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Brooklyn Today December 19: Concern Looms Over Williamsburg Vacancies

December 19, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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THE LEDE: Happy Tuesday, Brooklyn! An axe-throwing bar opens inGowanus, Citi Bike has some competition, and ahead of the L-train shutdown, concern looms over Williamsburg vacancies. Plus, ESPN President John Skipper resigns, the CIA stymies a terrorist attack in Russia, and see how the Titanic was made. Finally, an Amtrak train derails in Washington, Santa Clausscales a skyscraper in Berlin, and take a look at Prince William and Kate Middleton’s Christmas card.

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IMPRINT: Italian soccer legend Gianluigi Buffon wears a laurel gold leaf crown on the most recent cover of Eight by Eight.

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The Rundown
 

~SUCCESS OF CITI BIKE NOT WIDE ENOUGH; ‘DOCKLESS’ BIKES USING PHONE APP MIGHT WORK: The Citi Bike program has been hugely popular in neighborhoods where it operates, with riders taking roughly 14 million trips in 2016. Citi Bike’s gray docking stations are a familiar sight across Manhattan and in a limited number of brownstone neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens. But many parts of Brooklyn — about four-fifths of the borough — are not covered. Now, the city wants to experiment with bringing a new typeof bike sharing program to the rest of the city — one that doesn’t require docks. Dockless bikes can be found and unlocked using a smartphone app, and are inoperable when not in use. The bikes don’t need to be locked to a dock, bike rack or any other fixed object. DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said that companies are “anxious to prove their skills in serving our city’s diverse, demanding and lucrative market.” Dockless systems have lower capital and operating costs than Citi Bike’s model, according to DOT, and could help bring bike-share service to outer borough neighborhoods at a faster rate than is possible under the current model for Citi Bike expansion. (via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~CONCERN LOOMS OVER WILLIAMSBURG VACANCIES: As the 15-month L-train shutdown looms on the horizon, leasing activity in Williamsburg has begun to slow down. In a 22-block, 600-building span of central Williamsburg surveyed by The Real Deal, 105,000 square feet of vacancies tainted the area’s total 827,000 square feet. Bedford Avenue and North Sixth Street had the most empty storefronts. Bedford clocked in at 26,000 vacant square feet out of 212,000, and North 6th had 22,000 out of 89,000. With the L-train closure starting in April 2019, landlords would prefer to wait until the train reopens, then seek higher rent, rather than find a tenant for a lower rate during the repairs, according to Donal Flaherty of Bestreich Realty. “A lot of these guys have so much capital that two years will go by in the blink of an eye,” Flaherty said. “The closer we get to the shutdown, the closer we get to the end of the shutdown.” (via The Real Deal)
 
~KICK AXE BAR OPENS IN GOWANUS: Axe throwing is officially an option for night owls in Brooklyn. For those who always wanted to know what it’s like to throw a piece of wood with a sharp metal head into a target, Gowanus’ new bar, Kick Axe, has the answer. The 7,000-square-foot space holds 10 throwing ranges equipped with safety experts and food and drink. The 622 Degraw St. spot doesn’t have its liquor and health department licenses yet, but a Stuf’d Food Truck is temporarily parked inside the space. The sport’s increasing popularity has been bringing out more and more boozy axe-throwing enthusiasts who now have a chance to throw in Brooklyn for $35. (via Eater New York)
 
~JIMMY MAURER TO LEAVE COSMOS FOR MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER’S FC DALLAS: First it was their beloved skipper. Then it was their accomplished coach. Now, it’s their stalwart goalkeeper. New York Cosmos netminder and fan favorite Jimmy Maurer is leaving Brooklyn for Major League Soccer’s FC Dallas. Maurer, 29, joins longtime Cosmos captain Carlos Mendes and former manager Giovanni Savarese on a growing list of esteemed individuals leaving the club. Mendes retired at the end of the 2017 campaign, and Savarese will manage MLS’s Portland Timbers next season. “I will forever be proud to say that I was a player for the New York Cosmos,” Maurer said. “It is incredible to think back on all the great experiences this privilege has granted me these past five years on and off of the field.” A brick wall between the pipes, Maurer led the Cosmos to back-to-back NASL championships in 2015 and 2016. He was also one of four players to compete in 100 games for the club in the modern era. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

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Staff Picks:   
 

LONG READ: Is there hope for children who have their parents deported? Thanks to Nora Sándigo, there is. (via NYT)
 
ANOTHER LONG READ: $190 million later, here’s the “Insane True Story Of How ‘Titanic’ Got Made”
 
CARTOON: The effects of the net neutrality repeal take shape. (via The New Yorker)
 
EAT: A Mexican restaurant and cocktail lounge with a bottomless “top shelf” brunch arrives in Bed-Stuy. (via Brownstoner)

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NATIONAL BULLETIN: An Amtrak train derails in Washington…ESPN President John Skipper resigns, citing a substance abuse issue…And firefighters who died in Southern California’s wildfire are remembered. (via NYT, ESPN and USA Today) 
 
FOREIGN FLASH: Sebastián Piñera wins the presidential election in Chile…Santa Claus scales down a skyscraper in Berlin to pass out presents…And the CIA stymies a terrorist attack in Russia. (via NYT, USA Today and Chicago Tribune)     

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 ROYAL WATCH: Take a look at Prince William and Kate Middleton’sChristmas card (via ET).

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BROOKLYN TONIGHT   
 

6:00PM — The History of Bees by Maja Lunde at Scandinavia House: The Nordic Center in America. Details.
 
6:30PM — The History of Gin at Prospect Heights Brainery. Details.
 
6:30PM — Contemporary Confrontations in Art and Architecture: Panel Discussion and Book Signing at Guggenheim Museum. Details.
 
7:00PM — The Guardian Live: Making Sense of 2017 at The Greene Space.Details.
 
7:00PM — NYRR Open Run at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Details.
 
7:00PM – 9:00PM — David Lebovitz at the Bedford Cheese Shop. Details.
 
7:30PM — Dorrance Dance: Myelination at Joyce Theater. Details.
 
7:30PM — Unsinkable: My Heart Will Go On at Spectacle Theater. Details.
 
7:30PM – 9:30PM — Dedicate It with Baratunde at Thurston Caveat. Details.
 
8:30PM — The Sumerians: History’s Innovators at Prospect Heights Brainery.Details.
 

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 EAGLE SPORTS: “Nets want Jahlil Okafor in better shape before he plays again” (via NYP)

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MILESTONES
 
Happy birthday to Jennifer Beals, Ronan Farrow, Janie Fricke, Jake Gyllenhaal, Richard Hammond, Richard E. Leakey, Kevin Edward McHale,Alyssa Milano, Rob Portman, Tim Reid and Kristy Swanson!


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