Oy! Midwood 'Hate Crime' Probably Insurance Scam

They thought they were marching to protest a hate crime.

After vandals torched cars and scribbled Nazi swastikas in an Orthodox Jewish part of Midwood back in November, residents and representatives from all over the city marched to protest bias and hate. Even members of Occupy Wall Street showed up for the lovefest.

It was touching, really, how many supporters from so many religions and races showed up on a Sunday morning: there was Council Member Jumaane Williams, Council Members Brad Lander, Tish James and Steve Levin, Assemblymen Dov Hikind and Bill Colton, State Senator Eric Adams, mayoral candidates Scott Stringer and Bill Thompson, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel and others.

Time to get back to the cynicism, folks! The "hate" firebombing was probably an insurance scam, the Daily News reports. As for those 27 Corona beer bottles found at the scene? They appear to have been wiped clean of fingerprints, suggesting the work of someone meticulous, not someone lashing out in hate, a source told the News.

UPDATE: For real hate crimes, a reader has sent in these suggested resources:

http://www.adl.org/combating-hate/hate-crimes-law/
http://www.injuryclaimcoach.com/hate-crimes-injury-guide.html
http://sydney.edu.au/law/criminology//ahcn/what_is_hatecrime.shtml

Photo from video by Gifterphotos

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

You'll Probably Be Drinking This Tea Very Soon

It's called guayusa tea, it's from the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador, it's being sold by a company called Runa, which is run by a couple of guys from Brooklyn, and it's the beverage you will probably be drinking from now on.

This is more than just a hipster trend. Guayusa has been cultivated for over 2,000 years by the indigenous families of Ecuador, who treasure it for it's ability to both keep them up all night to hunt, and to remember and understand their dreams in the early morning.

Guayusa has more caffeine than any tea and double the antioxidants of green tea. Its flavor, according to those who have tried it (we haven't) is pleasant, mild and sweet. The native Kichwa people say the tea gives them "mental strength and courage," which in English translates to "Kick Ass Tea."

The nice thing about Runa is that the company purchases 100% of its guayusa leaves from indigenous farming families (roughly 1,000 farmers), and puts money into a “social premium fund” for workers to use for development projects.

According to Huff Post, the partnering Runa Foundation has two goals: to allow Kichwa farmers to "participate in the global economy using renewable resources" and to conserve the rainforest.

The company's socially-conscious business plan has won all sorts of awards and grants, according to the New York Times, and the tea is now available at several outlets including Whole Foods, Kings, the Vitamin Shoppe and Wegmans.

Or you can visit their website and read about the history of guayusa.


Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Brooklyn Kindergartens and 'The Boa Constrictor Problem'

A combination of neighborhood demographics and “the boa constrictor” problem may make for some very overcrowded kindergartens in Brooklyn next September, District 15 CEC President Jim Devore told the Brooklyn Eagle.

Not only are certain Brooklyn neighborhoods baby magnets, but it seems a virtual tsunami of young'uns were born across the country peaking in 2007, creating a baby boomlet and a "bulge" of 5-year-olds that schools will have to deal with next year and every year thereafter as they work their way through the grades, like a goat working its way through a boa constrictor. More here.

Photo by Brno Vaňkovka, Wikipedia

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Brooklynites Do Weird Things with Dead Christmas Trees; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Sad comment about a closing shop on Smith Street. PMFA

- Dead Christmas trees suspended under BQE, for art. Gothamist . . . Meanwhile, vandals torch 25 Christmas trees in Fort Greene Park. Brooklyn Paper

- The rather dull brick condo building proposed for a 30 Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights -- the present home of the Brooklyn Eagle -- is going before the Landmark's Commission today. WSJ

- Noted educator Diane Ravitch (The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education) will be talking about education tonight at P.S. 29 in Cobble Hill. Brooklyn Eagle

- Professional kid critics review Downtown Brooklyn's new Shake Shack. Excerpt: "We obviously ordered shakes because it's the Shake Shack." Eater

- Brooklyn man critical after jumping five stories from a burning building. NY1

- The family of a Canadian man struck and killed by a truck while riding his bike in Brooklyn has sued the NYPD to release the accident records. Brooklyn Eagle

- This is why everyone is suddenly talking about Downton Abbey. Gawker

- The TSA is frantically defending its decision to confiscate a frosted cupcake from a Massachusetts woman at a Las Vegas airport. Huff Post

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Shut Off That D*mn Alarm! On Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn Heights

Posted at the corner of Pierrepont and Clinton Streets in Brooklyn Heights:

"Burglary! Burglary! You are violating the peace and quiet of the neighborhood continuously.
Fix or disconnect your alarm system immediately!"

The sign is posted next to the Brooklyn Historical Society. Here's our question:

Wonder if the BHS's ongoing renovations, which include include "updated HVAC and ventilation system, security and alarm systems and fire protection technology," have anything to do with the noise?

Photo by MK Metz

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

'Yoga' In Brooklyn Bridge Park Is Sculpture and It Moves

We forgot to report about the important art installed last month in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

We thought they were giant chopsticks at first. Turned out to be Mark di Suvero's "Yoga." According to GalleristNY, it moves.

Wonder if you can turn it to get better reception?

Photo by MK Metz

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Is Brooklyn Passé? Did NYPD Force Suspect to Pay for X-Ray? And More Brooklyn Briefs

- A Brooklyn man is suing the NYPD for allegedly forcing him to submit to X-Rays and CAT scans to find "contraband" in his stomach, and then making him foot the $9,530 hospital bill even after the charges were dropped. Gothamist

- Caught red-handed on video: Atlantic Yards construction worker uproots newly installed "No Standing" sign on Pacific Street. Again. Atlantic Yards Report

- The CB 2 Land Use Committee will recommend approving stoops at four new townhouses planned for State Street in Boerum Hill, even though they extend into the sidewalk. Brooklyn Eagle

- Brooklyn is passé; a city cannot thrive on hipsters alone. Burgh Diaspora

- The MTA is planning to shut down much of the 4, 5 and 6 line for four nights this week, from Grand Central Station to Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn from 10 p.m. Monday until 5 a.m. Friday. DNAinfo and MTA

- Man finds MetroCards with money left on them, sells them, gets arrested. NY Post

- A new report on health care shows that Brooklyn has big problems. Atlantic Yards Report

- Man who tried to rescue a drunk on the subway track is in critical condition; drunk is fine. NY Magazine

- If you take Excedrin, NoDoz, Bufferin or Gas-X, you better check the label. ABCLocal

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

A Beautiful Day for a No Pants Subway Ride

It was almost balmy for the 11th annual No Pants Subway Ride in New York City yesterday, and nearly 4,000 riders took advantage of the non-freezing weather by taking their pants off.

The photos are still coming in. Check out the links here (Improv Everywhere) to see this year's event in all its glory.

UPDATE: Check out Brokelyn's No Pants photos here.

Photo of Improv Everywhere's 2012 official T-shirt design

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

ABC: Romney Avoids U.S. Tax by Using Offshore Bank Accounts

According to ABC News, Mitt Romney -- worth at least a quarter of a billion dollars -- is avoiding U.S tax by using offshore bank accounts. He has refused to release his tax returns.

In other news, the FBI may be investigating Romney's old company Bain Capital. According to this source, about two weeks ago, the FBI evoked FOIA exemption 7(a) and denied access to all Bain Capital records on the grounds that "there is a pending or prospective law enforcement proceeding relevant to these responsive records; and that release of the information contained in these responsive records could reasonably be expected to interfere with the enforcement proceedings." (original FBI letter here.)

(Thanks to Reddit.)


Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Notorious Escapes From the Brooklyn House of Detention

Now that the Brooklyn House of Detention at 275 Atlantic Ave. is about to swing back into full operation after being closed /barely operational for years, (see yesterday's post) we thought it'd be fun to take a walk back in time to the exciting days of yesteryear -- to revisit notorious escapes from the Big House:

- Let's start with society horse-trainer, inn-owner, embezzler and sensational murderer Buddy Jacobson, who escaped from the Brooklyn House of Detention in 1980. The escape was orchestrated by Buddy and carried out by his innkeeper "Tony Two-Suits," a not-very-bright fellow who was wearing two suits into the jail when he visited Buddy -- but only one when Buddy left him behind in his cell. After he escaped, Time Magazine wrote: "The Fox Is On the Run." Full story here and here.

- Then there was Edward White, 27 years old, a vicious murderer who was serving a 25- to 50-year sentence when he escaped in 1991, becoming one of the city's most wanted fugitives. Police re-captured him by accident when they knocked on the door of a Brooklyn apartment and he answered wearing only a  bathrobe. (Full story in the NY Times.) 

- Convicted of sniping a police station, Black Liberationist Kuwasi Balagoon and a fellow traveler escaped from the Brooklyn House of Detention in the early 70s. An outlaw, he escaped prison twice and led units in the "expropriation" of banks, including the infamous Nyack armored car heist in 1983 (an incident that served as a basis for the film Dead Presidents). He also identified as a queer anarchist. More here.

- Joseph James, a Brooklyn House of Detention inmate awaiting trial on robbery and murder charges, mortally wounded an unarmed correction officer, George Motchan during a "precisely planned escape."  Accomplices hid a gun in a Kings County Hospital clinic bathroom and had a car waiting with its motor running at the nearby exit. James-- handcuffed to Motchan for a dental visit -- shot him while in the bathroom. Full details here.

- Henry Brown escaped in a similar manner. In 1973 he was sent under guard to the Kings County Hospital for treatment of an ulcer. His handcuffs were removed for the X-ray. After he returned to the dressing booth, guards heard a door slam. The booth was empty. More here.

Near Misses:

- Melvin Kearney (aka Rema Olugbala), indicted in a holdup with infamous Black Liberation Army member Assata Shakur, died in 1975 or 76 from an eight-floor fall while trying to escape from the Brooklyn House of Detention.
In 1979 Shakur herself escaped the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey and is presently enjoying political asylum in Cuba. The FBI has placed a $1 million bounty on her head. Councilman Charles Barron, a former Black Panther, has called for the bounty to be rescinded.

- In 1974, several prisoners overpowered their guards and tried to scale a fence at the Brooklyn House of Detention. A Black Liberation Army prisoner was shot and recaptured. More here.

And Riots:

- In 1970 hundreds of prisoners rioted at the jail, demanding more humane treatment and taking 26 hostages -- as crowds outside cheered them on. No one escaped, but a "number of people" were arrested for throwing missiles from rooftops at police who surrounded the prison. Those were the days! More here. 

Today, the Big Worry is . . . Parking

As the jail prepares to reopen, community leaders today are no so concerned about jailbreaks and riots, but rather about quality of life issues like parking. Democratic District Leader Jo Anne Simon told the Brooklyn Eagle that neighbors were worried about corrections officer parking on the sidewalk on State Street and parking problems caused by court officers, attorneys and others connected with the system.

Photo by MK Metz: The Brooklyn House of Detention has been officially renamed the Brooklyn Detention Complex.

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.