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Brooklyn Today May 17: Greenpoint Landmark 144 Franklin St. Hits the Market

May 17, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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THE LEDE: Happy Thursday, Brooklyn! A famous building hits the market in North Brooklyn, we take a tour of Greenpoint, and the city grapples with an electric bike dilemma. Plus, Sunset Park gets a new library, we review BAM’s latest play, and New York lawmakers look to ban pet leasing. Finally, a new pho restaurant is coming to Greenpoint, an office tower rises in Downtown Brooklyn, and we recommend the 17 best rooftop bars in the borough.                 
 
IMPRINT: American model Hailey Baldwin poses in a swimsuit on the Junecover of Elle Italia.


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The Rundown
 

~COME STROLL THROUGH GREENPOINT, EVERYBODY’S FAVORITE WATERFRONT NEIGHBORHOOD: When you’re craving some quality time inGreenpoint, it’s only fitting that you get there on a ferry. The waterfront plays a key role in the neighborhood’s history. Greenpoint is the place that launched a thousand ships. As opposed to the face that launched a thousand ships, who was of course Helen of Troy. So if you ride the NYC Ferry to Greenpoint and feel drawn to head straight to shoreline WNYC Transmitter Park, it’s completely understandable. We recently toured the neighborhood. Here’s what we saw.(via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~GREENPOINT LANDMARK 144 FRANKLIN ST. HITS THE MARKET: Icon for sale! The most recognizable building in Greenpoint is up for grabs. Potential buyers have already made multiple offers for the landmarked 1890s eye-catcher known as 144 Franklin St., aka the Mechanics and Traders Bank of Brooklyn. Marketing of the three-story Renaissance Revival residential and commercial building just began in early May. The asking price is $6.5 million for the red brick, brownstone and terra-cotta stunner with enormous round-arched windows. (via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~A TALE OF TWO E-BIKES: CITY MOVES AHEAD TO HELP RICH CYCLISTS, WHILE DELIVERYMEN SUFFER: It’s a rolling hypocrisy. MayorBill de Blasio continues to punish hard-working deliverymen for using low-cost battery-powered bicycles but is moving ahead to legalize high-end versions of the supposedly rogue roadsters. Electric bikes are currently illegal to ride, but the city is moving forward with an exemption for pedal-controlled electric bikes — the ones favored by well-heeled commuters. (via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~BAM’S ‘LONG DAY’S JOURNEY’, STARRING JEREMY IRONS, MAKES BOLD STATEMENT ABOUT OPIOIDS: A long day’s journey into … opioid addiction? No, Eugene O’Neill’s 1957 classic about the toll of morphine addiction and alcoholism is not about OxyContin, but the Bristol Old Vic production that opened at BAM last week intentionally tries to link the mid-century drama to today’s current drug crisis. “I’ve tried to make it feel as if it’s a play that was written today,” director Richard Eyre said. “I’ve tried to make it as alive as possible, so it has from the moment it starts a kind of current going through it.” (via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~BROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY OPENS INTERIM BRANCH IN BOOK-STARVED SUNSET PARK: Sunset Park book lovers rejoice — you have a library again. The Brooklyn Public Library formally cut the ribbon on Tuesdayon a gorgeous interim branch inside the old Sunset Park Court House on Fourth Avenue at 42nd Street to serve readers and internet-surfers while the neighborhood’s main branch is undergoing renovations that began last month.Tuesday’s unveiling had a celebratory air, with the neighborhood’s Councilmember Carlos Menchaca reading “Edward Gets Messy” to kids. (via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~PHO IS FRONT AND CENTER AT NEW GREENPOINT VIETNAMESE EATERY: Popular Vietnamese pho joint An Choi is branching out from the Lower East Side with a new shop in Greenpoint at 68 Greenpoint Ave. Thenew restaurant will be called Di An Di, which basically translates to “Let’s go eat.” Unlike most Vietnamese restaurants, which serve other dishes such as banh mi sandwiches, Di An Di will put the Southeast Asian nation’s ubiquitous rice noodle soup front and center. One item, Pho Thin Hanoi, pays tribute to a famous soup served at the Hanoi restaurant of the same name. (Grub Street via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~PLEASE DON’T REPO FIDO: NEW YORK LAWMAKERS LOOK TO BAN PET LEASING: How much is that maltipoo in the window? It could end up costing twice what it says on the price tag if the buyer is enticed into signing a pet leasing contract. That’s what nearly happened to 24-year-old Natalie Sullivan, of Brooklyn. She and her roommate fell in love with a designer Frenchton puppy at a pet store but couldn’t afford the $1,350 price tag. “So the salesman talked us into this predatory payment plan,” Sullivan said. It wasn’t until they got home with their new pup that they read the shockingcontract more closely. (AP via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~ROOFTOP OFFICE TOWER ON THE RISE OVER BROOKLYN MACY’S: A 10-story rooftop office tower is being added to the oldest part of Macy’s at418 Fulton St. in Downtown Brooklyn. The 19th-century cast-iron building is being integrated with the new addition as part of a $279-million redevelopment of Macy’s by Tishman Speyer. The Second Empire building’s mansard roof has been removed, but it will eventually be placed back onto the building. The building was built in the 1870s, then purchased in 1881 by Abraham & Weschler, which later became Abraham & Straus. (Brownstoner via Brooklyn Eagle)


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Staff Picks:   
 

LONG READ: “The Untold Story of Robert Muller’s Time in Combat” (via Wired)
 
ANOTHER LONG READ: One journalist details his experiences with “trip doctors,” medical professionals using psychedelic drugs for mental health treatments. (via NYT Magazine)   
 
PODCAST: Sheila Heti, author of seven books, talks about the concern her parents had when she said she wanted to be a writer. (via Longform)
 
DRINK: From Gowanus to WilliamsburgCobble Hill to Red Hook, here are the 17 best rooftop bars in Brooklyn. (via Thrillist)

 
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NATIONAL BULLETIN: A Philadelphia man is released from jail after more than a decade for a murder he didn’t commit…Brooklyn and Manhattan DAs will no longer prosecute marijuana possession and use cases…And North Carolina teachers rally for better pay(via NYT, Patch and NBC News)           
 
FOREIGN FLASH: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un threatens to cancel hissummit meeting with President Trump…Some Latin American countries want to open embassies in Jerusalem…And the Syrian government used chlorinein its chemical attack in February. (via NYT, WaPo and AP via LA Times)                                  
 

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 ROYAL WATCH: Meghan Markle 
will become an official member of the royal family on Saturday, but she’s sacrificing a lot by doing so. (via The Sun)  

 
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BROOKLYN TONIGHT     
 

9:30AM — Yo Re Mi Music and Movement at 1 John StDetails.
 
10:00AM — Dancercize at Brighton Beach Library. Details.
 
12:00PM – 6:00PM — If Only We Knew. Nothing’s New. at A.I.R Gallery.Details.
 
7:00PM — What Is Left of the Arab Spring? at Albertine. Details.
 
7:00PM — Speedy Ortiz at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Details.
 
7:00PM – 9:00PM  — Choose Wonder Over Worry: Move Beyond Fear and Doubt to Unlock Your Full Potential by Amber Rae at Powerhouse Arena.Details.
 
7:30PM — The Great Experiment: Questioning Democracy at BAM Fishman Space. Details.
 
7:30PM – 10:00PM — Three Female Choreographers Premiere Works Focused on Women’s Empowerment at New York Live Arts. Details.
 
8:00PM — Feast: Food of the Islamic World at 92nd Street Y. Details.
 
11:00PM – 2:00AM — MOFAD Night Market Afterparty at City Winery.Details.
      
 

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EAGLE SPORTS: “With the eighth pick in the 2018 Draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers select [fill in the blank],” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will utter from the dais at Barclays Center at about 9 p.m. on June 21. And with that announcement, the last remnants of arguably the worst deal in modern league history, and certainly the most damaging during the Brooklyn era of the Nets’ franchise will come to an end. Whew! The Nets have been paying for general manager Billy King’s so-called 2013 blockbuster deal with the Celtics for far too long now, getting another painful reminder of the ill-fated swap Tuesdaynight during the NBA’s annual Draft Lottery. (via Brooklyn Eagle)


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MILESTONES
 
Happy birthday to Craig Ferguson, Mia Hamm, Derek Hough, Christian Lacroix, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tony Parker, Bill Paxton, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Nikki Reed, Trent Reznor, Bob Saget and Debra Winger!
 

Brooklyn Today’s editor is Scott Enman. Contact him at[email protected].

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