Mourning Tamon Robinson; Hooters Loves the Nets; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- More than 400 mourners packed an East New York funeral home to celebrate the life — and protest the mysterious death — of Tamon Robinson, the beloved Connecticut Muffin counterman who died after being run over by an NYPD squad car. The Local

- A for-profit education firm is soaking taxpayers by subleasing buildings to the Brooklyn public charter schools it runs at astronomical rates. NY Post

- NYPD is in training to beat the crap out of Occupy protesters on May Day. Gothamist

- Brooklyn holds the dubious honor of being the county in the U.S. where completing a foreclosure takes the longest. TRD

- Packs of adolescents are throwing emergency kill switches on MTA buses, bringing commutes to a halt and making riders nervous. Gothamist

- Brooklyn home returned to owners after Occupy squatters removed. NY Magazine

- Hooters "desperate" to move in near Barclays Arena. Gothamist 

- New bill would make kindergarten mandatory. Brooklyn Eagle 

- Brownstoner gives us the dope on the Brooklyn Fire Headquarters building in Downtown Brooklyn.

- A corporation will donate millions to revitalize several cherished Brooklyn landmarks — if enough history buffs vote for them. Brooklyn Paper


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Explosion, Fire at Con-Ed Plant in DUMBO, Brooklyn

About 5:19 p.m. an explosion rocked the Con Edison plant (at the John Street substation) in the Brooklyn neighborhood of DUMBO and thick black clouds of smoke filled the sky.

The Hazmat Battalion was called to Front and Bridge Streets along with a number of Fire Companies including Ladder 175, Engine 231, 58 and acting 229. UPDATE: There were as many as 40 units, says a commenter (see below) including some from Manhattan.

UPDATE: The Fire Dept. reported at 6:38 p.m. that the fire has been extinguished and the situation is under control.

In September 2011, a transformer fire erupted at the substation but was quickly extinguished.

Con Ed has plans to tear down the plant.  Brooklyn Bridge Park leadership has discussed expanding into part or all of the site. More about that here.

Top two photos copyright MK Metz, bottom photo courtesy of Google Streetview

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Grand WWII Wall at 370 Jay to Be Relocated; Kruger 'Broken;' and More Brooklyn Briefs

A grand wall at 370 Jay, by MK Metz

- The grand relief map highlighting WWII theaters of action, located on a wall at 370 Jay Street, the decrepit MTA headquarters that may become a Center for Urban Science and Progress, will be relocated -- but a decision has not been reached yet on where it will go, according to the NY Times.

- Local mini crime wave in Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens. South Brooklyn Post

- The City Council says DOE is breaking the law by not informing parents about the toxic PCBs in their kids' school. Brooklyn Eagle

- How can you get a (part-time) job at the Barclays Center stadium in Brooklyn? About.com

- Kruger's lawyer says he is "broken and unemployable" and "sadness overwhelms his life." He was sentenced to seven years anyway. Brooklyn Eagle

- Everything you probably need to know about CISPA, the cybersecurity bill the internet is freaking over. Gawker

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Botched Sidewalk Widths Could Mean Crowd-Control Nightmare for Barclays Center

Atlantic Yards Watch has published a report showing that the sidewalks in the vicinity of Atlantic Yards have significantly less capacity for pedestrians than the project's environmental analysis anticipates.

A critical measurement used in the formula to assess sidewalk capacity was regularly used incorrectly in the FEIS, according to AYW. As a result, the capacity of more than 86 percent of the sidewalks in the 2006 Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) are overstated.

For example: The sidewalk on Dean Street that will be used by arena patrons to walk from the arena parking lot to the arena has an effective width of 3.2 feet instead of the 11.5 feet disclosed in the FEIS. This margin of error is typical, not the exception.

If these figures are correct, a crowd-control nightmare could be brewing: Sidewalks created to accommodate local residents and small scale retail businesses "will now have to handle the surging crowds of an 18,000-seat arena."

See ATW for full details, including a chart of sidewalk widths and a map showing the misrepresented sidewalks.

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Union: Halt 370 Jay St. Sale; New Nets Logo; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Transit workers union asks MTA to halt sale of former MTA headquarters at 370 Jay Street. NY1

- This is probably the new Brooklyn Nets logo. Deadspin

- Asbestos protests continue at P.S. 29 in Cobble Hill. Brooklyn Eagle

- Brooklyn bodega clerk claims NYPD framed him -- and video backs him up. WPIX

- A $625 fine for using an antique cash register in a century-old barber shop. A $250 fine for a 14-cent mistake on the price of ChapStick at a pharmacy. Is Bloomberg harassing small business owners? Brooklyn Eagle

- 'Aggressive' TSA pat down of 7-year-old with cerebral palsy forces family to miss flight. Gawker

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Popular Brooklyn Restaurants With Weirdly Low Health Inspection Grades

Some restaurants have that "C" feel to them and some don't.

Listed below are a few Brooklyn restaurants that have managed to rack up a surprisingly large number of violation points on their Dept. of Health inspections.

Violation points are given for filth, food held at the wrong temperature, flies and mice, etc. Restaurants with 0 - 13 violation points receive a grade of A; those with 14 - 27 receive a B; and with 28 or more a C.

All of the restaurants below have received a C or an equivalent "Grade Pending," meaning they will be reinspected until they score below 28 or are closed by the Health Department. (There are many more C restaurants in Brooklyn, but their scores probably don't surprise anybody.)

The Dirty Not-Quite Dozen:

- Grimaldi's (1 Front Street): Grade Pending, 30 violation points.

- Jack the Horse Tavern (66 Hicks Street): Grade Pending, 29 violation points

- Ozu Japanese Restaurant ( 78 Clark Street): C, 44 violation points

- Andy's (128 Montague Street): C, 51 violation points

- Rice (81 Washington Street): C, 28 violation points

- St. Ann's Warehouse (38 Water Street): C, 38 violation points

- Habana Outpost (757 Fulton Street): C, 35 violation points

- Tenda Asian Fusian (1734 Sheepshead Bay Road): Grade Pending, 67 violation points!!

- Patricia's Restaurant (35 Broadway): Grade Pending, 42 violation points

Anybody want to add to this list?

Photo by Gravityx9, Creative Commons license

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NY1's Pat Kiernan Buys Stately Manse in Williamsburg

NY1 anchor Pat Kiernan just paid paid more than $2 million for 135 Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg -- the highest price ever paid for a single family home in Williamsburg, according to Brownstoner.

More details and photo at Brownstoner.

Photo by UserLiftarm at Wikipedia, Creative Commons license

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Eyesore Heights Police Precinct Can Finally Move Forward

The planned residential conversion of the decrepit former police precinct building at 72 Poplar St. in Brooklyn Heights can finally move forward, with last week’s approval by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

According to the Brooklyn Eagle, the application by the Daten Group is to construct rooftop additions, alter the rear facade, alter window openings at the side facades, and install doors and infill.

More at the Eagle.

Photo courtesy of Google Streetview

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Business Week: Keith Haring Exhibition 'Bla'; Pesto Competition; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Business Week doesn't really care for the Keith Haring exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. Business Week

- Scenes from an empty Brooklyn polling station on GOP primary day. NY Magazine

- Lost and Found: Investigative attorneys specialize in finding the missing. Brooklyn Eagle

- San Francisco's legendary LitQuake is bringing its booze-meets-Byron revelry to Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill. Carroll Gardens Patch

- Spring Fling Pesto Competition, a benefit for Chefs for the Marcellus, protecting food from fracking. This Sunday in Gowanus. Eventbrite

- Here's a picture of the perv that takes pictures up wpmen's skirts on the subway. Gothamist

- TSA forces terrified four-year old to undergo full body pat down for illegally hugging her grandma. Gawker

- Why you many lose the Internet in July. Seattle Times

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Booze at Brooklyn's Barclays

Brownstoner is reporting that the appropriate Community Board 6 committee approved a liquor license for Barclays Center and then gave a thumbs-down to Kemistry Lounge, a nearby bar.

The "hot-button issue of the night" was Kemistry Lounge’s second appearance before the board requesting approval for a license that would involve constructing a block long nightclub on Flatbush and Prospect Place. More...

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