Good afternoon. It’s Monday. Not too much in the news at the moment, but a few things to put on the calendar:

*Schools! That word alone is usually enough to rile someone up. In Sunset Park’s crowded classrooms, education is of particular concern. Several of Brooklyn’s biggest names will next week offer parents, politicians and interested parties an opportunity to offer opinions about Brooklyn’s school system. The information is below. I hope to see you there.

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Assemblywoman Joan Millman, and Councilmembers Letitia James, Brad Lander and Steve Levin will convene a town hall meeting to discuss the city’s public education system. The event will take place on Wednesday March 3, from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. in the courtroom at Brooklyn Borough Hall. We hope that you will come out, share your ideas, and help forge a community partnership to build a stronger foundation for parental involvement in our schools.

For more information or to RSVP for this event, please contact Chris Black at the Public Advocate’s Office, 212-669-7200 or cblack@pubadvocate.nyc.gov

*Feelings on Fourth Avenue? The Park Slope Civic Council will sponsor a forum,  “The Future of Fourth Avenue,” on Thursday, March 4, at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Park Slope.

The Council has previously voiced concern that Fourth Avenue is marginal to the rest of the neighborhood just north of Sunset Park. Borough President Marty Markowitz in his recent state of the city hoped to change the character of the thoroughfare, and rechristen the wide (and recently deadly road) “Brooklyn Boulevard.”

*Community Board 7 will hold a Public Hearing Monday, March 15 at 6:30 pm at the Board Office on the corner of Fourth Avenue and 43rd Street. It has to do with a city-owned property by the South Brooklyn Army Terminal. I’ll try to find out more. For the moment, see below for more information:

APPLICATION #C100204PPK – In the matter of one city-owned property, generally bounded by 39^th Street (1^st & 2^nd Avenues) and the western portion of 2^nd Avenue, from 37^th to 29^th Streets (Block 622, p/o Lot 1),  in the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT), restricted to parking and accessory use only

*Sunset Park Stills has some beautiful new images up, including some Lunar New Year-themed shots. Take a look!

*A warehouse at 224 42nd Street between Second and Third Avenues sold for $640,000, according to Adam Hess, first vice president at Massey Knakal, who handled the transaction, the Brooklyn Eagle reported. An investor who bought the 2,500-square-foot single-story warehouse plan to occupy it. Hess indicated $256-per-square-foot sale price represents a bright spot in a market where financing for vacant buildings can be hard to come by.

Finished, refurbished or just breaking ground, you can spot condominiums of all shapes and sizes around Sunset Park.

New buyers are moving in, a trend welcome or unhappy depending on who you ask. Either way, the phenomenon has come to South Brooklyn. An article in the real estate section of today’s New York Times gives a comprehensive view of condo-buying. Though meant for those on the market, it offers insight for others simply looking for an explanation about the trend, as well as the pros, cons and state of the market in a city where price-per-square foot has proven as riveting as the cost of oil.

Interested in the shifting market closer to home? Check out this article on issues of affordable housing in Sunset Park.

For 13 years the Vazquez family has watched Sunset Park change from the window of their three-bedroom apartment on 55^th Street. This year, the shifting tides of New York real estate hit home.

Developer Galla Condominiums recently bought and converted to condominiums a dozen apartments in the 16-unit building at 546 55^th Street where Carmen and Alex Vazquez live with their children. Each unit that goes up for sale marks one less rent-stabilized apartment in a neighborhood where such units are scarce.

As the number of rent stabilized units dwindle, long term residents find themselves living surrounded by housing that rents and sells at rates far beyond what many longtime and new immigrant residents in this working-class neighborhood can afford. Continue Reading

Plan for the Bush Terminal Pier Park, image from the New York City Economic Development Corporation

I’ve noticed a lot of interest recently in a rather old post on the $10 million dollars allotted for brownfield development along the Sunset Park waterfront. I’m guessing it may have been sparked by the recent announcement that the city may take control of the Brooklyn Bridge Park, as the state does not have the funds to meet the challenge. If you’re curious what this means for the unfinished Bush Terminal Pier Park on Sunset Park’s shore (one piece of a larger Waterfront Vision Plan for the area), so am I.

Continue Reading

When people want to track a societal shift, they turn to statistics. But signs of the times also come in less quantifiable bites.

Continue Reading

Sometimes it’s just about knowing where to look.

Continue Reading

Click on the map above for a larger view of commuter van stops

Updated 16 Oct, 2009

Things are tough in Sunset Park. A quarter of the South Brooklyn neighborhood’s residents live below the poverty line. Since August 31st, 5 men under 25 have been murdered, 4 in gang-related violence. At the 72nd Precinct’s Community Council on Tuesday, things got heated–about vans.

“Dollar Vans” are big business in Brooklyn’s Chinatown. For $2.50, they’ll take you to Manhattan. For $4, you can make it to Flushing. The growing Chinese community along 8th Ave depends upon this service daily. More than 60 licensed vans appear each morning to shuttle people through the city.

Continue Reading

This is the first in a series of posts that will use maps, graphs, and other web visualizations to take a look at what’s happening in the neighborhood. Curious about something? Have a question about the neighborhood you’d like to see drawn out? Shoot an email, or leave a comment.

View Sunset Park Pharmacies in a larger map

Duane Reade has made its debut, and now settled into its shiny plate-glass storefront on 5th Ave. Best View in Brooklyn gives a great description of the space, and a resident’s viewpoint on how it compares in price and feel to longer term spots like Ike’s Party Party and the Mini Max.

“I wonder what’s gonna happen to all the little mom and pops,” said local Stacy Mosher, who said she has gone out of her way to shop elsewhere.

Continue Reading

Find this and more photos of the area at http://rmichals.wordpress.com/category/sunset-park/

Governor David A. Paterson announced in Brooklyn yesterday that $214,596 of the $10 million Brownfield Opportunities Grant is slated for the United Puerto Rican Association of Sunset Park (UPROSE).  UPROSE will complete a nomination for a 475-acre area with over 50 potential brownfield sites that are located in Sunset Park, The Business Council’s Capital Business Blog reported.

Continue Reading