iPhone Box Selling for $15,098 on eBay

A bidding war has broken out over an empty iPhone box on eBay. Over the last two days, the bids have climbed from $4.99 to $15,098.

The headline states: "Apple iPhone 4s Black -Box only for a 16GB (Unlocked) Smartphone SHIP WORLDWIDE!" 

The item's description at the bottom of the page clearly says,
"I am selling an ORIGINAL iPhone 4s BOX which can be used to hold a 16GB iPhone (or any iPhone 4). This comes with the original manual!!! but not the phone. Great condition only a few minor scratches on the back like normal. The front is perfect! Email me with any questions. Others like this have sold for over $450. No Phone inside the box! All Sales Final. No refunds. Understand what you are buying. This auction does not come with the phone at all - just the box."

The seller is the Holy Land Gifts Store located in Jerusalem, Israel. But the seller will not sell it to anyone in Israel.

This item was first reported on Reddit after the price hit $180. It quickly increased to $3,000. Some Redditers jumped in and bid it higher -- but mysterious bidders counter-bid it into the stratosphere.

Why does anyone want an empty box?

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72 Poplar Landmarks Application Approved by CB2 -- Brooklyn Heights

The Executive Committee of Community Board 2 voted this week to approve, with modifications, a Landmarks Preservation Commission application for 72 Poplar St., the former police precinct building.

The application calls for extending the existing fourth floor, constructing a new fifth-floor addition and constructing a one-story rooftop addition on the building’s adjacent garage, according to the Brooklyn Eagle, which has more details.

Photo courtesy of Google Streetview

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Senior Citizens Are Cocked and Locked; Gun Buyback This Saturday

What's going on with senior citizens lately? Over the last two weeks we've heard several stories of oldsters who "did what needed to be done."

- West Reading, Pa.: A 65-year-old man shot two teens, one fatally, as they tried to rob him Wednesday morning on a bike trail near the Schuylkill River. The teens knock the man off his bicycle and assaulted him, so he whipped out a handgun and shot them both. After investigating, police released the senior citizen and charged the surviving attacker and another participant. Berks Regional News via Reddit

- In Daytona Beach, Fla: Karen Granville, a 64-year-old fan of John Wayne, held a young car theft suspect at gunpoint in her backyard this past Tuesday morning as she waited for police to arrive. "I was watching 'Rio Bravo' before the scumbag came into my yard," Granville said. News Journal1 and News Journal2

- Also in Daytona Beach, Fla: On January 13, an 82-year-old Daytona Beach man grabbed his WWII-era handgun and killed an intruder wearing a ski mask and gloves. The man was trying to bang his way into the senior's house with a hammer and screwdriver. "I did what I had to do," Charles A. Robbins said of the 6 a.m. shooting. Daytona Beach News Journal

In the United States, more than 17 million people aged 65 years or older own a firearm. (APHA) The actions above fall in the general category of public service -- but public health officials are starting to worry about what will happen when a sizable chunk of these people get dementia.

Handgun manufactures, seeing a good thing, are increasingly designing and marketing guns just for seniors, and seniors are some of their best customers.

Is your grandmother packin'?

Unless she's gaga, better leave grandma's guns alone. She can probably shoot better than you.

But if she's too old to drive, she's probably too old to carry.  Try to convince her to drop off her spare firearms at the 66th and 77th Precinct's Gun Buyback Program, which takes place this Saturday, January 28.

According to Kensington Prospect, the buyback takes place at the Bedford Central Presbyterian Church, located at 1200 Dean Street at Nostrand (in Brooklyn).

Gram will get a $200 bank card for each operable handgun and a $20 bank card for operable rifles and shotguns. If your grandma's like mine, that's roughly a cool thousand right there.

For more information, call the 66th Precinct Community Affairs Office at 718-851-5601.

Photo by Slushie, Creative Commons license

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Find the Changes In New Improved 30 Henry Street Proposal -- Brooklyn Heights

The Brooklyn Eagle has published a rendering of the modified 30 Henry Street design -- the one that was approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission on January 18. The approved design is the lower photo.

The original proposal for the new five-story, five-unit building at 30 Henry St. in Brooklyn Heights (the former site of Brooklyn Eagle headquarters) -- the one that wasn't approved -- is shown on top.

Aside from the poor quality of the newer rendering, how many differences can you spot?

We notice the chimneys are white in the newer version.

The Eagle notes, "To the untrained eye, the new plan looks very similar to the original design that was submitted to the commission recently."

In December,the Brooklyn Heights Association's Executive Director Judy Stanton told the Brooklyn Eagle the building site "cries out for a distinctive and much more contemporary design than that which was shown to the BHA last week.

“Fortis has hired excellent architects in BKSK, and the BHA has respectfully asked them to return to the drafting board to create a building that celebrates our time."

Mission accomplished?

Modified Design for 30 Henry Street Unveiled  Brooklyn Eagle
- LPC Approves New 30 Henry Street Design in Brooklyn Heights
- A Century of Changes at 30 Henry Street, Brooklyn Heights


Design by BKSK Architects

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Pretty Sewer Tunnels; Biased Lubavich Landlord; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Brooklyn Art Hackathon this weekend. Makerbot

- An open letter from one Brooklyn Lubavich (Orthodox Jewish) landlord demands that other landlords stop renting to non-Jews. Joe.My.God.

- Shooting in Sunset Park possibly a gang rubout. NY Daily News

- Southpaw closing? Brooklyn Vegan

- Bars with wifi AND Happy Hour. Brokelyn

- Charles Hynes will conduct a review into the death of cyclist Mathieu Lefevre, after revelations that NYPD withheld details of the crash from the victim’s family and failed to gather evidence at the scene. Streetsblog

- Diving into surprisingly pretty sewer tunnels beneath Bushwick. Gothamist

- The National Labor Relations Board has filed for a federal injunction to end an ongoing lockout at a 59-building apartment complex in Flatbush. TRD

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Baluchi's Extends Its Indian Empire Into Brooklyn Heights

Brooklyn Heights is soon to have its very own Baluchi's Indian restaurant, on the north end of Henry Street near Cranberry Street. The spot, which will be ready "soon," according to the owner, can be seen to the right of Cranberry's, above.

This will bring to three the number of Indian restaurants in Brooklyn Heights, including Gandhi Palace on Montague (replaced Amin) and Curry Heights on Remsen. 

According to their website, there are roughly a dozen Baluchi's restaurants, most in Manhattan. (The Smith Street Baluchi's closed a couple of years ago.)

The Park Slope Baluchi's gets fairly decent reviews on Yelp, scoring 3.5 out of 5 stars. More reviewers rated it a 4 than any other grade.

A Grab-Bag of Park Slope Yelp Comments:

"The Chicken Tikka Masala was solid and the samosas crispy and delicious. The black daal was a little odd in that it included kidney beans."

"The restaurant also offers $9.95 lunch specials, and a $14.95 prix fixe menu. The prix fixe menu is the better of the two deals as it includes an entree (I recommend the chicken jalfrezi), rice, naan cucumber, raita, and mango chutney."

"All in all, not mind-altering Indian food, but good, solid Indian food when you crave it. I'll definitely go back."

"Great naan, great service, reasonably priced, and a great atmosphere. Very impressed overall."

"Solid tasty Indian food. Not the best I've ever had but the best in the area without a doubt. "

"The decor is gorgeous, the service is amazing, and the food is great. Baluchi's is our ultimate date spot in the hood. "

"We opened with samosas, I had a chicken spinach dish, Saagwala, my date had chicken curry. We also ordered poori. I thought the food was very good. "

Here's the menu from the Park Slope Baluchi's.

Photo by MK Metz

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Gowanus Whole Foods Decision Delayed for a Month

Chairwoman Meenakchi Srinivasan and the rest of the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals put off making a find decision at yesterday's hearing on the Whole Foods Gowanus variance. They'll make a decision on February 28th.

Whole Foods Market is proposing to build a mega-market in a manufacturing district on the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, at 3rd Street and 3rd Avenue.

More details, photos and a video of today's action at the Pardon Me For Asking Blog.

- Whole Foods Hearing Today at 1:30; End of Manufacturing In Gowanus?

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While We're On the Subject of Portland, and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Venn Diagram: Portland Vs. Brooklyn. The Frisky

- Just like Portland: A free lecture on cooking bears, beaver and moose, in Brooklyn. Featuring a terrifying moose-face stew recipe. Brokelyn

- Ever more like Portland: Brooklyn guy offers artisanal pencil-sharpening class. Really. Gothamist

- Old Fulton buildings in search of new owner. Commenter says it's a flip. Brownstoner

- City Council Landmarks panel approves historic skyscraper district in Brooklyn. NY Times

- In a bid to nail down $60 million in funding, Mayor Bloomberg is planning to close, transform and then reopen 33 struggling city schools, and fire up to half their staff. Brooklyn Eagle

- MTA adds buses to Brooklyn's B61 bus route (Van Brunt, Columbia St., Atlantic Ave.) during evening rush. Brad Lander

- "Backwards wheelchair lady" is a locally-famous Bensonhurst character. MBTR and The Danja Zone via Brooklynian

- Google has changed its privacy policy, but that doesn't make it evil. TechCrunch

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EPA Gowanus Canal Superfund Meeting Tonight in Brooklyn

Community Board 6 sent us a reminder that the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration's public meeting on the Gowanus Canal Superfund Feasibility Study takes place tonight (Tuesday, Jan. 24) at 7 PM. The location will be the auditorium of P.S. 58, 330 Smith Street.

The Draft Feasibility Study is available for download and review at:
http://www.epa.gov/region2/superfund/npl/gowanus/fs_docs.html

Photo courtesy Dept. of City Planning

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Whole Foods Hearing Today at 1:30; End of Manufacturing In Gowanus?

The second, and likely the last, public hearing at NYC Board of Standards & Appeals on the Whole Foods variance application is today, Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 1:30 p.m.

You may be eager for organic roof-grown lettuce, but the Gowanus Institute sent us an email saying hold up a minute: allowing the Whole Foods (planned for 3rd Avenue and 3rd Street, shown above ) will "be the beginning of the end of manufacturing activity in this immediate area, and that includes The Can Factory."

From the on-line petition: "Whole Foods Market is proposing to build regional, suburban-style mega-market in a thriving manufacturing district on an active industrial canal in Gowanus, Brooklyn. The proposed store will be nearly six times the allowable area for food stores in manufacturing-zoned areas in New York City. The Gowanus Institute studied Whole Foods Market's variance application, and in its report, recommends that BSA reject the application." (More explanation on the petition.)

There's also a a Facebook page.

The hearing takes place at  NYC Board of Standards & Appeals at 40 Rector Street (near West St) Manhattan. ‘R’ train to “Rector St.” A bus will leave from the Can Factory at exactly 1 p.m. if you want to comment.

- Gowanus Whole Foods Brownfield Cleanup Meeting

- Gowanus Whole Foods Going Even Greener, Building Half-Acre Greenhouse

Photo courtesy of Google Street View

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Family Wants Criminal Investigation of Son's Death in Bushwick; Police Stonewall

Last October, a truck dragged cyclist Mathieu Lefevre 40 feet on a street in Bushwick, then left the scene of the crash. Lefevre died, and police said he was at fault.

It took a Freedom of Information Act filing, but now the cyclist's parents have discovered that the NYPD took no data from the truck’s event data recorder, made no written description of the scene, and never sampled blood and paint marks on the truck’s front bumper.

According to the Brooklyn Eagle, the driver has been issued traffic summonses for failure to signal and failure to exercise due care -- but the NYPD has said there will be no criminal investigation.

Video evidence, which the police never looked at, show the truck turning right without signalling, running over Lefevre. As to the lack of photos of the blood smeared over the truck's bumper? A police checklist shows that the camera was broken.

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Who Knew 'High-Risk' Cargo Entered Country In Red Hook? And More Brooklyn Briefs

- New York pols are sounding an alarm over a plan to stop inspections of “high-risk” cargo entering the country at the Red Hook Container Terminal in Brooklyn. Brooklyn Eagle

- Rapes and sexual assaults have tripled in Williamsburg and Greenpoint this year. L Magazine

- Elected officials gathered outside of Barclays Arena to express frustration over the broken promises at the Atlantic Yards site. Carroll Gardens Patch

- The last Brooklyn outpost of Blockbuster's once vast empire. Bensonhurst Bean

- Crop circle in Cadman Plaza Park. Brooklyn Eagle 

- Greenpoint “Nature Walk” is actually bleak, post-apocalyptic, and nearly devoid of nature. Brooklynian

- Elderly testify against alleged Brooklyn fraudster. NY Post

- Kiku Asian bistro and sake bar opens on the corner of Fifth and Lincoln Thursday. HPS

- Extremist Orthodox Jewish newspaper in Brooklyn pictured the White House controlled by Nazis. Then an extremist Jewish newspaper in Atlanta proposed assassinating President Obama. What happened next at Failed Messiah and Gawker

- Beautiful time-lapse video of Yosemite has also gone viral. Turn sound on, settle back. Vimeo

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