Parking Slope. A parking lot in Park Slope, Brooklyn could soon sprout an 11-story, 166-room hotel designed by Doban Architecture (pictured above). Curbed stopped by a community meeting last Thursday and reports Hotel Grand Prospect has extended the neighborhood an olive branch in the form of a 400-car parking garage which has won over some community members. The project is still in its early phases and traffic and environmental studies have yet to be completed. (More at Curbed.)

Superstreet. North Carolina State University just published a study about a time-saving (for cars) intersection layout called the “superstreet.” While researchers show the layout reduced automobile travel times and improved the car-crash rate, the aerial view shown on the NCSU page looks far from super in terms of multimodal transportation options. No sidewalks or crosswalks (and a super-low density neighborhood) could easily outweigh the “superstreet” benefits. (Via Urban Planning Blog.)

Lost Brother. Located in the middle of the East River, North Brother Island and its quarantine hospital have been abandoned for 48 years resulting in some amazing ruin photography. Richard Nickel, Jr. at the Kingston Lounge has posted a series of photos from the island along with its history. Owned by the New York City Parks Department, Brotherly Island is closed to the public and is a protected nesting ground (Via Gothamist.)

High Speed Fighting. California’s battle for High Speed Rail races on. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood wrote in to contest an anti-High Speed Rail editorial in the Washington Post last week. LaHood opposed the notion that the west corridor isn’t dense enough to support the proposed rail system. The fight won’t be over for a long time, so stay tuned.

King. Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! Check out AN‘s recent coverage of the planned $20 million upgrades to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis at the Lorraine Hotel where King was assassinated in 1968.