The $150MM facelift for the New York Aquarium has been in the works for over a year now, but the Wildlife Conservation Society hasn't given many hints about what the new look will be like. Now the Wall Street Journal has some details, noting that the plan will add a 1,000-foot spiral ramp, a sparkling aluminum facade, a roof deck with an oceanview and special tanks featuring local species. The added 50,000-square-feet will house a 500,000 tank filled with sharks, sea turtles, and thousands of fish... but no mermaids. more ›

The Save Coney Island folk have just released a new rendering, showing the Bank of Coney Island as what they call a Bowery Ballroom-style event and music space. Should their vision become reality, this joint would be named The Banker's Ballroom—however, Thor Equities has secured a permit to demolish the ol' gal, so this idea may never make it off paper. The 1920s-era bank hasn't been in operation since the early '90s, and there has been plenty of deterioration inside since that time—check out photos at ScoutingNY. more ›

Yesterday the Parks Department broke ground on a long-awaited $12 million redevelopment of WNYC Transmitter Park along the East River in Brooklyn. The project, which is expected to take 18 months or so, includes the construction of a pier at the foot of Kent Street, an esplanade for "passive recreation," and 1.6-acres of open space on the waterfront. There will also be a wetland accessible to visitors; and a separate children’s play area featuring a nautical theme. more ›

We play tennis at McCarren Park a couple of times a week, so it's exciting to see someone trying to do something about those ridiculously busted old courts, which the Parks Department charges $100 a year or $7 an hour to use. But the folks involved with the McCarren Tennis renovation group aren't just demanding that the badly cracked courts get a long-overdue resurfacing, they've got much bigger plans. Those familiar with the park know that on weekends, the big concrete lot next to the courts is occupied by a crowd of, um, spirited softball players. Well, these fellows will be mighty interested to know that their tennis-playing neighbors have their eye on that lot, and are campaigning to have it turned into more courts! There is no way that happens without a riot, despite the fact that the entire area was originally devoted exclusively to tennis "once upon a time," as Brownstoner notes. We'll be sure to share that interesting bit of history with those softball gents this weekend, particularly the individual who inexplicably yelled, "HAMBURGER" over and over again for more than an hour during their game last Sunday. more ›

For well over a century almost a thousand acres of prime Manhattan real estate have gone to waste, as thousands of roustabouts loiter daily on that great green monument to squandered potential: Central Park. But at last a group of visionaries are trying to turn this urban void into something the city desperately needs: an international airport! But what about JFK, you say? Let the Manhattan Airport Foundation explain:

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When we derided the bait-and-switch redesign of developer Bruce Ratner's Nets arena as "a banal homage to any number of unremarkable field house arenas across America," some readers accused us of snobbery. But isn't that the same anti-elitist attitude that gave America eight years with a simian president just because the knuckle draggers found him folksy? That's not to say Gehry's scrapped design was the Obama of arenas, but you can certainly imagine, say, Sarah Palin feeling right at home watching some arena football in this eyesore (above). And Nicolai Ouroussoff at the Times gets it: more ›

The DOT unveiled its latest plan [pdf] to resolve Brooklyn's Kent Avenue bike lane wars at a packed community meeting Wednesday night, and guess what? Not everyone is pleased about the proposal, which would turn part of Kent, a heavily-trafficked two-way truck route, into a one-way, northbound street. Business owners and residents have decried the bike lanes ever since they were installed last fall because they came at the cost of precious parking spots, and members of South Brooklyn's Satmar Jewish community who were said to chafe at the influx of immodestly dressed female cyclists. more ›

Everyone is abuzz about the new renderings of McCarren Park Pool unveiled at the CB1 meeting last night, except they look exactly the same as the ones unveiled a year ago! Okay, close your eyes and picture McCarren Park Pool...now add some aquamarine-toned blue water courtesy of your mind's Photoshop, and that's pretty much what it's going to look like (for the imaginationally challenged, this is also represented in the rendering above). more ›

The firm attached to the South Street Seaport makeover, SHoP Architects, has released some new images of their vision. Curbed approves, and gets "a better feel for the layout of the proposed new Seaport" through the images of the model -- they also urge community members to ditch the mall and get on board, though it's likely many fear the waterview-blocking 42-story tower in the proposal. more ›

Lawsuits from community and environmental groups, a tanking economy, and outcry over slavery money aren’t stopping Forest City Ratner from pushing forward with the $950 million Barclays Arena in Brooklyn, possible future home of the New Jersey Nets. Yesterday a luxury suite showroom opened in the New York Times building as an attempt to woo big-ticket investors and shift public opinion. more ›

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After stalling their landlord’s attempt to build a parking garage in their courtyard next to the BQE two years ago, tenants and other community activists are still fighting the proposal. Built in 1890, the Riverside Apartments at Columbia Place and Joralemon Street in Brooklyn Heights were regarded as a great advancement in tenement living. Located near the Columbia Place docks, the nine buildings were unique for their running toilets, common courtyard, ventilation, and fireproofing, something unheard of for tenements at the time. more ›