Brooklyn

Matt Sledge profiles the work of a landscape architect who has designed an attractive and innovative system for keeping contaminants out of one of New York's most polluted waterways.

The plan to historically designate downtown Brooklyn's skyscrapers, which has been approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, is facing backlash from the city's Real Estate Board.

Long the sole preserve of Manhattan developers, Brooklyn is now the setting for its own race to the sky. Two developers are planning to break ground next year on residential buildings that will loom nearly 100 ft over any of their predecessors.

Public plazas aren't just for Manhattan. As part of DOT's Public Plazas program, one outer Brooklyn neighborhood has seen a traffic island turned into a pedestrian plaza. Matt Chaban reports on the praise it has earned.

A recent rezoning led to high economic hopes for downtown Brooklyn. But a more recent economic downturn seems to have undermined those expectations. Indeed, some growth has occurred, but success depends on whom you ask.

According to Tollroads News, "Without any tolling option, New York State DOT has been forced to drop a long planned rebuild of an old segment of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) and a portion of the Gowanus Expressway, both I-278 in Brooklyn."

As proposals for the large-scale development at Brooklyn Bridge Park come in, some members of the public are crying foul over a perceived lack of transparency and public involvement during a recent meeting.

Showing the arcane nature of NY governance, the decision as to whether Brooklyn residents will be able to have preferential parking in their neighborhoods is now being debated 150 miles away in the assembly and state senate chambers in Albany.

The low-cost method of construction on the residential towers of the Atlantic Yards project would be a first for any structure this tall. Sixty percent of it would be constructed off-site at a 20% cost savings.

It may comes as a surprise that the nation's most sought after free parking in residential neighborhoods is not reserved for the privileged who live there, allowing commuters and others to exploit this unpriced resource. This may end.

While the rest of the city's waterfronts are to be developed as public promenades, much of Brooklyn wants to retain its previous industrial uses. Liana Grey reports.

A ferry service across New York's East River that launched in June is worried about losing ridership as soon as winter begins. Summer usage was twice as many as planners had expected.

The argument that increased supply of urban housing will lower prices is rapidly being disproved by successive waves of gentrification throughout American cities. Stephen Smith offers a considered analysis of the economics behind this dynamic.

Yesterday, the Brooklyn's Landmark Preservation Commission unanimously approved the creation of an historic district in the downtown.

The ruling by Judge Bert A. Bunyan of the State Supreme Court in Brooklyn on Tuesday added steam to the NYC transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan's campaign for pedestrian-oriented, cyclist-friendly streets.

The DeKalb Market on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn showcases adaptive reuse of old shipping containers at its best with an eclectic mix of small shops, picnic area, food vendors, urban garden, and DJ booth.

An old disused airport in Brooklyn will be converted into an urban campground, expanding from its current 5 campsites to more than 600.

NPR's Joel Rose interviews Streetsblog founder and Brooklyn Prospect Park West bike lane advocate Aaron Naparstek, and bike lane opponents for this 3-minute, "All Things Considered" radio story on New York's most controversial bike lane.

With millions of dollars in federal funding on the line, Brooklyn officials are calling foul on new Census numbers that set the population at 8.175 million people rather than the 8.4 million that locals supposed.

A new musical comedy, "In the Footprint: The Battle Over Atlantic Yards," brings song and dance to the conflict over the redevelopment of the Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn. The NY Times reviews it as "fresh, inventive"...and "entertaining."