When Hog Pit co-owner Felisa Dell sent an email to Eater on April 7th confirming the closure of her Meatpacking District BBQ joint, she insinuated that “the mayor and the State Liquor Authority are now only issuing Liquor Licenses until 2 a.m. It's very sneaky, but in 5 years the 4 a.m. liquor license will be a thing of the past, without any community input.” Today the NY Sun backs Dell up, reporting that many Manhattan bar owners are finding it “nearly impossible to open new nightlife establishments that are permitted to serve alcohol until 4 a.m.”

While the New York State Liquor Authority can’t arbitrarily impose a specific closing time before 4 a.m., Community Boards have been demanding bar owners agree to curfews before they recommend approval to the SLA. The Sun looked at the most recent records available from Community Board 3, which covers the East Village and the Lower East Side, and found that not a single liquor license recommendation was granted to a bar that would close after 3 a.m. on weekends and 2 a.m. on weekdays.

And in Tribeca, Community Board 1 killed Matthew Piacentini’s plans to open a lounge in a commercial building on Hudson Street by telling him he’d have to close at midnight on weekdays and 1 a.m. on weekends. The early closing times are a big problem for bar owners; a recent survey found that 58% of their revenues are earned between those magical hours of 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. These are also the hours when some of us lose 58% of our dignity, so maybe it's all for the best?

Photo: digiart2001

Starting today, teams of six NYPD officers will be patrolling the subway system in 12 hour shifts to thwart would-be terrorists. You’ll be able to easily identify the squads – called “Torch Teams” – by their rifles, MP5 submachine guns, handguns, body armor and bomb-sniffing dogs.

The program is being paid for with $151 million from taxpayers nationwide, allocated through D.C. The Torch Teams will function like the similarly equipped NYPD “Hercules Teams” (pictured) above ground.

WCBS says this “a fist [sic] for mass transit in the United States.” The NYPD’s spokesperson calls them “Hercules teams with MetroCards.”

Photo by Dietrich.

Photograph of protesters in Jamaica, Queens by Jason DeCrow/AP
Last night, hundreds of people marched from the Queens courthouse to the Kalua Lounge, the strip club where Sean Bell was killed on his wedding day, yelling, "Fifty shots equal murder," to protest yesterday's not guilty verdict for three police officers charged in the shooting.

Bell's mother, Valerie, fainted when Judge Arthur Cooperman delivered the verdict, amid tears from Bell's fiance Nicole Paultre Bell and angry words from supporters (outside the courthouse, they yelled "Murderers!" and "KKK!"). His father, William Bell, said, "The judge spit in my damn face, but I knew it was coming," and told WABC 7, "It's a slap in the face and a kick in the ass."

The three detectives--who spoke publicly for the first time after the verdict--are now relegated to desk jobs without their guns as the NYPD will examine their actions--and any case from the U.S. Attorney's office would probably precede that. Many legal experts think their decision to opt for a bench trial, versus a jury trial, helped them--as did the issues with the prosecutions' witnesses' testimonies.

The city's three big papers weighed in with editorials: The Daily News accepts the verdict as "a fair exercise in the law" but feels that Detectives Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora, and Marc Cooper and their supervisors should be dismissed from the NYPD. The Post thinks it was the "right verdict," especially given the evidence. And the NY Times found the verdict "stunning in its thorough absolution of the officers" and suggests "carelessness and incompetence in the behavior of the police officers...must be corrected as a matter of public policy."

The Reverend Al Sharpton promised to engage in "nonviolent civil disobedience," and said, "They expect us to react in traditional ways; they will not get that. We are going to engage in economic withdrawal. We are going to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience." Sharpton, though, also encouraged people to protest and get arrested, "whether it is on Wall Street, the judge’s house or at 1 Police Plaza.”

But Sharpton also pointed out, “People with records do not lose their right to not be shot by police," and feels a federal case should proceed. Detectives Endowment Association head Michael Palladino still criticized Bell's friends who were wounded in the shooting and testified in the trial and said, "We have been portrayed as insensitive murderers. And I can tell you that we are not.”

Bell's fiancee and the mother of his two children, Nicole Paultre Bell, had fled the courtroom in tears after the verdict. She later said, "April 25, 2008: They killed Sean all over again," and added, "I’m still praying for justice."

Entering its 21st season, MTV's The Real World returns to New York for a third time...but for the first time it's headed to an outer-borough. That's right, the seven generic, good-looking roommates will be heading to Brooklyn.

Shooting begins this summer, and will result in 12 hour-long episodes. In the press release we received, Jon Murray, co-creator of the show, says "The Brooklyn season, like the Hollywood season, will focus on what people loved about 'The Real World' when it launched in 1992 - genuine people, meaningful conflict and powerful stories." Really Jon? We're sort of betting it'll be more about the cast taking over bars, fighting with locals, getting drunk and sleeping with roommates -- all as they take their amazingly overpriced living quarters for granted.

The big question now is: Which part of Brooklyn will have the distinct pleasure of welcoming the new residents? Our guess is they'll be taking over a few luxury condo units in Williamsburg. Perhaps this will unite the hipsters and anti-hipsters of the 'nabe? Either way, get ready to see the production taking over McCarren Pool Parties this summer.

A Wired reporter bemoaning the pizza backwater that is San Francisco rang up Mario Batali to find out why New York Pizza is so magnificent and got an intriguing theory out of the celebrity chef: New York’s old pizza ovens “capture the gestalt of beautifully cooked pizza.” A food development consultant believes Batali’s abstract ‘gestalt’ is, to scientists, vaporized ingredients that become “volatilized particles and attach themselves to the walls of the baking cavity. The next time you use the oven, these bits get caught up in the convection currents and deposited on the food, which adds flavor."

In other words, that famous New York flavor is the accumulated history of every pizza ever made since the oven’s first pie. But the secretive Sal Basille, co-owner of super-trendy East Village pizzeria Artichoke, wants Wired to know that great New York pizza is not to be found on Manhattan:

There’s really no good pizza in Manhattan. The outer boroughs have the best pizza. That’s why I came here. Back in the day all the old-timers lived in Manhattan, but they moved to the outer boroughs and the trade got lost here. And they don’t show everybody their tricks. I’ve been doing this since I was 10 years old. I can’t tell you why ours is the best around; my cousin and I are like artists and we let the pizza do the talking.

Other theories about New York’s dominance point to the unique quality of New York water, which makes pizza dough and bagels so distinctive. But pizza blogger Adam Kuban at Slice thinks the water logic is tortured: “New York pizza is good because there are so many pizzerias, leading to a competitive atmosphere.”

And Domenico De Marco, owner of the legendary Di Fara in Midwood, tells us his pizza is great because his gas oven cooks at 900 degrees. Most pizza ovens today “go to 500 or 550 degrees.” Could it be De Marco owes some of his success to his oven’s doubly-volatized particles?

Photo of Domenico De Marco at Di Fara courtesy Dalton Rooney.

Soaring gas prices have managed to edge gas prices to nearly $4/gallon in the area. At an Exxon station in Queens, WCBS 2 found $3.99/gallon gas, while a White Plains Getty offered it at $3.69/gallon. One White Plains resident said it cost him $55 to fill up his sedan, "I used to pay by cash, now I have to use my credit cards because I don't carry that much cash on me."

City Councilman James Vacca, who saw two stations in the Bronx charging $3.99/gallon, told the Daily News, "I am outraged. They're on a highway and obviously think they have people captive to that price." Even the AAA New York's spokesman said, "We are in the midst of a crisis. People have to be very discreet in their use of motor vehicles. If you can, use public transport."

Speaking of public transport, a report from USPIRG and the Straphangers Campaign (part of NYPIRG) shows NYC area mass transit "saved 1.8 billion gallons of oil in 2006, equaling $4.6 billion in gas money." The Straphangers' Gene Russianoff told AMNY, "It pays to invest in transit. The more subway riders, the less dependence on foreign oil." Not only that, but "11.8 metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution" were not released due to mass transit use. Well, it's great that congestion pricing is dead.

As if Brooklyn music venues aren't suffering enough right now, residents are currently rising up against what they call a "nuisance bar" in Park Slope. That bar is Union Hall. Jon Crow, one of those spearheading the campaign to shut the venue down, emailed us about an upcoming public hearing regarding the renewal of Union Hall's liquor license, admitting, "those of us fighting this nuisance bar are fully aware this hearing won't close it down."

In a long-winded 3-page press release, he tells the story of how the "enormous drinking establishment, performance venue, rock club and late night hot spot" has caused residents many restless nights; and "while it may look like a library from the outside, it’s anything but." (Even if it were a library, some Park Slope residents have found a way to complain about that establishment, too.) Regarding Union Hall, last spring 75 neighbors (some who think their homes are now "unlivable") signed a letter outlining their grievances, and now they've gotten themselves a public hearing.

Community Board 6 will hold the meeting to address the renewal of Union Hall's standing license, which expires on May 31st. The riled-up residents note their disapproval with the board, saying, “just last week CB6 approved the full liquor license for a new establishment on quiet Hoyt Street at Union." Nothing a few new Footloose-style laws that are being proposed won't "fix" -- reportedly, "both the Governor’s office and State legislators are seeking bills to further ensure that local commercial ventures aren’t approved at the cost of livable neighborhoods. On the City level, commercial zoning laws will need to better address usage to ensure that the approval 'bar' is raised high when a new full liquor license is being considered."

Both sides will have chance to debate the issue at the hearing on May 8th (6:00 p.m., at 250 Baltic Street). And assuming the move to shut it proves fruitless, old man Crow might want to consider a peaceful retirement in Park Slope West.

Photo via allyson murphy's flickr.

Photo courtesy Gothamist reader Heather D.

One Park Slope resident emailed us to describe a surprising scene unfolding this morning on 4th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues.

I went out for my coffee around 10am and there were 4 white undercover SUVs, an NYPD emergency truck and a large, black DEP/HAZMAT truck/mobile unit parked on my street! When I came back from my coffee run I saw a Fire Dept. SUV parked at the 6th Ave end of the block and a car from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner… A moment ago I saw a few passersby noticing the high volume of vehicles and they pulled out phones and cameras. Someone in the Medical examiner's car honked the horn and shouted out "no pictures." I asked the people from the ME's car what was going on, but they said they couldn't say anything and that I should call the 78th Precinct for more info…There's also an ambulance now.

The 78th Precinct tell us: "An unidentified liquid has been removed from a residence. Nothing to be worried about." The officer declined to elaborate further, and the street is currently blocked off.

UPDATE: According to the NYPD, the incident in Park Slope this morning involved one fatality: 65-year-old Robert Siegel, whose body was found by his wife. The DEP tested the toxic liquid and determined the substance to be cyanide. Police say they do not suspect criminality at this time.

Pictured: Jon Crow entering Union Hall; from surveillance video.

Before the big meeting tomorrow at Borough Hall, the Brooklyn Paper weighs in on the great Union Hall debate of Aught Eight. Recently some neighbors, led by Jon Crow, rallied together to stop the renewal of the establishment's liquor license at the end of the month; one neighbor, who has since moved, told us, "This place had a serious impact on my life, on my wife's health, and threatened the health and well-being of my child. No one's fun is worth that, to me."

Last week at the CB6 meeting, comedian and Park Slope resident Eugene Mirman spoke in favor of the venue, and he wasn't the only one. However, the anti-Union Hall folk took over the room and turned to heckling and name-calling tactics. Still, CB6 voted in their favor.

Today The Brooklyn Paper reports on the controversy, which now involves some more ugliness! There are currently charges that one of the bar’s competitors, and CB6 seat holder, has a conflict of interest; Lou Sones is the owner of the Brazen Head bar which is down the block from Union Hall's sister bar Floyd.

“The committee member who made the motion and spoke most aggressively in favor of it is a direct competitor to Union Hall’s sister bar [Floyd, on Atlantic Avenue],” a board member wrote to CB6 in an e-mail shared with The Brooklyn Paper. “It looks like the community board is being used to further the narrow business interests of one of its members.”

An anonymous board member, who voted in favor of Union Hall, is concerned that the neighbors have exaggerated their complaints; something that is backed up by video! Watch it here. Jon Crow is caught on the surveillance camera entering the bar, after which he called 911 to complain that it was over-capacity when it clearly wasn't. The FDNY later reported Crow to the fire marshal for filing a false report.

Tomorrow night the saga continues, as the two sides meet again. Pick a team and head over to Borough Hall (209 Joralemon Street, Brooklyn) at 6:30 p.m. to show your support.

Photo by Dave Surgan.

This past Sunday Brooklyn was host to a Robot Parade. Why? Some residents put one together and marched their metallic legs from Park Slope to Prospect Park, "just for fun." Check out more photos of their journey, here.