Security in Brooklyn's Chinatown; BPL's Missing Books; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Young man was shot in the back “because two groups of young women were fighting about a hair weave." [NY Daily News]

- Where to find Super Bowl parties in Brooklyn. [Brooklyn Paper]

- Mayor de Blasio will be watching the big game from home with his family. [NY1]

- Super Bowl drugs, prostitute party-packs spur bust: 'Girls R in Town Waiting for U' [Bloomberg] Including a mom who pimped her 15-year-old daughter to make some bucks.

- Bed-Stuy's CB3 eyes slow zones. [Brooklyn Bureau]

- Book thieves stole 70,144 books from the Brooklyn Public Library in 2012. [NY Daily News]

- Extra security measures in place in Brooklyn's Chinatown ahead of Lunar New Year. [NY1]

- Pete Seeger's final night. [GregMitchellWriter]

- Thousands are mourning Colonel Meow, the Internet-famous scowling feline who landed a spot in the Guinness World Records. [NBC]

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In Brooklyn, We Learn to Never Open a Wriggling Bag

A worker in an auto body shop on Baltic Street in Gowanus, Brooklyn, called the cops on Monday after seeing in a dumpster a backpack and some bags -- moving. The worker was worried that a baby was inside, according to DNA.com.

If you ask why the worker did not open the bags himself and rescue the poor baby, you obviously don't come from Brooklyn.

When police peeked inside the bags, three large and probably very unhappy boa constrictors were found inside, trying to get out. One was six feet long, the others were three feet.

Bags of boa constrictors found alive in dumpster at #Brooklyn auto body shop. pic.twitter.com/DEdjx3IBma
— Allison Papson (@AllisonPapson) January 28, 2014

According to National Geographic, boas can grow up to 13 feet long and weigh more than 100 pounds. "Their jaws are lined with small, hooked teeth for grabbing and holding prey while they wrap their muscular bodies around their victim, squeezing until it suffocates."

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Brooklyn Botanic Garden Removes Science; Daniel Radcliffe in 'Brooklyn Bridge,' and More Brooklyn Briefs

Shomrim caught now the perp & partner who stole the Odyssey of the Hatzula volunteer last Friday night, & also break> pic.twitter.com/YbNa5SmHbe
— Williamsburg News (@WmsbgNews) January 23, 2014

in to lot cars the last week, Got them both arrested by NYPD red handed while stealing an other Odyssey on Franklyn. pic.twitter.com/1NqKAjrroW
— Williamsburg News (@WmsbgNews) January 23, 2014

- School was open, but fewer than half of NYC school kids made it in to class on Wednesday. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- 12-year-old Brooklyn boy missing for a week found safe -- at grandma's. [Daily News]

- Brooklyn Botanic Garden removes science from its mission. [Flatbush Gardener]

- Daniel Radcliffe to star as engineer Washington Roebling in "Brooklyn Bridge," which is actually about the Brooklyn Bridge. [Varirty]

- Celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year in Brooklyn. [Brooklyn Paper]

- Video: A dog that fell into an icy pond on Long Island was rescued after it frantically pawed at a chunk of ice to stay afloat. [NBC]


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Brooklyn Hasidic Hate Crime; Did Ratner Lie to Investors? And More Brooklyn Briefs

 - Watchdog says Forest City Ratner misled foreign investors about Atlantic Yards investment. [TRD]

- Police are investigating after a fashion design student was allegedly assaulted by a gang of up to 20 Hasidic men in Brooklyn, leaving him with a broken eye socket and a torn retina. [NBC NY]

- Is Whole Food's Gowanus store really that green? [PMFA]

- The Brooklyn Greenway Initiative updated its plan with a storm-surge-blocking seawall. [Brooklyn Paper]

- NYPD kills the Police Blotter. [Brokelyn]

- Three weeks left to register for property tax break. [Sheepshead Bites]

- City doesn’t need to return child to birth mother’s care, Brooklyn judge rules. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Gov. Cuomo "has no interest whatsoever in running for president.” [Politico]

- Hospitals start spinning like crazy as DOH starts listing prices. [Crain's]

- Pathetic TSA seizes tiny toy gun from stuffed monkey. Hahahahahahah! Sigh. [Gizmodo]

- Tiny baby squirrel saved, now rides on back of giant dog. Awwwww!. [Viral Nova]

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McCarren Ice Rink; Interfaith Bankruptcy; and More Brooklyn Briefs

 - Womenswear designer Eileen Fisher is scouting for a Brooklyn location. [Racked]

- Gowanus Canal zone steadily becoming the next Dumbo. [NY Daily News]

- Brooklyn judge orders mediation in Interfaith bankruptcy case -- closing put on hold. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Coney Island Hospital made it to the top 10 list of most affordable hospitals in New York State, and number one in the five boroughs. [Sheepshead Bites]

- McCarren Ice Rink opens today at 11 a.m. [Brownstoner]

- A dolphin was stranded in Coney Island Creek yesterday. [Bensonhurst Bean]

- There was once a plan to build a central vacuume cleaner under NYC. [Gizmodo]

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Oh Oh: West Nile Mosquitoes Are Spreading Across Brooklyn As We Speak

Wikipedia

Those carefree summer evenings are about to get a little more complicated in Brooklyn:

Health officials are suggesting that people cover up and spray themselves with bug repellent, and maybe stay inside between dusk to dawn if possible.

Mosquitoes infected with the West Nile virus are making their way across Brooklyn. First detected in Dyker Heights on August 2, it only took one week for them to spread to Broadway Junction, Gravesend, Georgetown, Farragut, Flatbush, Greenwood Heights and Canarsie.

More here.


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Dangerous Dog in Prospect Park, and the Owner May Be Even Worse

A poster on the Brooklynian blog writes about the owner of a pitbull mix in Prospect Park who encourages his dog to attack other dogs.

The scariest part of the story? He then joins his dog in the fight, kicking the other other dog and stabbing it with an ice pick. He sometimes hits the other dog's owner with a cane or umbrella as well, Whynot_31 reports.

Here's the poster a fellow dog owner put up:

More information here.

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Brooklyn Food Pantry Shortage; Poor Topsy: Parkwanus and More Brooklyn Briefs

Blue Bear rests in DUMBO. Photo: MK Metz

- Brooklyn pantries brace for food-aid cut. [Brooklyn Bureau]

- New nabe name alert: The intersection of Park Slope and Gowanus = Parkwanus. Commenter: "Whoever made up Parkwanus is a Parkweenis." [Gothamist]

- New book by a Brooklyn writer about Topsy, the poor elephant Thomas Edison electrocuted. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Sick of dancing Hasidim playing violins? Orthodox edge into new artistic expression. [Tablet]

- News that 9 people were shot at a Brooklyn house party ignites CNN commenter war over gun control. [CNN]  

- A tennis project for Brooklyn. [WSJ]

- Ecuador president: Edward Snowden can't leave Moscow. [Politico]

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Navy Yard Greenhouses; Citi Bike Share; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Coming to the Barclays Center plaza this Saturday: food trucks. [Atlantic Yards Reports]

- Helicopter cops with night-vision goggles stumble onto horseshoe-crab stealing ring. [NY Magazine]

- Brooklyn Navy Yard greenhouse is the latest to debut in complex’s redevelopment. [TRD]

- Despite glitches, Bloomberg says Citi Bike share big success. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- A hundred thanks to Sheepshead Bites for linking us to "Officials Say the Darndest Things."

- Mac n' cheese: Brooklyn Mac opened its Dumbo location last week. [DumboNYC]

- Dog released after death sentence. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Fifteen people were killed in New York City traffic in April, and 4,409 were injured. [Streetsblog]

- As hurricane season nears, Con Ed shows off equipment’s new protections. [NY Times]

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Have You Seen Lola? Yorki Lost on Columbia Street

Lola, a little Yorkie, ran off on 5/13 in Brooklyn at Columbia and West 9th Street. She was last seen crossing the Battery Tunnel by the Dimata ball fields.

If you see her call Seth, at 917-803-4266. There's a reward.

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Hipster Dog Competition in Brooklyn

You knew this would happen: It's the first annual "Hippest Dog" competition in Greenpoint, on April 28.

For a small donation, you can register your dog to "strut the doggie runway" and compete for prizes for Most Fashionable, Best Celebrity Look Alike, Best Haircut, Best Trick, and Hippest (Dog that Looks Most Like a Hipster).

One redeeming factor: According to Gothamist, the event is "a noncompetitive walk event for dogs and their owners to raise funds and awareness for the American Cancer Society's fight against cancer."

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'Phantom' Still Missing in Brooklyn Heights

Photo: MK Metz

Stay on the lookout for poor little black Phantom, the cat who disappeared on 4/21 on Montague Street near the Promenade in BrooklynHeights.

If found, call 718-360-9918.


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