Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Today: Last Day to Sign Up for ObamaCare; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- History: The wine cellars hidden under the Brooklyn Bridge. [NPR]

- Warning about phone scammers asking, "Can you hear me?" Don't answer! [abc7ny]

- ICYMI:Brooklyn judge defies a president. [Brooklyn Eagle

- ICYMI: Trump fired acting Attorney General Sally Q. Yates, after she refused to defend the president’s executive order on immigration. [NYT]  He replaced her with Dana Boente. [Washington Post]

- Melania and Barron run errands in Manhattan despite city protests over Trump immigration ban. [Daily Mail]

- It took Donald Trump's refugee ban to give Lyft a win over Uber. [Slate]

- Today is the last day to sign up for Obamacare! [Affordable Care]

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An Apology to the World, from America


Everyone should watch this, and shed a tear.

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Brooklyn Student, Doctor Marooned Abroad by Trump's Immigration Ban

CUNY students outside Federal Court in Brooklyn. Photo: MK Metz
 A Brooklyn doctor -- Dr. Kamal Fadlalla, who works at Interfaith Hospital -- and CUNY grad student Saira Rafiee are not allowed to return to the U.S. after vacationing abroad, as a result of Trump's controversial immigration executive order.

A protest organized by CUNY and attended by BP Eric Adams was held Monday outside of federal court in Brooklyn. More than 100 CUNY students are affected by the ban, school representatives said.

BP Adams read a letter from Saira that said in part, " I have no clue whether I would ever be able to go back to the school I like so much, or to see my dear friends there."

Federal Court was the center of a rally attended by more than 500 protesters Saturday night, when  Judge Ann M. Donnelly issued a temporary stay of Trump's order.

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Women Are Getting It Done in Fighting Trump's Craziness

Women have been noticeably stepping up to the plate in saying no to Trump ....

From the attorneys volunteering at airports, to  the female judges issuing stays on Trump's immigration executive order, to the (now former) attorney general of the U.S. sacked by Trump for putting the Constitution ahead of his demands (weird plot twist here), to the Women's Marchers on Washington, NYC and countless towns and cities around the country, women are certainly doing their share.




All we can say is ... Yay, women, gettin' it done!

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Friday, January 27, 2017

Stupid Tourists Climb Brooklyn Bridge; BPL Intellectual Rave Party; Lunar New Year; and More Brooklyn Briefs

Photo by MK Metz
- 12-hour French ‘intellectual rave party’ at Brooklyn Public Library this weekend. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Tourists arrested for climbing Brooklyn Bridge to take selfies. [DNAinfo]

- South Asian residents in Kensington are forming a grassroots network to respond to Trump's threats against vulnerable members of the community. [The Nation]

- Brooklyn gun broker secretly recorded conversations with corrupt NYPD cops. [Daily News]

- A townhouse in Brooklyn Heights with one of the highest price tags in the borough has just gone into contract. [Forbes]

- Brooklyn artist arrested after allegedly wanting to show how easy it is carry around a bomb. [Daily News]

- It turns out Jared Kushner and Sean Spicer are also registered to vote in two states. [Washington Post]

- A guide to the best Lunar New Year events in Brooklyn. [Brooklyn Paper]




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Monday, January 23, 2017

Road Rager Runs Down Boy; Glowing Sex Stuff; El Chapo; and More Brooklyn Briefs


- Road-rage driver hits boy, 14, on Greenpoint sidewalk, then yells at other driver as boy writhes in pain. [Daily News]

- A feminist-sex-shop-gift-shop-book-shop-mini-gallery operates behind a glittery curtain in a laundromat in Bushwick. It specializes in "cosmic, glowing sex stuff."  [TCP]

- No tunnel out for Mexican drug lord El Chapo, facing justice in Brooklyn. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- 15-year-old shot in East Flatbush, 2 suspects flee: NYPD. [NBC NY]

- East Flatbush man arrested for hiding a dismembered corpse in the  Bronx. [NY1]

- A Brooklyn solution to Islam's law forbidding women from showing their hair to men outside of their own families, even while getting a haircut.  [Refinery29]

- Nearly half of U.S. men have genital infections caused by a sexually transmitted virus, and 1 in 4 has strains linked with several cancers, a national survey indicates. [KRQE]

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced in an op-ed that insurance companies in New York will have to continue offering birth control for no co-pay even if the Affordable Care Act is repealed. [Gothamist]

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Thursday, January 19, 2017

Kings County Hospital's Psych Ward Not a Horror Anymore; Sen. Sampson Gets 5 Years; Sanctuary Restaurants; and More Brooklyn Briefs

(As a commenter pointed out, this is actually the Manhattan Bridge.)

- The federal government says Kings County Hospital's Psych Ward has been transformed from a dangerous, dilapidated mess to a modern, healthy facility. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- State Sen. John Sampson was sentenced to five years in prison for obstructing justice, lying to FBI. [Daily News]

- 15-year-old released in 2014 murder of Brooklyn rabbi in Miami because of lack of evidence. [abc7]

- Sanctuary Restaurant Movement launches in Brooklyn. [Kings County Politics]

- Officials were set to unveil plans for new schools and new seats in Brooklyn's fast-growing District 15 at a public forum last night. [DNAinfo]

- Eric Garner case before Brooklyn grand jury. [Newsday]

- The NYPD is on the hunt for a serial robber with a penchant for perfumes. [nbcNY]

- 16-year-old boy busted for threatening 13-year-old girl with BB gun at Brownsville school. [Daily News]

- A man who was viciously stabbed at a Crown Heights deli over 50 cents said he’s lucky to be alive. [News10]




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Monday, January 9, 2017

McBrooklyn Is Taking a Couple of Days Off

Dunk Island photo by Melalouise, Creative Commons license
 McBrooklyn is taking a break until Thursday. Stay warm and safe until we get back!




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Friday, January 6, 2017

Toxic PCB Lighting Fixtures Removed from NYC Schools; Brooklyn Food and Beer Festival; and More Brooklyn Briefs


- Good news for kids: Thousands of PCB-contaminated lighting fixtures finally yanked out of NYC schools. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Brooklyn train was speeding before crash, say U.S. investigators. [Reuters]

Clear video shows two guys jumping a woman on 16th Ave. in Borough Park on Dec. 27. [Daily News]

- Muslim teen tracks down a guy who assaulted an Orthodox Jewish woman on a Q subway train. [CBS]

- Get ready for the first-ever Best of Brooklyn Food and Beer Festival. [Time Out]

- Meet Brooklyn's WBO Women's Junior Featherweight world champion Amanda Serrano and her sister WBO Women's Featherweight champion Cindy Serrano, the first sisters to concurrently hold world titles. VIDEO. [Fox5]

- Somebody at Yahoo Finance misspelled a tweet.  Big time. [Mercury News]

- Less shrinkage: This is your aging brain on the Mediterranean diet. [LA Times]


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Thursday, January 5, 2017

It's Snowing in Brooklyn!

Photo by MK Metz
  The promised snow "storm" has begun in Brooklyn. According to the National Weather Service, total nighttime accumulation of 1 to 3 inches is possible.It should wrap up by 10 a.m. Friday. A winter weather advisory is in effect till then.

Shown above: Cadman Plaza West in Brooklyn Heights/ Downtown Brooklyn


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Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Polar Bear Fashion; Cops Shoot Canarsie Man Wielding Knife; and More Brooklyn Briefs


- An NYPD cop fatally shot a knife-wielding man in Canarsie Tuesday night. [NY Post]

- Blaze tears through two Kensington apartments, injures three. [Daily News]

- Polar Bears are sure dressing funny lately for their New Year's plunge. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Cops are asking the public’s help finding a 23-year-old driver accused of mowing down a pedestrian in Brooklyn and ditching his two passengers in his mangled Lexus. [Daily News]

- In Williamsburg, a range of luxury, beautifully designed hotels are opening, jostling for the attentions of fashionable travelers. [Daily Beast]

- Here are a few of the really gross things living on a dollar bill. [NY Magazine]

- The St. Ives Apricot Scrub controversy is headed to court. [Slate]


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Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Another Body Found in Prospect Park Lake; Incurable Disease Hits Brooklyn Oak Trees; and More Brooklyn Briefs


- A search for a missing person ended tragically Monday, when the body of a 19-year-old man was pulled from Prospect Park’s lake. [Daily News]

- Deadly, incurable & fast spreading oak wilt disease detected in Brooklyn trees. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Brooklyn cheerleaders need help getting to the national championship in Orlando. [abc7]

- Cops are looking for a man who tried to rip off a woman’s pants in an elevator in Ditmas Park. [Daily News]

- The big-money developers who lavished cash on Mayor de Blasio’s nonprofit appear to be behind the planning of the multibillion-dollar Brooklyn Queens Connector (BQX) trolley line. [NY Post]

- Brighton Beach is brought to life through the lens of Franck Bohbot in this 'Little Odessa' series. [fubiz]

- Brooklyn to show up in force at post-inauguration protest. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- To kick off the Trump era, the House votes to get rid of the Office of Congressional Ethics. [TPM]

Nicki Minaj performs "Starships", from "The Pinkprint Tour in Brooklyn.

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