The ConBody Prison Bus

Photo: MK Metz

 This bus belongs to the ConBody Prison-Style Bootcamp. Headquartered in a grafitti-strewn neighborhood on the Lower East Side, ex-cons teach members exercises -- one course for example, focuses on exercises suitable for a 9x6' cell.

Founder Coss Marte teaches the above course.

His blurb:
"Coss Marte personally oversaw a million dollar cocaine and marijuana empire in New York City before getting busted. Once locked up, however, he not only rethought his life—he conceived an entirely new and original way of getting fit."


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Fireworks Tonight at Ellis Island: Best Viewing from Brooklyn, NYC (6/27/2017)

Photo: MK Metz

There will be a fireworks display near south Ellis Island tonight, 6/27, at approximately 10:15 p.m.

The best viewing points in Brooklyn are the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, Brooklyn Bridge Park, the Brooklyn Bridge Walkway. In Manhattan, the best place to see them is Battery Park. (In New Jersey, go to Liberty State Park.)

The display's sponsor is Briggs Inc. Briggs oversees projects including product launches, sales meetings and other corporate functions.

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Trump Supporters Spied in NYC

There were some Trump supporters in NYC last night. This video by Chris Brito shows them gathered outside Trump's residence.

A small crowd of Trump supporters cheer in front of his residence. The end is near. Of election night that is. pic.twitter.com/f2rh7AESkU

— Chris Brito (@ByChrisBrito) November 9, 2016

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Hillary Clinton Won Big In Brooklyn, Lost Big In Staten Island

Courtesy Clinton Campaign

Regardless of Hillary Clinton's performance nationally, she won solidly in Brooklyn.

According to NPR, Clinton won 79.7 percent of the Brooklyn vote, versus 17.9 percent for Trump. (Johnson got .9 percent of the vote while Stein won 1.5 percent. )

The ratio was roughly the same in Queens, with Clinton receiving 75.5 percent of the vote and Trump receiving 22.1 percent.

Clinton got even more of the vote in Manhattan (87.2 vs 10 percent) and the Bronx (88.7 vs 9.6 percent).

But the story was different in Staten Island, where Trump got 57.2 percent and Clinton received 40.4 percent of the vote.

In other races, Charles Schumer won re-election to the Senate, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.

The Eagle also tweeted that Nydia Velazquez has been re-elected to Congress.

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'The Norm' New Food Concept at Brooklyn Museum; Zika Breeding Grounds, and More Brooklyn Briefs

We’re STILL in AWE of @ShinsukeN’s entrance at #NXTTakeOver: Brooklyn II! @LeeEnglandJr https://t.co/MWi5xfl89Hhttps://t.co/YJdlNVoHVA

— WWE Music Group (@WWEMusic) August 28, 2016

- International food and quite the cocktail list: The Norm at Brooklyn Museum is a new restaurant concept led by Michelin-starred Chef Saul Bolton. Diners are surrounded by priceless art. [The Norm]

- There are still some Manhattanites who think Brooklyn is a foreign country. [Brooklyn Magazine]

- NYC steps up efforts to block Zika -- Several Brooklyn neighborhoods breeding grounds for mosquitoes. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- 2016 Brooklyn Book Festival to include Bowie and Prince panel discussion. [Gothamist]

- NPR's Jasmine Garsd headed over to the Afropunk festival in Brooklyn. [NPR]

- Fire erupts atop LICH’s ‘jewel-like’ Polhemus building in Brooklyn. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Buzz kill: Alcohol is linked to 7 forms of cancer, study finds. [Daily News]


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Trump. Lower East Side

Photo by MK Metz

An artist's depiction of Donald Trump graces a building on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

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NYC World Science Festival -- Where We went Today

Photos by MK Metz, McBrooklyn

On Saturday the World Science Festival brought stargazing, astronauts, soccer-playing robots and more to Brooklyn Bridge Park. 

McBrooklyn caught up to the festival and some of is sci-tech exhibits and talks at NYU in Manhattan.

Above, we met a scientist who waxed enthusiast about the the thinking part of our anatomy. We slapped on some gloves and touched a real human brain (!).

The explainer didn't know if our particular brain originally belonged to a man or woman, pauper or king. But rich or poor, we all have a hippocampus and amygdala.

Attendees got a chance to hold this beautiful grasshopper, too. It was heavier than you'd expect. (The scientist said it was too heavy to jump.)

Many other exhibits brought home lessons in math, electricity, neurobiology, black holes and other cool concepts.

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Thrills in NYC Harbor for the America's Cup

Photo copyright MK Metz.

The fastest sailboats in the world raced this past weekend in the America's Cup's New York City stop.

The boats were becalmed on Saturday, but the race went on as planned Sunday and the huge crowd in lower Manhattan was thrilled. The harbor was packed with boats filled with spectators.

Emirates Team New Zealand took first, while Oracle Team USA (shown above) came in second place and Groupama Team France third. The race continues elsewhere in June.


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America's Cup Racing Comes to Lower Manhattan This Weekend

Want to see some crazy fast sailing? America’s Cup racing will return to New York for the first time since 1920 with Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series racing on May 7-8.

Six America’s Cup teams, with the top sailors in the world, will vie for points that count towards the final competition for the 35th America’s Cup in 2017.

Practice racing is on Friday, May 6, with point-scoring races on the weekend of May 7-8.

The Event Village will be in the Brookfield Place Waterfront Plaza, while the racing will be on the lower Hudson River off the Battery Park City Esplanade (between the Pier 25 basin to the north and The Battery to the south).

Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series standings so far (after three events):

Emirates Team New Zealand – 122 points
ORACLE TEAM USA – 112 points
Land Rover BAR – 109 points
Artemis Racing – 105 points
SoftBank Team Japan – 100 points
Groupama Team France – 82 points

History:

From 1870 through 1920 racing took place off New York. Beginning in 1930, the competition was moved to Newport, Rhode Island, where it remained until the United States finally lost the Cup in 1983, ending the longest winning streak in sport.

Since that time, racing for the America’s Cup has taken place in Perth (Australia); San Diego (USA); Auckland (New Zealand); Valencia (Spain); and San Francisco (USA).

In May/June 2017, the next America’s Cup will be raced in Bermuda.


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One Thousand Still Without Power in NYC, Most of Them in Brooklyn

Courtesy Con Ed

Following this weekend's blizzard, roughly 600 Brooklyn Con Edison customers were without power as of 5 p.m. Tuesday.

According to Con Ed's outage map, the dead spots were scattered across the borough, with Central Brooklyn registering slightly more outages.

Most notably, 115 customers (individual units or homes) were without power in Prospect Lefferts Gardens; 58 in the South Slope; 34 near Eastern Parkway; 67 in Bed-Stuy; 25 in Homecrest; 36 in Ridgewood; 17 near the Navy Yard, 22 in Boerum Hill and more.

About 300 customers lacked power in Upper Manhattan; 100 customers in Queens were also in the dark Tuesday evening.

Depending on the location, Con Ed says many of these repairs will be completed either by 11 p.m. tonight or early tomorrow morning.

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Music Lovers Rejoice: Make Music Winter Returns Dec. 21

Illustration by Adam McCauley, courtesy of Make Music NY

 Make Music Winter returns on Monday December 21. Musicians, singers, and winter revelers are invited to join the party and make music on the longest night of the year. Most events require no musical training, but some open rehearsals start now.

A dozen musical parades are planned, including Bach, Bells, Flatfooters, Kalimbas, Parranderos (in Melrose and Williamsburg), Percussion, Singers, and Smartphones. For example, in Brooklyn:

- Bell by Bell: Starting at the DUMBO Arch, artist Tom Peyton will distribute seventy color-coded bells to the crowd, one color per note. At the front of the parade, a team of conductors waves corresponding colored flags to lead the group in slowly moving music, written by a variety of composers. When the conductors raise their red and green flags, everyone with red and green bells start ringing, and so on for each color.

- RPM / BLINK / Wheels: The ever-popular bicycle bell parade through Prospect Park, which started with BLINK in 2013 and continued with Wheels in 2014, turns into a trilogy with RPM by P. Spadine of Ashcan Orchestra.

- Flat Foot Flatbush: Dancers, fiddlers, and pickers will parade down Flatbush Ave playing old-time tunes while flat footing, a form of percussive dancing from Appalachia. Led by dancer Megan Downes and the City Stompers, the parade steps off at 5:00 pm in front of the Barclays Center, with stops along the way to play, dance, and sing. Workshop to make your own tap shoes if you don't have any.

- La Trullita Navideña, a cultural experience of the Caribbean tradition of parranda. Join in the singing, drumming and celebration throughout Los Sures, the Southside of Williamsburg. Leading up to Make Music Winter, join BombaYo for open rehearsals in November and December, held at El Puente and Williamsburg Library Spaceworks.

More on Make Music Winter here.

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Sen. Squadron Invites You To An MTA Bus Town Hall Next Tuesday

Have an idea to improve bus service in your neighborhood or want to raise some issues?

State Sen. Daniel Squadron invites you to an MTA bus service town hall on Tuesday. Nov. 17 at 6:30 p.m.

Squadron represents the 26th Senate District, which includes the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Vinegar Hill, DUMBO, Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, and Columbia Waterfront, and the Manhattan neighborhoods of Tribeca, Battery Park City, the Lower East Side, Chinatown, the Financial District, Little Italy, SoHo, and the East Village.


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Man Kills Wife with SUV; 62 More Citi Bike Stations; and More Brooklyn Briefs

What's with all these naked (or almost naked) guys performing in Union Square, anyway? Photo: MK Metz

- A 26-year-old woman was killed outside her Brooklyn home by her husband backing an SUV out of the driveway. (An unconfirmed comment raises many questions.) [Gothamist]

- Citi Bike expansion bringing 62 new stations to Brooklyn. [Curbed]

- A wetland grows in Brooklyn: Filthy NYC tributary turned back to nature in $455M project. [AP]

- Some things you may not know about the Gowanus Canal. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- A Brooklyn-based group is arguing that gentrification is a human rights violation. [The Atlantic]

- Massive police presence at Thursday’s anti-police violence rally and march in Downtown Brooklyn. [Brooklyn Eagle]


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Giant Inflatable Taiwanese Deities, Union Square

Meanwhile, in Manhattan ...  (Photo: MK Metz)

Thought you might want to see these giant inflatable deities from traditional Taiwanese temple fairs, placed in the middle of Union Square on Sunday.

They were part of the Passport to Taiwan Festival, which celebrates Taiwanese American Heritage Week.

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Homeland Security Asks Brooklyn's Help Fighting Terrorism; Uber to the L Train Rescue; and More Brooklyn Briefs

This creep stole a Brooklyn mom's Mother's Day gift. Story: CBS (Photo:NYPD)

- Department of Homeland Security head Johnson asks Brooklyn groups for help fighting home-grown terrorism, reports the Brooklyn Eagle.

- A Brooklyn politician was punched in the face at a Greenpoint bar defending a barmaid, says Gothamist.

- Atlantic Yards Report mulls over the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership's "college town" agenda -- amenities for students and schools, or development rights?

- Uber slashes rides to $2.75 for final weekends of L train closure, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.

- Brownstoner looks at TV locations in Brooklyn: The Americans, The Knick, Blacklist, and more.

- Some Brooklyn transplants are doing the unthinkable -– moving back to Manhattan in search of a better real estate deal, according to TRD.

- Jealous Staten Island man kills his ex-girlfriend's Brooklyn boyfriend, reports SIlive.

- Jade Helm: A Pentagon training exercise is sparking controversy with conspiracy theories claiming it's a secret plot to impose military rule in Texas, using closed Walmart stores, according to The Hill.

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Happy Buddha's Birthday!

Photo: MK Metz

It's Buddha's Birthday today, according to Nepalese reckoning.

The date marks the birthday of the Prince Siddhartha Gautama.

People celebrate by going to a service, eating communal vegetarian meals including kheer (a sweet rice porridge), having joyous parades, and washing baby Buddha in a ritual.

 Nepalese in NYC celebrated a day early with a parade in Washington Square Park on Sunday.

In Nepal, according to Wikipedia, Buddha's birthday is celebrated on the full moon day of the Vaisakha month of the Buddhist and Hindu calendar. This year, that falls on May 4.

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Time to Repaint Fading Bike Lanes in Brooklyn

Painting the bike lane on Clinton Street. Photo by MK Metz

Workers repainted the faded green bike lane on Clinton Street in Brooklyn Heights late last week. Cyclists had complained that this and other painted bike lanes were becoming almost invisible, and cars were "disrespecting" the lane.

Vehicles driving in the bike lanes no doubt hasten the fading, but salt and snow plows also take their toll.

Scott Shaffer of streets.mn has an excellent post about faded bike lanes. It reads in part:

"A bike lane isn’t just a physical thing — it’s a social construct. Like money, it only matters because we all act like it does . . . The fading of the paint, and the cause of the fading, erodes this foundation. It erases confidence in the bike lane, not just the paint." 

_______________________________________

A Few Bicycle Statistics from the Department of Transportation:


Half of all of NYC's bicycle fatalities are in Brooklyn, according to DOT data. In 2013, 12 cyclists died in crashes citywide. Six of these were in Brooklyn.

Thousands of cyclists are injured in crashes -- and this happens more in Brooklyn. In 2013, there were 1,574 bike crashes which resulted in injuries to riders in Brooklyn. (Also, 21 motorists were injured in these crashes.)

     - During that same period in Manhattan, 1,169 crashes resulted in cyclist injuries, and 3 died. (In these crashes, eight mororists were injured.)

     - In Queens, 772 cyclists were injured in crashes in 2013, and 2 died. (Four motorists were injured.)

     - In the Bronx, 316 crashes resulted in injuries to cyclists, and one died. (Five motorists were injured.)

     - In Staten Island, 41 cyclists were injured in 2013. None died.

Pedestrians are getting hurt by bikes as well. In 2013 in Brooklyn, 73 pedestrians were injured by bikes (one died). The most dangerous precincts in Brooklyn for pedestrians getting hit by bikes (in order of injuries) are the 90th, 78th, 84th, 94th, 79th and 72nd.

Pedestrians are even worse offf in Manhattan, with 198 of them injured by bikes. The Bronx had just 15; Queens had 29; S.I. had one.

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Fireworks, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Sept. 21

Photo by MK Metz

Sunday's fireworks cast a magical glow over the East River next to Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pier 1 and the ferry dock.

The display was set off over New York Harbor at Pier 16 in Manhattan. They celebrated the Indo-American Festival.

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Sky Gondolas to Connect Brooklyn Neighborhoods to Manhattan?

Remember when ex-Mayor Michael Bloomberg was considering running aerial gondolas from Brooklyn to Governors Island?

The idea is back, this time with overhead gondolas running from the Brooklyn Navy Yard to Williamsburg, and then from Williamsburg to the Lower East Side.

According to Crain's, the gondolas would eventually branch out to connect Dumbo to the South Street Seaport, and Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and Long Island City, Queens, to Roosevelt Island. (There, the network would meet up with the existing gondola route between Roosevelt Island and Manhattan.)

The idea was proposed Tuesday at the Massey Knakal Brooklyn Real Estate Summi.

Photo by Kris Arnold from New York, USA (Foggy Tram) [CC-BY-SA-2.0, via Wikimedia Commons


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Welcome to Brooklyn: How Sweet It Is!

Photo: MK Metz

 This is the sign you see when you walk over the Brooklyn Bridge (to Brooklyn from Manhattan).

It's always a relief to make it back!

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