Recent Posts
Booze is a basis for pretty much everything in life. In particular the word ‘vodka’ actually means ‘water’! And we all know we need lots and lots of cocktails with ‘water’. Industry City Distillery is rocking out a whole bunch of booze in Sunset Park. Check it out…
Ezra Caldwell of Fast Boy Cycles fabricates two wheel transports that are pristine pieces of functional art. Growing up in a wood shop and later studying dance, Ezra has had a very interesting and unique life. In 2008, he was diagnosed with cancer and instead of allowing cancer to define him, he added photography to his many talents. His self-portraits capture a man battered in a fight with illness, but not beaten.
Made by Hand / No 5 The Bike Maker from Made by Hand on Vimeo.
more Made By Hand here!
The New York Times has published an article profiling neighborhood resistance to the various Gowanus Canal clean-up plans proposed by the E.P.A., from how the canal will be dredged to how the toxic sludge will eventually be used and how future canal contamination will be prevented.
A particularly troublesome proposal calls for an 8-million gallon sewage storage tank to be built underground beneath the popular Double D Pool to prevent the canal from overflowing during rainstorms. Neighbors are obviously up in arms about the idea of their children swimming on top of a giant sewage tank, and as fans of the pool at Gowanus Your Face Off we’re not so stoked on that idea either.
Well, this is certainly annoying. Residents of upper Gowanus who have been forced to walk north to Union Street or south to Third Street to cross the canal in recent weeks are gonna have to get used to wearing out their walking shoes for quite a bit longer; the Carroll Street Bridge is going to be out of commission until at least the end of August.
According to a sign posted at the construction site (below) the bridge is being “rehabilitated,” which includes the installation of a new timber deck, reconstruction of bridge approaches and sidewalks, steel repairs, cleaning and painting. Here’s a shot of the bridge in its current state, bridge open and docked in its west moor with all the wooden slats entirely removed:
If past NYC construction delays are any indication this thing will be closed well beyond the promised August 31st completion date, but we can always hope. The gorgeous old bridge was built in 1888 and is the oldest of only four retractile bridges in the United States.
After months of neighborhood bickering culminating in the approval of a liquor license last September, construction has finally begun on the Royal Palms Shuffleboard Parlor on Union Street between Nevins Street and Third Avenue. A gray-painted wood construction barrier went up around the one-story property in early April and interior demolition began two weeks ago. See the above photo taken by Gowanus Your Face Off.
The below comes from the official Royal Palms Facebook page with the caption “The future front door!”:
No word yet on when Royal Palms might open.
Root Hill Cafe posted the above picture of a VERY flooded Fourth Avenue (at the intersection of Carroll Street) on their Twitter account yesterday morning at around 8:05am following the intense thunderstorm that rolled through the NYC area this morning. Gowanus Your Face Off called Root Hill and spoke with Maria, who verified that the cafe is open for business today with no significant damage.
I haven’t been down to the basement to check for damage yet. There’s probably some. But we’re open for business. We’ve gotten to be experts at this, so we know to how to go through it, clean it and sanitize it.
Glad to hear that Root Hill is OK.
Here’s another picture of the flooded intersection from Pat Kiernan’s Twitter:
Gowanus Inch By Inch
