It would seem a no brainer in a pedestrian friendly metropolis like New York as a whole and Brooklyn specifically that the car-less might vilify the auto-equipped. That said, should we really be bothering to question whether in fact drivers are responsible for accidents that could not otherwise happen without the presence of cars.

Statistically speaking can we not assume that without cars on the street auto accidents would drop to nearly 0%? Apparently the pollsters at NY1 and Marist thought this was an important thing to get a read on. They asked people through out the city’s five boroughs who they thoughts was most responsible for the car accidents throughout New York.

A few people did blame cyclists and some did also call attention to the scourge of pedestrians clearly causing cars to crash but for the most part people were not actually insane. Brooklyn news is rarely this riveting.

One of these locations is the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. While this seems like a good idea on the surface, everything written about the subject so far makes it seem a little, well, less than stellar for everyone involved. For the Islanders an average of 11,000 fans per game is a good night. While the Barclays Center has some rather cramped seating  this still leads to some interesting issues.

The Barclays Center, for one reason or another, are saying that they would not use the traditional ice hockey seating arrangements for the NHL team. Instead they would go with a horseshoe model with no seating behind one of the goals. It’s not exactly clear why this would be the case. Maybe the arena is too small to hold a fully sized hockey rink or maybe they just don’t want to have the place looking too empty, either way, this is a bad plan.

One goalie looks out at hundreds of yelling, cheering fans while the other stares at…the other goalie and potentially a lot of ads. Who is going to have better concentration? Nonetheless, no deals have been made and no offers have been put forth between the team and the venue.

Those familiar with Bloomberg know he has staunchly supported gay rights first by ending all campaigning for anti-marriage equality candidates and by helping pass New York State’s recent gay marriage bill. Bloomberg has also been the most vocal voice in the Republican Party in regards to making the party more accepting of gay rights, repeatedly warning Republicans they are on the wrong side of history. His remarks have been echoed by several other party big wigs like Rove and Cheney, though they have been far less vocal on the matter.

Although some in the party want to avoid gay marriage and other social issues, which typically don’t poll well for Republicans, Romney’s campaign has signaled it will make the issue part of his campaign. The move is likely an attempt to cement his following among skeptical evangelicals and social conservatives, a group with good voter turnout. Polling on the matter can be interpreted in different ways when looking to the next election though the net trend seems to be pro-marriage equality.

Stay tuned for more Brooklyn information and Brooklyn news.

Former State Senator Espada was accused of stealing somewhere in the neighborhood of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Soundview HealthCare Network in the Bronx.  This healthcare clinic was initially set up by Former State Senator Espada as a not-for-profit clinic.

Espada may face up to 10 years for each count he has been convicted of.  Prosecutors are also demanding he turn over $450,000 of the stolen money.

This is one of those stories about corrupt politicians that furthers the idea that it is hard to trust politicians and the government in general.  This was a man accused and convicted of several counts of stealing a ton of money from his own not-for-profit organization.

For more on local new in Brooklyn keep your eyes tuned to this blog!

Image courtesy of arztsamui

You remember hearing about the mysterious disappearing manhole covers around the great city of New York? Well it turns out the person responsible was a crackhead from Bensonhurst in Brooklyn. And the reason? To get money to feed his drug habit, further instigating the nickname for Brooklyn, Crooklyn. Apparently Andrew Modica, 46, stole the covers to sell as scrap metal for $48 a piece. That’s barely worth the effort considering each cover weighs an approximate 320 lbs. and he’s only about 160 lbs.

When the police picked him up after seeing him in a reported stolen pickup truck he confessed to 14 of the 31 thefts, stating he does not remember the rest. Authorities claim he used a “j-hook” to pry up the lids and then proceeded to drag them to the back of the pickup truck. According to his police record he has had a history of arrest for both possession of drugs and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

Due to his stature of 5’10″ and being thin his neighbors and family were surprised he pulled the heist, however, with a confession it seems that he will be awaiting arraignment on charges of petit larceny and reckless endangerment for stealing the covers and leaving the manholes uncovered, and a felony criminal possession of stolen property for the truck.

Perhaps the most touching tribute (about a million times better than the awful Coldplay cover of “Fight For Your Right To Party” that made the rounds on Saturday) is a new mural in Brooklyn the home of the Beastie Boys.

The mural commissioned and created by designers at the clothing line Entree LS takes the letters M.C.A and has them in an old school block style across a wall on the top of a Brooklyn building. Withing those letters a shining sun with a slightly Asian tone, likely a suggestion of Yauch’s devout Buddhism, and is adorned with the word familiar to fans of Yauch’s music “Gratitude.”

Barbra Streisand in her Brooklyn apartment, early 1964

For the last 50 years, Barbra Streisand has avoided concerts in her native Brooklyn, NY. I guess we shouldn’t say “avoided” I’m sure she’s been quite busy. But it does seem strange that the singer, who once sang in her school choir at Erasumus Hall High School with classmate Neil Diamond, has sang several concerts in New York but not her local neighborhoods.

That is until now. Mystery swirls whether the news is true or not but on Monday Ticketmaster bigwigs posted 70-year old Barbra as one of the acts slated to play at the new Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn this fall. This posting has since been taken down but hints and teases from Ticketmaster have us guessing that Babs is indeed coming back.

“Big announcement this week re: the barclays center. I mean big. Very exciting times for Brooklyn.” This was the tweet from Brooklyn Nets CEO Brett Yormark. Could it be? Could Barbra really be returning? This might not be as exciting to those wanting to see Jay-Z open the concert series this fall but it means big things for the music industry, Brooklyn, and of course those die hard Barbra Streisand fans for which “Happy Days Are Here Again!”

New York’s marriage equality bill passed with strong support and Golden’s anti-gay remarks caused something of a stir in Brooklyn news. His opponents were quick to jump on his remarks and say he was out of touch with his constituency. Others went so far as to call him bigoted. Granted, his district is not the most liberal in the city but it’s hard to imagine the marriage initiative being significantly less popular there than elsewhere.

Since polling at such a local level is a rarity we will have to wait until election time to tell if Golden’s stance will come back to bite him, so to speak. Politicians from all parties are beginning to come to terms with gay marriage’s growing acceptance, especially among young voters.  The question seems to changing from if gay marriage gain mainstream acceptance to when it will gain mainstream acceptance.

Food trucks helping the Citymeals on Wheels program makes a lot of sense to me.  Food trucks are on the street and on the move most hours out of the day so they can inform a lot of people about the program and in many areas of the city.  Trucks will be able to collect cans and at least two vendors a day will donate a percentage of their day’s earnings.  This, combined with the collected donations, will go a long way in helping those in need in Brooklyn and in the other parts of New York City.

Hearing about programs like this definitely warms the heart a little.  For more on Brooklyn news keep your eyes tuned to this blog.

His illness led to the trios decision to postpone the tour for their most recent album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two and caused him to miss their inclusion ceremony to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame two weeks prior.

He and fellow group member Michael Diamond (Mike D) had met as far back as high school, and after finding influence from musical acts like Black Flag, they soon began a hardcore band. This led to their initial discovery and allowed them the opportunity to open for The Misfits.

It wasn’t until the introduction of Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock) that the band began infusing hip-hop and humor, and they broke out with the song “Cookie Puss.” They signed with Def Jam Records  and in 1986 they released License to Ill. The album was a sensation and became the first hip-hop album to top the Billboard album chart.

From then on they had a number of hits, including the favorite (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party). It’s a testament to the group and Adam Yauch that they took 8 of the 10 trending spots on the NYC Twitter topics. It’s another milestone for Brooklyn and New York music history.