The Brooklyn Paper

An evolution-themed artwork that beautified an ugly scaffolding was ripped down by state officials who claimed the artists did their public service without permission.

On May 8, the artist group De-Fence installed wood cutouts of various flora and fauna on the eyesore scaffold that has surrounded the Empire Stores warehouse in DUMBO for two years. The work depicted a storyline of evolution, moving from small water creatures to a throng of birds bursting into flight. Read the rest of "Art attacked! State park cops reuglify DUMBO building."

Photo by Tom Callan / The Brooklyn Paper

Drivers, neighbors and merchants who are forking over handfuls of quarters to pay the newly increased parking meter rates during peak hours on Fifth and Seventh avenues say the city’s so-called “Park Smart” project isn’t living up to its name — because debit cards that render change obsolete aren’t being sold in the neighborhood yet! Read the rest of "Park Smart? More like Park Dumb as high-cost meter cards aren't even for sale!" (I didn't write it, but I did reporting for it.)

A proposal for a federally overseen clean-up of the Gowanus Canal sounds like something that everyone can get behind, but it’s actually pitting neighbor against neighbor over facts and hearsay that are as murky as the waterway itself. Read the rest of "Superfund showdown on the Gowanus."

One police blotter!

Another police blotter! (This one is funny. I called it "Teenage Wasteland" after that song by The Who. Read it to find out why!)

And finally, a tribute video they did for me. Aw, how sweet.

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Beck – The New Pollution

Gowanus Canal: To Superfund or Not To Superfund?

Tuesday, I spent five sweaty hours by the Gowanus Canal getting feedback from the locals on how they feel about the whole Superfund thing. It was interesting, but feeling the sweat trickle down my calf while interviewing someone in Carroll Gardens isn't my ideal image of journalism. But I did it! And my colleague wrote it up.

Story teaser:

A proposal for a federally overseen clean-up of the Gowanus Canal sounds like something that everyone can get behind, but it’s actually pitting neighbor against neighbor over facts and hearsay that are as murky as the waterway itself.

Posters clamoring for the Environmental Protection Agency to list the infamous canal as a federal Superfund site have materialized on storefront windows in Carroll Gardens and outside nearby brownstone homes almost overnight — even as anonymously written fliers have started showing up in area mailboxes claiming that such a designation would depress home values and not actually speed the clean-up of the fetid corpse of water.

While the activists fight it out, residents are caught wondering who — and what — to believe.

Read the rest of my story for The Brooklyn Paper here . . .

Above: The poster, designed by Anna Martin, that some residents and businesses are hanging in windows.

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Lou Reed – Perfect Day

Police Blotter

Read the latest (and, recently, most exciting!) Police Blotter that I wrote for The Brooklyn Paper.

One crook takes 238 packs of cigarettes, another takes diamonds, and there are some pretty horrible beatings this week . . . Enjoy?

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Foals – Hummer

Event: Sakura Matsuri at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

This year, the annual cherry blossom festival isn’t just about looking at pretty flowers. And it’s not just about traditional kimonos and samurai that one might imagine, either.

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s annual celebration of all things cherry will also feature performances by Japanese pop stars and DJs, and a panel discussion with the country’s best anime voice actors. It’s a fusion of new and old, with a pretty pink-and-white background!

Read the rest of my story for The Brooklyn Paper here . . .

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The Jackson 5 – Who's Lovin' You

Police Blotters

Check out this week's Park Slope Police Blotter. And since I forgot to post last week's, here it is. (Last week's wasn't that great, honestly.)

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Little Boots – Meddle

My latest Police Blotter for The Brooklyn Paper + Japan photo

You can read the latest from the Park Slope crime logs right here.

Tomorrow night, I will be seeing Asobi Seksu play at Bowery Ballroom! Keep an eye out for my review on the New York Press blog! (I'll most likely link to it from here . . . )

And to close this post, here is a random photo from my trip to Japan. This is an action shot of me eating takoyaki (octopus balls) for the first time ever. Thrilled Japanese schoolgirls offered it to us!

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Fleet Foxes – In The Hot, Hot Rays

"Orpheus and Eurydice" by the Brooklyn Repertory Opera + special depression ticket prices!

You may have just lost your job — but the last thing you want to sacrifice is your opera tickets.

But next week, thanks to the Brooklyn Repertory Opera, you won’t have to, as the mostly volunteer-run company offers the unemployed a $5 ticket to “Orpheus and Eurydice.”

Read the rest of my story at The Brooklyn Paper site here.

(Yeah, it's not in Williamsburg, but hey – that's pretty cool. I am definitely going to try to check it out, if only because the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice is one of my favourites!)

And, speaking of Orpheus and Eurydice, here's a clip from one of my favourite films, based off that tale. It's a Brazilian film: Black Orpheus.

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Asobi Seksu – Nefi and Girly