12/15/17 9:34am
Items from the film's original opening. Via the Brooklyn Museum

Items from the film’s original opening. Via the Brooklyn Museum on Twitter

DUMBO was in the spotlight on Thursday, December 7, when Ken Burns returned to the Brooklyn Museum for an event showcasing a beautifully remastered version of his first film, Brooklyn Bridge (1981).  The documentary, which premiered at the Brooklyn Museum after 5 years in the making, tells the inspiring and quixotic tale of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, a monument so practical in purpose, so large in scope, so stunning in beauty, and so enduring in significance, that it spans not only the East River but also the world as an icon of human ingenuity, civic responsibility, and artistic excellence.

Burns’s film explores the private genius of the bridge’s creators — John, Washington and Emily Warren Roebling — who engineered the largest suspension bridge in the world at the time, the public euphoria that gripped New York when the bridge opened to the public in 1883, and the bridge’s subsequent effect on the city. To do it, he pioneered a style of photography and storytelling now known, via an off-screen assist by Steve Jobs, as the Ken Burns Effect(more…)

08/04/16 4:30pm
west-elm-empire-stores-dumbo-brooklyn-ext-rend

Rendering by S9 Architecture

Dumbo-based home furnishings company West Elm will be the first tenant to open in the massive and neighborhood-changing 146-year-old coffee warehouse-turned-retail hub Empire Stores.

The grand opening of its new flagship is set for August 18 at 8 a.m., the retailer revealed in an email Wednesday. West Elm is leasing a third of the historic building and will also have its offices there. (more…)

08/28/14 2:28pm
http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/08/28/two_trees_giant_dock_street_dumbo_project_finally_revealed.php

Via Curbed NY

[UPDATE: Occupancy for 60 Water Street will happen before 2015.]

As everyone in Dumbo has likely seen, the Dock Street Dumbo building – 60 Water Street (official name) on Dock, Front, and Water Streets – is nearly complete. And finally, we have an updated rendering to match it.

The updated rendering isn’t too much different than the original image from 2008, though it does better capture the glass that now almost fully covers the building’s façade.

The building will have 290 units, 58 of which will be affordable units. Two Trees is slated to begin leasing this fall, with occupancy scheduled before 2015.

Previous Dock Street coverage here:Dock Street Building Now Seven Stories High

05/01/14 5:00am

14055347185_1aacea9d6a_b

The NYC Office of Emergency Management (OEM) installed a housing prototype for a post-disaster situation near Cadman Plaza. The modular housing, installed over the weekend, could be installed on parking lots and vacant lots in neighborhoods hit by disasters. According to Brooklyn Daily Eagle, “The NYC Office of Emergency Management (OEM) has been working on the project for six years, along with the city’s Department of Design and Construction (DDC), FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers. The prototype includes a living area, bedrooms, bathroom, fully-equipped kitchen and storage areas, but the configuration is flexible, said project architect Jim Garrison, a professor at Pratt and principal of Garrison Architects…OEM Assistant Commissioner Jim McConnell said this type of housing would speed recovery.”

The prototype will be on the site for about a year. The site location is across from the OEM on the corner of Cadman Plaza East and Red Cross Place.

14075361963_6b728ee45d_b

14095875483_85a046d259_b

06/19/13 12:40am

Brooklyn Tech Triangle plan

Brooklyn Tech Triangle Strategic Plan

Brooklyn Tech Triangle Strategic Plan

In April 2012, the DUMBO Improvement District and Brooklyn Tech Triangle partners commissioned an economic impact study of the “Brooklyn Tech Triangle”. Today, the Brooklyn Tech Triangle, a partnership of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, the Dumbo Business Improvement District and the Brooklyn Navy Yard unveiled a master strategic plan that detailed proposals on workforce development, real estate incentives and zoning, transportation linkages, and public space creation with the goal of nurturing innovation for NYC.

New York City is a leading tech innovation hub (after Silicon Valley), and the Brooklyn Tech Triangle is taking charge to include a broad public, private, and academic backing to provide an environment, infrastructure, transportation, and workforce development to ensure that the area can accommodate the needs of the new economy. There are five key challenges to which the Brooklyn Tech Triangle Strategic Plan counters with five plan components. The five key challenges are:

  1. Space: We are running out of appropriate commercial space for tech.
  2. Workforce: The Tech Triangle could be—but isn’t yet—a new model integrating talent from local communities and universities with high-growth industries.
  3. Transportation: It needs to be easier to get around the Tech Triangle.
  4. Dynamic Places: Some parts of the Tech Triangle need an upgraded energy and vibe.
  5. Tech Infrastructure: The “tech” in Tech Triangle should be apparent to all.

The 94 page plan include challenges and proposals that address them. We’re only touching on a small slice, so you may want to read the full strategic plan. More renderings after the jump…
(more…)