The New York City Housing Authority’s Board recently voted to rename the Bronxdale Houses and the Bronxdale Community Center for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. The Bronxdale Houses were built in 1955 and are composed of twenty-eight seven-story buildings housing 3,479 residents in the Soundview section of the Bronx.

Sotomayor moved into Building 24 at Bronxdale Houses with her mother and father when she was three years old. She lived there from 1957 to 1970, and moved away two years before she graduated as valedictorian from Cardinal Spellman High School.

On the renaming, NYCHA Chairman John B. Rhea commented, “From NYCHA’s perspective, the Justice has shown that growing up in public housing does not limit one’s possibilities. One of the most important actions the NYCHA Board can take is renaming the Bronxdale Houses for Justice Sotomayor to serve as an inspiration to others.”

The renaming came in response to a petition drive from residents of Bronxdale Houses and staff from City Council Member Annabel Palma’s office. A public renaming ceremony is expected to take place in June.

On Friday evening demonstrators gathered at a downtown BP service station to express their outrage at the unprecedented oil spill affecting the Gulf Coast. Protesters fanned out along the Lafayette Street side of the BP gas station at Houston Street and Crosby Street.

Police ringed the service island with metal barricades to prevent entry. The large station is usually overrun with taxis jockeying to get refills at the pumps. The dozens of active demonstrators seemed matched in number by press, curious passerby, and grumbling commuters trying to make their way home for the Memorial Day weekend.

A handful of young demonstrators doused their scantily-clad bodies with mock oil, which pooled at the curb line. Leafleters surrounded the area and some of the more veteran protesters shouted their anger at BP and Big Oil as some of the the dripping youth voiced their concerns to the gathered press.

Upon seeing one of the protesters get drenched in faux oil, one passerby–gussied up for a night on the town–wondered aloud, “Is that bad for your skin?”

For the full Flickr photoset of the protest, click here.

If the electricians only placed that light fixture two feet higher or lower, a charismatic little piece of 1940s commercial signage could have remained intact. Despite the interrupted sign, the storefront is still in use as a launderette on East Tremont Avenue in the Parkchester section of the Bronx. If its neighbor to the left is any indication, the seems like the launderette sign will soon be put out of its misery when it’s covered over in an all to common vinyl awning. I guess we can take comfort in the fact that the new awning will be back-lit thoroughly and with environmentally-conscious fluorescent bulbs.

Although we’re usually treated to standardized storefront real estate offerings, it seems the flower children over at the Newmark Knight Frank marketing department had some fun in creating the signs for the old 99X and Hiro Restaurant spaces on East 10th Street near 4th Avenue in the East Village. According to the signs, you can choose the “awesome” retail or the “radical” restaurant space.

However, the real question is whether the 1960s are just too retro for the East Village. Maybe if they had kept it post-1981 and gone with checkerboard and neon laser accents they’d have some interest from the hip Brooklyn barista set looking to open a Manhattan outpost.

Well, it’s taken a bit longer than planned, but AllWaysNY is back!

Early plans from 1957 for Pan Am’s flying saucer-shaped JFK Terminal 3 (now used by Delta) initially included a whopping nine gate positions.

From Beijing to Madrid, cutting-edge designs and innovations are transforming the ways we experience the world’s airports and air travel. How is New York’s airport system, which remains the busiest in the country, responding to pressing economic and design demands while serving a growing number of passengers? Is an overhaul of the city’s airports feasible?

David Plavin, consultant and former president, Airports Council International-North America, will discuss the challenges and creative potential for New York’s aviation system with leading airport experts including Richard Smyth, V.P., Jet Blue, who is in charge of the new JFK Jet Blue terminal that incorporates the landmark Eero Saarinen building; Charles Van Cook, P.E., V.P., PB World, who plans airports all over the world; William DeCota, Dir. of Aviation, Port Authority; and Jeff Zupan, Senior Fellow for Transportation, Regional Plan Association. Co-sponsored by the NY Building Congress, and the RPA.

New York Infrastructure: Are New York’s Airports Obsolete?
30 July 2008, 6:30 P.M.
Museum of the City of New York
1220 5th Avenue at 103rd Street
New York, NY 10029
(212) 534-1672, ext. 3395
www.mcny.org

Reservations Required
$9 General admission
$5 Museum members, seniors, and students

LaGuardia Airport terminal redevelopment rendering, 1957.

New York Civic President, Henry J. Stern, will lead a roundtable discussion about historic development battles that have shaped New York City’s transportation infrastructure and the architectural contours. A distinguished panel will discuss the memorable battles fought over the Westway proposal of the 1970s, which would have moved the Westside Highway underground, and the Huntington Hartford Museum, which was designed by the renowned modernist architect Edward Durrell Stone and is now being transformed into the Museum of Art and Design. He will be joined Adrian Benepe, Commissioner of Parks & Recreation, New York City; Holly Hotchner, Director of the Museum of Art and Design; Alexander Garvin, city planner and President & CEO, Alex Garvin & Associates; and Albert K. Butzel, attorney and former president of Friends of Hudson River Park.

Civic Talk: Battles Over Development
17 July 2008, 6:30 P.M.
Museum of the City of New York
1220 5th Avenue at 103rd Street
New York, NY 10029
(212) 534-1672, ext. 3395
www.mcny.org

Reservations Required
$9 General admission
$5 Museum members, seniors, and students

Cosby Sweater Auction Ad

Unfortunately it seems that Cliff Huxtable’s iconic sweaters are not as big a draw as had been hoped by those auctioning them off on Ebay. As of today, Urbanite reports that no potential buyers have ponied up the starting bid of $5,000 to get things going. The sellers have even thrown in free shipping…maybe if they threw in a homemade bacon burger dog?

The sweaters are were all worn by Bill Cosby on the show somewhere between seasons 3-8 and were created by designer Koos Van Den Akker for The Cosby Show. The proceeds from the auction, should any bidders materialize, would benefit the charity Cosby established in memory of his murdered son. The Hello Friend/Ennis William Cosby Foundation assists students with learning disabilities and also provides resources for parents and teachers.