Police Seek Armed Attacker in Sexual Assault [The Local]
CHCA - Talk and Action [I Love Franklin Ave]
Cops Searching For Perps Keep Visiting Brooklyn Seniors [Gothamist]
3-Year Lease for Freak Museum & Maybe More [ATZ]
Frito Pie 101 [Brooklyn Based]
Best Brooklyn Eateries You’ve Never Heard Of [Brokelyn]
Photo by bdwac from the Brownstoner Flickr Pool.

Kevin Walsh, the mastermind behind the genius site Forgotten NY, has just uploaded a photo set to Flickr of the area he's calling Bushwick Avenue North. The set includes close-ups of the thrift-meets-taxidermy store Zukkies as well as the Bushwick Public Library.

The BOTD is a no-frills look at interesting structures of all types and from all neighborhoods. There will be old, new, important, forgotten, public, private, good and bad. Whatever strikes our fancy. We hope you enjoy.

Address: 79-81 Decatur Street, between Throop and Marcus Garvey
Name: Clermont Apartments
Neighborhood: Stuyvesant Heights
Year Built: 1900
Architectural Style: French Gothic Revival
Architect: Montrose Morris
Landmarked: No

Why chosen: This fanciful French chateau was built for Stuyvesant Heights’ growing middle class population, at a time when apartment living was becoming popular. Made of brick, limestone and pressed metal trim, the Clermont is Morris’ second and better attempt at French Gothic. A darker, but similar apartment building by him stands on Clinton Avenue, between Fulton and Atlantic Avenues. The building has a strong street presence greatly enhanced by a 2003 restoration by Danois Architects, PC, and is now an 8 unit co-op building.

This situation at 113 Boerum Place is looking like kind of a nightmare. The owner ran out of money last year and put the place, mid-massive renovation, on the market for $1,599,000. No nibbles, so he took the price down to $1,400,000. Still nothing, and the property was delisted in December with the owner deciding to try to finish the job herself. The scaffolding that was up last year is now gone and there's a Stop Work Order as well as an Intent to Revoke that was issued at the end of February; there's also an unpaid fine for $3,000 on the place. To top that off, the craftmanship seems worthy of some of the South Slope hack jobs we've witnessed in recent years. Check out a close up on the jump.
House of the Day: 113 Boerum Place [Brownstoner] GMAP P*Shark

According to the tipster who sent in this photo, Court Street bar and restaurant Abilene is building out this space at 543 3rd Avenue in Gowanus. Should be a nice fit with the pentecostal church next door! GMAP

This three-story brick house at 43 3rd Street in Carroll Gardens just hit the market with an asking price of $1,390,000. It looks like a very cute place to us, with lots original detail on both the inside and outside. To us, it's screaming out to be a one-family, but appears to work fine currently as a two. You likey?
43 3rd Street [Douglas Elliman] GMAP P*Shark

var basePrice=1390000;
initPriceWidget (thisInstanceId, basePrice);

This one-bedroom that just hit the market at 296 Garfield Place is nothing fancy, but it's a perfectly attractive apartment in a nice looking building. Looks perfect for one person, maybe a little tight for two (especially if they're clothes horses). Maintenance is $436 and the price is $310,000. Reasonable?
296 Garfield Place, #3 [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark

var basePrice=310000;
initPriceWidget (thisInstanceId, basePrice);

This week the Third & Bond bloggers take at look at how their new construction held up to last week's weather...What happened to Third + Bond during one of the worst storms seen by NYC in the last 30 years? Was siding ripped from the façade? Did water back up in the mechanical rooms? Did massive roof leaks ruin newly installed wood floors? Nope. Not much of anything happened. There were two units where the waterproofing hadn’t been completed and a small amount of water leached into a discrete spot. Fortunately the drywall is actually cement board in that area so it fared pretty well. We set up electric space heaters to dry the spot out and will determine soon if the floorboards need to be replaced.

Aside from our sadness at the loss of old growth trees around the City, and our empathy for fellow city dwellers who lost power or experienced property damage, we were pretty psyched to have a storm like this one...

As you may recall, we reported last week that a streetlight at the corner of 23rd Street and 7th Avenue mysteriously disappeared. In the aftermath of our post, the local council member's office and a reporter from The Post reached out to DOT. According to a recent email blast from the Concerned Citizens of Greenwood Heights, when Council Member Gonzalez reached out to try to remedy the situation she was told that the removal had been part of routine maintenance; a Post reporter who followed up was told that it was getting replaced because of a traffic accident. Maybe we'll never know the truth, but at least the corner is no longer a safety hazard, particularly in light of the recent stabbing incident just three blocks from here.

Two developers, eager to capitalize on a building boom, a robust economy, and a hot neighborhood, take a chance to build what they feel will be hugely successful and lucrative housing. But while everything seems to be in their favor, something happens, and the bottom falls out and bankruptcy looms. Will they succeed? Will the housing be built? More importantly, will it sell? What happens? Here on Brownstoner, we read about these situations every day, it seems. But this tale is not about Williamsburg or Park Slope in 2008. It’s about the St. Marks District, now called Crown Heights North, and the year is 1898.

At the end of the 19th century, the St. Marks District was one of the most fashionable areas of Brooklyn. As the mansions of the rich were going up on St. Marks Avenue, and adjacent streets, new blocks of more modest housing was going up all around the area. Most of this was speculative housing, and the developers of yesterday were doing much of what today’s developers are doing – trying to build in a popular neighborhood for those who could afford it. Sometimes this involved taking an innovative approach with a marketing hook. In this case, developing an exclusive enclave of two short blocks tucked in between two popular streets, and in between two busy avenues, all a block or two from a beautiful new park.

If you're into this kind of thing, please follow us on Twitter.

The Local's piece yesterday on the Fulton Area Business Alliance felt like a bit of a take-down, so here's the glass-half-full take on the five-month-old BID. Sure, there are still some business owners who aren't on board with the program, which levies a mandatory tax on retailers surcharge on property owners along the commercial thoroughfare through Fort Greene and Clinton Hill in return for much-needed quality of life improvements and marketing exposure for the area. Many commercial leases allow a owner to pass along the surcharge to his retail tenant; to help out tenants put out by this, the BID was able to offer $500 grants thanks to Council Member James and the Pratt Area Community Council. But there are plenty of merchants in support of the BID (especially after the recently concluded '21 Blocks in 21 Days' program where BID officials met block-by-block with all the business owners) and lots of reasons right now to be excited about the BID going forward. On April 17-18, the BID will be set up at the Putnam Triangle giving away 200 trees as a way to draw people down to the long-neglected stretch of Fulton; MET Foods, which was once a vocal opponent of the BID and is now featured on the organization's homepage, will be providing carts for tree delivery. Anything that replaces the illegal trade that has dominated this location for decades is a huge step in the right direction as far as we're concerned. On the same weekend, the BID is spearheading a graffiti-removal effort up and down the street. In June, the BID has a number of events, from street festivals to musical performances, in the works. And in the meantime, the BID continues to work on bringing planters, bike racks and green spaces to Fulton. With all these positive changes in the offing, it's still hard to reconcile why some businesses in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill remain resistant to the idea of investing in improvements that only stand to bring more consumer spending to the area when their counterparts on Fulton Street in Bed Stuy "get it". Update: In related news, PACC and Bed Stuy Restoration are putting on a "Roll Up The Gates" event on Fulton this weekend to attract new retailers to the area.
Fulton Street Businesses Still Wary of BID [NY Times]

The Department of Transportation presented its plans to remake Flushing Avenue as part of the ongoing master-planning of the 14-mile Brooklyn Greenway. Streetsblog, where this image first appeared, summed up the plan this way:
The Flushing Avenue project would construct a two-way bike path from Williamsburg Street West to Navy Street, separated from traffic by a nine-foot planted median. Vehicle traffic would travel in one westbound lane, between two lanes of parking. Only three curb cuts providing vehicle access to the Brooklyn Navy Yard would interrupt the bike path along the length of the project. Passengers on the B69 and B57 would disembark at bus bulbs constructed in the center median, with eastbound bus routes diverted to Park Avenue.

We're still not used to those weird parking lanes over on Kent, but hopefully that planted median will make this one work better. There's a planning workshop for the Greenway at Borough Hall on March 25th. You can also support the non-profit Greenway by attending the fundraiser tonight at ñ in Dumbo from 6 to 8 p.m.
Flushing to Get Two-Way Protected Bike Lane [Brooklyn Paper]
DOT Proposes Flushing Ave Bikeway [Streetsblog]

Toll Brothers revealed its plans for a new residential development at 205 Water Street in the Dumbo Historic District to the members of Community Board 2's landmarks committee and ended up getting a very warm reception. According to the Brooklyn Paper, the committee found the design to be contextual and gave props to the developer for keeping the height of the project much lower than zoning regulations would allow: Instead of the maximum 12 stories, Toll's plan calls for most of the building to be seven stories, which one section rising to nine. “We loved the gritty nature of this industrial area, and that was our inspiration,” said Navid Maqami of GreenbergFarrow, the project’s architects, of the design submitted last night. “The rust colors, steel and concrete — these are what you find in DUMBO.” The design includes 67 market-rate apartments and 86 below-ground parking spaces. LPC itself will consider the project at its April 6 meeting. (Click on the image above to expand.)
CB2: This project takes no ‘Toll’ on DUMBO [Brooklyn Paper]
Toll Running 205 Water Plans Up the Flagpole [Brownstoner]
Deconstructing the 205 Water Street Deal [Brownstoner] GMAP
Toll Brothers Planning Large Dumbo Project [Brownstoner]
DUMBO Rezoning Passed (Without Much Fanfare) [Brownstoner]
Praying for the Variance Gods at 205 Water Street [Brownstoner]

Taxi Agency Missed Scope of Cheating on Fares [NY Times]
It's Hard to Stop Using the Word 'Hipster' [NY Times]
Top Eateries Vying to Serve Booze at BBP [NY Post]
Pol's Suit Keeps on Trucking [NY Post]
Councilman Levin Comes Out Against Domino Project [NY Daily News]
Turning Gowanus Gunk into Glass [NY Daily News]
Landmarking Stirring Class Tensions in Carroll Gardens [Brooklyn Paper]
Photo by Emilio Guerra

Where to Dine on 5th [All About 5th]
Cyclone Opens [Bay Ridge Journal]
Chatting Chocolate Stout withGarrett Oliver [Serious Eats]
Astroland Owner to Sell Rides, at Last [Daily Intel]
The Early Word on Two Day Old Pulino's Bar & Pizzeria [Eater]
Photo by ultraclay! from the Brownstoner Flickr Pool.

We told you on Monday that the National Guard had asked the city to cordon off part of the sidewalk on Navy Street over concerns about the structural instability of the Timber Shed. Well, the barricades are up, but it looks like it was the wall more than the shed that they were worried about.

The BOTD is a no-frills look at interesting structures of all types and from all neighborhoods. There will be old, new, important, forgotten, public, private, good and bad. Whatever strikes our fancy. We hope you enjoy.

Address: 2 and 3 Pierrepont Place, between Montague and Pierrepont Streets
Name: Alexander M. White and Abiel Abbot Low Houses
Neighborhood: Brooklyn Heights ( Brooklyn Heights Historic District)
Year Built: 1857
Architectural Style: Italianate
Architect: Frederick A. Peterson
Landmarked: Yes

Why chosen: These twin mansions are called the “most elegant pair of brownstone mansions remaining in NY” by the AIA Guide. They are huge, rich, but architecturally simple homes befitting two of Brooklyn’s most wealthy and distinguished families. Alfred Treadway White, businessman and philanthropist grew up in #2. He was the builder of the Riverside, Tower, and Home Apartments, and Workman’s Cottages, as well as the Japanese Garden at the Botanical Garden. Abiel Low in # 3 (foreground), made a fortune on the Chinese tea trade, but his son, Seth, was one of the great Brooklynites of all time, becoming mayor of Brooklyn, and later greater New York City. A graduate of Columbia College, Seth Low is best remembered as president of that institution, turning the small college into Columbia University, buying its Morningside Heights location, and commissioning Charles Follen McKim to design the campus, including the great Abiel Abbot Low Library, which he paid for himself. Originally, a third mansion, designed by Richard Upjohn stood at #1 Pierrepont Place. That was the Henry Pierrepont mansion, which was torn down in 1946 to create the current children’s playground.