Since it launched last year the Brooklyn Flea food-only offshoot Smorgasburg has been an unqualified success. But you know what would make it (and most things) better? Local booze. Sadly, however, not everyone in the community agrees and co-founder Eric Demby now needs to scramble for signatures if he wants to have local libations on North Sixth Street by the time the outdoor food fun restarts on April 7. more ›

Four Occupy Wall Street protesters face felony charges after last week's "Occuparty" in an unfinished condo is Williamsburg. Three men and one woman are charged with riot, assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct according to information obtained from the Brooklyn DA's office by the Post. more ›

The Brooklyn Paper has an update about the vandalism at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Williamsburg. Because a statue of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus were defaced with what looks like Kiss masks that Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley wear, 94th Precinct Commanding Officer Deputy Inspector Terence Hurson said, “We are looking for a KISS fan." In other words: TOTALLY Kiss Army. more ›

"I'm in my 40s, I've lived in Brooklyn for 15 years," the victim in a brutal attack near McCarren Park told us today, "and nothing like this has ever happened to me. I've lived in Williamsburg for probably about ten years total." Last week the man was viciously slashed by a young Hispanic man wielding a broken bottle with such ferocity he had to get 37 stitches and 8 staples to his head. more ›

Today's warm weather has us yearning for the days when we'll be able to shed these sleeved shackles and feel sweet chlorinated bliss on our pasty skin. Global warming schmobal warming. A tweet from the Parks Department showing the bowels of the McCarren Pool made us wonder how its $55 million renovation is coming along two years after Bloomberg broke ground, and the Parks Department forwarded us some evidence of its progress. more ›

Police are looking for a "very young" Hispanic male aged 16-20, between 5'4" and 5'7", who brutally attacked a man in McCarren Park last week—beating his victim with a shattered bottle so badly he needed 37 stitches on his face, eight staples in his head and skin grafts on his left nostril. Take a look at this video, maybe you've seen him? more ›

An "Occuparty" at a half-finished apartment complex at Driggs and North Eighth Street in Williamsburg was broken up by the police last night, as a "few dozen" protesters moved trash cans, chanted and pondered a march down Bedford Avenue. While the Daily News and the Post both report arrests and injuries to the police, the NYPD couldn't confirm how many or what the charges were, and declined to say whether or not any service members were injured. more ›

Kickball players, rejoice: City Councilman Stephen Levin is putting $930,000 towards fixing the constantly-flooded McCarren Park. One softball player tells DNAinfo, "It's a nuisance, but it's also become a part of the landscape. People ride their bikes through it, kids are dying to play in it and the parents are like, 'Don't go in there!' because it's so dirty," and reveals she and her friends call it "Hipster Lake." Another park visitor's dog "sat vomiting after slurping up a fetid puddle." more ›

Despite their Goods intentions (see what we did there?) the arts collective 3rd Ward's parked truck eatery in Williamsburg, Goods, didn't quite cut it and only made it one summer. But as sad as that is, it might have turned out for the best since—whoa—it now appears the truck and its land have been taken over by popular nearby Mexican eatery Mesa Coyoacan. Why is it not April yet? more ›

After a decade of brisk business on the north side of Williamsburg, the Bedford Avenue location of the popular Bagel Store has moved on down to the neighborhood's Southside. The smaller location opened two days ago on the corner of South 4th Street and Bedford Avenue, and owner Scott Rossillo tells us he's still "doing old fashioned handmade bagels with state of art equipment." Rossillo also says he feels like he's "free" after over a decade at the old location, which is owned by local real estate mogul Yehuda Backer, whom Rossillo calls "a liar." more ›

Do you guys miss the old days of Williamsburg, like before The Edge and $5 pour-over coffees? And we're not talking that one time you went to Kokie's bar in 2001 to score some snow, we're talking the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, when shit was real. Click through for a look back at the gentrifiers before the gentrifiers, or at least before the commercialized PBR/American Apparel-brand hipsters, and like, way before the yupsters moved in with their bohemian-chic lifestyle and rock n' roll playgrounds. more ›

The taxi driver arrested for allegedly raping a passenger in Williamsburg is claiming he was not behind the Brooklyn attack. According to prosecutors, Gurmeet Singh said, "I did not rape anybody ... I do not know how my DNA got in her vagina." more ›

[Update Below] An unidentified man was struck and killed by two drivers while walking on Borinquen Place in Williamsburg earlier this morning around 6 a.m. Details are still emerging about the cause of the crash, but the FDNY confirms that the victim was pronounced D.O.A. and that he was hit twice by two different vehicles. The NYPD press office tells us that at this point, "no criminality is suspected." One local resident sent us the photo below, and describes the grisly scene near South First Street: more ›

The NYPD says they have arrested a taxi driver accused of raping a passenger who passed out in Williamsburg earlier this year. Gurmeet Singh, 40, was charged with rape, robbery, menacing and sex abuse. more ›

Instead of just piling up the dead Christmas tree bodies on the street like so many Romanovs, area artist MIchael Neff has gathered up some of the fallen evergreen soldiers and honored them with a fitting tribute: hanging from the underside of the BQE in Williamsburg. The ingenious installation can be found where Metropolitan Avenue crosses North 6th Street. This is conveniently located not far from Union Pool, making jumping and tackling floating Christmas trees the perfectly ironic end to any evening. Here's video of the trees in action: more ›

The company that manufactures Skee-Ball—the dull, repetitive game beloved by children and inebriated simpletons—is going after the Skee-Ball themed Williamsburg bar Full Circle, filing a lawsuit against the owners for trademark infringement. Full Circle has three Skee-Ball games, and owners Eric Pavony and Evan Tobias also founded a "Brewskee-Ball" League in 2005, after obtaining verbal permission from Skee-Ball, Inc. during a meeting with the company's CEO in Pennsylvania. But now it seems Skee-Ball has had a change of heart. more ›

Earlier this month, Williamsburg bar owners were up in arms over a new Community Board restriction that would require all new liquor license applicants seeking CB approval to have a full kitchen if they want an outdoor space. It's a move basically designed to ruin backyard bars and get more "civilized" restaurants in the neighborhood, and bar owners are none too pleased with the rule. more ›

The legions of Brooklynites who travel to Austin for South by Southwest every year have come across a distinctly Texan (and distinctly delicious) specialty: the breakfast taco. Breakfast tacos (which involve some combination of scrambled eggs, chorizo, cheese, and peppers) have sadly been in short supply in Yankee territory, until now: meet Whirlybird. more ›