An NYPD sergeant was captured on video profanely berating a 21-year-old man in a Chinese restaurant in Kensington. "My dick will go in your mouth and come out your ear," Sergeant Lesly Charles says. "I have the long dick. You don't." According to the Post, which obtained the video from the man, it was an illegally parked car that got the well-endowed officer so aroused. more ›

Anti-Muslim graffiti was found scrawled on the side of a Kensington building Monday, and some local residents are worried the incident will spark racial tensions in the remarkably diverse neighborhood. The graffiti, which was left on the side of TDS Insurance on Beverly Road, declared that "Allah is Shit." The incident is being investigated as a bias crime, and some theorize that the vandalism may be retaliation for a rash of anti-Semitic graffiti left on Jewish homes and establishments in Midwood recently. more ›

Mozart lovers, have you heard anything strange lately? The sweet sounds of The Magic Flute as filtered through...a parrot, perhaps? If so, you're not actually crazy—an opera-singing parrot has gone missing in Brooklyn, and her devastated owner needs your help finding her! more ›

Every year somebody goes too far on Halloween—a woman dressed as a slutty nurse gets drunk and actually performs an invasive medical procedure, or an area man slips actual eyeballs into that bowl of peeled grapes. There's a fine line! Putting a bloodied mannequin underneath a rider lawnmower in your front yard? BRAVO. But lynching a black scarecrow from a tree outside your home? That's a Hallowon't, and yesterday the NYPD was summoned to enforce a little taste in Brooklyn. more ›

The brawl that devolved into a Wild West shootout outside a Brooklyn bar was sparked by a failed pick-up attempt and an insult about a man's rodent-like hair, according to a woman who says an off-duty cop was spoiling for a fight after she shot him down. The violent shenanigans, which exploded outside The Old Gallery bar in Kensington (known as OG's to regulars), left one man, 26-year-old Pablo Negron, hospitalized with gunshot wounds to the side and thigh. His date, an unidentified Massachusetts woman, tells the Daily News she was at the center of the whole mess. more ›

There aren't too many scenarios where a man throwing children out of a building has a happy ending. But that was just the twist yesterday when a fire broke out in a Kensington family's apartment, forcing one father to quickly get the children out of the house through a third story window. Mohammad Qasim, one of 13 family members who has lived in the house for the past ten years, found himself trapped in the attic with three kids who hadn't escaped as smoke filled the air; the children were too scared to jump, so he tossed them out a narrow window to a pitched roof ten feet below. There were only minor injuries, everyone survived, and there won't be any Law & Order episodes ripped from this headline. more ›

It's nothing compared to the 1,810 pound pumpkin currently on its way to the NY Botanical Garden from Wisconsin... but it is home grown. Today the Daily News reports on Brooklyn's biggest pumpkin, residing in Kensington and weighing in at 502 pounds! That's enough pumpkin guts to make nearly 450 pumpkin pies! more ›

Last week a BMX kid up to no good attacked a defenseless older woman in Brooklyn as her 4-year-old granddaughter looked on, reports the Post. On Wednesday night the 68-year-old-victim was strolling with the little girl around 9:45 p.m. when the young thug—thought to be between 15 and 20-years old—came up behind her. Knocking her in the head several times with a firearm, he grabbed her purse, which contained a cell phone and cash, then sped off down Slocum Place in Kensington on his little black bicycle. The victim was taken to the hospital and is now in stable condition; thankfully her granddaughter was unharmed. more ›

The battle for Worst Post Office in the Five Boroughs continues... and the NY Times hints that it may just be the Kensington branch in Brooklyn. They report that even during the busy holiday season, no holiday cheer can be found; one customer saying, “The people who work here are awful to people.” Their solution, head to the massive James A. Farley Post Office, where allegedly the average wait time is around two minutes, and there's even a "well-meaning supervisor striding around to see how he could help." The paper found customers there from Brooklyn and Queens who travel just to get efficient service... but has anyone checked for rats? more ›

The fiesta's not forever at Kensington Mexican restaurant El Gavilan, which has been driving neighbors up the wall ever since owners expanded it into a nightclub earlier this summer. Now there's dancing, music and sometimes fisticuffs! Derek Mayer, a resident who lives across the street, tells the Daily News he's been awoken at 3 a.m. with "20 drunk people congregating outside in the street." And in May he saw a knife-wielding man trying to slash a bouncer armed with a baseball bat. After some pressure from Councilman Bill de Blasio, the NYPD raided the place at the end of July, citing the owner for selling alcohol after hours, unlicensed sale of alcohol, operating an unlicensed dance hall, employing an unlicensed security guard and serving alcohol to minors. But the owner's brother insists El Gavilan is "not a discoteca. The people come, they listen to music from the machine. There's no live music." Live or not, the music's too damn loud, counters Albermarle Neighborhood Association President Larry Jayson. And don't even get him started on all the horn honking! more ›

This year's New York City International Pickle Day Festival, taking place on October 4, will be a lot more brinier than usual, supplemented with free flowing half-sour tears. The reason? Earlier today, news broke that Lower East Side tenement-era survivors Guss' Pickles will pack up their barrels four months from now and move to Borough Park. more ›

Yesterday's grating collapse outside a Brooklyn yeshiva left 34 students injured. Dozens of schoolgirls, ages 10-14, at Yeshiva Shaare Torah had been posing for graduation pictures when the grating over shaft gave way. A witness told the Post, "These kids were like clinging on the side of the building. They were screaming and panicking." more ›

A grate over a window shaft collapsed, injuring over two dozen children at a Brooklyn yeshiva. According to NY1, "Fire officials say several students fell after a grate collapsed during a class photo shoot outside the Torah Elementary School in Kensington." Yikes! 1010WINS reports, "At least five students...were rushed to hospitals, two of them with serious injuries." Twenty-seven others were treated on the scene; the students were all girls, ages 10-12. The collapse is being investigated. Two years ago, a woman fell through sidewalk grating in Midtown; while that grate protected Con Ed equipment, it seems a private garbage truck may have compromised the grate's integrity by driving up on the sidewalk over it. more ›

A young man in Brooklyn died last night in a freakish accident after being dragged 100 feet by a city bus. The 21-year-old man emerged from in between two parked cars and then was struck by an out of service B67 bus that was heading back to the depot in Kensington. Witnesses watched as the man got hooked onto the bus as the unsuspecting driver kept moving. One onlooker told the press, "He was trapped behind the back tire. He was breathing. You could see smoke coming out of his mouth because it was so cold." The driver of the bus remained at the scene and is not expected to face any charges. Witnesses said he could be seen crying as he paced back and forth inside the bus while the man was being tended to. The victim was rushed to Maimonides Hospital where he died a short time later. more ›

Buzz has been building for Socarrat Paella Bar (pictured), the casual tapas and paella joint that has fans waiting 20-30 minutes for a seat at a long communal table. And after today's review by Frank Bruni in the Times, you may as well take that wait time and double it: "They’re better than the paellas at many other Spanish restaurants in New York, where paella doesn’t always fare so well...The broad, shallow, black cast iron pans in which they’re cooked are put on pedestals in the center of the table, and at the height of the dinner hour, they form a line stretching deep into the restaurant. It’s a glorious sight." more ›

Those seeking a Brooklyn abode on a budget are doing so in the borough's far south and east corners, The Observer is reporting. "In the second quarter of 2008, the median home sales price for Brooklyn was $525,000 ... of the 3,766 homes sold under $525,000 in Brooklyn so far this year nearly half are within the 10 neighborhoods of Sheepshead Bay, Kensington, Flatbush, Gravesend, East New York, Clinton Hill, Bay Ridge, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Williamsburg and Park Slope." Sheepshead Bay is noted as seeing a dramatic increase amongst first-time home buyers. Another area, which recently got the Times treatment, is Kensington--where one couple in their 30s purchased a 3-bdrm postwar co-op for $313,000 in 2004. Today it would likely go for around $500K. With the economy as it is now, however, one broker noted that it's unlikely you'll see a boom with property values rising in places like Flatbush and East New York any time soon. (Photo cred: missapril1956) more ›

Gala Apple is a sprawling Slavic supermarket housed in a former Rite Aid, located along the southern border of Kensington, Brooklyn. It’s loaded with odd food gems like these cute, 8 oz. “Subway Series” rye mini-loaves ($1.29), above, that come from a Queens bakery. Part of the baker’s profits benefit education about the Armenian Genocide. more ›

The 61-year-old Stamford, CT man accused of sexually abusing three children in two different Brooklyn park bathrooms begged for mercy as he was being apprehended, but pleaded not guilty in front of a judge. Michael Martin was arrested after allegedly molesting three children at two Brooklyn parks. After the second incident, Martin was quickly caught by civilian patrol officers at the park and begged them not to call the police. He allegedly yelled, "I know what I did! I'll seek professional help!" more ›

A 61-year-old man from Stamford, CT, Michael Martin, was arrested Thursday afternoon after he allegedly abused three children at two separate restrooms in Brooklyn parks. The first incident occurred at a park in Gravesend, Brooklyn Thursday, when Martin is accused of following an 8-year-old girl and a 4-year boy into a public restroom where he sexually assaulted them. Later, he is accused of attacking another 8-year-old girl in the bathroom of a Kensington, Brooklyn park. Cops say that Martin ran off on both occasions when the children began to cry. more ›

The family dog who fatally bit an 8-month-old baby in Brooklyn was euthanized yesterday. According to the city, the family had requested the dog be euthanized. more ›

Oh no! An 8-month-old baby bitten by a family dog was pronounced dead at Kings County Hospital. more ›

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Riders hope that low grades for the G line will eventually lead to improvements, while plans are in place to make the G a more usable line. Despite being the two largest boroughs in New York City, there is only one train line dedicated to getting people from Brooklyn (2.5 million people) to Queens (2.3 million people). All other passages must make their way from one borough, through Manhattan (1.6 million people), and then on... more ›

A two-alarm fire in the Kensington section of Brooklyn Three people died while another was taken to the hospital in serious but stable condition. more ›

The Kid From Brooklyn sees famine, war, and despair in the world's future. " I've got foresight," he says, but even he could never have predicted his own popularity. Michael Caracciolo started his website TheKidFromBrooklyn.com to entertain friends and family, uploading videos of himself ranting wildly about whatever he happened to feel passionately about that moment, whether it be border control, the President, or even Starbucks. It's led to television appearances, a memoir about his childhood in Brooklyn called "Go F Yourself" due out in December from Kensington Books, and even stand up performances, including one at The Gotham Comedy Club on August 29th. Gothamist sat down with The Big Man to get a taste of what he's all about. more ›

Photograph by ~Raymond on Flickr more ›

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WNYC's Brian Lehrer dared ask: How many SUVs are on your block? The experiment in “crowdsourcing” had listeners (450 in total, 345 valid submissions) walk outside and count the SUVs, as well as regular cars, on their own block. Now the numbers have rolled in: more ›