Over the past two years there has been a lot of tumult in the United States Congress. By and large the American people are fed up with politics as usual and somehow assume that voting the opposite way they did the last time will fix things.
With this in mind the Republican party took a Brooklyn congressional seat in a special election last night. Brooklyn businessman Bob Turner beat Democratic Assemblyman David I. Weprin in a margin large enough to turn the heads of polsters who had been predicting an incredibly tight race, 54% to 46%.
National Republican leaders, trying to get a leg up on the upcoming Presidential race, suggested that the Democratic loss was a referendum on President Barack Obama himself. It is as if they forgot completely that the entire special election was necessitated by the public shaming of former Congressman and amateur pornographer Anthony Weiner.
Mr. Turner is the first Republican since 1920 elected to the ninth congressional district, which includes several working class Brooklyn neighborhoods and Forest Hills in Queens. In the end it seems that the Democrats greatest miscalculation was nominating a career politician, easily painted as a party insider intent on keeping things going as is.
The tenth anniversary of the September 11th attacks is receiving wall to wall coverage and for those of us who lived in New York at the time that seems totally justified. The shear terror and shock of that chaotic day has not been lost on anyone who was there or within eye shot. Brooklynites will inevitably recall standing on the promenade or their roofs watching as the course of American history shifted in an explosive moment of violence. Some might remember walking across the Brooklyn bridge from their lower Manhattan offices to let loved ones know that they were okay, even though no one was okay.
The view of Manhattan from Brooklyn, always an iconic reminder that we live in one of the most exciting and vital places on the planet, was changed forever. So too was the view from our collective psyche. The last ten years have been a series of culture shocks and cultural breakthroughs. The technology we once feared would drive a wedge between humanity has instead become a hyper connective network. In a way that reaction could have something to do with the events of 9/11. The fear of being suddenly torn from someone you love or something familiar now has us forever connecting to one another. It is safe to say that on that day Brooklyn and the world got a whole lot smaller.
You can expect some interesting changes and a bit of a makeover for the Municipal Building in Downtown Brooklyn. Mayor Bloomberg recently announced a $10 million deal to turn the first floor space into a “hip” restaurant and shops. The building currently houses the Department of Finance but I guess that’s a little boring and of little use to most Brooklynites. The first floor was sold to a developer and is part of a master plan to return the neighborhood to a retail and dining destination.
Who bought the 49,000 square-foot space? Al Laboz, chairman of the Fulton Mall Association, not to mention he’s sort of a big deal in Downtown Brooklyn’s real estate biz. Laboz states, “The goal is a cool, hip restaurant with a mid-level price range.” But this plan isn’t just about giving the hipsters more cool places to dine. It’s part of Bloomberg’s plan to cut costs by reducing the amount of city-owned property. Major retailers have been popping up all over the area, like Aeropostale and H&M. The area is a large business district, but probably won’t be for very long.
But this project also means job creations –64 construction jobs and 114 permanent jobs. No word yet on what stores will be built, but it’s highly doubtful it will be an Apple store. Hipsters cry…construction begins 2012.
We received this plea from Anthony Weiner‘s mother yesterday. She has solicited us as a trustworthy source to argue on her son’s behalf. Here is what she has written.
Our little boy Andy. Such a shame. I don’t know how many times I told him, if you’re going to show your genitals do it so that no one else can see! We used to play those games when we were little, go out on the farm and show each other the dinky-doo and ba-ji-ji, but Anthony, oy! He had to get all mixed up in this facebook and the twitter. I know about sexting. How the kids these days like to talk dirty on their phones and the internet. But this! This is a little crotch-photo! It’s harmless. A little flirtation never hurt anybody, nothing more than seeing our boy in his swimsuit at the beach. Honestly I don’t see what the big deal is.
I know it’s funny that Mort’s last name is Weiner so it looks like the hot dog spelling and Anthony’s hot dog profile is all over the internet. But the Weinergate is a bit much isn’t it? Nixon didn’t even have a sex life; at least our Anthony is getting schtupped!
Honestly, it’ll all blow over in a few weeks. Remember Clinton? That was meshuggeneh. I hope you all forget about this and remember how Anthony has served the district over the past years.
The Brooklyn Brewery, begun in 1987, is a cult classic. It is located in the heart of quickly gentrifying Williamsburg, also known as Toddlertown, and is based in a former matzo factory.
Right next door is Brooklyn Bowl, where a rockin’ stage holds shows every night of the week making it one of Brooklyn’s premier show spots. Tonight, Miniboone is playing. They were listed as one of the 8 Bands You Need to Hear by The L Magazine in 2010.
It’s a nice change from the lo-fi indie punk coming from most of the Brooklyn scene these days. In terms of love and confusion, it’s pretty good at attempting to sort out the gray matter. They’re playing tonight along with Ava Luna:
and Miracles of Modern Science:
Should be a pretty good show, and did I mention it’s free?
The Archive, rest in peace, has finally been replaced. Swallow, don’t get any dirty thoughts, is a bit better suited to Morgantown 2011. Industrial lightbulbs provide arch light, the saggy cushions have been replaced by movie theatre style seating in the back and cutesy European style granite tabletopped tables, and the baristas actually know how to make a macchiato. The gorgeous red Marzocco esperesso machine glowed and bubbled, the music was recognizable without pretension, and in general, it is friendlier and less of a hey-please-watch-out-for-my-mac-book-pro-charger-cord kind of place.
For the scenesters in Bushwick, Cafe Orwell still gets it done, but for the main strip, Morgantown needed a more hostpitable cafe, one where you can actually meet someone for a date, or even better, talk about life and literature, without getting the hairy eyeball from the people sitting next to you.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved Archive. And the way I’m describing it makes it out to be the kind of cafe where everyone regards you with a sneer. In fact, people were generally friendly there, but it was the vibe that made the difference. The Archive had been in place for years, and so had the people working there. That said, I’m thankful that there’s a clean coffee slate in my new neighborhood.
Brooklyn is great, don’t get me wrong, but when you’re trying to get around it without the aid of a bike or Bushwick car service, things can get tricky. If you’re thinking about taking the G train to get from one point to another, forget about it. This train rocks up “if and when it feels like it,” a clever and insightful person with graphic design skills has made clear to the world in a new MTA service change sign. The sign shows that service changes will occur from January 1 to December 31, at the “most inconvenient times possible.” Under “Exactly how am I going to be screwed up by this?”, the sign explains that by the time a train shows up, you will have forgotten where you were going. All this wouldn’t be so funny if it wasn’t so true. Now, home I go on the G train. See you above ground in a few hours.
Get ready, Brooklyn: We’ve got our very own Jersey Shore coming our way. Lifetime has picked up 12 episodes of Brighton Beach, a Jersey Shore-ish, about the Russian-American community in South Brooklyn, to be aired next year. This show won’t focus on a select group of youngin’s; rather, it’ll be about the whole community. Fear not, though! The central point of focus will be a local nightclub, so you know there will be plenty of dancing, booze and bad decisions.
I’d personally like to see a showdown between the cast Jersey Shore and of this show. (No casting announcements have been made thus far, but I can already feel it — a battle royale à la Real World/Road Rules Challenge seems inevitable — inevitably amazing.
Between eggs, meat and now cheese, it seems like nothing’s safe to eat anymore. The Brooklyn Paper reported that a cheese manufacturer in Williamsburg had to recall two products after workers in RI found a nasty bacteria in them.
“The Rhode Island Health Department found traces of bacteria that could grow into “Listeria monocytogenes” — which can cause serious and even fatal infections in young children and elderly people, or symptoms like diarrhea in healthy adults — in the Azteca Linda Corporation’s Queso Fresco white cheese and Queso Hebra string cheese, with a Sept. 11 expiration date.”
The bacteria apparently hasn’t aged to the point of danger, and the recall wasn’t demanded, but the Williamsburg workers decided not to risk it.
So there’s a ghost stroller on Union and 6th. Painted the color of my butt cheeks during the winter, this artistic endeavor has confused and confounded locals for weeks now. The New York Times just ran an article about it. And everyone wants to know what it means.
I think I know. 20 years ago, and even today, Park Slope was an ideal neighborhood for young, aspiring artists. Then the yuppies found out about it, and gentrification ensued. It’s close to downtown, right next to the Park, safe, what’s not to love? Let’s stake a claim here and raise a family. Right? So they did.
Now it seems the small remaining artistic community is fighting back. The ghost stroller is a mockery of memorial bikes painted white. No baby in a stroller was smacked by a moving car – it’s some Park Slope artist lamenting the loss of his hepcat community to the thriving papoose wearing yuppie moms.
Gentrification is a good thing guys. It’s what lead to the development and safety of other Brooklyn communities, like the newly coined South Park Slope, and East Williamsburg. And so is art. It’s provocative and makes people think, even if they attribute a different meaning than the artist’s intended one. That comes with the territory.
As for the artists, I’d say don’t despair. Move to Bushwick.
With this in mind the Republican party took a Brooklyn congressional seat in a special election last night. Brooklyn businessman Bob Turner beat Democratic Assemblyman David I. Weprin in a margin large enough to turn the heads of polsters who had been predicting an incredibly tight race, 54% to 46%.
