Statue of Liberty

Here is a visually arresting piece of literature a reader picked up near the Borough Hall train stop in Brooklyn last night.

Seeing the Statue of Liberty right behind the Brooklyn Bridge kind of catches your eye. But so does seeing the word words "New Era" anywhere near the name Tracy Boyland. Her brother, father and uncle all held an Assembly seat in Brooklyn, and after she was term limited from the City Council, her father ran for her seat. (Gotham Gazette has more here.)

For her current effort, Boyland has filed only one campaign finance statement with the state Board of Elections, showing she received one contribution for $100 and hasn't spent anything yet. A new era indeed.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

Around 8 p.m. last night, several partygoers--who had been toasting the Chelsea Arts Tower--tore themselves away from Cheim & Read Gallery, and took in the city view from high above the High Line.

Although Calvin Klein--who recently dropped $4 million on an 18th floor unit--didn't show up, there were plenty of real estate industry types and art aficionados (like Anthony Haden-Guest) on hand. The stylish group boarded a rickety, cage-like elevator, and headed up to the building's, still unfinished, 15th floor.  read more »

In a few months, the 20-story, glass and concrete tower--located on a former West 25th Street parking lot--will be completed. Full-floor, commercial condo units have already been scooped up by Marlborough Gallery, and several prominent art collectors--including Adam Lindemann.

Back in the heady days of 2003, no one seemed to want to talk about how much the World Trade Center  read more »

Last night, Brooklyn Community Board 7 overwhelmingly voted against HMS Associates' plan to build a 70-foot-high development at 614 Seventh Avenue in Sunset Park.

The neighborhood had recently been down-zoned by the Department of City Planning, and the lot in question has a 50-foot height limit. (See our previous coverage on the down-zoning here.) The community board found that HMS was not vested--meaning that the foundation wasn't completed--before the down-zoning took effect.  read more »

... flies only at Sunset Park? The Post reports today that the Department of City Planning is promoting a rezoning of South Slope/Sunset Park to curtail out-of-scale development on the side streets around Fourth Avenue, while at the same time allowing larger developments--up to 12 stories--on the avenue itself.

According to Brooklyn Community Board 7 district manager Jeremy Laufer, residents of the "South South Slope" and Greenwood Heights met with the board in late 2004 to work up a proposal for the D.C.P. to down-zone the area (along Fourth Avenue between 15th and 24th streets) to preserve the character of the neighborhood. Residents have been up in arms over new developments that disregard the scale and character of the nabe.

The D.C.P. evidently liked the plan, and it's due to be certified later this month. A public hearing is scheduled for Aug. 25 at Community Board 7's full-board meeting (4201 Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn, 6:30 p.m.), and it will be voted on later that night.

This is all preliminary, though; its needs to go through the land-use review process, hopefully by September, and the D.C.P. has to approve it before it eventually makes its way to the City Council for a vote.  read more »

D.C.P. spokesperson Rachaelle Raynoff told The Real Estate that the intent of the proposed rezoning is to preserve the character of the neighborhood (including preserving the sight line of the statue of Minerva, which sites atop the Greenwood Cemetery as a tribute to the Battle of Brooklyn that inaugurated the Revolutionary War, to the Statue of Liberty (photo)) while at the same time providing additional housing.

- Matthew Grace

Last night's Fantastic Four premiere, ambitiously slated for Liberty Island (perhaps inside the Statue of Liberty's head?), could have used some superhero help as it went up in flames (or down in the rain).

Members of the press were herded in Battery Park, then boated to Liberty Island. A red carpet parade happened. (For the record, Seventeen editor Atoosa Rubenstein's name appeared on the tip sheet of celebs. It's not that Ms. Rubenstein isn't famous, but... well, it's a bit like listing Mr. Pibb alongside Coke and Pepsi, if you follow. Still, to the organizer's credit, snacks were even provided for the reporters, which is something The Transom has never, ever heard of.)  read more »

Most of the press, of course, were not allowed to actually attend the film, so they were put back on a boat to Manhattan. But ten minutes into the screening, which was delayed until shortly after 10 p.m., apparently the projector broke. A note from our reporter Adriane Quinlan:

The reporters on the boat were treated to the sight of screening attendees scrambling below to board the press boat, so as to not be stranded on Liberty Island for an unknown amount of time. "Forget them, pull the plank!" said a publicist. Meanwhile, celebs themselves crushed unhappily onto the press boat, which took off promptly, leaving flurrying celebs below like so many Titanic victims. Jessica Alba stood bravely in the prow of The Transom's boat, unwilling to speak to the hordes of media types who surrounded her.

Much, much, much more on this endlessly enjoyable story in a bit. —Choire Sicha

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