January 24–30, 2020 Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 5
Toxic tokens’ toodle-oo
Quirky Gowanus Souvenir Shop to close its storefront
The Gowanus Souvenir Shop made a name by selling
quirky goods, such as bottles labeled with toxins
found in the noxious canal.
Adams out-raises mayoral fi eld
KOREAN K9
Whoa there!
Lower speed limits take
effect on Third, Hamilton
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By Kevin Duggan
Brooklyn Paper
The Gowanus Souvenir
Shop is set to close its doors
on Jan. 31, when the shop’s
owner said she will focus
on selling her toxic-wastethemed
novelties online and
in select stores.
“It’s always been more of
a passion project than a business
scheme,” said Ute Zimmermann.
“It’s a big time burden
to have a storefront and
to keep it stocked. Now we
can focus on doing more fun
things.”
The Union Street store
between Bond and Nevins
streets will remain open
until the end of the month,
when the business it shares the
space with, the gift shop From
Here to Sunday, will take it
over and continue selling
some of the Zimmermann’s
goods, such as T-shirts and
postcards, she said.
“They’re going to take
over my half of the space
and will be carrying a lot of
Gowanus products,” Zimmer-
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Photo by Colin Mixson
mann said. “We hope people
will still come back to the
old place.”
They will also continue to
sell their goods at the Brooklyn
Museum’s gift shop and at
Artist and Craftsman on Second
Street in Park Slope, according
to Zimmermann.
The gift emporium
launched in late 2015 as a
four-month project when
Zimmermann heard that Proteus
Gowanus — a gallery
and reading room that previously
occupied the space —
made a killing selling postcards
and the artist saw the
potential to sell Gowanusthemed
stuff.
The store became a treasure
trove for ironic products
crafted by neighborhood
makers, including
poison bottles labeled with
toxins found in the waterway,
a puzzle of its oily surface,
a calendar of Gowanus
manufacturing businesses,
local history books, and other
goods inspired by the neighborhood’s
zany mix of creatives
and toxic waste.
“It started out of my love
for Gowanus and that it’s such
a weird, beautiful, and nasty
mix of things,” she said.
The artist plans to invest
more time in getting the
goods to other stores and
she wants to partner with local
organizations on Gowanus
related projects, starting
with some more classic
keepsakes.
“We still haven’t done the
Gowanus key chain like any
good souvenir shop should,”
she said. “I’ve so many ideas
that I want to fulfill.”
By Kevin Duggan
Brooklyn Paper
Slow down, Brooklyn!
Lower speed limits on two
of Brooklyn’s most dangerous
streets kicked in Tuesday,
with the maximum legal
speed dropping from 30 to 25
miles-per-hour along Third
and Hamilton avenues, officials
said.
The Department of Transportation
announced on Twitter
that it instituted the new
limits along a 2.3 mile stretch
of Third Avenue, between
Prospect Avenue and 62nd
Street, where cars fatally
struck six people in 2019,
compared with two people
throughout all of 2018.
The agency also made the
change to a 1.9 mile span of
Hamilton Avenue, between
Luquer and 18th streets, and
the tweaks will calm the roads
connecting several neighborhoods,
the department’s chief
said last month.
“We believe that lowering
the speed limit along Third
and Hamilton avenues, coupled
with strong enforcement,
will help calm traffic in the
burgeoning neighborhoods of
Gowanus, Red Hook, and Sunset
Park,” said Department of
Transportation Commissioner
Polly Trottenberg.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced
the changes in December,
adding that the city
will also increase police enforcement
along the corridors.
The transportation department
also plans to add speed
cameras at 60 school zones
every month this year as a result
of a state law that took effect
in July allowing for up to
750 school zones to be monitored
for speeding.
This past year was particularly
deadly for Brooklyn cyclists
and pedestrians, with
traffic fatalities increasing for
the first time since de Blasio
A DOT worker peels away the old 30-miles-per-hour
speed limit to reveal the new 25-miles-per-hour
designation on Hamilton Avenue between Second
Avenue and Hamilton Place on Jan. 21.
launched his Vision Zero initiative
in 2014.
Motorists fatally struck
29 cyclists citywide in 2019,
including 18 in Brooklyn —
compared with 10 citywide,
and two in Brooklyn, throughout
2018.
Some 117 pedestrians died
in traffic during that time,
compared with 115 the year
before, while motorcyclist
deaths dropped from 40 last
year to 25 across the five boroughs
during that time period.
By Ben Verde
Brooklyn Paper
Borough President Eric Adams
reported a massive fundraising
haul for his mayoral bid
on Thursday, out-raising all of
his competitors in the 2021 election
to replace Bill de Blasio at
City Hall.
The Beep raised a whopping
$437,099 from 1,688 individual
donations in the most recent
campaign disclosure period
— from July 2019 through
Jan. 11.
Adams’ haul was over
$100,000 more than the next
highest candidate, City Council
Speaker Corey Johnson (D—
Manhattan) — who reported
a $329,472 total over the same
timeframe.
The city’s top bean counter,
Comptroller Scott Stringer,
came in third in the cash race
with a $294,455 total from 1,259
donations — less than the previous
six-month period, when
he reeled in $313,000.
Campaign finance laws give
candidates a chance to boost
their campaign war chests, however,
as political contributions
are matched using taxpayer dollars
in an effort to boost the impact
of grass-roots donations.
All three leading candidates
have opted to limit their maximum
donations to $2,000 —
and therefore, the first $250 of
every donation will be matched
with public funds at an eightto
one rate.
When the candidates get the
public-money infusion, Adams’
recent six-month total will balloon
to $3.1 million, according
to campaign rep Evan Thies.
The decision to limit himself
to the voluntary $2,000 max is
a new one for Adams — who
previously accepted contributions
of up-to $5,100, the first
$175 of which would be matched
at a six-to-one rate.
In order to abide by the lower
limit and receive the higher
matching funds, Adams will
refund previous contributions
that eclipsed $2,000 — which
he accepted in previous disclosure
periods, said Thies.
Johnson has pledged to adhere
to an even lower limit of
just $250, meaning that nearly
all of his contributions will be
matched at an eight-to-one-rate
— bringing his cash-on-hand
total to nearly $5.3 million, according
to Johnson’s treasurer,
Matthew Bergman.
The matching-funds laws —
which Johnson helped write as
head of the city’s legislature —
have benefited the speaker the
most, as he has the most smalldollar
donors at nearly 5,700.
“We’re thrilled with these results,
which show you can run
a city-wide campaign powered
entirely by people,” said Bergman.
The Democratic Primary
for mayor will be in June 2021,
and the general election will
take place the following November.
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