Carroll Park Christmas Tree Lighting Postponed Until Dec. 13 in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn

Photo: John H. Kim, Flickr

Due to the inclement weather, the Carroll Park tree lighting party scheduled for tonight in Cobble Hill has been postponed to next Friday evening, December 13.

On December 13 at 6 p.m., join Court Street Merchants Association, Friends of Carroll Park, elected officials, friends, neighbors, and maybe even a fat man in a red suit when they flip the switch on the holiday decor.

Countdown and carols will happen at the Louis Valentino, Jr. Ballfield, followed immediately by food and fun in the Robert Acito Park House.

This will also be the final collection in their City Harvest holiday food drive, so please grab a can or box of non-perishable food en route.


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More About Grimm; De Blasio Donations; Messy DUMBO Post Office; And More Brooklyn Briefs

Always-messy Post Office, Front Street, DUMBO. Photo: MK Metz

- Eco dock opens at 69th Street pier in Brooklyn, and anyone can use it. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- A Democratic committee started a Tumblr compiling things Republican Congressman Michael Grimm “could have done in 17 minutes” (instead of you-know-what). [Politicker]

- Brooklyn Night Bazaar scores 24,000 sq. ft. Greenpoint digs.[TRD]

- The idea of residential parking permits near Barclays Center seems to be going nowhere. [Atlantic Yards Report]

- Top donations to the de Blasio mayoral campaign came from ZIP Codes 11201 and 11215 in Brooklyn, and 10021, 10028 and 10024 in Manhattan. [Brooklyn Ink]

-Carroll Gardens woman to celebrate her 80th birthday by jumping out of an airplane. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Smith Street's 4th Annual Festivale des Soupes (soup crawl) takes place this Saturday. [McBrooklyn]

- Ukrainian astronomers have discovered a "massive" asteroid that has a slight possibility of hitting Earth on August 26, 2032. [io9]

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Hearing On Controversial Carroll Gardens Homeless Shelter Thursday, Oct. 17

Google Streetview

The city is pushing ahead with its somewhat smelly plan to place a 170-man homeless shelter in a building meant to house a 10-unit luxury condo in Carroll Gardens (165-167 West 9th Street).

What sounds like a banana-republic hearing is being held Thursday, October 17, at 49 Chambers Street at 10 a.m.

Not that the city doesn't need more homeless shelters -- but the plan was cooked up "with no community input under an emergency dictate," and given to an organization that is "run by the former Dept. of Homeless Services Housing commissioner, where the owner of the building is on the board."

Additionally, in Dept. of Homeless Services paperwork to Mayor Bloomberg, the mayor "was never informed that CB6’s board had resolved by a vote of 31 to 1 (with 3 abstentions) to oppose the use of the site 'based on both defective process and lack of merit.'"

More here.

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'Tree Deserts' of Brooklyn; Perverted Pervert Test; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- 18 wheeler tractor trailers are illegally idling for over 24 hrs at a time next to Barclays Center. [AY Report] and [AY Watch]

- Huge development site at the corner of Franklin and Dean in Crown Heights going for $18,000,000. [Brownstoner]

- Someone is stealing catalytic converters in Carroll Gardens. [PMFA]

- New tree map of shows the "tree deserts" of Brooklyn. [NY Daily News]

- Court rules sex offender should not be subject to oddly perverted penile test [Brooklyn Eagle]

- A 46-year-old man was found shot to death in a car in Crown Heights Sunday night. [NBC]

- Green-Wood Cemetery is offering a pre-Halloween tour with gorgeously ghoulish appeal: a tour inside a mausoleum. [About]

- New Coney Island YMCA to create a time capsule. [Bensonhurst Bean]

- Yeah yeah: Lhota says he'll cut the city's work force but won't reduce services. [Crain's NY]

- The FDA isn't inspecting food during the government shutdown. [Gizmodo]

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Sunday in Brooklyn: Atlantic Antic, DUMBO Arts Fest, Carroll Park Kids Concert

Atlantic Antic. Photo: MK Metz

 The weather should be beautiful no matter where you head today (Sunday, Sept. 29, 2013). Here are some of the notable crazy fun events happening in Brooklyn:

The 39th Annual Atlantic Antic: The street festival to end all street festivals runs along Atlantic Avenue from Hicks Street to 4th Avenue.  This is the real deal -- food, beer brewed just for the occasion, art, music, shopping, festivities, and fun. And this year, finally, BP Marty Markowitz will crowned King of Brooklyn.

The DUMBO Arts Festival continues on Sunday. Highly recommended! While the Festival officially ends at 6 p.m., BattleFest runs from 6 - 9 p.m.

The Deedle Deedle Dees will be performing at the Carroll Park Kids Concert Series at 2 p.m.

Unhinged, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition’s Fall Art Show: four shows in one in Red Hook.


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Cop in Carroll Park; Lundy's on Fire; Beyoncé and More Brooklyn Briefs

- After Monday's rumble in Carroll Park, a cop is now stationed there from 3 - 6 p.m. [PMFA]

- Fire at the historic Lundy’s building in Sheepshead Bay. [Brooklyn Daily]

- Ex-Domino Sugar owner fights $185M Two Trees sale on appeal. [TRD]

- VIDEO: Beyoncé grants a wish for handicapped Brooklyn author Atiba Clarke. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Japanese rock trio The 5.6.7.8.'s (who famously appeared in Kill Bill) are set to play on October 27 at The Bell House. [Brooklyn Vegan]

- De Blasio says he will 'Wacksky Yassky If Elected Mayorsky' [BHB]

- Brooklyn paranormal group putting together a ghost busting squad. [Brokelyn]

- It's hockey night in Brooklyn. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Why going to the hospital could be the deadliest thing you ever do. [Pro Publica]

- How the message "You retard" was printed inside the cap of a bottle of Vitaminwater. [Yahoo] 

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Are SUNY's Lawyers Digging Themselves Into a Hole at LICH Hearing in Brooklyn?

Some amazing things are happening at an epic multi-day hearing unfolding at Brooklyn Supreme Court under Justice Johnny Lee Baynes.

Yesterday Justice Baynes announced that the Appellate Division had dismissed SUNY Downstate’s appeals of temporary restraining orders (TROs) prohibiting the immediate closure of Long Island College Hospital (LICH).

This means that someone at SUNY can now be charged with contempt for violating Justice Bayne's orders to keep LICH operating as a hospital, with full emergency services (including ambulances), adequate staff, etc.

Despite the TROs, SUNY has blatantly shut down almost the entire hospital and created a health crisis throughout Brooklyn.

Justice Baynes has shown amazing patience with SUNY's repeated violations of his orders but it appears his patience, rightly, is wearing thin. SUNY's shutdown of LICH is costing LICH -- by SUNY's own somewhat dubious reckoning -- more than $11 million a month.

While repeatedly violating Justice Bayne's TROs was SUNY's first mistake, lawyers for SUNY may now be making a second: they don't appear to be taking seriously his repeated urgings to negotiate a reasonable settlement. (That settlement would be something like keeping LICH open, within a certain framework, while the new owner transitions in.)

Justice Baynes gave the parties another chance Thursday afternoon to reach such a settlement, out of the eyes of the public. But it doesn't seem likely SUNY will deal.

Their hubris may catch up with them however, as eye-witnesses testify on Friday about SUNY's violations. If Justice Baynes is convinced that the violations took place (and evidence is in abundance), he would have no choice but to penalize SUNY.

In the meantime, someone from the Brooklyn DA's rackets office is sitting in on the hearing, saying nothing but watching everything.


Appeals rebuffed, court orders SUNY to keep LICH open. Brooklyn Eagle

More LICH articles

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Barclays Noise Complaints; Gas Pipeline Protest; and More Brooklyn Briefs

Did you miss 'Sharknado'? Here's the trailer.

- Multiple noise complaints about Barclays Center, and commenters say it's going to be intolerable for years. [Atlantic Yards Report]

- A 79-year-old woman talking on her cellphone and crossing against the light was fatally struck by a car in Bensonhurst. [NY Post]

- Opponents protested Sunday against a planned natural gas pipeline that would pass through Brooklyn and the Rockaways. [CBS local]

- Video of FDNY rescuing a dog from a second story window. [Carroll Gardens Patch]

- Aging NYC stickballers keep street game alive. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Park Slope not thrilled with Methodist's plan to knock down 16 buildings to expand the hospital. [Brownstoner]

- Manhattan is not impressed with Brooklyn's newest tall buildings. [WSJ]

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5th Ave. Becomes Giant WiFi Hotspot, and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Video: Did NYPD censor heated Brooklyn community meeting? [Gothamist]

- A two-mile stretch of Fifth Avenue in Sunset Park will become a giant WiFi hotspot, enabling Internet access on the street, in stores and in apartments. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Memorial Day ceremony in Carroll Park this Monday. [PMFA]

- Government on "fishing expedition" locks up Brooklyn anarchist. [NY Magazine] 

- $90 million hotel worker health center coming to Downtown Brooklyn. [Observer]

- Brooklyn Public Library will hold "Lunchapalooza" on the Central Branch plaza every Wednesday. [FIPS]

- Nominate a local library so it can win $10,000.[Kensington BK]

- Creepy: A cop was charged with paying hackers to break into at least 43 personal e-mail accounts, including more than 20 fellow cops. [FBI]

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No One Was Murdered in Red Hook Last Year

Where in Brooklyn are you least likely to get murdered?

Brooklyn Magazine has checked out the latest NYPD Comstat figures and picked the neighborhoods to stick to if you value your health.

Oddly enough, the 76th Precinct, covering Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and Red Hook, reported no murders last year—and, so far, no murders this year. Even weirder, no one was murdered in Red Hook, not even after Sandy, in spite of the power being off for weeks.

More here.

Photo: Alan Cleaver

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Brooklyn's LICH Is Closing -- UPDATED

Photo: MK Metz

UPDATE: The New York Times, the Post and the Brooklyn Eagle are all reporting that the SUNY Board of Trustees has decided to close Long Island College Hospital -- LICH -- even before Thursday's sham hearing.

Hospital staffers were told late Tuesday.

SUNY's Board of Trustees were scheduled to hold a special hearing on Thursday afternoon regarding the fate of LICH, with a public comment period starting around 3:30 p.m.

The hearing is obviously a sham -- since the decision was made months ago, the Brooklyn Eagle reports.

Roy Sloane, president of the Cobble Hill Association, told the Eagle on Tuesday, “I don’t think anybody’s being fooled,” he said. “It’s a mockery of the public process.”

And that about sums it up.

Past posts:
- Will LICH Be Taken Private? Cuomo's Budget Calls for Brooklyn's First 'For-Profit' Hospital 
- Brooklyn's LICH On the Verge of Closing - Endowment Drained?
- Unexpected: Head of Brooklyn's LICH Stepping Down
- LICH Is Now UHBLICH
- Donald and Mildred: We're Sorry About Losing All Your Money, and the Hospital, Too
- Gov. Paterson Announced LICH /SUNY Deal in Brooklyn Today 
- Insurance Trouble at Brooklyn's LICH 
- Petition to Save LICH
- Sucking Long Island Collage Hospital Dry?
- Long Island College Hospital In Big Trouble

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Last Minute Super Bowl 2013 Bars in Brooklyn

CBS

It's Super Bowl Sunday in Brooklyn (OK, technically they're playing in New Orleans) and all of a sudden you have an overwhelming urge to watch the San Francisco 49ers face off against the Baltimore Ravens.

Did you forget to make plans? It's not too late: Here are a few a last minute places in Brooklyn to eat, drink and catch that Super Bowl Fever XLVII (What time does the Super Bowl start? 6:30 p.m.):

- In Williamsburg, Brooklyn Bowl will be showing Super Bowl XLVII on all of their big screens with full game audio.  Brooklyn Winery is blasting the game on a 116" screen and surround sound. Many more Williamsburg venues are listed on Brokelyn (also checkout the action at the Warsaw in Greenpoint, with a cinema-size main screen and four projectors.)

- In Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens, hit the Brazen Head on Atlantic; Buschenschank at 320 Court. It's all-you-can-eat at Angry Wades on Smith Street (technically in Boerum Hill). More Super Bowl venues, including in Red Hook, listed at Carroll Gardens Patch.

- In Gowanus, the Bell House will be showing the action on their big screen and serving sandwiches from Urban Rustic (their website is down but more details here).

- Are you in Ditmas Park? Ditmas Park Patch has a list of several neighborhood joints perfect for bowl-watching.

- Brooklyn Magazine has gathered an eclectic list of Super Bowl party spots from Red Hook to Fort Greene, including Woodwork in Prospect Heights.

- Want to watch the Super Bowl really cheap (or even free?)? Serious Eats has put together a list of the cheapest venues -- with $5 drafts, $3 shots, free halftime wings and pizza. Outstanding pick: The Waterstone Grill in DUMBO at 79 Pearl Street: Five televisions, and all-you-can eat wings, barbecue pork sliders, Stella draft, and bottles of Bud for $25.

- We haven't tried it yet, but in Brooklyn Heights, the Park Plaza Diner (220 Cadman Plaza West at Pineapple Walk) is advertising a Super Bowl shindig at the newly-renovated sports bar.

- Are you looking for gay-friendly bars with Super Bowl parties? It's amazing how many there are in Brooklyn! See Yelp for details.

- Are you working, on the go, or just don't have time to run out to a bar? You can enjoy the game virtually anyway -- watch the Super Bowl 2013 live stream on CBS for free.


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Brooklyn Briefs Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013

- The lawyer for the gunman in the Brooklyn diner murder tried to pin the blame on the victim’s girlfriend. NY Daily News

- Bushwick: Where you just expect your waitress to be naked and scribbled on. Gawker

 - Another Jewish baby catches herpes from dangerous penis sucking circumcision ritual. Failed Messiah 

- Is this a record? Man worked for the same Brooklyn bank for 62 years. Brooklyn Eagle 
 
- Brooklyn moms are tougher than almost anybody. The Local

- It's not over: Occupy Sandy still needs volunteers to help cleaning out flooded homes in Sheepshead Bay. Sheepshead Bites
  
- Carroll Gardens woman outsmarts two robbers outside a bank on Smith Street. Carroll Gardens Patch 

- Your cell phone might be monitoring your movements inside stores. Information Week

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How To Get Tickets to Obama's Inauguration; and More Brooklyn Briefs

River Cafe closed.  Photo: MK Metz

- Want to attend Obama’s inauguration? Schumer has tickets! Brooklyn Eagle

- There's a crime spree on 7th Avenue in Park Slope. Here's Park Slope

- The beautiful, century-old Linden tree in Carroll Park fell during the storm and is being cut up and hauled away. PMFA

- Williamsburg cinemas ready for December opening. DNAinfo 

- Report: Majority of Americans not prepared for major disaster. Sheepshead Bites

- Grants for community projects offered now, including hurricane relief. Brooklyn Bureau

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Carroll Gardens Petition Against Homeless Shelter

As of this writing, 577 residents of Carroll Gardens have signed a petition against a homeless shelter for single adults planned for their neighborhood.

At the same time, the Brooklyn Eagle reports, local officials have protested "the project’s lack of details and question possible conflict-of-interest in the murky dealings surrounding the rental of the building from owner Charles Wertman -- a board member of the company submitting the proposal, Housing Solutions USA."

Not surprisingly, Housing Solutions is headed by a former Bloomberg official, Robert Hess.

More here.


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Gowanus Towers Conditionally Approved; Media Center Coming to DUMBO; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- CB6 conditionally approves Lightstone Group to build towers along Gowanus. Carroll Gardens Patch

- A national kids franchise has taken over the Eileen Dugan Senior Center in Carroll Gardens; the seniors are moving to the basement. Brooklyn Eagle

- A “Made in NY” media center -- an incubator for media projects -- will be located at 20 Jay Street in DUMBO next spring. NY Times

- Brooklyn rents shoot through the roof. NY Daily News

- Oops! Brooklyn school founded by teachers union is one of district's worst. Brooklyn Eagle

- Yoko Ono will be honored at the Brooklyn Museum on November 15. Brooklyn.About

- The Jay Street Arts Building in DUMBO is going residential. Brownstoner

- Orthodox Jews filed a lawsuit against New York City over the consent that must be signed by parents before a rabbi can suck blood off their child's penis with his mouth after circumcision. Failed Messiah

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Brooklyn Restaurant News; Deadly Beauty; and More Briefs

DUMBO headstand. Photo: MKMetz

- New York Times restaurant critic reviews Governor, explains to readers that DUMBO is "a lot like TriBeCa." NY Times 

- What neighborhoods to avoid if you want to have any fun at all. Brooklyn Magazine

- A beautiful -- and deadly -- plant grows on Court Street. PMFA 

- The South Brooklyn Post recommends Izakaya on Smith Street and we definitely agree. Go! Now! Ramen!

- Not so Great: DOH closes Great Wall restaurant, again. BHB

- Okay, guess we have to jump in on this thing, too: Kickstart the People's Firehouse. Brokelyn

- Romney can't even make up his own website. Buzzfeed

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Missing 15-Year-Old Mom and Baby; 'Negrohood'; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Police are trying to find a 15-year-old Brooklyn girl and her 7-month-old child who haven’t been seen since Monday. CBS

- An Assembly candidate whose campaign sent mailers using the word “negrohood” to residents in Sheepshead Bay apologized Wednesday — calling the racially tinged language a “typo.” NY Daily News 

- Last week to enjoy outdoor NYC public pools. About

- Crazy Brooklyn white dude with enormous neck charged with hate crime for stabbing black guy with a fork. Gothamist

- Brownstoner has the update on Tuesday night's Cobble Hill house fire.  

- Carroll Garden kids organize their own Funday fundraiser in the park. Photos. PMFA

- Not a typo: Fresh Direct plans bike deliveries. Brooklyn Magazine


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No Good Deed Goes Unpunished; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Vacant for more than 35 years, a lot at Woodhull and Columbia streets was lovingly turned into a park by Brooklyn neighbors. HPD's reaction? "Get out." Carroll Gardens Patch

- Those ambulettes that pick up sick people may not be real. Sheepshead Bites

- A 26-year-old woman went missing after heading to volunteer at a Brooklyn shelter on July 8. Her family received a chilling text from her phone: “The owner of this phone is dead, but she was smiling." CBS local

- DOT recommends no residential parking permits for Barclay's area, but some Brooklyn residents question their methodology. Atlantic Yards Report

- The Cyclones are mired in first slump of the summer. Brooklyn Eagle

- Pedophile Andrew Goodman declared his undying love for the boy he molested for years, but was sentenced to a mere two years. NY Post

- Having a stoop sale? Post a notice here: Brokelyn

- What's going on at 340 Court Street. Brownstoner

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Helping Collapsed Brownstone Residents; Joey Chestnut; and More Brooklyn briefs

- It was Joey Chestnut all the way at Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. NY1

- How to help the residents of 241 Carroll St., the brownstone that collapsed in Carroll Gardens. FundRazr and PMFA

- Downtown Brooklyn hotel gets cosmetic fixes, plans August 1 opening. TRD

- Boutique leases the old Bococa Cafe space on Court Street. Brooklyn Eagle

- Why you should never lean on the doors in the subway. WYDNKBYANM

- On the other hand, the nicest things happen on the subway sometimes. Tumblr|Brooklyn

- McCarren Pool neighbor comments: “It’s almost Machiavellian how our public administration thinks they can realize these grand ideals for giant public pools without real infrastructure, like bathrooms." NY Times

- A transit officer was stabbed in the eye on Wednesday in Queens. Despite a bifurcated eye, he shot and killed his assailant. NY Times

- The Facebook email fiasco, part 2. Gizmodo


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