Results tagged “atlanticavenue”

The man who found the abandoned trolley tunnel under Atlantic Avenue thirty years ago, Bob Diamond, is now hoping to find some historical booty down there. The Brooklyn Paper's got a serious skeptical tone in their report, but even National Geographic is interested enough to finance, produce and staff an archeological dig that might go down this coming January.

The Atlantic Avenue exit of the BQE turned out to be the exit ramp used by one more passenger than was expected Thursday morning when a police officer ended up helping deliver a baby alongside the highway. 37-year-old Officer George Tsoukaris said he hasn't had to help out on a case like this since his rookie days on the NYPD. When Tsoukaris was flagged down Thursday around 11a.m. by a woman in labor and her husband intending to take the BQE out to a Staten Island hospital, he quickly discovered that there wasn't going to be enough time until an EMT arrived...or even time for him to put on gloves for that matter! The couple has chosen not to reveal themselves after taking their healthy newborn to Long Island College Hospital. But the News got the adorable story out of the cop, who says, "She was screaming at the top of her lungs. he's yelling, 'The baby's coming out, the baby's coming out!' ... It's one thing to see the miracle of life in a controlled environment like a hospital, but it's another thing to have it happen on the highway."

According to the Daily News, Habitat for Humanity volunteers are putting the finishing touches on their Atlantic Avenue Condominiums today (in this heat!); the 41-unit apartment complex in Brownsville will give those in a need a chance to own their own home. Over 10,000 people came together to pitch in, and the Habitat NYC director says, "It's been fueled by Brooklyn pride," and that most moving in are "renters in Brooklyn who are taking a big step into home ownership." Over 8,000 applied to own a unit (there are 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms which range from $100-200K). And as for the finer details, "the front doors to each apartment at the complex are made from lumber milled from last year's Rockefeller Center Christmas tree" (which always goes to good use). One woman moving in with her two children told the paper, "My kids keep saying that every day will be like Christmas."

Reader Neil spotted a MoMA "installation" going up at the Atlantic stop in Brooklyn yesterday, saying posters like the above are filling up "every space in the station." It turns out that the museum is pulling all the stops for the expected plummet in tourism this year, and are targeting locals to come visit instead.

      

Recently a group traveled underground to the oldest subway tunnel in the world, rediscovered by Bob Diamond in 1980. It's dark, dirty and allegedly filled with ghosts! Located on Atlantic Avenue, it sounds like the perfect place for a haunted Halloween. Here's some more info on the mysterious underground space, that long went hidden.

The Atlantic Avenue Tunnel was built in seven months in 1844 by the Long Island Rail Road to relieve congestion in downtown Brooklyn. It was part of a rail network that eventually took passengers to Boston. For mainly political reasons, it was closed not too many years after it opened; the last train ran through it in 1859. In 1861, the tunnel was sealed up. In time, it became sort of an urban legend, and many stories were born about it and what uses some people may be putting it to.

                    

Yesterday, Gothamist attended the 34th annual Atlantic Antic along Atlantic Avenue between Hicks Street and Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. For the uninitiated, this not your typical New York "tube sock" street fair. Sure there are some of the typical food vendors (gyros, roasted corn and Mozzarepas, natch). But unlike most other street fairs, there is a strong neighborhood presence in both food (including freebees from the new kid on the block Trader Joe’s) and vendors, along with many Brooklyn community groups and a wide variety of live music. As an added bonus this year, the New York Transit Museum had free admission along with its annual bus festival.

Five different car crashes in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens have left five people dead yesterday.

The area of Brooklyn’s Atlantic Avenue that stretches through the East New York/Stuyvesant Heights area isn’t exactly a culinary destination, but what it does have is the Carolina Country Store, a one of a kind grocery that has been covered here before. The tiny storefront is also favored by chefs like Zak Pelaccio, primarily because it specializes in southern style ham and cured meats that are hard to find elsewhere in the five boroughs.

Today Brooklyn venue Magnetic Field announced they would soon be closing up shop. From their email, which likely saddened many patrons of the place when it hit inboxes earlier:

After five-plus years of rocking Atlantic Avenue and entertaining thousands of customers and welcoming hundreds of great bands, Magnetic Field in Brooklyn will be closing its doors on March 31st. Co-owners Lee Greenfeld and William Crane would like to personally thank all of Magnetic Field’s staff and patrons for their loyalty over the past few years, as well as all the numerous bands who have brought some truly tremendous and memorable performances to our stage. We are currently working on a blow-out last week of shows to run March 24th through the 31st.

Train muralist James Top (aka JEE 2) was part of the legendary Odd Partners in the 1970s. The Brooklyn crew bombed with throw ups and block letters; they were highly regarded and had a strong presence in the city. These days Top has taken his art indoors -- teaching a graffiti class in the Bronx and, this weekend, opening his first New York exhibit.

Yesterday, the Post reported about a strange and disturbing road rage incident in Red Hook last week. A woman was ultimately repeatedly hit by the driver of a Land Rover.

Merging urban exploration with something akin to La Blogotheque's Take Away Shows, the below video gives a glimpse at what's hidden in the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel underneath Downtown Brooklyn while performer Greg "Cosmo D" Heffernan scores the journey.

A happy event turned violent early Sunday morning when the manager of a Brooklyn catering hall fired at three guests, and by the time the police caught a second shooter, one person was dead and four others were wounded. A baby shower at the El Barandillo banquet hall on Atlantic Avenue turned into a fight between members of the Bloods and Crips - all of whom were invited to the shower. El Barandillo manager Omar...

FR.OG and P*Ong, two perfectly good Manhattan restaurants that opened earlier this year, have names that independently invoke two classic arcade video games, Frogger and Pong. Now, as the fall openings season draws to a close and the votes for worst new restaurant name have been cast, we’d like to draw your attention to the most incredibly iconic new restaurant name in New York: It's that of Roclantic Eatery, a soul food and oil drum “Bar-B-Que” place that opened just two weeks ago on the corner of Atlantic and Rockaway Avenue in East New York, coincidentally enough. Kind of rolls off the tongue. With a purple-painted exterior and booming, shadowed, all-caps signage, Roclantic’s owners have come up with a restaurant name so unique that as of right now, it doesn’t even return a single Google hit.

In addition to running the kitchen at NY dining landmark Brasserie, Chef Franklin Becker is also a tireless advocate for two particular causes: Raising awareness for Autism research, and developing recipes and healthy food choices for diabetics. Becker, who turned 38 at the beginning of the month, has been in the business for a staggering 24 years. Many New York Times stars later, he now cooks at Brasserie, and was an awarded a StarChefs Rising Star Award last year. After one recent lunch rush, Becker spoke to us at a side table about the benefits of growing up in Brooklyn, an Arthur Avenue restaurant with no menu, and what it’s like to clean the kitchen at 4 AM with the ghosts of Studio 54 keeping time at the bar.

Last month rumors of an Apple Store in Brooklyn started to spread, and now there's some news on where the store may land.

Currently the top story on the front page of The Brooklyn Eagle's website contains a graphic photo of a murdered man hanging out of a car. The headline reads: "Grisly Murder on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn", and we were sort of shocked to find an actual photo of the "grisly murder" right there below those words. The story simply reads:

The body of 22-year-old Jamal Oughterson (right) hangs out of the back seat a car on Grand Avenue near Atlantic Avenue early Saturday morning after being shot several blocks away. Police said Oughterson had agreed to meet a friend on Fulton Street near Franklin Avenue when a gunman fired at him. He was whisked away from the scene by a driver who evidently intended to take him to the hospital, but the car was intercepted by authorities. Oughterson died while en route. The officer at left was at the crime scene.

Yesterday, Gothamist attended the 33rd annual Atlantic Antic along Atlantic Avenue between Hicks Street and Fourth Avenue. It is not your typical New York street fair with actual local groups, business and restaurants getting involved. Plus the New York Transit Museum had free admission as well as its annual vintage bus festival.

On tap for this year’s 33rd Annual Atlantic Antic festival, taking this Sunday from 10 AM to 6 PM (rain or shine, buddy) is the usual bonanza of pony rides, live music, and balloon animals. This year’s Antic has an added emphasis on food, which should hopefully make it a remedy to all the street fair food fatigue that’s been going around recently.

Yesterday morning, a dump truck and Toyota Camry going west on Atlantic Avenue had a deadly accident. The truck, which was filled with debris, jackknifed and overturned, crushing the Camry and its two passengers.

Beautiful lawns, flowering bushes, and planters with lush greenery: This morning, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden announced the winners in its 13th annual Greenest Block in Brooklyn Contest. The residential first place winner was MacDonough Street between Stuyvesant and Lewis Avenues in Bedford-Stuyvesant (pictured above) while first place for a business/commercial block was Hoyt Street between Atlantic Avenue & State Street in Boerum Hill (pictured below).

The NY Times takes a look at Smith Street and the corporate companies creeping into the area and setting up shop. The most recent big announcement is that Trader Joe's is taking over the old bank on Atlantic Avenue and Court Street. How long until more big fish come to feed?

After a lot of speculation that the Brooklyn Trader Joe's may never happen, Racked reports that it...IS! The good news (for Brooklynites) was posted just moments ago:

Earlier this year, The Sun reported that AvalonBay Communities would "begin construction this summer on a 42-story, residential market-rate tower with approximately 600 units. The property will have ground floor retail, which could house the borough's first Trader Joe's market." And even earlier this year it was suspected that TJ's would move into One Brooklyn Bridge Park.

We can't possibly choose only one music event for the weekend, so check out OhMyRockness for the jam packed weekend listings. We will say, however, that one of the openers for Snowden at Maxwell's tonight...is We Are Scientists, trying out some new tunes. Though closer to home are The Clientele and Beach House at Bowery Ballroom. Listen: Apple Orchard.mp3 - Beach House

Sequestered between downtown Brooklyn and the frantic hum of Atlantic Avenue, Kili offers a little retreat even if it is small. The lighting is muted, the colors dark, and the music loud. Toss in a strategically placed fireplace, and it stands as one of the perfect cold weather bars. Unfortunately, that’s of no use to us now. To make up for the closed-in feel, they open both front doors and everyone seems to want to scoot a little towards the exit. Too bad they don’t have an outdoor space.

What does the future of the Fulton Street Mall look like? If the Bloomberg administration and Downtown Brooklyn Partnership have their way, it'll look less gritty and more like Herald Square and Bryant Park in Manhattan. The Post has details on the city's $18 million investment to re-make the Fulton Street and Albee Square mall areas nicer.

The police officer accused of killing his ex-girlfriend during an argument on a Queens street was arraigned yesterday. Harry Rupnarine, 38, who joined the NYPD 2 years ago and worked on the transit task force, was charged with second degree murder. Though his lawyer said Rupnarine had family members willing to put up their life savings for bail, Rupnarine was held without bail. Queens DA Richard Brown said, "This is a tragic case from any perspective. A young woman is murdered. A New York City police officer is charged with her death. However, the sad reality is that this was, in essence, a domestic violence incident that occurs all too frequently and illustrates that police officers are not immune from social problems that are endemic in our society.” The NYPD has suspended him without pay.

A police officer assigned to the transit task force is under arrest for allegedly shooting his ex-girlfriend in the face on a Queens street. Harry Rupnarine, 38, who joined the forced 2 years ago, met his ex, 22-year-old Guyatree Hardat, last night at restaurant in the Woodhaven. Investigators say that they had broken up but were attempting to reconcile.

Of the many bars that line Atlantic Avenue between Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill, The Brazen Head doesn’t seem like much of a draw. They don't have bocce ball, an indie rock juke box, an old man sailor vibe, or even a full menu. The garden they advertise from the street is a triangle of concrete reaching some 10 feet out and overlooking an abandoned lot. So why should anyone go?