Save the G Train; Panera Almost Ready; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- The campaign to save the G train extension into Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, and Kensington is on a roll. Brownstoner

- Downtown Brooklyn Panera opening Monday. Brownstoner

- Nearly 100 organizations submitted applications to have DOT slow down traffic on their streets by installing new signs, speed bumps and by reducing area speeds limit to 20 mph. Brooklyn Eagle

- Williamsburg landlord refused to allow a billboard questioning Judaism to be installed atop his building amid outrage in Hasidic community. Rabbi calls atheists "a group of crazies." Brooklyn Paper

- Three-day Crossing Brooklyn Ferry pass on sale now. Brooklyn Vegan

- Cyclist ticketed for riding outside bike lane (not a crime) fights fine in State Supreme Court. Gothamist

- Scams are all around us, especially "predatory schools." Brooklyn Eagle

- Netflix was the 30th advertiser to drop Limbaugh. TP

- Gosh, those TSA nude body scanners don't even work! TSA OOUP

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Brooklyn Flowers Blooming Too Damn Early

Brooklyn Heights' residents are setting out spring flower boxes already. MK Metz

Flowers are blooming all over Brooklyn, and today's high is predicted to be 58 degrees. Only problem is, it's March 7 and it's been weirdly warm almost all winter.

Daffodils and snowdrops are popping up all over Brooklyn. Tulip greens have been spotted. Trees across Brooklyn have buds. The cherry tree by Brooklyn Borough Hall has had blossoms already.

Premature flowering by iris and crocus on Joralemon Street in Brooklyn Heights and quince in Cadman Plaza Park has horticulturists worrying that the plants’ pollination and life cycles may suffer, notes the Brooklyn Eagle.

At the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG), the Asiatic dogwoods and the Cornelian cherries are budding now, about two weeks ahead of schedule. Snowdrops, daffodils, and crocuses were in full bloom days in advance of Groundhog Day. (mid-February).

And the New York City Department of Parks' official Bloom Guide  confirms that something is way out of whack. Daffodils aren't supposed to be popping up until April. The same goes for quince and tulips.

According to BBG, a hard frost or ice storm could destroy these early buds. While most trees would be able to bounce back from one off-kilter year, too many years in a row would have a greater affect, "since damaged buds affect their fruit yields and ability to propagate. Another factor is the absence of pollinating insects during the crucial window when they’re needed."

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Surf Shop Coming to DUMBO; Deady Bris Practice; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Charges against Brooklyn man tossed after video shows arrest was bogus. NY Daily News

- Jewish people think atheist billboard in Williamsburg is annoying. Brooklyn Eagle

- NYPD investigating an unidentified person who apparently fell or jumped from the St. George Tower in Brooklyn Heights. BHB

- Foreclosed Williamsburg property hits market for $52.5 million less than a week after bought at auction. TRD

- Gowanus Whole Foods will almost wrap around landmarked Coignet building. Gothamist

- Brooklyn DA looking into infant death from dangerous bris practice -- the suctioning of blood from a boy's circumcision wound directly by the rabbi's mouth. Failed Messiah

- Two Trees announced a new commercial tenant at One Main Street today: Aegir Boardworks, a surf and snowboard shop. Dumbo NYC

- Battersby on Smith Street getting crazy rave reviews. South Brooklyn Post

- City Council members demand an immediate investigation into crazy water bills that begin after new automated meter readers are installed. Brooklyn Eagle

- How Wall Street bankers take pride in ripping their companies off when ordering steak, beer and lobster from Seamless. Fast Company

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Has Iconic 'Peaks Mason Mints' Lettering Disappeared from 20 Henry Street?

20 Henry in 2008 by MK Metz

Has the iconic Peaks Mason Mints lettering disappeared from the south side of 20 Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights? (AKA the Candy Factory.)

Original Peaks Mason Mints lettering, 2008.

Lettering visible in the shadow in 2010. (Photo by MK Metz)

The lettering was visible below the scaffolding in November of 2010. (Click on the photo above to enlarge.)

Lettering no longer visible March 3, 2012. (Photo by MK Metz)

But we couldn't see the lettering yesterday. White dust appears on the wall above the windows. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

According to Stribling Marketing Associates, 20 Henry Street exterior "has been restored to feature the property’s original brick façade, exposed buttresses and rows of massive arched industrial windows." As reported in the Brooklyn Eagle, "The façade also includes the original 'Peaks Mints' lettering as homage to the property’s past as home to the confectioners who produced Mason Mints coconut candy bars."

Rendering courtesy of Stribling Marketing Associates

Are we missing something here?

If they repaint it, does it count as original?


Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

500 Jurors for Gangster Trial; Atheist Billboard; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Atheists plan to put billboards in Brooklyn (and Patterson, of all places) that say God is a myth. The Brooklyn sign will be printed in Hebrew. CBS

- 500 prospective jurors will report today to federal court in Brooklyn for the upcoming trial of two Colombo gangsters. The potential jurors names will be kept secret. NY Daily News

- Huge new apartment building planned for Greenpoint, a block from polluted Newtown Creek. Brooklyn Paper

- The Grandparent Scam; the Lottery Scam; The Toilet Paper Scam: Brooklyn prosecutors target criminals who scam the elderly. Brooklyn Eagle

- Gentrification has made South Brooklyn unrecognizable. Business Insider

- Ornamental kale: the cabbage that's eating Brooklyn Heights. BHB

- A woman with an antique dagger in her bag managed to get past TSA screeners at JFK Airport. Gothamist

- It is sooo easy to hack an electronic voting system. Gizmodo


Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Students March on Brooklyn Bridge to Protest Education Cuts, Corporate Takeovers

To protest school budget cutbacks, college tuition increases and the corporate takeover of public schools, thousands of New York City students gathered in Manhattan Thursday and marched over the Brooklyn Bridge to Fort Greene Park. Marchers included students from CUNY, the Student Assembly, Occupy Student Debt Campaign, SUNY, NYU and more.

The front line (above) carried cardboard cutouts of the faces of Mayor Bloomberg, ex-Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz (head of the controversial Success Academy charter school chain), Schools Chancellor Walcott and others who, the students say, are selling them out.

The marchers said they were inspired by the Occupy movement to take action.

Some of the students planned to visit the Panel for Educational Policy meeting Thursday night at Brooklyn Tech. The panel is planning to close more public high schools. (Mayor Bloomberg has closed more than 117 schools so far, mostly in low-income neighborhoods.)

The police prepared to capture marchers in their orange nets if they attempted to take the Adams Street walkway from the bridge instead of the Washington Street stairs.

Photo by MK Metz

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Pedestrian Struck in DUMBO -- Make That Downtown Brooklyn

From the scanner:
A pedestrian was struck at 85 Adams Street near York in DUMBO around 6 p.m.

More information when available.

UPDATE: Confusion from rescuers: Rescuers tell dispatcher they can't find pedestrian hit "in bike lane nears courthouse and the hotel." Dispatcher says pedestrian is supposed to be at 85 Adams but "will check."

At 6:22, dispatchers asks rescuer if they are at 85 Adams. "Negative dispatcher, we're at 360 Adams."

(That is directly in front of the Supreme Court in Downtown Brooklyn.)

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Brooklyn Rabbi Big Cigarette Crook; Brooklyn Heights Association Annual Meeting; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- This year's Brooklyn Heights Association annual meeting proves unusually entertaining. Brooklyn Eagle

- After 43 years on Court Street, Belanthi Gallery closes. PMFA

- Brooklyn sicko tells rape victim to 'let go' as he's sentenced to 47 years in prison. NY Post

- DUMBO Water Street rentals ready for occupancy. Rents from $2,700 to $5,775 per month. TRD

- 23 people connected to local bodegas were arrested for buying and distributing more than $4 million in bootleg smokes. Brooklyn Eagle . . .  One of the biggest crooks: a Williamsburg Orthodox rabbi. Failed Messiah

- The Irish are angry at Urban Outfitters for selling St. Patrick's Day merchandise that depicts them as drunks. Gothamist

- ‘Orwellian Nightmare’: Brooklyn attorney says new federal mail policy could destroy child-support debtors. Brooklyn Eagle

- The Earth has a roughly 12 percent chance of experiencing an enormous megaflare erupting from the sun in the next decade. This event could potentially fry the Earth's computers and cause trillions of dollars’ worth of damage. Wired via Gawker

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Window, Front Street, DUMBO

Spring flowers liven up this Front Street window.

Photo by MK Metz

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

This Is Why We're Deleting Our Twitter Account

While McBrooklyn never published over Twitter as much as some blogs, we did, from time to time, send out a tweet if something big was happening.

Those days are over. Why? Today we read on RT that Twitter has sold billions of archived tweets believed by their creators to have vanished forever.

According to RT,  the UK-based DataSift firm has bought every tweet posted since January 2010. The business intelligence and data-mining platform will be the first company to offer the archive for sale to entrepreneurs who can't wait to get their hands on Tweeters' individual data.

DataSift owns what it calls “an invaluable information source” with 250 billion tweets posted in 2010 alone.

We just now closed out account. It takes 30 days for data to be removed from the system.

Photo by Josh Semans, Creative Commons license

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.