A gumptious group of elected officials sent a letter to the city Department of Transportation demanding more details on its plan to fix a crumbling stretch of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

The letter, sent Friday and signed by U.S. Representatives Nydia Velázquez and Hakeem Jeffries, city Controller Scott Stringer and six other local lawmakers, raised concerns about the project’s timeline and funding.

The project has been riddled with controversy since last September, when DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg presented two strategies to fix the roadway, one of which was building a temporary elevated six-lane highway that would require the closure of the beloved Brooklyn Heights Promenade.

Following public outcry and a heavy lobbying effort from Brooklyn community groups, Mayor de Blasio in April formed an “expert panel” to look into alternative methods to repair the BQE. Read full story here:https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-brooklyn-queens-expressway-letter-dot-timeline-20190826-qxcyvdkukvfudloyy3e7cbr4qi-story.html

Walking past Cafe Buon Gusto this afternoon, I saw this sign in a window: “To all our customers we are moving to a new location 132 Montague starting Sept. 3.” Of course I had to find 132 Montague. It wasn’t hard; it’s on the same block, between Clinton and Henry, on the opposite (north) side.

Yes, it’s the site occupied by Dariush, offering “Persian Cuisine” for what seems like just a few months. The sign in the window says “We are temporary [sic] closed!! We will reopen on September 3rd.” If the sign at Cafe Buon Gusto is to be believed, the place will reopen September 3, but as Cafe Buon Gusto, not Dariush.

The downstairs space at 132 Montague has not been a happy one for restaurants of late; it may be the worst in Brooklyn Heights. Before Dariush, it was briefly a Mexican/Spanish place that had very good and inexpensive fish tacos. Before that, also and in my opinion unfortunately briefly, it was an Argentinian steak place that served excellent steaks at reasonable prices. Before that, and for I think several years, it was a Spanish tapas place. Someone with a better memory than mine will have to fill in its earlier incarnations. -Brooklyn Heights Blog

In 1965, a first class postage stamp cost 5¢, a gallon of gas was 31¢, a dozen eggs 53¢ and a subway token 15¢. At the northern edge of Brooklyn Heights, the City’s answer to urban blight began to take shape in the form of Cadman Plaza North. Thanks to Tami Sheheri for finding this great pic!

Since our new Property Manager started, there’s been some confusion about what her email address is and how to say her first name! Her correct email is now in the “Contact Us’ tab above. As for the pronunciation, some say DEEL-YA, some say DAL-YA. Both are wrong. She like DAYL-YA but tells us she won’t mind how you pronounce her name as long as you stop by and say hello.

It’s a dish best served cold. 

A beloved Dumbo ice cream shop recently forced out of the neighborhood is making a sweet comeback. Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory — which operated out of the historic fireboat house at Fulton Ferry Landing for 17 years before closing last December — will open a new storefront just steps from its old shop, facing off against the rival that scooped it out, said the Factory’s co-founder.

“The Ice Cream Factory was a fixture in the neighborho­od,” said Mark Thompson. “We were forced out of the space, and I left gracefully — but I couldn’t get ice cream out of my blood.”

Thompson hopes to open his new space, at 14A Old Fulton Street, in October. The location will be a walk-up window based in a hollowed-out cargo container, near the entrance to Brooklyn Bridge Park. https://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/42/31/24-ice-cream-factory-return-2019-08-02-bk.html

https://patch.com/new-york/heights-dumbo/brooklyn-food-hall-reopen-after-10-day-forced-health-dep-closure

DUMBO, BROOKLYN — A Brooklyn food hall that was closed for more than a week for health department violations is back up and running. 

Time Out Market, which was first shut down by health inspectors on July 10, reopened Saturday night after all 14 of its 21 restaurants that were initially closed down were cleared in a second inspection, according to records and a call to the food hall.

The city will be shutting down lanes on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in the Columbia Street Waterfront District beginning Friday, July 26, the Department of Transportation announced Tuesday. 

The lane closures will accommodate work on the Kane Street Bridge, which passes over the highway near Hicks Street, and will variously close one or two eastbound and westbound driving lanes during the early hours for approximately four weeks. https://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/42/30/brooklyn-queens-expressway-lane-closures-2019-07-26-bk.html

As the BQE Project Expert Panel continues our work, I wanted to provide a quick update.

We recently convened a meeting with a number of community organizations and elected officials to lay out what we’ve done so far, the principles that will guide our work forward, and what some of our next steps look like.

You can find a PowerPoint outlining all of this here. I hope you’ll take a moment to look it over. If you have any feedback you’d like to share with the Panel, please use the comment form here and note it’s directed to the “Expert Panel.”

As always, full updates from the Panel can be found at https://www.bqe-i278.com/en/expert-panel.

Thank you for staying involved, and I look forward to staying in touch as our work progresses.

Carlo A. Scissura, Esq., President & CEO, New York Building Congress