Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival comes to Albee Square, Crown Heights, Brooklyn Bridge Park

The Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival is throwing a party this week that includes a film festival, the Juice Hip Hop Exposition, a free block party, talks and, on July 15, the grand finale concert.

The Hip-Hop Institute takes place on July 12, 10am-7pm, at Medgar Evers College. The theme of the day/conference is “Speak The Truth." Discuss issues of empowerment, social justice, health & wellness, as well as entrepreneurship. The programming consists of lectures, panels, and various workshops.

On Thursday, July 13th*, stop by Albee Square for the Spread Love Block Party from 4-9pm. Dance as DJ Spinna and DJ Uncle Ralph McDaniels spin on the 1s and 2s; hang in the beer garden, and stick around for some giveaways from the festival.

The big highlight comes on July 15, with the grand finale concert in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Full schedule here.

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Bad Date Arrested; the Turtle Lady of Williamsburg; and More Brooklyn Briefs

This is how the Brooklyn bridge was painted in 1915. pic.twitter.com/bJkqpDok7g

— Darwin Award 🔞 (@AwardsDarwin) March 21, 2017

- Bad date: A woman who murdered another woman in Russia was discovered living a glamorous life in Brooklyn, drugging and robbing men she met on dating websites. [CBS]

- A Brooklyn couple who fleeced New Yorkers out of funeral money for a 5-year-old boy who's actually alive were arrested again while using a child in another scam. [DNAinfo]

- PHOTOS: The Turtle Lady thrives in Williamsburg. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Missing Brooklyn man with autism found in Mexico. [Pix11]

-  VIDEO: A 60-something-year-old woman walked into a jewelry store in Williamsburg and took four diamond pins while a 60-year-old man stood by as a lookout. [NBC]

- Judge in El Chapo case limits release of info, orders appointment of ‘firewall’ attorney. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Young Brooklyn woman wonders if she was in suspected serial killer’s grasp. [Pix11]

- VIDEO: Assemblywoman Diana Richardson took to Facebook Live on Thursday morning to blast Mayor Bill de Blasio, city hall and others. [Patch]

S.A.D. Party 2017 will raise money for Planned Parenthoo.

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

Linus, Dachshund (10 m/o), Dekalb & Portland Ave., Brooklyn, NY • "He barely graduated dog school." pic.twitter.com/dJmEOb6yaf

— The Dogist (@thedogist) January 1, 2017

- 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]

WATCH: Nicki Minaj performs "Starships", from "The Pinkprint Tour: Nicki Minaj Live From Brooklyn" concert special. pic.twitter.com/HNJmWsqMVf

— Minaj Society (@MinajSociety) January 2, 2017

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

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The Stuffed Animals on Truck Bumpers Thing, Brooklyn Style

Photo by MK Metz

Truck drivers have a tradition of strapping stuffed animals on their grills and bumpers.

Some trucker upped the ante, however, with the mannequin above, seen on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights.

Below is another take on the concept -- Banksy's "Sirens of the Lambs" truck stuffed with crying stuffed animals.

Catch the reaction as the truck drives by Staubitz butcher shop in Cobble Hill. (This video has more than 4 million views on YouTube.)




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New School Opens in DUMBO; Naked Man Takes a Stroll; and More Brooklyn Briefs

Locked out @LIUBrooklyn faculty picket campus on first day of fall classes. https://t.co/TiM3y84U6X #Brooklyn pic.twitter.com/Qq2y672lLN

— Brooklyn Daily Eagle (@BklynEagle) September 7, 2016

- Ex-Bloods gangbanger says J’Ouvert is Brooklyn’s ‘Purge.' [NY Post]

- A new middle school opens in DUMBO, and people are pretty excited about it. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- The MTA is looking for artists to design some new murals for a few Brooklyn stations. [Brokelyn]

- Brooklyn prosecutor eyed in possible coverup leading to man’s conviction for 1983 murder. [Daily News]

- NYPD refutes "deeply flawed" Inspector General’s Quality-of-Life report. [NYPD News]

- Surveillance video captured a naked man’s leisurely stroll through the streets of Brooklyn. [NBC]


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Murder in Williamsburg; 'Stranger Things' Kids at Coney; and More Brooklyn Briefs

Puente Brooklyn - Nueva York. pic.twitter.com/GRkxEljDuV

— Pablo Escutia (@pabbloEscuttia) September 7, 2016

- Man shot and killed in Williamsburg while trying to run away from fight called 911 before collapsing. [NY Daily News]

- Spotted in the wild: The strange case of Brooklyn’s Trump supporters. [Brokelyn]

- Nitehawk Cinema opening second Brooklyn location. [Brooklyn Vegan]

- Why de Blasio hit a wall on stopping traffic deaths (and why those pedestrian islands were ripped out). [NY Post]

- You missed the kids from ‘Stranger Things’ in Coney Island Monday. [Brokelyn]

- Spider-Man, a hammerhead shark or a life-size Lego figure can all be yours at a prop shop in Brooklyn. [NY1]

- Woody Allen filming in Coney Island next week. [Sheepshead Bites].

- VIDEO: Inside the crazy Coney Island Beard And Mustache Competition. [Brooklyn Eagle]


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Spike Lee's Video Promo for Bernie Sanders, Filmed in Brooklyn

A @SpikeLee Joint for @BernieSanders filmed in Da Republic of Brooklyn, New York.https://t.co/l1jh359TnK

— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) April 10, 2016

Spike Lee's first video promo for Bernie Sanders, filmed in Brooklyn, features Harry Belafonte, Erica Garner, Shaun King, and Linda Sarsour.


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Video: Reminiscing on the Life of Brooklyn's Harry Chapin, Singer of Ballads, Humanitarian

We just discovered this "Behind the Music" video about the life of Brooklyn Heights songwriter/singer Harry Chapin. From his early years -- first singing in public with his brothers at Grace Church, then forming a band with them -- his career was like a luminous, super-heated shooting star.

After Harry (who attended Brooklyn Tech high school) returned from the service, his brothers had no spot for him in the band. During the Nixon recession, he had to apply for a hack license. While he was waiting for it to come through, he heard that an old girlfriend had married a rich guy.

"And here I was flying in my taxi ... and if the story sounds familiar, you know where it comes from," he said during interviews.

Before too long, "Harry got even with us for firing him," one of his brothers said. "Taxi" became a breakout hit -- despite pans from the critics.  After "Taxi" came "Cat's in the Cradle," "W*O*L*D" and others.

Harry became known as the hardest-working singer/songwriter in music, as well as the greatest humanitarian in show business. In 1976, he played 230 concerts, and 130 of them were benefits. Harry personally raised more than $6 million for charity. He traveled to Washington to fight world hunger, and talked President Carter into a World Hunger Congress.

In 1981, while driving to a meeting in Long Island, he died in a fiery crash at the age of 38. A memorial service was held at Grace Church in Brooklyn Heights, where the overflow crowd spilled out into the street. (Chapin playground was dedicated to him in the north Heights.)

His legacy is not his music but his life, friends say. He inspired We Are the World and other activities. Harry Belafonte said Harry "threw a pebble into a pond, and I saw the ripples."


"And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon, Little Boy Blue and the Man in the Moon,
When you coming home dad? I don't know when,
But we'll get together then, son, you know we'll have a good time then."


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ISIS Can't Come to Brooklyn, and More Brooklyn Briefs

RT @DevCNY: ISIS Can’t Come To Brooklyn pic.twitter.com/UY1zcO6nDy

— Darleny López (@darlopez) November 16, 2015

- It's official: ISIS can't come to Brooklyn. (Memorable video above; language alert.)

- Help redesign city streets at the Atlantic Avenue Safety Improvement Workshop. [Brownstoner]

- A 70-year-old woman was killed after being struck by a vehicle on Atlantic Avenue Monday afternoon. [DNAinfo]

- Photos: Brooklynites march in candlelight vigil past French cafes and bistros to honor Paris. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Two taken to hospital after shooting at a bus stop in Canarsie. [ABC7]

- Brooklyn's Ample Hills just landed $4 million to launch an ice cream empire. [Eater]

- One person was stabbed and another was punched in the face Monday afternoon on a subway platform in East NY. [NBC]

- Wonderful video plays tribute to South Brooklyn's enduring mom and pop stores.  [PMFA]

- A bicycle delivery man was critically injured when a tree fell on him in Red Hook Monday afternoon. [ABC7]

- Still waiting for FIOS? Brooklyn BP Eric Adams will be hosting a public forum on Verizon's Brooklyn rollout Tuesday night. [Brownstoner]

- An ad that surfaced last week on Craigslist offering a tricked-out dumpster as a rentable apartment was phony. [Brooklyn Eagle] 

- Just once month before 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens,' Gowanus’ Halyards Bar is showing every ‘Star Wars’ movie in the nerdiest way possible. [Brokelyn]


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Decent Soup Dumplings Finally Hit Brooklyn, and More Brooklyn Briefs

A man was struck and killed Monday after a car jumped the curb and flipped over in Flatbush: https://t.co/vpvSCnapjr

— NY1 News (@NY1) November 10, 2015

- A man was killed on Monday when a car jumped a curb on Flatbush Ave., flipped over and struck him while he was walking on the sidewalk. [NY1] and [NY Times]

- Decent soup dumplings finally come to Downtown Brooklyn. [Brooklyn Based]

- More lawsuits for Brooklyn charter accused of mistreating disabled students? [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Concerned about the Brooklyn Heights Library project? Contact Councilman Levin. [BHB]

- The Brooklyn tech scene is expected to rake in $15.5 billion by 2025, according to a report released by Brooklyn Tech Triangle on Monday. [Metro]

- Time-lapse animated wall mural created in Brooklyn (video). [CityLab]

- Did you catch this rendering of the 1,000-foot tower coming to Downtown Brooklyn? It will be New York City’s tallest building outside of Manhattan, and give Brooklyn "its first legitimate supertall skyscraper." [New York YIMBY]

- The White House is prepping for a huge solar storm that could kick us back into the Dark Ages...[Science Alert]

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Brooklyn Bridge Park Might Have a Way Around Pier 6 (But Won't Consider It) and More Brooklyn Briefs

Pope Francis pins for sale in Downtown Brooklyn. Photo: MK Metz

  - Comptroller says Brooklyn Bridge Park might be able to issue bonds instead of building at Pier 6, but the park seems quite un-enthused about the idea. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- ‘Stoopdreamer’ is the next best thing to sitting down and having a few beers at Farrell’s. [Brokelyn]

- Brooklyn’s historic Hotel Bossert is getting a new operator this winter. [Commercial Observer]

- A new private school is opening up in Brooklyn Heights area, called Sage Heights. [DUMBO NYC]

- Brooklyn Hasidim say slaughtered chickens are donated to charity, new videos tell a different story. [Gothamist]

- Number of townhouses for sale in Brownstone Brooklyn has surged, catching many by surprise. [Observer]

- No heathens allowed at Brooklyn Church site. [Curbed]

- That's it -- Congressman Grimm is in the slammer. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Video fuss of the day: Enraged white guy who "settled" Downtown Brooklyn accuses man with stroller of "white privilege." [Gothamist] (Top comment: "Everybody involved in this needs to die in a fire.")


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The Blood Moon Video, for Folks on the East Coast

On Saturday morning, people in the western US and Canada were able to observe a 5-minute total lunar eclipse and a so-called "blood moon."

Here in the East, we caught only a partial eclipse.

NASA says this was the shortest eclipse of this type -- where the Earth's shadow obliterates our view of the moon -- of the century, according to CNN.

You can see why it's called a blood moon about halfway through this video. The moon takes on a slightly reddish hue during eclipses.

NASA says the fourth of this series of four eclipses will come September 28.


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Brooklyn Today: Heights Library Workshop Monday; Man Needs Skin Removal Surgery; and More

- "There's only one way to survive this. There is only total and complete, utter surrender." Gabriel Sassoon of Brooklyn, about the tragic deaths of his children from a hot plate fire. [Yahoo News]

- Monday: Public’s chance to offer input on new Brooklyn Heights Library. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Touching video: Brooklyn man who lost 270 pounds needs $20,000 to surgically remove sheets of excess skin. He has raised more than $45,000 $54,000 at Go Fund Me. [News 11]

-  Here's a photo of three people the cops are looking for in connection with the shooting death of an 18-year-old in Flatbush over the weekend. [NBC]

- Not far from the above shooting, someone shot a one-year-old baby, visiting Flatbush with her family from Bangladesh. [Gothamist]

- Schumer relives his days at James Madison HS. [Brooklyn Eagle]


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Pro-Palestinian Protest at NYC Council Draws Outrage

Councilman David G. Greenfield issued a condemnation of a noisy protest in the Council Chamber today by Pro-Palestine activists (shown above).

Greenfield said the activists timed their protest to occur "at exactly the same time that the Council was passing a resolution commemorating the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp where 1.1 million people were slaughtered."

Greenfield supplied this video of his response:



Pro-Palestinian supporters had submitted a petition to the NYC Council demanding that the Council cancel an upcoming all-expense-paid trip to Israel, funded by political advocacy groups. Over a dozen members of the City Council have accepted the trip, which begin February 15th, according to the International Middle East Media Center.

According to JP Updates, Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said in a statement, “At a time when the Council was voting on a resolution commemorating the 70thanniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, this outburst was offensive, outrageous and counter to the values of the City Council.”

The City Council members who have been identified as accepting the "hasbara" (PR) trips to Israel are Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Mark Treyger, Brad Lander, Antonio Reynoso, David Greenfield, Rafael Espinal, Darlene Mealy, Mark Levine, Helen Rosenthal, Corey Johnson, Ritchie Torres, Andrew Cohen, Donovan Richards, Eric Ulrich, and James Van Bramer.


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That Awful 'Brooklyn Girls' Video; LIRR Strike Talk; Brooklyn Food Tour and More

Here is Catey Shaw's  "Brooklyn Girls" music video -- the one that has caused so much hate it's gone viral. This may be the thing that breaks the back of Brooklyn Cool.

- Would you cancel your vacation in Italy just because of a LIRR strike? [Brooklyn Eagle]

- What's a couple dozen thousand? Brooklyn beep Eric Adams failed to include $36,000 rental property income on botched financial disclosure form. [NY Daily News]

- There's a Brooklyn food tour. [Trip Advisor]

- WTF? The Public Authorities Control Board just signed off on a loan from the state’s clean water fund to finance the new Tappan Zee Bridge. [Streetsblog]

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A $16 M Home in Brooklyn Heights; $25 Million for 25 years in Jail; and More Brooklyn Briefs

Getting ready for Easter in Bensonhurst. Photo: MK Metz, McBrooklyn.com

- A single-family home is on sale for $16 million in Brooklyn Heights, apparently a record. Norman Mailer once had a "private writing aerie" on the fifth floor. [Curbed]

- A million a year: Man falsely imprisoned 25 years sues state for $25M. [NY Post]

- Here's the video of the rally and reading for Chinese literary freedom at the Brooklyn Public Library.  Celeb writers included Sergio De La Pava and Jennifer Egan. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- A Brooklyn school janitor has been arrested, accused of raping a woman on campus in Clinton Hill/Fort Greene. [CBS]

- 26 displaced after flames rip through 3-story in Sunset Park. [pix11]

- Odd but true: Borough President Adams meets with mayor of Amsterdam to talk "international business." [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Do we have to cover the small penis contest? [edge]

- Queens is the second fastest growing county in the state. [NY1]

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Here's That Rat on the Brooklyn Subway Video. Shrieking Riders Get No Sympathy from Viewers

Here's that rat that scampered all around the A train yesterday near Fulton Street, causing grown New Yorkers to shriek and stand on subway seats.

Some of the comments on YouTube are hard, just hard:

"Next time someone says they are tough because they lived in new york I'm going to show them this."

"Pussification of America. That's why you will all fall. HAIL HYDRA!"

"People in third world countries will laugh at these people hahah"

"It occurred to no one that they can kick it, debone, and stir fry until golden brown? (-.-) Such first world problem… ;P"

Thank goodness some kind souls thought about the rat:

"That rat is gonna need some serious trauma counseling after having gone through this." 

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Update: Missing Brooklyn Designer Ott Caught on Tape Walking Over Williamsburg Bridge

Photo: MK Metz, McBrooklyn.com

According to a friend of missing designer James "Jay" Ott, the NYPD found new surveillance footage showing Ott walking over the Williamsburg Bridge towards Manhattan at 5:02 a.m. on Sunday morning, Match 23.

The Brooklyn Eagle has more on this development.


- Bushwick Designer, Jay Ott, Still Missing [McBrooklyn]


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Brooklyn BP Adams in Trouble; 16-Year-Old Girl Steals Robber's Cell Phone; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- And so it begins: Brooklyn BP Adams in hot water for asking corporations to donate to non-existant charity. [NY Post]

- Brooklyn man arrested for beating his 94-year-old mother with her cane. [Daily News]

- A 16-year-old Brooklyn girl tackled a robber who stole her cellphone in the subway -- and ended up with his cellphone. [NY1]

- Jay Street Safety Community Planning Forum on March 10th, 6:30 pm at 1 MetroTech Center, National Grid lobby. [Transit Alternatives]

- A celebration of the life of Brian McGorry, Cranberry Street resident, will be held at the Superfine Restaurant in DUMBO on Saturday, March 8. [BHB]

- VIDEO: Williamsburg art gallery owner stops thief who tried running off with pricey painting of Basquiat. [Daily News]


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Brad Lander, 'Kingmaker'; Rooftop Skateboarding; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- The New York Times discovers Councilmember Brad Lander and pronounces him "King Maker." [NY Times]

- Gov. Cuomo doesn't seem to get it about LICH. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- NY Methodist Hospital says they are seeing an increase in frostbite and other weather-related emergency room cases. [Brooklyn Bureau]

- Video: Rooftop skateboarding around Brooklyn. [Gothamist]
- Williamsburg store owners allowed to demand modest dress code. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Slammed by food stamp cuts, NYC soup kitchens runs out of food. [Daily Kos]

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