The First Thursday Dumbo Gallery Walk is tomorrow, Thursday, January 5, 2012, between 6-9pm. Gallery specific information will be published on the Dumbo Improvement District website, dumbo.is.

The gallery walk is free. (Thank you to Dumbo Improvement District for the images).

Happy Holidays from DumboNYC! Hope you had a great year and hope 2012 will bring you joy.

[DumboNYC.com is taking a vacation. In the meantime, take a look at some photos of Dumbo (in the DumboNYC Flickr Pool) or submit a story or event about Dumbo. We'll be back next week.]

Wednesday, December 21, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and State Senator Daniel Squadron joined Brooklyn elected officials and community and business leaders to rally in support of the New York University and Polytechnic Institute proposal for an applied sciences campus at 370 Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn. Creating a hub for science and technology that connects the budding tech community in Dumbo and the surrounding neighborhoods with NYU-Poly’s proposed Center for Urban Science and Progress, as well as City Tech and Poly’s existing campuses would be a major step for Brooklyn and Dumbo’s NY Digital District and Digital Dumbo.

NYC is aiming to build a world class applied sciences and engineering campus, called Applied Sciences NYC at Roosevelt Island to be competitive with other tech centers such as Silicon Valley. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Cornell University, and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology announced an historic partnership to build a two-million-square-foot applied science and engineering campus on Roosevelt Island in New York City. (also on NYTimes).

In addition to the Applied Sciences NYC, building on Dumbo’s tech community will attract and retain the creative entrepreneurs that will drive innovation for NYC. Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said in a statement, “With today’s announcement behind us, let’s now look ahead to the new year and make the case that New York deserves more than one first-rate applied sciences school and that serious consideration be given to New York University’s partnership with Polytech proposed for 370 Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn—home to more college students than Cambridge, Massachusetts—as well as Carnegie Mellon’s plans for the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which along with DUMBO, is part of our borough’s emerging new Silicon Valley. Both locations offer a unique opportunity to create a job-creating epicenter of learning, research and innovation. I normally don’t celebrate Brooklyn being a runner-up in anything, but considering the importance of this center to the future of Brooklyn and New York City, in this case I would happily make an exception.”

Dumbo Improvement District Executive Director Alexandria Sica added, “DUMBO is home to more than one hundred technology firms, digital and creative start-ups that are growing—some at a faster pace than there is talent available. NYU-Poly’s proposal for 370 Jay Street would provide these companies with a highly skilled workforce in their backyard. Furthermore, having an applied sciences school at 370 Jay Street will help DUMBO and the greater Downtown Brooklyn area to continue to grow as a location for tech-based companies that choose to be here around like-minded companies and innovators.”

The Wall Street Journal published an article on Dumbo’s tech yesterday. The article mentions “Tech startups and digital advertising companies have flocked to Dumbo throughout the past decade, drawn to the neighborhood’s industrial lofts that eschew Midtown’s buttoned-down culture. Now Dumbo’s tech scene is about to get bigger.” Polytechnic Institute of New York University will open a new incubator in Dumbo that could house as many as 20 small companies at 20 Jay Street. With innovation fueld by the intersection of creativity, media, and technology in Brooklyn, the community should be looking forward to more private and public partnerships.

(Photo by Kathryn Kirk)

If you’re still looking to get a Christmas tree in Dumbo, there are plenty to choose from at the courtyard next to Rice restaurant on Washington Street, by Adam Park trees. You can also get trees at Peas & Pickles.

The DUMBO Improvement District is holding its 6th Annual Tree Lighting – Tuesday, 12/6 at 6pm under the Archway. Come have a Jacques Torres hot cocoa, sip Brooklyn Roasting coffee, and kick off the season with the whole neighborhood. Details and a full calendar of DUMBO happenings here.

Plus, get your tree/wreath/garland straight from Vermont this year at the Archway Tree Sale. Delivery and pick-up services available. Read more here.

The Dumbo Business Improvement District announced last week a $20 million commitment of funds for Dumbo streets by the city for a second phase of reconstruction of DUMBO’s historic Belgian block streets and the centuries-old pipes below them. According to the BID, “The funds will also be used to permanently build out the Pearl Street Triangle to create a world-class plaza space between the Pearl Street Triangle and the adjacent Archway under the Manhattan Bridge. The first phase of work, covering Water and Washington Streets, will be completed this month.”

We have seen some great programming at the Pearl Street Triangle, and it’s good to finally see funding for a more permanent plaza area. The BID held an ideas competition for the triangle last year, which spurred some interesting (and some far fetched) ideas. The BID told DumboNYC that while we may not see any of these ideas become reality, they will continue to solicit ideas from the community to work with the city on a design that’s best suited for the space.

As for the Belgian block restoration, almost everyone we’ve talked to likes the street fixes. However, in a Brooklyn Paper article on Friday titled DUMBO — historyland or Disneyland?, Doreen Gallo of the DUMBO Neighborhood Alliance says that the reconstruction is “historically inaccurate” and too expensive. So we asked her about it. What do most people not know about the restoration? She feels that most people are unaware of what is being sacrificed and what the difference is between restoring the Belgian block in an historic, authentic way and the recent execution on Washington and Water Streets:

“The original Belgian block was replaced with old looking uniform stone and a granite middle car wide bike path and this patterning of crosswalk destroys the original uniformity of the Belgian block with the iconic view of the Manhattan Bridge. It is not a mall, not a renovation but should be a restoration.”

Ms. Gallo reminds us that every street in Dumbo has Belgian blocks.

“[Historically] there was no asphalt. DOT never followed their own HIQA rules and never enforced subcontractors to put the Belgian block back in kind. Gradually, DOT completely paved over Front St, Jay St, Adams St. On Wednesday, at 12:30 pm, Time Warner was cutting through Pearl St parallel with the triangle. When I arrived they’d cut through 20 feet. By 1pm was told that we had a stop work order. Councilmember Levin called the Brooklyn Borough Commissioner and HIQA DOT inspectors showed up assuring that they were there to make sure it was put back exactly how it was under the asphalt. But how can that be if they were cutting through the block? By 2:30 pm 125 feet were cut through. John Weiss, helpful with the permit said that he did not realize that the Belgian block was under 2″ of asphalt. Yesterday Time Warner continued down Pearl toward Plymouth.”

Photos from Friday of the work referenced by Ms. Gallo below:

Clearly there are some differences by preservation groups and the city on how the “restoration” of the Belgian block streets need to be done. There’s no question that Dumbo’s streets need fixing up and more are pleased with it, but according to the DNA, landmark issues must be considered.

More specifics on what the funding will go towards is on the Dumbo BID website.

This weekend is the annual Dumbo Arts Festival. Each year, the Dumbo Arts Festival highlights the arts community by presenting the best in local, national, and international art between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. The festival will take place between Friday, September 23 and Sunday, September 25 and attracts 200,000 visitors and participation of over 500 artists from a variety of disciplines, 100 studios, 50 galleries and stages. The neighborhood becomes one big event of experimental art and music in unexpected places.

Festival hours are Friday 6pm to 9pm, Saturday 12pm to 8pm, and Sunday 12pm to 6pm, and 6pm – midnight for all outdoor art projections.

Go to Dumbo Arts Festival for the full program guide. The Dumbo Arts Festival is produced by Dalzell Productions and Two Trees Management.

To honor the Dumbo Improvement District‘s 5 years, the BID asked us all to fill in the blank for “DUMBO IS ______”. Today’s guest post by Danii Oliver summarizes her idea of what Dumbo is:

DUMBO is…

DUMBO is Down under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. We call it Downtown-Brooklyn Under the Manhattan and Brooklyn-bridge Overpasses. Not an exact anagram but many people in NYC don’t know what the heck nor where the heck DUMBO is. So putting it that way helps them map it out in their minds.

For the seasoned generation of New Yorkers the ones who know New York City better than the back of their hands the area DUMBO has alluded then because, once upon a time you were considered a dumbo for coming down here. So those New Yorkers never charted this part of Brooklyn.

DUMBO is foreign for others. So much so that they have put it out their minds dismissing DUMBO as too difficult to get to or out of the way.

DUMBO is, in fact, in the middle of three (3) major junctions: Fulton Street & Borough Hall not far from Atlantic Terminal; the Manhattan Bridge & the Brooklyn Bridge; the BQE 10 minutes from Queens and 10 minutes from the heart of Brooklyn.

DUMBO is Not out of the way. Nor is it far. Many people bike to DUMBO take the ferry to DUMBO and ride the B25 or B69 buses into the neighborhood.

DUMBO is fresh. We have the cityscape, the river, a water front park and piers to walk down.

DUMBO is safe. We work all day and all night in DUMBO. I’ve walked my dig in the park at 11-12 o’clock in the middle of the night and met neighbors there doing the same.

DUMBO is the epicenter of growth and change in New York City. No other neighborhood is like it. Sorry WillieB, you guys might have “The Burg” & “East WillieB” web series but DUMBO’s got blockbuster films being shot down here. Not to mention tons more commercials, music videos and photo shoots. DUMBO’s got y’all beat!

by Danii Oliver, Interactive designer and developer. CDO of DAMN Digital Studio, an Interactive Agency.

Congratulations Dumbo Improvement District! Thank you!

The DUMBO Improvement District has been serving the Dumbo community for 5 years (Thanks Dumbo BID!). To celebrate, they’re throwing a party with their friends from the Brooklyn Flea – an all day food & beer fest “Under The Archway.”

Friday, September 16, 2011, 12PM-9PM, with beer starting at 3PM. Free for all ages to enter. (21+ to purchase beer)

The Dumbo BID is also buying your first beer! Bring a friend to get signed up for the mailing list, and they’ll buy their first beer too. www.dumbo.is/buyingyouabeer for more details.

PLUS: Fill in the blank for “DUMBO IS ______” to win dinner in DUMBO, courtesy of the Dumbo BID.

The BID will be relaunching their website on Friday. Come celebrate 5 years of Dumbo support.

Ten artists, one representing every year since September 11, 2001, create interactive memorial stations. The project includes a site for members of the public to create an ephemeral memorial. Participating artists include DUMBO-based Illegal Art whose project will ask participants to dip two fingers into a pot of grey indelible ink to represent the twin towers, and to reflect on the location and impact of the event over the number of days it takes for the ink to fade from their fingers, and others.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2011 • 11AM–5PM
Site locations: Begin at The Pearl St. Triangle (Pearl St. btwn. Front St. & Water St.) and walk to The Archway (Water St. btwn. Adams St. & Anchorage Pl.) continue your walk on Water St. to Dock St., along which the remaining artist stations will be located. Rain sites: 30 Washington St. and The Archway.

More information about each participating artist –
http://www.brooklynartscouncil.org/documents/1714