Results tagged “deanstreet”

We noticed two YouTube videos, taken from an apartment with a view of Dean Street, documenting some late night construction activity at the Atlantic Yards site in downtown Brooklyn. How late? Well, one video takes place at 11:42PM (video) while the other is in the 4AM hour (above!). For reference, according to 311, construction hours are generally 7AM to 6PM on weekdays (there may be emergency work in the middle of the night, but only on occasion; we also know some contractors get variances and conduct work late at night).

If you've never played petanque, head on down to Smith Street for North America's largest petanque tournament -- the two block stretch betweeen Bergen and Pacific will be shut down and covered with sand just for the occasion. While your'e watching the action, enjoy special cocktails from Ricard and other drink specials ($5-6), nibble on grilled merguez and chicken sandwiches ($5) and groove to Jazz band Blue Orchid will provide the entertainment throughout the day. 11:30am - 8pm, free admission, sponsored by Bar Tabac, Robin des Bois, Ricard and the South Brooklyn Local Development Corporation. 128 Smith Street at Dean Street, 718-923-0918.

Last night, parents of students who attend public schools at 345 Dean Street in Brooklyn convened for an emergency meeting with the Department of Education. The emergency was the fact that the DOE wants to move an Arabic-themed specialized school, named after the poet Khalil Gibran, into the building.

As planned since a judge okay'd Forest City Ratner's demolition of buildings in downtown Brooklyn, Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn held a protest this morning. FCR says that they own all the buildings and therefore should be allowed to tear them down, but DDDB says one concern is that the land will remain vacant if the project doesn't happen. DDDB's Ron Shiffman told NY1, "I find it very ironic that the day after Earth Day and the day after the mayor, I think, made a magnificent speech calling for us to be the greenest city, that we're destroying buildings that have already been built, buildings that have a lot of energy in them and destroying them, in this case before the lawsuits have been settled."

Last night, police officer Rory Mangra (pictured) attempted to approach a man smoking pot in Prospect Heights, but the man ended up shooting him in the leg. Mangra and his partner, Eric Merizelde, both uniformed but driving in an unmarked car, saw Kingsley Newland light up outside a beauty parlor at Flatbush Avenue and Dean Street in Brooklyn. From the Daily News:

Mangra stepped out of the car to approach Newland, but the suspect fled, police said. Merizelde sped ahead in the car, hopped a sidewalk and tried to block the suspect's path.

Continue reading "Pot Smoker Shoots Cop During Confrontation"

-- Streetsblog has some coverage of the Houston Street cyclists rally yesterday: "Everybody who lives in this community knows Houston Street is a highway to hell. It's the death street."

MOVIE: Netflix Rolling Roadshow presents The Warriors. Watch the local turf wars play out on a big screen in Coney Island. Tickets are on a first come, first serve basis. And for some reason, Lisa Loeb is hosting this and there will be a Q&A following the movie.

We were intrigued by the deconstruction of the word "blight" in today's New York Times. You've heard the story already, no doubt: Last week, a state environmental impact statement called the area proposed for the Atlantic Yards redevelopment project blighted.

We know we've mentioned it before, but Gothamist can't get enough of Cringe. Not strictly a literary event, it's nonetheless amusing how literary we thought we were in our teens, which is half the comedy of Cringe, where people read from their high school diaries and journals about how totally misunderstood they were, and also their new hairdo. Cringe is happening, tonight (5/3), at Freddy's Back Room and Bar (Dean Street and 6th Ave in Brooklyn), starting at 8:30PM but it fills up really quickly, so show up early.

Sad: each day seems to bring news of the destruction of a new building in Prospect Heights. Two weeks ago the Underberg Building disappeared, and yesterday Curbed reported the razing of buildings along Dean Street. The picture above, by Horseycraze on Flickr, shows the Vanderbilt Products Building coming down at the beginning of the month. All of this is intended to pave the way for construction on Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards Project-- a bunch of court cases are still pending, but at this rate, in a couple of weeks there aren't going to be any buildings left to defend.

Before we get to the weekly events which are sure to dazzle and amaze, Gothamist would like to note the passing of one of the great science fiction writers, Octavia Butler. Butler died after falling down the stairs outside her home this weekend, and will be sorely missed. She's the only science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur grant, and in a field dominated by men, Butler was a woman notable not only for her strong writing but also for the strong ideas behind it. Some fans of her work and life are gathering this Friday (3/3) at KGB Bar (85 E. 4th St.) at 7PM to raise a glass in her name and read from her work, and celebrate it. All are welcome.

We're not entirely sure how much walking for your highbrow literary art you guys are willing to do, and with the holidays coming up there's a dearth of good readings going on in the city this week anyway, but Gothamist is here to get you to your literary events through snow, sleet, hail, transit strikes, whatever! So taking all that in stride, here are a few things you'll want to mark on your calendar.

- "He's cute. If you can live through the firetrucks and police sirens you can live through a rooster." Neighbors have called the Animal Control and 311 to catch him, but, so far, they've been unsuccessful - five officers couldn't catch him.