Brooklyn in Brief Monday

- The 300-acre Brooklyn Navy Yard will soon be adding four acres through a dredging project that officials say will pave the way for more than $500 million in private investment at the city-owned industrial park - the greatest expansion there since World War II. New York Post

- No one is willing to positively ID the “national chain” with "close to a century of experience" in the food trade that will be coming to the corner of State and Court streets. Broker Tim King of Massey-Knakal real-estate said only that the company is a national chain with about a century in “food production.” Brooklyn Paper

- Bleak "Black Friday" at Fulton Street mall. Business was not so good on Fulton Street this weekend; the Gallery at MetroTech, formerly enclosing Toys-R-Us and a dozen other stores, is already being demolished. Brooklyn Eagle

- Oh, oh. The Federal Reserve Board forecast this week that there will be no recession in the United States in the foreseeable future. (!) It says the gross domestic product will grow by as little as 1.6 percent in 2008, but is confident that growth will accelerate after that. New York Times (Thanks to New York City Housing Bubble)

- PortSide NewYork was recently in the news for staging a Puccini opera aboard a tanker in the Red Hook containerport. Now they are moving the tanker Mary Whalen to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and are inaugurating their new home with a book launch. Tuesday, 11/27/07; at GMD Shipyard, Tailshaft and Valve Shop. Tickets on sale now here.

- A police detective has repeatedly failed to show up to give a deposition in a Brooklyn man’s lawsuit charging police brutality. Now the city says the detective has retired and cannot be found. New York Times

- Let the kids cut loose while you shop for high quality crafts at Brooklyn Friends School’s 28th Annual Holiday Crafts Fair. A one-day event of fun, food and amazing shopping, the fair takes place Saturday, December 1st, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 375 Pearl St., near the Marriott. More here.

- Visit Bed-Stuy on BCAT's Neighborhood Beat Monday and Tuesday (Nov. 26 and 27) at 12:30 and 8:30 p.m. Take a look at Bed-Stuy's high tech community and get the scoop on Bed-Stuy's blogs and WiFi spots. BCAT