(Photo by zlandr)

The following are selected links from this past week on blogs and websites with discussion about Dumbo (and its neighboring areas):

• Sarah Small’s “Tableau Vivant” @ 1 Main (NSFW), 10May10, The Photoletariat
• More Sarah Small at 1 Main, 08May10, edlphotography.com
• DUMBO’s new ‘Front’, 12May10, NYP
• 8th Annual BKLYN Designs Highlights, 10May10, Interior Design
• reBar is retooled in DUMBO, 11May10, NYP
• 25 Washington Conversion Adds 100 Rentals, 11May10, BK Eagle
• Dumbo’s Visual Gumbo NYPH, 13May10, Vanity Fair
• Turf War Delays Empire Fulton Ferry Park, 13May10, NYDN
• 5/27 Digital Dumbo by The JAR Group/DumboNYC, 10May10, NYDD
• Brooklyn Tech: Carrot Creative’s Mike Germano, 14May10, BHB
• Brooklyn Bridge Park Plans Move Forward, 11May10, BK Eagle
• PSFK Visits BKLYN Designs 2010, 10May10, PSFK
• Inhabitat Reports from BKLYN Designs, 10May10, Inhabitat
• Dumbo’s Farmer’s Market Moving to Pearl St Triangle, 13May10, NYP
• NYC Food Film Festival in Dumbo, 13May10, NYMag
• NY Photo Festival, 12May10, The New Yorker
• Brooklyn Industries HQ Moves to 20 Jay DUMBO, 13May10, BK Eagle
• A Chocolatey Field Trip to Almondine Bakery in Dumbo, 13May10, Serious Eats

This is pretty cool- something that was on wired.com. If you’re at the New York Photo Festival in Dumbo between noon and 7pm Saturday, Leica will lend you an M9 camera for four hours (a $9000 camera, review by dpreview) provided you hand over a credit card if something goes wrong. Bring your own SD memory cards.

Go to Powerhouse Books on 37 Main Street for info or check out the New York Photo Festival schedule of events online.

Filming today between 3am – 9pm in Dumbo on Adams Street between John and Plymouth Street for a Ford commercial, called “Prove it”.

The New York Photo Festival (NYPH) officially kicked off last night (May 12-16) with shows by four curators, Lou Reed, Vince Aletti, Fred Ritchin and Erik Kessels. Daniel Power of powerHouse Books and Frank Evers of VII Photo Agency, both based in Dumbo, Brooklyn, founded the New York Photo Festival in 2008 with the mission of pushing the boundaries of contemporary photography and showcasing ideas of our collective photographic future. The NYPH has grown to be an internationally acclaimed exhibit celebrating photography and generates buzz for photo professionals, amateurs, students, and aficionados of art and culture.

The festival includes locations in 12 venues in Dumbo Brooklyn through this Sunday, May 16. Please see nyphotofestival.com for daily and evening programming and schedules.

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Previously:
{New York Photo Festival 2009 Kicks Off, 12May2009}
{New York Photo Festival 2008 Kicks Off, 05May2008}
{New York Photo Festival To Draw Crowds From Around the World, 10Mar2008}
{Dumbo Becoming Next Photo District, 05Nov2007}

Wild Vespa (as seen previously.)

(Photo courtesy of GuyomG from the DumboNYC Flickr Pool. If you have your own pictures related to Dumbo, please feel free to drop them there.)

BoConcept Dumbo is having an exhibition of ‘fierce’ artists for the ‘Fresh + Fierce’ Art Show on Wednesday, May 12, 2010. Stop by the store from 6pm to check out artwork from Olga Baunbaek Reilly, Robert Brodie and Vadim Prokhorov and enjoy complimentary wine and appetizers. BoConcept’s trained Design Consultants will also be on hand to help you with solutions for compact living and optimizing your space (PDF press release). From May 1 – June 15, 2010 is promoting ‘Living Large in Small Spaces‘ with savings on all multifunctional designs.

BoConcept DUMBO (boconcept.us)
79 Front Street (between Washington and Main Street)
Brooklyn, NY 11201

We always write about Dumbo related items, but think our readers would be interested in hearing about the Brooklyn Children’s Museum fundraiser (thanks to all who emailed this in). It will be the museum’s 110th birthday! The Brooklyn Children’s Museum was the first children’s museum in the world, and it first opened its’ doors to children and families on December 16, 1899. Now, 110 years later, the nationally recognized museum is celebrating with a Vaudevillian style birthday party. The 2010 Gala is co-chaired by Liz Frazer, Ellen Newman, and Lauren Wiener. It will be held on May 18, 2010 from 6-9pm at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, located at 145 Brookyn Avenue, New York, NY 11213.

A little history (courtesy of The Brooklyn Children’s Museum):
After re-opening in September 2008 upon the completion of a major expansion, the Museum has doubled its past attendance levels to 360,000 on-site visitors per year and increased its membership fivefold to over 5,000 households. At the same time, the economic climate has challenged us all. Despite this, the museum is dedicated to continuing the mission of serving children and families through this difficult time. All generous donations will help us continue to educate and inspire our future explorers, builders, inventors, and leaders.

About the 2010 Gala:
The Silver LEED certified, “green” museum will be transformed into a fantasy-filled vaudeville roving festival. Come see sizzling entertainers from Lady Circus, House of Yes, and Hula Halo, be mesmerized with unique up close magic by Ago the Magic Chef (magician), and satisfy your curiosity by hearing tales of your future by tarot card readers. These artists and others will be inviting gala guests to the once in a lifetime opportunity to go back in time and celebrate the history, curiosity and rebellious glamour of 1899. Guests will also sing happy birthday to the museum, enjoy drinks and festive fare as they explore the exhibit galleries, and test their luck at the “tricky tray” auction for items like tickets to Bill T. Jones’ Broadway Production of FELA, a Marc Jacobs handbag, Karma Kids Circus Yoga Classes, and more.

Who: Brooklyn Children’s Museum
What: Gala 2010 – Celebrating 110 Years of Service
When: Tuesday, May 18 from 6:00 – 9:00pm
Where: 145 Brooklyn Avenue (Corner of St. Mark’s Avenue), Brooklyn, NY 11213

For tickets and more information about the gala, please contact Jennifer in the Development office at 718.735.4400, ext. 323 or jnottonson@brooklynkids.org. If you cannot attend the benefit, please consider making a donation for your support by going to brooklynkids.org/index.php/supporting/gala2010.

181 York Street (aka The Lili Rose), by architect Bricolage Architecture & Design, is now on the market for rental units. Prudential Douglas Elliman and Corcoran both have listings for the Vinegar Hill apartment. There are two 2 bedroom units and eight 1 bedroom units in the building. Initial prices for the 10 unit building:

• 2 beds, 2 bath, 850 ft², range: $2,800 – $3,000 per month
• 1 bed, 1 bath, 500 ft², range: $1,650 – $2,350 per month

Will the Lili Rose rentals go at these price points?

(Photos from Elliman)

(Photos from Corcoran)

{Streeteasy listings for 181 York}
{BIS}
{181 York St Update}

As we previously posted, the NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) started work in Dumbo – water and sewer enhancements and the Department of Transportation (DOT) started the renovation projects for both bridges that anchor our neighborhood- the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge. We received the latest report today from the DDC on the street reconstruction in Dumbo. The construction work is on-time and scheduled to be completed in the Summer 2011. (See PDF newsletter).

Separately, the DOT has been preparing for the Brooklyn Bridge facelift- a new paint job, deck resurfacing, and rehabilitation and widening of the bridge’s ramps and approaches. The $500million, 4 year project will begin in June. The $150million Manhattan Bridge construction will “replace all of the vertical suspension cables on the 100-year-old Manhattan Bridge and will cause sporadic weekend disruptions in subway service and require closings of the bikeway and some traffic lanes for parts of the next four years”.

Several roads (Water Street from Adams to Old Fulton Streets and Washington Street from York to Plymouth Streets) are being dug up to install water and sewer mains so the area has updated infrastructure. The crews and their vehicles are staged in two locations under the Brooklyn Bridge – near the intersection of Front St and York and in the lot next to Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park. Work is scheduled to continue through 2011 for the street reconstruction project. They are hard at work, but some residents are not happy that they start before the permitted start time of 7am, with refueling and moving of equipment starting as early as 6:15am and also occurring on Saturdays, when work is not allowed. If you have any difficulties or questions about the work, you can contact the following:

DOT Liaison for water and sewer work. Oversees Tully Construction, the contractor that parks their vehicles at Front and York.
Paul Kidder 718.643.2768

DOT Liaison for Brooklyn Bridge work.
Sabrina Lau 347.647.0876

DOT Liaison for Manhattan Bridge work.
Teresa Toro 347.325.1622

The contact number for Tully is 718.446.7000 ext 8. Fred Hartman is the manager for the work in Dumbo.

Residents “welcome that funding has been secured to update our roads and bridges, but parking and traffic on the bridge will be a challenge for the next few years.” We have noticed a lot less parking spots on the streets, so visitors and residents will have to park in lots or even park in neighboring areas such as Vinegar Hill and downtown Brooklyn. With street and bridge construction (and Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park reconstruction), it’s a wonder how many visitors still visit Dumbo.

Previously:
{Notice: Cars Parked on Dock Street, 12Apr2010}
{Water Street Reconstruction Update (Mar/Apr 2010), 10Mar2010}
{Water/Washington St Reconstruction Project Update, 03Dec2009}
{Belgian Block Reconstruction to Begin, 04May2009}

Two Trees Management announced the dates for this year’s Dumbo Arts Festival: September 24-26, 2010. The event takes place in Dumbo– its galleries, storefronts, performance venues, studios, parks and even extend into the river. The Festival will be multi-disciplinary, celebrating high-quality art ranging from visual art to performance art, music, and literature. The event is in its 14th year and Two Trees will take on a more active role this year and continue to work with DUMBO Arts Center (DAC), the organization that founded the event.

Their press release says that for the first time, the DUMBO Arts Festival will introduce family programming. Look for more information coming at www.dumboartsfestival.com.

Press release from Two Trees Management (PDF)

Dumbo Arts Festival: (DumboNYC archives)