A 20-story residential tower has topped out behind The Cathedral Basilica of Saint James in Downtown Brooklyn.

Located at 22 Chapel St., it takes the place of a former two-story brick building that was home to Start Treatment & Recovery Centers, which sold the property in 2018 for $26.45 million. Stretching half the block, the building is 20 stories tall on the side facing Flatbush Avenue (and the busy entrance/exit to the Manhattan Bridge), with a drop to 12 stories toward the back of the building. While completely overshadowing the church below, it also hovers over McLaughlin Park, which sits right across the street.

Designed by Manhattan-based architecture firm CetraRuddy and developed by Delshah Capital and OTL Enterprises, renderings show a white, layered facade. Setbacks give the tower almost a rounded form. When completed, it will add to a rapidly growing stretch of Downtown Brooklyn that includes the Tillary Hotel and Hampton Inn across the street, plus the 40-story condo building The Oro at 306 Gold St. and the 36-story residential building called BKLYN AIR, located at 309 Gold St., just down Flatbush. Red entire article: https://www.brooklynpaper.com/new-tower-tops-out-in-downtown-brooklyn/

On Saturday, October 24 and Sunday, October 25, Brooklyn Bridge Park will present “Open Studios” on the Harbor View Lawn (photo) of Pier One. These will be opportunities to see dance, theater, and music groups in live rehearsal. The events will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on both days, with different groups taking two hour segments of each day. It’s all free. 

The nearest location to our building for early voting is New York City College of Technology at 285 Jay Street. For a complete list, visit https://vote.nyc/page/early-voting-information?utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=early_voting

The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) will soon begin the rehabilitation of the wall supporting the BQE along Hicks Street. The wall supports the exit ramp of Exit 28A of the Queens-bound BQE and provides access to downtown Brooklyn. The Hicks Street wall is a load bearing reinforced concrete wall and is roughly 548’ long, and up to 36’ high. The wall is deteriorated, missing brick veneer over 90% of its surface area with displaced and cracked coping at the interface between the safety railing and the wall. There are portions of unsound concrete showing spalls as deep as 6”, efflorescence, and missing mortar at the joints; exposed reinforcing steel; debonded reinforcing steel; and reinforcing steel with marked section loss. With the deficiencies noted above, the structural integrity of this wall is compromised, and immediate repair is warranted.

At a small gathering on the 2nd floor this morning, Luan was presented with a retirement gift consisting of a check for $3,310. collected from Shareholders as well as a CPN Certificate of Appreciation. Luan’s (twin) son and daughter accompanied him for the presentation which was also attended by Board members as well as Dahlia, Jose and Papo. We’ll miss you, Luan!

The city will rename the Brooklyn Municipal Building on Joralemon Street after the late United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday. “We want to make sure we honor her in every conceivable way and especially in the borough that she came from that gave her so much of her strength and spirit, the borough of Brooklyn,” de Blasio said at his Sept. 22 press briefing. “So today I’m proud to announce that we will rename the Brooklyn Municipal Building after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.” Hizzoner said the rechristened building at the corner of Court Street will inspire locals by paying tribute to a Brooklynite who became a trailblazer in the nation’s highest court. – AMNewYork. (sent to us by Alan Posner)

The state is considering Brooklyn Bridge Park as a location to erect a statue depicting late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday. Cuomo, speaking during a conference call with reporters, called the death of the Brooklyn-born Ginsburg “a tremendous loss for the nation.” “She was a generational role model and champion. We are going to do a statue in Brooklyn for her. She is a Brooklyn native and we’ve very proud of that,” Cuomo said, explaining that he will announce a commission that will work on the statue later this week.

The Democratic governor said that the state is “considering Brooklyn Bridge Park on a site that will overlook the Statue of Liberty” for the location of the honor for Ginsburg. Ginsburg, 87, a trailblazer for gender equality and the second-ever woman appointed to the high court, died Friday night due to complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer. President Trump has said he will seek to fill the vacancy on the high court before the November election. Cuomo said the attempt to fill the vacant Supreme Court seat “in this rushed, highly politically, highly partisan manner is the exact worst thing that this nation could be doing now.” “You’re talking about just destroying credibility of fundamental democratic institutions, which is the last thing that this nation needs at this precarious time,” said Cuomo. – New York Post

Photoville, the exhibit of contemporary photography that, in recent years has been held in shipping containers in an empty lot beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, has, because of COVID-19, been taken outdoors. It’s now on billboard like structures, as in the photo, taken near the Old Fulton Street entrance to Brooklyn Bridge Park. These displays are scattered throughout the Park. A list of the exhibitions in Brooklyn, most of which are in the Park or DUMBO, is here. This year, there are Photoville exhibits in all five Boroughs. Photoville will be up through November 29. – Brooklyn Heights Blog

Cars are set to be booted off one of Brooklyn’s busiest streets next week. Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn will become largely buses and bikes only during weekdays starting Monday, city officials announced Thursday.

Between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Monday, only cars making local deliveries or parking will be allowed on the stretch between Livingston and Tillary streets. Jay Street — which leads on to the Manhattan Bridge and runs past the City College of Technology, NYU School of Engineering and the sprawling MetroTech office complex — serves seven MTA bus routes that carry a total of 46,000 daily riders, according to MTA stats.

The strip will be only the third busway in the city — joining Downtown Brooklyn’s decades-old Fulton Street Mall and the nascent 14th Street busway in Manhattan. – New York Post

Grocery chain Food Bazaar replaces Red Hook’s Fairway Market after a judge approved the deal, according to the struggling supermarket’s landlord. Bogopa Services Corp, owners of the Food Bazaar chain, successfully bid for Fairway’s Red Hook and Douglaston, Queens locations, reported the trade publication Supermarket Perimeter. The successful bid ends Fairway’s 14-year reign in the waterfront neighborhood after moving into the 19th-century warehouse at 480 Van Brunt Street in 2006.

The grocer will offer a wide variety of fresh products at a more affordable price than Fairway or other stores around the city, along with international goods that are hard to come by elsewhere, said a spokesperson. “Red Hook residents can expect the freshest and most comprehensive variety of produce and fish of any supermarket in NYC at affordable prices compared to Whole Foods or Fairway,” said in a statement. “Many residents I have spoken to travel to other Food Bazaars to do their grocery shopping because of their quality, affordability, consistency and cleanliness. Additionally, Food Bazaar offers a wide selection of international items, not easily found in other markets of their size.” -Brownstoner