Monthly Archives

January 2013

Brooklyn Heights

Sen. Daniel Squadron Calls For Year-Round Pier 6 Ferry Service

January 10, 2013

Sen. Daniel Squadron established a petition on Wednesday, January 8, calling for the East River Ferry service to stop at Pier 6 at the foot of Atlantic Avenue year round. This follows an official request from the New York City Economic Development Corp. that seeks proposals from ferry operators when the current contract expires in June 2014.

Squadron implores in a letter to the corporation: “Although not included in the RFP’s requirements for ‘core service,’ we wish to highlight the incredible demand for year-round service to and from the Atlantic Avenue/Pier 6 landing at the southern end of Brooklyn Bridge Park. This expanded service would serve residents, local businesses and our city alike.”

The letter is also signed by Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, BK Borough Prez Marty Markowitz, State Assembly Member Joan Millman and Council Members Brad Lander and Stephen Levin.

The petition—which Brooklyn Heights residents are encouraged to sign—mandates: “We, the undersigned, urge NYCEDC to encourage respondents to the RFP for an East River Ferry operator to include year-round service to and from Atlantic Avenue/Pier 6 in their proposals and only award a contract to an operator that includes this service.”


Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/53751

From the Web

Events

BRIC Arts Media to host photography workshop January 30

January 10, 2013

In conjunction with its exhibition “En Foco: New Works/Crossing Boundaries” BRIC Arts Media will host a program for emerging photographers and photo-based artists. Miriam Romais, Director of En Foco, will lead the workshop. Topics will include: submission requirements and image quality; building and presenting a cohesive body of work; artist statements, bios, and resumes; creating marketing materials; follow-up; and dos and don’ts for reviewers.

The workshop will be held Wednesday, January 30, at 6 pm at BRIC’s Rotunda Gallery, 33 Clinton Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201. The workshop is free but you should register for it here.

From the Web

Beer, Events

Transit Museum plans Trivia Night January 17

January 10, 2013

What: Pop culture and transit facts trivia, with Stuart Post and Chris Kelley as MCs
When: Wednesday, January 17, from 7-9 pm
Where: New York Transit Museum, Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn Heights.
Must be: 21 or older. Refreshments provided by Brooklyn Brewery
Admission: $15 general admission, $10 Transit Museum or Transportation Alternatives members. Admission includes one drink. Tickets are available here.

From the Web

Arts and Entertainment

Opinion: Linda Stasi Has It Wrong About Lena Dunham

January 10, 2013

While Linda Stasi offers the sophomore season of HBO’s “Girls” three stars “if you’re 26 and live in Brooklyn,” the New York Post TV critic can’t quite seem to make up her mind about the hit “cult” series, guided by creator, star, writer, producer and Brooklyn Heights resident Lena Dunham.

Stasi calls the show compelling—and revolting—deeming 26-year-old Dunham “a pathological exhibitionist.” She also sniffs: “’Girls’ is sort of like ‘Sex and the City,’ if (it) had featured unsuccessful women having a huge amount of bad and sad sex who live in the city, but not Manhattan.”

But frankly, where Stasi crosses the line is in getting personal against Dunham, because she apparently doesn’t meet the reporter’s standards of femininity. She writes, “It’s not every day in the TV world of anorexic actresses with fake boobs
that a woman with giant thighs, a sloppy backside and small breasts is compelled to show it all. It’s a boon for the out-of-shape, and perhaps a giant economic loss for high-end gyms, especially in Brooklyn.”

I am a 30-something year-old woman who is proud of her curves, and who, any given day, would prefer to order up a platter of Tandoori chicken over a scrap of salad with olive oil. Come to think of it, I wouldn’t mind drumming Stasi over the head with a dozen crisp celery stalks for perpetuating the very stereotype of women she at first seems to condemn.

“Girls” may not be for everyone, Ms. Stasi, but it certainly is reaching its target audience. It debuted last April with 3.8 million viewers (including encores and DVR viewings), and saw steady growth throughout its freshman season, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Its overall gross was 4.1 million viewers. It’s my guess that not every one of those viewers is 26, living in our Brooklyn borough. Linda, honestly, why don’t you just keep it to yourself next time? Your review was hardly constructive—and if anything, utterly destructive to all women.

Season two of “Girls” premieres Sunday night at 9 p.m.

From the Web

Arts and Entertainment, Brooklyn Heights

Brooklyn Bridge Park Looking For The Most Fetching BK Pooch

January 10, 2013

Run! Catch! Post! Brooklyn Bridge Park is accepting submissions for its “Cutest Dog at the Dog Run” contest, for those who bring their pooches to the BBP dog runs at Main Street and/or Pier 6. One winner at each location will receive a $50 gift certificate to Wag Club.

To enter, submit a jpeg pic of your pup playing at either of the Brooklyn Bridge Park dog runs by Tuesday, January 22 (info@brooklynbridgepark.org with the subject “Cutest Dog at the Dog Run”). Include dog’s name and age in the email, as well as which dog run. Please, one submission per dog, per owner. All entries will be posted on BBP’s Facebook page, and winners will be announced February 5, 2013.


Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/53628

From the Web

Events, News

Say No to Improv Everywhere’s No Pants Subway Ride

January 9, 2013

This Sunday marks Improv Everywhere’s 12th Annnual No Pants Subway Ride. It’s time to just say NO to it. Besides, isn’t announcing and planning an event like this the exact opposite of IMPROV, which is short for IMPROVISATION.

We love pranks. One of our heroes is legendary prankster Joey Skaggs. But he, unlike Improv Everywhere, knows when the joke is over. And this joke is soooo over.

If you agree, comment below.

From the Web

Food

Cheeses Christ!! Waitress Gets Naked at Roberta’s, the Internet Reacts

January 9, 2013

A waitress at Roberta’s in Bushwick said farewell to the eatery on Friday by doing her shift almost naked. Twitter user @VickyOyomba ‏tweeted a photo of the incident showing the employee’s back with the words “Peace Out” scrawled across it. Yes, she was wearing fishnets.

The tweet has inspired the usual press lemming run:

Gawker led the pack yesterday asking the question, “Does the Fact That No One Is Talking About the Naked Waitress at Roberta’s Mean That Bushwick Is ‘Over’?” :

Bushwick is “the coolest place on the planet,” according to the Times, and yet no one seems to care about the naked woman waiting tables at its coolest restaurant — the sprawling, ramshackle pizza joint Roberta’s — on Friday night. I was there and I didn’t really care, though she wasn’t serving our table, and we were in a kind of post-traumatic stress situation after the two-hour wait and the Venusian heat of the wood stove-heated tent out back and the woman who called my friend a “whore” in the aforementioned tent bar for trying to sit down at a table on which she (the woman) claimed to have dibs. And anyway we only caught the waitress, surrounded by customers taking photos, while walking out, stuffed with pizza and duck and pork, and when we asked we were told that Friday was her last day, and the nudity did seem to be a kind of farewell gesture; she, or someone, had written “PEACE OUT” on her back.

Eater NY, Village Voice, Fox 5, Grubstreet all piled on.

Brokelyn’s David Colon adds:

As a former employee of the place, I can tell you the stunt was deemed awesome and the waitress is enough of a pro to not have ended up with food all over her crotch. Our only question is whether the Outdoor Topless Co-ed Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society is going to try to one-up her.

From Gothamist:

A Roberta’s source confirms that Friday was in fact the server’s last night, and that she has been working at the restaurant “since its inception.” Roberta’s opened in 2008, so after four long years of waiting tables, who among us wouldn’t want to rip off all our clothes and scrawl “PEACE OUT” in magic marker on our naked flesh? If anything, you’ve got to admire this young lady’s restraint.
Of course, the Never Nude buzzkills at Grub Street point out the NYC health code states that “employees who prepare or serve food products, or wash and sanitize equipment and utensils must wear clean outer garments.” Those fishnets look clean enough to us, so it’s unclear if the Health Department is going to take any action against Roberta’s. (And what about body sushi servers?) We called Roberta’s scantily-clad server several times today to find out more about her unusual choice of uniform, but so far the most famous naked waitress in Bushwick remains tight-lipped.

And BK Mag’s Virginia Smith is NOT amused:

Get it together, Roberta’s. Think of the first dates that could have been made excruciating by this! Not to mention the “hey mom and dad, here’s my neighborhood, I promise it is not a terrible joke of a place” dinners! Jesus. I shudder to think of it. But, then again, I don’t necessarily have all the answers. I guess it was her last day working, and that’s funny enough, and no one seems to have left in a huff or contracted food poisoning by virtue of a bare human ass in proximity to their expensive food. It all seems to have gone reasonably ok, other than the woman, who, per Max Read’s account of the evening over at Gawker, got all riled up about table space in the waiting area and called a member of his party a “whore,” which seems like sort of a blip.

And from around the Twitter thingy:

Waitress Gets Naked in Bushwick, the Internets React

Storified by Brooklyn Bugle· Tue, Jan 08 2013 18:41:34

So there definitely is a 95% naked waitress serving patrons at Roberta’s in #BK right now!!! http://pic.twitter.com/1MCumD9gVicky Oyomba
Yep, there was a naked waitress at Roberta’s http://bit.ly/XJ875hBrokelyn
Naked Waitress At Roberta’s!: Pizza, craft beer, T&A! Now’s there’s one more reason to go to our favorite Bushwi… http://bit.ly/ZmDT3KNYCRocks
Wow big shocker! A "hipster" type from Bushwick tried to shock people by serving food at Roberta’s nude. Those Bushwick hipster types!Amy Grimm
I’ve been wanting to try Roberta’s in Bushwick, but this is a little too bizarre for me (via @grubstreetny): http://bit.ly/ZCCkTXChristian Mendonca
are you telling me a waitress went naked in roberta’s and that’s the only photo? that seems odd.Kyle Dean Reinford
[Mildly NSFWish?] Roberta’s Naked Waitress Shrouded In Mystery, Fishnet http://gothamist.com/2013/01/08/robertas_naked_waitress_shrouded_in.phpGothamist
Apparently Roberta’s has gone clothing optional – Waitress at Roberta’s Forgets to Wear Clothes, Serves Food http://shar.es/45Mmt via @NYmagYancy S. Strickland
Roberta’s Waitress Gets Naked, Serves Pizza on Last Day http://bit.ly/10ckQipVillage Voice
Naked Roberta’s Waitress says Peace Out #bushwick http://gothamist.com/2013/01/08/robertas_naked_waitress_shrouded_in.phpmarianlorraine
I Will (Probably) Never Eat at Roberta’s Again http://www.bkmag.com/BKFood/archives/2013/01/08/i-will-probably-never-eat-at-robertas-again via @brooklynmagScott Beauchamp
I am so glad I didn’t take my mom to roberta’s the day that naked waitress was working! #tinyvictoriesLaura Wynn
A waitress at Roberta’s forgot to wear clothes while serving food. http://nym.ag/Wr1a2nNew York Magazine
Waitress at Roberta’s goes naked http://soc.li/UCyFhEK #PieceOfPizza #WhatASlice!Mike Puerto
[Mildly NSFWish?] Roberta’s Naked Waitress Shrouded In Mystery, Fishnet http://gothamist.com/2013/01/08/robertas_naked_waitress_shrouded_in.php via @gothamistDiane drudge
[Mildly NSFWish?] Roberta’s Naked Waitress Shrouded In Mystery, Fishnet (Gothamist): Share With Friends: | | L… http://bit.ly/WL11qOArlou Kier S. Motas
Does the Fact That No One Is Talking About the Naked Waitress at Roberta’s Mean That Bushwick Is ‘Over’? – @Gawker http://gawker.com/5973953/does-the-fact-that-no-one-is-talking-about-the-naked-waitress-at-robertas-mean-that-bushwick-is-overagmarshall
Yes, there was a naked waitress at Roberta’s http://bit.ly/VJwu00What’s up BKLYN?
Feast Your Eyes! Waitress At Roberta’s In Brooklyn Goes Naked To Celebrate Last Night On The Job http://soc.li/UCyFhEKJames Piccoli
Dirty Harkies“@NYMag: A waitress at Roberta’s forgot to wear clothes while serving food. http://nym.ag/Wr1a2n”Gothammom

From the Web

Downtown Brooklyn, History

BK History: Downtown’s Pepper & Potter Nash Auto Dealership

January 9, 2013

Following the January 4 BHB post that a Hampton Inn is coming to 125 Flatbush Avenue Extension (near Tillary Street) in Downtown Brooklyn, we relished McBrooklyn’s take on the biz that once occupied the space: Pepper & Potter Nash car dealership.

McB notes, “While we remember the old car dealership as a rundown wreck of a building, from photos available, it seems Lester Potter and Frank Pepper had quite the life back in the day.” Its 1946 slogan was, uh, “Picky People Pick Pepper & Potter.”

Sigh, however, a decade later, Pepper & Potter’s relationship began to crumble. The biz lived on until 2003, albeit as Metech. The whole story is covered—with photos—in a lengthy 2006 NYTimes story.


Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/53650

From the Web

Existential Stuff, Life, News, Williamsburg

Farewell DieHipster.com, We Hardly Knew Ye

January 8, 2013

DieHipster.com the Brooklyn based blog started as “A place for real New Yorkers to vent about the invasion of attention starved, useless adults that we know as hipsters” has thrown in the towel. In a January 5 posting its founder said goodbye. For the sane and beardless, it’s a missive worthy of framing:

DieHipster: These culdesacian culture vultures have basically destroyed art and music just about to the point of irreparable. The price of such simple things like rent, coffee and certain foods have doubled and tripled because of these zany cockrag hipster fucks who glorify everything as if they discovered it. These smug, parentally funded interloping idiots pay $11 for two poached eggs and a leaf of fucking kale – and not on Park Avenue but in working class Brooklyn neighborhoods!!! Pizza, pudding, tacos and cupcakes are now earth-shattering, tastier than ever items (according to hipster wannabe foodies who have infiltrated the media) because some sickly-looking, heavily-tattooed, garage rock band failure who arrives to work via pogo stick or unicycle makes it?

The site was an oasis for those looking for a community of like minded folks who felt that the only thing skinny jeans were good for was chafing. For those looking for a reason the site has ended, a morsel of truth may be found in this tweet from its webmaster:

Alas, some are happy to see the site go as evidenced by this Greenpointers.com post:

Finally, the putrid and venomous, toxic and true waste of a blog – Diehipster.com is throwing in the towel.
The best part is that he is the king of hipster irony, because he focused more on hipsters than anyone else cared – thus perpetuating the spread of the culture he despised.
The only thing I will miss is all the traffic he brings to the website when he makes fun of us here. Good riddance! Finally the loser, who spent so much of his life caring about people who don’t care about him – lost.
I wonder what he will do now? Grow a beard? Eat a $10 candy bar? Change his name to Brent? Join a kickball league? Brew his own sustainable local Kombucha? Make a terrarium? The hipster world is his for the taking!
Buh-bye.

The site’s final “hipster beating” was posted on New Year’s Day:

Today, I saw Keegan and Logan stumbling back to their $2800 a month loft in their 19th century barber and paperboy outfits after celebrating another year of funemployment and Brooklyn homogenization by drinking cruelty-free champagne in which the grapes were asked nicely to juice themselves rather than being stomped; and eating local, organic Bushwickian cheese laced with red beard hair and American Spirit cigarette ashes. So I gave them each an uppercut; ran their brochure-like bodies through a paper shredder and tossed the confetti around my still normal and actually diverse neighborhood. End of story.

From the Web

Beer

Attention Stockholm – Here Comes Brooklyn Brewery

January 7, 2013

Williamsburg’s Brooklyn Brewery will be expanding to Sweden by year’s end according to a recent blog post. The company plans a brewery in Stockholm as part of a partnership and exchange program between Brooklyn, D. Carnegie & Co. and Carlsberg Sweden.

Brooklyn Brewery: If you’re wondering “why Stockholm?”… it begins with the mutual appreciation of beer, food, music, art and all around good culture shared by Brooklyn and Sweden (even leading some to ponder if Sweden is the new Brooklyn). Brooklyn Brewery has a long history with Sweden highlighted by the fun fact that Sweden is our largest export market and second biggest market overall (right behind NYC) thanks to our importer and partner in Stockholm brewery, Carlsberg Sweden. We used to distribute the seductively delicious Carnegie Porter in New York back in the day, and in 2011 we collaborated with Carlsberg to produce a bourbon barrel-aged version of this classic beer to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Carnegie Brewery. And let us not forget about the BROOKLYN, SWEDEN music festival we launched last year that sent over 15 Brooklyn bands to Stockholm and Malmö. You could say it was just meant to be.

From the Web