And this is why the MTA is installing partitions to protect bus drivers. Last night around 6:50 p.m. a B45 bus crashed into scaffolding outside 210 Livingston Street in Downtown Brooklyn. According to the driver he was being assaulted by a passenger at the time, an MTA spokesman says. more ›

Downtown Brooklyn doesn't exactly have the best reputation for dining out ("this is a vast wasteland when it comes to good food," writes one hungry Chowhounder), but that could be changing in the next year, if a handful of new restaurateurs play their cards right. more ›

Over the past few months, the Health Department has put the kibosh on many a beloved Brooklyn food institution (see: Di Fara, Turkey's Nest), but now, the DOH has shuttered an actual Brooklyn institute—the City Tech cafeteria—for a slew of health code violations so egregious you may very well lose your lunch. more ›

Russian billionaires and bleak buildings aren't the only things the Atlantic Yards project is bringing to Brooklyn: the construction is reportedly stirring up a large rat colony, some of which are "the size of cats." At a recent meeting to address the issue, two Downtown Brooklyn residents said that the rats got into their cars' engine blocks, "leaving behind chicken bones and aluminum foil, all the while chewing on the wires." One neighbor tells City Room, "We don't have a normal rat problem, we have a rat tsunami." more ›

In what was presumably a bold political statement against public transit and the transit lockbox bill making its way through Albany and nothing to do with getting the hang of accelerating, a teenage driver steered his father's Mercedes SUV into the Nevins Street subway station in Downtown Brooklyn yesterday. A deli worker nearby tells the Post that "I was ringing up a customer, and I heard this boom." The boy also knocked over a line of bike racks, striking a blow for all those who believe this is a Car's Town. It is possible, however, that the teenage driver just sneezed at the wrong moment. more ›

Remember when Brooklyn was a fetid nightmare of hookers and woe? Mildred Furiya does, because when she bought her four-story townhouse on State Street near Brooklyn Heights in 1967 for $16K "the block was a hangout for vagrants and a boarding house across the street was home to a group of prostitutes." Now it's home to a slew of coffeeshops, parents pushing fancy strollers and the all-important seal of gentrification: Dallas BBQ. Now, the 89-year-old Furiya is getting out of dodge and selling their home for a cool $1.895 million. As the Post reports, that's an 11,744 percent profit! Goodbye, residents-who-keep-neighborhoods-interesting! more ›

Beer-soaked Dance Dance Revolution junkies, rejoice! You might not have to go all the way to Times Square to get your sweat on anymore! A giant "Dave & Busters"-style "entertainment mecca" might be coming to downtown Brooklyn soon, right across the street from the Barclays Center. After reading the very excited online ad the property's owner posted today today, what "Chuck E. Cheese with beer"-style chain wouldn't want to move in? more ›

Hope Reichbach, the 22-year-old communications director for City Council Member Steve Levin, was found dead in her downtown Brooklyn apartment yesterday. An autopsy is being performed today, but a source tells the Brooklyn Paper that she overdosed on prescription drugs. Levin issued a statement, "Hope was a wonderful, vivacious, and tough young woman and a beautiful soul who cared deeply about her community and her family. We are deeply saddened by her passing and will miss her more than words can ever describe." more ›

There is no point resisting restaurant impresario Danny Meyer and his ever-expanding Shake Shack empire, as one small-time Brooklyn businessman is finding out. In November, it was announced with great fanfare that Meyer would be opening the first Brooklyn Shake Shack location, at the foot of the Fulton Mall in downtown Brooklyn. Borough President Marty Markowitz praised Meyer for "beefing up the Fulton Mall," and you could almost see the line of Shacknatics, as they're known, lining up already. But lost amid all the hoopla were the six businesses that had to find new homes to make room for Shake Shack. One of those merchants, Roma Shoe Repair & Shine, has now filed a lawsuit. more ›

Police have released a sketch and surveillance video of a man suspected of trying to rape three women in Brooklyn since January 9. The incidents were in Bensonhurst, Fort Greene and Downtown Brooklyn, all taking place between 1:15 a.m. and 2 a.m. more ›

As part of his plan to reduce the city's office space by 1.2 million square feet by the end of 2014 Mayor Bloomberg today announced that the city is looking for developers to bring commercial activities to the first and second floors of the Brooklyn Municipal Building at 210 Joralemon St. (the space is currently occupied by the Department of Finance). more ›

There's yet another manhole fire situation in downtown Brooklyn. According to Notify NYC (whose website is portentously down at the moment), emergency personnel are on the scene of a manhole fire at 55 Willoughby Street. "The FDNY has evacuated the surrounding buildings." More information as it comes, but you know the drill, there's probably a lot of carbon monoxide soiling the air and a bunch of guys standing around in reflective vests shooting the shit. Oh look, there they are: more ›

The ex-convict who was arrested for shooting his parole officer at the downtown Brooklyn parole office on Thursday was trying to kill the officer. Police say that after Robert Morales, 50, fired into Samuel Salters' shoulder, tried to pull the trigger of his Ruger 9mm again—aiming at Salters' face—but the gun jammed. Morales seem to confirm that version of events, because he told reporters, as he was being taken to court, "Unfortunately he ain't dead. That was the plan... He's an a-hole. He deserved it." more ›

Downtown Brooklyn isn't only getting a Barneys, a Trader Joe's and an Urban Outfitters... it's also getting a more artistic mark of gentrification: public art. The Daily News reports that there are plans to turn an old parking lot at Hoyt and Schermerhorn Streets (rendering at right), into an art-themed park, covering up eyesores with installations. But not everyone is happy (of course)—some longtime merchants in the area are reportedly feeling squeezed out. One small business owner said, "Eventually there'll be no small stores left. They're making it harder and harder to operate a business." And about that Barneys moving in? One local said, "When I think Barneys, I think of SoHo and Chelsea and all that pretension. That's one of the things I like about living in Brooklyn, it's not pretentious." Yet! more ›

Cyclists are chafing at what some say is a ticket blitz on bike riders in downtown Brooklyn, focusing on the heavy intersection of Tillary and Adams, by the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge. "I have witnessed two sting operations set up at Tillary and Adams," Park Slope resident Paul White, a personal injury lawyer and cyclist, tells the Brooklyn Paper "They were ticketing slews of people who were riding [outside the bike lane] on Adams." New York law says cyclists "should" ride in a lane if one is available, except when making a turn or when the lane is blocked. But because of traffic congestion, the latter is often the case on Adams, and some cyclists say the NYPD is exploiting that. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] We're getting reports that a possible gas leak and/or explosion has prompted the evacuation of buildings in Brooklyn Heights near Borough Hall and Court Street. According to some reports, at least five manhole covers have blown, and subway stations at Borough Hall and Court Street in Brooklyn have been evacuated and closed. One reader just sent us this email: more ›

City medics refused to help a pregnant woman who was having a fatal seizure inside a Downtown Brooklyn café, according to witnesses. The Post reports that two FDNY medics were inside the Au Bon Pain in Metrotech Center when café employee Eutisha Revee Rennix, 25, began complaining of shortness of breath and intense stomach pains. more ›

The man who is suing the NYPD for $220 million after alleging that cops at the Prospect Park subway station sodomized him with a police baton has been involved in another altercation that left him with a knife wound in his left arm. 24-year-old tattoo artist Michael Mineo was stabbed in Downtown Brooklyn yesterday after telling the suspect to leave Mineo's girlfriend alone. A witness told the News, "The girl let it be known she was bumped and upset. The guy she was with wanted to be chivalrous and went back and forth with the first guy." 41-year-old ex-con Alejandro George was allegedly drunk when he took out a knife and took a swipe at Mineo's kidney but ended up stabbing him in the left forearm. George was arrested and charged with assault. A lawyer for Mineo suggested that George indicated he knew who Mineo was and "threw a couple of epithets" during the altercation. Mineo was treated and released from Kings County Hospital. more ›

Brooklyn Fare, a new non-chain Downtown Brooklyn grocery store, will open tomorrow. The man behind the refrigerated counter is Cesar Ramirez, a Bouley/Bar Blanc vet who’ll create and maintain Brooklyn Fare’s line of hot and cold prepared foods. Next month, Brooklyn Fare will also introduce a small restaurant inside the store’s standalone commissary kitchen, located a few doors down on Schermerhorn Street. Its single dining table is actually one seamless, stainless steel table in the center of the kitchen. Here, Ramirez says, he will serve five-course meals for a “super reasonable price.” more ›

The Department of Corrections spoke with us today to clarify that "there is no timetable" for the reopening and expansion of the "House of D" in Downtown Brooklyn reported on yesterday. The original assertion that it would reopen shortly came from a Daily News claim that a letter to the state from the DOC stated the jail would reopen in a few months. more ›

Even though the area once home to the House of D is now better known as the House of TJ's, City Councilman David Yassky and Controller William Thompson are still trying to block the city from the reopening and expansion of a jail in Downtown Brooklyn that has been closed since 2003. The two filed a lawsuit against the city trying to stop $430 million deal planned by the Bloomberg administration to add 720 beds to the the Brooklyn House of Detention in a move they say is a "waste of taxpayer money and would have a destructive effect on the local economy.". The suit claims that the city "secretively and illegally" re-populated the jail when it sent 31 prisoners there over the weekend in order to claim that it never closed. The Dept. of Corrections says it would like to have the jail reopened by early next year. more ›

Downtown Brooklyn has a new aggressive marketing initiative, and at the top of the press release it's noted that the area will be promoted "as a College Town." Allegedly the plan is to expand and diversify with some new tenants, companies and retailers. Sure, they've got an Urban Outfitters and Trader Joe's, but they're looking to make the area "a vibrant, 24/7, live-work urban center". (Hoboken has allegedly been stealing their business over the past 10 years!). So Marty Markowitz has officially stated they're "'open for business' and—with all due respect to our friends in Jersey—our borough is the very best place for companies to locate and employees to live, work, and raise families." The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership promises "a mix of advertising, direct marketing, promotional events and other activities" to help attain their goal. So, a round of Jäger shots to celebrate? more ›

Eight-year-old Alexander Toulouse was struck and killed by a mail truck Saturday afternoon in Downtown Brooklyn. Alexander, known as the "little professor," was biking near his Cobble Hill home with his father, Fordham University political science professor Christopher Toulouse, when a postal truck turning on Livingston Street and Boerum Place hit the boy without ever having seen him. A witness said that the driver "wasn't going real fast" and was not charged after staying on the scene following the accident. Witnesses said he appeared devastated. The NY Daily News says that Alexander had just begun third grade at P.S. 29, was a big fan of Dancing With the Stars and a fervent supporter of Barack Obama. more ›

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