Brooklyn Borough Hall Tree Lighting to Feature Moment of Silence for Eric Garner Tonight

Photo: MK Metz

At 5 p.m. tonight (Dec. 15) Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams will celebrate the holiday season by lighting the Christmas tree in Brooklyn Borough Hall Plaza.

Why is this year different than any other year?

After the lighting, he will darken the lights for a moment of silence over the death of Eric Garner and in peaceful solidarity with those calling for local and national criminal justice reform.

During the silence, a member of the Brooklyn United Marching Band will strike their drum eleven times to symbolize the eleven times Garner repeated, "I can't breathe," before he lost consciousness.

Borough President Adams will speak to the importance of pursuing non-violent protest, particularly in the wake of the assault of two NYPD lieutenants during a march last night on the Brooklyn Bridge.

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More on Millions March NYC . . . Gracie Mansion is Next...

Marchers at Union Square. Photos by MK Metz

 Thousands joined the Millions March NYC, which started in Manhattan at Washington Square Park and wound through Union Square on Saturday. By the time darkness fell, the crowd had swelled to between 25,000 to 30,000, according to various news reports.

Senior citizens march for the cause.

The amazing thing was the mixture of all ages and races.

As the evening wore on, some of the protesters stayed in Manhattan, while others streamed over the bridges into Brooklyn.

The mood was good -- until some a**hole got crazy on the Brooklyn Bridge and tried to throw a metal garbage can at police officers. When police went after him, a mini-riot erupted, which ended up with two cops on the ground getting kicked by some of the protesters. One cop's nose was broken.

Marchers coming off the Brooklyn Bridge walkway onto Tillary St.

Arrested for fomenting the melee was Eric Linsker, an adjunct English professor at Baruch College.

According to the University of Iowa Press, "Eric Linsker holds degrees from Harvard and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. His poems have appeared in Boston Review, Chicago Review, Conjunctions, and Lana Turner. " He lives in Crown Heights.

According to CBS, Linsker's attorney called the charges bogus.

Police net at Tillary and Brooklyn Bridge Blvd.

After marchers exited the Brooklyn Bridge, a police net caused them to head up Tillary Street to Flatbush. All traffic ground to a halt while the street was filled with chanting protesters.

Protestors march right up Tillary to Flatbush. Photos by MK Metz

The group split up -- some marched along Atlantic, some on Smith Street -- and then recombined at Barclays Center for a couple of different die-ins.

According to the Brooklyn Eagle, police estimated that 2,000 demonstrators participated in the largest one. Another group, estimated at 1,500 by police, held a die-in in the middle of Eastern Parkway near Nostrand.

What's next? Word is protesters are unhappy that Mayor de Blasio refuses to meet with a group of them -- so they're going to the Mayor... tonight.

Next up!!! Join us for the party!! #MansionShutdown pic.twitter.com/TbauN4mLfP
— Justice League NYC (@NYjusticeleague) December 15, 2014

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Sen. Squadron Holding a Town Hall in Downtown Brooklyn Thursday, Dec. 11

Photo: MK Metz

State Sen. Daniel Squadron is holding a Town Hall tonight that will focus on how to make state government work better.

Squaadron: "There are a whole lot of ways that improving the system -- whether reigning in unlimited campaign contributions, closing gaps in ethics laws, or making it easier to vote -- that will improve people's lives."

This Town Hall will be a chance to discuss a more responsive and transparent government. It taakes place Thursday, December 11th at 6:30pm at the Forchelli Conference Center at Brooklyn Law School, located at 205 State Street, 22nd Floor, in Downtown Brooklyn.


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Meeting: Councilman Levin to Speak About Brooklyn Heights Library's ULURP Process

Photo: MK Metz

City Councilmember Steve Levin will talk about the city's ULURP (Uniform Land Use Review Process) in connection with the sale of the Brooklyn Heights Branch Library on Sunday, Dec. 14 at 4:30 p.m. in the Community Room of 101 Clark St., Brooklyn Heights.

The event is sponsored by Citizens Defending Libraries, which is fighting the sale and redevelopment of the Heights branch.

All are welcome to attend.

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Goodbye NYC Payphones; Hello Wi-Fi Hot Spots

Rendering: LinkNYC

NYC approved on Wednesday a deal to replace New York City’s payphones with free Wi-Fi hot spots.

The city will eventually install 10,000 LinkNYC towers. Users will be able to pick up Wi-Fi on their mobile devices, make free calls within the U.S., and charge their devices. The Wi-Fi signal will extend 150 feet from each link.

The first units to be installed will offer 1 gigabit Wi-Fi speeds, enabling someone to download a 2-hr movie in under a minute. These kiosks will have dynamic advertising. A slower model (one-tenth the speed), without ads, will be installed in residential areas, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.

A number of questions remain, including data security. (Such as: How can we trust with our data with the company that hid 500 trackers in Manhattan payphones last year? After they were outed by Buzzfeed in October, the mayor ordered them to rip them out.)

Also, in this city of immigrants, what do people do who lack "devices?" Payphones in hospitals and around the courthouses are still busy. What do these users do when they are replaced with Wi-Fi kiosks?

NYC approves plans to replace payphones with free Wi-Fi hotspots [Brooklyn Eagle]

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Brooklyn Housing Court to Move; Massage Parlors; Spacesuits and More Brooklyn Briefs

Chop on the East River. Photo: MK Metz

 - Brooklyn Housing Court may move to the Municipal Building. [NY Times]

- Brooklyn now the most unaffordable place to buy a home in America. [Gothamist]

- Investigators shut down nine massage parlors in Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst following an investigation into alleged human trafficking. [AMNY]

- Mayor de Blasio and Police Commissioner William Bratton unveiled a new training program for cops they hope will strengthen relations between the NYPD and the community. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- The city officially took over the McKinley Park Library branch in Dyker Heights using eminent domain. [Commercial Observer]

- What it's like to wear a spacesuit in Brooklyn. [Space]


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Eric Garner Protesters Shut Down Brooklyn Bridge

Photo: MK Metz

Marchers protesting the grand jury's failure to indict the police officer who choked Eric Garner shut down the Brooklyn Bridge around midnight Wednesday night.

A very large number of police vehicles surrounded the marchers as they walked over the bridge. Many sat down on the Brooklyn-bound roadway.

David Mack ‏tweeted: "'They can't arrest us all. There's too many of us,' another #EricGarner protester yells to Brooklyn Bridge crowd."

"They can't arrest us all. There's too many of us," another #EricGarner protester yells to Brooklyn Bridge crowd. pic.twitter.com/z3vig20K9W
— David Mack (@davidmackau) December 4, 2014

But it appears they are arresting many.

According to NYPD dispatchers, the Queensborough Bridge was also shut down --  along with  the Lincoln Tunnel, Grand Central and West Side Highway.

Protesters in #NYC storm the Brooklyn Bridge https://t.co/xegNTmjmcA #EricGarner
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 4, 2014

Around 1 a.m. Thursday morning the marchers poured onto Tillary, then procededed to Flatbush Ave.

The Brooklyn Bridge remained closed while those arrested were loaded into police vehicles.

Around 1:30 a.m., marchers were at Atlantic Ave. and Flatbush; the bridge was not yet fully open.

UPDATE: The Brooklyn-bound side of the Brooklyn Bridge has now been reopened. (Manhattan-bound is closed due to bridge work.)

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Hasidic Jews Smuggling Pot; Doughnut Plant Opening Near Barclays; and More Brooklyn Briefs

Site of Doughnut Plant, 245 Flatbush. Photo ©2014 Google

 - ‘Not So Undercover’: Good samaritan skirts law to repaint Brooklyn Heights. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Hearing coming up for Brooklyn Hasidic Jews accused of trying to smuggle marijuana from El Paso. [El Paso Times]

- The Montague Street BID is organizing a bunch of holiday events in Brooklyn Heights, including a photo op with Santa, a classical concert at St. Ann’s Church and caroling. [Brownstoner]

- The best outdoor holiday markets. [NY Daily News]

- The Sheepshead Bay – Plumb Beach Civic Association will meet Tuesday, December 2, at 7:45pm to discuss the homeless shelter that has opened in the former Windjammer motel. [Sheepshead Bites]

- Eater creates a list of 10 old-fashioned Italian-American restaurants to try in Brooklyn. [Eater]

- BP Eric Adams wants to build thousands of affordable apartments on stalled or challenged sites ranging from rail yards to parking lots. [WSJ]

- Doughnut Plant to open Brooklyn outpost Wednesday -- near Barclays. [DNAinfo]


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Kushner-Owned Brownstone in Brooklyn Heights Unsecured for Weeks

Photo by MK Metz

Brooklyn Heights activist Jeff Smith says that an unlocked $6.3 million brownstone on Monroe Place is "a bomb ready to go off," reports the Brooklyn Eagle.

The brownstone -- with a broken window and unlocked basement hatch -- is owned by real estate group Kushner Properties, which bought it from Brooklyn Law School in April, 2014.

Smith worries that squatters or kids may set off a conflagration in the building. FDNY and NYPD have been out to look at the brownstone, which has been gutted.

Smith's activism may be paying off. DOB is going to reinspect the site, and the Brooklyn Heights Association has reported the problem to the 84th Precinct.


Brooklyn Heights resident wants more security for $6.3 million brownstone [Brooklyn Eagle]

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Oh No You Don't: Brooklyn Bans SantaCon 2014 from Bushwick Park Kick Off

SantaCon 2011 at Grand Central. Photo* by MK Metz

The days of SantaCon being a kooky counterculture send up of the Santa concept are waaaay over.

Organizers for the annual costumed pub crawl/ drunk fest, who wanted to kick off this year's festivities in Maria Hernandez Park in Bushwick, Brooklyn, were told to forget about it, according to DNA info.

The group wanted to use the park as a gathering and set-up point for the Dec. 13 event, which attracts about 30,000 Santa-clad, slobbering, puking idiots.

The park is too small and the idiots are so many, Parks officials explained to DNA.

City Councilmember Rafael Espinal, Jr., released a statement asking bars to keep the Santas out.

Saying the nasty Santas left neighborhoods in shambles, he wrote, "I think I speak for many of my constituents and bar patrons when I say that we're not ready for a 'Santification' of Bushwick."

Gothamist links to the Boycott SantaCon website that is pretty hilarious. It calls SantaCon, "The most douchebag event of the year."

- SantaCon 2013
- SantaCon 2012.
- About SantaCon 2010


(*Photo copyright 2014 MK Metz)

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Brooklyn Brownstone Republicans to Join LICH March Sunday

LICH in the old days. Photo by MK Metz

The Brooklyn Brownstone Republican club says it will show up in force at Sunday's march and rally to protest the sale of Long Island College Hospital (LICH) in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn to developer Fortis Property Group.

The Republicans point their finger straight at Gov. Cuomo for demolishing the historic hospital, and claim Democratic politicians are "afraid to speak his name."

According to an article in the Brooklyn Eagle, Republicans are frustrated that Cuomo opponent Rob Astorino doesn't seem to get it.

"Rob Astorino should attend, as everyone here KNOWs the assault on our local hospital by NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo is his Achilles Heel," the club said.


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Another Adorable Cranberry Street Fair in Brooklyn Heights

The 36th annual Cranberry Street Festival took place Sunday in Brooklyn Heights, and once again neighbors and their families gathered to browse the flea, applaud Mimi Soltana’s tribal belly-dance troupe, listen to music, have their fortunes told and load up on burgers.

Youngsters enjoyed the pony rides, the very laid-back pet parade, face painting and pumpkin coloring, and everyone relaxed to Erik Loffswald’s live jazz and a performance by Jerri Bokeno of the 60s girl group Shangrilas.

At one point a conga line led by belly dancers wound up Cranberry Street. Good times!

Photos by MK Metz

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Still More Photos of the DUMBO Arts Festival 2014

If you haven't gotten your fill of all of the zany, boingy, odd and artistic persons, places and things that inhabited DUMBO this weekend, check out these photos of the DUMBO Arts Festival 2014.

Art Is Me Art Is You procession winds down Main Street. All photos by MK Metz

A giant dog made out of cardboard boxes.

"Circle Circus" in the Lounge

DADA with En Masse

See the little pink footprints painted on the tracks? They're by Karen Mamenti

"Hair Cuts" by Broke Lyn

"Hair Cuts" by Broke Lyn 2

"House of Strength" performance piece

Cards and coins were on the street.

Here's what they said.

"Sun Speak II" The tube changes color as you or your partner speaks. All photos by MK Metz

More photos at the Brooklyn Eagle and Gothamist.

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Sept. 11 Tribute in Light Looks Like It Burned a Hole Through the Sky

Photo: MK Metz

Like many others, we were on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade tonight looking at the 9-11 Tribute in Light.

Way up at the top of the twin blue beams, the clouds moved in such a way as to give the illusion that the lights had burned straight through the sky.

Can't believe it's been 13 years.

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Fully-Equipped Skateboarder, Hot Dog Stand, Brooklyn

Outside Squibb Park, Brooklyn Heights. Photos by MK Metz

Fully equipped.

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Welcome to Brooklyn: How Sweet It Is!

Photo: MK Metz

 This is the sign you see when you walk over the Brooklyn Bridge (to Brooklyn from Manhattan).

It's always a relief to make it back!

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Brooklyn Bridge Security: Maybe White Flag Folks Did Us All a Favor

The Brooklyn Bridge Flag Caper of 2014 has caused quite a flap. Photos by MK Metz

It's likely that many thousands of dollars have gone into Brooklyn Bridge security, yet a group of pranksters, probably half drunk, managed to pull off quite a coup by removing the American flags from atop the Brooklyn Bridges towers and replacing them with white ones early this morning.

While the city and NYPD bosses are rattling their sabers and going over video footage, that's kind of beside the point, isn't it?

Maybe the city should be thanking the flag folks for demonstrating that any terrorist with half a plan could have had one of our most cherished monuments for breakfast this morning, along with a thousand or two thousand motorists and pedestrians.

That being said, NYPD's Emergency Service Unit did a great job of climbing the cables up to the summit of the bridge. These guys always come through, even if they shouldn't have to.

ESU officer climbs the Brooklyn Bridge cable. MK Metz

* Speculation grows about the white flags on the Brooklyn Bridge.

* Brooklyn Borough President Adams offers a $5 reward for info leading to arrest of perps.

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Cops Respond to Sinkhole in Bed-Stuy, Saturday

©2014 |Google Maps

From the scanner:
9-1-1- got a call at roughly 2 p.m. on Saturday that a sinkhole had opened in Bedford-Stuyvesant at 60 Hancock Street, creating a dangerous condition.

The hole is located on Hancock between Bedford and Nostrand.

Nothing further.


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Seizure on Fishing Boat; EMS Rushes to Pier 9, Sheepshead Bay

By Kecko, Flickr

From the scanner:
A call came in to NYC's 9-1-1 at 1:41 p.m. Saturday afternoon that a person had a seizure on a fishing boat out of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. Callers requested EMS on standby at Pier 9.

* EMS responded at 1:43 p.m. that they were on the way.

* Marine 3 called in at 1:48 p.m. with news that they had stationed a person on the boat, and the boat was headed back to the dock.

* Marine 3 was told at 1:51 p.m. that Engine 321 and EMS had arrived at the pier.

* 1:54 p.m.: Dispatcher told Marine 3 that EMS and FDNY were awaiting the boat at Pier 9, on Emmons Avenue off E. 22 St.

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This Weekend: Shakespeare in Brooklyn Bridge Park: 'Taming of the Shrew' July 18, 19, 20

Photo: Random Access Theatre

Free performances of Shakespeare's famous "Taming of the Shrew" will take place Friday, Saturday and Sunday night (July 18, 19 and 20) at 7 p.m. in Brooklyn Bridge Park on Pier 1, overlooking the East River.

The shows, by the Dumbo based Random Access Theatre, are part of the Shakespeare at Sunset series.

(Note, Squibb Bridge and Park will be closed July 18, 21, 23 and 25, so the entrance closest to Pier 1 is at Old Fulton Street.)

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