pedestrians.

This is a horrible tragedy, but it doesn't have to be this way. In other countries, they target ZERO pedestrian and cyclist deaths, and they are succeeding. In Europe, you are 1/3 as likely to die in an accident as a pedestrian or cyclist, and many more people cycle. Here, we don't seem to care.

Enough!

Posted by: carfreenation at September 9, 2008 9:22 PM in response to Brooklyn's Dangerous Intersections