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.

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The high resolution photo, courtesy of Shorpy, from 1903 of Brooklyn Bridge is full of rich detail. The view of Brooklyn from the Manhattan side shows the Brooklyn shore between Navy Yards to Brooklyn Heights. Above is a detailed portion of the photo of what’s now Dumbo. You’ll see some Gair Buildings (one on Washington Street that says “Robert Gair: If it’s made of paper we have it”), the 167 Sands Street building, which was completed in 1902, the Tobacco Warehouse, and the two and three story wood frame buildings where 1 Main Street now sits (built in 1916). Not pictured in the above detail, but is shown in the original photo is the Eagle Warehouse building, Old Fulton Street, and the original Fulton El Terminal (which was demolished, and now is Cadman Plaza) with trolleys crossing the bridge.

For the original full res photo, go to shorpy.com/Brooklyn_Bridge_1903?size=_original. What else do you recognize?

(via @joshderr)

{Dumbo Then and Now, series, DumboNYC}

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}

Jane’s Carousel is being installed in Brooklyn Bridge Park in the Jean Nouvel designed Pavilion, and will open to the public September 16, 2011.

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:

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.)

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Here’s an oldie but goodie from Octupus Pie. Octopus Pie is an ongoing comic series about two women living in Brooklyn, NY – their jobs, social circles, and some problems. In this episode, the dialogue is about the Empire Stores and how Dumbo was named.

“You know why this neighborhood’s called Dumbo, right?”
“It’s an acronym, let’s see…District of Urbania’s Most Blatantly Overpriced, right?”
“Har har.”
“It was cheap in the 1970s. The artists who moved into these run-down factories named it.”
“They thought an ugly name would deter contractors from moving in.”
“Oh please, leave it to bohos to sanitize a scaary place and get mad when the yuppies arrive.”
“They meant well. I can’t blame them, really.”
“After all, Dumbo was always beautiful. It just took a bit of marketing for people to notice.”

And notice they did.

Eric N. Vitaliano of Federal District Court issued a ruling that essentially nullifies 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. Back in April, the judge ruled that the National Park Service (“NPS”) violated federal law by removing two historic landmarks from federally protected parkland. The new ruling essentially ends St. Ann’s chances of finding a home in Dumbo. The New York Times notes: Citing environmental protection and conservation law, Judge Vitaliano ruled that it was “crystal clear” the park service acted outside its authority by removing both the Tobacco Warehouse and Empire Stores, another waterfront structure in Dumbo, from classification as federally designated parkland.

This is a sad decision for St. Ann’s Warehouse, Dumbo, and its supporters who enjoy one of the most innovative programming in theatre.

(Photo from Museum of the City of NY. The Tobacco Inspection Warehouse (right), the skeletal structure of the Department of Purchase Storehouse, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Manhattan skyline beyond. by Berenice Abbott.)

Previously on DumboNYC:
{Tobacco Warehouse Transfer Broke the Law, Says Judge, 18Apr2011}
{St. Ann’s Warehouse Given The Go at Tobacco Warehouse, 16Feb2011}
{Neighborhood Associations Sue to Stop Development of Tobacco Warehouse, 19Jan2011}
{Why Did NY State Parks Claim That Tobacco Warehouse is Not Used for Public Recreation?, 12Jan2011}
{Tobacco Warehouse, 17Apr2009}

Last week, the United States District Judge Eric N. Vitaliano ruled that the National Park Service (“NPS”) violated federal law by removing two historic landmarks from federally protected parkland. In January, we wondered why the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) requested the park boundary be amended in 2008 knowing that events were held at the Tobacco Warehouse (OPRHP wrote to NPS to request that the park’s boundary map be amended because “These former warehouse buildings [the Empire Stores and Tobacco Warehouse] are not suitable for nor used by the public for outdoor recreational opportunities in the park”). By amending the boundary, it allows for the property contained within the park to be altered. However, the ruling orders NPS to protect these Civil-War era structures – the Tobacco Warehouse and the Empire Stores – from the current development plans.

The lawsuit was filed by the Brooklyn Heights Association, the Fulton Ferry Landing Association, the New York Landmarks Conservancy, and the Preservation League of New York State.

So what’s next for these buildings? According to The Brooklyn Eagle, “The city’s Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation, which supports the plan to lease the Tobacco Warehouse to St. Ann’s Warehouse to develop a $15 million performance space and community center, vowed to continue trying to make that proposal a reality.”

The following list are references from around the web last week:

• Tobacco Warehouse deal up in smoke, 11Apr11, NYDN
• Judge Halts Tobacco Warehouse Transfer, 12Apr11, Brownstoner
• Judge Blocks City’s Proposal for 2 Buildings in Brooklyn, 10Apr11, NYT
• Federal Court Rebukes National Park Service, 11Apr11, FFLA
• Tobacco no-ed!, 11Apr11, BK Pape
• Tobacco Warehouse Decision Vindicates Heights Association, 11Apr11, BK Eagle
• Federal Court Rebukes National Park Service, 10Apr11, PRN
• Brooklyn Judge Blocks St. Ann’s Warehouse From Building New Dumbo Home, 11Apr11, WNYC

Previously on DumboNYC:
{St. Ann’s Warehouse Given The Go at Tobacco Warehouse, 16Feb2011}
{Neighborhood Associations Sue to Stop Development of Tobacco Warehouse, 19Jan2011}
{Why Did NY State Parks Claim That Tobacco Warehouse is Not Used for Public Recreation?, 12Jan2011}
{Tobacco Warehouse, 17Apr2009}

(Photo courtesy of The Brooklyn Paper)

According to a report on Gothamist yesterday, “The National Park Service has endorsed the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation’s plan to transfer the Civil War-era Brooklyn Tobacco Warehouse in DUMBO to performing arts presenter St. Ann’s Warehouse. The National Parks Service issued the decision on Monday (see below letter) that it supports its own 2008 decision that allowed the state to redraw the map of the Brooklyn waterfront to allow a historic building in a park to be redeveloped into a theater. As you may recall, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) requested the park boundary be amended in 2008, which prompted local community organizations to sue to stop the renovation.

Tobacco Warehouse Decision 2-14

(Photo by Monika N.)

Last week, we wrote about the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) requesting the park boundary be amended in 2008 knowing that events were held at the Tobacco Warehouse. This is after they stated in a letter that “These former warehouse buildings [the Empire Stores and Tobacco Warehouse] are not suitable for nor used by the public for outdoor recreational opportunities in the park.” Our question was, what motives did OPRHP have to amend the LWCF grant boundaries?

Yesterday, local community organizations, FFLA, Brooklyn Heights Association and the NY Landmarks Conservancy filed suit to stop a secret expropriation of the Tobacco Warehouse. According to the FFLA website:

“We are seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the transfer of the Tobacco Warehouse, designated as part of parkland since 2000, to private hands. This primary action is in Federal Court, against the Natonal Park Service (NPS). We also filed a secondary action in NY State Supreme Court against the New York State Office of Parks (NYSOP) and the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation (BBPC) requesting a court order to prevent officials from providing false and misleading information to the National Park Service.”

See more on Brownstoner, NYDN, and Brooklyn Heights Blog.