Brooklynites concerned about Bruce Ratner's overdevlopment plan for Brooklyn might want to pay attention to a lawsuit MIT has filed against Ratner's architect, Frank Gehry.

Frank Gehry is a controversial figure, though I have always kind of liked his architecture. He has been criticized for wasting space and designing buildings that are too large and inconvenient for the people who use them. But to me his architecture always had a touch of the same playfulness I always have liked in the archtecture of Antoni Gaudi. Of course Gaudi was ridiculed early in his career, too.

Open House New York which will be held this coming Saturday and Sunday gives New Yorkers who love their built environment the chance to get up close and personal with buildings and constructed spaces.

Guides to the house, powerhouse and walking tours will be included in Wednesday's New York Times as well as online . There are 300 places to visit which have been opened up for free for the weekend. Many require reservations. For example, the High Line; (the elevated rail tracks overgrown with weeds and rusted with disuse on the west side of Manhattan.) Many of those are already filled completely -- tours of the broken down small pox hospital on the south end of Roosevelt Island are completely booked. But many sites require no reservation.

My favorite places after the jump:

The Eagle has landed Do you love tall sailing ships? The US Coast Guard training ship The Eagle has docked at the foot of pier 17, at the South Street Seaport. The ship is great (no signs of its Nazi origin), the coast guardsmen and women charming; tours from 9:00-6:30 Sat & Sun. If you go Sat. morning, check out the asbestos decontamination exercise run by Fire at the Sanitation garage at the foot of Montgomery Street.

After years of torture and harsh confinement, US officials have decided to allow some "high value" Guantanamo detainees to lawyer-up . (Although at least one of them, already represented by counsel, has not been allowed to get letters from her).

The poor get sicker than the rich. Great and serious congratulations are due to Comptroller William Thompson who (I guess with staff support) has produced a really smart interesting and important analysis of the NYC health impacts of class and cash. Surpise!

Brooklyn Matters is a critically acclaimed documentary about the proposed Atlantic Yards project. Screenings have been ongoing throughout the city, particularly (not surprisingly) in Brooklyn.

“A powerful documentary by a well-respected filmmaker, Brooklyn Matters is a must see for all New Yorkers who care about the future of their neighborhoods and the role that public policy and process plays in determining that future.”
-Marilyn Gelber, Former Commissioner, New York City Department of Environmental Protection

“Of all the protesting voices and hundreds of thousands of words in opposition to the proposed Atlantic yards development, nothing is as convincing as isabel hill's excellent film."
-- Stuart Pertz, FAIA, Former Member of the New York City Planning Commission

Brooklyn Matters is the must see documentary about the "Atlantic Yards" project. Here are your chances to see it.

Upcoming Screenings of Brooklyn Matters:

Friday, June 15, 7pm.
Spoke the Hub Recreation Center
748 Union Street (btwn 5th and 6th avenues, closer to 6th), Bklyn
RSVP: 718-408-3234

Tuesday, June 19, 7pm.
Fifth Avenue Committee

Brooklyn Matters is a movie getting lots of attention...attention Ratner doesn't want it to get. So far I have heard nothing but rave reviews of it and some of those from people who were formerly neutral on Ratner's plan. And many of the most rave reviews come from people who don't live in Brooklyn. This movie deals with citywide issues, not just Brooklyn issues.

No single event will have a more drastic and long-lasting impact on Brooklyn than the proposed Atlantic Yards development. This uncommon proposal, however, is mostly misunderstood. Brooklyn Matters is an insightful documentary that reveals the fuller truth about the Atlantic Yards proposal and highlights how a few powerful men are circumventing community participation and planning principles to try to push their own interests forward.

Producer/Director- Isabel Hill, buildinghistory@verizon.net
Editor- Marian Sears Hunter
Director of Photography- Chuck Clifton
Sound Recordist- Michelle Clifton

Brooklyn Matters is the movie about Brooklyn development that has caught the attention of the whole city. I am taking this from their website, but this is also the kind of stuff I am hearing from people from all over the city who have seen the movie: (note the qualifications of thes people)

About a block from my house on Garfield Place in Park Slope, there is the brownstone that we refer to as the "Pepto-Bismol" building because it has been painted the color of Pepto-Bismol since we moved into the neighborhood. Recently the owner repainted, clearly trying to get the same color, but actually getting a color a bit to bright and harsh to be that soft, soothing Pepto-Bismol pink.

No matter how you look at it, the building is an eyesore. But in the uniformity and conformity of Park Slope, I have to admit I always had a soft spot for the Pepto-Bismol building.

Now the Daily News has an article on this building, informing us that the owner, now 90 years old, has been painting the building that color since 1968! Needless to say, this pisses off the Yuppies that surround him:

[Bernie] Henry, 90, said he doesn't understand why his neighbors are upset. He first slathered on the glossy pink in 1968 - five years before the city designated the area a historic district. He said the current hue on his 105-year-old house is more or less a match of what it was when his wife, Viola, told him to paint it 40 years ago.

This is adapted from a talk I gave to the Latvia Special Interest Group luncheon at the Jewish Genealigical Conference in NYC this week. I don't know how much it will resonate with a general readership, but it means something to me and to those who heard it. It's adapted from a Powerpoint presentation, so the format is different than what I normally do.

1. SEARCHING FOR JEWISH IDENTITY: Preserving our Heritage; Preserving our Identity

Today I don’t just want to talk about my efforts to save a small, sad synagogue in a corner of Eastern Latvia. I also want to talk about why I am trying to save that synagogue. It is a story that, for me, looks at the thorny question of Jewish identity and Jewish heritage and the value of preserving that identity and heritage.

2. “Your origin and your birth are of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite, you’re your mother a Hittite.” (Ezekiel 16:3)

Genetic evidence confirms the belief that most Jews are closely related and that ultimately we all have roots in the land of Israel or at least its general region. Even an isolated black South African tribe that claims Jewish descent, the Lemba, have genetic traits that point to a common Jewish ancestry. Archaeology shows that the original Jews, if I can use that term for people living so long ago, lived in a small group of poor and isolated villages from around 1200 BCE in what is now the West Bank whose only unique characteristic we can detect archaeologically is that they didn’t eat pork. In all other ways these original Jews were typical Canaanites archaeologically. But they gave up pork. In those tiny, pork-shunning villages we all probably have distant ancestors.

This is excerpted from a statement by an Urban Planner and former City Planning Commissioner. I think this is a good opportunity to remind people that the oppoants of Ratner's Atlantic Yards project are NOT against development. They are against development that destroys rather than adds to the Brooklyn community. I should also point out that many of the issues that this urban planner brings up are ones I have brought up before or have been brought up by Sean Patrick Maloney, candidate for Attorney General and formerly top Clinton (Bill) aide. These issues and questions are NOT being addressed by Ratner, Bloomberg, ACORN, Pataki and Markowitz. Why is it that only small, unprofessional citizens groups are recognizing these huge flaws in Ratner's plans?

The rest is from a statement by Ron Shiffman.

Atlantic Yards: Staving Off a Scar for Decades

By Ron Shiffman, FAICP, Hon. AIA – Urban Planner, Former City Planning Commissioner

RALLY AT THE ARCH, SUNDAY, JULY 16TH • 2 P.M.

Grand Army Plaza
(park side of the arch, site of the Saturday Green Market)

Fight Ratner’s Skyscraper City and arena over-development proposal!

On Sunday, July 16th, at 2 p.m., please join thousands of your friends and neighbors at Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza to rally against Forest City Ratner’s “Atlantic Yards” scheme, and in favor of appropriate, inclusive, and innovative development with truly affordable housing and sustainable jobs! Fight government support of eminent domain abuse at taxpayer expense!

Support a positive vision for Brooklyn’s future!

If you’d like to volunteer to help with the rally, please send an email to contact@developdontdestroy.org

Back in 2004, as one George was seeking election, another George organized a gaudy ceremony at the World Trade Center site. Flags were flown, songs sung, and a multi-ton piece of granite was laid in place to be the cornerstone of the new Freedom Tower.

Of course it was too good to be true, since republicans all seem to adhere to the FEMA school of competency.

The New York Times reports that the cornerstone was returned to its quarry today, with no return date set. Completion is presently estimated for 2011.

Nice work, Georges.