Boerum Hill: If Smith Street has suddenly started to look like Filth Avenue, there’s a good reason: a nonprofit street-cleaning crew has moved onto dirtier pastures because merchants along the hip commercial strip did not want to pay for their services. Comment.

Gowanus: A national real-estate developer best known for luxury suburban homebuilding got a warmer reception at Thursday night’s unveiling of the latest designs for a huge Gowanus project. Comments (4).