Homer Fink – Brooklyn Bugle

Arts and Entertainment, Brooklyn Heights, Events

BBP’s 2012 ‘Movies With A View’ Launches Thursday July 5

July 4, 2012

The 13th annual “Movies With A View” series, sponsored by Syfy, begins its 2012 season this Thursday, July 5, with “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.” DJ Ayres from Brooklyn Radio will kick off the evening at 6 p.m., with the FREE flick beginning at sunset.

The location for “Movies” is the Pier 1 Harbor View Lawn. A bike valet is provided by Transportation Alternatives. The summer series will continue each Thursday through August 30. For the complete schedule, see here.

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43651

From the Web

Food, Health

Update: ‘Sanitary Inspection Grades’ For 11201 Dining Establishments

July 3, 2012

Back in March, BHB took a look at New York City’s Health Code Ratings for all public dining establishments in 11201, which revealed three restaurants deemed with a grade as low as “C”: Great Wall Kitchen Chinese at 60 Henry Street, One Way Deli at 26 Court Street, and Park Plaza Diner at 220 Cadman Plaza West.

A look at this quarter’s ratings shows Great Wall redeemed to a “B” (as of March 17, 2012), One Way with an “A” (June 4) and Park Plaza Diner, uh, “Pending” (April 17). Among all eateries within the zip code, no establishment is rated below a “B,” although 10 are “Pending.” So feel free to enjoy your steak tartar and clams on the half-shell.

To check out the NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene’s Sanitary Inspection Grades for all 11201 restaurants, listed A-Z (assembled by software engineer Aaron Dancygier), see here. The website also offers a search by restaurant name, address, neighborhood or zip code here; as well as an Android smartphone app here.

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43498

From the Web

Brooklyn Heights

Collegiate Housing At The St. George: Deluxe Living

July 3, 2012

If you’ve walked past the St. George Hotel outside the 2/3 subway stop on Clark or Henry streets and been curious about what the EHS collegiate residences there offer today’s poor, starving, overworked college students, I’ve got two words to describe it: luxe living.

“You’ll have the time of your life,” EHS suggests. “Our all-inclusive accommodations with fully furnished rooms, fitness centers, laundry facilities, study lounges and state-of-the-art everything will make you feel right at home.” Indeed. Access is available to an 8,300-square-foot student community center located on the building’s main floor, where “you can make dinner with friends in our bistro kitchen, hold a study group in the library, watch a movie in the screening room or play pool while catching a game on a flat screen TV.” There’s also an on-site laundry room and free membership to the Eastern Athletic Club next door.

Rooms are furnished with “designer beds, desks, wardrobes and dressers,” as well as free Wi-Fi, TV with cable, refrigerator/microwave and local phone service. Options: a single, double or triple room, all with private bathrooms.

An email to EHS inquiring about how much it costs to live the high life at the St. George has not yet garnered response. But I can only imagine that most hard-working Brooklyn Heights adults would be so lucky to indulge in such accommodations. And I must wonder: With so many leisure activities showcased, do they actually study, too?

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43512

From the Web

News, Real Estate

Carroll Gardens Building Partially Collapses On Carroll Street

July 2, 2012

Despite the collapse of about half of a three-story brownstone building in Carroll Gardens early Monday morning, miraculously, no residents were injured.

Much of the eastern wall of 241 Carroll Street (between Court and Smith streets) came down, exposing the interior of the regal brownstone. A gash extended from roof-to-ground, and included much of the home’s south wall as well, according to AP.

The collapse took place at 1:13 a.m. Monday, leaving six residents unable to return to their apartments. Two families on the first and second floors were on vacation. Police say work had been done in the building and that city building inspectors are investigating.
(Photos: DNAInfo.com)

Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/7487

From the Web

Arts and Entertainment, Downtown Brooklyn

Dekalb Market’s Grumpy Bert Launches ‘Plush’ Exhibition

July 2, 2012

Smiles, everyone! Over the weekend, BHB pal/BH resident Grumpy Bert in Brooklyn launched the new art exhibition “Plush Stories: These Plush of Mine.” The showcase of personal stories & photos of plush toys includes 50+ exhibits from the likes of Scotland, Trinidad & Tobogo, the U.K. and Australia. Stories run the gamut, from heartbreaks to reunions. Bert says, “Some plush are simply cute, others just strange.” The exhibit runs through August 5.

Bert’s shop and mini gallery is located at the DeKalb Market in Downtown Brooklyn at 138 Willoughby Street, and offers a collection of “cutesy, artsy gifts, designer toys, art prints, books, magazines and apparel.” Owner/operator Bert says, “We’re just a little mom & pop business surrounding ourselves with things we love.” Pics from the June 30 Opening Night reception below the jump.

(Photos: Grumpy Bert)

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43470

From the Web

Oh, What A Relief It Is: Heatwave Breaks Monday

July 2, 2012

After weekend temperatures brushed the mid-90s, the forecast Monday calls for a high of 88 degrees, peaking at 2 p.m., and dipping to a cool & comfortable 67 degrees by this evening. It will be partly cloudy with not a drop of rain.

On Tuesday, we’re back up to 91 degrees by 1 p.m. in Brooklyn Heights, with late evening thunderstorms, as temps ease to 71 degrees. And for Wednesday, the 4th of July, a high of 90, low of 76 and a 50% chance of scattered thunderstorms.

(Photo: Chuck Taylor)

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43447

From the Web

Brooklyn Heights, Food, Health

B&B Empire Bagels Slapped With Health Violation—For Poppy Seeds On The Floor

July 2, 2012

Holy Sesame! A Health Department inspector has slapped B&B Empire Bagel Cafe in Brooklyn Heights with a $1,650 fine… because sesame and poppy seeds fell to the floor while bagels were being prepared during working hours. Owner Alex Gormakh appealed the decision and lost at two separate hearings.

“It is impossible to clean up after each and every bagel. A few seeds are always going to be dropped when you are dipping the bagel in the seeds. They don’t all stick like glue,” Gormakh told the New York Post. All of the code violations filed against the “Montreal style” bagel store at 200 Clinton Street were for such “incidental” grievances.

B&B uses a $60,000 wood-burning oven where bagels are baked smaller and chewier than New York-style goodies, then covered with poppy and sesame seeds. A Health Department spokeswoman told the NYP that the bagel shop was cited Oct. 23, 2011, for “a heavy accumulation of seeds in the same area that mouse droppings were found.” However, no mice were detected in an earlier inspection Aug. 1, 2011, and none in the latest inspection April 5, when B&B was awarded an “A” cleanliness grade.

Gormakh and his son, Max, have now invested close to $900,000 in larger stainless steel preparation tables in hopes of containing seed fallout, and an expensive water-filter vacuum to suck up seeds from the floor. “It is still not profitable, but it is close,” Gormakh said, who opened the store last June.

Gormakh tells the Post that he is now resigned to the higher cost of doing business in this city: “If you want to work you have to pay. In Russia, they call it corruption. Here they call it something else.”

(Photo: BHB)

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43433

From the Web

History, Real Estate

Boerum Hill’s Episcopal Church of the Redeemer To Be Demolished

July 2, 2012

The 150-year-old Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, a gothic revival building in Boerum Hill at Fourth Avenue and Pacific Street in a severe state of disrepair, is slated to be demolished in the next year, according to Rev. Christopher Ballard of the Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew, who is in charge of the site.

Ballard shared the news at a Boerum Hill Association general meeting on Thursday evening, as reported by DNAInfo.com. The structure was partially damaged by rumblings from subways that run beside it and because there has been little effort to maintain it over the last five-plus decades years, Ballard said.

It would cost the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, which owns the building, at least $8 million to repair the church enough for it to be inhabitable, and nearly $20 million to make it usable, Ballard said. The reverend admitted that the church has made no effort to raise money to make the repairs: “Our focus and attention has long been on keeping the walls up as opposed to serving humanity.”

In the face of declining membership and a crumbling building, the church closed down and the congregation has since begun worshipping at the Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew, at 520 Clinton Street. Meanwhile, the Church of the Redeemer building has suffered an overgrown lawn and a leaking roof.

The Diocese did not believe the church was worth repairing because the congregation has dwindled over several decades, from a congregation of about 1,500 to about 200, Ballard added. Over the next 20 months, the church will be demolished to make way for a mixed-use building, he said, with residential, commercial and religious purposes.

From the Web

Events

‘Photoville’ Village Exhibit Turns BBP Waterpark Into Rustic Repository

June 30, 2012

The Photoville exhibit located along the uplands of Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 3 from June 22 to July 1, has added a rustic touch to the Brooklyn Heights waterfront. In fact, it makes the former powder blue warehouses that lined the locale look downright charming.

Brooklyn-based art cooperative United Photo Industries’ “photographic village” comprises 30 enervated metal shipping containers offering a “celebration of photography,” alongside exhibitions, lectures, hands-on workshops, nighttime projections, a mini dog run and beer garden.

A look down from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, however, reveals a scene that looks more like the remains of Kurt Russell’s apocalyptic 1981 film “Escape from New York.”

The Photoville website describes its mission as “a Brooklyn-born, art-presenting cooperative dedicated to identifying, harnessing and occasionally conjuring unexpected exhibition opportunities. All in the name of fostering conversation, championing new directions in photography and cultivating ties within an ever-expanding, globe-trotting community of photographers.”

(Photos: Chuck Taylor)

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43300

From the Web

Bang! Bang! Another Weekend Of Montague Street Mayhem

June 30, 2012

Last weekend, Montague was blocked as crews work on the street’s subterranean infrastructure. Ditto this weekend, as vehicles were re-routed from motoring down Montague between Hicks and Henry streets. The predominant construction is taking place in front of the Bossert Hotel at 97 Montague, where a peek inward reveals a cavalcade of wires, pipes and beams hearkening projects through the decades.

In addition, new sidewalks are being paved at Montague and Henry, in front of Corcoran Realty, while the opposite corner near City Chemist is being reshaped along the curb area. See photos below the jump.

(Photos: Chuck Taylor)