This landed in my inbox this week, and I thought, especially in these strapped times, it worth passing along. Most of the jobs are for the “enumerator” position, I’ve been told, which pays $18.75 an hour and offers flexible scheduling, including nights and weekends. The local district also covers Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Heights, Ft Greene, Boerum Hill, Borough Park, and Park Slope. Job applicants take a basic 28-question multiple choice test with basic math, map reading, and literacy skills. No computer skills needed, and there are local testing sites right in the neighborhood. Brokelyn’s checked it out.

Cyclist making his way through west Brooklyn via Sunset Park's busy Third Avenue.

I’ll be covering the tonight’s forum on the new Brooklyn Greenway planned to run from Greenpoint to Sunset Park. It takes place at UPROSE tonight, Wednesday, March 31 at 6:30pm at 166A 22nd Street in Brooklyn. Come out to participate in the forum, or tweet a question with the hashtag #spgreenway and I’ll try to pass it along.

After more than six months on the market, Sunset Park’s historic Rainbow Cafe has been sold. CPEX Real Estate released the news today that the building at 3904 Fifth Ave.  has been sold “to a local investor” for $1,650,000.

For 30 years home to a family owned bar and retaurant, the Cafe shuttered after its owner passed away last year. BestViewInBrooklyn noted the closure last June. It went on the market soon after; the nearly 9,000 square foot building on 39th Street and Fifth Avenue, which includes four units of housing over the cafe, was listed for $3,250,000. Despite news that real estate is looking up, it seems properties at Sunset Park are still going at bargain-basement prices. Anyone know who that “local investor” might be? Leave a comment or drop a line to sunsetparkchron@gmail.com.

Rendering for Annabell Selldorf's design of the Sunset Park recycling center. Image from The Architect's Newspaper

Good morning. Here’s what’s been in the news related to streets and buildings in the nabe:

*Sunset Park has long planned a new recycling center down on the waterfront. Curbed last week posted a peek at some of the plans by “starchitect” Annabelle Selldorf’, which would include linked waterfront buildings with barge access, green roofs and even…goats? You can read more about the project in the full article at The Architect’s Newspaper. Take a look and come tell us what you think.

*Two sites offered rundowns of the “Future of Fourth Avenue” meeting last week. The Post noted the skeptics in the crowd, while the blog All About Fifth said, “the attendance was high and the engagement, real.”

*March 10 saw the groundbreaking on Sunset Park Early Childhood Development Center.  The project of Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens serves more than 400 low-income families, is located in the former St. Michael’s School building near 42nd Street and Fourth Avenue. The center will also offer classes for parents in nutrition, housing assistance, ESL and GED, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.

Something looked fishy along Sixth Avenue, a reader wrote in this morning. Bricks seemed perched precariously on the facade of 4405 Sixth Avenue in Sunset Park, and the sidewalk had been roped off. A little poking revealed that someone had filed a complaint with the Department of Buildings over falling debris. The Department on March 8 served the building with a “Failure to Maintain Exterior Wall” violation. It is not, apparently, the only issue. Records show the building also has an active boiler violation on file.

Seen anything around the neighborhood? Send a tip to sunsetparkchron@gmail.com

You can zoom, grab and drag the map below to see reported heat-and-hot water issues around Brooklyn. Click on any of the dialogue boxes in the map below to see details of a complaint.

I came across this tool while perusing the Mission Loc@l site out of the Berkeley J School. I thought it pretty cool, and definitely worth sharing.

SeeClickFix allows community members to report non-emergency issues around their neighborhoods. The web site maps them, then alerts government, community groups and media so they can help address the problems.

Given the recent blustering weather, I started with a map to track heat and hot water violations, but these maps can address all kinds of issues–abandoned cars under the Gowanus Expressway, cracks in the sidewalk, dangerous corners…you name it. Got an issue you want to submit to a virtual neighborhood watch? Give a holler. We’ll put it on the map.

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.

Image of Brooklyn Typology's density map

I love me a map. Stacks of charts, graphs and plans provide the foundation for any city project, and offer those interested in neighborhoods a huge amount of information. Databases and public records can prove goldmines, but visual depictions serve up information in more palatable bites.

Though BestViewinBrooklyn has closed for business, its blogger still keeps an eye on Sunset Park. Last week, I got an email about a map of population density in Brooklyn.

Sunset Park has one of the highest. Census tract 100, blockgroup 2 boasts 159.59 people per acre, making it the eleventh densest area in Brooklyn. Flatbush’s tract 508, blockgroup 4 tops the list at a whopping 333 people per acre. One difference, however, is the number of units per acre. Whereas Flatbush as 108 unit per acre for those 333 people, Sunset Park packs 159 into about 47 units per acre, mostly in the form of two- to four-flat buildings. That means that Sunset Park averages 3.4 people per unit, slightly higher than Flatbush’s 3.08.

Interested? Check out the density data, the map, or other troves of info on the site. The map is part of Fake is the New Real, a collection of maps, art and lists by artists and urban planner Neil Freeman. This particular project, Brooklyn Typology, bring census data to life. And makes it pretty. Take a look–then leave a comment. What did you learn about our fair borough?

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.