Fishy Gowanus, Flashy Pastor, Ghost Bar, Trouble at Maimonides, and more.

Last Friday I had some ice tea with Dan Goldman, the lawyer running to represent the new Congressional District 10, steps away from his campaign office in Park Slope. It was one of those ridiculously hot days, with temperatures just short of 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and we sat outside - indoors every seat was taken by someone working on their laptop.

Goldman seems to be everywhere these days - in person on street corners, in the mailboxes of registered voters, in ads. He raised more money than any of his opponents this past quarter, and he's putting it to use.

But is he the right choice for this bit of Brooklyn?

He certainly makes a compelling case, positioning himself as a pragmatic Democrat that shares many of the progressive ideals of Brooklyn's residents. He's focused on results rather than revolutions and believes defending Democracy is the most important task we have right now. But can he convince the voters he's the best choice? I hope this interview helps those of you in the district decide who to vote for come August.

I will be off next week - fishing - and I'll see you in August.

Politics

• With the primary day coming up on August 23, and early voting beginning on August 13, time is running out for Senate and Congressional Candidates. In most cases, whoever wins the primary is almost certain to be elected in November. Just over 10% of primary voters showed up in June primaries, and the numbers candidates have to get to vote for them are not that large - congressional districts have about 600,000 residents of voting age, senate districts less than half that number.
• Assemblyman Robert Carroll invited Park Slopers to tan in his office's backyard.
• It takes some serious determination to not get homeless shelters built in one's district. Assemblymember William Colton brought a petition with 20,000 signatures opposing the shelters at 2147 Bath Ave and 137 Kings Highway to the city, and the Bath Ave location will not become a shelter. Let's see what he proposes to build as permanent housing for the hundreds of unhoused residents.
• Michael R. Long, 82, died last Sunday. The longest-serving head of the Conservative Party, and former Brooklyn Councilmember at large, helped elect Governor George Pataki. Here is his NYT obituary.

Crime

• Pastor Lamor Miller-Whitehead, who goes by Bishop (and says he is a mentee of Mayor Adams) and his wife allegedly had $1 million in jewelry on them during the Sunday service. According to a report filed with the police, three gunmen entered the church and relieved them of their jewels on livestream. Let's hope they were modern-day Robin Hoods giving back to the poor, but how does a pastor get to have that many expensive jewels?  Or maybe there's more to it.

• Is it worth trying to kill someone over a parking ticket? Two men allegedly tried to run over the agent who was issuing them one in Flatbush (Glenwood &E31st).
• U.S. District Judge William Kuntz set February 27, 2023, as the trial date for the accused Sunset Park subway shooter.
• Lastly, this may sound a bit like Throwback Thursday from way back when, but someone dropped off a dead body in a driveway in Dyker Heights. Using a hand truck. In the dead of the night.

Healthcare

The CITY reports on the troubling accounts coming from Maimonides Hospital in Borough Park about the standard of care there. The financial losses hospital endured during the pandemic have exacerbated staffing shortages, particularly among nurses, but those are not the only issues plaguing the place.

Help

Documented has put together a list of organizations that can help Chinese immigrants in NYC who are looking for "in-language and culturally competent resources or services." Save or pass along.

Real Estate

The new Target store on Church Ave (off Flatbush) opened last week, and like at almost all the drugstores these days, half the goods are behind lock and key.

The Dangler Mansion in Bed-Stuy is no more. It was demolished under a valid demolition permit while the city's Landmarks and Preservation Committee deliberated on its historic significance. But should we not be trying to do as much as possible to build new housing? Especially when a single-bedroom apartment demands a $700k budget to buy.

There is a little construction here and there: 906 East New York Avenue will become an 8-story building with 48 residences, based on filings with the city.

Then again, while the average size of apartments built across the USA has increased 9% in the last 10 years, that is not quite enough to work from home in a city of shoebox dwellers like NYC, and the new apartment buildings have been adding common workspaces to compensate. With office rents slumping, will those working from home be paying for what is effectively office space instead of their employers? Or - as the LA Times reports - leave for cheaper places like Mexico City?

But if you don't want to pack up quite yet, try your luck getting one of the 160 affordable housing units at 1101 President Street in Crown Heights - The Arch - that just hit the Housing Lottery this week. Rents start at $465 a month.

And lastly - NYT dug into the story of Sanford Solny. He Runs a New York Real Estate Empire. Did He Steal It? goes the headline, which the paper could not definitively answer because courts have been so slow to act on the cases brought by the many homeowners who say they have been swindled out of their properties by Solny, many of them in Brooklyn.

Food

Go fishing in Gowanus with Hell Gate. But maybe don't eat the catch.

Cornbread: Farm to Soul opened in June at the new building at 409 Eastern Parkway at the corner of Bedford Ave, in Crown Heights. The fast-casual spot is said to have good fried chicken and another location is coming to Ralph Ave in Bed Stuy later this year.

Hungry Ghost Coffee has teamed up with Sweet Polly to open a cocktail bar, Bar Francis, at 810 Fulton Street this fall, Patch first reported.

Haaretz profiles Ayat Bistro, a Palestinian spot in Bay Ridge that Pete Wells first reviewed back in late 2020.

"For a more uniquely Palestinian taste, try the mansaf, a traditional Palestinian dish of lamb cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt and served over a bed of rice. This combination rests on ishrak bread that soaks the yogurt sauce. Savor those flavors and it could almost feel like you are in Jerusalem’s Old City, not New York City," Haaretz writes.

Forma Pasta Factory will soon be opening a spot at 5 Greene Ave. in Fort Greene. New Yorker loved the original spot in Greenpoint, offering excellent homemade pasta at good prices.

Namaste, a new Himalayan restaurant, has opened at 1202 Cortelyou Road (at Westminster Rd) in Ditmas Park, an excellent addition to Cafe Tibet at 1510 Cortelyou Road.

Brooklyn Eats Diner, which has been serving East New York for some 50 years, caught fire during a botched burglary.

Art

"Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech" is on view through January 29, 2023. Brooklyn Museum Presents New York City-Centric Take On Global Contemporary Polymath Virgil Abloh, Forbes reviews. "The exhibition, originally conceived by the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, showcases objects from Abloh’s fashion label Off-White, designs from Louis Vuitton, where he became the first Black person to serve as menswear artistic director of the multi-billion-dollar French luxury behemoth, and a selection of his myriad collaborations with artist Takashi Murakami, musician Kanye West, and architect Rem Koolhaas."

Vice invites you to tag along to Soul Summit, a Sunday afternoon dance party in Fort Greene Park throughout the summer.

"Run entirely by volunteers, Interference Archive is a true alternative to the city’s market-driven gallery scene," Hyperallergic writes of the Park Slope institution, sitting down with two of them Gaby López and Justin Mugits, "to discuss what preservation means to them and how they maintain their many working groups, which mirror those found in a political organization."

Parks

Shore Road Park is getting a major reno, including a dog run, Quaker Parrot Park is getting the synthetic turf replaced, Bath Beach playground is getting new play equipment among other improvements -  that and more in this list.