I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, the comedy previously mentioned on DumboNYC, starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James as firemen, pretending to be a gay couple in order to receive their pensions, have posted the movie trailer. Rob Schneider and Jessica Biel also star in the movie. The movie was filmed around New York City and many of the scenes in Brooklyn, including Prospect Heights, Park Slope, and Dumbo. The trailer has several shots on Washington Street and Front Street in Dumbo.

{“I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry” on YouTube}
{“Chuck and Larry” Movie Shooting in Dumbo Today, DumboNYC}

For people who want to keep up with Dumbo news (and of course Brooklyn in general), The Brooklyn Paper is on top of stories and developments around the neighborhood. They’re based in Dumbo on 55 Washington Street, and have frequent and quality editorials on issues pertaining to the area.

Some Dumbo-related Brooklyn Paper headlines from today’s edition for your weekend reading:

• What’s in a name?: “In the grand tradition of naming city streets after people no one has ever heard of, DUMBO’s own Main Street is slated to be co-named for former Department of Transportation assistant commissioner Dolores Barbieri…
  The street co-naming would be the first for DUMBO, a distinction that puts it on the map — in the sense that the neighborhood now has enough residents to attract the attention of politicians who want to honor ex-colleagues.”
• Table stable: “For the past three years, Wonk’s DUMBO location has sold sleek-but-functional furniture to a discerning, black-turtlenecked crowd comprised mainly of architects and designers. The store has even garnered a bit of fanfare by producing custom pieces for renowned photographer Cindy Sherman.”
• How to build a neighborhood: “If you’ve been wondering why BoConcept and West Elm (both high-end furniture stores) ended up side by side on Front Street in DUMBO — it was done on purpose.
  Seems that the good people at Two Trees Management — which controls most of the real estate down here — have decided to turn DUMBO into a sort of furniture district, akin to Gaphattan’s lighting or fashion districts.”

Some Dumbo-related Brooklyn Paper headlines from the March 17th edition:

• Prices up, but not as much: “DUMBO continued to be the hottest condo market in 2006, with apartment prices growing 2 percent to a median of $998,000 each. But last year’s report showed a 27-percent increase.”
• Mr. Bloomberg, tear down this wall!: “an East DUMBO and a West DUMBO, if you will — are slowly developing, complete with their “own set services: cleaners, cafes and even their own subway stations,” according to the DUMBO Improvement District.”
• ‘Dine’ on the divine: Dine in Brooklyn article

Although we’ll forgive The Times (Online UK) misnaming of the Dumbo acronym (“Downtown Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass”) and that “Grimaldi’s has nothing on L&B up in Benson-hurst” (you can’t compare the two; they’re both great, different style pizzas), they did a good job summarizing the Slice of Brooklyn Pizza Tour, which is a guided bus tour of Brooklyn’s best pizzarias, including Grimaldi’s and L&B Spumoni Gardens. The interesting part is the fact that there are actual tours of Brooklyn pizzarias. We Brooklynites have our favorite local pizzas, so there are probably some pizzas that are missing from the tour (what about Totonno’s in Coney Island or DiFara’s in Bay Ridge?), but it’s great to see that foreigners are recognizing one of the best pizzas in the world exist in Brooklyn.

If you have friends or family coming into town, this is a great way to introduce them to real Brooklyn pizza. But you might also want to take them to your favorite pizzaria after the tour. Read some of the reviews on their website.

“”A Slice Of Brooklyn Pizza Tour” invites New Yorkers and tourists alike to climb aboard the city’s only guided bus tour of Brooklyn’s BEST pizzerias. For one low price this 4 1/2 hour foodie romp through Brooklyn includes pizza, soft drinks and an audio-visual historical tour of Brooklyn’s famous movie locations, landmarks and points of interest. During this 4 1/2 hour pizza tour you’ll learn about and see some of the things that have made Brooklyn famous…”

What’s your favorite neighborhood pizzaria?

Slice of Brooklyn Pizza Tour is on Mondays and Fridays, 11am. Tickets ($55) must be bought in advance. See www.bknypizza.com

{A pizza tour of New York, travel.timesonline.co.uk}

The Futuristic Dumbo exhibit by the graduate urban design students of Pratt Institute have been on display since Feb 8. Unfortunately, tomorrow is the final day of the exhibition. If you haven’t had a chance to take a look at it yet, try to visit the gallery. The exhibit includes detailed plans of the students’ vision of Dumbo in the future. Although the focus is on the Dumbo neighborhood, the ideas can be used for waterfronts in any area. We have to address the possibility of a rising waterfront and ask ourselves, “how do we adapt to the rising seas in our waterfront neighborhood?” Or how does a rezoning from an industrial/manufacturing area to residential affect the existing building and space in a neighborhood? These are changes that are happening not only in Dumbo but also in cities across America. In Brooklyn alone, there are major waterfront development in neighborhoods such as Red Hook, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and Sunset Park.

There was a lot of thought and time put into their projects and I hope some of the concepts such as the pedestrian friendly streets, green buildings, and preservation of historical context become reality. In 2050, Dumbo will certainly be different, but how different is up to how we respect the history, environment, and residents.

Some photos from the opening reception:

111 Front Street, Gallery 208, Dumbo Brooklyn

{Event: Futuristic DUMBO 2/8, DumboNYC}
{NY students imagine city plan after global warming, Reuters, 2/14/07}

The Dumbo Neighborhood Association (DNA) is running ads in The Brooklyn Paper in their latest campaign to urge Dumbo residents, business owners, and artists to write to the Landmarks Preservation Commission Chairman in support of landmark designation. According to the ad,

“In September 2000 the DUMBO Industrial District was placed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places. But this important recognition does not protect buildings or neighborhood character. (Since then we’ve lost several buildings of great historic importance on Water, Front and York streets.)

Only New York City Landmark designation will ensure that irreplaceable historic buildings are not torn down as development accelerates on the Brooklyn waterfront.

In September 2005, the chairman of the Landmarks Preservation Commission declared Dumbo “worthy of designation.” As soon as word got out, some developers and owners lobbied against designation. So the DNA is asking Dumbo residents, business owners, and artists to write to the Landmarks Commission to prevent teardowns of historic buildings such as the one on 205 Water Street.

To view the ad with sample letter, go to the DNA website at www.dumbo-dna.org. Send a letter to:
Mr. Robert Tierney, Chairman, New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
1 Centre Street, 9th Floor
New York, NY 10007

{www.dumbo-dna.org (Source)}

 Photo courtesy of Julie Rosenberg for The Brooklyn Paper

The Brooklyn Paper has run a story about the 205 Water Street building being demolished. After the Dumbo Neighborhood Association sent letters to various city agencies, the story was published here, then got publicised on Curbed.com, NYMag.com, and GowanusLounge. The DNA is getting the word out to preserve Dumbo’s historic buildings. Contact Councilman David Yassky to voice your concerns.

{Wrecking balls: Neighbors say developer is demolishing a historic building in DUMBO, By Christie Rizk, The Brooklyn Paper, 1/27/07}

 Photo courtesy of SkyShaper

Welcome New York Times readers. Thank you to Jake Mooney for the mention in his article from the Sunday edition of The New York Times, on January 21, 2007.

If you are interested in the furniture stores mentioned in the article, you can see more on the posts on BoConcepts, ModernTots, or Tivoli Home here on DumboNYC.com.

Or get a snapshot of Dumbo from my 2006 Top Ten in Dumbo, which includes some real estate info from September 2006 and November 2006. If you like some historic photos of Dumbo, see the Then and Now series. Please contact me if you have any questions or comments.

{Chairs With Airs: On Arty Streets, a Cluster of Hip Furniture Stores, Jake Mooney, NYTimes, 1/21/07}

 Photo courtesy of Michael_surtees

White collar boxing is getting more attention these days, and Dumbo’s Gleason Gym, the famous boxing club has been in the news again. In Thursday’s USA Today, an article shows why baby boomers are taking up the sport.

“None of this is news to Bruce Silverglade, owner of Gleason’s Gym, the storied joint that embraced the likes of Jake LaMotta, not to mention Robert De Niro when he was transforming into LaMotta for Raging Bull or Hilary Swank during her Oscar-winning turn as Million Dollar Baby’s ill-fated fighter.

For the past 17 years, Silverglade has organized white-collar boxing bouts at his club, but more recently, he has been packing them in for $1,600 weekend fantasy camps. Boomers fly in from around the globe to, for a wink, live the life of a pugilist on the verge of a big prize.”

For most, the draw lies in the authenticity of the physical conditioning routine. At a boxing gym, a real trainer will not only get you into shape but show you the techniques of boxing. Gleason’s has a long history of training world champions such as Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Jake La Motta “The Raging Bull”, Roy Jones, Ray Leonard, Juan Laporte, and George Forman…a total of 129 world champions. But anyone can join for $80 per month.

Gleason’s Gym
83 Front Street, Dumbo Brooklyn
718-797-2872

 Photo courtesy of Daily gusto

{Boomers roll with the punches, USA Today, 1/18/07}
{Gleason’s Gym}

 Image courtesy of jenrock

The Lonely Planet has named Brooklyn one of the top ten destinations in their 2007 “Blue List,” which highlights the best in worldwide travel:

“Drawing on the knowledge, passion and miles travelled by the Lonely Planet community of authors, staff and travellers, and covering every country in the world, this year’s edition is a selection of the best places to go and things to do all around the world right now.”

The NY Daily News says that the book cites “its multiethnic character and multiplying number of trendy neighborhoods, the book lauded the borough as “the hippest part of New York City.”

I think the draw is the multicultural neighborhoods and hip independent restaurants, bars, boutique shops, that are being slowly replaced by the “mallification” of Manhattan. There are great places to visit in this world, but it’s not surprising to see Brooklyn as a destination. As the street signs says, Brooklyn is “like no other place in the world”.

 Image courtesy of oliverlamb

{Lonely Planet: Bluelist 2007}
{Brooklyn Makes Lonely Planet List Of Top “Must-See” Destinations, NY1}
{Brooklyn’s the REAL vacation hot spot, Daily News}
{Brooklyn Now a Tourist Trap, Officially, NYMag.com}

I snapped a few pictures today of the new trees planted at Bar and Grill Park in Dumbo (“that empty patch on York Street along the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway where the Between the Bridges Pub used to be before Shaya Boymelgreen put up the Beacon Tower”) and on Front Street that The Brooklyn Papers featured today. Full BP article after the jump.

Front Street between Washington and Adams Street:

{DUMBO gets trees, lighting, Brooklyn Papers, 1/6/07}
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