Shooting Near Jewish Girls' School in Williamsburg, and More Brooklyn in Brief

- Police are investigating a shooting near a Jewish girls’ school in Williamsburg Brooklyn. National Terror Alert Response Center

- Brooklyn dentist/body parts ghoul pleads guilty, faces up to 54 years. Brooklyn Eagle

- Ikea's signs are up in Red Hook. Photo gallery at Curbed

- The city has banned one of Brooklyn’s largest animal foster groups from saving dogs and cats from euthanasia, sparking an outcry. Brooklyn Paper

- Due to "concerns in the Brooklyn community," the date of the 2008 Brooklyn Half-Marathon has been changed from Saturday, April 26, to Saturday, May 3. What concerns? New York Road Runner via Travelographer

- Saturday night, after putting out a car fire near the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, firefighters found two bodies in the trunk. Gerritsen Beach

- Brownstoner scoffs at $1,200 a foot on Cadman Plaza West in Brooklyn Heights. But the broker has the wrong address listed -- the building is actually 75 Henry Street. Brownstoner

- As the economy cools, tenants are starting to dump Manhattan office space. Crain's New York

Brooklyn's Bear Stearns' Employees to 'Jump Ship?'

The mood is "basically one of panic,” one of Bear Stearns' 1,500 MetroTech employees told the Brooklyn Eagle Monday. “I’m young, so I don’t care,” he said. “But many of the older guys who have families, I expect many of them to be jumping ship during the next year or so."

One-tenth of Bear Stearns' employees currently work at MetroTech in Downtown Brooklyn.

Bear Stearns was sold to JPMorgan Chase for $2 a share, in a deal brokered by the Federal Reserve Bank. (Bear shares had been as high as $172.61 a share last year.)

Check out the 47-page Merger Agreement and 5-page Guaranty Agreement, as seen on the Bear Stearns Web site Monday. How in the world did they whip that together so fast?

Many Brooklynites aren't aware that the Brooklyn outpost of Bear Stearns is located at 1 MetroTech Center, in a building it shares with National Grid (once called KeySpan, before that called Brooklyn Union Gas).

There's no telling how long Bear Stearns will stay at 1 MetroTech, though legal considerations (such as a lease with landlord Forest City Ratner Companies) may keep them for a while. (Luckily, JPMorgan Chase is just a hop, skip and a jump away, at 3 MetroTech.)

National Grid is giving up a few choice floors in the same building, and that has KeySpan chief executive Robert Catell, now executive chairman of National Grid USA, a bit miffed.

Catell had "expressed a strong desire" to remain in his spellbindingly impressive 23rd floor office, said to be leased for around $1.1 million a month, according to Newsday.

Probably can't expect Bear Stearns to take over the space.

- Former Bear Stearns’ Offices Seen Staying in Brooklyn Brooklyn Eagle
- National Grid's Catell Says Buh-Bye to His Million-a-Month Brooklyn Office

Photo by MK Metz

Brooklyn Urban Outfitters Opens on Atlantic

The new bi-level Urban Outfitters on Atlantic Avenue in Cobble Hill opened Thursday but we just got out there this weekend. The store had a nice rough-hewn feel, especially downstairs where some of the floors and walls were unfinished.

Upstairs was for girls, downstairs shoes and boys. The girls' department was featuring really skinny jeans, lots of layers and a nice shade of blue. Some dynamic colors in the guys' area, especially shirts.

We got there after 5 Sunday evening, so it was hard to tell how busy their first weekend was.

The Eagle has something on the opening, too.

- Brooklyn's Urban Outfitters Getting Ready for Thursday Opening

Photos by MK Metz

5th-Anniversary Iraq Protests in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and DC

Brooklyn for Peace (formerly Brooklyn Parents for Peace) send us information about the following events marking the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq:

To mark the disastrous effects of five years of war ­on this country, on Iraq, and specifically in our own neighborhoods, ­Brooklynites will hold several local actions and join a city-wide protest in Manhattan, as well as a national action in Washington, DC.

Brooklyn events
Two local actions will be held March 19, the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq:

Press Conference & Brooklyn Says No to War March and Vigil, co-sponsored by Brooklyn For Peace and MoveOn.
5:30 PM: press conference at Grand Army Plaza, with speakers from Brooklyn for Peace and MoveOn.
6:00: march down Flatbush Avenue to the military recruiting station at 41 Flatbush Ave. (Livingston St.).
7:00: brief program. Iraq war vets and members of military families will speak. The protest will close with a candlelight vigil.

Protest at Congressmember Vito Fossella’s office. At 12:00 noon, Peace Action Bay Ridge will sponsor a protest at Fossella’s Bay Ridge office (8505 4th Ave., at 85th St.) to express his constituents’ opposition to his position as the only Brooklyn Representative to support President Bush’s war policy. Representatives from military families, Brooklyn For Peace, Peace Action Bay Ridge, and Bay Ridge Interfaith Coalition will speak.

On Thursday, March 20, Fort Greene Peace will hold a Speakout against War at Tillie’s cafe, 284 DeKalb Ave. (at Vanderbilt), at 8:00 PM. Everyone is invited to share poetry, rap, comments, music at the open mic. Free admission, no cover.

Citywide protest
On Saturday, March 22, Brooklynites will cross the river to join a citywide River-to-River Human Chain, spanning 14th Street in Manhattan from 1st Ave. to 11th Ave. Dozens of participating groups will send members who, along with thousands of other individuals, will line the street to call on Congress to end funding for the war and bring the troops home.

The Human Chain will begin at 12:00 noon and end at 2:00 PM as protesters converge for a commemoration march around Union Square.

For more info: www.brooklynpeace.org/events/index.html or
http://events.unitedforpeace.org/5yearstoomany/events/show/3307

National civil disobedience

Five Brooklynites will also participate in a day of creative nonviolent action and civil disobedience in Washington, D.C., on March 19. They will join over 250 people from every state in the union for such actions as a “March of the Dead” by activists in death masks, moving through the city in small groups, or a “Green Zone” created on K Street among the lobbyists’ offices.

For more info: http://5yearstoomany.org/article.php?id=60 .

Brooklyn for Peace (formerly Brooklyn Parents for Peace) is a local peace and social justice not-for-profit.

Harbor Seal Visits Red Hook

Let's hope it doesn't head into the Gowanus Canal.

Video from iReport.

Brooklyn School Name Change Causing Trouble: Drummer Boy Vs. Old-Time Educator

There's trouble in Kensington: an elementary school wants to change its name from the "Doris L. Cohen School" to the "Clarence D. McKenzie School."

In case you don't know who either of these people are: According to the Brooklyn Eagle, Doris. L. Cohen, in the 70s and 80s, was a big-time volunteer in the school, working on the PTA, the School Board, committees, etc.

Clarence D. McKensie, on the other hand, was the little drummer boy who was the first Brooklynite to die in the Civil War. There's a memorial to him at Green-Wood Cemetery.

What's the problem? The relatives of Doris Cohen still live in Brooklyn, and they're pretty steamed.

Which raises an issue: How long should an honorary naming last, and whose responsibility is it to keep someone's name alive?

More here.

Illustration: An unattributed period drawing of Clarence D. McKenzie, Civil War drummer boy

That's FORMER Gov. Elliot Spitzer

At 11:45 a.m. Wednesday morning, bowing to enormous public pressure in light of the news about his use of high-price prostitutes, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer announced his resignation. The resignation will become effective Monday, March 17, at the request of Lt. Gov. David Paterson -- a "date he believes will permit an orderly transition," Spitzer said.

Paterson, 53, who is legally blind, will serve out Spitzer's term, which ends in 2010. He will be New York's first black governor.

- Waiting for Gov. Spitzer's 11:30 Announcement
- Emperors Club Prostitute Bigs Live in Brooklyn Heights? More Like Fort Greene
- Brooklyn Investigation and NY Gov. Spitzer: Kinky "Client 9"
- New York Gov. Spitzer Admits ... Something
- New York Gov. Spitzer Alleged to Visit VIP Prostitutes From Brooklyn-Based Emperors Club

Paul Dano's 'Gigantic' Films in Brooklyn Heights Wednesday

Paul Dano ("There Will Be Blood") is the star in "Gigantic," filming on Cadman Plaza West in Brooklyn Heights today. McBrooklyn got a photo as crews were setting up this morning. (That's the Park Plaza diner on the left in the photo.) We'll try to update as filming gets started.

"Gigantic" is an "offbeat romantic comedy being helmed by first-time director Matt Aselton," according to Hollywood Reporter.

Zooey Deschanel will also star. The plot involves a mattress salesman and a young woman he meets at his store. One of the crew told McBrooklyn, "The guy gets involved in a lot of strange things."

There's no specific time for indie's release, the crew member said. "He'll probably bring it to the festivals next year; he hopes to bring it into syndication."

Waiting for Gov. Spitzer's 11:30 Announcement

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer is expected to resign this morning The New York Times said, citing unnamed staff members. These staff members say that the resignation will be effective Monday.

According to Reuters, Spitzer is to issue a brief statement in New York City at 11:30 EDT.

It's about time -- this town can't seem to get any work done waiting for the other shoe to drop. Fifth Avenue and 79th Street is a zoo, with reporters staked out all night waiting for the announcement from the Gov and his wife, who have been bunkered up since the shocking news came to light. Police have erected barricades and tourists are snapping photos for the folks back home.

- Emperors Club Prostitute Bigs Live in Brooklyn Heights? More Like Fort Greene

- Brooklyn Investigation and NY Gov. Spitzer: Kinky "Client 9"

- New York Gov. Spitzer Admits ... Something

- New York Gov. Spitzer Alleged to Visit VIP Prostitutes From Brooklyn-Based Emperors Club

Enough About Spitzer, Back to Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights

We were so excited about Gov. Spitzer's little adventures yesterday that we neglected to post any photos of the filming on Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights.

Here you can see Siggy’s health-food restaurant being readied as the set for an episode of “The Closer” (TNT) starring beautiful Golden Globe winner Kyra Sedgwick. Heights Falafel and Fascati Pizza were redecorated with outdoor cafes ... and they looked pretty good, too.

In other media news, the movie "Gigantic" will be filmed starting Wednesday on Cadman Plaza West in Brooklyn heights. Expect BIG trucks and lots of crew. More details here.