Harvest Festival on Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pier 6 Saturday

Have kids? Don't forget to get down to Pier 6 tomorrow for a celebration of fall (and one of the first Halloween celebrations) at the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy's Harvest Festival.

There will be a Halloween parade, musical guests, face painting, storytelling, art activities, and pumpkin decorating. Children will pot plants in honor of "It's My Park Day," and make masks for Halloween.

On the stage: The Deedle Deedle Dee's and a storyteller will perform. The Transit Museum, Brooklyn Historical Society and American Ballet Theatre will host tables, and Half Pint Citizens will be in the sandbox leading a fun family craft activity, Autumn Leaves Picture Frames.

Various other local organizations and partners will host activity tables. The Moxie Spot will also bring their Halloween bags for children to decorate and the Pier 6 dog run volunteers will host a fun activity for your pooch.

Photo of pumpkin (carved by Brooklyn's Hugh McMahon) by MK Metz

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Fleabag Hotel, Smith Street Soup Festival, and More Brooklyn briefs

- New stop work order placed on 185 Ocean Ave.  Hawthorn Street 

- Get ready for the Smith Street Soup Festival this Saturday!  PMFA 

- Brooklyn Community Foundation announced the Do-Gooder finalists.  Brooklyn Eagle

- The Desk Set is hosting the Brooklyn Public Library's Gala afterparty at Brooklyn Bowl. Live music, open bar and a heck of a lot cheaper than the Gala.  The Deskset 

- Assemblymember DenDekker introduced a bill  that would give $100 to motorists whose parking tickets are dismissed by the city. Queens Crap 

-  At a meeting between Moses Fried, owner of "the fleabag" 205 Parkside and concerned neighbors, it was learned that construction will start soon, and the owner has no plans to run a brothel.  The Q at Parkside

- More than 60 comments (so far) about the Prospect Park West bikelane protests at Brownstoner.

- Both children and adults take naps under the covers in beds at the packed Beijing IKEA. NY Mazazine


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Now Kids Can Prepare for Their Future at McDonalds

So we took a stroll inside the Toys "R" Us pop-up store on Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn the other day, just because it's been a long time since we've been in a Toys "R" Us.

Wow, that store is just sad. They never painted the dingy walls after Sids Hardware moved out. The toys seem a bit worse than you would expect, even in a Toys "R" Us pop-up -- Hannah Montana branded plastic stuff, the least-glamorous Barbies  we've ever seen. (The Nerf guns were good, however. Nerf guns are always good.)

Above: McDonalds fast food counter toys -- now your kids can put on the McDonalds hat and practice slinging burgers and fries like a real McDonalds worker! If you buy both sets your child can set up a McDonald's grill, fryer and soda machine at home -- plus a golden arches counter and a drive-thru intercom. And yes, the cash register "really rings."

What a wonderful way to prepare your child for his or her future career!

Photo by MK Metz

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Ecopolis Café in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn

 The Ecopolis Café at 180 Smith (at Warren)  in Boerum Hill sells "local sustainable food and drinks" and organic teas. The café uses biodegradable and recycled paper, recycles materials and composts scraps.

This bar is made from salvaged materials, and power come from solar panels on the roof.

 The whole building is made from "eco-friendly materials and features energy efficient systems," according to the Brooklyn Ecopolis website, which also says that the Brooklyn Ecopolis Resource Center will provide programs and exhibits for children and adults, "involving all members of the community in practical and realistic ways, to engage and promote sustainable living."

Photos by MK Metz

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New Website Links NYC Service Providers with Customers

Say you're a dog walker, tutor or a handyman -- in other words, one of New York City's unsung service entrepreneurs.  A new website called SkillSlate  provides a place for you to list your service(s), price, geographical area and customer reviews.

SkillSlate, in an email, tells us they have 650 service providers in Brooklyn "and growing," and they just announced $1 million in venture funding yesterday. So far, there are ten categories of services covered: cleaner, DJ, dog walker, hairdresser, handyman, massage, mover, personal trainer, photographer, and tutor.

The website is new so there are only a few reviews so far. It's funny how seeing a photo of the service provide might influence who you will call. Also, it's amazing to see the big difference in rates. One dog walker charges $75 an hour; another charges $20.

One thing to remember is that handymen who charge more than $200 for a job are supposed to be licensed and bonded (insured). (Here's a handy Dept. of Consumer Affairs booklet about that.) To find out if a handyman is licensed, call 311 or go to www.nyc.gov/consumers

SkillSlate appears to be very helpful to both service providers and those looking for one. Check it out.

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Immigrants Gather in Brooklyn to Protest 'Secure Communities Program' Deportations

Hundreds of immigrants gathered in Cadman Plaza Park in Downtown Brooklyn yesterday for a rally and a march over the Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall to protest what they call unfair deportations.

Make the Road New York (MRNY), which sponsored the march, says that each year the city's Department of Corrections assists Immigration and Customs Enforcement in transferring 3,000-4,000 New Yorkers into deportation proceedings.

MRNY says if you are arrested and unable to produce immigration documents -- even if you are wrongfully arrested and acquitted of all charges -- you could still be placed in deportation proceedings.

The group is demanding that New York City opt out of the federal "Secure Communities Program" whereby local and state police can check the immigration status of those in their custody. The government says the program has successfully removed thousands of alien criminals from the U.S., but civil rights workers say many non-criminal immigrants are swept up and out as well.

Date shows that "police officers are picking up people on pretext, the criminal charges are getting dropped or dismissed, and they’re getting shuttled into deportation,” said Bridget Kessler, clinical teaching fellow at the Immigration Justice Clinic of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. More here.

Also see the Brooklyn Eagle.

Photos by MK Metz

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Brooklyn Bridge Walkway, with Containment Shields

 If you're walking or biking over the Brooklyn Bridge nowadays, you might feel a little claustrophobic, especially on the eastern stretch. That's because you'll be penned in by galvanized steel containment shields,  built to protect pedestrians and drivers from lead paint dust blowing around as part of the bridge's massive $508 million paint and repair job.

Photo by MK Metz

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Did You Lose a Panasonic Video Camera in Brooklyn Heights?

These signs have been hanging on Cadman Plaza West for weeks.

Come on already, go pick up your camera.

Photo by MK Metz

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Brooklyn's Tea Party Overlord; Before the BQE; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- NY Magazine sums up the gubernatorial debate. NY Magazine 

- Brooklyn Republicans worry about the Brooklyn Tea Party and its "controversial overlord John Press, a Manhattanite who has allegedly expressed his views on White Nationalist websites." Atlas Shrugs in Brooklyn

- "Brooklyn Omnibus," part of BAM's Next Wave Festival isn't really about Brooklyn, "It's about two people from L.A. trying to write about Brooklyn."  WSJ 

- Newark hopes the Nets will stay. NY Times 

- The federal government has recognized the public’s right to take photographs in public spaces outside federal courthouses. Brooklyn Eagle

- A 93-year-old woman recalls a time before the BQE ruined the neighborhood. The Brooklyn Ink

- Blue Marble Ice Cream is closing its store on Atlantic Avenue and is throwing a goodbye party Sunday.  A Child Grows

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Z-7 Cafe on Court Street, Brooklyn - Greek Mini-Diner, Reasonable Prices

 First impression of the newly-opened Z-7 Cafe (spelled "Caffe") at 115 Court Street (where Yogo Monster used to be):

It's your traditional Greek diner but tiny, with just a few tables. The guy behind the counter looks like he's worked in diners all his life. You got your basic sandwiches, your wrap specials, your baked moussaka. Breakfast all day, four soups daily.  Cakes, smoothies, coffee. The Greek salad comes with anchovies and dolmadakia. The health salad comes with jello.

Many items are quite reasonably priced: You can get a chicken salad sandwich for $3.95, egg salad for $3.25.

On the other hand, the Gyro platter is $8.95 (served with rice or potato and salad) and you can go crazy with a "Popeye Salad: ALL THE WAY" -- spinach, crumbled bacon, sliced egg, tomato, artichoke and mushroom, croutons, topped with roast beef or turkey breast -- for $10.45. A wrap can cost up to $8.95.

But coffee is a recession-friendly $1. A bagel is $1 or $1.65 with cream cheese. A two-egg sandwich is $2.75. Get yourself a grilled cheese for $3.25 or splurge on meatloaf for $5.95. Enjoy.

More at Brownstoner and Brooklyn Heights Blog.

Photos by MK Metz

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