Brooklyn Has Done Busy Philipps WrongThe ‘Dawson’s Creek’ star may have been a slut in the past, she says, but shame on Brooklynites for saying she is now. She’s married!
developing
New Outdoor Concert Space Could Replace McCarren Pool
Indie-rock fans bereft over the restoration of McCarren Park Pool to a swimming (and skating) spot might have some comfort after all: A leader of the community board in North Brooklyn says the city can set up a parking lot along the waterfront between North 9th and North 10th streets for live music as early as the summer of 2009. Evan Thies, who heads the board’s environmental committee, says the thicket of deals under way to convert an old gas plant to a 28-acre waterfront park has revealed a lot the city can easily acquire and clear in eighteen months. “There needs to be space for arts and music in Williamsburg and Greenpoint,” says Thies, who wants to win the district’s city-council seat next year and start a progressive caucus focusing on land use. If the proposal he’s sent to the Parks Department actually flies, Thies may just win himself the pivotal “dude, should we check out this band?” vote before the campaign gets in full swing. —Alec Appelbaum
developing
McCarren Park Pool to Be Commandeered by Children, Not Just Overgrown OnesSince the McCarren Park Pool was co-opted as an indie-rock venue, water sports there have been limited to hipsters spilling Brooklyn Lager and diving into that filthy Slip ‘N Slide. The most up-to-date plans to turn the site back into a place for actual swimming were presented, along with the image above and a tentative blueprint you’ll find after the jump, last night at Brooklyn’s Community Board 1 meeting: By summer 2011, the pool will reopen with a capacity of 1,400; come that winter, people will be able to ice-skate there, too. And in perhaps the greatest insult to the band-loving libertines who ruled the space last summer, there will also be a 5,800-square-foot gym installed. —Alec Appelbaum
neighborhood watch
In a Bold Move, McCarren Pool to Replace Hipsters With WaterAstoria: If you really want to nab those graffiti thugs up on your roof, it’s better to call the cops before you tell the thugs you’re about to do so. Live and learn. [Astorians]
Brooklyn Heights: With Henry Street scoring a perfect 100 on this Website in terms of its walkability to various amenities, residents there must be feeling very smug today … as usual. [McBrooklyn]
Midwood: A new condo designed for Orthodox Jews will have units as large as 1,700 square feet. Is that really big enough for these families? [Living in Victorian Flatbush]
Roosevelt Island: A whole mess of nineteenth-century expedition tents will grace Southpoint Park this October. No, it’s not the mayor’s solution to affordable housing — it’s an art installation. [Roosevelt Islander via Curbed]
Upper East Side: What’ll replace the empty storefront at 76th and Second? A Pottery Barn kids’-clothing store! How perfectly edgy for the UES! [78thand2nd]
Williamsburg: Now that it’s a landmark, the McCarren Park Pool may not long remain the exclusive domain of indie-band-flocking hipsto-rexics. Like, wah. [NYPress via Brooklyn Enthusiast]
neighborhood watch
Coney Island to Stay Low-Profile, Literally• Coney Island: Chief circus freak lauds Bloomberg for saying that luxury high-rises don’t fit Coney’s future. [Brooklyn Paper]
• Lower Manhattan: The Fulton Fish Market and Sharper Image were only the start of changes to South Street Seaport. Pier 17’s up next. [Curbed]
• Prospect Heights: At Forest City Ratner’s Atlantic Yards community-liaison office, they film you while you kvetch. [Atlantic Yards Report]
• Springfield Gardens: Southeastern Queens residents take to the streets to blast overdevelopment, including homes made of … foam? [Queens Chronicle via Queens Crap]
• West Village: Restaurateur Keith McNally joins the street protest over a massive billboard soon to dominate the meatpacking district. [Curbed]
• Williamsburg: McCarren Pool will host nine free concerts this summer, complete with Slip ‘n Slide and dodgeball pit. Pasty hipsters, bring sunblock. [Brooklyn Record]
