Interactive Umbrellas, a New Ferry Route, J'ouvert Forum and More Brooklyn Briefs

A lovely view of the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset, 1899 pic.twitter.com/kGMc5n87Cg

— Discovering NYC (@discovering_NYC) May 31, 2017

- Fugitive from Ohio arrested in Brooklyn (thanks to one man's Google search). [abc7]

- Interactive umbrellas, astronauts, as World Science Festival returns to Brooklyn. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- NYC Ferry's South Brooklyn route launches today. [amNY]

- Brooklyn woman builds worldwide following with head wrap company. [News 12]

- VIDEO: Police seek public’s help ID’ing perps in violent Brooklyn Heights jewelry store robbery. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Father of Brooklyn woman accused of hiring hitman to kill husband arrested for threatening NYPD detective. [Daily News]

- The Fashion Institute of Technology is coming to you starting this summer at the newly renovated Brooklyn Army Terminal building. [bklyner]

- J'ouvert safety forum tonight. [McBrooklyn]

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Brooklyn Rat Takes Selfie; and More Brooklyn Briefs

 - Stop the presses: Rat takes selfie in Brooklyn subway station. [Rapid News]

- Brooklyn Arabs outraged by rhetoric on Syrian refugees. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- The massive Brooklyn projects that beat the 421a clock. [TRD]

-  A gym with an IMAX screen is opening in DUMBO. [Patch]

- GQ interviews the 20-year-old Brooklyn rockers the fashion world "is a little obsessed about." [GQ]

- Man, 27, stabbed after fleeing to Bushwick L train station. [Daily News]

- Library controversy continues: Levin pushes for bigger Brooklyn Heights Library at City Council hearing. [Brooklyn Eagle]

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

De Blasio Pays Off Bet (Ouch), Protests at the Brooklyn Museum, and More Brooklyn Briefs

We have to give it up to @BilldeBlasio for keeping his end of the bet with @MayorSlyJames! https://t.co/3D80nQs0iz pic.twitter.com/qqxMpm9OT5

— Royals (@Royals) November 17, 2015

Somehow we thought he could sing better than that...

- Anti-gentrification activists protest real estate summit at the Brooklyn Museum. [Hyperallergic] and [Gothamist]

- Brooklyn the brand vs. Brooklyn the mega-city: Are we killing the goose? [Brownstoner]

- Just in time: Elite NYPD anti-terror squad deploys following Paris attacks. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Two people were taken to a hospital after a shooting at a Bedford-Stuyvesant subway station Tuesday that caused disruptions in train service. [NBC]

- Brooklyn man sentenced to 4 years in divorce scheme. [Times of Israel]

- Some people just have it: R&B icon R. Kelly showed up to sing the national anthem at Tuesday's Brooklyn Nets game . . . sinking a 3-pointer while wearing sunglasses, with a cigar in his mouth. [Billboard]

- Meet CAM, the DUMBO artist who is responsible for all your favorite Brooklyn murals. [Brooklyn Magazine]

- Levi’s has opened a new store in Williamsburg that will contain a tailoring shop where you’ll be able to customize your denim. [StyleFashionNews]

- Beware of ads that use inaudible sound to link your phone, TV, tablet, and PC. [Ars Technica]


Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Bloomberg's Jab at De Blasio at the Al Smith Dinner; and More Brooklyn Briefs

Union-sponsored jab at fire-prone AvalonBay. In D'twn Brooklyn. Photo by MK Metz

- Some of the weirdest beards you've ever seen, at the National Beard Championship in Brooklyn. (Photos) [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Fatal crash in a Brooklyn creek, seen only on camera. [NY Times]

- Bloomberg at the Al Smith Dinner: "The only thing Mayor de Blasio ever showed up early to was the Brooklyn real-estate market.” [NY Post]

- Growing New York Comedy Festival takes over Brooklyn. [Variety]

- The spectacular hubris of the Brooklyn Nets. [Rolling Stone]

- Here’s why fast-food workers are striking in 500 U.S. cities, including Brooklyn. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- More on that 3-eyed catfish in the Gowanus Canal. [WFJA]

- Lucy Liu popped into Coney Island’s 60th Precinct Monday to film a scene for the CBS show 'Elementary.' [Bensonburst Bean]

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Brooklyn Sicko On a Train; Bushwick Gentrification; and More Brooklyn Briefs

So honored to witness the dynamic duo Mrs. & Mr. Brown get #RedHook Spirit Award tonight at Calvary Baptist Church pic.twitter.com/HP3jL9vT4j
— Carlos Menchaca (@cmenchaca) February 11, 2014

- As a Brooklyn Metro-North employee masterbated on a train, a woman's screams for help were ignored. [NBC]

- Bushwick gentrification tidal wave encounters splash of futile resistance. [Gothamist]

- Someone bid $16 million for a pair of Kanye West-designed sneakers on eBay. [NY Magazine]

- Brooklyn Democrats respond to GOP refusal to allow Mayor de Blasio's pre-K plan to come to a vote. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- The Brooklyn Free Clinic is having a dance/drinks/raffle fund-raiser.  [BFC]

- Car plunges off elevated expressway in the Bronx. Three hurt, but miraculously, no one died. [NBC]

- NYS may give high school kids more time to meet the new Common Core standards. [NY1] ... Reaction: Gov. Cuomo blasts that idea. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Clearly he is the problem: Olympic bobsledder who got stuck in a bathroom in Sochi also got stuck in an elevator.  [NY Magazine]

- Phones with Flappy Bird installed on them are selling for $1,000 (and also 99 cents) on Ebay. [WSJ]

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Fights Break Out In Downtown Brooklyn Over Air Jordan Gamma 11 Sneakers

Fights breaking out in Downtown Brooklyn over Gamma 11s... pic.twitter.com/0EKXADEkQg
— King Ellipsis... (@_OMNi_) December 21, 2013

Crowd in Downtown Brooklyn went nuts outside a Foot Locker this weekend over Air Jordan 11 “Gamma Blue” sneakers, just released Saturday.

Brooklyn is not the only location where fights broke out. According to Slate, at least three fights broke out inside a Finish Line shoe store in California; another erupted in Dallas; while in the Bronx, two people were caught on video fighting outside a Foot Locker.

The shoes cost from $185 to $230.

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Now There Is a 'Brooklyn Hair Weather Forecast'

For all those who have been wishing and hoping for a Brooklyn Hair Weather Forecast, your wishes have come true.

AccuWeather has partnered with abc7 to bring Brooklynites an up-to-the-minute, science-powered "hair frizz forecast."

Today is "Unlikely for hair frizz" in Brooklyn, according to the forecast.The fabulous hair weather will continue until next Monday, when a Hair Frizz Watch will be in effect.

The Watch continues until Friday, October 4, when a Hair Frizz Advisory has been declared.

And from October 6 - 9, a full-blown Hair Frizz Warning is in effect.

You should consider stockpiling mousse, hair spray, conditioner and calmer.

For those not living in Brooklyn, take heart. AccuWeather provides a hair frizz forecast for many other major metropolitan areas as well.

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Hipsters Are Taking Secret Photos of Everyone Walking on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg

Hipsters are now taking surreptitious photos of passers-by on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg and posting them to a fashion blog, where viewers can vote on residents' fashion hipness.

No, really. First brought to our attention by Gothamist, it's called Styleblaster. The site calls itself "Williamsburg's premier live fashion blog, documenting the style of today."

Also this: 
"It will quickly become a destination for New York City peacocks to traipse by and show off what makes the neighborhood hop. For the savvy, a place to be seen. For the flaneur, a bounty of style. At home or online, fashion has a new destination."

But most of the folks subjected to public scrutiny are workers after a hard day, school kids, people pulling shopping carts and the occasional photo of unsuspecting people scratching where it itches.

Like Gothamist, we see lawsuits here. (And we're staying the heck off Bedford.)

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Fashion, Schools, Strikes, Shootings, Cons and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Some residents want the West Indian American Carnival parade to just go away. WSJ and Brooklynian

- New Yorkers say the schools aren't any better under Bloomberg.  NY Times 

- Mother explains why she starved her son, put his body in a suitcase and moved to Brooklyn. Brooklyn Eagle 

- Bit of a kerfuffle over the Brooklyn Public Library throwing out books. Brooklynian

- CHCA has started a fund for the daughter of the innocent bystander killed in Monday night's shootout. CHCA

- Lots of Brooklyn Fashion Night Out participants this years. Brokelyn 

- Professors at Long Island University in Downtown Brooklyn are going on strike today. WNYC

- Nurses at Brooklyn Hospital vote to strike. Fort Greene Patch

- A con men is selling posters to Brooklyn businesses that are supposed to be available for free. Brooklyn Eagle

- Steiner Studios expansion going up fast at Brooklyn Navy Yard. Brownstoner  

- There's an official 9/11 memorial flag.  NY Times 


Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

10 Years to Pull PCBs Out of Schools; Pedophile Priest; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- City officials announced a 10-year plan to remove all PCB-contaminated lighting fixtures in 772 public schools, but some advocates say that 10 years is way too long. Brooklyn Eagle

- An FDNY EMT who, with her boyfriend/fellow EMT allegedly let a pregnant woman die at MetroTech's Au Bon Pain, was arrested Monday for shoplifting. Eerily, the boyfriend was shot and killed in July. WPIX 

- 1980 memos from the Diocese of Brooklyn show an auxiliary bishop, now a cardinal, knowingly transferred a pedophile priest from New York to Missouri. UPI 

- With job growth increasing in every borough but Manhattan, is it too late to change out "Manhattan-centric" transportation? Gothamist 

- Does Williamsburg really dig Ralph Lauren? Is Prada really one of the top favorite Brooklyn brands? And why is Coney Island in the middle of the borough? Something's funny on the fashion map of Brooklyn.  Brokelyn

- Vampire mask found near dismembered body of Brooklyn man.  Gothamist 

- Monte's old restaurant space to be reborn.  Brownstoner  

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

The Mad Men of Brooklyn

Banana Republic (above is the store on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights) is advertising a Mad Men Casting Call contest. The winners will receive walk-on rolls in the show.

Get an entry code from the store, then submit a photo of yourself in your best Mad Men style. (Then convince your friends to vote for you.)

Here are a few of the truly Mad Men (and Women) from Brooklyn who have already entered:

Go here to browse all the entrants' photos and vote for your favorites. The ten male and ten female submissions that receive the most popular votes will become the semi-finalists. The executive producer of Mad Men will pick the Grand Prize Winners.

Top photo by MK Metz


Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Oysters Off Red Hook, Armed Robbers in Brooklyn Heights, and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Brooklyn's state senator Eric Adams has started a billboard campaign telling young men to pull their pants up.  JoeMyGod

- Now California's gay right wing is blaming Brooklyn. GayPatriot

- Armed robbers target the South Heights.  BHB 

- To deal with rising water levels, “Oyster-Tecture,” at MoMA, proposes massive underwater oyster villages along the Red Hook and Bay Ridge shorelines. Brooklyn Eagle

- Why do New York's mayors like to dress up, and why is the result always so disturbing? (video)  NY Magazine 

- Anthropologists will sift through a landfill on Staten Island for 9/11 remains. Village Voice

- Maureen Dowd suggests its time for a nun to become the Pope. NY Times

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Brooklyn Drummer Troy Young Found Dead and More Brooklyn briefs

- Police are still investigating the shooting of Brooklyn drummer Troy Young, 29, who was found dead in his apartment Friday. Young lived on Fourth Street in Carroll Gardens. nbcnewyork

- Why Brooklyn Industries manufactures stuff in China. Business Week

- The MTA is toying with the idea of eliminating free MetroCards for hundreds of thousands of students. Daily News

- A Brooklyn man is charged to beating a cat to death with an umbrella. Gothamist

- OTBKB presents a Park Slope holiday gift guide. OTBKB

- The 'Bernie Madoff of Bay Ridge' is indicted in Brooklyn. Brooklyn Eagle

- Cosmo gets excited about Anne Hathaway's black Armani dress, blazer, and leggings at the BAM Belle Reve Gala. Cosmopolitan

- Google Easter egg -- a countdown brings us to January 1st -- but why? Tech Crunch


Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Get Your Dresses Off the Hippie Truck In Front of Brooklyn Trader Joe's

What is drawing women to the graffiti-covered hippie truck parked in front of Trader Joe's? It's the lightweight, colorful all cotton dresses and tops made in India being sold off the truck.

The truck belongs to Wolff's Clothing (based in NYC and in Phoenicia, New York), and the proprietors say they'll be parked in front of the Brooklyn Trader Joe's every day unless it rains.

The dresses are priced $20 and up; blouses are $10 and up.

Photos by MK Metz

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Brookly Heights Laundromat Gave Her Clothes Away

You can't make this stuff up.

This was posted on Craigslist yesterday afternoon:

"Missing female clothing from JCrew, Banana Republic, Gap, Victoria Secret and other yuppy stores. Laundromat gave our bag to someone else and the guy returned it with 1/4 of the clothes (my husbands) but all of mine was missing. Women's clothing are size 12 or a Large. I got too fat so had to buy new clothes only to have the laundromat give it to some guy who's probably wearing my funderoos."

Location posted was on Montague Street.

High Fashion by Night on Montague Street

Wearing the remnants of yesterday's high fashion, this fine lady of Brooklyn Heights poses in the window of the Housing Works Thrift Shop on Montage Street.

Photo by MK Metz