Looks like the viral marketing group at thinkmodo have done it again. They’ve created a marketing campaign for a new movie, Chronicle that’s gone viral. Three human shaped RC planes were launched around Dumbo Brooklyn to make it look like real people were flying.

According to Techcrunch, Michael Krivicka from Thinkmodo explains “Since the three main characters of the movie have the ability to fly, we came up with the idea of staging a few “flying people” sightings around NYC. We achieved that illusion by having 3 custom-made aircraft (which were shaped like human beings) fly above designated areas in NYC and NJ.”

Thanks to the many people who have sent this video to us.

Brooklyn Bridge Park (BBP) is celebrating the opening of its new administrative offices at 334 Furman Street, with an open house on Thursday, November 17 from 6:30 – 8:00pm. Join BBP to toast the beginning to a beautiful park.

Part of the celebration includes a screening of New York’s Next Great Park, a collaborative effort from BBP and BRIC’s Brooklyn Independent Television. New York’s Next Great Park is a documentary that chronicles the design and construction of the first phases of Brooklyn Bridge Park, offering insights on its sustainability features as well as featuring interviews with some of the key figures in the design, planning and programming of the park. After the open house, BIT will air New York’s Next Great Park on Friday, November 18 at 7pm. Tune in to Cablevision 69, Time Warner 56, Verizon 44, RCN 84 or watch online to see how BBP was built on the shores of Brooklyn.

The first webisode is shown above, titled, Brooklyn’s Next Great Park.

The O’Crepes location at 147 Front Street in Dumbo closed earlier this week. According to their Facebook page, they are expanding and will reopen near Brooklyn Bridge Park in December. Their message to lunch regulars: “Our lunch people – we miss you but most of you know about these changes. In December we will distribute fliers to all of you. Positive farewell to Green Desk. They were good to us (;”

With the surge in visitors to Brooklyn Bridge Park, the move for O’Crepes should be good for business.

Previously:
{O’Crepes Open in Dumbo, 01Apr2010}
{SHOP @ Green Desk Opening, 25Jan2010}

According to the signs that went up in Brooklyn Bridge Park, Main Street location, the lawn is closed for rejuvenation through the winter. It will reopen in the spring 2012 as a dog free park (as with all grass areas of the park, consistent with other sections of Brooklyn Bridge Park). The sign does say that dogs are welcome at the Main Street dog run (photo below) and on pathways and promenades. We received a few emails from unhappy dog owners about this. What do you think?

Ditch Plains Drop-In, the concession at Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 1 by Marc Murphy just started offering delivery to the Dumbo area from 11am. Now you can get one of their hot dogs (ditch dog, chili dog, sloppy dog), sloppy joes, lobster rolls, or one of their tasty wraps delivered to your home or office. Check out their menu online.

They are offering 15% off your first order (just mention you saw this on DumboNYC). Delivery zone includes, north to Plymouth Street, south to Cranberry Street, east to Washington Street.

Ditch Plains delivery menu (PDF)
Brooklyn Complex’s review of Ditch Plains

Jane’s Carousel in the Brooklyn Bridge Park is officially open to the public today. Kids can finally take a $2 ride (it’s free for children under 3 accompanied by an adult) on the restored 1922 carousel.

Previously:
{A Chat With Jane At The Carousel Opening (on Water St), 16Oct2011}

Reminder that Fashion’s Night Out (various retail locations throughout Dumbo), Dumbo Fight Night (St. Ann’s Warehouse, 38 Water Street), and 1st Thursdays Dumbo Gallery Walk (galleries in Dumbo) is tonight.

Other events at the Brooklyn Bridge Park such as Sunset Pilates on Pier 6 and Stargazing on Pier 1 are tonight.

Powerhouse Arena is hosting a book launch party for When Parents Text (7-9pm). Based on the popular website, When Parents Text is an endearing ode to technologically confused adults. Authors Sophia Fraioli and Lauren Kaelin discuss the creation of the book and site, and share some of their favorite parental texts.

Here’s a few photos taken yesterday:

According to the poster under the Brooklyn Bridge, the carousel will be open 11am-7pm (closed Tuesdays), and will be $2 per ride.

Flickr user funkymonk2000 also posted a few nice photos close up:

(Photo by Jonathan Segura)

(Photo by Barney Robinson)

(Photo by Peter Hyman)

(Photo by Peter Hyman)

(Photo by Peter Hyman)

(Photo by Peter Hyman)

St. Ann’s Warehouse announced its 2011-12 season lineup, its final season in Dumbo. A court ruling in July ended St. Ann’s chances of moving to a new home at the Tobacco Warehouse in the Brooklyn Bridge Park. The ruling nullified a set of decisions by the federal, state and city governments over the last several years that led to approval of a new home for the St. Ann’s Warehouse at the Tobacco Warehouse. St. Ann’s has to move from its current space after this season to make way for a new residential development, known as Dock Street Dumbo, which is taking its place.

NY Times reports that the 2011-2012 season will begin Oct. 12 with a multimedia musical, “Stop the Virgens,” created by Karen O of the rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs, among others, and directed by the playwright Adam Rapp. It runs through Oct. 22.

St. Ann’s Artistic Director Susan Feldman sent an email this summer that vented her disappointment over the collateral damage that resulted after neighborhood and preservation organizations filed the suit to stop the transfer of the Tobacco Warehouse to private hands. At this point, St. Ann’s is still looking for temporary and permanent quarters for its 2012-13 season and beyond. Dumbo area residents can provide support for St. Ann’s by attending their shows or becoming a member. To see current season’s lineup or how to become a member, go to stannswarehouse.org/current_season.php.

(Photo by Josh Derr.)

Brooklyn Bridge Park yesterday released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for “an operator to construct, operate, and maintain a seasonal indoor recreation structure on Pier 5. The structure will provide active recreation at the Park during the off-season and promote the use of Brooklyn Bridge Park during the winter months. The seasonal recreation structure will be approximately 200’ by 300’, containing one soccer field, situated in an east-west configuration. The structure will be open from December through March.”

Responses to the RFP must are due by 3 p.m. on Tuesday, September 27, 2011. BBP will spend up to $750,000 on construction costs, and will retain ownership of all capital improvements. The 5 acre Pier 5 is scheduled for completion in summer 2012, and will include 3 outdoor, artificial sports turf fields. In addition to the fields, Pier 5 will have a waterfront esplanade along its perimeter, as well as a “picnic peninsula” that will include banquet-length picnic tables, barbecues, a concession, and children’s play equipment. The pier is accessible from a pedestrian path at Joralemon Street, as well as the Park’s main greenway, and the concession structure will be prominently located and directly visible to visitors as they approach the Park from Pier 6 or from Joralemon Street.

RFP for Installation and Operations of a Seasonal Indoor Recreation Facility Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 5 (PDF, large 6.6MB file)

[Due to inclement weather and the threat of lightning, tonight's Syfy Movies With A View showing of Crooklyn has been cancelled.]

Tonight’s Movies with a View at the Brooklyn Bridge Park is Crooklyn.

Date/Time: Thursday, August 18, 6:00pm – 11:00pm. Music at 6:00pm, movies at sunset
Location: Pier 1, Harbor View Lawn
Arrive early for the best seats. Lawn capacity is limited.

DJ: Emch (of Subatomic Sound System)
SHORT: White by A. Sayeeda Clarke
MOVIE: Crooklyn by Spike Lee
RUNTIME: 115 minutes

No pets or chairs allowed on the lawn. No alcohol allowed in the park.

It’s premature to say that a decision has been made to repurpose the ConEd plant along John Street in Dumbo and Vinegar Hill as part of Brooklyn Bridge Park, but an article in the Brooklyn Eagle says that it’s not out of the question. After all, the original plans for Brooklyn Bridge Park was originally planned to stretch only betwee Piers 1 and 5. Pier 6 was added later because the Port Authority owned it. The plans for the park end at Jay Street and John Street. Related to the land near the ConEd plant, last week, politicians decided not to veto a residential building at the John Street plot, but reduced the proposed 17 story building to a 12 stories. DUMBO Neighborhood Alliance’s Doreen Gallo argued the following point in her editorial piece in the Brooklyn Paper.:

“The John Street site should remain public — a great open space to see the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges together on the waterfront. With the power plant closing this year, we should be looking at this site in its entirety up to the Brooklyn Navy Yard and not be thinking about the immediate real estate greed of the present administration.

Any building on the John Street site will eliminate this parcel and future Con Edison waterfront parcels to be considered part of the park and wall off the entrance of the surrounding communities of Vinegar Hill, Farragut and Bridge Plaza.”

A building on John Street could potentially close off the East-West access from Pearl Street towards Gold Street on the waterfront. The Brooklyn Eagle mentions that the ConEd plant in Vinegar Hill will be torn down, which Brownstoner mentioned last year, but for the land to become part of the Brooklyn Bridge Park, several pieces would need to come together for it to happen (environmental surveys, finances, clean up, etc). If the land were repurposed, it would be a nice way to connect the waterfront from the Navy Yards to Pier 6.

We were sent a press release that Jane Walentas is one of three women who will be honored with the 2011 Visionary Woman Awards by Moore College of Art & Design on October 12, 2011 (Press release PDF 741kb). Moore’s Visionary Woman Awards has honored women who have made significant contributions to the arts.

The carousel has been on display in Dumbo since 2006 and is due to be installed around August 2011 in Brooklyn Bridge Park in an acrylic pavilion created by French architect Jean Nouvel. The design will allow the landmark merry-go-round to be lit up at night so it can be seen from across the East River.

The above photo is a recent shot of the progress of Jane’s Carousel.