Add another Italian joint and an Ethiopian restaurant to our fair BoCoCa.
Awash will take over the old Quercy space in Cobble Hill (242 Court St.) and though its website only mentions the upper west and east village locales, MenuPages has a full menu. It opens tomorrow, 22 May.
On Atlantic Ave between Hicks and Henry St., Table 87 (87 Atlantic Ave.) is getting ready to open it doors in the next few months. Realty Collective reports on it’s Italian roots.
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Restaurant Updates in BoCoCa
CSA to Deliver to BoCoCa
Love your CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) share but have trouble finding time to pick it up? According to Edible Brooklyn, “a company called Farm Share will start delivering organic CSA shares from Norwich Meadows Farm to Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights, Downtown, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens and Fort Greene.”
You can sign up for a 22 week delivery beginning in June by downloading this form, with a basic veggie share costing $649. Add eggs, fruit or both for an extra fee, and honey can be ordered separately here. To help fill up the Brooklyn trucks, Farm Share is also offering $25 off a share if you include the code BKLYN at checkout.
Another Smash-Up On Hicks St., Cobble Hill
Earlier this month, a young boy was struck dead by a cab on Hicks St., in Cobble Hill. And though the cab driver wasn’t charged with anything because the child ran into the street, anyone who lives nearby knows cars tend to speed down Hicks like it’s the FDR Drive. Basically, it’s a shortcut for drivers to bypass the traffic-laden leg of the BQE between Hamilton Ave. and Atlantic Ave.–and very few people acknowledge the residential nature of the road.
After the fatal accident, the neighborhood responded by asking the Department of Transportation (DOT) to do something to slow traffic down–especially since school children cross at least twice a day to get to and from PS 29 from Columbia St. And to help out, an electronic speed board was placed near Degraw St., alerting cars of their speed as they flew down the block. Unfortunately, this has done diddlysquat, as evidenced by today’s nasty accident on 
Hicks between Degraw and Kane St. At approximately 1pm this afternoon, a blue minivan slammed into the back of a double parked van, totaling its front end and the vans back–while simultaneously pushing two parked cars onto the sidewalk. Observers say the minivan was going at least 70 mph, and didn’t notice the large red van standing in the middle of the street.
This is at least the second time a car has lost control on this street because of excessive speeding, and a flashing speedometer on the side of the road is no combatant.
People live on this road and kids use the cross streets to go back and forth to the public school. It’s time DOT does something about it. We can only hope this brings the powers that be to their senses.
Jehovas Could Restore the Brooklyn “Waldorf”
When I first moved to the neighborhood, I remember wondering what was going on inside the ornate building at 98 Montague St., with the words BOSSERT inscribed on the side. Turns out, the glittering chandeliers and marble columns belonged to the Jehovas Witnesses, and the building housed members of the religious sect when they came to town. Not bad, me thinks. And delving into the history of this address, I soon found it was a high society hotel called, go figure, The Bossert (built by lumber magnate Louis Bossert), and the place where the Brooklyn Dodgers celebrated after winning their one and only World Series in the Borough.
So it was with great interest I read this story in the Brownstoner, claiming the Witnesses are trying to change the city zone into one that would allow a hotel once again.
It’s unclear whether this is part of a plan to try to sell the building again. According to a public hearing notice sent out by Community Board Two, a variance application was filed to allow the “reconversion of the existing community facility hotel back to its original, transient hotel use.”
Would you welcome a high-end hotel into Brooklyn Heights? Yay or nay?
Cobble Hill’s PS 29 Asbestos Debacle
Before I move forward on this post, I want to offer a quick disclaimer: I am a PS 29 parent. That puts me a little close to this news. But news it is, so I wanted to report on it best I can. You may have already heard about the dust-up between the school’s Parent Construction Committee and the NYCSCA (School Construction Committee). Three days ago, parents received this email:
Urgent Construction Update
We have learned, without prior knowledge, that asbestos removal around the windows of the school starts Monday. We have spent the last 24 hours aggressively trying to have it stopped and have made no progress. We’ve called and sent emails (see below) to the SCA and have contacted pols asking if it can be stopped until summer.
At this point the work will begin on Monday.
The person at the SCA is our project support manager is Yvette Knight at 718.472.8199
As might be suspected, everyone is totally freaked out. The work begins in the evening and is meant to be completely cleaned up by morning (nobody was told how long the asbestos abatement will last). After speaking to other parents today, everyone seemed as mystified, upset and helpless as I am. Do we trust that containment, clean-up and monitoring will be done without any human error, every single night (the regulations for this are over 100 pages long)? My head tells me the Board of Education wouldn’t endanger our children by allowing a disease hazard in a school still in session. But in my heart, I can’t seem to reconcile doubts that sufficient clean-up will happen each and every morning. Especially since I’ve seen the thick layers of dust all over the school since work began.
Let’s face it, human error happens. The parents simply want the asbestos abatement postponed until school is out in June (if interested, you can sign a petition here). Nobody wants the entire project to shut down. According to the PS 29 Construction site, the reasoning for going forward is simple bureaucracy. They are doing 1,000-1,400 school construction jobs at any given time, and they can’t afford to set a precedent to dictate the terms or timing of their job. SIGH. So, what do you think? Has anybody else’s school been through this type of thing? Do you have answers that might help the parent body feel better about sending our children to school?
In the meantime, concerned parents will be protesting in front of the school tonight at 5:30pm if you’d like to show support.
Big Private Money Injected into Brooklyn Bridge Park
Last October, we reported on how a planned, seasonal indoor sports structure was being nixed from Brooklyn Bridge Park’s future plans. The structure, which would provide active recreation at the Park during the off-season and promote the use of Brooklyn Bridge Park during the winter months, was just too expensive. But, according to the NY Post, things are looking up for us South Brooklynites.
A Manhattan philanthropist is donating $40 million to the cash-strapped Brooklyn Bridge Park waterfront project to fill its greatest need: year-round recreation.
Joshua Rechnitz, a 46-year-old competitive amateur cyclist and animator by trade, plans to bring a 115,000-square-foot enclosed field house for year-round sports to Furman Street off Pier 5 in Brooklyn Heights.
The moneyman spent the past few years searching citywide for the best location to build such a project before dishing out what officials say is the largest donation a city park has ever received.
Expect ballfields, an inclined track for cycling, an area for gymnastics, a boat house, and basketball, tennis and volleyball courts. And, um, WOO HOO!
Deaf Boy Struck By Cab on Hicks St.
image via NY Daily News
Cobble Hill Boutique Hit With Carcass Bomb
Local blog Pardon Me For Asking posted a pic of this bizarre prank first, showing a strange piece of meat-looking product hanging from the gates of upscale Cobble Hill boutique, Teddy. In response, the store sent along this comment:
We are as surprised by that nasty little present as anyone who sees the picture. We are checking with the local butcher shop and have informed the police, but we really don’t think it is anything other than some moron with a sick sense of humor. Our cameras will catch them if it happens again. Grossness and stupidity combined! Yuck.
Come on, who doesn’t love a little entrails-based shenanigans once in a while?
SJP and Matthew Broderick Heading to Brooklyn Heights
image via Curbed NY
When construction is completed, the combined home would create an urban mansion of approximately 7,000-plus square feet with a suburban-size backyard — perfect for the family’s growing children, son James Wilkie, 9, and twin daughters Marion and Tabitha, almost 3. The purchase of the townhomes will be an “off-market” transaction, meaning the houses weren’t officially for sale. Reps for the actors had no comment.
Miranda would be so proud.
Playground Incident: Warning to BoCoCa Parents
Got an email from a friend today, forwarded by a local mom. Though I think we all try to be vigilant in watching our children at the playgrounds and parks, this is certainly something to be aware of:
Hi everyone,
Something upsetting happened at the park today and everyone needs to be aware of it.
Today, around noon, I was with the kids at Pierrepont playground. We were getting ready to walk out and I stopped about 5 feet from the gate to talk to another mom. My boys were standing at the gate and a man came over and started talking to them, from outside the closed gate. I couldn’t hear what he said but as soon as I started walking over, he looked up and quickly walked off. I asked Henry what he said and Henry said, “he asked if I was allowed to leave the park.” This guy was completely normal looking (could have been anyone’s dad)– jeans, a blue short sleeve T-shirt, about 5′ 10″, caucasian with dark hair. I called the police and gave a description.
This was a major wake up call to me. I am always watching my kids, but I must say, I felt safe at Pierrepont today. There were so many people – kids, nannies, mom’s and friends everywhere – and I was so close to them. But the reality is, anything can happen, any time. The only way to keep our kids safe is for us to be vigilant….all the time. Tell your babysitters too — keep an eye out for this male — anyone alone near the playground is suspicious. Call the police and report it…he’s in our neighborhood and he’s hanging around our park.
Send this to everyone you can think of — I want to get the story out there and get this guy.
Thanks,
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