What Were Those Fireworks Seen Over Brooklyn Friday, Sept. 17, 2010

Those fireworks seen over the Brooklyn waterfront Friday night were in celebration of "Hope for the Warriors."

They were shot off from Pier 14 on the East River.

Established in 2006, Hope For The Warrior cares for those wounded in the line of duty.

More here.

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Brooklyn Tornado 2010 Round Up (And Don't Tell Us That Wasn't a Tornado)

Brooklyn tornado photos are posted all over the Internet. The National Weather Service hasn't made an official determination yet but with all of the destruction caused in just a few minutes, it's hard to come to any other conclusion.

Here are links to a few photos (there are also more links on yesterday's post).


This video by Adrian Mueller / fabrik studios (© http://www.fabrik-studios.com) shows the storm first coming in over South Park Slope, Brooklyn.

- Tree branches (and maybe some whole trees) are down all over Carroll Gardens. According to one reader, DeGraw Street was covered in sharp pieces of slate that had flown off the roof of St. Agnes Church.  PMFA blog

- Check out the storm photos on the Photo.Knit.Dog blog. Lina says, "My neighbor downstairs had his fence come clean off and his patio door glass shattered completely! There are at least five downed trees around us not to mention the big semi truck that fell over on the freeway that I can see from my apartment. Totally crazy!"

- Trees are down all over Park Slope. "Aftermath in Park Slope" photos by Luis Guerrero at the Brooklyn Eagle.

- See what happened in Clinton Hill at Angela's photostream on Flickr.

- The New York Times has a story and about a dozen photos of destruction in Brooklyn and Queens. 

- Lots of comments about what happened in various Brooklyn neighborhoods at Brownstoner.

- Here's an unbelievable photo by cmvoelkel of a SUV crushed in Park Slope. Flickr 

- More pictures at The Brooklyn Trolley Blogger. 

 Tree limbs down in Korean War Plaza Park, across the street from the Post Office in Downtown Brooklyn. (Photo by MK Metz)

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Tornado in Brooklyn? 'Weak Rotation' Says National Weather Service UPDATED

UPDATE: As of 6:57 p.m.: B,D,F,M lines suspended due to downed trees. Delayed 7 service. L train suspended. Check for status updates here.

More updates below.

* * * * *

The National Weather Service issued this alert at 5:42 p.m. today. It expires at 6:15 p.m. (A flood advisory is in effect till 7 p.m.)

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN UPTON NY HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... QUEENS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NEW YORK... SOUTHERN NASSAU COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NEW YORK... KINGS (BROOKLYN) COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NEW YORK... * UNTIL 615 PM EDT... * 

AT 540 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING QUARTER SIZE HAIL...AND DESTRUCTIVE WINDS IN EXCESS OF 70 MPH. THESE STORMS WERE LOCATED ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM CANARSIE TO CONEY ISLAND...OR ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM CROWN HEIGHTS TO CONEY ISLAND...AND MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. *

Instructions: DOPPLER RADAR HAS INDICATED SOME WEAK ROTATION WITHIN THIS STORM. WHILE NOT IMMEDIATELY LIKELY...A TORNADO MAY STILL DEVELOP. IF A TORNADO IS SPOTTED...ACT QUICKLY AND MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IN A STURDY STRUCTURE...SUCH AS A BASEMENT OR SMALL INTERIOR ROOM.

UPDATE: WYDNKBYANM has some Park Slope photos here.

UPDATE: Daily News says wind reached 100 mph.

UPDATE: zhaus has crazy storm photos here. And here.

UPDATE: Hail the size of quarters in Brooklyn Heights. Pedestrians huddled under awnings, inside restaurants. 

UPDATE: 7 p.m.:  Roughly 450 customers lost power near Kings Plaza Shopping Center on East 38th Street.

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Brooklyn's First Saint, Texting on the Bus Route, and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Bus riders in Brooklyn can now use a handy text messaging system to find out when their bus will arrive. Brooklyn Eagle 
 
- Could Brooklyn be getting its first saint?  Brooklyn Paper

- Bedbugs are the new STDs.  NY Magazine

- A corrections officer allegedly sexually harassed a paramedic at knifepoint while transporting a prisoner outside Brooklyn Criminal Court.  Brooklyn Eagle 

- Chase online banking failed two (or maybe three) times this week.  Gothamist

- Taking shelter in the basement or center of a large building is still the best option in a nuclear attack. Gothamist

- Brooklyn Heights Dog Show to be held Sunday.  Brooklyn Eagle    

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When It Comes to Your E-mail, the Walls Have Ears

Question: If a group of Google engineers can easily spy on user emails and chats -- as discussed in this Gawker article --  what is to stop them from accessing private information about all of us?

Not to single out Google. Other email and chat providers probably have looser security than Google. Google says they are tightening up security. (And we believe them.)

But just think. Google talk, chat, email, docs, Picasso Picassa photos -- complete with addresses, passwords, financial information, phone numbers and things you would never, ever tell anyone, all in one easy-to-access package.

So watch what you email. (And say. And type. And store on that private Picassa account.)

The walls have ears.

Photo by  Ludovic Bertron, Creative Commons license

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Proposed Brooklyn Trolley Route: From Red Hook to Downtown Brooklyn

 The city recently announced that it is releasing money for a Brooklyn streetcar feasibility study. Bob Diamond, well-known champion of streetcars in Brooklyn, provided this map of the proposed route.

The route being studied would run from an intersection in Red Hook near Ikea, along Beard Street towards Fairway to Richards Street, and along Columbia Street through Red Hook and Cobble Hill to Atlantic Avenue. From there it would run along Boerum Place to Livingston and Fulton streets, where the trolley would circle around and head back to Red Hook along Van Brunt Street.

For the full story, visit the Brooklyn Eagle.


- Welcome Back Bob: Hundreds Take Sunday's Atlantic Avenue Tunnel Tour
- Atlantic Avenue Tunnel Tours Saved! BP Markowitz Prevails Upon Bob Diamond
- Atlantic Tunnel's Bob Diamond Leaving Brooklyn? Say It Ain't So!
- Quite a Crowd for Atlantic Avenue Tunnel Tour 
- Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue Tunnel Is Probably Haunted
- What's Behind the Wall? Atlantic Ave. Tunnel Mystery
- Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue Tunnel: What's Behind the Wall?
- Let Them Laugh: Bob Diamond's Brooklyn Trolley Idea Gains Traction
- Mole People Back in Brooklyn?
- Lineup For Atlantic Avenue Tunnel Tour
- Brooklyn Spelunking: Atlantic Avenue Tunnel Tours Return

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Preliminary Brooklyn Primary Results: Millman Way Ahead of Biviano

With 42 percent of precincts in District 52 reporting at 11:23 p.m. Tuesday, Joan Millman leads Doug Biviano 74 percent to 26 percent.

More returns at NY1.

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Why Primary Results Take So Long to Tally in New York City Elections

You might think that with the new electronic voting machines, New York City would be able to tally the votes quickly to provide preliminary results on election night, but this is not the case.

In spite of the new voting machines, it appears that there is a large manual component to the vote tally. We found this election night tally procedure on the Board of Elections website.

Here's the procedure:

- After the polls close, more than 30,000 poll workers transcribe, by hand, the number of votes for each candidate from the face of the voting machines onto Return of Canvass forms.

- These poll workers then hand the Return of Canvass sheets to the NYPD Officer assigned to that polling location. (Poll watchers may observe.)

- The NYPD Officer hand-delivers the Return of Canvass sheets to his or her police precinct to be transcribed by hand into its computer system by civilian employees of the NYPD.

- Once all the data is entered, the computer records are transmitted to the Associated Press. A copy of each Return of Canvass form is delivered by hand to APs office at 55 Washington Street in Brooklyn.

 - The Associated Press then shares the preliminary results with its colleagues in the news media. These preliminary results, however, do not include thousands of absentee, affidavit, and military ballots, which must be counted by hand later.

And that's how the preliminary results are tallied with our new, electronic voting machines!

Top illustration courtesy of Tim Burton's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."
Middle illustration courtesy of Waltdatedworld. 
Bottom illustration by Paulo Henrique Rodrigues, Creative Commons license.

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Today's Primary Is Important for Brooklyn -- Vote!

Besides pounds of campaign flyers,  McBrooklyn received a letter from seven respected Brooklynites -- Otis & Nancy Pearsall, Claire Silberman, Susan Rifkin, Hank Gutman, Ann McGroarty and Isabel Navarro -- urging us to vote in today's primary which "is more important than most people imagine. At issue is the quality and independence of our representation in Albany."

We couldn't agree more. Please take the time to get out and vote -- and try out the fancy new voting machines.

The Pearsalls and others endorce Joan Millman, Jo Anne Simon and Jesse Strauss against "three utterly undistinguished and inexperienced opponents who would represent the status quo in Albany." The letter says in part:

Joan Millman: "This year alone she sponsored the toughest Albany ethics legislation in state history and wrote the legislation to end the unfair influence of corporate spending on elections . . . She helped secure the initial funding for Brooklyn Bridge Park, wrote legislation to get Federal stimulus money for our buses and subways . . ."

Jo Anne Simon: "She served as President of the Boerum Hill Association and Chair of the Gowanus Community Stakeholder Group, where she forged a groundbreaking settlement with NY State DOT. She has worked tirelessly to preserve our neighborhoods ..."

Jesse Strauss: "... has served as a NYC Urban Fellow and is currently a member of Community Board 2. . . "

If you need more information about who's running at the state and federal level, visit the League of Women Voters website and type in your address.  

Photo by MK Metz

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Welcome Back Bob: Hundreds Take Sunday's Atlantic Avenue Tunnel Tour

Tunnel archaeologist Bob Diamond was quite happy during Sunday's Atlantic Avenue Tunnel Tour. Just last Thursday, DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez announced the start of a major study to determine the feasibility of a streetcar line linking Red Hook with Downtown Brooklyn and surrounding neighborhoods. (more here)

There's probably no bigger champion of Brooklyn streetcars than Diamond, who has been working tirelessly  for years through his Brooklyn Historic Railway Association to bring trolleys back to our borough.

Diamond is, famously, the discoverer of the long-lost Atlantic Avenue Tunnel. Thousands have ventured down into that mysterious place deep under Atlantic Avenue between Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill to hear his incredible tale of how it came to be built in 1844, then forgotten, and then found again in 1981.

It's a story of greed, politics, and even murder (with some archaeology and quantum physics thrown in.)

More people than usual signed up for the tours Sunday because they heard that Bob was considering leaving Brooklyn. Thankfully, he changed his mind and the tours will continue. (More about that here.)

Many Brooklynites live here their entire lives and never know that something so awesome lies 40 feet below Atlantic Avenue, a stone's throw from Trader Joe's.

To sign up for a tour, visit www.brooklynrail.net.

- Atlantic Avenue Tunnel Tours Saved! BP Markowitz Prevails Upon Bob Diamond
- Atlantic Tunnel's Bob Diamond Leaving Brooklyn? Say It Ain't So!
- Quite a Crowd for Atlantic Avenue Tunnel Tour 
- Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue Tunnel Is Probably Haunted
- What's Behind the Wall? Atlantic Ave. Tunnel Mystery
- Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue Tunnel: What's Behind the Wall?
- Let Them Laugh: Bob Diamond's Brooklyn Trolley Idea Gains Traction
- Mole People Back in Brooklyn?
- Lineup For Atlantic Avenue Tunnel Tour
- Brooklyn Spelunking: Atlantic Avenue Tunnel Tours Return

Photos copyright MK Metz

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.