Summer is just about here and that means it’s time to dine out…outdoors that is.

Here’s a roundup of some of my favorite outdoor dining options in the area.

GRAN ELECTRONICA (5 Front Street) touts Regional Mexican fare plus mezcal & tequila cocktails in a rustic-chic space. While some of their dishes might be a bit spicy for some, you should be able to find something on the menu that won’t burn your taste buds. The main attraction here is one of the prettiest outdoor gardens you’ll find anywhere, with the Brooklyn Bridge tower looming above. If you’ve never seen this garden, it’s worth the short trip. http://granelectrica.com/menu

While I’m a big fan of their food, I’m not crazy about the cramped indoor seating at SOCIALE (72 Henry Street.) So when the warm weather hits, I go early in the evening to snag one of their popular outdoor tables and enjoy yummy Italian treats like flash fried calamari, shrimp, eggplant, red peppers in marinara sauce.   Another favorite appy is deep fried buffalo mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, anchovies and basil. And the best part is watching the people stroll up and down Henry Street. http://www.socialebk.com/

HEIGHTS CAFE (82 Montague Street) is a neighborhood staple but I particularly enjoy dining in their spacious outdoor seating area during warm weather months. To me, it’s the closet thing we have to a European grand cafe. I like to munch on a Maine lobster roll with a frosty mug of beer. You might also try one of their mussel pots such as the Thai pot with white wine, coconut milk, lemon grass, cilantro and mint. Soak it all up with some of the Cafe’s excellent fries that come with. http://www.heightscafeny.com/

For those of you who are up for a good walk and have not yet discovered Dumbo’s emerging neighbor, Vinegar Hill, you are missing out on one of the best restaurants in New York City, let alone our area. This is VINEGAR HILL HOUSE (72 Hudson Avenue) and while the inside space is cozy and chic, the outdoor space is one of the most unique outdoor dining options you’ll find anywhere. Picture grandma’s back yard with mismatched furniture but spruced up a bit with cool lighting and interesting touches. The Sunday brunch here is really, really good, but be warned, reservations are a must as this out of the way gem is packed at all times. Everything on the menu is excellent but their take on brisket is particularly outstanding. Their brisket is served with gem lettuce, pepper jam, garlic aioli and tarragon vinaigrette. Aunt Yetta would plotz! http://vinegarhillhouse.com/

Have an idea for a restaurant review? Want to write about something going on in the neighborhood? Want to share an idea or a thought? Don’t be shy! Just email us at [email protected]

-Keith Klein

OVERWHELMING RESPONSE!

PLEASE CHECK LOBBY BULLETIN BOARDS FOR NEW DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED

The Options Committee has been gathering information on alternatives available to us for maintaining 140 Cadman Plaza West as a physically healthy and financially sound home–for ourselves and our families and for future residents of our co-operative. The committee’s meetings will include materials relating to:

• Engineering/physical plant issues
• Financial issues associated with current and future funding
• Legal issues relating to staying within the changing Mitchell-Lama program and/or leaving it
• Succession issues regarding apartment ownership
• The experience of other co-operatives who have chosen to stay within Mitchell-Lama programs (or their offshoots) and those who have opted to leave their particular program

Those who wish to keep our Cadman Plaza Library should know that Mayor de Blasio’s new budget proposes selling off libraries and reducing funding.

At the cost of a phone call, we can defend our local library and prevent its sale to high-end condo developers.

If you care, call Mayor de Blasio’s office to tell him to appropriately fund our libraries so they won’t be sold off and shrunk. Tell him he must relent in negotiations with the city council and provide the funding libraries need. He should take the advice offered because everyone agrees the libraries should be properly funded.

On May 5, 2015, The New York Times decried defunding and shrinking of our libraries in an editorial: New York City’s Libraries Need Money,

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/06/opinion/new-york-citys-libraries-need-money.html?mwrsm=Email

During his campaign, Bill de Blasio called for a stop to selling off the libraries. And now, our local library is on the verge of being sold. Tell the Mayor that we don’t give our permission to sell off such a vital community asset.

To call Mayor de Blasio use the following numbers:

Jonathan Viguers: (347) 331-3607 (General City Hall Number for transfer over is: (212) 788-3000.)

Helicopters hurt us with harmful. sleep-destroying noise & hazardous air pollution emissions.
Here are some ways to deal effectively with the helicopter/air traffic plague over the Heights:
While many neighborhood associations, elected officials and issue groups have not opened the information gates on what actions residents can take, here are some ways to act.
If you have questions or comments on what’s (constantly) overhead contact the Wall St. Heliport. The Heliport is owned by the NY State EDC – Economic Development Corp: (212) 248 7240.
Call the heliport manager, Brian Tolbert, to comment on your reaction to the amount of air traffic overhead: (917) 912 4217 or (212) 248 7241. Keep a record of your calls. Share the results.
NYC Government helicopter/fixed wing operations are run out of Floyd Bennett Field. To make a comment or ask why they allow the number of overflights and stationary observation posts at 1:00 to 3:00 AM, call (718) 656 0956. Ask for the Air Information Officer or the Press Relations Officer. Identify yourself as a citizen journalist researching why they think it’s OK to put the amount of tonnage and amount of fuel overhead nightly.

For those with scanners, NYC Air operations can be tracked by scanning from 122.850 to 126.050 and listening to 164.3 and 381.800 MHz. While a lot of air traffic is only hearable when aircraft are almost directly overhead, scanning can reveal what’s up flying above and when.
Two Manhattan heliports include one on West 34th Street: (212) 425 1534 & (212) 889 6350.
The W. 30th Street facility, run by the Hudson River Trust, can be reached at (212) 627 – 2020. The manager’s number is (212) 563 – 4442.
Helicopters hit us with harmful. sleep-destroying noise & hazardous air pollution emissions.  — Submitted by Roberto Gautier – Peace & Quiet Committee

….But what to do with the Heights? The answer was to tear down and replace the old, seedy parts. Starting in the 1930s, the city began to plan the wholesale demolition of much of the Heights and adjacent Downtown Brooklyn. Much of the area between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, and the north Heights along Fulton Street, was to be cleared for new government buildings. While the specific uses changed over the course of varying plans, the areas slated for demolition remained the same except for the preservation of most of the block between Pierrepont, Fulton, Monroe Place and Clark Streets…..

The project was built in two parts: first, in 1967, north of Middagh Street, the Cadman Plaza North apartments, designed by Morris Lapidus, architect of flamboyant Miami Beach hotels such as the Fontainebleau. The part between Clark and Middagh Streets was designed by William Conklin, of L. William Glass and Whittlesey and Conklin, along the lines suggested by the community, with the Whitman Close Townhouses added to soften the impact of the massive highrises. Construction of this portion, designated Cadman Towers, began in 1973.

The urban renewal project included the widening of local streets to accommodate the additional traffic expected from the adaptation of the Brooklyn Bridge to the automobile. In the 1960s Fulton Street, whose name had been changed to Cadman Plaza West in 1967 (Washington Street became Cadman Plaza East north of where it begins at Johnson Street), was widened on both sides following the demolition of all of the buildings abutting it north of Montague Street. This turned out to be overkill in that Cadman Plaza West never carried the number of cars the widened street could bear, and it just shifted the heavy traffic to Court Street, which could not be widened. Consequently, Henry Street became the major southbound thoroughfare since it did not possess the Court Street bottleneck.

(Brooklyn Heights Blog)

The Community Advisory Council for the Brooklyn Heights Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library will meet on Monday evening, March 9, at 6:30, in the Library’s auditorium, 280 Cadman Plaza West. All are invited to attend. From the Brooklyn Heights Association:
We’re expecting to hear project status updates regarding the proposed development, as well as the new library design and programming process.
Scheduled speakers are BPL President Linda Johnson, developer David Kramer, and architect Jonathon Marvel.

Read entire article:

http://www.savenyc.nyc/

The Brooklyn Bridge will be closed to Manhattan-bound traffic on Saturday from 12:01 am to 7 am and on Sunday from 12:01 am to 9 am.

The Brooklyn Borough President has organized a forum on March 11, 2015 at 6 pm called
City Speaks. It will provide neighborhood residents a chance to question the Department of Environmental Protection about flooding, air pollution and noise.

Brooklyn Heights is one of five borough neighborhoods–the others are Bushwick, Downtown Brooklyn, Park Slope, and Williamsburg– with asthma rates that exceed the national average by twenty to forty percent.

I hope to focus on problems caused for us at 140 Cadman Plaza West by traffic congestion,
air pollution and noise.

If you have questions about this event, please contact: [email protected]