Briefly Noted

The NY Times identifies a trend of Western European immigrants settling in North Brooklyn.

A 40-story tower has been proposed for the Greenpoint waterfront between Huron and India (Brooklyn Paper). We are lacking details, but it sounds like the landowner is applying for a variance. The owner is represented by none other than our former Councilman Ken Fisher, who represented owners of this parcel during the rezoning, during which we do not recall the mischievous sewer pipe being mentioned.

Greenpointer notes that the holiday lights on Manhattan Avenue will not shine this year. This sad, but not completely surprising, since several of the longtime anchors of the retail strip closed this year. Most notably in our minds is George's (which truly did "have everything"), which was replaced by a Sleepy's after the family that ran the store sold the building.

From the Department of Controversy, we alert you to some thoughts about whether a lack of safe conditions on the road for bike riders inherently makes them behave like rebels on two wheels, a condition that the author, perhaps too cutely, calls "bikeism." (How We Drive)