Friday, Aug. 1, 2008

Surging Cyclones sweep Vermont

By Gersh Kuntzman

Cyclones: It took 14 innings, but the Cyclones are now over .500 — thanks to a heroic win over the Vermont Lake Monsters. Comment.

Frampton lives!

By Gersh Kuntzman and Allison Bosworth

The Brooklyn Paper / Allison Bosworth

Awesome: Peter Frampton came alive at Coney Island’s Asser Levy Park on Thursday night, belting out some of the live hits that made his “Frampton Comes Alive” LP the greatest live album ever (with the possible exception of “Cheap Trick at Budokan”). Comments (2).

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Hasta la vista, babies

By Mike McLaughlin

Cobble Hill: Cash-strapped Long Island College Hospital wants to close its popular, but costly, maternity department and will sell off additional property to reduce its deficit and pay down a $170-million debt. Comments (1).

She’s Miss New York for ‘real’

By Ben Muessig

The Brooklyn Paper / Ben Muessig

Newly crowned Miss New York Leigh-Taylor Smith silences her critics with a big admission: She’s 100 percent real. Comments (7).

Pork store gets smoked

By Sarah Portlock

Park Slope: You can say this pork is well-done. Comments (1).

Classic ‘Frock’

By Adam Rathe

Shopping: It’s August and the heat and humidity are still on the rise. But for Lexi Sacchi, the buyer for Frock, a new vintage boutique in Park Slope, it’s almost time to break out the winter threads. Comment.

Heights elementary school to grow — could middle school be next?

By Sarah Portlock

Brooklyn Heights: A city plan to build an annex at an increasingly popular Brooklyn Heights elementary school had local power brokers and parents excited that, for the first time, there is clear city support of a new middle school in the district. Comments (1).

Flea market meeting gets heated

By Mike McLaughlin

Fort Greene: Shoppers and merchants rallied last weekend in support of a popular flea market against criticism that the weekly bazaar has become a nuisance for neighboring residents and churchgoers. Comment.

Murdered body found in Prospect Park

By Allison Bosworth

Park Slope: The discovery of the dead body of a homeless man inside Prospect Park early on Wednesday is being investigated as a homicide, cops said. Comment.

Three cheers

By Kate Ray

Nightlife: Even though The Trophy Bar in Williamsburg has only been open for three months, it already has the feel of an established neighborhood watering hole. Comment.

Cyclones win streak at three

By Gersh Kuntzman

Cyclones: The Cyclones are back to .500 — and getting back in the hunt! Comment.

Call it the Heath Bar! Actor Ledger was silent partner in G’Point tavern

By Ben Muessig

Greenpoint: Seven months after his death, actor and former Brooklynite Heath Ledger will still have one more new project: a Greenpoint bar. Comment.

Tasty restaurant gossip

By Kate Ray

Breaking Chews: We’re dishing up Brooklyn’s latest food news! Comments (1).

A ‘path’ to safety

By Jessica Firger

Windsor Terrace: Prospect Park’s bridle path got some much-needed grooming on Tuesday — a long-overdue Band-Aid for what some horse owners say is an equine booby trap. Comments (2).

G is a broke down, dirty train

By Mike McLaughlin

Carroll Gardens: The G train still stinks, a new report shows. Insert sarcastic joke here. Comments (1).

What a drag for Ridge bank

By Jessica Firger

Bay Ridge: A Sovereign Bank on Fifth Avenue was robbed by a man in full female regalia — including fake boobs! Comments (3).

GOP pol has a lot of promises

By Mike McLaughlin

Bay Ridge: In an early swipe at an opponent in the race to succeed scandal-ridden Rep. Vito Fossella, former Republican Assemblyman Robert Straniere assailed Councilman Mike McMahon as a tax-and-spend Democrat, one of the oldest curses in an old political book. Comment.

Get on board

Kate Ray

Fitness: Starting Aug. 2, you’ll get the chance to explore the East River on a kayak or rowboat — no experience necessary. Comment.

An Rx for the Slope

By Sarah Portlock

Parenting: They say a spoonful of sugar will help the medicine go down, but when that won’t work, Park Slope parents can turn to KidsRx. Comment.

The empty nesters of Park Slope

By Louise Crawford

Smartmom: Sleepaway camp has really changed since the days Smartmom was a camper at various northeastern summer getaways. Comment.

Reel people

Kate Ray

Art: Our coastal borough hasn’t lost all traces of its maritime ways, as photographer Christian Johnston and writer Shamar Hill reveal in their exhibition “Fishermen of Sheepshead Bay,” on display now at South Oxford Space in Fort Greene. Comment.

Powell tells Hasids: “I’ll bring home the bacon”

By Ben Muessig

Congressional hopeful Kevin Powell promised constituents that he would “bring home the bacon” if he wins a House seat — but unfortunately he was speaking before Hasidic community leaders who all keep Kosher. Comments (11).

The MTA’s un-fare-ness

Editorial: Our editorial board slams the MTA for a lack of common sense in the latest Metrocard snafu. Comment.

‘Best Painting’

Adam Rathe

Books: When art writers Deanna MacDonald and Geoff Smith set out to write their book, “100 Best paintings in New York,” they knew from the get-go that our borough would be a great place to visit. Comment.

Builder: I was too nice

By Mike McLaughlin

Carroll Gardens: Add this to the “no good deed goes unpunished” category: A developer of a controversial condo project says his building is stalled because he was so responsive to neighborhood complaints that the city had time to implement the very zoning changes that made his previously legal project suddenly illegal. Comments (1).

All Drawn Out

By Cristian Fleming

Cartoon: Our cartoonist’s take. Comment.

Artful spreads

By Rabiyya Smith

Art: A group of Brooklyn quilters are redefining the way we think of the folksy blankets with their latest show, “Stitch by Stitch: Works in Fabric,” on display now at Brooklyn College. Comments (4).

He’s got a problem with those who don’t want to ‘Flea’

Letters: As always, the mailbag is filled — this time with letters about the suddenly controversial flea market in Fort Greene, The Paper’s coverage of the Red Hook vendors, Ed Shakespeare’s great Cyclones columns and the thef of our editor’s bike. Comment.

The Kitchen Sink

All the bric-a-brac, potpourri, gossip, rumor and tidbits from your neighborhood! Comment.

Family calendar

Parenting: Our local kid-friendly event listings. Comment.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Downtown goes to the dogs

By Sarah Portlock

The Brooklyn Paper / Tom Callan

Downtown: Downtown is dealing with an unlikely problem — a growing dog population. And the new wave of residents is asking for relief. Comments (5).

Busy chef closes! Co-owner’s arrest led to demise

By Sarah Portlock

Brooklyn Heights: The disgraced Busy Chef restaurant empire has closed amid a criminal investigation into former partner Dan Kaufman, who is accused of swindling $25,000 from customers’ credit card numbers. Comments (9).

New York Crimes — solved!

By Sarah Portlock

Cops say they have arrested a man who may have been stealing weekend editions of the New York Times from front stoops in Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill and Park Slope since the fall. Comment.

It’s Police Blotter Day in The Brooklyn Paper

By Gersh Kuntzman

Park Slope: If it’s Wednesday, it’s time to look for your neighborhood and click for all the latest crime news. In Park Slope, a woman robbed a supermarket with a 10-year-old accomplice — plus all the other crime news from the neighborhood’s 78th Precinct. Comments (4).

Pols on park repairs: Wait til next year!

By Abigail Kramer

Windsor Terrace: Twenty angry parents let two City Councilmembers have it on Tuesday afternoon, accusing the lawmakers of breaking their promise to renovate an outdated, unattractive and unsafe Windsor Terrace playground. Comment.

84th Precinct CO gets promotion

By Michael Lipkin

Brooklyn Heights: Crime rates have plummeted so dramatically in the 84th Precinct that its Brooklyn-born commanding officer just got promoted. Comment.

Can you help find Mushkah?

By Gersh Kuntzman

Park Slope: All of the South Slope is trying to help find this lost cat. Comments (1).

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Bridge ‘Park’ can find no ‘Purchase’

By Mike McLaughlin

Bridge ‘Park’: Demolition teams have made short work of the iconic Purchase Building beneath the Brooklyn Bridge to clear space for a piazza that will be part of the controversial Brooklyn Bridge Park project. Comment.

Book ‘em! Heights store will not close, says owner

By Michael Lipkin

The Brooklyn Paper / Emily Lavin

Brooklyn Heights: Heights Books, says it hopes to reopen in a new Heights location after it is forced to move from its Montague Street home Comment.

A ‘Bonnie’ good time! Youth squad heads to World Series

By Jessica Firger

Park Slope: A group of pre-teen sluggers is going from Park Slope to Puerto Rico this week in search of baseball immortality. Comments (3).

A ‘Flea’ for all?

By Mike McLaughlin

Fort Greene: Shoppers and merchants rallied in support of a popular flea market against criticism that the weekly bazaar has become a nuisance for neighboring residents and churchgoers. Comments (1).

Club: Don’t blame us, blame our customers

By Ben Muessig

Greenpoint: Greenpoint residents are demanding action against a Banker Street disco, but club reps say the venue isn’t at fault — its patrons are. Comments (2).

Monday, July 28, 2008

Grimaldi’s tax back into good graces

By Sarah Portlock

DUMBO: New details — and charges — have emerged about the state’s five-hour shutdown of Grimaldi’s last week over unpaid taxes: the pizzeria owed as much as $165,000. Comments (1).

‘Green Church’ sent back to drawing board

By Ben Muessig

Bay Ridge: The city shot down preliminary plans for a residential building at the site of Fourth Avenue’s soon-to-be-demolished “Green Church” — but the rejection didn’t deter church officials and builders from their controversial plan to level the 109-year-old house of worship to construct condos and a smaller church. Comments (3).

Hasids to Powell: Jew have our support

By Ben Muessig

Politics: Congressional upstart Kevin Powell is already a vegan, but an endorsement tonight might make the House hopeful consider keeping Kosher. Comments (23).

Admirals Row: The Smackdown!

Vinegar Hill: We invited a member of each side of the Admirals Row debate to hash it out, head to head. It’s a smackdown, baby! Comment.

Two out of three ain’t good — Cyclones drop further behind Yanks

By Gersh Kuntzman

Cyclones: The surging Cyclones had a real chance to do some damage against the first-place Staten Island Yankees, but couldn’t rise to the occasion, dropping two of three — with the last game of the four-game series tonight in Staten Island. Comment.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Coney comes alive! Frampton will play on July 31

By Gersh Kuntzman

Music: Do you — you! — feel like we do? You should, because legendary guitarist Peter Frampton will play a free concert on Thursday, July 31 in Coney Island. Comment.

Tea Lounge is closed! Writers, idlers depressed and in need of coffee

By Ben Muessig

The Brooklyn Paper / Ben Muessig

Park Slope: For South Slope coffee drinkers, the glass isn’t half empty — it’s totally gone. Comments (6).

Flea market meeting gets heated

By Mike McLaughlin

Fort Greene: Opponents and organizers of a popular, new flea market met in a heated, ethnically charged summit last night that ended without any solutions to the chasm that separates the sides. Comment.