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“Brooklyn DA” Is Coming to Prime Time
The men and women of the Kings County court system are hitting prime-time TV. Media Bistro reported that CBS will run a six-part documentary series, titled “Brooklyn DA,” that follows the staff of the Kings County District Attorney’s Office inside the courtroom and out. The “48 Hours” team will produce the series. Here’s what Senior Executive Producer Susan Zirinsky said about the show in a press release: “No matter where you go, everyone has heard about Brooklyn. What makes this series so unique is getting into the lives and personalities of the individual D.A.s, led by Charles ‘Joe’ Hynes, who reflect the vibrancy and diversity of Brooklyn. We are allowed to watch their successes and their failures – it’s immediate, compelling and often heartbreaking.” The series begins on Tuesday, May 21 at 10 pm. Definitely interesting viewing for anyone who’s spent any time there serving jury duty!
CBS News Launching Primetime Doc Series “Brooklyn DA“ [Media Bistro]
Photo by Brooklyn Based
03/27/2013 12:00 PM
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Police Circulating Sketch of Bed Stuy Assault Suspect
Police are circulating a sketch of a man wanted for assaulting a woman on Decatur Street in the Eastern part of Bed Stuy Sunday at 6:30 am, neighbors told us. The police have been showing the sketch at right to nearby residents and business owners. Anyone who might have information is asked to get in touch with the police. Click through to the jump to see the full-size image.
02/27/2013 10:15 AM
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Arena’s First Five Months Relatively Problem-Free
Yesterday The New York Times took a look at the Barclays Center five months after opening and finds that overall it has not had the negative impact on the neighborhood that many had feared. According to the story, most visitors arrive and leave relatively quickly and many do use public transportation: the four subway stations in the area had an average of 6,400 more riders on event nights than on other nights. The Long Island Rail Road reports that 3,300 more riders arrive and depart through Atlantic Terminal on event nights than before the arena opened. Crime has also not been a problem though more than a million people have attended the 93 events there since it opened. The 78th Precinct registered six “felony episodes” that were connected to the arena and 36 misdemeanors. While the story does acknowledge issues with parking, illegally parked limos, noise complaints, the fine for exceeding noise limits and the trees soon to fall on Pacific Street, it finds that overall the arena has hardly been the harbinger of doom many predicted. What do you think? Is the arena a good neighbor?
Smooth Debut for an Arena That Rocked Brooklyn [NY Times]
Residents Unhappy With Tree Removal Near Barclays [Brownstoner]
Barclays Center Fined for Noise Violations [Brownstoner]
Bars Near Barclays Center Booming, Others Not So Much [Brownstoner]
Photo by Kuyata
02/20/2013 9:30 AM
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Looting, Snarled Traffic in Post-Hurricane Days
Traffic was crazy yesterday and shows no sign of letting up today as people from Brooklyn and other areas tried to go to work in Manhattan via car. Shuttle buses are now running over the bridges, but waits are long, the New York Times reported. In fact, lines are snaking around blocks for any bus. Above, a long line of transit riders waits at Ocean Parkway and Church Avenue. Looting has also been reported in areas such as Coney Island that were without power and with limited police presence. No reports of gas shortages in Brooklyn yet, but stations in Queens and New Jersey are dry. Right now, anyone with a bicycle is sitting pretty. Update: As of about 10:30 this morning, we started receiving reports that gas stations in Brooklyn are also out.
In Brooklyn, Long Lines for Shuttle Buses to Manhattan [NY Times]
Slim Hopes for a Better Commute [NY Times]
Looting Arrests Made [WSJ]
Looting, Fights Plague Southern Brooklyn [HuffPo]
Looters Target Coney Island [NY Daily News]
Nine Photos of People Trying to Get Places Today [Curbed]
Limited Subway Service Resumes [MTA]
Bloomberg Announces Carpool Rules for Manhattan-Bound Drivers [Streetsblog]
Photo from Twitter/@TWULocal100 via Curbed
11/01/2012 9:00 AM
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Big Drug Bust in Red Hook
The Kings County District Attorney announced a sizable drug sweep at the Red Hook housing developments: Six drug dealers were arrested for selling cocaine, heroin and marijuana out of apartments located around Dwight and Lorraine Streets and another six individuals were arrested for possession. This is the conclusion of a six-month investigation in Red Hook called “Operation Red Dawn,” which the NYPD says was “initiated in direct response to community requests for assistance.”
Photo via drug-rehab-headquarters.com
09/06/2012 10:00 AM
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Candlelight Vigil for Fatima Gordon Tonight in PLG
A reader sent in this note:
Please note that a candlelight vigil/community walk will be held in PLG tomorrow, Tuesday, September 4, to support the family of Fatima Gordon, shot and killed on Thursday evening. We will meet at 7 pm in front of 80 Clarkson, and then walk through the neighborhood. It’s important that as many people as possible turn out to show both the criminals AND the police that we will no longer stand for this senseless violence in our midst and to show our support for her family.
09/04/2012 10:15 AM
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Brooklyn Gangs: Dangerous, Trendy or Both?
Police investigators are touring church groups with slide shows and lectures to warn parents of the latest threat to their children: violent youth gangs who throw luxurious parties, sport trendy bracelets and post photos of their exploits on social media for all to see, the New York Daily News reported. Police investigators have made slide shows “filled with disturbing photos of punks holding up guns, wads of cash, and bags of drugs.” The images, such as the party scene above, are taken from social networking sites such as Instagram and Google Plus. Police and pastors said the photos show violent gang members, but others disputed their claims. Stephen “Ill” Edwards, founder of Illflix.com, said the kids depicted are part of rap groups with music videos on YouTube and thousands of Twitter followers. “Why is it when urban kids get together it is a gang?” Edwards said. (more…)
08/31/2012 9:45 AM
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NYDN: Brooklyn Split by Wealth, Poverty
Anyone with a Google alert on Brooklyn will have noticed the news mostly concerns artisanal pickles, murder and the Nets. The New York Daily News has picked up on this seeming contradiction and reported on the statistics behind it. “When you read about Brooklyn, it’s either artisanal cheese or murder and mayhem,” said Brooklyn Community Foundation President Marilyn Gelber. “Both things are true.” The article noted there are more poor people in Brooklyn than the entire population of Detroit, but there are more wealthy people here than in Greenwich, Conn. (more…)
08/23/2012 9:30 AM
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Shootings in W’burg and Brownsville Over the Weekend
At 10:45 pm on Friday night on Bedford Avenue and North 9th St., in the middle of crowds of people on their way to bars and shows, a man was shot outside the bar Trix, the New York Times reports. Was it random? Did the shooter and the victim know each other? We don’t know, although the victim is expected to live. The 94th Precinct has a relatively low crime rate — only one murder last year — which explains why some bystanders didn’t even realize it was a shooting. Meanwhile, out in Brownsville last night, six people, including two children, were injured in a drive-by shooting. The Brownsville shooting took place in one of the NYPD’s Operation Impact Zones.
In a Neighborhood Unaccustomed to Violence, Disbelief Over a Shooting [NY Times]
07/30/2012 9:15 AM
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Shooting Season in Fort Greene Housing Projects
It’s arguably the best selling season ever for homeowners in Fort Greene, but on the other side of the park the warmer months mean other things. “It’s summer time. Poom. Poom. Poom,” a 14-year-old residents of the Ingersoll-Whitman housing projects told the Daily News. “People like to shoot each other here.” She was reacting to news of a shooting at around 6:45 p.m. yesterday on St. Edwards Avenue, just down the block from the Community Roots Charter School. Police exchanged fire with the shooter and ended up chasing him into one of the apartment towers where they cornered and captured him. The first few years that we lived in our corner of Clinton Hill, there seemed to be a shooting every year when the weather got warm down on the corner of Grand and Putnam. Thankfully, that hasn’t happened in a couple of years but the drug dealers are still there so it’s probably only a matter of time.
Cops Nab Fort Greene Shooting Suspect After Gunfight [NY Daily News]
06/14/2012 9:00 AM
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Occupiers Booted From East New York Foreclosure
Back in January, there was news about how the Occupy Wall Street-related takeover of a vacant house in foreclosure in East New York was just a publicity gimmick, and that the homeowner, Wise Ahadzi, who abandoned the house a couple years ago after foreclosure proceedings began, wanted his property back. The OWS group living in the house said they didn’t know that Ahadzi wanted his property back, and said that they were working with him. The latest news, then, is that the Post says the police came to the house and arrested the Occupy-related folks living in it: “Police arrested six Occupy Wall Street members squatting inside a Brooklyn home five months after the movement seized the property amid grand promises to ‘renovate’ it and move in ‘a homeless family.’ Instead, the group moved itself in, wrecked the place, and made a hard situation even worse for a single father who actually owned the East New York home and was trying to save it from foreclosure. Cops cuffed the occupiers after they allegedly smashed a window to get into 702 Vermont St. on April 1.” Ahadzi said he is extremely pleases that the occupiers have been removed from the premises. According to the article, the “bill to fix the damage is at least $12,000, a source said.”
Occupy Squatters Finally Flushed From B’klyn Home [NY Post]
Organizers Defend Occupation of ENY Foreclosure [Brownstoner]
Photo by Brennan Cavanaugh
04/30/2012 10:00 AM
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Closing Bell: Cobble Summer Camp Banner Stolen Again!
As of Monday morning, a banner that small business owner Michelle Thaler had put up on Court and Bergen advertising her summer camp Food Art for Kids had been stolen—marking the second time it had been thieved in a month. Michelle had this to say to us in an email: “So I waited a month, and on Saturday I hung a new banner, much smaller than the previous one at the same spot (corner of Court and Bergen). To my surprise, within less than 2 days, that banner went missing as well! Now, being a lawyer, I know that this form of advertisement does not require a permit or a license, as long as I get the permission of the owners of the lot (which, of course, I did). The banner, as you can see in the pic, is not an eye sore, and did not ‘uglyfy’ the street scenery in any way! There are many banners similar to mine in the neighborhood… religious institutions put them up on their fences all the time and so are other businesses … it just makes me wonder why mine is causing so much opposition!” Michelle is flummoxed by the the thefts and doesn’t suspect that it was teenagers since they usually get bored after pulling a stunt once and don’t do it again. Again, in her words: “I thought about going to the police but that actual damage is just the banner’s value ($200). I can’t even begin to describe the damage to the business side being that summer is close and I want as many families to know about my camp. I was a lawyer in my previous career, and I know that my banner was legal.” We’re filing this under news of the weird. Why would anyone steal a banner like this twice?
Summer Camp Banner Stolen on Court Street Last Night [Brownstoner]
04/25/2012 4:00 PM
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Upping Security in Flatbush, Fixing Bathrooms in the Slope
Last week we had a rundown on the projects in Councilmember Brad Lander’s district that received the most votes for funding via participatory budgeting, which will receive $1 million earmarked for them in the 2013 budget. This weekend the Times had a story on the subject that included news about the other Brooklyn district that was included in the participatory budgeting experiment, that of Councilmember Jumaane Williams, whose district runs from East Flatbush to Midwood. In contrast to Lander’s district (which includes the Slope and Carroll Gardens, among other neighborhoods), which had many proposals involving educational facilities, Williams’s district was most concerned with increasing levels of security in various ways. To wit: “Security was the primary concern for Mr. Williams’s district. …The proposal that drew the most votes was a $400,000 plan for security cameras at seven locations. Residents also voted to spend $450,000 on two proposals that would add lights to each of the district’s parks and the field behind the Tilden Educational Campus, where, among the shadows, classmates of Marcus Monfiston, 16, a student there, have been attacked.” In Lander’s district, the proposal that garnered the most votes was fixing the bathrooms at P.S. 124 in Park Slope.
The Voters Speak: Yes to Bathrooms [NY Times]
Winners of Park Slope Funding Contest Announced [Brownstoner]
Screengrab via video on Tilden lighting proposal from JumaaneWilliams
04/09/2012 9:00 AM
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Summer Camp Banner Stolen on Court Street Last Night
Last night on Court Street someone decided to steal a banner advertising a cooking summer camp for kids. Here’s a message we received from the woman who runs the camp and has had the banner up for several months now: “I am Michelle Thaler, owner of Food Art for Kids, a cooking summer camp in Brooklyn Heights. For the past few months, I have been renting some fence space from Trezza Management, owners of the parking lot on Court St @ Bergen St. I use that space to hang my banner, as shown in the attached picture. It is a great corner with many pedestrians and cars passing by every day. It is my second year in business and I had a similar banner at the same spot last year, with no interruptions. As of this morning, the banner went missing! Per my investigation it was removed sometime after 8 pm last night… I know that because the owner of the parking garage was walking her dog at 8:15 pm last night and the banner was still there. Unfortunately there are no surveillance cameras installed at the surrounding businesses. At first, I suspected one of the production companies who are shooting on the street tomorrow but when I called them, they assured me that it was not them. I have no idea who can it be! but would like to get to the source of it, being that this is my time to advertise and those banner cost a lot of money to produce.” What an odd theft! If you have any info on the perp, get in touch with Michelle via her website.
03/20/2012 2:50 PM
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Boerum Hillers Not Psyched About House of D Reopening
When it reopens next week, the Brooklyn House of Detention on Atlantic will have one thing to boast over other jails: Proximity to $3 million townhouses. “It seems strange to have a jail in downtown Brooklyn,” a pizza chef on nearby Livingston Street told Crain’s. “I never would have agreed to buy this house for all this money had I known it was opening,” one woman who paid $3.4 million last summer for a house on State Street told The Times. “We took a gamble and lost on this neighborhood.” While some of the higher end restaurants don’t think the visitors to the 759-bed jail are going to do much for their businesses, the manager of the New St. Claire diner across the street is bullish. And while safety surely is a concern for some, like most contentious issues in New York City, this one also comes back to parking. The warden, though, has promised to limit the improper parking of official vehicles.
As Neighborhood Thrives, No Warm Welcome for a Reopened Jail [NY Times]
Sadly for Some, Brooklyn Gets Its Jail Back [Crain's]
02/06/2012 9:00 AM
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Robberies Rose in the Slope and Carroll Gardens Last Year
The NYPD reports that there was an increase last year in robberies in the 76th Precinct, which covers Carroll Gardens and Red Hook, and the 78th Precinct, which covers Park Slope, according to a story in the Post. There were 124 robberies in the 76th Precinct last year, compared to 100 in 2010, and a 32 percent increase in the 78th Precinct. The thieves are targeting “tipsy revelers, distracted shoppers and anyone with earbuds oblivious of his surroundings, police sources say.”
Thieves Getting Hip to Trendy Brooklyn Nabes [NY Post]
01/09/2012 11:00 AM
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A Look at Brownsville’s Entrenched Poverty
The Daily News has an article about Brownsville that uses the recent gang shooting of a mother outside a public school as a jumping-off point for examining the neighborhood’s poverty (half of its residents receive welfare, SSI, or Medicaid and thousands live in the projects) and violence (murders are up 50 percent from 2009). State Sen. Eric Adams says cuts in state funding are partially to blame for the violence, which means community centers have less to work with. Meanwhile, some nonprofits active in the area are trying to bring about change. The Brownsville Partnership is working to change dietary habits in the neighborhood, where two-thirds of adult residents are obese, but is encountering difficulties: “About 60 bodegas were asked to sell fresh produce, picked from upstate farms: Only three agreed.” Another, the Brownsville Community Justice Center, is modeled after the Red Hook Community Justice Center, and is looking to open a community center offering services such as mentoring to the neighborhood’s low-level criminals. McBrooklyn reports that a group of people marched over the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday carrying coffins to draw attention to the neighborhood’s poverty and concomitant culture of violence.
Tough Times Continue in Brownsville [NY Daily News]
‘Occupy Brownsville’ Marches Over Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall [McBrooklyn]
Photo by Atomische/Tom Giebel
11/07/2011 10:00 AM
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[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/#!/Brownstoner/status/127392497931522048"]
10/21/2011 10:37 AM
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Number of Sex Attacks Up to 20
The big, depressing news this weekend was that the number of possibly linked sexual assaults in Brooklyn since March has jumped to 20. The NYPD has added seven more cases to the official tally, six of which occurred at the 7th Avenue subway station in Park Slope. The most recent incident took place Thursday night, when a woman was attacked on 17th Street. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has said that it’s likely there have been copycat crimes. While the cops arrested a man in conjunction with an attack in Sunset Park last week, they believe several men are responsible for the assaults.
Grope List Grows [NY Post]
Fear Grips Brooklyn as Number of Sex-Crimes Spikes [NY Daily News]
Copycat Crimes Possible In Brooklyn Sexual Assault Pattern [NY1]
Image via NY1
10/17/2011 9:00 AM
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brooklandings
May 16, 2013 | 09:04 AM