Donate a Turkey to Operation Sandy in Brooklyn

Turkey recipe here.

#OccupySandy has been getting requests from all over New York City for turkeys during the Thanksgiving Holiday season.

For example: They need to collect 2,000 turkeys to be donated to residents of hard-hit Coney Island, Brooklyn. Fresh turkeys can be dropped off or shipped to:

Coney Island Generation Gap
2904 Neptune Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11224

If you want to cook a turkey or are working to provide hot meals in your area Occupy will do the driving and provide the volunteers.

Cooked turkey donations should either be delivered to The Church of St. Luke & St, Matthew at 520 Clinton Ave, Brooklyn or be ready to be picked up by #SandyVolunteer drivers at 10 AM on Thursday, November 22nd.

Get more details about the operation here.

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

Some People Want You to Stay Home on Black Friday

Now there's an "Opt Out of Black Friday" movement. You know, where you visit friends and family instead of joining the midnight shopping frenzy.

Story of Stuff is behind the movement to "Buy nothing. Do something."

There's even a pledge: "I pledge to skip the mall and stay home with friends and family this Black Friday. Instead of spending money on things I don't need, I will spend my time with the people that I love."

But what about the economy, you ask? Isn't it every citizen's duty to spend money like a drunken sailor during the "holiday season?"

You can always support your local small businesses and buy yer stuff on "Small Business Saturday." Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue will plug into this Saturday’s event and kick off the holiday shopping season with a bunch of free festivities and holiday happenings.

No lines, no frenzy. Probably some free cider, too, if it's anything like last year.

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'John Doe Duffle Bag' Picked Up; Kids Can Go to School Online; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- A Staten Island man in his 60s, dubbed "John Doe Duffel Bag," was picked up by police for questioning in connection with a series of shopkeeper slayings, ABC News reports.

- Kids affected by Hurricane Sandy can go to school online now. Brooklyn Eagle 

- Some local people protested the opening of the new Armani Exchange at the former Albee Square Mall on Saturday. The Local

- Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Council Member Elizabeth Crowley want a serious review of the New York City 911 system, which couldn't keep up with call volume during Hurricane Sandy. Brooklyn Eagle

- U.S. food banks raise alarm as drought dents government supplies. Reuters

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Rockaway Starts Petition for FEMA Emergency Housing

With tens of thousands of people in the Rockaways still living without heat, electricity, or running water almost three weeks after Superstorm Sandy, Rockaways groups under the banner of "Greater NYC for Change" have started a petition urging FEMA to set up emergency housing there.

FEMA, however, says there's no space for FEMA trailers in densely-populated New York City, and very limited available rental apartments and hotels. So they are "bent on making flood-soaked homes inhabitable as winter weather moves in," according to CNN.

Officials are focusing on getting power restored, and are jerry-rigging structural repairs to make the homes adequate shelters for incoming winter weather. Repairs could include tarps, plastic and plywood, says CNN.

According to the Queens Tribune, the Long Island Power Authority has removed the Rockaways from its power outage map, citing the area as simply too damaged by Superstorm Sandy to restore electrical service at this time.

About 10,000 people have signed the petition for FEMA housing so far.

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The photo above shows a type of emergency alternative housing designed by the Federation of American Scientists that is safer than the FEMA trailers used after Hurricane Katrina, which emitted dangerous formaldehyde.

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'Criminal Minds' -Type Experts Called In; Bullet Through Both Cheeks; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Meeting at Borough Hall November 29 on the design for the first residential building at Atlantic Yards. Atlantic Yards Report

- "Criminal Minds" type profile experts to work on the murders of the three Brooklyn shopkeepers. Brooklyn Eagle

- A woman was washing dishes in her Crown Heights kitchen when a bullet came in through her right cheek and went out through her left. NY Post

- The city slapped down a volunteer group’s plan to cut up uprooted trees blocking Brooklyn streets in Hurricane Sandy’s aftermath. Brooklyn Daily

- The Gowanus Canal has gone through a war. PMFA

- Where to make last-minute reservations for Thanksgiving. Carroll Gardens Patch

- The new city District Council map, explained. Brooklyn Eagle 

- The EPA has suddenly decided to clean up an atomic bomb site in Queens contaminated with the radioactive element thorium since the 1930s. Queens Crap

- Just in case: here's how to make your own Twinkies. Gawker

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Many Hands Clapping: Buddhist Group Donates $10 Million to Sandy Victims

The Tzu Chi Foundation, a Buddhist disaster relief organization, is donating an amazing $10 million to Superstorm Sandy victims in New York City -- in the form of Visa debit cards.

The Brooklyn Eagle reports that eligible families can sign up for cards loaded with $600, which they can use wherever Visa cards are accepted, which means almost anywhere.

The group is also distributing blankets and bags containing daily necessities.

City Comptroller John Liu announced the gift Sunday outside P.S. 277 in Gerritsen Beach.

The words ‘Tzu Chi’ mean ‘Compassionate Relief’ in Mandarin. More here.

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Julemarked! Danish Seamen's Church 2012 Christmas Fair, Brooklyn

Good cheer all around at the Danish Seamen's Church 2012 Christmas Fair in Brooklyn Heights this past Saturday and Sunday. In the courtyard above, folks enjoyed Danish-style snacks, frikadeller (like meatballs) and sweets, along with beer and a delicious hot mulled alcoholic drink called glogg.

Christmas ornaments, elfs, angels, candles and holiday crafts filled the hall. Danes and Swedes do Christmas with great spirit. We bought ribbon, present tags, decorations and a raffle ticket. (Top prize = tickets to Denmark).

Danish Seamen's Church translation: "Danske Sømandskirke."

A second fair location -- at nearby Plymouth Church -- featured the restaurant with open-faced sandwiched (smørrebrød) and other food.

Did you miss it? See other upcoming holiday fairs here.

Photos by MK Metz

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Deadline for Free Barclays Tickets; Rosanna Cash for Red Hook; and More Brooklyn Briefs

Last Smorgasburg of the season in DUMBO on Sunday. MK Metz

- Registration deadline coming up for free tickets to events at Barclays Arena. Atlantic yards Report

- Grammy-winning country music artist Rosanne Cash will headline a benefit at The Bell House on Wednesday, Nov. 21, to raise funds for flooded Red Hook.

- Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel is reopening at 6 a.m. today (Monday). Trucks will remain banned until further notice, but all other traffic is good to go in both directions. NY Magazine

- The Silent Barn do-it-yourself art collective will be moving to Bushwick after its location in Queens was shut down by police and saw all its equipment stolen. CBS

- Hurricane Sandy will change the way New York is built, experts say. TRD 

- Our new favorite 72-year-old grandpa. Offbeat China via Gothamist

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Con Ed Hurricane Sandy Mobile Posts in NYC Closing Today

Photo: Con Ed

The Con Edison mobile posts set up in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island following Hurricane Sandy are closed as of today (Monday, November 19), but there will be a Con Edison representative at the following locations:

Brooklyn:
NYC Restoration Center, Coffey Park, Verona Street (between Richard & Dwight Street)
Hours: 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Queens:
American Legion Hall(Broad Channel), 209 Cross Bay Blvd
Hours: 9 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Staten Island:
1976 Hylan Blvd,(former Manfredi Mazda dealership)
Hours: 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Do you have questions about the self-certification process? Contact Con Edison Energy Services,
seven days a week, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. In Brooklyn, call 718-802-6349.

See here for other boroughs and more info.

If your electrical equipment is storm damaged, see here.

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Boarded Up Rice Kind of a Downer in DUMBO

Photo: MK Metz

That old DUMBO standby Rice has been closed since mid-October; now the boards nailed over its windows give Washington Street a post-Sandy look.

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