Results tagged “cobblehill”

Last week 2,000 invisible animal lovers came together in Cobble Hill to talk to walk their invisible dogs and simultaneously confuse onlookers. Now there's video so you can fully experience the reaction of the neighborhood locals:

A woman in Cobble Hill called the cops last week when she saw a man trying to open the window of her Congress Street home. When police arrived and questioned the 32-year-old man sitting outside her home with a camera, he told them he was an architect. But when cops asked to see his "blueprints," they instead found snapshots of the woman in her underwear. The man was arrested for unlawful surveillance, criminal trespassing, and stalking.

       

Yesterday the Improv Everywhere gang took 2,000 dogs for a walk in the Cobble Hill area of Brooklyn. Invisible dogs, that is. You remember those old invisible dog toys, right? Turns out the circa-1970s toy was manufactured in a Brooklyn factory, which now contains the Invisible Dog art space! The space loaned the pranksters the vintage dog leashes for their afternoon of good clean fun; and if you want one yourself they still seem to be for sale online. More photos from Katie Sokoler, here.

The city’s commissioner of small business services says that he has not seen as high a concentration of local chains anywhere in the city outside of Smith Street in Brooklyn. The Times checks in on the Carroll/Cobble hub that includes the Franks, the "Stinky people," and the cluster of lifestyle businesses that have created an Area area. One owner says the street allows him to “tap into these customers in a variety of different ways.”

After Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez obtained $300,000 in public funds last year for a study to explore possible solutions on what to do with the BQE Ditch, the area along the Columbia waterfront between Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens, the input-gathering process is finally underway—via soliciting blog comments. So fire away. [Brownstoner]

If you haven't heard of the Rat-Squirrel House in Cobble Hill, Lost City has a complete history of the 149 Kane Street residence, with a brand new update. The home was built in 1901 but lost its grandeur and is now an eyesore for locals—housing "squirrels, pigeons, (maybe rats) and one old woman who would not leave and would not fix the place up" (despite DOB complaints and vacate orders). On Wednesday, authorities busted down the front door to find a squatter amongst mountains of trash; the old woman, Arlene Karlsen, was allegedly living in another building she owns in the neighborhood. According to a witness, she was "given the choice of being arrested or taken to the hospital. She left in an ambulance." Sad, indeed. The future of the building is uncertain, as it's part of the Cobble Hill landmark district which makes it difficult to tear down even though it may be beyond repair. Hey gutter punks, now that the heat's on you in Williamsburg, maybe it's time to head to Brownstone Brooklyn.

The Cobble Hill teenager who collapsed and died over the weekend while fleeing a fight at a party in Prospect Park had allegedly been struck by a middle-aged man, the father of another teen involved in the melee. A friend of the late Sharif Abdallah told the Times, “They ambushed two of our friends. They came out of nowhere. They were beating on them. The father was doing most of the fighting.” Yesterday police brought in the man who says "they have it all wrong." No charges have been filed yet. The fight broke out at a going way party for a high school friend, when Abdallah was part of a group who stood up for a friend's girlfriend who another group of teens said looked like "Ugly Betty." Sharif's friends had initially claimed that he had a heart condition that may have led to his sudden death, but his family has denied that. An autopsy will be performed today.

Her punk band would have likely had her waiting in the breadlines with the rest of us, but it's safe to say that since its release, Norah Jones has made a pretty penny off her 2002 debut album Come Away With Me. So a little (epic) financial crisis certainly isn't going to stop her from throwing down millions on some Brooklyn real estate. Brownstoner reports on the Cobble Hill home, a 4,100-square-foot circa 1843 townhouse that Jones paid $4,990,000 for (allegedly barely below the asking price).The site also notes the "killer" parlor floors and the not-so-killer nouveau-Tuscany vibe in the kitchen—which actually sort of screams "adult contemporary"!

The Court Street location of Margaret Palca Bakes closed up shop today for good at 2 p.m. Those seeking rugelach HQ will have to trek over to Columbia Street, home of the original, much-loved Margaret Palca store.

Court papers obtained by the NY Post reveal that two Brooklyn Legal Aid defense attorneys were involved in a physical altercation outside Boat Bar in Cobble Hill after one of them urinated on the floor inside the bar. The incident occurred earlier this summer after Legal Aids Brendan Relyea and Michael Pate went outside the bar after Relyea relieved himself on the floor rather than wait on a long bathroom line. When they were encouraged to leave by former prosecutor Matthew Knouff, their response was to punch Knouff out and fling him into a roll-down gate. Knouff is no stranger to drunken mischief himself, having been suspended since 2006 after he threw a brick through a car windshield following the DA's office Christmas party. Pate and Relyea were charged with assault, menacing and harassment and Relyea with public urination.

With a recent uptick in gentrification griping in Carroll Gardens, Candy Chang’s interactive art project in the window of a vintage furniture store on Court Street was well-timed. For one week, passersby were invited to share their apartment info and rent costs on Post-it notes. After culling 151 responses, Chang tallied the info and found that:
• One resident has lived in a studio in Carroll Gardens for 43 years with a current rent of $146.
• Another gloater has occupied a three 3BR loft in Chelsea for 30 years, paying $1,095 a month.
• A 1BR in Jersey City can be had for $1000 “with a backyard bitches!”

Clover Club: This new Cobble Hill lounge has no connection to this Clover Club “located in beautifull [sic] Mark, Illinois,” so leave your green face paint at home. The atmosphere here, as evinced by the photo, is old world charm and sophistication, hearkening back to an era when men dueled with pistols, not text messages, and the curse of the Cosmo had not yet darkened New York. Small plates include oysters on the half shell, steak tar-tar, and molasses and cumin rubbed chicken drumettes with roquefort fondue. Though the focus is all about "the craft of The Cocktail," owner Julie Reiner stresses that her fastidious drink selection isn't about pretension but inclusion: "Our goal is to demystify the secret world of fizzes, sours, daisies and punches in the hopes that everyone has a good time at Clover Club and learns a little something along the way." Drinking and learning; we'll not rest until we master that art. 210 Smith Street, (718) 855-7939.

Are you ready to meet the Real Housewives of New York City? Bravo is spinning off their Orange County-based reality show with a look into the lives of some select East Coast ladies. The show will air March 4th, and The Daily News reports that the "stars" will be Bethenny Frankel, LuAnn de Lesseps (that's Countess, to you), Ramona Singer and Jill Zarin of the Upper East Side and Alex McCord of Cobble Hill. We're glad they branched out of the UES and threw a Brooklynite in there (though we wish it was a Park Slope mom); at 34 she's the youngest of them all.

Native New Yorker Melissa Murphy is the mellifluous force behind Sweet Melissa Patisserie, a beloved Brooklyn house of tempting treats that opened in Cobble Hill in 1998. A graduate of New York’s French Culinary Institute, Murphy has spent the past decade building a budding dessert empire, bolstered by a profile-raising appearance on the Food Network and a baking book to be published by Viking in March. Last year Murphy added a second Sweet Melissa location in Park Slope and went on to claim the Zagat award for Best Tarts and Pies.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a truck stuck underneath a train platform at 237th St. in the Bronx, an armed robbery on 4th Ave. in Brooklyn, and a burn victim at McKeever Pl. in Brooklyn.
• The husband who was strangled to death, allegedly by his wife in their new $1 million Long Island home, had a criminal record that included serving several years upstate for rape, robbery, and burglary.
• A fire at a homeless encampment near Hillside Ave. and 178th St. in Queens spread to the encampment's shanties. One man was unable to escape in time and died in the fire.
• The controversial federal case against a woman accused of smuggling monkey meat into the U.S. for use in religious ceremonies continues.
• New York is turning into a clown town during the holiday season. There are currently six separate circuses operating in the city.
• Police are investigating a string of robberies in Brooklyn's 84th Precinct that appears to be targeting Asian people.
• The Nuclear Regulatory Commission wants the Indian Point power plant to pick up the pace on the repair of emergency sump pumps.
• The city's started to ticket ($100 to $300) businesses in Cobble Hill and Park Slope for placing a-frame signs advertising everything from manicure prices to happy hour specials. The signs supposedly are obstructing the sidewalk.

Insert obligatory phoenix metaphor here: Brooklyn’s Freebird, the used book and corn dogs mecca that closed earlier this year, is set to re-emerge a little later this week from The Embers of Gentrification. While the NY Magazine article linked in that last sentence is about the real estate debacle of Red Hook, the shuttered Freebird, which is technically in Cobble Hill, is sometimes considered (with restaurants like Alma) to be an extension of that troubled...

Given the city's more nuanced real estate market, NY magazine covers "degentrification," focusing mostly on Red Hook. Adam Sternbergh chronicles the neighborhood's ups and downs - for pre-gentrifiers, the stroller set and real estate enthusiasts, of course. He tells the story through a 30 year-old named Ivy Pochoda, who grew up in Cobble Hill when "Smith Street was still too sketchy to walk home on alone." (NB: Smith Street still was sketchy into the 1990s.)...

Up above you have Park Slope #17 and Carroll Gardens #13, respectively. Jennifer Loeber is bringing nude photography close to home with her series that show different Brooklynites in the flesh, in their apartments. They could even be your neighbors! And her inspiration? It came from a flasher on the subway, of course: "The idea to shoot nude portraits came about as I rode the NYC subway and pretended not to notice, across the aisle, a man fumbling to remove his clothes and expose himself to me. He looked distinctly uncomfortable yet wholly determined in his goal. His great drive to reveal himself to the commuting populace was made more palpable by the fact that he hadn't quite worked out the logistics." An unlikely muse, indeed. We recently asked Loeber some more questions about her ongoing project...

Yay! It's that time of year when the Straphangers Campaign announces the winner of the annual Pokey Award for the slowest city bus service. And this year, there's a new award: The Schleppie, for least reliable service.

Hot on the heels of 6-year-old Natalie Shea being caught and fined for chalking up her sidewalk, a second chalker has been nabbed! This one, Ellis Gallagher, is older -- so his punishment was a bit more serious. Seriously! For chalk! The dusty, porous sedimentary rock that leaves markings which wash away in the rain. The Brooklyn Paper reports:

The city’s crackdown on sidewalk chalk “vandals” is officially out of control! It was bad enough when the Sanitation Department threatened the parents of a 6-year-old Park Slope girl with a $300 fine if they did not remove the offensive "graffiti” — her sidewalk chalk drawings on their own front stoop.

Continue reading "Second Sidewalk Chalker Nabbed!"

Drivers living on exceptionally clean streets could earn a respite from the burden of alternate-side-of-the-street parking. Residents of Red Hook, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens and Park Slope were granted a stay of parking execution by the Dept. of Sanitation yesterday. Because the area has consistently received scores of 90% or higher for street cleanliness over the last few months, residents will no longer have to move their cars to comply with street cleaning requirements. According to WCBS, the above neighborhoods are the only ones who have qualified for the exemption, but Windsor Terrace and Sunset Park have expressed interest in opting out of the city requirement. Exempted residents will no longer have to move their cars on Tuesdays, Thursdays, or Saturdays.

READING: Our interviewee from yesterday, Adrian Tomine, will be reading tonight at Book Court. The graphic novelist not only has his work in some of the more prestigious rags, he's also got a full length graphic novel, titled Shortcomings.

Almost all of the 17-year-olds' stories make for interesting reading.

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?

As we mentioned, City Councilman Charles Barron held his press conference yesterday to announce his candidacy for the 2009 Brooklyn Borough Presidency. He told the crowds that his platform included affordable housing, health care accessibility, more jobs, standing up to developers who use eminent domain, ending mayor control of schools and more would help everyone. "Am I going to be a borough president for all the people? Absolutely. But I'm letting y'all know now, I'm taking care of black folk. Unapologetically."

This week in the Times, Bruni dines at Mercat, awards the restaurant one star. He likes the food; doesn't like the noise level. "Some wonderful food, some clangorous acoustics: these are the defining traits of Mercat," he says. Prices at the Spanish restaurant are quite reasonable, and with it come some tradeofffs: the food is sometimes uneven (particularly the seafood), service a bit off, noise level too high, desserts less than spectacular.

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.

June 21-23: NYC Food Film Festival, Part 2

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

Some updates to two Tuesday murders that took place in Brooklyn. First, Janine Harrington, who ran over one of her boyfriends with her SUV, was denied bail. Harrington, who thought that Jeffrey Moore had cheated on her, ran over Moore as he was riding on a bicycle near Chauncey and Rockaway. The SUV belonged to Harrington's different, live-in boyfriend.