Permit # TV 114: On Friday, April 1, 2011 (11am–11pm)
The television show “Prime Suspect” will be shooting interior/exterior scenes at 68 Jay Street at Water Street and along Jay Street in Dumbo. If you have further questions you can contact their Locations Department at 212-524-4140.

{DumboNYC.com/tag/filming}

Notice from NYC DOT Division of Bridges:
The Manhattan Bridge Rehabilitation Program continues with Contract No. 14, which will involve re-wrapping the four main cables, replacement of all 628 bridge suspenders, and replacement of the bridge’s necklace lighting. Contract No. 14’s anticipated completion date is June, 2013.

All work is planned in coordination with the Brooklyn Bridge Rehabilitation Program to minimize traffic and other disruptions as much as possible. Over spring 2011, the project is moving forward with:

• Replacement of suspenders
• Re-wrapping the main cable
• Preventive maintenance

Bicycle and Pedestrian Detours in 2011
During Contract No. 14, access to the bridge will always be maintained for cyclists and pedestrians. However, some detours will be necessary in order to provide adequate worker protection, and the riding and walking public. Detours will be announced and marked in advance.

If you have any comments, questions or concerns, please contact me at (347) 325-1622 or at manhattanbridgeoutreach@gmail.com. Thank you.

{The Spring 2011 newsletter (pdf 617kb}

Tasting Brooklyn is only one week away, so get your tickets before they’re sold out. At Tasting Brooklyn, you’ll be able to sample food and drinks from the borough’s best restaurants from one location in Dumbo. We spoke with Brooklyn Exposed founder Sharon Beason about the event.

Congratulations on your first year of Brooklyn Exposed (Your Guide to Everything Brooklyn). How did Brooklyn Exposed get started and what was your vision for it?

Brooklyn Exposed launched because I felt there was a need for other happenin’ and cultured neighborhoods in Brooklyn to be ‘exposed’ beyond what many media platforms generally overlook. My vision was to create a comprehensive platform to provide individuals info about what’s happening with Brooklyn’s arts, dining, entertainment and social scene.

You have a great list of participating restaurants for the Tasting Brooklyn event. Are you friends with many of them?

I wouldn’t say friends, but I will say that prior to Brooklyn Exposed I had already established relations with some of them and really began fostering great relations with them and others since Brooklyn Exposed launched.

We’re looking forward to the event and glad to see this annual event kick off in Dumbo.

Tasting Brooklyn at The DUMBO Loft
155 Water Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201 (at Anchorage Place in Dumbo)
Tuesday, April 5, 2011 from 5:30 to 9pm
Tickets $45, $60 for a 5:30 pm VIP hour. For info, visit brooklynexposed.com

Additional coverage on Brooklyn Paper.

Two Trees Management has appointed Lisa Kim as the new Cultural Affairs Director. The real estate development firm is known for bringing together the arts community in Dumbo and creating cultural programs that add to the creative concentration of the neighborhood. After the departure of Zannah Mass in February, Two Trees reiterated to us that they “remain committed, as always, to a strong arts presence in Dumbo.”

According to Two Trees, Ms. Kim comes from Gagosian Gallery, where she has held several positions including Director of Operations and Exhibitions, private collection manager for owner Larry Gagosian and managed construction of the Gallery’s 24th Street branch. She has also been the director of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Percent for Art Program, a program that commissions artists to create site-specific, permanent public art works at City-owned sites.

Among Ms. Kim’s first tasks will be to produce the annual Dumbo Arts Festival in the fall, seek out partnerships for public art projects and creative incubators, oversee the cultural growth and promotion of the neighborhood, and formalize the structure and mission of the Walentas Family Foundation. Per the press release, “Lisa Kim was born in Korea and raised in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. She graduated from Barnard College, where she discovered a passion for art and majored in Art History with a concentration in Visual Arts. Kim holds an M. I. D. / in Industrial Design from the Pratt Institute.”

We’re looking forward to her involvement in the neighborhood and welcome to Dumbo!

{Two Trees Press Release (24kb pdf)}

Permit # O-275: On Monday and Tuesday, March 28-29, 2011 (6am-7pm) a photo/film shoot for “Louis Vuitton” is scheduled to shoot exterior scenes on Water Street at Pearl Street in Dumbo. If you have further questions you can contact their Locations Department at 212-643-1787.

{DumboNYC.com/tag/filming}

(Drawing by francesca tuttolani)

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

• Vautour’s Guide to Dumbo, 23Mar11, levautour
• “Histoire du Soldat” at Galapagos, 25Mar11, NYT
• Recording Studios in Dumbo, 21Mar11, WSJ
• Navy Yard fires supermarket developer, 21Mar11, BK Paper
• The Cars’ New Video “Sad Song” Shot in Dumbo, 22Mar11, NBC
• Gadling and the Nomading Film Festival’s Happy Hour, 21Mar11, Gadling
• Wind-Products Moving to Dumbo, 22Mar11, NYO
• Housing May or May not Fund Brooklyn Bridge Park Maintenance, 25Mar11, BK Paper
• The Most Expensive Places to Live in Brooklyn, 24Mar11, LMag
• 205 Water St Apartments, 25Mar11, Curbed
• Lightning Strikes Dumbo, 24Mar11, Curbed
• Brooklyn: Federal count makes no Census!, 25Mar11, BK Paper
• Let’s Go Guide to Dumbo, 22Mar11, LetsGo

On Sunday, March 27, join Jam On DUMBO for the second concert in a family-friendly music series. Sunday’s event will feature The Okee Dokee Brothers and King Pajama from 3 – 6 p.m. at Water Street Restaurant, (66 Water Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201)

Jam On DUMBO is “a monthly concert series for kids of all ages, and the hottest family event in Brooklyn this winter. Each month, we will invite Brooklyn to dance along with us as we showcase two kids’ bands. Balloons, face painting, and other festive activities will add to the party atmosphere.”

The first event was a suceess with almost 200 people in attendance. “I feel like we’ve found our small town in the big city. Living in DUMBO makes these types of projects attainable and conveniently accessible to families with kids of all ages.” Alisha Nissenfeld, Founder, JAM ON DUMBO.

About 200 people descended on DUMBO for the inaugural February concert, which showcased Astrograss and Erin Lee and the Up Past Bed Time Band as well as face painter Sharon Enlow, balloon twister Allen Enlow and a special art activity hosted by Private Picasso.

Although the bands and the face painters will be different in March, all the free extras will be on hand to ensure that kids from Brooklyn and beyond have a rocking time. (Beer, wine, great food, and happily entertained children ensure that parents will have a rocking time, too.)

The March concert will also include a fund-raising raffle to support Jam On DUMBO’s future concerts. The goodies being raffled have been donated from local businesses and Jam On sponsors.

“This is just the sort of event our neighborhood needs in the winter,” says local mom Jaime Pessin. “I can’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon.”

Click through below to read more reviews about Jam On DUMBO.
Read the rest of this entry »

[UPDATED]
Toll Breothers new CEO, Douglas Yearley Jr. was interviewed in a NY Times article, which mentioned 205 Water Street:

“We started construction in October. We’ll be starting sales in September, then occupancy the summer of 2012. It will probably average about $800 a square foot, so studios could be $500,000 and penthouses up to $2 million.”

Construction seems to be moving quickly at 205 Water Street. A reader sent us these photos of 205 Water Street construction site. The foundation is set and basement and first floor are up at the 67 unit 10 story Toll Brothers condo. An artist rendering of the completed building was published last April and the Crain’s article mentioned that sales could start as soon as Spring 2011. [Update: Sales to start in September with occupancy by summer 2012.]

Here’s a Flicker photo view of 205 Water St in 2009. And over 4 years ago, remember the demolition of the building that caused an asbestos concern?

(Thanks to Christopher Frank for the photos.)

Previously:
{Construction Start at 205 Water St, 17Dec2010}
{Toll Brothers to set up Sales Office in Dumbo, 28Jul2010}
{Proposed 205 Water St Building Approved, 21Apr2010}
{More 205 Water St Renderings, 05Apr2010}
{205 Water Street Plans Revealed, 18Mar2010}
{Toll Brothers to Build Condos at 205 Water St, 07Jan2010}
{Demolition at 205 Water Street, 24Jan2007}
{In the Press: Demolishing 205 Water Street, 27Jan2007}
{Stop Work Order Violation Issued at 205 Water Street, 14Feb2007}

Related: {Progress on Toll’s Dumbo Build, 07Mar2011, Brownstoner}

[UPDATE: Additional photos below.]

Aside from a little snow accumulation in Brooklyn yesterday, there was a hail storm around 7 or 8pm last night and a thunderbolt hit the top part of 37 Bridge Street and tore a hole through the bricks. 37 Bridge Street is a new residential development and looks close to being completed, according to Brownstoner.

Reader Christopher’s account:

We were sitting around listening to the hail/thunder storm pass through when BOOM FLASH it literally hits us. Security cameras went off, cable modem off, an exposed electrical box in the ceiling sparked (it wasn’t even attached to the electrical system!). A camera on the fire escape and a hub on the network, totally fried, but everything else seems to be fine. looked outside this morning to find a big mess at 37 Bridge on the Plymouth St side!

Good thing no one was near the top at the time. The photo below shows bricks from the damage on the street.

The Real Deal looks at rentals in Brooklyn (from their 2011 Data Book) and found Dumbo has the priciest one- and two-bedrooms in Brooklyn (no surprise there, after we polled some real estate people in January). According to data compiled by The Real Estate Group New York, the percentage change in the chart above compares November 2010 with November 2009. [Ed: TREGNY looked at data from Dec 2010, but didn't have a comparison from year to year.] The Real Deal points out that studio apartments in Williamsburg are higher at $2,502 per month versus Dumbo’s $2,289. But there aren’t many studio apartments in Dumbo compared to Williamsburg, according to StreetEasy. StreetEasy’s lastest report shows 28 rental listings in Dumbo with a median price of $4,747, median size of 1,165 sqft, and median price per square foot of $46.

Average rent for one bedroom in Dumbo is $3,669 per month and $4,616 for two bedrooms. Again, no surpise, given the latest pre-census data showing 35% of households earning over $200,000 and median household income of $148,611. Unless you can grab one of those 80/20 low income rentals at 25 Washington Street, expect to pay a lot of dough for rental.