Brooklyn Today: Skyscrapers, beaches and tidal pools

December 16, 2019 Brooklyn Today

Here’s the playground equipment outside The Greenpoint. Eagle photo by Lore Croghan

Greenpoint. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

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THE LEDE: Happy Monday! Two Trees Management, the developer of the mammoth Domino Sugar Refinery site, is expanding its dominance of the Williamsburg waterfront with the $150 million purchase of a nearby site from Con Edison, where some neighbors oppose any residential development.

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THE RUNDOWN

~ AMID RISE IN PACKAGE THEFT, A NEW SERVICE RELIES ON THE KINDNESS OF NEIGHBORS: Pickups connects online shoppers in Williamsburg with neighbors willing to hold on to their deliveries, keeping them safe from doorstep thieves.

~ SKYSCRAPERS, BEACHES AND TIDAL POOLS: TWO TREES REVEALS PLAN FOR WILLIAMSBURG WATERFRONT: The River Street project includes two towers with 1,000 apartments, 250 of which will be affordable units for lower-income tenants, and a water-centric park with a public beach and natural habitats such as a salt marsh, freshwater wetland and tidal pools.

~ BROOKLYN’S GENTRIFYING NEIGHBORHOODS SEE THE MOST HEAT COMPLAINTS: As temperatures continue to drop ahead of winter’s coldest months, some Brooklyn residents have had to call 311 to get their landlords to turn on the heat — despite the city’s heat law, which requires building owners to provide heat for tenants from Oct. 1 through May 31.

~ GREENPOINT RESIDENTS WIN BATTLE AGAINST BACKYARD BAR: Residents of the Greenpoint Historic District, fed up with excessive noise coming from restaurants and bars, have successfully dissuaded a new venue from operating out of its backyard — a small victory but one that sets an important precedent, according to neighbors.

~ OPINION: WHAT THE INDUSTRY CITY REZONING IS REALLY ABOUT: “Industry City is neither a savior of our community nor the sole cause of our greatest challenges,” writes Councilmember Carlos Menchaca.

~ CITY MULLING OVER CHANGES FOR SIBLINGS IN SCHOOL ADMISSIONS: The Education Department won’t give twins and siblings preference in middle school admissions this year in Brooklyn’s District 15, despite a parent-led campaign to make it easier for their children to attend the same schools. (Chalkbeat)

MORE BROOKLYN NEWS

~ Take a look inside Faurschou New York, Greenpoint’s newest museum. (NYT)

~ At El Jeffe in Bed-Stuy, the fried chicken burrito is a must-try. (Eater)

~ From abandoned to “beautiful,” how a Fort Greene brownstone went through an incredible transformation. (Apartment Therapy)

STAFF PICKS

~ READ: “Click Here to Kill: The dark world of online murder markets” (Harper’s)

~ DRINK: Here are New York City’s 16 best coffee shops, including five in Brooklyn. (Thrillist)

~ LAUGH: Santa gives the White House a present. (The New Yorker)

~ SPORTS: Take a look inside the football helmet industry, where a desire for profits can undermine player safety. (SI)

WHAT’S HAPPENING

6:30PM — Nationalism and Democracy at New-York Historical Society. Details.

7:00PM — The Real Story of Lead Poisoning in NYC at The Greene Space. Details.

8:00PM — Secret Science Club Presents Marine Biologist & Explorer David Gruber at The Bell House. Details.

THE WRAP

⌛ ON THIS DAY
In 1946, the Brooklyn Eagle reported, “Former Police Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine, 64, who rose from the ranks of the New York Police Department to become one of the nation’s leading criminologists, died at 5:15 o’clock this morning in Long Island College Hospital.”

IMPRINT
Alessandra Ambrosio poses with her kids on the December cover of Madame Figaro.

ROYAL WATCH
Is Princess Beatrice pregnant? (Daily Express)

SPORTS
“How the Kyrie Irving signing has already blown up on the Nets” (Sportsnaut)

BIRTHDAYS

Happy birthday to Lesley Stahl, Theo James, Bruce Ames, Alison LaPlaca, Benjamin Bratt, Krysten Ritter, William Perry, Jon Tenney, Liv Ullmann and Edward Ruscha!