The Brooklyn Blogade at Root Hill Cafe
The June 2008 Brooklyn Blogade was hosted by Adrian Kinloch, Brit in Brooklyn, at Root Hill Cafe on 4th Avenue. The theme was photo-blogging, and several Brooklyn photo-bloggers – including myself I suppose! – turned out for the afternoon. About 20 people attended, most of whom of visible in the photo above.
Flickr photo set
Kensington Blogade, March 10, 2008
[where: Root Hill Cafe, 262 4th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215]
I was startled to read on Ditmas Park Blog just a few minutes ago that a man had been murdered Monday night around the corner from me. They quoted what was reported in the New York Post:
A suspect was busted after fatally stabbing a man on a Kensington [sic] street, police said yesterday. The 29-year-old suspect, whose name was not immediately released, knifed the 26-year-old man in the chest at Westminster Road and Slocum Place at 10 p.m. Monday. The victim, whose name was withheld pending family notification, was rushed to Methodist Hospital, where he died. Police busted the assailant, who suffered minor injuries in the fight. Charges were pending.
– New York Post NYPD Daily Blotter, November 14, 2007
This is almost not even wrong. They got the ages and night of the attack correct, but that’s it.
Going through my feeds, I saw that The Brooklyn Paper reported it today:
An East New York man was stabbed and killed on 12th Street on Monday night after an argument with another man, who was later arrested for the crime, cops said. Police said William Rosario, 26, succumbed to a single stab wound in the chest in the 10 pm incident between Fifth and Sixth avenues. He was taken to New York Methodist Hospital, but was dead on arrival. It’s unclear what sparked the dispute. Police said they arrested the suspect, who also needed treatment for “minor injuries he received during the dispute.” The arrested man, 29, was charged with manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon — the knife, which was recovered at the scene.
– A man is stabbed to death, The Brooklyn Paper, November 17, 2007 [issue date; it was on their Web site as of 11/15]
Then I learned from Brooklynonometry that the Daily News had reported it first, giving the same location as The Brooklyn Paper, and identifying the neighborhood correctly:
A 26-year-old man was stabbed to death after a fight in front of a Park Slope home, police said. The victim – whose family has not been notified of his death – was fighting with Antonio Bruno, 29, on 12th St., between 5th and 6th Avenues, at 8 p.m. Monday, a police source said. The victim was stabbed once in the chest and taken to Methodist Hospital where he died of his wound a short time later. Police responding to the scene arrested Bruno and found a knife at the scene. Bruno, who was treated at the same Brooklyn hospital for minor injuries, has a lengthy rap sheet dotted with drug arrests, the police source said. Charges against Bruno are pending, officials said.
– Man stabbed to death in Park Slope street fight, New York Daily News, November 13, 2007
As if I needed a reminder that the New York Post is not even suitable for wiping my @$$.
Gowanus Canal, looking north from the 9th Street Bridge
Last Sunday, the Historic District Council‘s Walking Tour of Red Hook began with all of us gathering on the “plaza” outside the Smith & 9th Street station. This station is the highest point above sea level in the NYC subway system. The reason: it has to cross the Gowanus Canal.
The Gowanus Canal has had a deserved reputation for polluted, even toxic, waters. Several years ago, a circulation fan at the head of the canal was repaired, returning water flow to the canal for the first time in decades. Almost immediately, water conditions improved, and life began to return to its waters.
Gowanus Canal, North of the Bridge
All along the New York waterfront, bulkheads and piers are failing. For decades, water pollution preserved the wooden pilings. With improved water quality, shipworms have returned and are devastating the wood. You can see a bulkhead failure in the photo below.
I think this planter qualifies as a defiant garden. There were a couple of them along the edge on the northwest side of the bridge. I want to come back in the spring to see what’s growing in them.
South of the Bridge
South of the bridge, the Gowanus Expressway crosses over the canal.
Earlier this week, the Gowanus Lounge noted that the Revere Sugar Dome demolition material was being carted to a scrapyard on the Gowanus. When I was there on Sunday, I noticed activity at the scrapyard south of the bridge. I think it’s the same one. If so, here’s the remains of the Revere Sugar Dome in action.
The Bridge
The Gowanus Canal is a working waterway. There isn’t enough room for the street bridge beneath the subway station to tilt up, so it lifts vertically, straight up. You can see the cables against the column on the left of this photo.
Here’s the hardware connecting the counterweight, the top of which you can see here, to the cables.
The understructure of the subway platform is completely wrapped to contain concrete spalling off beams and trusses.
Every public structure in NYC is a branding opportunity.
The View from Above
The station platform, and the approach on either side, of the Smith & 9th Street station provide wonderful views of Brooklyn and New York Harbor.
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