Writer Jed Lipinski, who infiltrated the secret Brooklyn climbing gym and then wrote about it on the NY Times' Local blog, is allegedly the most hated man in the borough now. To recap, there's a secret climbing gym in Brooklyn that probably not that many people actually care about, but The Local hyped it up and then promptly took the story down, and then everyone else wrote about it and about how the Times unpublished the secret, and now the gym is closed! Or so they want us to believe. Animal reports that "the 'bizarre hybrid of subterranean climbing gym and hippie speakeasy' has been shut down. An ex-climber from the once covert space confirms, via email, that 'the gym was closed due to this story. It is uncertain when or if it will ever be open again' making Jed Lipinski the most hated man in Brooklyn." People are calling him “the world's greatest douchbag," and saying he "betrayed a trust." You'll never climb in this town again Lipinski! more ›

Hey, did you guys hear about that super secret underground rock climbing spot in Brooklyn? The NY Times blog The Local wrote about it yesterday, but oops, the first rule of super secret clubs is that you don't talk about them! So today they took the story down, after many other sites already picked it up. They explain, "the author of the piece identified himself to several climbers but not to the people who run the space. We had concluded, based on the author’s initial pitch, that he planned to be upfront with everyone, and we neglected—our bad—to confirm this after the piece was filed." And now what they dubbed the "best kept secret in Brooklyn" is getting even more attention. And who doesn't want to be a part of the "drinking, socializing and crawling across the walls" scene, especially whilst "the scent of pot smoke, fermented beer and body odor mingled in the damp air." It's nice to know this kind of poetry will live on in Google cache. more ›

The Times has begun experimenting with a niche neighborhood blog platform, starting with a website about Fort Greene and Clinton Hill in Brooklyn. If it works, perhaps Brownsville is next? Edited by Andy Newman, a Times reporter who resides in Park Slope (but just eight blocks from Fort Greene!), the blog has burst out of the gate with posts about sledding, kids who couldn't get into a movie, and the ongoing struggle to save Broken Angel. Newman introduced the site, called The Local, with a reminder to readers that "is an infant, unformed. With your care and feeding it can grow into a self-sustaining adult." So surely commenters welcomed this fragile newcomer with the tenderness it deserves? Ah, welcome to our world, Newman: "Oh, thank you so much for helping to continue the gentrification of my neighborhood by promoting it as the new cool local place for (white) people who read the NYT to be! Make sure to post lots of pictures of people eating in cafes and drinking coffee and riding their bikes to and from the farmer's market! I can’t wait to read what the hipsters love and hate about this neighborhood!" One day old and The Local already has their own "Ides of March." (See also: Jersey.) more ›