More Than One Way to Stuff a Rat; the Beer ATM; Pols Express Alarm about Haiti and Puerto Rico; and More Brooklyn Briefs

.@myfabolouslife receives the key to Brooklyn https://t.co/Ahk9QI8iej pic.twitter.com/vq72zPtHqo

— XXL Magazine (@XXL) June 12, 2017

- Former Brooklyn prosecutor in NYPD gun permit scandal gets bail modified to allow travel for competitive dog shows. [Daily News]

- Brooklyn pols express alarm about Puerto Rican referendum, Haitian protected status. [Brooklyn Eagle]

-  A man shot by police in Brooklyn Sunday night has been arrested and charged with stabbing his roommate in front of officers. [NY1]

- Brooklyn Pride parade draws massive, boisterous turnout. Photos. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Fabrication studio Smart Department is hosting a rat taxidermy class on Saturday where you can learn to make either one- or two-headed stuffed rats. [Patch]

- A bar in Williamsburg has created one of the greatest inventions known to mankind – a Beer ATM. [Konbini]

- Former NBA star Sebastian Telfair was arrested in Bed-Stuy Sunday morning in a pickup truck stocked with loaded guns, drugs and a bulletproof vest. [Patch]

- DUMBO’s Live at The Archway this Thursday: musician Rodes Rollins, artist Melanie Hope Greenberg. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Dirty dancing: Floating company twirls on the Gowanus Canal. [Brooklyn Paper]


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Troy Avenue 'All Good;' Cop Snapchats Unfortunate Family; More Fortis Plans for LICH Filed and More Brooklyn Briefs

Brooklyn: Rapper Troy Ave was shot in the arm & grazed in the head while driving Maserati on East 91st St & Linden Blvd. @AllisonPapson pic.twitter.com/2k2RrKiBqR

— New York City Alerts (@NYCityAlerts) December 26, 2016

- Troy Avenue 'all good' after getting shot twice in Brooklyn on Christmas. [Rolling Stone]

- A sad Christmas: An NYPD officer was suspended without pay after posting a humiliating photo of a handcuffed Brownsville family to Snapchat. [DNAinfo]

- Fortis files plans for another tower on the Long Island College Hospital (LICH) site in Cobble Hill. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- How an abandoned building in the Brooklyn Navy Yard became a hub for pioneering startups. [WSJ]

- Two gay guys visit friends in Brooklyn, have their picture taken. Now they're on the wall of the new Second Avenue subway line. [Star Tribune]

- Cops are looking for a 50-year-old man who assaulted a 29-year-old man inside a bar in Brighton Beach. [PIX11]

- Ortiz: Don’t dump homeless in Sunset Park hotels. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- No Rockettes will be forced to perform at Trump's inauguration. [Slate]

- The Twitter account of Sony Music falsely tweeted Monday that Britney Spears had died. [USA Today]

Taiwanese, Brooklyn-based artist Min Liu creates GIFs with charming homespun aesthetics that cram each short second with surreal curiosity. pic.twitter.com/gkQcVm6Dnx

— Saatchi Gallery (@saatchi_gallery) December 26, 2016

This GIF is kinda cute!

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Rapper Arrested at Brooklyn Bridge Park; Pot Lovers to Deliver Giant Joint to Hillary; and More Brooklyn Briefs

‘Wild’mural goes up at Atlantic Ave. entrance to Brooklyn Bridge Park. Photo: MK Metz

- Levar McDonald, the web comedian and rapper on The Levar Show, was arrested in the Brooklyn Bridge Park. [TP]

- Pot supporters plan to carry a 51-foot blowup joint to Hillary Clinton headquarters in Brooklyn this Sunday. [Twitter]

- DA Thompson meets with gay community, establishes hotline following Orlando terror attack. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- More about that Wegman's coming to the Brooklyn NavyYard. [DNAinfo]

- Man charged in mysterious disappearance of Brooklyn student in 2006. [NBC]

- Trump’s fear-mongering, hate-filled speech on Orlando is the scariest thing he's done yet. [Slate]

- Surviving a gator attack - experts: Fight like hell. [abc7]

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82-Yr-Old Raped; Bed-Stuy Building Collapse; Squibb Bridge Disappointment; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- The top three floors of a four-story building in Bedford-Stuyvesant collapsed Tuesday afternoon, injuring three people, including a passerby riding a bicycle. [NBC]

- Outrage: An 18-year-old sexual predator raped and sodomized an 82-year-old woman in Brighton Beach. [NY Daily News]

- Patience fades as Squibb Park Bridge in Brooklyn Heights remains shut. [NY Times]

- NY State Senator Martin Golden told a funny joke, and some people are upset about it. [NY Minute]

- Complaint was filed against unlicensed SoHo day care center months before Brooklyn Heights baby died there, but it wasn’t followed-up. [Daily News]

- Did a Brooklyn costume shop create Spider-Man 8 years before Marvel? [NY Post]

- Donald Trump frets about a tweet from someone calling himself El Chapo, which says, "I'm gonna make you swallow your [expletive] words..." [7online] 

- But maybe Trump should worry more about Israel, after his recent tweet featuring Nazis. [The Hill]

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Brooklyn Officials, Gay Pride Groups to Hold #LoveWins Anti-Violence Rally Thurs.

Following an anti-gay hate crime in Crown Heights, NYS Senator Jesse Hamilton, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, LAMBDA Independent Democrats of Brooklyn (LID)and numerous gay pride groups will be standing together on Thursday at 1 p.m. at Utica Avenue and Carroll Street.

Sen. Hamilton and Michael Czaczkes of LID write:

On June 30th, someone just going about their business on a beautiful summer evening faced a horrific anti-gay attack. A hate crime. We are gathering at the place of the incident to say: Not in our neighborhood. Not in our City. Not in our State. We refuse to let the hateful acts of those attackers prevail. We refuse to turn our backs on the safety and security of our LGBTQ family, friends, and neighbors.

Other participants include:
Chutney Pride
Caribbean American Pride (Brooklyn)
Community leaders
Gay Men of African Descent (GMAD)
The LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York
Empire State Pride Agenda
Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club
Prospect Heights Democrats for Reform
Make the Road
Brooklyn Community Pride Center

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Rainbows Galore at NYC Gay Pride Parade

Photos by MK Mets

More than a million marchers and supporters waving rainbow flags and wearing rainbow colors flooded the streets of New York City Sunday for this years Gay Pride Parade.

 The mood was joyful as marchers celebrated the recent Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage. The parade started at noon and was still running more than three hours later.


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Bill Murray to Lead Poetry Walk Across Brooklyn Bridge Monday Night, and More Brooklyn Briefs

Mentors and their high school mentees dance at the annual iMentor picnic in Cadman Plaza Park. Photo by MK Metz

- Bill Murray is going to lead hundreds of poetry lovers and poets across the Brooklyn Bridge in an on-the-go poetry reading Monday at 6:30 p.m. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Brooklyn DA helps nab crook who stole woman's wallet. [WSJ]

- 1,000 new Citi Bikes getting redesign by Olympic racing bike designer. [Daily News]

- Fire at NY Methodist hospital in Park Slope on Saturday diverts ambulances. [NY Post]

- Five hospitals in Brooklyn will be hit of the nurses union approves a strike. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Fascinating look at the sex life of Hasidic Jews. [Salon]

- Williamsburg's Northside Festival brings hundreds of performing artists, film screenings, art installations. [MetroUS]

- Brownstone in Carroll Gardens repeatedly defaced by gay slurs. [TRD]


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Mad As Hell? Tuesday Is Primary Day and Your Vote Will Actually Do Something

Don't like hospitals and libraries closing? How about crowded schools or condos going up in your park? So few people vote in primaries that the ones who do have the strength of many. So vote, and rule the world.

Tuesday is #NYCPrimary. Not sure who to vote for or who @superwuster is? For full wrap-up of #Brooklyn races, visit http://t.co/wlhVnajpw2
— Brooklyn Daily Eagle (@BklynEagle) September 8, 2014

Brooklyn 2014 Primary Guide

- Brooklyn cyclist may have found her hit and run driver, but cops too busy to question him.  [Gothamist]

- Illegal pink clothing bins are popping up all over Gowanus. [PMFA]

- Real estate agent boldly re-imagines Bed-Stuy without black people. [Brokelyn]

- In related news, two non-white Brooklyn women tired of 'white people moving into the area' force tenants out at gunpoint. [NY Daily News]

- Brooklyn libraries to have longer hours. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- NYPD launches crackdown on drivers illegally passing school buses. [Sheepshead Bites]

- Drag kings and queens wigged out at the cross-dressing fest Bushwig over the weekend in Bushwick. [Brooklyn Paper]

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That Loud Music Blasting Brooklyn Heights All Day Saturday, August 2

Really bad, really loud. Photos: MK Metz

That obnoxiously loud music playing in Cadman Plaza Park and echoing over Brooklyn Heights all day (and expected until 7:30 p.m. tonight) is for the benefit of a group that is supposed to represent the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Community: GLBTSummerAffair.org

Only it probably doesn't represent many in the community because almost no one showed up. For the first 3 hours of the noise, the only ones in the park were the crew members that set up the sound system.

The group says 5% of the money collected from vendors goes to GLBT organizations, but there were no vendors.

These photos show the height of the crowd around 6 p.m. Their vendor application website claims: "The past events were the size of 400 - 1000 and growing at that time."

They call the event "Family Day in the Park," only there are no families there.

People trying to walk through the park to get home are holding their hands over their ears because the music is so painfully loud.

Residents living along Cadman Plaza have called police, but what are the odds they will show up?

The same group played the same really bad, really loud music last year, including a three-hour rendition of "I Will Not Dance to Your War Drum" interspersed with Latinized Elton John tune.

This is the third weekend in a row where loud music was played in the park -- but no complaints about the previous two groups.

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LGBTQ Anti-Violence Forum on Saturday, Brooklyn Heights

"Battered Pride in Brooklyn: An Anti-violence Forum for the LGBTQ Community and their Allies," will take place on Saturday, February 15, from 2 to 5 p.m. in the Chapel of First Unitarian Church at 121 Pierrepont St. at Monroe Place in Brooklyn Heights.

Full details here.


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Squadron Not Joining de Blasio Administration? Brooklyn Flea to Flee Park; aand More Brooklyn Briefs

Gas lamp, Brooklyn Heights. MK Metz

- Senator Daniel Squadron says he's going to run for re-election -- not head off to the de Blasio administration. [Crain's]

- Cops say security for Bill de Blasio home in Park Slope would be no problem. [NY Daily News]

- The Brooklyn Flea is abandoning its East River State Park locale amid complaints from locals. [TRD]

- BP Markowitz declares Brooklyn to be the “lesbian capital” of the Northeast. [NY Post]

- Will Green-Wood Cemetery turns part of landmarked greenhouse into visitors center? [Brooklyn Eagle]

- State Ed Commissioner King meets an audience in Crown Heights that likes the  new Common Core learning standards. [NY1]

- Forrest City Ratner lowers value of Atlantic Yards by $250,000 - $350,000. [AYR]

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Airbnb 'Illegal,' Parks Cuts Kids Programs in W'burg, and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Parents are pissed: The Parks Department cut children's programming at East River State Park to make room for the Brooklyn Flea marketplace. [DNAinfo] 

- Hold that thought: Coney Island fancy toilets won’t be installed in time for Memorial Day weekend. [NY Daily News]

- Forget Airbnb: Short-term apartment rentals ruled illegal. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Subway service disrupted over 11 lines over Memorial Day weekend. [DNAinfo]

- Clinton Hill manse asks record $4.88M: PHOTOS. [TRD]

- Red Hook townhouse tries to set neighborhood record with $2.15 M. price tag. [Observer]

- Boy Scouts Of America votes to lift ban on gay scouts. [Brooklyn Eagle]

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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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Update: Racket in Cadman Plaza Park, Brooklyn, Annoys Brooklyn Heights All Afternoon

No one showed up the first four hours.  Photo: MK Metz

Lesbian, gay and straight alike agree on one thing today in Brooklyn Heights: the music blasting from Cadman Plaza Park all afternoon was incredibly loud and horribly tasteless.

What sounded like a three-hour rendition of "I Will Not Dance to Your War Drum" -- interspersed with  Elton John tunes mixed to a Latin beat -- deafened the north end of the Heights starting at 1 p.m.

The event was supposed to be the GLBT Summer Affair. For the first four hours of the noise, there were no more than 20 people, and most of them appeared to be somehow connected with setting up the "event."

There were two tables set up. One was manned by an earnest Obama supporter handing out campaign literature to virtually no one. The other had something to do with health, again with no takers.

Some people showed up around 6 p.m.  Photo: MK Metz

UPDATE: At around 6 p.m. a small crowd -- maybe 40 people -- were in attendance. At 7 p.m. the event ended and thank all that is holy the noise stopped.

Music Cadman Plaza Park Brooklyn
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Hot and Fresh Indeed: Mx. Justin Vivian Bond in Brooklyn

The legendary Mx. Justin Vivian Bond performed at Dekalb Market in Downtown Brooklyn (in front of the "Hot and Fresh" sign) during Sunday’s outre “Everybooty” party, celebrating Gay Pride Week.

More about the event here.

Photo by MK Metz


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Fireworks Over NYC, Brooklyn and New Jersey Tonight -- Sunday, June 24, 2012

A fabulous fireworks display tonight -- at 10:30 p.m. Sunday, June 24, 2012 -- over New York City (and viewable from New Jersey and Brooklyn) celebrates Gay Pride Week, with events taking place on Manhattan's East side.

The fireworks will launch near Pier 54 in the Hudson River (near 14th Street).

Other Gay Pride events today include the famous march (led by Cyndi Lauper, Chris Salgardo, Phyllis Siegel and Connie Kopelova), a street fair, a dance on Pier 57 and more.

Sponsor: Heritage of Pride

Photo by Max Talbot-Minkin (maxintosh), Creative Commons license

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Driving Tenants Out with Biker Gang; Repealing Same-Sex Marriage; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- L & B Spumoni Gardens mobster trial gets saucy. Bensonhurst Bean

- Landlord paid biker gang to drive Williamsburg tenants out, residents say. NY Post

- Newbie Senator David Storobin proposes a bill which would repeal same-sex marriage in New York. Sheepshead Bites

- Fort Greene guy will soon install on South Portland Avenue a public bench fashioned from concrete and glass harvested over the past two years in Fort Greene Park. The Local

- Park Slope beauty crowned Miss New York. To win, she employed "a punishing one-two combo of tap-dancing prowess and general agreeability." Brooklyn Eagle

- Howard Stern writer named the king of the 30th annual Mermaid Parade. Brooklyn Daily

- Free Summerstage shows in Red Hook. Reality Collective

- Water-on-the-Go installed in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Brooklyn Eagle

- That'll teach her: NJ woman jailed in NYC for 2002 traffic ticket. NBC

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Northside Music, Art, Etc. Festival; OWS Makes Bucks in Brooklyn; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- The Northside Music, Art, Film, and Entrepreneurship Festival in Williamsburg will showcase "the next generation of culture and technology." Northside Festival

- 5 affordable one-bedroom apartments in Brooklyn. Brokelyn

- Occupy Wall Street protesters may be marching for change in Manhattan, but they’re making money in Brooklyn. NY Daily News

- BP Markowitz says that, like President Obama, his views on gay marriage have "evolved over time." Brooklyn Eagle

- Early-bird booze brunches might be saved after all. Gothamist

- Fox really screwed up report on bike-sharing and bike lanes in New York City. Streetsblog

- People who eat fast have a 2.5-times higher risk of Type 2 diabetes. Huff Post


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Deidra Towns' Mystery Non-Profit; Banned Work at Museum; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- As she runs for the Brooklyn Assembly seat previously held by her brother, Deidra Towns is touting her work as executive director of a mysterious non-profit -- which has never registered or filed an annual statement and which doesn't appear to actually exist. Brooklyn Politics

- A construction worker was in serious condition Monday after he fell into a deep pit at the Gowanus Canal Flushing Tunnel at Columbia and Degraw Streets. NY Times

- The Historic Districts Council is sponsoring a tour of three of Clinton Hill’s most opulent structures on Wednesday. Brownstoner

- Banned work by gay artist among upcoming Brooklyn Museum exhibits. Brooklyn Eagle

- In 2006, New York Civil Liberties Union staffers counted 8,000 surveillance cameras in lower Manhattan. NY Daily News Now the cameras are proliferating in Fort Greene and at Atlantic Yards. WPIX

- Is Bubby's in Tribeca stinking up the neighborhood? Gothamist

- That stupid Capote quote on the signs recently stuck around Downtown Brooklyn and Brooklyn Heights bothers other people, too. Gothamist

- Millions of gallons of sewage spill into New York City's waterways every time it rains a half an inch. NY Magazine

- The weird and creepy side of Facebook's new office. Gawker

- Top U.S. cyber official resigns abruptly. Politico

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Lots of Happy Gay Newlyweds at Brooklyn Borough Hall

There were cheers, tears and double doses of happiness as BP Marty Markowitz opened Brooklyn Borough Hall for Sunday's first day of legal gay marriages -- and even threw in champagne and wedding cake.

Stacey Minondo and Barbara Tremblay were the first to exchange vows in a moving ceremony inside Borough Hall.

A small but enthusiastic crowd cheered every time a couple came from the Municipal Building clutching a marriage license.

Council Speak Christine Quinn arrived to hugs and applause.

Some couples came out holding their marriage certificates triumphantly, others snuck out shyly. Some came by themselves and others brought bands of supporters wearing matching T-shirts. But everyone was smiling and good vibes were in the air.

Photos by MK Metz

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