It’s worth reminding everyone that there’s a meeting coming up about the controversial 360 Smith Street project on Thursday, August 28, given the unfortunate late August timing of the Community Board 6 Land Use Committee hearing. The meeting is being held to consider developer Billy Stein’s application to the obscure, yet powerful, Board of Standards [...]

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Our old friend 360 Smith Street, (aka Oliver House), which was stopped in its tracks by the Zoning Text Amendment in Carroll Gardens that limited the height of buildings to 55 feet on “narrow” streets is back in action in a sense. The Department of Buildings had hit it with a Stop Work Order because [...]

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Does the “Narrow Streets” Zoning Text Amendment mean trouble for the controversial 360 Smith Street building (the former Heavy Metal Building) known as Oliver House? It could be. The amendment takes effect right away and the building’s foundation does not appear to be complete enough to be vested under the old zoning. One resident we [...]

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[Photo courtesy of nedward.org/GL Photo Pool Flickr]
We’ve run a couple of items this week about the impending closure of the biggest entrance to the Carroll Street subway station in Carroll Gardens so that work can go ahead on the 360 Smith Street project (also known as Oliver House). This is a look at what the [...]

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[Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Streets]
We noted yesterday that an entrance to the Carroll Street Station in Carroll Gardens will soon be shut down to accommodate the construction of the 360 Smith Street development. Here’s a bit more detail from the MTA that went out yesterday:
This is to inform you that MTA NYC Transit will be [...]

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During the public discussion about the 360 Smith Street project in Carroll Gardens, aka Oliver House, there was much discussion of the plaza in front of the Carroll Street Station and of the need to close one of the station’s entrances during part of the construction. There were concerns among some residents that the closing [...]

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We’re a little late with this one, having posted it over at Curbed yesterday, nonetheless it’s a fun, short vid from Street Films about the Bastille Day celebration on Sunday on Smith Street.

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[Photo courtesy of jplpagan/GL Flickr Pool]
Here’s a shot of yesterday’s Bastille Day activities (yes, a day early) on Smith Street, which included a Petanque-athon. McBrooklyn also has a post up about the event with nice pics.

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[Photo courtesy of Petanque America]
Bastille Day is approaching on Smith Street, a week from today, in fact. Here’s an email we got from the people at Bar Tabac:
Bar Tabac (128 Smith Street, Brooklyn 718-923-0918) and Ricard celebrate Bastille Day on Sunday July 13 with the annual street festival and Petanque tournament. This very successful event, [...]

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Yesterday, a “zoning text amendment” that redefines very narrow streets in Carroll Gardens as being narrow for zoning purposes, cutting the height of buildings that can be built on them, passed the City Planning Commission by a unanimous vote. It goes to the City Council on July 23, where easy approval is expected. In the [...]

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A feature called I Hate Valentines Day is shooting on Smith Street this week (it’s actually one of several shoots in Carroll Gardens). The Smith Street action takes place tomorrow and, given the film’s synopsis on IMDB, there’s little mystery why Smith has been chosen as a location: “A florist tries to convince a [...]

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There’s an update meeting coming up on the Public Place site between the Gowanus Canal and Smith Street, which will be developed into a large mixed use project called Gowanus Green by a development team that includes the Hudson Companies,the Bluestone Organization, Fifth Avenue Committee and Jonathan Rose Companies. It will take place on Thursday, [...]

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Late yesterday afternoon, our friends at Eater had a photo gallery with pics of this car, which almost turned Red Rose on Smith Street into Carroll Garden’s first drive-thru Italian restaurant (actually, its first drive-thru of any kind). Fortunately, no one was hurt, but there was no immediate explanation of how a car ended up [...]

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This is 170 Smith Street. It is only remarkable if one recalls the sad recent history of the building, which had fallen into such disrepair (no doubt exacerbated by being on top of the subway tunnel carrying the F Train) that its facade started to crumble in March. When we passed by the building the [...]

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It looks like the Ghost of the Democracy Wall in Carroll Gardens struck at some time again over the weekend, with the construction fence at 360 Smith Street curiously acquiring some shamrocks. Of course, the last time it was decorated, hearts appeared and, then, a short lived love message that was quickly removed. What’s interesting, [...]

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Sometimes, hitting someone on a bicycle with a pickup truck can have unexpected benefits. As evidence we present our Brooklyn Sunday Craigslist Missed Connection:
Car accident with cyclist on smith st. - m4w - 27 (Brooklyn)
You got were in accident…your car with a bicyclist. You are a defense attorney and me a cop. We chatted and [...]

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Call it the War on Love. The latest “love message” to go up on the construction fence that covered up the Carroll Gardens Democracy Wall didn’t even last 24 hours before workers scraped it off and repainted the fence. We have many questions: Will the developer get more love? Will the next poster last 24 [...]

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[Right photo courtesy of Brooklyn Streets]
After nearly a year of public debate, work has started at at 360 Smith Street, now known as Oliver House. The digging has been going full tilt this week and is proceeding quickly. We’re tempted to joke that the building will be completed by next week, but it won’t be. [...]

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It’s hard to keep love down, particularly during Spring Fever season. With the original hearts having been removed by work crews on behalf of developer Billy Stein, the battle for the heart of the developer, if not the hearts of residents, seems to have escalated back to the kinds of posters that used to grace [...]

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The Carroll Gardens Democracy Wall, which had been used by residents as a kind of community bulletin board since last year, disappeared last week behind the big blue construction fence for the controversial 360 Smith development. While it’s unclear if the blue fence will end up serving the same purpose or just get plastered with [...]

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One of the things that has riled up Carroll Gardens residents as much as the design and height of the building that is planned for 360 Smith Street is the loss of part of the plaza in front of the Carroll Street subway station and the trees that have been planted there. Several trees on [...]

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Is there a miniature game of Beat the Clock underway with the controversial building at 360 Smith Street and others in Carroll Gardens? A text amendment to city zoning that would change an odd city definition that has defined a number of very narrow street in Carroll Gardens as being wide (allowing taller buildings) is [...]

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One gets the feeling that very little is going to happen at the 360 Smith development that will not be noticed. Over the weekend, we got an email that said “Work went on at 360 without the MTA knowing. The arrangement is that the MTA is ALWAYS supposed to know when work happens at [...]

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This is the Smith Street bar that used to be called Quench. It is coming back to life as “The Jake Walk,” from the owners of Stinky and Smith & Vine. Its transition was noted yesterday by Brownstoner along with the coming Clover Club next to Rocket Ship. Our Carroll Gardens Correspondent came upon the [...]

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The Carroll Gardens community activist message board we nicknamed the Democracy Wall acquired some new artwork on Saturday night about the 360 Smith Street development, work on which will likely be starting soon, given that building permits were issued on February 22. The artist named Art Dog, who has created the big murals, said the [...]

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