Results tagged “courtstreet”

It's not even Halloween yet and Christmas has already popped up on Court Street in Brooklyn! Pardon Me For Asking has photos of the festive decor, have you seen any more around? Send us your photos of any over-the-top or way-too-early holiday decorations. We haven't spotted nearly enough haunted houses this year.

Around 3 a.m. this morning, a building's roof collapsed in Brooklyn. Located at 217 Court Street, the building was vacant but fire officials evacuated residents of neighboring buildings. A fire official explained, "This is a common occurrence when we get rain. We've had a few days of rain and the old buildings can't handle the weight." And we've had a lot of rain. According to WCBS 2, the Department of Buildings will check for structural damage to neighboring buildings and "an initial inspection leaves no doubt that a most, if not all of 217 Court Street will need to be demolished."

The former Caffé Carciofo space on the corner of Court and Kane Streets in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn will soon open as new restaurant Watty and Meg. Court Street residents have noted a flurry of construction, and a Craigslist call for line cooks went out over the weekend. What we know: The restaurant will have 60 seats and feature an open kitchen; it also seems that its name comes from a ballad generally attributed to 18th century Scottish-American ornithologist Alexander Wilson, for whom The Wilson Journal of Ornithology is named. Ah, mystery. Thus Watty and Meg joins the roster of new Court Street restaurants with archaic names, like Buttermilk Channel and Café Pedlar, both of which have started strong. More details to follow as they become available.

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.

It was a modern Father's Day for some of Kate Hudson's past and present beaus. Yesterday Hudson, her current boyfriend Lance Armstrong, his three children, Hudson's ex-husband Chris Robinson, and their son Ryder all attended a two-hour brunch in Brooklyn together in honor of Father's Day.

Yesterday afternoon, an 88-year-old man crossing Court Street in downtown Brooklyn was hit by a car. The man was on the car's hood/windshield and witnesses told police the driver swerved for a block to shake the victim off.

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

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:

Sure, there are many subway stations with chipped and peeling paint. And the MTA even has the money to start repainting them. But the MTA can't figure out a plan to get started!

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’re pissed. After setting the date on our schedule for an excursion out to the Red Hook Ball fields this Saturday to sample some of the famous Mexican stalls, word comes from Porkchop Express that the opening has been postponed until May 5th. Apparently from the official Food Vendors Committee of Red Hook Park: ...administrative issues beyond our control have forced us to push this date to May 5th. We are very excited to set-up shop (or rather... shacks!) and begin our season as soon as possible.

Despite a recent triumph for Carroll Gardens, an area that once hosted one of the city’s most concentrated Italian communities, there are few remaining vestiges of the neighborhood that was. Among them is Sam’s Restaurant, a quintessential red sauce joint and pizza destination helmed by Louie Migliaccio, the self-named “Son of Sam.”

When Rafael Hasid shuttered neighborhood standard Hill Diner, it seemed that the promise of a proper Israeli breakfast was retreating ever further into the horizon.

You’d think a place called MiniBar in Carroll Gardens would have an inferiority complex. It even stares across the street at Frankies 457 Spuntino, a much more serious eatery and wine bar, with a very high reputation. But it doesn’t seem to care.

More than a few Chowhounders were a little bit riled last fall when Cobblestone Foods opened in the former Tuller’s space on Court Street. Cobblestone Foods was billing itself as a specialty foods shop, but there was just one problem: “Where’s the chow?” asked one CH member, after finding “1/3 stocked" shelves during a fact-finding mission. Other curious shoppers found the same problem but noted Cobblestone's vital signs to be otherwise normal -- behind the register, the rotisserie was filled with Long Island duck and roaster chickens, and the large refrigerated display case was stocked with a variety of fresh vegetable salads. More than a few customers seemed confused. “[T]hey were very friendly,” offered one CH member.

As the Carroll Gardens of yore fades into the Smith and Court Street song and dance it’s ever more difficult to track down an authentic Italian experience in a neighborhood still populated as much by well-heeled Manhattan transplants as it is by Marys on the half-shell.

In the 1830’s, Court Street was brought down to grade and until the early 1840’s, the Brooklyn Eagle states that one could not see more than thirty buildings south of Atlantic Avenue. This quickly changed. In 1848, J.S.T. Stranahan & Carmichael were contracted for what was known as the "Bergen Hill Improvement." The hill, which is said to have been a popular "resort for sport and mischief," was surrounded by woods and required a nearly 130-foot cut to bring it down to the level of Court Street. The land was then used to fill in sections of the Red Hook marshland from Harrison [Kane] Street south to Hamilton Avenue, including Columbia Street.

Continue reading "Map of the Day: Red Hook - 1776, 1896, 2006"

Leah Allen is not from a town in Texas. She doesn't speak Hebrew either but her new bar, Abilene, is a paean to both. The word, in Hebrew, means grass, and on there are waves of the same on walls, under beautifully understated lighting. A native New Yorker and Carroll Gardens resident, Abilene is her first bar in Brooklyn but she's no novice- she opened Lolita in 1999. We had a drink with Leah and her husband who renovated the space, formerly the Red Room, together. Unlike Lolita, this place is never going to hold a reading series- this one is all about how comfortable people can be with board games and no one that is ever going to shush you, ever. Tuesday the bar hosted an Anti-Valentine's Day party and may bring in djs; the space is similar to the old Halcyon and we could see it working.

The Brooklyn Heights strip of Atlantic Avenue between Court Street and the BQE is riddled with watering holes. Nevertheless, Gothamist has to admit that none of them could be considered a sophisticated cocktail lounge.

Is it surprising that the Department of Education employee busted for secretly taking pictures in faculty bathrooms and girls' locker rooms has more twisted stuff in his history? The Daily News reports that amongst the hundreds of tapes police found in Michael Conte's home, some were bestiality tapes. And the Post's addition to the story is that Conte also used cameras to take upskirt pictures of women at an outdoor market on Court Street in Brooklyn! All the more reason not to wear flouncy skirts - pencil skirts all the way.

The next few days are going to be filled with the police's near-misses with suspected sex attacker Peter Braunstein, aren't they? After sightings in Chelsea and Queens, a Court Street coffee shop owner says Braunstein ordered some coffee even with a police van outside. John Arena, of Bococa's Cafe, tells reporters:

"I knew right away. We both gave each other the same vibe. We looked at each other like, 'You know who I am.' I looked at him like I saw a ghost. He caught on right away. He knew I knew who he was."

Mayor Bloomberg apologized to the five Sikh men visiting from Britain who who were handcuffed, forced to kneel, and basically put on display when a Gray Line tour bus employee called the NYPD because she thought they were suspicious.

"It turned out that these...people did not present any threat whatsoever. It's a shame, and I certainly apologize on behalf of the City of New York. We love tourists and we want them to keep coming here and feel that they ... can go around and enjoy the city."

First the D'Agostino shutters, set to become a CVS. Next, two independent Montague restaurants close their doors. Now, word has it, that another chain is coming to the Heights - not as nefarious sounding as a Quiznos or Chili's, but a chain/franchise operation nonetheless: Ben & Jerry's.

- FRL

If you are unfamiliar with the oft-used term "feh" it is defined by one Yiddish-to-English dictionary as: "It stinks! No good."

Cooking and baking are certainly among Gothamist's many skills. But even the most adept culinary master could use some pointers now and then. So, it was with great enthusiasm that we learned that the Cobble Hill neighborhood in Brooklyn will soon be home to a new, aptly-named cooking school: The Neighborhood Kitchen.