Whole Foods Bails

The Brooklyn Paper reports that Whole Foods no longer plans to open its first Brooklyn branch on Third Avenue near the Gowanus Canal.

The grocery chain still hopes to come to Brooklyn, but not to Third Street.

The property will apparently be sold.

For the time being, Brooklyn's gourmet options will be limited to Fairway and Trader Joe’s.

The proposed site, between Park Slope and Carroll Gardens, was controversial from the start, because of its proximity to the toxic Gowanus and because of the uber-suburban proportions of the planned 420-space parking lot, a turnoff for the locals.

Due to the environmental hazards and tight credit, work at the site had been stalled for years.

The article from the Brooklyn Paper.

Tip of the Iceberg

According to True News, the abrupt resignation of Council Member Miguel Martinez, facing federal indictment for his role in the City Hall slush fund scandal, is making some of his colleagues very nervous.

What Martinez did -- steering hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars into a not-for-profit organization for which his sister served as a board member -- looks to be almost standard procedure. Dozens of Martinez' colleagues, including Speak Christine Quinn, have been under investigation for the past year for similar abuses of "member items" a/k/a earmarks.

Even more nervous-making for his colleagues is the fact that Martinez appears ready to cop a quick guilty plea, meaning he'll probably turn prosecution witness in exchange for a sentencing deal.

Maybe, says True News, the FBI, with Martinez' help, will finally get to the bottom of the scandal, which the mainstream media has ignored.

The post from True News.

Green Church Bulletin

I thought, when life interrupted my blogging last night, that I would have the luxury of a day's lead, but when I got home from work today, I noticed I'd been scooped by Beehive Hairdresser and Brownstoner on the stop work order the DOB has posted at the Methodist Sunday school demolition site.

Dag.

Details of the stop work order -- a report of the "adjacent building shaking" -- at the demo site, with thanks to DK.

Bloomberg Wants Another Party

Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent Michael Bloomberg already has two ballot lines -- the Republican and Independence -- for the mayoral election this fall. But the billionaire mayor, who lost the Working Families Party line to Bill Thompson, wants more.

The Bloomberg campaign is collecting signatures for a new party, to be called "The Jobs and Education Party".

Why is he doing this? Apparently to tart up the ballot lines on which he is already running by adding the words "Jobs and Education", which are primary concerns for New York City voters.

The ballot would say "Republican/Jobs and Education" or "Independence/Jobs and Education."

The Bloomberg campaign calls it "just another way to communicate."

The article from WOR radio.

Owl's Head Revisited

The Courier reports that Owl's Head Park (a/k/a Bliss Park) will undergo a $1.35 million renovation, starting this summer with the refurbishment of the park’s scenic overlook.

The project should be completed within the year.

The renovation does not address the “very serious" problem of erosion in the park, but Representative Michael McMahon is working on getting funding for that project.

The article from the Courier.