Brooklyn Museum Ratner Protest: Dress Formal

Lose your invitation? Print this one out.

It's good for one admission to a protest at the Brooklyn Museum this Thursday from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m., where they'll be honoring Bruce Ratner at the Museum's $1,000-a-plate Annual Brooklyn Ball.

The Brooklyn Museum says that Bruce Ratner will be commended for his "generous support of various activities of the Brooklyn Museum."

Wow.

Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn says: "We don't question the Museum's right to raise funds to support itself. We don't even question the Museum's accepting donations from Bruce Ratner. What we do take issue with is honoring and celebrating Bruce Ratner in light of what he has done and proposes to do to Brooklyn's communities."

When: Thursday, April 3. Starting at 6:30pm
Where: Brooklyn Museum Plaza, Eastern Parkway. 2/3 Subway.
Bring: Your signs and friends.
Dress: Formal (if you wish.)

In the Odd Juxtaposition Dept., the evening will feature a "special one-night-only Louis Vuitton performance in support of the protection of intellectual property."

Who Owns the Brooklyn Sidewalk? No Cameras on Willoughby Allowed

McBrooklyn was standing on the sidewalk on the north side of Willoughby Street (near the corner of Duffield/Oratory Place) in Downtown Brooklyn, taking a photo of the new Sheraton hotel going up on Duffield (see above). A uniformed guard told us to stop taking pictures of the hotel -- because photography was not allowed on the sidewalk in front of his Willoughby Street building.

We crossed the street, walked down Duffield and continued taking photographs, then turned around and took a few more.


We took a close-up photo of the building he was guarding, which we never would have even noticed had he not been so obnoxious about it. Here it is right below this paragraph. He yelled at us as we took the picture.

It turns out the building he was so fervently guarding from our photography was the Willoughby Street side of 4 MetroTech Center, housing JP Morgan Chase and the Metrotech BID office. How do we know? From this clearly labeled map, on the MetroTech BID's own Web site.

So our question is, who owns the public sidewalk and everything you can see from the sidewalk? Is Willoughby Street not public anymore because it is near a top-secret installation: JP Morgan Chase?

McBrooklyn is not the only photographer of this site, of course. Google Maps not only shows the building -- it shows the guard as well (Duffield is called Oratory Place on Google Maps).


Photos by MK Metz; bottom photo by Google.

Williamsburg Stand-Up Comedy Airs on BCAT

Jennifer Dziura is a comedian, writer and blogger who produces the stand-up comedy show at Pete's Candy Store and co-hosts (with singer bobbyblue) the Williamsburg Spelling Bee.

Can't get out? Now you have options.

BCAT (Brooklyn Community Access Television) sent us an email to let us know that the comedy show will now be airing on Mondays at midnight (actually Tuesday) on Time Warner Cable Channel 56 and Cablevision Channel 69.

BCAT says: "Dziura, who bills herself as a 'nerd queen' and a purveyor of 'grammatically correct comedy' runs a tight show featuring five comics per episode. While comedy clubs often cater to tourists and cater the humor towards macho, mainstream male consumers, Dziura's room has just as many female as male comedians, and is more likely to feature jokes about the Spanish Armada, participial phrases, and the idiocy of political conservatives."

See BCAT for more.

(BTW, there's a sample of Jennifer's work on Timothy McSweeny's blog that we think is hilarious -- especially, for some reason, since the securities market implosion. Entitled “A Memo to My New Boyfriend. Re: Clarification of Offer Pursuant to Exchange and Security Commission Regulations and Also My Trouble With Monogamy,” it starts:

“Dear New Boyfriend,

This memorandum is in reference to last night's meeting, during which I offered to "love you forever, no matter what." Hopefully, this memo will serve to clarify that statement, and to define its terms so as to make the offer specific and practicable...”)

Beyond Congestion Pricing, One Word: 'Mesh'

Robin Chase, founder of the car-sharing service Zipcar, has an idea for reducing CO2 emissions and getting traffic moving that goes way beyond congestion pricing in New York: road-pricing using a no-fee mesh network across the whole the United States Interstate highway system.

How could you build a free wireless system that vast? Chase has the answer:

"And this is a moment from The Graduate ...: I want to say one word to you, just one word. Yes sir? Are you listening? Yes I am. Ad Hoc Peer to Peer self-configuring wireless networks.”

Also known as "mesh."

More on TED.com or watch the video of Chase's speech, given at a March 2007 TED conference, below.



- Another Venue in Brooklyn: Zipcar Spreads Its Mighty Tentacles
- Twice As Many Zipcars Coming to Brooklyn

Nice Kids From S. Carolina Donate Fire Truck to Red Hook

This is a story about a great bunch of kids from Columbia, S. Carolina who raised enough money to buy a new ladder truck for a fire house in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The firehouse suffered an enormous loss on 9/11.

Earth to Brooklyn: Join Earth Hour 2008 Saturday

The Pardon Me For Asking Blog sends us this important announcement:

Earth Hour 2008 takes place Saturday, March 29, 8-9pm.

At this local time in each time zone, people and businesses around the world will be turning off their lights for one hour, to show support for reducing energy consumption. This event was started by the World Wildlife Fund.

This initiative started last year in Sydney , Australia , where 2.2 million people participated and reduced Sydney's energy consumption 10%, the equivalent of taking 48,000 cars off the road for a year.

This year's effort is even bigger. To see a list of countries represented, visit www.earthhour.org. By turning off your lights for an hour, you will be part of a global effort to kick off Earth Day celebrations in April and help to spread the word about conservation.

Trader Joe's Work Begins! Brooklyn Saved!

The interior construction that all of Brooklyn has been waiting for has officially begun.

And begun by one guy.

It all rests in the hands of this lonely but determined worker stealth-photographed Thursday getting the job done inside Brooklyn's newest Trader Joe's at Court and Atlantic in Cobble Hill, and he's gonna finish it sometime this summer!

So far, he's cleaned up that little niche that you see to the left when you peek in the front window. Wait -- does it say something? There -- in red paint. (Click to enlarge.) It looks like: "Soy." Soy? Soy! That's where they're going to put the Soy!

Go, guy, go.


- Chunky Salsa Gets Closer: Landmarks Approves Brooklyn's Trader Joe's
- Trader Joe's: It's On the Map
- Trader Joe's to Open 'Late Spring?'
- The Future Trader Joe's
- Will Trader Joe's Be Haunted by the Spirits of Bankers Past?
- Everybody Gonna Hula to Brooklyn Trader Joe's
- Sovereign Bank Moving to Make Room for Trader Joe's
- All Trader Joe's comments on McBrooklyn

'Ethnographies of the Future' in Brooklyn Heights

One of two group shows at the Rotunda Gallery in Brooklyn Heights, Ethnographies of the Future "takes into account the vast geographies impacted by colonial rule."

The above life-sized work by Rajkamal Kahlon, Dummyboard, Untitled Painting no. 1 (2008, oil on wood), certainly grabs your eye when you walk into the gallery nestled behind the Business Library on Clinton Street.

BRIC's Rotunda Gallery is one of the great hidden-right-in-front-of-your-face finds of Brooklyn Heights. (You can have yourself an incredibly cultured day by hitting the Rotunda, the Brooklyn Historical Society, and then Barge Music at Fulton Ferry Landing.)

In show #2, Properly Past (also at the Rotunda), Brooklyn-based artists "examine obsolete phenomena, ideas and forms which contain signs of a modernist utopian promise for a future."

Photo by MK Metz

Coney Island Carousel Goes to Ohio. For Like, Four Years

Two years ago, the city purchased the 76-year-old "Coney Island Carousell" for $1.8 million and hired carousel restorer Todd W. Goings to refurbish the ride. Goings and his men shipped the 50 steeds back to Marion, Ohio.

Tuesday, they came back for the rest of the carousel.

New York Magazine reports that it will take two more years for the revamped carousel to come back to its new home, in Steeplechase Plaza, the “new iconic civic and entertainment destination” in Coney Island.

The Last of the Coney Island Carousels Leaves New York NY Magazine's Daily Intel

Total Re-Do at the Happy Days Diner in Brooklyn Heights

Everyone's been worried that this 24-hour diner on Montague Street is closing, but workers told McBrooklyn that the joint is just getting a really big re-do. They also said that the same owner will continue to run the not-fancy-but-dependable eatery.

Happy Days was certainly due for a major renovation. Nothing had been fixed up in there since The Fonze was in diapers.

Here you can see that the booths, the counter, yes, the juke box and everything else has been ripped out. What wonders are to come?

Photo by MK Metz

Oro Condo, Downtown Brooklyn, More Than 50 Percent (Sort of) Sold?

As seen from the west, the 40-story Oro Condo towers over much of Downtown Brooklyn. (That's part of Concord Village out in front.) The Oro stands at 306 Gold Street.

How are sales? Joe Chan, President of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, in a letter to the Brooklyn Eagle on March 14, disputed that they were "lagging." He said that, as of March, the Oro Condominium was over 50 percent sold.

The Eagle responded: "According to StreetEasy, Oro Condominiums with 303 units has no recorded sales, 90 units 'in contract' and 72 'previous listings,' which are listings taken off the market for whatever reason, including if they are in contract, for example."

When McBrooklyn checked StreetEasy on Tuesday, 95 units were in contract, with 72 "previous listings." (The "no recorded sales" thing throws us.) If all of these numbers indicate units sort of sold (almost sold? probably sold?), then the Oro has (definitely, sort of) crossed the 50 percent mark, with 167 tied up one way or the other. Unless not.

The Prudential Douglas Elliman web site shows 19 available apartments, and a gazillion "in contract."

Brownstoner, meanwhile, speculates on the probability of Son of Oro ever being built -- and what it may turn out to be if it is.

Photo by MK Metz

Herman Behr Mansion Sells For $11M: Brooklyn Heights

The landmark Herman Behr Mansion at Henry and Pierrepont streets in Brooklyn Heights has sold for $10,980,000, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.

The new owners plan to renovate the units and keep them as rentals.

This property has a fascinating history as a high-society mansion -- the owner's son was saved from the sinking of the Titanic (see here) -- as well as a house of prostitution and the Franciscan House of Studies and Residence, though local rumors state that it was a place for the monks to “dry out" (see here).

Herman Behr Mansion in Brookyn Heights Sells for $11 Million Brooklyn Eagle

- Brooklyn Heights Herman Behr Mansion for Sale
- Mansion With Checkered Past on Market With $12M Offering Price: Brooklyn Eagle
- McBrooklyn: Herman Behr Residence in Brooklyn Heights

Photo by MK Metz

View From Demolished Pier 1 in Brooklyn Not Exactly Breathtaking, But It Will Do

The New York Times reported Monday that "For the first time in decades, visitors to the north side of Brooklyn’s Pier 1 can see something breathtaking." They were referring to the skyline view that appeared after the demolition of the pier, preparatory to the construction of Brooklyn Bridge Park.

McBrooklyn couldn't wait to see the breathtaking view so we rushed right down to the foot of Fulton Ferry Landing. Here's what we saw (above).

Okay, maybe it's not exactly breathtaking, but you can see a bunch of buildings you couldn't see before, because Pier 1 (emblazoned with the motto "Brooklyn Works"), as of last week, was in the way.

Still, you have to have a pretty good imagination to picture the verdant meadows and playing fields that may someday take the place of the old industrial pier buildings.

The Times says that the first two piers should be completed by next year.

Photo by MK Metz
Draft courtesy of Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy

Brooklyn Stonehenge

During the spring and autumn equinox the shadow of the J Condo falls directly between the wooden slats.

Shot near Prospect and Washington Streets in Dumbo.

Photo by MK Metz

The Running of the Eggs at Brooklyn Bridge Park

There was an audible rumble in Dumbo Saturday morning when thousands of kids and their supervisors stampeded through the Main Street gates of Brooklyn Bridge Park.

It was the fourth annual Spring Fling Egg Hunt and the Conservancy really got the publicity out this year -- families from all over Brooklyn (and probably Manhattan as well) lined up for miles (well, it looked liked miles -- see below) well before the 11:15 a.m. opening.

We're told that volunteers hid over 15,000 eggs. McBrooklyn saw one of the ten special golden eggs (finders got a gift basket from Jacques Torres), but we left it for one of the chocolate-covered little ones to find. This year Half Pint Citizens hid special gift eggs as well.

All 15,000 eggs were wiped out within 15 minutes of the start. Above you can see the first wave of kids stockpiling eggs while the bulk of the crowd hasn't yet made it through the gate.


Band AudraRox (Audra Tsanos) rocked the kids, and National Grid gave away hundreds of those little rainbow-colored kites that everyone was flying up on the hill near the beach.


The crowd (note the one child, below, getting crushed up front) went wild for the free Frisbees and mini-beach balls given away by Equinox.


Lots of other organizations did other nice things -- see the BBPC Web site for all the details.


UPDATE: The Brooklyn Eagle reports that the event drew more than 10,000 participants! Brooklyn Eagle

Photos by MK Metz

Busy Weekend for Brooklyn Bridge

Two marches took place over the Brooklyn Bridge this weekend.

The first took place Good Friday morning, with the Way of the Cross over the Brooklyn Bridge (photo above). Participants gathered at St. James Cathedral around 10 a.m., prayed the Stations of the Cross, then crossed the bridge stopping in City Hall Park and near Ground Zero.

Then, on Saturday, a mystery march took place. Hundreds of people waving a few signs crossed from Brooklyn to Manhattan but we can't figure out who they were. Anybody?

UPDATE: Mystery solved. See comments.

Photos by MK Metz

Video Poker at Brooklyn Borough Hall

We were surprised to see people playing video slots last week in the plaza at Borough Hall.

Turns out they were filming some sort of promotion for a casino called Empire City at Yonkers Raceway. It seems that there's 5,500 (and more to come) of these un-armed bandits at the casino there, legal only because of some technicality about the way they're hooked up to the state lottery system's computers.

A correspondent says the slots have been seen in other places around Brooklyn as well, including Fulton Ferry Landing.

Photos by MK Metz

Coney Island Rowdies!

Pardon Me For Asking blog has an interesting posting about a "rowdy" Mardi Gras celebration held yearly at Coney Island from 1903 - 1954 (way before the Mermaid Parade). Check out the 1911 NYT newspaper clipping: 500,000 people partying on the beach, and the police were overwhelmed by "boisterous horse-play."

Straw hats were a special target of the rowdies. All up and down Surf Avenue after 8 p.m., hats could be seen flying up into the air, only to be stomped on and crushed upon landing. Gangs of "rushers" would hurry through restaurants, knocking over tables, sweeping glasses to the floor and upsetting chairs.

Gangs would also stuff confetti into ladies' mouths and otherwise "manhandle them."

This went on for 50 years? Ah, the good old days...

Those Rowdies in Coney Island ... 1911 PMFA

Photo by Jeff Pearce, Creative Commons license

Just Another Morning on Smith Street

About 9 a.m., getting ready for the crowds that will come to Bar Tabac later in the day.

Photo by MK Metz

The Same Nice People Are Coming to 103 Bond Street

At various times Mother Earth Gifts, Butter, Michelle New York, and a car service, something new is coming to 103 Bond Street in Boerum Hill. Get a sort of Greek feeling, based on the lettering. Seem to be nice people, though...

Photo by MK Metz

Return Laptop, Get Reward: A Brooklyn Lament

The laptop was taken from someone's apartment around Atlantic and Hoyt. $2000 reward, no questions asked.

Sadly, the computer contains all of the owner's work and is more important than money.

Photo by MK Metz (click to enlarge)

Shooting Near Jewish Girls' School in Williamsburg, and More Brooklyn in Brief

- Police are investigating a shooting near a Jewish girls’ school in Williamsburg Brooklyn. National Terror Alert Response Center

- Brooklyn dentist/body parts ghoul pleads guilty, faces up to 54 years. Brooklyn Eagle

- Ikea's signs are up in Red Hook. Photo gallery at Curbed

- The city has banned one of Brooklyn’s largest animal foster groups from saving dogs and cats from euthanasia, sparking an outcry. Brooklyn Paper

- Due to "concerns in the Brooklyn community," the date of the 2008 Brooklyn Half-Marathon has been changed from Saturday, April 26, to Saturday, May 3. What concerns? New York Road Runner via Travelographer

- Saturday night, after putting out a car fire near the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, firefighters found two bodies in the trunk. Gerritsen Beach

- Brownstoner scoffs at $1,200 a foot on Cadman Plaza West in Brooklyn Heights. But the broker has the wrong address listed -- the building is actually 75 Henry Street. Brownstoner

- As the economy cools, tenants are starting to dump Manhattan office space. Crain's New York

Brooklyn's Bear Stearns' Employees to 'Jump Ship?'

The mood is "basically one of panic,” one of Bear Stearns' 1,500 MetroTech employees told the Brooklyn Eagle Monday. “I’m young, so I don’t care,” he said. “But many of the older guys who have families, I expect many of them to be jumping ship during the next year or so."

One-tenth of Bear Stearns' employees currently work at MetroTech in Downtown Brooklyn.

Bear Stearns was sold to JPMorgan Chase for $2 a share, in a deal brokered by the Federal Reserve Bank. (Bear shares had been as high as $172.61 a share last year.)

Check out the 47-page Merger Agreement and 5-page Guaranty Agreement, as seen on the Bear Stearns Web site Monday. How in the world did they whip that together so fast?

Many Brooklynites aren't aware that the Brooklyn outpost of Bear Stearns is located at 1 MetroTech Center, in a building it shares with National Grid (once called KeySpan, before that called Brooklyn Union Gas).

There's no telling how long Bear Stearns will stay at 1 MetroTech, though legal considerations (such as a lease with landlord Forest City Ratner Companies) may keep them for a while. (Luckily, JPMorgan Chase is just a hop, skip and a jump away, at 3 MetroTech.)

National Grid is giving up a few choice floors in the same building, and that has KeySpan chief executive Robert Catell, now executive chairman of National Grid USA, a bit miffed.

Catell had "expressed a strong desire" to remain in his spellbindingly impressive 23rd floor office, said to be leased for around $1.1 million a month, according to Newsday.

Probably can't expect Bear Stearns to take over the space.

- Former Bear Stearns’ Offices Seen Staying in Brooklyn Brooklyn Eagle
- National Grid's Catell Says Buh-Bye to His Million-a-Month Brooklyn Office

Photo by MK Metz

Brooklyn Urban Outfitters Opens on Atlantic

The new bi-level Urban Outfitters on Atlantic Avenue in Cobble Hill opened Thursday but we just got out there this weekend. The store had a nice rough-hewn feel, especially downstairs where some of the floors and walls were unfinished.

Upstairs was for girls, downstairs shoes and boys. The girls' department was featuring really skinny jeans, lots of layers and a nice shade of blue. Some dynamic colors in the guys' area, especially shirts.

We got there after 5 Sunday evening, so it was hard to tell how busy their first weekend was.

The Eagle has something on the opening, too.

- Brooklyn's Urban Outfitters Getting Ready for Thursday Opening

Photos by MK Metz

5th-Anniversary Iraq Protests in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and DC

Brooklyn for Peace (formerly Brooklyn Parents for Peace) send us information about the following events marking the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq:

To mark the disastrous effects of five years of war ­on this country, on Iraq, and specifically in our own neighborhoods, ­Brooklynites will hold several local actions and join a city-wide protest in Manhattan, as well as a national action in Washington, DC.

Brooklyn events
Two local actions will be held March 19, the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq:

Press Conference & Brooklyn Says No to War March and Vigil, co-sponsored by Brooklyn For Peace and MoveOn.
5:30 PM: press conference at Grand Army Plaza, with speakers from Brooklyn for Peace and MoveOn.
6:00: march down Flatbush Avenue to the military recruiting station at 41 Flatbush Ave. (Livingston St.).
7:00: brief program. Iraq war vets and members of military families will speak. The protest will close with a candlelight vigil.

Protest at Congressmember Vito Fossella’s office. At 12:00 noon, Peace Action Bay Ridge will sponsor a protest at Fossella’s Bay Ridge office (8505 4th Ave., at 85th St.) to express his constituents’ opposition to his position as the only Brooklyn Representative to support President Bush’s war policy. Representatives from military families, Brooklyn For Peace, Peace Action Bay Ridge, and Bay Ridge Interfaith Coalition will speak.

On Thursday, March 20, Fort Greene Peace will hold a Speakout against War at Tillie’s cafe, 284 DeKalb Ave. (at Vanderbilt), at 8:00 PM. Everyone is invited to share poetry, rap, comments, music at the open mic. Free admission, no cover.

Citywide protest
On Saturday, March 22, Brooklynites will cross the river to join a citywide River-to-River Human Chain, spanning 14th Street in Manhattan from 1st Ave. to 11th Ave. Dozens of participating groups will send members who, along with thousands of other individuals, will line the street to call on Congress to end funding for the war and bring the troops home.

The Human Chain will begin at 12:00 noon and end at 2:00 PM as protesters converge for a commemoration march around Union Square.

For more info: www.brooklynpeace.org/events/index.html or
http://events.unitedforpeace.org/5yearstoomany/events/show/3307

National civil disobedience

Five Brooklynites will also participate in a day of creative nonviolent action and civil disobedience in Washington, D.C., on March 19. They will join over 250 people from every state in the union for such actions as a “March of the Dead” by activists in death masks, moving through the city in small groups, or a “Green Zone” created on K Street among the lobbyists’ offices.

For more info: http://5yearstoomany.org/article.php?id=60 .

Brooklyn for Peace (formerly Brooklyn Parents for Peace) is a local peace and social justice not-for-profit.

Harbor Seal Visits Red Hook

Let's hope it doesn't head into the Gowanus Canal.

Video from iReport.

Brooklyn School Name Change Causing Trouble: Drummer Boy Vs. Old-Time Educator

There's trouble in Kensington: an elementary school wants to change its name from the "Doris L. Cohen School" to the "Clarence D. McKenzie School."

In case you don't know who either of these people are: According to the Brooklyn Eagle, Doris. L. Cohen, in the 70s and 80s, was a big-time volunteer in the school, working on the PTA, the School Board, committees, etc.

Clarence D. McKensie, on the other hand, was the little drummer boy who was the first Brooklynite to die in the Civil War. There's a memorial to him at Green-Wood Cemetery.

What's the problem? The relatives of Doris Cohen still live in Brooklyn, and they're pretty steamed.

Which raises an issue: How long should an honorary naming last, and whose responsibility is it to keep someone's name alive?

More here.

Illustration: An unattributed period drawing of Clarence D. McKenzie, Civil War drummer boy

That's FORMER Gov. Elliot Spitzer

At 11:45 a.m. Wednesday morning, bowing to enormous public pressure in light of the news about his use of high-price prostitutes, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer announced his resignation. The resignation will become effective Monday, March 17, at the request of Lt. Gov. David Paterson -- a "date he believes will permit an orderly transition," Spitzer said.

Paterson, 53, who is legally blind, will serve out Spitzer's term, which ends in 2010. He will be New York's first black governor.

- Waiting for Gov. Spitzer's 11:30 Announcement
- Emperors Club Prostitute Bigs Live in Brooklyn Heights? More Like Fort Greene
- Brooklyn Investigation and NY Gov. Spitzer: Kinky "Client 9"
- New York Gov. Spitzer Admits ... Something
- New York Gov. Spitzer Alleged to Visit VIP Prostitutes From Brooklyn-Based Emperors Club

Paul Dano's 'Gigantic' Films in Brooklyn Heights Wednesday

Paul Dano ("There Will Be Blood") is the star in "Gigantic," filming on Cadman Plaza West in Brooklyn Heights today. McBrooklyn got a photo as crews were setting up this morning. (That's the Park Plaza diner on the left in the photo.) We'll try to update as filming gets started.

"Gigantic" is an "offbeat romantic comedy being helmed by first-time director Matt Aselton," according to Hollywood Reporter.

Zooey Deschanel will also star. The plot involves a mattress salesman and a young woman he meets at his store. One of the crew told McBrooklyn, "The guy gets involved in a lot of strange things."

There's no specific time for indie's release, the crew member said. "He'll probably bring it to the festivals next year; he hopes to bring it into syndication."

Waiting for Gov. Spitzer's 11:30 Announcement

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer is expected to resign this morning The New York Times said, citing unnamed staff members. These staff members say that the resignation will be effective Monday.

According to Reuters, Spitzer is to issue a brief statement in New York City at 11:30 EDT.

It's about time -- this town can't seem to get any work done waiting for the other shoe to drop. Fifth Avenue and 79th Street is a zoo, with reporters staked out all night waiting for the announcement from the Gov and his wife, who have been bunkered up since the shocking news came to light. Police have erected barricades and tourists are snapping photos for the folks back home.

- Emperors Club Prostitute Bigs Live in Brooklyn Heights? More Like Fort Greene

- Brooklyn Investigation and NY Gov. Spitzer: Kinky "Client 9"

- New York Gov. Spitzer Admits ... Something

- New York Gov. Spitzer Alleged to Visit VIP Prostitutes From Brooklyn-Based Emperors Club

Enough About Spitzer, Back to Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights

We were so excited about Gov. Spitzer's little adventures yesterday that we neglected to post any photos of the filming on Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights.

Here you can see Siggy’s health-food restaurant being readied as the set for an episode of “The Closer” (TNT) starring beautiful Golden Globe winner Kyra Sedgwick. Heights Falafel and Fascati Pizza were redecorated with outdoor cafes ... and they looked pretty good, too.

In other media news, the movie "Gigantic" will be filmed starting Wednesday on Cadman Plaza West in Brooklyn heights. Expect BIG trucks and lots of crew. More details here.

Emperors Club Prostitute Bigs Live in Brooklyn Heights? More Like Fort Greene

Live from Brooklyn Heights, where some of the people arrested in connection with the Emperors Club live. Money laundering and promoting prostitution are some of the charges against them.

UPDATE: Atlantic Yards Report questions the location of the home pictured as being in Brooklyn Heights. WCBS-TV sent a reporter to Fulton Ferry Landing, on the edge of Brooklyn Heights, but it is more likely the home pictured is in Fort Greene. See here.

Brooklyn Investigation and NY Gov. Spitzer: Kinky "Client 9"

Get Paid to Wave in Downtown Brooklyn

In January, McBrooklyn reported that Liberty Tax Service in Downtown Brooklyn was looking for people to dress up like the Statue of Liberty and wave at people. This enterprising woman jumped right up and accepted the challenge.

Need work? Apply soon. This position may not be open after tax season.

- Get Paid to Wave

Photo by MK Metz

That's One Stacked Mannequin on Fulton Street

Dr. Jay's Ladies store at 479 Fulton Street in Downtown Brooklyn has one stacked mannequin standing in the window. We mean really stacked. We mean falling out of her dress stacked. We mean -- oh, well.


Photos by MK Metz

Brooklyn Investigation and NY Gov. Spitzer: Kinky "Client 9"

It was an investigation of a Brooklyn-based prostitution ring that netted the biggest fish in New York State: Gov. Eliot Spitzer. (The story was first reported by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle hours after Thursday’s raids.)

The Emperors Club escorts charged anywhere from $1,000 to $3,100 per hour, based on each particular woman’s diamond-rating. The Eagle has a screen-grab from the Emperors Club Web site (taken down soon after the raids) here.

Client 9 Kinky?

If you haven't read enough:
Court filing excerpts regarding "Client 9"
who apparently asked his escorts to do things
"that, like, you might not think were safe..."

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
Violations of 
18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1952, 

2421, 2422, 1956 
MARK BRENER, 
a/k/a "Michael, " COUNTY OF OFFENSE: 
CECIL SUWAL, NEW YORK 
8 
a/k/a "Katie, " 
a/k/a "Kate, " 
TEMEKA RACHELLE LEWIS, 
a/k/a "Rachelle, "and 
TANYA HOLLANDER, 
a/k/a "Tania Hollander," 

Defendants. 

Excerpt:

LEWIS asked "Kristen" how she thought the
appointment went, and "Kristen" said that she thought it went
very well. LEWIS asked "Kristen" how much she collected, and
'Kristen" said $4,300. "Kristen" said that she liked him, and
that she did not think he was difficult. "Kristen" stated: 'I
don't think he's difficult. I mean it's just kind of like . . .
whatever. . . I'm here for a purpose. I know what my purpose is.
I am not a . . . moron, you know what I mean. So maybe that's
why girls maybe think they're difficult . . . ." "Kristen"
continued: "That's what it is, because you're here for a

[purpose]. Let's not get it twisted -I know what I do, you
know." LEWIS responded: "You look at it very uniquely, because .
. . no one .ever says it that way." LEWIS continued that from
what she had been told "he" (believed to be a reference to
Client-9) "would ask you to do things that, like, you might not
think were safe -you know -I mean that . . . very basic things.

. . . "Kristen" responded: "I have a way of dealing with that...

More here.

- New York Gov. Spitzer Admits ... Something

- New York Gov. Spitzer Alleged to Visit VIP Prostitutes

New York Gov. Spitzer Admits ... Something

UPDATED:
At roughly 3:15, New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer admitted he acted in "an inappropriate way" that "violated the trust of his family" and apologized to the public and his family.

He did not deny or confirm the New York Times article that alleges that Gov. Spitzer may have been "client "Number 9" of a high-priced call-girl ring.

One of the clients described in court papers "arranged to meet with a prostitute in Washington who was part of the ring on the night of Feb. 13," says the Times. The Gov. was in Washington at that time.

Last week Federal agents raided three Brooklyn locations and arrested four individuals believed to be the leaders of the international prostitution ring servicing clients in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and Paris.

According to the Brooklyn Eagle, the Emperors Club employed "model-esque escorts who charged anywhere from $1,000 to $3,100 per hour, based on each particular woman’s diamond rating."

According to the Eagle, the Emperors Club concealed the illegal nature of the business by accepting monetary proceeds in U.S. bank accounts on behalf of front companies such as QAT Consulting Group, Inc. and QAT International, Inc.

New York Gov. Spitzer Alleged to Visit VIP Prostitutes From Brooklyn-Based Emperors Club

Last week Federal agents raided three Brooklyn locations and arrested four individuals believed to be the leaders of an international prostitution ring servicing clients in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and Paris. According to the Brooklyn Eagle, the Emperors Club employed "model-esque escorts who charged anywhere from $1,000 to $3,100 per hour, based on each particular woman’s diamond rating."

Now an article in the New York Times alleges that New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer himself may have been a client -- client "Number 9." One of the clients described in court papers "arranged to meet with a prostitute in Washington who was part of the ring on the night of Feb. 13," says the Times. The Gov. was in Washington at that time.

According to the Eagle, the Emperors Club concealed the illegal nature of the business by accepting monetary proceeds in U.S. bank accounts on behalf of front companies such as QAT Consulting Group, Inc. and QAT International, Inc.

Spitzer canceled his scheduled public events for the day. He scheduled an announcement for 2:15 after inquiries from the Times.

Update HERE.

Brooklyn's Urban Outfitters Getting Ready for Thursday

The Urban Outfitters at 164 Atlantic Avenue in Cobble Hill was abuzz with activity this weekend as the crew prepared for Thursday's opening.





Looks like some nice spring fashions coming in.




Photos by MK Metz

Target Opens Near Brooklyn College

The Brooklyn Junction blog provides a first look at the new "Brooklyn College Target" at The Junction of Flatbush and Nostrand Avenues. Plenty of photos so take a look. BJ says that the store "seemed well stocked and clean. Service was friendly." And there's an in-house Starbucks.

BJ also maintains a running list of shops expected to open soon at the Junction, including Canal Jeans, Circuit City, and Shakespeare and Co. bookshop.

More here.

Bomb Scare on Smith Street?

Saturday night the police shut down Smith Street between Union and Douglas (in Boerum Hill) at roughly 5:30 p.m. and didn't let anybody drive through. McBrooklyn wandered by Union Street and Smith (shown here) at roughly 10 p.m. and Smith was still blocked off.

A resident was told it was a bomb scare, though the police wouldn't confirm anything. The cops left at (roughly) 10:30.

Photo by MK Metz

End of the Rain on Atlantic Avenue

And the sky revealed itself to Brooklyn Saturday evening.

Photo by MK Metz