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. One witness told the Daily News, "Half his body was inside the car and the other half was hanging outside the passenger seat... [The driver] didn't show no remorse. He was just trying to get rid of......

Breathe a sigh of relief Carroll Gardens, The Real World's newest seven strangers won't be moving in to your neighborhood after all -- the original report of the cast heading to Downtown Brooklyn is now confirmed. Their keys will open the door to a 6,000-square-foot, two-story penthouse in the BellTel Lofts (video); and while that's a lot of square-footage for a New York abode, it's still the smallest home in Real World history. The loft......

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. The video is part of an online magazine called NY Moon. Each month there are several features including one called "Blueprint" which proposes new ideas for NYC. In February's issue someone suggests New York's billionaires buy up......

Brooklyn Surrogate Court Judge Diana Johnson is the first African-American to be elected to a Surrogate Court judgeship in New York history. With only weeks on the bench, however, someone spray painted racist graffiti inside two separate elevators at the Downtown Brooklyn courthouse. One message read "Judge Diana Johnson is Dumb," and the other read "Judge Diana Johnson is a Dumb (n-word)." Dozens of lawmakers and judges held a rally to support Johnson in the......

By the end of next year, downtown Brooklyn will have a new upscale steakhouse to rival Peter Luger in Williamsburg; it was recently announced that Morton’s will be occupying the ground floor of a new Marriott annex tower on Adams Street. The Chicago-based restaurant chain will dish out their beef, seafood and sandwiches in a 300 seat restaurant near the Brooklyn Bridge. Writing for the Brooklyn Paper, Gersh Kuntzman sees Morton’s arrival as the beginning......

After months and months of delays, the BAM Cultural District may be moving forward. The NY Times is reporting that city officials have chosen Harlem-based developer and Brooklyn resident Carlton Brown to create what the Times' Terry Pristin calls the "cultural district's centerpiece." This is the first Brooklyn project for Brown, who developed the Kalahari and 1400 on Fifth in Harlem and the Solaire, the city's first residential green building, in Battery Park City. The......

A rendering of Brooklyn's proposed City Tech Tower, designed by Renzo Piano, at Tillary and and Jay Street sent some into speculation mode, especially since its height seemed to be up to 1,000 feet tall. Which would make just about twice the height of the 512-foot tall Williamsburgh Savings Bank, currently the tallest building the Brooklyn. However, the rendering of the building is apparently old. A representative at Forest City Ratner, the development company which......

The NY Post has video and renderings of what downtown Brooklyn will look like in 2012. With $9.5 billion in development projects in the works, the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership is proudly touting its future. The DBP's president Joe Chan told the Post, "This sends a message to the entire city - and even the world - that Brooklyn is in a period of unprecedented growth." The video, which will be released later today but......

The Real Deal (via Brownstoner) is reporting that, according to a recent court ruling, the city is taking two Williamsburg properties via eminent domain for Bushwick Inlet Park. The properties are located along the East River between North 9th and 10th streets. According to one real estate expert, the city will only pay about $100 per square foot, compared to the $200 per square foot it could garner on the open market, even though the......

Last week Racked reported that there's word of an Apple store opening in Brooklyn. The question is, which neighborhood will iNvite them in. Dumbo NYC reports that Two Trees has reached out to Apple in the past, but they "weren’t ready". If they're ready now, their options in Dumbo would include the 6600 sq.ft space at 70 Washington Street and the 6700 sq.ft space across the street at Washington and Front Street. Racked had a......

Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg announced a project to commemorate abolitionist activity that occurred in Brooklyn in the 1800s. He named a panel made up of community leaders, academics, and historians to aid the city and Downtown Brooklyn Partnership in asking for and reviewing commemoration proposals. The panels of the Commemoration Panel are: the Reverend Lawrence Aker, Senior Pastor, Cornerstone Baptist Church; Richard Greene, Executive Director, Crown Heights Youth Collective; Colvin L. Grannum, President, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration......

Megan Montgomery was, apparently, the city's first personal chef for dogs (though were sure there are more than enough now). Preparing her meals in Downtown Brooklyn and using her dogs as guinea pigs, she's brought Dean & Deluca-esque dining to the doghouse. Her company is called Zen Chien Personal Chef Service for Dogs, and her menu choices sound like "people food": Mediterranean ground lamb, with whole wheat couscous, blueberries and fresh-grated squash; beefy macaroni with......

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 THEATER: A mysterious little two-actor, umpteen character play called The Eaten Heart concludes......

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 Fulton Street mall will get the new bus shelters and benches, with more "lighting and trees," while......

A story in this week's Crain's suggests that the Visual and Performing Arts Library planned for the BAM Cultural District in Fort Greene may never materialize due to lack of funding. The story ("Library Project in Doubt," p6) is based on an anonymous source, described as "an insider at the Brooklyn Public Library." Unfortunately we cannot post the link because Crain's requires a subscription. According to Crain's, "The source says that library executives have given......

Last night's Department of Transportation presentation to Park Slope's Community Board 6 brought out hundreds of residents. Streetsblog has excellent coverage, noting that CB6 rejected the plan to turn Sixth and Seventh Avenues into one-way streets and residents want comprehensive planning, versus "secretive, top-down, traffic engineer-driven planning." Streetsblog also has a bootlegged copy of the presentation that lacks many details. In this plan you will find nothing about traffic calming, pedestrian counts the numerous......

Tomorrow at 3PM, Transportation Alternatives will be holding an emergency rally to demand that Mayor Bloomberg improve the streets for pedestrians. From TA:The Problem: In 2006, over 10,000 pedestrians were hit by cars and trucks in New York City. One hundred sixty-six were killed. The City's pedestrian safety efforts are inadequate. Where is Mayor Bloomberg? He has spoken out about transfats, gun violence and smoking. If killing a pedestrian with a car was considered......

The intersection of Third Avenue and Baltic Street, where 4 year old James Jacaricce was hit and killed by a Hummer SUV Tuesday afternoon, had actually been recommended for safety measures four years ago. During Tuesday's incident, both the SUV and the child, who was walking with his aunt, had the light; the SUV was making a right turn from Third to Baltic. Streetsblog notes that neckdowns and a raised crosswalk had been recommended:While it......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: hazmat condition on Wall Street and water main breaks in Soho and Tribeca. Just great: WNBC's Jonathan Dienst reports, "The FBI said it believes a violent fugitive who kidnapped his girlfriend and threatened to use his military explosives training to blow her up in a building may be now hiding out in Queens." Love it or hate it, the new New School building on the corner of 14th and......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: 10-75 at the Milford Plaza Hotel, DOA floater in Bay Ridge, and a water main break in East Midtown. Barclays, the bank that just bought naming rights to the Atlantic Yards arena, is demanding newspapers retract stories that mention Barclays' past involvement in slavery. The NY Times speaks to an "expert on the early British Empire" who says that all banks at the time had relationships with the slave......

Remember all the excitement surrounding the BAM Cultural District around, oh, 2001? Well, the NY Post is reporting that the previous plan for a theater and arts library has been expanded to include a dance studio, public park, museum and gallery, underground parking garage and residential housing. The district, which will cost $650 million, will be located between Fulton St. and Lafayette Ave. along Flatbush Ave. More details from the Post: - The 229-seat theater......

Assuming an arena for the Nets ever gets built in Downtown Brooklyn, it will bear the name of Barclays Bank. The Post is reporting that the Nets and Barclays have reached a record setting, multi-year agreement for the naming rights of the proposed arena. No specific dollar amount was mentioned in The Post's article, but it does say that the rights will cost Barclays more than the $9.3 million-a-year figure that Philips is paying......

September 16: Waldemar and Nadia at Telepan - Late Summer Cheeses Join cheese experts Waldemar and Nadia as they highlight late summer cheeses, including the aged goat and sheep's milk cheeses that were made from the first milkings of the season. They will be paired with wine from Telepan's cellar, selected by sommelier Aaron Von Rock. 12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m., $65 per person, all inclusive. Space is limited and reservations are required. Please call......

Time Out New York came out with their Cheap Eats issue this week and they certainly took no shame in taunting New York Magazine. Time Out's cover is virtually identical to NY Mag's, with reversed colors, down to the box highlighting their star rating system, except that Time Out calls it's issue "The Real Cheap Eats." TONY gleefully notes that "absolutely everything" on their list is under $20, clearly taking a stab at NY Mag's......

If you are all out of outrage about the Atlantic Yards project, but still want to feel upset about something in Downtown Brooklyn, check out this editorial in the Brooklyn Papers, entitled "Brooklyn and Wal-Mart: Perfect together": The debate over Wal-Mart is healthy. But even healthier would be to encourage Wal-Mart to open in Brooklyn — in the right place, with a suitable design, and with proper respect paid to Brooklyn workers. Whichever borough......

New York Magazine decides to look at the city in the year 2016 in terms of architecture and real estate development - and how that'll impact New Yorkers. It's a great look at how drastically the city could change in ten years, which is all overwhelming, exciting, and kind of scary, because for every rendering of glassy buildings, what does that mean for the neighborhoods? Are they plans for more affordable housing to meet......

The Department of Transportation is planning a pedestrian plaza in downtown Brooklyn: They will close Willoughby Street between Adams and Pearl, plus the Adams Street Service Road at Willoughby Street, saying this will "enhance safety along the heavily trafficked pedestrian corridor." Work on a temporary plaza, which will be separated from traffic using planters and will include benches, chairs, tables and bike racks, is scheduled to begin in early May. If the project is successful,......

Today, the NY Times revisits a series of articles it did in 1955 that predicted what the city might be like in the coming years (you know, until, as La Bamba from Conan O'Brien voice, woudl sing, "In the year 2000..." or maybe even in 2005, when the Times decided to get around to digging them up from the archives). Titled "Our Changing City," a 20-part series of articles in The New York Times painted......

Okay, maybe not today exactly, but the MTA is unveiling the new R160 cars for public inspection in a couple of weeks: See tomorrow’s train technology today and give us your input. On Tuesday, November 29 the New Technology Train (R160) will be parked at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Street station in Downtown Brooklyn on the A C G. From 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. NYC Transit research personnel will be there to take your comments......

The city will dedicate $71 million to improving traffic for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians thanks to some federal aid (yes, we actually do get some!) from the Federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program, with the overall goal being to have better air quality. The money will be distributed accordingly (via the Daily News and Newsday): - $26 millon to incentivize delivery companies to use alternative fuels - $21 million for the Pedestrian Network Development......