Diner for sale; schools over-crowded; new homeowner protection bill; pictures of poop plant
East & Creek, the Greenpoint newsletter | No. 47
What’s up in Greenpoint?
Local diner for sale: “The classic neighborhood diner Manhattan Three Decker (695 Manhattan Ave.) has been listed for sale. No closing date for the restaurant has been announced (Greenpointers is in the process of reaching out to the owners), but the writing is certainly on the wall for Three Decker fans to relive their memories while the diner still graces the corner of Manhattan and Norman Avenues in its current incarnation.” (Greenpointers)
State rep. proposes protections for homeowners near new development: Greenpoint’s representative in the state Assembly, Joe Lentol, introduced three bills last week meant to protect homeowners and their properties from nearby construction activity. “These safeguards are necessary to ensure that small homeowners are not stuck with a bill or a headache due to negligence from adjacent construction sites,” Lentol said in a press release, adding that the legislation comes in response to a “high volume” of complaints from within his district, which also includes parts of Williamsburg, Clinton Hill and Fort Greene. One bill would require that applicants for construction licenses provide proof of a complete “commercial general liability insurance policy.” Another would require that developers establish and fund escrow accounts — with funding proportional to the number of properties neighboring a proposed building site — to cover legal fees and costs of damage to neighboring properties. A third would prevent developers from “self-certification” in a number of contexts.
A look at on-going problems with school over-crowding in Greenpoint: “Despite statistics from the Department of Education (DOE) that depict a large swath of northern Brooklyn as under capacity, Greenpoint’s Pre-K and elementary schools are filled to the brim, parents and elected officials say. Local parents argue that overcrowding affects not just children applying for pre-school, but currently enrolled students. And the ongoing development of luxury condo buildings in the neighborhood combined with the delayed construction of a K-8 school only exacerbate existing concerns.” (Greenpointers’ Ben Weiss)
Fight for protections for West Street bike lane continues: “A group of advocates — including bike store owners, Transportation Alternatives and Bike New York — sent a letter this month to the city's transportation and construction officials asking that they fix a West Street path that has become unusable for the walkers and riders it was designed for. The 1.2-mile lane, part of a plan to build 14 miles of "greenway" along the Brooklyn waterfront, is almost always filled with illegally parked cars because its only barrier is a short, often flat, curb that drivers can easily run over, advocates said.” (Patch’s Anna Quinn)
Look at these pictures of the ol’ neighborhood waste treatment facility: “On a crisp fall morning, I showered, brushed my teeth, and sent all that used water down the drain. Half an hour later, I was on the subway, following my wastewater to its next destination: the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The plant treats wastewater from more than 1 million people on the east side of Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn and Queens. It’s the largest of New York City’s 14 wastewater facilities, and features pairs of giant silver “digester eggs” that glisten in the sunlight. The plant only opens to the public a few times per year – I visited as part of Open House New York, a weekend-long event that grants entry to closed-off sites throughout the city.” (Business Insider’s Aria Bendix)
Thus concludes this October 29, 2019 edition of East & Creek, the twice-weekly newsletter about Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Read the full archives here.
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See ya around the neighb,
Jon Hanrahan
Author, e&c