Results tagged “Brooklyn”

With the Health Department cracking down on the carriage horse industry, it seems stable horses are next on their list—if their proposed regulations go through, the animals may receive the same breaks animal rights activists have been fighting for. But one Brooklyn Stable owner tells the Daily News that if he has to give his horses 5-week vacations, bigger stalls and install a sprinkler system in his barn... it would break the bank. more ›

Are things really that bad that mugging dogs is now something that is actually happening? FIPS reports that a pup named Lexie was recently left outside for just a moment while her human went to buy milk inside Ace Supermarket on Union and 7th in Park Slope. When the owner came back out, around 6.30 p.m., Lexie's little green coat had been ripped right off her body! We couldn't agree more with the owner's sentiment: "WHAT. THE. FUCK??? I mean, who does that?" Maybe it was a dog-on-dog crime? Anyway, on the upside, at least Lexie was unharmed. more ›

Craigslist giveth and Craigslist taketh away—last week a thief experienced both when he tried to pass off stolen tires via the web classifieds, and ended up delivering them back to the their former owner. On February 3rd the victim told cops that someone had taken the rims and tires from his 2008 Infiniti, which he'd parked on East 71st Street in Manhattan. The next day he logged onto the web classifieds to find a new set, reports the Post, and found a listing for his own stolen property, being sold by one Joel Walton. The victim, a Brooklyn resident, arranged to meet Walton in East New York and called the police for back-up. Cops cuffed the 21-year-old suspect and took him into custody. Now he'll need a lawyer, but luckily Craigslist has that covered, too. more ›

An elderly Carroll Gardens woman recently fell for the old "you're grandson's in trouble" con, but this one had a clever Canadian twist. A man identifying himself as "Constable Karl Moore from the Canadian Police Department" telephoned a woman at her home on Henry Street Friday morning with some bad news: her grandson "had gotten into trouble with the law" during a trip to the north country. more ›

Of all the performing arts, theater has a tendency to be the most unbearable. You can easily walk out of most concerts, and with dance there's usually at least a certain technical proficiency to be admired. But particularly in small Off Broadway theaters—where, ironically, the potential for magnificence is greatest—it's almost impossible to escape without causing a major disruption. When theater stinks, which is often, you've usually got no choice but to suffer through it without anesthetic, as time slows to a crawl and your captors torment you with boredom. more ›

A Brooklyn mom is charged with endangering the lives of her two young sons, after a fire broke out in her East New York apartment yesterday when they were home alone. Milagros Perez left her two-year-old and four-year-old for 25 minutes just before the fire started, officials say. Firefighters were able to find the two boys in the smoky apartment—both were unconscious and not breathing, but now are expected to survive. "When you find somebody, especially a kid, it gets you going," one firefighter told NY1. "It gets the blood flowing and it's pretty exciting. Especially when you get them outside and you are able to bring them back to life." No word on how the fire started. Last week a heroic mom perished in another Brooklyn fire after throwing her two kids from a window and saving them. more ›

Still $125 million short of completion, Brooklyn Bridge Park’s developers are considering unusual self-financing options to finish the 20-year-old project (Gothamist got a tour, see pictures here). Over the years it’s appeared in bits and pieces: there are benches and tree-lined paths on Pier 1 by Old Fulton Street, and a big playground on Pier 6 near Atlantic Avenue. Still, the bulk of the work is unfinished, and just running the park costs $16 million annually. But will seeking private moneys turn the park into Disney World, or worse the private backyard of a condo? “When you talk more broadly about parks,” said Sen. Daniel L. Squadron, who represents the area, “I don’t think we have figured out how to make them self-sustaining.” more ›

Cops want your help finding a bald man who may have been involved in the killing of former Brighton Bazaar owner Vladimir Tolstykh last year. In March two hooded thugs beat the purveyor of salty salads and blini to death, stealing thousands of dollars and Russian candy, says the Daily News. His widow Rita, who’s taken over the Brighton Beach grocery, thinks it was an inside job. "Somebody knew the whole schedule—how it worked, what time he came in," she said. Now police have released surveillance footage of another man fleeing the scene and are offering a reward of $32,000 for tips leading to his arrest. Take a crack at it: call (800) 577-TIPS or report online. Video after the jump. more ›

Daniel Ignacio, the man accused of setting the fire that killed five Guatemalans in Brooklyn last week, continues to spew about the devil and the evil spirits that prompted the act, from the prison ward at Bellevue Hospital. "It must have been the Devil. It could not have been Jesus Christ," he said "I know I have to face a living hell now and God's judgment later." Still, since allegedly telling cops he lit the fire with a cigarette lighter, he’s changed his story—now he insists it was all an accident, caused by six plus bottles of vodka. And Satan, of course. more ›

Maybe you’ve seen this PSA around in the subway—well its turns out NYPD doesn’t know which one is real either. Early this morning Bushwick cops fired two round at a 61-year-old BB gunman, whose weapon they mistook for a real firearm. Should have turned it in for cash. more ›

These photographs were all taken by Berenice Abbott in the same area of Brooklyn in 1936 (two of them on the now non-existent Talman Street). The clapboard houses were part of what was called Irishtown, which was under the anchorage of the Manhattan Bridge (this area is now called DUMBO, of course). According to this book, back then it was "a slum of pre-Civil War houses renting for $15 per month. Lacking cellars, central heat, hot water, toilets, and bathtubs, many of the houses had been declared uninhabitable by the city. Talman Street was the remnant of an old cow path with an ice cream factory at one end and empty lots at the other." more ›

Since organizers of the Idiotarod this year, Corporation X, were being vague with any details prior to go time, but simultaneously wanted press coverage—our publisher sent them this little note (yes, in all caps): "WE CAN'T COVER YOUR STUPID HIPSTER RACE ON THE SITE IF WE DON'T KNOW WHERE IT IS." more ›

For the past year or so, photographer Stephanie Keith has been going to the Flatlands in Brooklyn for dead-of-night vodou ceremonies. Her audio slide show about her experiences is killer. While we've been sleeping the night away, she's been dancing to drumming and watching spirit possession in a rum-soaked basement. By the end of one "party" there were about seven people all possessed at the same time! Unfortunately, she wasn't allowed to take pictures when the Gede spirit "mounted" participants, but still got off some great shots. "I keep telling my friends I wish I could get mounted by a spirit, but that never happened," Keith wistfully remarks. She's actually attended ten vodou ceremonies so far, but Gede is still playing hard to get. [Via Boing Boing] more ›

Daniel Ignacio, the man who reportedly confessed that demonic voices told him to set a Bensonhurst fire that killed five people on Saturday, pleaded not guilty to charges yesterday. But residents say he was actually trying to settle a score with neighbors over a stroller left in the apartment building's hallway. more ›

Despite telling police he set fire to a toilet paper roll near the entrance of the building where five died Saturday, at his arraignment today Daniel Ignacio pleaded not guilty. His lawyer Danielle Eaddy told the AP she doesn't believe statements he made to police will prove an intention to start the fire and that there were problems with how cops obtained his statement. She even suggested that Ignacio acted heroically, adding that he helped save the life of a two-year-old boy by handing him from a window. "He confessed to the arson," a police source told the Post. "He didn't indicate any rational motive." At a prayer service Rev. Erick Salgado relayed an apology from Ignacio to his congretation: "Sorry. It was not intentional. He did not mean to kill nobody," Salgado said. more ›

As though in answer to Bloomberg's proposed cuts to the force, firemen saved three more New Yorkers from fiery deaths. Early this morning a mattress ignited, filling a Bed-Stuy home with smoke and flames and trapping its residents inside. Amid high winds and snow, the FDNY made quick work of the fire, plucking a young girl from the second floor, just before she jumped. "This young girl was hanging out the window screaming, 'Help me! Help me!,'" recalled Joe Fischer, one of the firemen. "She looked like she was going to jump so we had to get to her quickly." more ›

There's been much discussion about reviving old theaters in town lately, with the Ridgewood Theater getting landmark status and the Loew's in Chinatown getting refurbished into a community center. Now Brooklyn's Loew's Kings Theater is getting some attention after rotting away since 1977—the NY Times notes that its current state includes a "rusting, dirt-caked marquee," a cobweb-filled deteriorated interior, and plenty of vandal and pigeon feces. You know, just your typical movie theater here in New York! more ›

Prosecutors claim that Eliyahu Ezagui is a thief who took $2.6 million from condominium buyers and more than $10 million from banks, but the Brooklyn developer says he was G-d sent. According to his lawyer, Ezagui received "a blessing" from deceased Rabbi Schneerson before committing his subprime mortgage fraud. "It was a mitzvah to him, a Hebrew word that means a good deed and an obligation," said the defense lawyer in her opening statement. more ›

Is there anything gazillionaire developer Joe "Coney Island Grinch" Sitt can't turn to crap with a wave of his gold card? Having finished holding the Coney Island amusement district hostage, Sitt's dreaming up the future of Red Hook, where he owns land between the Ikea and the Fairway. Both were controversial additions to the sleepy, cobblestone waterfront, which was most recently besieged by the cast of MTV's The Real World. Sitt's latest idea for a neighborhood so full of potential and diminishing returns? Dorms, dude. more ›

Members of Brooklyn's tight-knit Guatemalan community were shocked to learn that one of their own had admitted to setting the deadly fire that killed five on Saturday. Daniel Ignacio, an ex-con and a bad drunk, told cops he was inebriated when he lit a roll of toilet paper on fire near the entrance of his apartment building and that he was possessed by "demons or devils." Later, the alleged arsonist left the building via a fireman's ladder, helping to save a child that was passed to him through a window, but leaving one of his roommates to perish. “Are you sure he’s Guatemalan?” asked Pedro Ordoñez, uncle of the child's mother, who died in the fire. “It’s painful that this is happening among paisanos.” more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] Police are questioning a resident of the Bensonhurst building that burned this weekend killing five Guatemalan immigrants, the AP reports. So far it's unclear whether the suspect in custody is the same captured in video footage released earlier today. Wearing dark clothes, he's shown arriving at the overcrowded building around 2 a.m. with a bag, and rushing from its door at 2:29 a.m. without the bag. Just one minute later someone reported the fire, which killed four men and the mother who tossed her two children from a third-story window. more ›

Park Slope's Animal Kind Clinic insists ASPCA colleagues didn't tell the whole story—or much of the story at all—when they accused veterinarian John Morehead of kicking a dying Rotweiller named Bullet at the Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital. In an email to Gothamist, the pet hospital that now employs Dr. Morehead wrote that he is an "exemplary" and "excellent" veterinarian, adding that "allegations of his causing a dog's death which were printed in the Daily News are false.  The dog—who was aggressive toward Dr. Morehead—died of the illness he had when he arrived at the ASPCA." more ›

There's a newish sex toy shop in Williamsburg called Shag, and the Brooklyn Paper has the scoop. The proprietors, artists from the neighborhood, say it's not your typical sex shop storefront. There are vibrating necklaces, hand-made lingerie, and yadda yadda yadda "workers will happily make a silicone dildo that’s an exact replica of a customer’s penis." They say "it may sound like a gag gift" (hey that's not what they're used for!) "but when a husband has to leave town on business there’s no reason why a wife can’t still have a little pleasure." What is this the '50s... what about when women leave on a business trip? According to this gallery of photos from the store, all they can leave behind is a doorknob cast from a stranger's vagina. more ›

Dog owners are speaking out against the egger who—in lieu of a noise complaint—has been bombing canines from a Park Slope condominium. At least three egg drops have occurred since December, prompting one patron of the dog run in J.J. Byrne Park to plan a counter-attack: “We should come out here with frozen milk bones and retaliate!” joked Annie Norman, who fears for her three-year-old Boxer, Chester. Others dispute whether the mad egger's anger is even justified. more ›

Senator Schumer has saved the Brooklyn Pool Parties! We just received a press release announcing the news that will surely put a smile on disaffected hipster's faces borough-wide. more ›

The father of Najibulla Zazi, the alleged terrorist bomber with ties to Al Qaeda, has been charged with obstruction of justice by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn today. The father, Mohammed Wali Zazi, 55, was first arrested in September along with his son, Najibullah Zazi, 24. The younger Zazi has been charged with conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, and will be on trial in Brooklyn starting in February. Both father and son were initially indicted in Denver on less serious charges, but were moved to Brooklyn when the NYC terror plot (using beauty products) came to light. more ›

The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) is unveiling a new exhibit this week called "The Gentrification of Brooklyn: The Pink Elephant Speaks." Curated by Dexter Wimberly, the show will open on the 4th and runs through May 16th. more ›

Arson investigators are looking into whether the Brooklyn fire that killed five on Saturday, and forced one woman to throw her two children from a third-story window, could have been sparked by a jilted boyfriend. A man seen fleeing the scene around 2:30 a.m., when the fire started, may have been owed money by a woman living on the second floor, some sources say. "We're treating it as a homicide," a police source told the Daily News. Meanwhile in Brooklyn as well as in Guatemala, where relatives of the fire's victims still reside, loved ones are mourning the immense loss. more ›

The heroic mom who tossed her two children out the window rather than let them perish in the flames, was one of the five fatalities of a three-alarm fire in Brooklyn yesterday. Fire officials are now saying the blaze—which also hospitalized 13 firefighters—could be a case of arson. The two-month old girl who was thrown by her mother from a third-floor window fractured her skull, but is expected to survive. Her brother escaped from the fire unscathed. more ›

Brooklyn’s newest invasive species carries with it a unique threat: unlike bedbugs Pentatomoidae don’t bite and don’t carry a health risk, but they do stink! Commonly referred to as stink bugs, they smell a bit like rotting or sweaty feet, if you will. In your tub-in-the-kitchen studio, maybe that’s worse. more ›