Readers: That’s what that box is!
COURIER LIFE, DEC. 6-12, 2019 37
A Kings County carpenter has
developed a low-tech security device
that he claims would defeat
the scourge of package pirates
plaguing the borough — if only
people would buy it!
Inventor Bob James chained
his anti-thievery device, called a
“Bob Box,” to a light post at Remsen
Street near Borough Hall last
Wednesday, as part of a guerrilla
marketing campaign designed to
drum up interest in what’s undeniably
an awkward-looking creation.
But the Bob Box, which appears
like a cross between a wood
chipper and a mailbox, met a
lukewarm reception from passersby,
including one woman who
noted that the box, while good in
theory, might not work so well in
practice.
“I can defi nitely understand
the need for that because I’ve always
said, society is not ready
for all this online shopping,” said
Evaleen, who didn’t give her last
name. “I think it could be a little
more compact, the design needs
to be jazzed up a little, because I
don’t know if anyone is going to
want that in their yard like that.”
James, a Bedford-Stuyvesant retiree,
designed his namesake box —
which serves as a secure, curb-side
package receptacle that’s accessible
by key — as an answer to the
dramatic rise in package thievery
throughout the borough.
But the handcrafted security
device costs a whopping $199, is
made entirely out of wood, and
features a comically large nozzle
jutting out from the storage compartment,
which one local said
made the Bob Box less than ideal
for the mean streets of Brooklyn.
Readers had a lot to say online:
Interesting!
Bryan Gerard Briggs
In theory, an interesting idea but
does Bob know locks can be picked?
Suzi La Regina
I saw one of these at the Junction.
Right across from the Applebees restaurant.
Gila Goldsmith
I saw one for sale $199.00 by the G
train station Metropolitan Ave.
Joanne Bascetta
There is one of these on 7th ave
and 9th street. I was wondering how
it was there legally. Guess it wasnt.
Brett Klisch
I think making it out of 1/4” steel
might help, too.
Ernest Wertheim
How green is too green?
Two laws requiring new property
owners to build solar panels or
green spaces on their roofs went into
effect on Nov. 15 — marking a major
step towards Brooklyn’s environmental
sustainability, according to
local green thumbs.
“It’s important and very valuable,”
said environmental activist
Pete Sikora from the New York
Community for Change, a local nonprofi
t. “It’s a critical step for New
York City to meet the Green New
Deal goals.”
The legislation — which Councilman
Rafael Espinal (D-Bedford
Stuyvesant) fi rst introduced to the
City Council in July of 2018 — requires
developers to install either
solar panels, greenery, or a combination
of the two on all new roofs.
The mandate exempts very
slanted roofs and roofs that already
contain structures, such as water
towers, green houses and other
equipment, according to a representative
from the Mayor’s Offi ce of
Sustainability. Low-rise residential
buildings with less than 100 square
feet of available space and other
types of buildings with less than 200
square feet will also be exempt, and
the sustainable measures won’t take
the place of recreational spaces that
are integral to the building’s use,
such as playgrounds on school roofs
or terraces on apartment buildings.
The laws also apply to property
owners seeking to renovate their
roofs, including the owners of historic
buildings — who will have to
take their green roof plans to the
Landmarks Preservation Commission
before obtaining a construction
permit from the Department of
Buildings.
Environmental offi cials say that
property owners will be in charge
of funding and maintaining solar
panels — which is no cheap task.
Readers spoke up online:
I can maybe understand forcing
this on new buildings. However,
many older structures might not
have the infrastructure to be able to
support this.
Christina Tairi
Buy your solar panel company
stocks now cause this law going to
be a boon to the solar panel industry.
That’s it. Everybody else prepare for
your building costs to go up. w
Phillip Brendunn Grady Jr.
While this all sounds nice, this
bill’s intention was to sidestep meaningful
action on the environmental
catastrophes that are all the new
super-tall residential towers. The
building envelopes on these buildings
require 24/7 heating and air
condition far beyond other buildings
of similar square footage, and their
height blocks airfl ow, trapping dangerous
pollution and particulates
in our breathable air, a particular
problem as our current mayor has
presided over an incredible increase
in single passenger car usage, which
is bad for cars and pedestrians alike.
William Raudenbush
This is a great idea for new developments.
Complicated and expensive
nightmare for older ones.
Tamar Gru
What does FDNY say about this?
often times they need to break
through a roof in a fi re.
Ann McDermott
Of course check who the shareholders
are in the companies that
are the ones offering the solar panels
and those that are the most favored
companies with New York
State. You will probably fi nd it is one
of the companies that was set up under
the Obama era like those set up
in Western New York.
Mike K Cohen
Yup, nothing like Big Govt dictating
their abusive laws.
Seamus McHenry
Too nice for homeless?
A nonprofi t developer wants to
retrofi t a tower formerly owned by
the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Downtown
Brooklyn to providing housing
and services to formerly homeless
Brooklynites.
Developer Breaking Ground
fi led a land-use review application
with the city to rezone the 29-story
tower at 90 Stands St., which would
pave the way for the construction
of 500 apartments — most of which
will be tailor-made for the recently
homeless and Brooklynites in need
of affordable housing, according
to its chief.
“Our mission is to work with
vulnerable populations and help
them get back on their feet and
stay on their feet living in permanent
housing for the long term,”
said Brenda Rosen, chief executive
offi cer at Breaking Grounds, during
a before Community Board 2’s
Land Use committee on Nov. 20.
The company plans to refurbish
the 1992-built tower between Jay
and Pearl streets — which once
housed volunteers for the Christian
evangelist group — and open
305 so-called “supportive housing”
units, which come packaged with
social services that help residents
obtain employment, manage their
medical needs, and transition
back into stable housing.
The development will also include
202 below-market-rate rentals
ranging from $504 for a studio
to $2,000 for a one-bedroom,
according to a rep for Breaking
Ground.
The company hosts some 4,000
units across the city and already
operates four supportive housing
centers in the borough, including
a Schermerhorn Street residential
building between Smith and Hoyt
streets, which they opened in 2009
and which also houses the dance
school Brooklyn Ballet.
Readers were skeptical online:
No one, with infl uence, is going to
let that happen. Not when the units
in that building could easily go for
millions each (commercial or residential.)
Laurice Fortunato
That would be great if they let it
happen. I just wish, if they make this
happen, they was making apartment
for families. Largest apartment is a
one bedroom if they are allowed to
do it.
Phillip Brendunn Grady Jr.
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