Election: Councilwoman Letitia James moved quickly this week to diffuse what could have been a major distraction in her re-election campaign, personally heading to a Department of Finance office in Manhattan to pay $9,000 in overdue property taxes on her Lafayette Avenue house. Comments (20).

Toll Bros: We can’t build if feds take over Gowanus Canal cleanup

By Ben Muessig

Cleaning the Gowanus: The fetid Gowanus Canal is on track for a federal clean-up — but it could also flush the canal zone’s first major residential complex. Comments (8).

Our print version — online!

Link: The old-style, words-on-tree version of this week’s Brooklyn Paper is packed with great stories, including breaking news from the worlds of politics (“The Hammer” drops!), development (Toll Brothers are upset!) and entertainment (David Byrne will play Prospect Park!). Catch all the action by clicking the link above and downloading the entire issue — for free! Keep hustlin’, Brooklyn!

A Coney Island summer: Our unofficial guide

By Mike McLaughlin

Coney Island had its allegedly grand opening on Sunday, but the signs of desolation were everywhere — from the vacant former Astroland site to the empty lots near Keyspan Park. It’s obvious that the area, which has always been a place of freaks, geeks, wonders of human curiosity, spills, chills, thrills and vaudeville, is not going to change. But its scale has. Comments (7).

Byrne baby, Byrne!

By Ben Muessig

Music: Leave it to head Talking Head David Byrne to get people talking. Comment.

Fort Greene charter school is tougher than Harvard

By Gersh Kuntzman

Parenting: Compared to the competition for a kindergarten slot, Harvard will be a safety school for these kids. Comments (13).

These cars have boxed her in!

By Ben Muessig

Mean Streets: Motorists who park their cars on the sidewalks of Bay Ridge are driving Jean Ryan mad. Comments (13).

Let DUMBO thrive

Editorial: The Brooklyn Paper comes out in favor of a residential rezoning. Comments (10).

Marty loves this potato chip

By Gersh Kuntzman

Coney Island: Here’s a first look at the borough president’s Coney Island ampitheater. Comments (4).

Cops vow to deliver scrutiny to ‘gay’ pizza

By Mike McLaughlin

Carroll Gardens: Police say they will investigate a Carroll Gardens pizzeria that features scantily clad male go-go dancers once a week. Comments (14).

Hooray for ‘Hollywood’

By Mike McLaughlin

The Butcher of Flatbush Ave. Extension: Mike McLaughlin, the Butcher of Flatbush Avenue Extension, loves the Heights Players’ “Shakespeare in Hollywood.” Comment.

BQE on the QT

By Ben Muessig

Bridge ‘Park’: Here’s another way to muffle the noisy Brooklyn-Queens Expressway as it roars past the proposed Brooklyn Bridge Park development — instead of 30-foot mini-mountains, a Brooklyn Heights architect proposes a solar-panel-covered envelope to encase the highway. Comments (19).

Voters to pols: Knock us dead

By Mike McLaughlin

Election: It’s time for the five candidates to succeed Councilman Bill DeBlasio to put aside the talking points and dazzle us already. Comments (1).

MTA is an F-ing tease

By Cristian Fleming

Cartoon: Cartoonist Cristian Fleming, like everyone else, wishes the F train was better. Comment.

The Brooklyn Paper mailbag

Letters: This week, our letter writers are all over the map, but are mostly upset at Jed Walentas’s Dock Street project. Comment.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Now THAT’S sun thing else!

By Ben Muessig

Williamsburg: Jews across Brooklyn celebrated the beginning of Passover on Wednesday night, but earlier in the morning, thousands of Hasidic Jews gathered at Kent Avenue and Hooper Street in Williamsburg to mark what they believe to be an historic occasion: the third time in history that the Passover holiday began at the same moment in a 28-year cycle that the sun was in the exact celestial position it occupied at the moment of Creation. Comments (3).

The big queasy: Ridge homeowner is howling over storm coverage

By Ben Muessig

The Brooklyn Paper / Kate Emerson

Bay Ridge: A retired schoolteacher is sounding the alarm over continued homeowner’s insurance cancellations. Comments (2).

CB2: Rezoning is the elephant in the room in DUMBO

By Mike McLaughlin

DUMBO: A city plan to encourage residential development in parts of DUMBO was narrowly rejected by the neighborhood’s community board on Tuesday night. Comments (4).

A walk on the mild side this summer in Williamsburg

By Ben Muessig

Williamsburg: Williamsburg might be short on parkland, but on summer Saturdays, the neighborhood is poised to again boast seven additional blocks of open space. Comments (1).

Here they are — your Police Blotters

Link: If it’s Wednesday, it’s Police Blotter day on BrooklynPaper.com. Find your neighborhood below or click the link above to get a full list.

A writer’s love bites

By Ben Muessig

Books: Two decades of romantic ups and downs left author Giulia Melucci with a broken heart — but never an empty stomach. Comments (2).

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Hammerman out of Council race

By Mike McLaughlin

Election: Community Board 6 District Manager — and New York City Hall of Fame inductee — Craig Hammerman has abandoned his second quest to represent Park Slope in the City Council. Comments (2).

Smartmom and Hepcat were ‘Gods of Carnage’

By Louise Crawford

Joan Marcus

Smartmom: If it’s Tuesday, it’s Smartmom day on BrooklynPaper.com. This week, Smartmom recalls a playground fight and how her reaction was straight out of the Broadway show, “God of Carnage.” Comments (1).

There’s a new pizza on the block — is Grimaldi’s scared? (Uh, no)

By Sarah Portlock and Gersh Kuntzman

Dining: There’s a new pizza kid on the block in DUMBO a mere 100 yards from legendary pizza giant Grimaldi’s — but Ignazio’s owner Louis Termini (pictured) maintains that there’s room for both. Comments (5).

Is it lights out or sign up for Armando’s?

By Mike McLaughlin

Dining: Brooklyn Heights is gearing up for the return of the popular restaurant Armando’s, but the soon-to-be-reopened Italian joint might not be able to hang its famous — some say infamous — neon lobster sign in the landmark district. Comments (2).

This gallery show is truly celling sex

By Ben Muessig

Art: Your racy cellphone photos, sultry mobile videos, and salacious text messages aren’t just 21st-century smut — they’re also high art. Comment.

Holding down the ‘Fort’ for New York wine

By Dustin Seplow

Shopping: The Greene Grape, a Fulton Street wine shop was just named New York Wine and Spirit Retailer of the Year. Comments (4).

Vanderbilt salon is clean and green

By Heather Holland

Spa: It’s finally time to clean up the dirty business of looking beautiful. Comment.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Big award: Mike McLaughlin wins big honor

Podcast: Readers of The Brooklyn Paper have known it for years, but now it’s official: Mike McLaughlin is the best young journalist in the state of New York. With video … Comments (8).

Coney reopens! Big whoop

By Mike McLaughlin

The Brooklyn Paper / Bess Adler

Coney Island: The shrinking amusement area of Coney Island reopened on Sunday, but it’s going to be weeks before Coney Island shows signs of life. Comments (6).

Blogger Guskind is mourned

By Gersh Kuntzman

Roughly 100 people — from the politicians he challenged to the neighborhood activists he championed to even the Red Hook food vendors he celebrated — mourned blogger Bob Guskind last Saturday in Park Slope. Comment.

Checkers checks in at Busy Chef site

By Ben Muessig

Breaking Chews: The Busy Chef is about to become the burger chef. Comments (5).

Memorial for Claudia Corwin, Downtown legend

By Gersh Kuntzman

Downtown: At the time of her death, Corwin had been working at Concord Village to bring a new supermarket to the space at Tillary and Jay streets. An Associated Supermarket closed over the summer, and Corwin had said she hoped to see a market with higher-quality goods that would deliver groceries to older residents in the complex. Comment.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Tish, tish — councilwoman owes $10K in back taxes

By Mike McLaughlin

Fort Greene: Councilwoman Letitia James owes the city almost $9,837 in property taxes for her Lafayette Avenue house since April 2008, plus $614 on her water bill — and the lawmaker is blaming the feds! Comments (7).

McMahon on Line 1: Ridge Rep. votes yes on budget

By Gersh Kuntzman

McMahon on Line 1: The latest installment of our popular feature chronicling new Bay Ridge congressman Mike McMahon’s first year in office offers a look into the centrist Democrat’s fight against the populist mob. Comments (6).

The big news is Downtown

By Mike McLaughlin

Downtown: Big news on the development scene in Downtown: a business group makes a new push, the tallest building in Brooklyn keeps on rising, and — the biggest news — The Brooklyn Paper moves into Metrotech and starts exploring the possibilities. Click below for all these stories!

Downtown: Biz group tells Manhattan to get down — Downtown Brooklyn, that is

Downtown: Happy together! Brooklyn Paper joins other papers at Metrotech

Downtown: Exclusive: First look at our Metrotech offices!

Downtown: The Brooklyn Paper’s guide to Downtown!

Downtown: Downtown tower keeps going and going and going…

What the F? MTA tests longer train — then decides against it

By Aisha Gawad

Transit: Reports of the F train’s improvement were, alas, greatly exaggerated. Comments (7).

The weekender! Here’s what you should do on Saturday and Sunday

Weekender: Once again, the invaluable Brooklyn Paper is back with some tips for a great weekend. Keep hustlin’, Brooklyn! Comment.

Smash! Trash! Inevitable Backlash!

By The Brooklyn Paper Smash or Trash team

Smash or Trash: The heavy metal band, The Inevitable Backlash, asked The Brooklyn Paper’s “Smash or Trash” team to review its song “My Two Brookes” in advance of the band’s April 26 show at Cameo in Williamsburg. Sorry, but when your name is The Inevitable Backlash, our Smash or Trash team had a pretty easy time helping you live up to it. With video … Comment.

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