Chasing paper, hotdog ice cream, restaurant weeks, and more
My thanks to all of you who have kept your subscriptions and those who have subscribed since Bklyner resumed publishing. In the coming weeks, as resources permit, we will be doing increasingly more standalone reporting, including freelance work to fill the gaps I see in Brooklyn's coverage by other outlets. I hope you keep reading.
Crime
The tabloids reported on a bloody Independence Day weekend in the city, with 36 shootings and over 50 people shot. The Gothamist remarked that cops enjoyed the best viewing spots at the fireworks. Here in Brooklyn, shootings are down significantly, and murders are also down year on year, but many other crimes are up, resulting in an overall increase in crime of about 34% compared to last year. Manhattan is just ahead of us in total crimes reported across the boroughs.
One item not shown in these CompStat reports is the one Mayor Adams is cracking down on - illegal paper and obscured license plates on cars.
"If you dare to obscure your real license plate, or if you affix an altered or forged temporary plate to your vehicle, we are out there right now in real time looking for your car and looking for you," NYPD Transportation Bureau Chief Kim Royster said at the press conference announcing the same efforts every administration has announced for decades.
"The sole thing that's different from those who talked about it before and those who are talking about it now is Eric Adams — I'm the mayor now," the Mayor boasts.
How's it going? It looks like some cops don't think it applies to them. Speaking of street safety - 24/7 speed camera enforcement starts on August 1.
People
- Spiderman of Brooklyn - Did you see this crazy leap that a man pulled over for allegedly not wearing a seatbelt pulled off yesterday evening by Broadway Triangle?
- Rep. Mondaire Jones moved to Brooklyn in June, and neighbors are not pleased: "He didn't move to Brooklyn to live in Brooklyn. He moved to Brooklyn to run."
- Amy Schumer, the actor and comedian, is buying a house in Brooklyn Heights, NYPost reports.
- Flatbush Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn railed against Brooklyn's Democratic machine. Then she became it. "New York's biggest local political organization is in free fall," THE CITY reports in one of the most thorough accounts of Brooklyn's local Democratic establishment to be published in years.
- NYT spends a Sunday with Anthony Almojera, a paramedic and a lieutenant for the FDNY from Gravesend who works at Station 40 in Sunset Park. "Friday night you get your shootings and stabbings. Saturday you get stuff that happens from people being in clubs. Sundays are traditionally slower. It takes a while for the emergency response calls to start, like 1 or 2 p.m. I call it the after-church effect. People don't like to go to the hospital before church," he tells the paper.
Politics
Politico looks at the race for Congressional District 10, which covers much of Brownstone Brooklyn and lower Manhattan, puzzling if it will be Park Slope that will decide who will represent the district. It might, depending on how many people show up to vote in the primary on August 23, when the winner is expected to be decided by a slim margin from among the 15 candidates. Your vote in November will likely not matter, so please vote in August if you are a democrat.
The next redistricting to take place here is of the city's council districts. Some Brooklyn residents hope there will be a district carved out to represent the Asian community's interests while trying to keep Bensonhurst as a neighborhood together, Ben Brachfeld reports.
If you want to submit your own maps to the city's Districting Commission, check out Redistricting and You, which makes it easy.
Food
Bar Chord (Cortelyou by Coney Island Ave) has struck its final chord as Ditmas Park piles up the closings. The Farm on Adderley (Cortelyou by Stratford Road) will be serving its last meals at dinner tomorrow, July 8. A neighborhood staple for 16 years under two different owners is up for sale (email kathie@thefarmonadderley.com).
In Williamsburg, The Knitting Factory is closing on August 21, following a 75% increase in rent to almost $30,000 a month, the owner tells BKMag.
BKMag also talks to Wen-Jay Ying, owner of Local Roots on Court Street, about its business - from CSA to Cafe&Market.
The 30th NYC Restaurant week starts soon, and you may want to make a reservation at one of the 58 Brooklyn spots offering specials. Or there are over 500 more restaurants to try between July 18 through August 21, where two-course lunches and three-course dinners will be $30, $45, or $60, depending on each restaurant's price point. So it's really more of a delicious month.
Dandy Lion Cafe in Bay Ridge seems to have closed, Eater reports, noting that Artshack Cafe/Bar is now open at ceramics studio Artshack Brooklyn in Bed Stuy. Chef Silvia Barban, co-owner of La Rina in Fort Greene (that had a glowing review last month from Grubstreet), is running the place at 1129 Bedford Avenue off Monroe Street. Three blocks east over at 343A Tompkins Avenue, also just off Monroe Street, there is a new bookstore, Dear Friend, with a cafe attached that also expects to serve wine and beer later this fall.
So what's with that hot dog ice cream? "[W]ith my apologies to rainbow bagels, there is no culinary innovation that screams "nouveau Brooklyn" quite like putting hot dogs into ice cream. It was only a matter of time before it happened," Grubstreet notes, remarking on the hot-dog ice cream that debuted at the Prospect Heights scoop shop the Social last weekend. It is available in the shop until the limited run batch runs out.
Black Seed Bagels has a new location connected to the Ace Hotel Brooklyn at 252 Schermerhorn Street, at Bond Street.
Flood Maps
The city has updated its flood maps; you can check them here. Whether you'll be mopping up the basement after a heavy down pour or having to evacuate as a storm approaches, the city expects you to be ready.
Streets
- Citybike will expand to PLG and Crown Heights, Brownstoner reports, though final maps are yet to be released.
- While "The DOT and MTA didn't present any hard-and-fast plan to fix the problems with Flatbush Avenue, [..] the presentation on the seven-mile stretch of road made a case for drastic interventions," Streetsblog summarized the Flatbush Avenue bus priority zoom from last week. Here is the full presentation from the event.