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Brooklyn Today December 29: Heights Group Fighting to ‘Save The View’ of the Brooklyn Bridge Loses Its Appeal

December 29, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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***The Brooklyn Daily Eagle office will be closed on Monday for New Year’s Day. The next Brooklyn Today newsletter will be sent onTuesday, Jan. 2.***
 
Weather, Brooklyn (NWS): Day 23°, Night 18°, Chance Flurries


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THE LEDE: Happy Friday, Brooklyn! It’s going to be very cold going into the new year, Pierhouse gets a favorable decision, and booze and axe throwing is the borough’s latest trend. Plus, hundreds of thousands of homeowners are set to receive credit from the Water Board, a young democrat from Texas makes a push for Ted Cruz‘ senate seat, and we share the best cocktails in NYC. Finally, a 4-year-old boy in Texas dies after a treehouse collapses on him, New York City’s street lights are changing from orange to white, and the Queen is hiring. Have a great long weekend.   
 
IMPRINT: Naomi Watts poses in front of ivy on the December cover ofPurist.

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The Rundown
 

~BABY IT’S COLD OUT THERE: 2018 COMES BLOWING INTO BROOKLYN WITH A DEEP FREEZE: The sun may be inching back into the daytime sky, but Brooklyn’s weather will be dangerously cold going into the new year, according to the National Weather Service. The agency warns that temperatures will be around 10-15 degrees “below climatological normal” this week — with an average forecast temperature of 19 degrees for the week or so — and that temperatures will be “well below normal” into 2018. Record low temperatures could be approached at JFK airport (12 degrees in 1960) and at LaGuardia (also 12 degrees in 1952). There is also a chance of snow on Saturday, though the forecast is still uncertain. It’s so cold that Coney Islandwon’t be offering free rides on Deno’s Wonder Wheel or the Stop the Zombies ride on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day, and the city has issued a Code Blue for the homeless. Despite the deep freeze, however, the Polar Bears Club still appears poised to take its annual New Year’s Day plunge. (via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~HEIGHTS GROUP FIGHTING TO ‘SAVE THE VIEW’ OF THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE LOSES ITS APPEAL: Save The View Now, a community group fighting to preserve the iconic view of the Brooklyn Bridge from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade lost its appeal in court on Wednesday. State Supreme Court Justice Lawrence Knipel decided in September 2015 that STVN, co-founded by Brooklyn Heights resident Steven Guterman, filed its lawsuit past the four month Article 78 Statute of Limitations.The lawsuit complained that the hotel section of the Pierhouse hotel/residential complex in Brooklyn Bridge Park is 30 feet taller than the 100 foot height limit agreed to after lengthy negotiations with the community in 2005. Now completed, the building partially blocks historic views of the Brooklyn Bridge. “We’re pleased with yesterday’s decision which affirms Justice Knipel’s dismissal of the Pierhouse case. Like the other development projects in Brooklyn Bridge Park, this project generates much needed revenue to maintain and operate the Park,” a park spokesperson told us on Thursday. (via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~BOOZE AND AXE THROWING MIX AT NEW GOWANUS BAR: The latest trend in Brooklyn landed in Gowanus this month: a lodge-like bar equipped with an arsenal of throwing axes and targets set up for recreational use. Kick Axe was brought to 622 DeGraw St. by Ginger Flesher-Sonnier and Darren Sonnier, a couple who saw recreational axe throwing was on the rise across the country. “We did a little bit of research into it and we thought it would catch on really well,” Sonnier said. “I mean, who doesn’t want to throw axes?” The bar offers just that. With the help of assigned “axperts,” Brooklynites can turn the 7,000-square-foot spot into a playground — within the safety regulations, of course. Axe throwing as a sport gained popularity in Canada, where professional leagues compete. With growing interest in the states, Kick Axe hopes to start its own leagues and competitions in January. (via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~HOMEOWNERS TO RECEIVE CREDIT FOR WATER BILLS: In a holiday miracle of sorts, nearly 205,000 Brooklyn homeowners can expect a $183 credit on an upcoming water bill. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the New York Court of Appeals will uphold credit to homeowners from the Water Board that was proposed by the city in 2016 as part of its 2017 fiscal year budget. Upon the legal challenge, the Water Board appealed the court’s decision to invalidate the credit. The news was met with support from local politicians including Councilmember Carlos Menchaca, Councilmember-electJustin Brannan and Councilmember Mark Treyger. “I am pleased to see the court uphold the Water Board’s sensible decisions to help our city’s working families save money,” Treyger said. “Keeping the cost of utilities down is an important step towards maintaining affordability for thousands of New Yorkers.” (via Brooklyn Reporter)
 
~BROWNSVILLE PROPERTY SOLD AS PRICIEST-EVER NEIGHBORHOOD DEAL: Brooklyn investor Shulem Herman paid $53 million for a six-storyBrownsville property in the priciest-ever single-building deal in the historically-impoverished neighborhood. The 164,000 square-foot property houses Brownsville Ascend Lower School along with Subway, Dollar Tree and Pizza Hut, which all have continued leases. Herman intends to keep the property that was listed by POKO Partners, mostly as is. “After many years of vacancy and neglect, the seller, POKO Partners, brought life back to this majestic property by building an incredible education facility that serves almost 1,000 public school students,” said TerraCRG’s Matthew Cosentino. (via The Real Deal)

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Staff Picks:   
 

LONG READ: “How Facebook’s Political Unit Enables the Dark Art of Digital Propaganda” (via Bloomberg)
 
ANOTHER LONG READ: Congressman Beto O’Rourke is out to prove that a Democrat can win in Texas. The only person standing in his way is Ted Cruz.(via Texas Monthly)
 
AWARDS: Here’s everything you need to know about the Golden Globes, which take place Jan. 7. (via Time)
 
DRINKS: It’s 5 o’clock somewhere. Here’s a guide to the best cocktails in New York City. (via TimeOut)

 
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NATIONAL BULLETIN: A 4-year-old boy in Texas dies after a treehouse collapses on him…New York City’s street lights are changing from orange to white…And Alabama officials reject Roy Moore’s complaint that he was a victim of “systematic voter fraud.” (via KHOU, TimeOut and NYT)     
 
FOREIGN FLASH: China advises America to stop its dependence on opioids…A bomb claimed by ISIS kills more than 40 people in Afghanistan…And former soccer star George Weah will be Liberia’s next president. (via USA Today, WaPo and CSMonitor) 

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 ROYAL WATCH: Do you like cooking? Well, the Queen is hiring a full-time chef to work at Buckingham Palace. (via Hello!)

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BROOKLYN TONIGHT   

11:00AM — Shape Up NYC: Healing Hatha Yoga at Audobon Center at the Boathouse. Details.
 
1:00PM – 4:00PM — Winter Holidays at the Prospect Park Tennis Center.Details.
 
3:00PM – 6:00PM — Witness to War at Old Stone House. Details.
 
7:00PM — Screening & Live Event: Metropolitan with Whit Stillman in Person at Museum of the Moving Image. Details.
 
7:00PM — Raga Cubana Brooklyn Raga Massive Featuring Roman Diaz at Rubin Museum of Art. Details.
 
7:00PM — Happier Hour: Philosophy to Make Your Life Suck Less at Caveat.Details.
 
8:00PM — Gogol Bordello at Brooklyn Steel. Details.
 
9:00PM – 11:00PM — The Lab Presented by Caveat with Drunk Science at Caveat. Details.
 
10:00PM – 3:00AM — PJs ‘N DJs Party at Littlefield. Details.
 
11:45PM — Screening: The Shining at Nitehawk Cinema. Details.
 
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 EAGLE SPORTS: New Orleans forward DeMarcus Cousins felt like he was playing with the Harlem Globetrotters on Wednesday night. That would place the Brooklyn Nets in the role of the Washington Generals. You know, the team that hopelessly follows the Globetrotters around the court like a dog chasing its tail. “We just did not have the defensive mentality and defensive discipline to get stops. They are a potent offensive team,” frustrated Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson said after his team’s embarrassing effort in a 128-113 loss to the Pelicans in front of 16,707 fans at the Smoothie King Center. Potency is something the Nets (12-22) have been lacking for weeks now as they fell to 1-7 in their last eight games, including 0-3 on this ongoing five-game road trip that continues Friday night in Miami. “We looked like the Harlem Globetrotters at one point,” Cousins noted. “It’s fun to play that way.” Not for the Nets it’s not. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

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MILESTONES
 
Happy birthday to Patricia Clarkson, Ted Danson, Iain De Caestecker, Marianne Faithfull, Tom Jarriel, Jason Kreis, Jude Law, Ross Lynch, Jon Polito, Paula Poundstone, Jon Voight and Lilly Wachowski!


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