Wednesday, April 30, 2014

The Big Man Is Back? De Blasio Urges SUNY to Drop BHP, Find Other LICH Operator

P.A. de Blasio in 2013. Photo: MK Metz, McBrooklyn.ccom
 Mayor Bill de Blasio, so crucial in fighting for Long Island College Hospital (LICH) as Public Advocate, has been less visible since becoming Mayor, seeming to have put the whole saving LICH thing on cruise control.

Until this week, when the stories started flying that negotiations between SUNY and Brooklyn Health Partners, a hastily-thrown together group with a very thin background in healthcare -- were headed south.

Now we are hearing from the Mayor, who wants SUNY to dump BHP and get a group with more of whatever it takes to run the 155-year-old hospital.

This is what happens when you let SUNY run things. One giant cluster fruck after another. More.



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Georgia Jerks Bring Thousands of Guns to Sell in Brooklyn


Hi there, Georgia.

Next time you red-staters are feeling all rightous about yourselves, try to remember your six buddies who just got slammed for trying to sell more than $126,000 worth of guns, assault rifles and automatic weapons in Brooklyn.

Hard to blame the dumb cluncks. A $200 handgun bought in Georgia can be resold for $1,000 in Brooklyn, prosecutors told CBS.

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High Tides and Rain Could Bring Flooding to Brooklyn Wednesday Night

Photo: MK Metz, McBrooklyn
Buckets of rain will combine with high tides Wednesday night to bring flooding to coastal areas in Brooklyn and NYC, the National Weather Service warns.

The same system that is causing flooding, tornados and severe lightening across the south is headed to New York.

A flood watch and advisory has been issued for our area. Expect tides a foot and a half above normal Wednesday night.

Plan for airport and other travel delays.

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Two Trees Dock Street Project May Be Close Enough to Tag from the Brooklyn Bridge

Photo: MK Metz, McBrooklyn.com
As Two Trees hulking Dock Street DUMBO project rises, the answer to the urgent question, "But can we tag it from the Brooklyn Bridge?" appears to be "Yes!"


Not that we would ever suggest defacing the ugly, Brooklyn Bridge view-killing building.

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Secret Brooklyn Dinner; GOP Turns Back on Grimm; and More Brooklyn Briefs


- Thousands of guests dressed only in white will descend upon a secret location in Brooklyn with food, drink and decorations on June 28. [ediblebrooklyn]

- Robber barons: They're closing libraries and hospitals, and now they're kicking old people out of their nursing homes. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Fair-weather friends: Republican leaders shut off support to Rep. Michael Grimm. [NY Daily News]

- Montague Street R line tunnel work ahead of schedule. [NY1]

- Projected off-street parking for Atlantic Yards could be cut by thousands of spaces. [Streetsblog]

- Brooklyn Heights Association House and Garden Tour on May 10. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Carmen Farina returns sanity to school promotion decisions. [Gotham Gazette]

- Plea for help from man claiming to be Chinese prisoner found in Saks shopping bag, and DNAinfo tracked him down. [DNAinfo]


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Tuesday, April 29, 2014

2014 Art of Brooklyn Film Festival, May 7 - 11

The 2014 Art of Brooklyn Film Festival, May 7 - 11, features 63 indie films at 6 locations across Brooklyn -- from Boerum Hill to Bergen Beach, Fort Greene to Flatlands, Cobble Hill to Canarsie -- over 4 days, from May 7 - 11.


Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Monday, April 28, 2014

Saint Ann's Puppet Parade Brings Lovely Chaos to Brooklyn Heights

Photo by MK Metz, McBrooklyn.com
Saint Ann's School's annual rite of spring -- the wacky, exuberant and oddly beautiful Saint Ann's Puppet Parade -- brightened the streets of Brooklyn Heights on Monday.

Photo by MK Metz, McBrooklyn.com
The clowns are diabolical.

Photo by MK Metz, McBrooklyn.com
Bros build matching puppets.

Photo by MK Metz, McBrooklyn.com
Ronnie Asbell, puppet teacher at Saint Ann's, has organized the parade for 29 years. Saint Ann's high school and middle school classes build the puppets in her classes.

Photo by MK Metz, McBrooklyn.com
Some teachers get into the act as well, like with the giant hands, above.

Welcome to another spring! Photo by MK Metz, McBrooklyn.
More photos and stories of the 2014 Saint Ann's Puppet Parade can be found at the Brooklyn Eagle and the Brooklyn Heights Blog.

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Cosplay at Sakura Matsuri; Zine Fest; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- That cosplay thing is really getting big at BBG's Sakura Matsuri festival. [Gothamist]

- About 10,000 in Prospect Park saw Judy Chicago's pyrotechnic display, “A Butterfly for Brooklyn.” [NY Times]

- A stranger walked off with two 4-year-olds she found playing in the back yard of a Brooklyn apartment building Saturday. [NY Post]

- Rihanna attended the Toronto Raptors vs Brooklyn Nets playoff game at Barclays on Sunday. [GettyImages]

- A teen was killed right outside his East Flatbush home, and no one knows why. [NY1]

- The Brooklyn Zine Fest happened in Brooklyn Heights yesterday. [Brooklyn Zine Fest]

- Top TripAdvisor comment for Brooklyn Bridge: "Watch out for bikes." [TripAdvisor]

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This Is Where We Are Heading After a Disaster in Brooklyn

Post-disaster housing prototype. Photo: MK Metz, McBrooklyn
This 3-story structure popped up on Cadman Plaza East in Downtown Brooklyn on Saturday.

It's the Office of Emergency Management's (OEM) "post-disaster" housing prototype, and they've been working on it for about 6 years, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.

With bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom, AC and other features, it sounds as comfy as can be. (The architect told the Eagle they were modeled on Brownstone Brooklyn.)

The units will be installed in vacant lots, dead-end streets, and parking lots. The idea is to keep residents in their own neighborhoods while they recover from the disaster.

Much testing still needs to be done, but if it works out, these may be where we live after a future Sandy-type disaster.


NYC tests post-disaster housing in Downtown Brooklyn [Brooklyn Eagle]


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Friday, April 25, 2014

Brooklyn Congressman Grimm to Face Federal Charges

Grimm
Republican U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm is finally facing criminal charges from federal prosecutors, the Brooklyn Eagle reports.

A House Ethics Committee announced in November that Grimm was under investigation for possible campaign finance violations but said it would defer its inquiry because of a separate Department of Justice investigation.

Grimm's lawyer said he would be vindicated. He made no mention of whether Grimm would break like a little boy, however.


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Thursday, April 24, 2014

After Concessions, Domino Sugar Site in Williamsburg Wins 'Go-Ahead' Vote from Levin

Rendering by Beyer Blinder Belle
 Two Trees Management's Domino Sugar Refinery redevelopment project on the waterfront in Williamsburg moved a step forward by winning a go-ahead vote from City Councilman Stephen Levin and the council's Land Use Committee Thursday, the Brooklyn Eagle reports.

A source told the Eagle that Councilman Levin won concessions from the development firm.

“After weeks of discussions we have reached an agreement on the project at the Domino Sugar site that will build on the gains made by the de Blasio Administration to maximize affordable housing and open space to the Williamsburg community,” Levin said in a statement Thursday.

More here


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BP Adams Bets Mayor Rob Ford; DNC to Brooklyn? And More Brooklyn Briefs


- Toronto Mayor Rob Ford accepts bet from Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. [Business Insider]

- NYC rents up and income down – while Brownstone Brooklyn gets richer. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Mayor de Blasio trying to attract DNC to Brooklyn, for some awful reason. [Brokelyn]

Video captures man throwing Molotov Cocktail into Sunset Park deli, after an arguement with the clerk. [NY Magazine]

- Ex-Borough President Marty Markowitz’s Seaside Concert series will not rock Coney Island for the first time in 35 years. [Brookyln Paper]

- The Dock Street building in DUMBO is now seven stories high. Eleven more to go. [DumboNYC]

- Brooklyn Greenway expanding to Columbia Street waterfront. [Browwnstoner]

- Bushwick housing, historic versus hipster. Which do you like better? [Brooklyn Eagle]

- The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival starts May 7 with screenings in 6 Brooklyn loccations. [AoBFF]

- In a social experiment, unsuspecting people walked by relatives pretending to be homeless, and didn't even look at them. [YouTube]


Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

MIddle Earth Transit Authority Notice in Brooklyn: Coronation of Lord Aragon

Notices from the Middle Earth Transit Authority about the upcoming Coronation of Lord Aragorn as King of Gondor on Saturday, May 1 can be found at Atlantic Ave/Barclays Center station; the NE corner of Ashland Place, and on Hanson Place, in Brooklyn.

By Puckworks, the full notice can be found on their blog, and on Instragram.

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Vision Zero Workshops: Brooklyn Heights and Brooklyn College

Photo: Vision Zero
DOT and NYPD will work with the public on Vision Zero pedestrian safety plans at two upcoming events in Brooklyn -- one on Thursday in Brooklyn heights and one on April 29 at Brooklyn College.


Brooklyn - Vision Zero Public Workshops
 Here are the details:

In Brooklyn Heights: Hosted by the Department of Transportation
Date: April 24, 2014 6:30-8:30 pm
Location: Plymouth Church (Hillis Hall) 75 Hicks Street, Brooklyn


  At Brooklyn College: Hosted by the Department of Transportation
Date: April 29, 2014 6:30-8:30 pm
Location: Brooklyn College (Student Center, 2nd Floor)Campus Road & E 27th Street, Brooklyn

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Today Is the Deadline to Sign Up for One of Those New NYC Pre-K Seats

schools.nyc.gov
There are thousands of new pre-K seats opening up in NYC -- especially in Brooklyn -- in September, thanks to Mayor de Blasio's campaign in Albany.

One catch: If you want a seat in a public school, the DEADLINE TO SIGN UP IS TODAY, . (Other seats in community organizations will open up later.)

Children turning four years old in 2014 are eligible for pre-K, and parents can sign up online at http://schools.nyc.gov or at an enrollment office.


Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Graveyard Story


Here's our contribution:

Crunchy leaves,
Turned, looked:
Nobody there.

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Senior Fraud Workshop in Brooklyn Wednesday with Comptroller Stringer, Assemblywoman Millman

 A lot of scams are targeted at seniors. Comptroller Scott Stringer is hosting a Senior Fraud Workshop with Assemblymember Joan Millman at Raíces Times Plaza Senior Center, 460 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, at 11 a.m. today (Wednesday, April 23).

Assemblymember Millman has long been an advocate for seniors, and Comptrolle Stringer loves nothing better than rooting out fraud. So it should be a good partnership.

Unless we midread this thing, and it's actually a workshop to teach seniors how to commit fraud.
But that's probably not it...

Photo: Comptroller Singer's Office

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Bring Your Kids to Brooklyn Borough Hall on Thursday

BP Eric Adams. Photo: MK Metz
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams is inviting Brooklynites to bring their children to Borough Hall in Downtown Brooklyn on Thursday, April 24th between 10:00 AM and 10:30 AM in honor of Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.

Kids will be able to meet Adams, take photos and hear what he does for a living.

BP Adams said in a statement: “I look forward to speaking with our borough’s daughters and sons about the opportunities Brooklyn holds, the potential they all possess as well as the importance of thinking big and working hard. Hopefully, they will connect Borough Hall and their positive memories inside its walls with their dreams for a bright future.”

(The children of Borough Hall staff will see a performance from the Brooklyn Arts Exchange and will go home with tree saplings donated by the New York Restoration Project.)

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Monday, April 21, 2014

Vision Zero Town Hall Tonight, April 21, with Councilmember Brad Lander

 In New York, approximately 4,000 New Yorkers are seriously injured and more than 250 are killed each year in traffic crashes. Vision Zero is Mayor Bill de Blasio's multi-faceted plan to reduce or eliminate traffic deaths and injuries.

A Vision Zero Town Hall with Councilmember Brad Landertakes place tonight, April 21, from 6-8:30 pm at P.S. 321, 180 7th Ave, Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Other Brooklyn Vision Zero Town Halls, hosted by the Department of Transportation, are listed below:

Date: April 24, 2014 6:30-8:30 pm
Location: Plymouth Church (Hillis Hall) 75 Hicks Street, Brooklyn

Date: April 29, 2014 6:30-8:30 pm
Location: Brooklyn College (Student Center, 2nd Floor)Campus Road & E 27th Street, Brooklyn


Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

She's Back: Tara Anne McDonald, Brooklyn Heights Kidnapper, Arrested Again

McDonald, by NYPD
If you lived in Brooklyn Heights in 2002, you might remember the big to-do over  Tara Anne McDonald, a disturbed woman who couldn't keep her hands off other people's babies.

She created a near panic as she followed nannies around and tried to snatch kids right out of their strollers.

Now, the Brooklyn Eagle reports that McDonald has been arrested again on Friday in Manhattan -- for trying to kidnap another baby.

A tortured soul, McDonald apparently believes the babies are being mistreated, or that they belong to her.  See more at the Brooklyn Eagle.

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Big Crowd for Brooklyn Heights Easter Egg Hunt at Pierrepont Playground

Photos by MK Metz, McBrooklyn.com
The line for the Brooklyn Heights Annual Spring Egg Hunt at Pierrepont Playground on Saturday again reached Remsen Street or possibly beyond, well before the gates opened at 10 a.m.

 
Heather White, president of the Brooklyn Heights Playground Committee, told the Brooklyn Eagle that the organization “hid thousands of eggs,” and “re-egged” as the line wound into the playground.

The eggs actually ran out before the last kid made it through the gate but the children seemed to have a great time running around in the sun with hundreds of other kids anyway. Heights Kids handed out hundreds of balloons, which was a treat, and some savvy parents even brought their own eggs to surreptitiously scatter near their kids...

These boys look like they're comparing notes.

"Put it in the basket." 
"I don't wanna!"

Neighbors brought a pair of Holland “mini-lops” -- fuzzy bunnies -- for kids to pet. They were very popular.

Photos by MK Metz, McBrooklyn.com
Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Believers Carry Cross Over Brooklyn Bridge in Good Friday Procession

Photos by MK Metz, McBrooklyn.com
A silent crowd of Christian believers carried out an ancient tradition as they crossed the Brooklyn Bridge on Friday morning for the19th annual Good Friday Way of the Cross procession. Processions like this took place all over the world on Friday.

Sponsored by the Movement of Communion and Liberation, the procession began at St. James Cathedral-Basilica in Downtown Brooklyn and, after stops to pray at several Stations of the Cross, wound up at at St. Peter’s Church in Lower Manhattan.


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Saturday, April 19, 2014

Easter Egg Hunts in Brooklyn on Saturday, April 19, 2014

Photo: MK Metz
Photo: MK Metz
Saturday is the time to gather the kids and the baskets and head to parks around Brooklyn for Easter egg hunts and spring celebrations.

The Brooklyn Heights Annual Spring Egg Hunt starts at 10 a.m. sharp at Pierrepont Playground Columbia Heights and Pierrepont Streets (on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade). Candy, treats, balloons and good friends have made this a holiday tradition for many families.

A bake sale will be held to benefit the Brooklyn Heights Playground Committee.

In East Flatbush, the office of City Councilman Jumaane Williams will be joining East Flatbush Village, Inc. for an Easter Egg Hunt from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Wyckoff Farm House, located at 5816 Clarendon Road (at East 58th St.). There will be games, prizes, face painting, rides, music, refreshments and more.

Other Easter events this weekend:

Saturday and Sunday, April 19-20: Brooklyn Children’s Museum Eggs-Travaganza Easter Egg-citing Eggs for 5-and-under. Kids create papier-mache eggs. Two sessions, at 11:30 and 2:30. 145 Brooklyn Ave at St Marks Avenue, Crown Heights (718) 735-4400 x127

Saturday, April 19: Greenpoint Easter Egg Hunt by Town Square. 12-2 p.m. McGolrick Park , Greenpoint. $10, with proceeds to be shared between Town Square and MS 126 Leo’s.
More at about.com



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Friday, April 18, 2014

Fireworks Over NYC, Brooklyn on Friday, April 18

Fireworks are being set off Friday night April 18, in N.Y. Harbor East of Liberty Island. The display will begin at approximately 9:15 PM.

The fireworks were sponsored by Lincoln Sports and Entertainment, a private company registered in Hicksville, Long Island.

UPDATE: bcjbishop posted a video of the fireworks here.

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Brooklyn Parking Lot Sells for $38 Million; Medicaid Waiver Funds; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Dowwntown Brooklyn parking lot sells for $38.46 million. [Brownstoner]

- Brooklyn hospitals hear from state about applying for Medicaid Waiver funds. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Sam's restaurant on Court Street temporarily closed by Dept. of Health. [PMFA]

- How to research the history of your house in Brooklyn. [Brownstoner]

- What did Charles Hynes know, and when did he know it? [Failed Messiah]

- William Bryk lives in Brooklyn and has never been much farther west than Buffalo. But that's not stopping him from running for U.S. Senate this year in Alaska. And Idaho. And Oregon. [Huff Post]

- Veteran-owned companies to get preference in New York state contracts. [Brooklyn Eagle]

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Post Office, Downtown Brooklyn, without Scaffolding

Photo: MK Metz, McBrooklyn
This beautiful building is the Downtown Brooklyn Station Post Office and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York.

The scaffolding which has shrouded the building for years is finally down.


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Thursday, April 17, 2014

Fund for Exonerated Brooklyn Man; Mom Steals Honda; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Court Street Funeral Home property sells for $4.55 million. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Fund raises thousands for NYC man cleared of murder after 25 years; stranger set up campaign. [Fox]

- Brooklyn woman's mom accidentally steals a green Honda. There's a perfectly good explanaation. [NY Magazine]

- Hundreds of fireworks, thousands of road flares and miles of LED lights to erupt over Prospect Park on April 26. It haas something to do with vaginas. [Brokelyn]

- Brooklynites fund schools, libraries, gardens in participatory budgeting vote.  [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Weird collection of collages coming to Cobble Hill gallery. [Brooklyn Paper]

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100 Years Ago Today: 'Brooklyn Crank' Tries to Kill NYC Mayor Mitchel

On this day 100 years ago, NYC Corporation Counsel Frank Lyon Polk was shot and seriously injured outside City Hall by a Brooklyn man who was aiming for NYC Mayor John Mitchel.

The Police Commissioner, the Mayor and Mr. Polk were just getting into the Mayor'ss automobile when the man fired at close range. The bullet missed Mayor Mitchel "by a very close margin," the Brooklyn Eagle reported. But the Corporation Counsel, who was right beside him, was seen to stagger. He was helped into City Hall, where it was seen at once that he was badly hurt. The bullet had passed into hiss jaw and knocked out almost all his teeth.

George Neum, the Mayor's chauffeur, sprang forward as the man was about to fire a second shot and grappled with him. The chauffeur and police hustled him into City Hall for questioning. He was reported to be around 65 and called himself David Rose. He repeatedly told the Mayor, "I have nothing to ssy."

According to Wikipedia, his actual name was Michael P. Mahoney.

Mayor Mitchel said he was told that two other men set up Rose to kill him.

The Mayor, who carried a gun, said, "It is true that I had my hand on my revolver and that I was ready to fire if necessary. I would have liked to have a chance at those two men."

For more on this story, visit the new home of the old Brooklyn Eagle at Brooklyn Newsstand, a partnership with Brooklyn Public Library, at http://newsstand.bklynpubliclibrary.org/


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Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Boerum Hill Cat Fight; Duane Reade Sushi Bar; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- 13-year-old shot in Brooklyn may lose vision in one eye. [NY1]

- Brooklyn author Vijay Seshadri wins Pulitzer Prize in poetry. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Rumor: Duane Reade on the corner of Court and Joralemon is "apparently being renovated into Brooklyn’s flagship DR like the one on Wall Street in Manhattan and it will apparently have a sushi bar in it." [BHB]

- Jim Creighton, the man known as baseball's first star, got an upgrade to his Brooklyn monument Tuesday. [NY1]

- Cops hunt suspect wanted for robbing four Brooklyn banks within just a few hours. [Sheepshead Bites]

- A cat fight has broken out over the will of a Boerum Hill woman who left $50,000 to her five felines. [NY Post]

- Brooklyn Heights civic groups are pushing for the DOT to close Joralemon Street to vehicles at Furman Street, near the entrance to Brooklyn Bridge Park. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- A 66-year-old woman and a 58-year-old man were discovered naked and dead in the bathtub of a Brooklyn apartment, an empty gallon jug of vodka nearby. [Daily Mail]

 - The polar vortex led to a serious gefilte fish shortage. [Grub Street]

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Snow Falls in Brooklyn, Freeze Warning Until Wednesday Morning

Photo MK Metz
More weird weather! In Brooklyn Heights, Cadman Plaza Park's astroturf (seen above) is covered with snow, two days after 70-degree temperatures.

The National Weather Service says temperatures will hover between the upper 20s to freezing until 10 a.m. Wednesday morning. If you have a balcony, don't forget to bring in your plants.

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Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Fireworks Over NYC, Brooklyn April 15 - Nope, Not a Tax Celebration

Those were fireworks, not thunder (or the wrathful celebration of the IRS) you heard Tuesday night, April 15 over New York City and Brooklyn.

The brief fireworks were set off over Ellis Island around 9:45 PM as an anniversary celebration by Amway China.

According to Ruby on Twitter, the celebration included a chorus singing opera, Chinese songs and gospel.



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Egg Hunt for Grownups; Bishop Ford Closing; Pier 6 Housing; and More Brooklyn Briefs


- Egg hunt for grownups: If you find more eggs than anyone else, you’ll get a $50 bar tab. [Brooklyn Based]

- Cops crack down on dollar vans, activist group calls it racist. [Brooklyn Paper]

- After 52 years, Bishop Ford High School to close. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- A Brooklyn problem: A bill would make it a felony for landlords to destroy their own buildings in the hopes of forcing out tenants living in rent-controlled units. [Capital NY]

- Friends of an enigmatic artist solved a Brooklyn whodunit that has stumped locals for four decades. [NY Daily News]

- Here's the schedule for the Dept. of Sanitation's Organics Curb Collection program expansion in Brooklyn. [DOS]

- Brooklyn apartment rents rose to a record in March and new leases more than doubled. Median monthly rent: $2,900, up 13 percent from a year earlier. [Daily Herald]

- Open letter to Bill de Blasio: Don’t rush into housing at BBP’s Pier 6. [Brooklyn Eaagle]

- The Nets hold aufitions for musicians. Only Brooklynites could try out. [NY1]

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Get Ready for 'Wilde Nights' in Brooklyn Heights

The student-run theatre production company, Nick & The Chicks presents the first act of "Wilde Nights," on Thursday, April 24 at 11:10am in the St. Francis College Maroney Forum for Arts, Culture & Education.

At SFC, 180 Remsen Street, Brooklyn Heights. Free.

The performance takes the audience on a dramatic journey through the last years of Oscar Wilde's life. Under the direction of Deborah Houston, professional actors Robert Anderson, Marie Christine Katz, and Logan Ford will dramatize a crucial confrontation between the playwright and the actress Sarah Bernhardt.

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

De Blasio the Man: July 4th Fireworks Coming Back to Brooklyn!

It was hugs all around on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade on Monday as Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the Macy's July 4th fireworks are finally returning to the East River and Brooklyn!

Officials promised a spectacular display to be shot off the Brooklyn Bridge and from barges in the East River.

Macy's said the fireworks wouldn't always be able to be seen from Brooklyn and Queens -- but for now, justice has been done.

More details here.

Photo by MK Metz, McBrooklyn.com

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Monday, April 14, 2014

A $16 M Home in Brooklyn Heights; $25 Million for 25 years in Jail; and More Brooklyn Briefs

Getting ready for Easter in Bensonhurst. Photo: MK Metz, McBrooklyn.com
- A single-family home is on sale for $16 million in Brooklyn Heights, apparently a record. Norman Mailer once had a "private writing aerie" on the fifth floor. [Curbed]

- A million a year: Man falsely imprisoned 25 years sues state for $25M. [NY Post]

- Here's the video of the rally and reading for Chinese literary freedom at the Brooklyn Public Library.  Celeb writers included Sergio De La Pava and Jennifer Egan. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- A Brooklyn school janitor has been arrested, accused of raping a woman on campus in Clinton Hill/Fort Greene. [CBS]

- 26 displaced after flames rip through 3-story in Sunset Park. [pix11]

- Odd but true: Borough President Adams meets with mayor of Amsterdam to talk "international business." [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Do we have to cover the small penis contest? [edge]

- Queens is the second fastest growing county in the state. [NY1]

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Friday, April 11, 2014

LICH Staffers' Last Day; Kentile Sign; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Sad day for hundreds of LICH staffers being laid off Friday. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Kentile Floor Tile sign to be lit up again -- for one night only. [Daily News]

- City Council approves de Blasio's pick to lead Taxi & Limo Commission. [NY1]

- From the old  Brooklyn Daily Eagle, a 13-year-old Mickey Rooney signs Hollywood contract for $150/wk in 1934.  []


- It's great that Colbert got Letterman's job -- but we're losing one of TV's great characters. [Vulture]

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'Different Games' at NYU-Poly in Brooklyn, Friday and Saturday

One of many featured games.
Different Games—a conference on diversity and inclusivity in digital and video games—returns for its second year at the New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering at MetroTech in Brooklyn on Friday and Saturday.

A volunteer collaboration between graduate students of NYU and the Georgia Institute of Technology, Different Games focuses on diversity and inclusivity in game design, academic scholarship, and criticism.

It will feature panels, hands-on workshops, and a full array of original games. A grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) will bring five thought-leading designers and authors to exhibit their games and discuss issues. http://www.differentgames.org/


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Thursday, April 10, 2014

Krishnas Moving from Brooklyn; More Crashes; Eaters Guide; and More Brooklyn Briefs

Find love: Match-Maker sculpture in DUMBO.Photo: MK Metz
 - The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishnas) want to sell their U.S. headquarters in Downtown Brooklyn for upwards of $60 million. [TRD]

- A bicyclist died Wednesday in Brooklyn after being hit by a motorist who then bashed two other vehicles before ditching his BMW and running away. [Daily News]

- School crossing guard hit by car on Atlantic Ave. same day DOT announces Atlantic slow zone. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Kiss told the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony organizers at Barclays Center last night to kiss off. [Valley News]

- GQ publishes an "eaters guide" to Brooklyn: Where to eat breakfast (ex: Char No. 4 in Carroll Gardens -- how about creamy grits, a biscuit with bacon gravy and a bourbon Bloody Mary?), lunch (try that turkey-leg sandwich at Henry Public in Cobble Hill), and dinner (Vinegar Hill House, Seersucker, Marlow & Sons . . . ) [GQ]

- The wheels are starting to turn on the construction of Greenpoint Landing – a mega-project that will fill 20 acres of the Greenpoint waterfront with about 5,000 apartments. [Brooklyn Eagle]

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Brooklyn College Faculty Votes 'No Confidence' in CUNY; Was Pakistan's Finance Minister Really in Coney Island? And More Brooklyn Briefs


- A former Brooklyn police detective who claimed his career was ruined after he was labeled a “rat” will receive a $280,000 settlement from NYC. [NYT]

- Brooklyn College faculty revolts: votes to retake control of curriculum from CUNY. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- DIEHIPSTER.com says the appropriate thing about "Silent Reading Parties."

- Garages are disappearing in "Brooklyn, the land of the hipster bikester." So far, 40 have bitten the dust. [NY Post]

- Pakistan's Finance Minister Ishaq Dar addressed the Pakistan Muslim League-N in a coffee shop in Coney Island. Really. [Dawn] and again here.

- B37 bus back in service starting June 29 -- but only as far as Barclays Center. WTF? [Brooklyn Eagle]

- One man is dead and another is in police custody after a fiery car crash in Brooklyn early Tuesday morning. DWI. [NY1]


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Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Here's That Rat on the Brooklyn Subway Video. Shrieking Riders Get No Sympathy from Viewers


Here's that rat that scampered all around the A train yesterday near Fulton Street, causing grown New Yorkers to shriek and stand on subway seats.

Some of the comments on YouTube are hard, just hard:

"Next time someone says they are tough because they lived in new york I'm going to show them this."

"Pussification of America. That's why you will all fall. HAIL HYDRA!"

"People in third world countries will laugh at these people hahah"

"It occurred to no one that they can kick it, debone, and stir fry until golden brown? (-.-) Such first world problem… ;P"

Thank goodness some kind souls thought about the rat:

"That rat is gonna need some serious trauma counseling after having gone through this." 

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Barclays Center Getting a Green Roof, and Problematic Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Green roof at Barclays Center. Courtesy Shop
 - Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC) and Shanghai-based Greenland Group Co. (Greenland) announced that they will install a green roof on Barclays Center, as seen above. MaryAnne Gilmartin, FCRC President and CEO, explained that in addition to providing a more appealing roof for people visiting the arena, it will also enhance the space for those who will be living in the residential buildings surrounding Barclays Center. (B2, the first residential building, is currently under construction) [Barclays]

More Barclays News:

- Miley Cyrus, at her “Bangerz” show at the Barclays Center on Saturday night was "so insistently gross — grabbing her crotch constantly, spread-eagling on the hood of a car, and twerking with a steatopygic midget "— she seems determined "to avoid seeming remotely sexy." [New Yorker]

- The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame dinner and show scheduled for Thursday at Barclays Center is a "disaster in the making." Cat Stevens' visa is up in the air. No one from  Brian Epstein’s family has been invited, and Andrew Loog Oldham says thanks but no thanks. [Showbiz411]


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Final Hip Tot Music Fest of the Season in Park Slope this Sunday

The final Hip Tot Music Fest concert of the season is Sunday, April 13th at Shapeshifter Lab at 11am. The concert will start with a special appearance by Chicago’s "Queen of the Kindie scene" Little Miss Ann -- one of Chicago's "Most Influential Kids Musicians" as voted by the readers of Time Out Chicago.

Special guest, Suzi Shelton, Brooklyn Kindie favorite, will join Little Miss Ann's Band. We're told fiddles and ukuleles are involved.

Hip Tot’s resident author/illustrator, Melanie Hope Greenberg, will read her classic story “A City Is”. (Plus everyone will get a $75 discount to car sharing company Carpingo.)

Astrograss concerts feature sing-a-longs, dance contests, and high-energy fiddle hoedowns.

Details:
Sunday, April 13th at11am
Shapeshifter Lab: 18 Whitwell Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn 11215
$10 in advance | $15 at the door (non-walkers FREE)
NOTE the secret code in the grapgic above for discount tickets

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Prisoner Escapes from Cops Monday Night Near Barclays Center, Brooklyn

Darnell Thomas, 26, escaped from police custody shortly after 6:30 p.m. at Atlantic and South Portland avenues, near Barclays Center in Brooklyn, CBS reports.

He was being taken to Central Booking at the time. Thomas was in handcuffs when he escaped. Police were still looking for him around midnight.

More here.


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Monday, April 7, 2014

Jay Z Racist? 12-Year-Old Hit by Car; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- A Marine Park woman was weirded out when a letter postmarked in 1969 arrived in the mail last week. [Brooklyn Paper]

- Teachers at Park Slope’s P.S. 321 protest ‘horrendous’ Common Core English tests. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Jay Z is under fire for wearing a blatantly racist medallion to a Brooklyn Nets Game. [Design Trend]

- Police are asking cabbies in Brooklyn to be on the lookout after two livery cab drivers were robbed at gunpoint in Bushwick. [NY1]

- A 12-year-old girl is in critical condition after she was struck by a driver in Borough Park on Saturday. [Gothamist]

- Opening of "Top Chef" winner Ilan Hall's restaurant at Williamsburg Urban Outfitters is delayed. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Habana Outpost is reopening next Saturday, on Earth Day. [H.O.]


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Brooklyn Residents Smell Fire for Hours Early Monday Morning


Brooklynites reported the strong smell of fire from midnight to 2:45 a.m. or later Monday morning. McBrooklyn can smell it in Brooklyn Heights, and residents of Bensonhurst, Bushwick and Staten Island report smelling it, too.



The city confirms the smell is from a fire in New Jersey.



According to SILive, approximately 30 acres of the park burned on Sunday.

Smoke could be seen for miles, said NBC 10 Philadelphia. Crews dropped water on the fire from airplanes and used backfires to contain the fire, and the fire did not threaten structures or people, the report noted, adding how the fire started is under investigation.

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Crocuses Herald Spring in Brooklyn Bridge Park

                                              Photo: MK Metz, McBrooklyn
The crocuses are in full bloom ar Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Factoid: The dried stigmas of a variety of crocus make saffron. It takes about 30 stigmas to make a "pinch," the amount used in a recipe of saffron rice.


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Coney Island Opens Next Weekend with Noisefest and Rides

Coney Island opens Palm Sunday, April 13th with Noisefest:  Karaoke and movie singalongs.

ROCK'N'ROLL KARAOKE: Mystical Children and the audience sing "Twist N Shout" or "Satisfaction" or "Eighteen" or the original song "Pain In Ass" at Shooting Gallery Arts Annex 1214 Surf Ave. 2 - 5 p.m.

At the same time: FOLLOW THE BOUNCING BALL VINTAGE MOVIE SINGALONGS presented by The Museum of Interesting Things at Sideshows at the Seashore Surf Avenue and West 12th Street.

Luna Park opens on April 13 as well. The first 100 riders on The Cyclone Rollercoaster get to ride for free.

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Friday, April 4, 2014

From Bloomberg: Brooklyn Is Shifting NYC's Center of Gravity

Photo: MK Metz, McBrooklyn.com
 An article on Bloomberg.com -- "Brooklyn’s Hipster Economy Challenges Manhattan Supremacy" -- describes Brooklyn’s "cachet as a global brand and epitome of urban hipsterdom," which is "shifting New York City’s center of gravity, reducing the supremacy of Manhattan across the East River and exerting more influence on New York’s political, economic and cultural life."

From a booming population to growing political power, Brooklyn has become the borough of MORE:

- More people
- More restaurants
(- Less crime)
- More jobs
- More sports
- More expensive residences
- More arts
- More political power
- More soul
- More enterprise
- More media
- More gentrification

In related news, the Daily News reports that the median rent in Brooklyn is now $2,890 — up 11.6% in just a year.

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Despite Hospital Pick for LICH, Supporters Remain Cautious


Yesterday SUNY announced that Brooklyn Health Partners' bid for Long Island College Hospital scored highest in the RFP process.

BHP offers to operate a full-service hospital on the LICH campus, which is what supporters have been fighting for. But members of the LICH coalition are restrained in their applause.

The scoring of the proposals is questioned becasue the bids that came in second and third are not hospital bids. The RFP requires hospital bids be scored higher than non-hospital bids. This "irregularity" is a flag to LICH advocates who have spent the last year fighting SUNY's illegal attempts to close LICH and non-stop rule-brealing.

There are two other qualified hospitals that somehow ranked lower on the list.

Advocates fully expect SUNY to find a reason to drop BHP and move on to their real choice -- Peebles, which came in second, or Fortis, in third place.

Full story at Brooklyn Eagle


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Thursday, April 3, 2014

Truly Horrifying Stuffed Animals; Brooklyn Law School; and More Brooklyn Briefs


- Broker makes flyer inviting people to ‘Join the gentrification!’ in Bushwick. [Brokelyn]

- Photos: Truly horrifying stuffed animals in Gowanus. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Brooklyn Law School to cut their tuition by 15%. Tuition at the school currently stands at $53,850—after the cut, the tuition will be $45,850. [WSJ]

- A Delta flight had to make an emergency landing at Kennedy Airport Wednesday evening. [NBC]

- Vision Zero packs Brooklyn Borough Hall. Adams 'tired of the white bikes.' [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Brooklyn butcher wins $10,000-a-week scratch-off game on coffee break. [NY Daily News]

- Attica U: After ridicule from Republicans, Gov. Cuomo gives up on his idea to pay for college classes for prisoners. [NY Times]

- TODAY show's Willard Scott, 80, has tied the knot [NY Daily News]

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Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Opting Out of Testing in Brooklyn; 'Lock Box' to Hide MTA Money; and More Brooklyn Briefs


- The MTA dropped the bomb Tuesday that later this year tunnels connecting the A, C and F trains to Manhattan would be shut down on weekends. [Brokelyn]

- $30 million rip off: Brooklyn officials want to make a "lock box" law to protect MTA funds from being raided by the state. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- More than 70 percent of parents at three Brooklyn schools opted their kids out of testing. [Diane Ravitch's blog]

- Brooklyn BP Eric Adams wants to use geothermal energy to heat housing projects in Red Hook. [NY1]

- Some people really love two dollar bills. [NYT]

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8.2 Chile Quake Recorded Here in NYC

This seismogram below recorded at the LCSN station in NYC recorded Tuesday's 8.2 quake in Chile.



According to the US Geological Survey, more than a dozen sizable aftershocks followed. The quake triggered a tsunami alert for Latin America's Pacific coast, and thousands are evacuating the coast.

incakolanews: Otto Rock reports two deaths in Iquique due to quake. "Also 300 women prisoners escaped from local jail, not evacuated. 16 recaptured so far."
 

This video shows some scary shaking inside a house near Iquique.

Reports: The tsunami wave swept three blocks inland in Iquique.  The mayor is asking for thousands of blankets as residents spend the night in the hills.

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Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Two Shootings and a Stabbing Tuesday Night in Brooklyn


According to NY Scanner, a Hooper St crime scene is being established in regards to a male shot, "aided in stable condition" at about 10:50 p.m.

Also tonight in Brooklyn:

* 210 Parkside Ave.: Active crime scene established in regards to a male stabbed. Aided, transported in serious condition. (7:27 p.m.)
UPDATE: An 18-year-old boy described as friendly and serious, with a girlfriend and child, was stabbed to death. [NY1]

* 190 York St.: Crime scene being established in regards to a male shot, EMS requested on a rush. (5:47 p.m.)

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NYU Buys Entire Jehovah's Complex on Brooklyn Heights Waterfront to Build Huge 'Medical Superdrome'

 Who would have thought the Jehovah's Witnesses would sell their entire portfolio of factory and residential buildings on the Brooklyn Heights waterfront to just one buyer: NYU, which yesterday plunked down $2.9 billion for the 16 buildings, which they plan to remake into a major medical center, teaching hospital and campus to be called the "NYU Medical Superdrome."

"With days-long waits in all of Brooklyn's emergency rooms, Brooklyn has a well-documented need for a new hospital --  actually two or three. And with its explosive growth over the last three years, we can think of no better place to locate our new NYU Medical Superdrome," said NYU president Jon Sackson.

Helipad on building 23A.
The new Medical Superdrome site will incorporate most of the buildings along Columbia Heights and Furman St, and many others.

Highways in the surrounding area, including the BQE, already overburdened, would need to be rebuilt, DOT said. The plan incorporates a helipad for air ambulance use. NYU has planned a sleek "patient monorail " using the Jehovah's famous underground tunnel network, said to run under most of Brooklyn Heights.

When asked why NYU did not make a bid to build their medical center at Long Island College Hospital (LICH) during the recent bidding war there, a spokesperson said, "Brooklyn needs a much, much bigger hospital. Do you see all the people moving in here? Sure, Brooklyn needs LICH. But they also need a world-class Medical Superdrome."

BQE exit to underground parking.
Mayor Bill de Blasio was said to have encouraged the arrangement, which would include a strategic partnership between the NYU Medical Superdrome, Interfaith Medical Center in Bed-Stuy and LICH in Cobble Hill. The three institutions would form the new "Brooklyn Medical Triangle."

Sackson said that the Medical Superdrome is expected to generate close to 9,000 direct employs and roughly 45,000 indirect jobs.

Governor Cuomo was quick to jump onto the Medical Superdrome bandwagon.

"I've said all along that Brooklyn needs more hospital beds," he declared. "After all, it's the fastest-growing county in the state and the most dynamic. Brooklynites don't go to Manhattan anymore, Manhattan comes to Brooklyn."

He then launched into a moving speech about his medical vision for Brooklyn, and how he saw the need for a major medical complex there before anyone else did.

"The borough’s future was hanging in the balance, literally. And the cynics and the naysayers said that it was too far gone," he said, wiping a tear from his eye. "Children were dying."

"We stopped talking and we started doing. There you have it, my friends --  we have reversed decades of decline, saved lives, and made dramatic and undeniable progress. It was my idea. I did it. I did."

NYU plans to work with the community on designs starting next month at a meeting at the Brooklyn Heights branch library on Cadman Plaza West.

Sackson added, as an aside, that one of the things he liked about Brooklyn was its small scale, as exemplified by the two-story Heights library. 

[This is an April Fools post! This is an April Fools Post! This is an April Fools post!]

Photos courtesy of random medical centers

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