Help me Board 1 members!

Dear Community Board 1 groupies,

I may be late tonight so I'm going to propose to outsource... I mean crowd source tonight's board meeting minutes.

What does that mean? Everybody tweet, facebook, text, whatever your comments and let me know the interesting parts of what's going on at tonight's meeting. Then we'll piece it together tomorrow, Rashomon-style to get a sense of what everybody thought. The future is now!

The Princess and the Pea

Once upon a time there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess; but she would have to be a real princess. He travelled all over the world to find one, but nowhere could he get what he wanted. There were princesses enough, but it was difficult to find out whether they were real ones. There was always something about them that was not as it should be. So he came home again and was sad, for he would have liked very much to have a real princess.

One evening a terrible storm came on; there was thunder and lightning, and the rain poured down in torrents. Suddenly a knocking was heard at the city gate, and the old king went to open it.

It was a princess standing out there in front of the gate. But, good gracious! what a sight the rain and the wind had made her look. The water ran down from her hair and clothes; it ran down into the toes of her shoes and out again at the heels. And yet she said that she was a real princess.

Well, we'll soon find that out, thought the old queen. But she said nothing, went into the bed-room, took all the bedding off the bedstead, and laid a pea on the bottom; then she took twenty mattresses and laid them on the pea, and then twenty eider-down beds on top of the mattresses.

On this the princess had to lie all night. In the morning she was asked how she had slept.

"Oh, very badly!" said she. "I have scarcely closed my eyes all night. Heaven only knows what was in the bed, but I was lying on something hard, so that I am black and blue all over my body. It's horrible!"

Now they knew that she was a real princess because she had felt the pea right through the twenty mattresses and the twenty eider-down beds.

Nobody but a real princess could be as sensitive as that.

So the prince took her for his wife, for now he knew that he had a real princess; and the pea was put in the museum, where it may still be seen, if no one has stolen it.

The Gingerbread Man

 

Once upon a time, an old woman and her husband lived alone in a little old house. The couple had no children, and being lonely, the woman decided to make a boy of gingerbread. She carefully mixed the batter, rolled out the dough, and cut out out a very nice gingerbread man. She added sugar icing for his hair, mouth, and clothes, and she used candy chips for buttons and eyes. What a fine looking gingerbread man he was! The old woman put him in the oven to bake. After he was fully done, she slowly opened the oven door. Up jumped the gingerbread man, and he ran out the door saying,
"Run, run, as fast as you can!
You can't catch me!
I'm the Gingerbread Man!"
The old woman and the old man ran after him, but they could not catch him.


CowAnd so the Gingerbread Man ran and ran. While he running, he met a cow.
"Moo," said the cow. "You look very fine! Fine enough to eat!" And the cow started to chase to little man.
But the Gingerbread Man ran faster, saying,
"I ran away from an old woman,
I ran away from an old man,
And I can run away from you!
I can!"

And he laughed,
"Run, run, as fast as you can!
You can't catch me!
I'm the Gingerbread Man!"
The cow ran after the Gingerbread Man, but she could not catch him.


HorseThe Gingerbread Man kept running, and soon he met a horse.
"Neigh," said the horse, "You look mighty tasty. I think that I would like to eat you."
"But you can't!" said the Gingerbread Man.
"I ran away from an old woman,
I ran away from an old man,
I ran away from a cow,
And I can run away from you!
I can!"

And so he ran singing,
"Run, run, as fast as you can!
You can't catch me!
I'm the Gingerbread Man!"
The horse ran after the Gingerbread Man, but he could not catch him.



ChickenThe Gingerbread Man ran and ran, laughing and singing. While he ran, he met a chicken.
"Cackle, cackle," said the chicken, "You look fine enough to peck for dinner. I'm going to eat you, Mr. Gingerbread Man."
But the Gingerbread Man just laughed.
"I ran away from an old woman,
I ran away from an old man,
I ran away from a cow,
I ran away from a horse,
And I can run away from you!
I can!"

And so he ran singing,
"Run, run, as fast as you can!
You can't catch me!
I'm the Gingerbread Man!"
The chicken ran after the Gingerbread Man, but she could not catch him.



The Gingerbread Man was proud that he could run so fast.
"Nobody can catch me," he thought. So he kept on running until he met a fox.
He just had to tell the fox how he ran faster than all the others.

Fox"Mr. Fox," he said,
"As tasty as I appear to be,
I cannot let you catch and eat me.
I ran away from an old woman,
I ran away from an old man,
I ran away from a cow,
I ran away from a horse,
I ran away from a chicken,
And I can run away from you!
I can!"
But Mr. Fox did not seem to care.

"Why would I want to bother you?" asked Mr. Fox. "You don't even look that tasty. No, young man, I don't want to eat you at all."
The Gingerbread Man was so relieved.

"Well, indeed, Mr. Fox," said the Gingerbread Man. "If you don't mind, I think I'll take a little rest here." And the Gingerbread Man stopped running and stood still.
And right when he stood still. Snap! went Mr. Fox's jaws right into the Gingerbread Man until he was gone.
"He was very tasty after all," thought the fox.

Snow White

Once upon a time in mid winter, when the snowflakes were falling like feathers from heaven, a beautiful queen sat sewing at her window, which had a frame of black ebony wood. As she sewed, she looked up at the snow and pricked her finger with her needle. Three drops of blood fell into the snow. The red on the white looked so beautiful, that she thought, “If only I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as this frame.” Soon afterward she had a little daughter that was as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as ebony wood, and therefore they called her Little Snow-White.

Now the queen was the most beautiful woman in all the land, and very proud of her beauty. She had a mirror, which she stood in front of every morning, and asked:

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Who in this land is fairest of all?

And the mirror always said:

You, my queen, are fairest of all.

And then she knew for certain that no one in the world was more beautiful than she.

Now Snow-White grew up, and when she was seven years old, she was so beautiful, that she surpassed even the queen herself. Now when the queen asked her mirror:

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Who in this land is fairest of all?

The mirror said:

You, my queen, are fair; it is true.
But Little Snow-White is still
A thousand times fairer than you.

When the queen heard the mirror say this, she became pale with envy, and from that hour on, she hated Snow-White. Whenever she looked at her, she thought that Snow-White was to blame that she was no longer the most beautiful woman in the world. This turned her heart around. Her jealousy gave her no peace. Finally she summoned a huntsman and said to him, “Take Snow-White out into the woods to a remote spot, and stab her to death. As proof that she is dead bring her lungs and her liver back to me. I shall cook them with salt and eat them.”

The huntsman took Snow-White into the woods. When he took out his hunting knife to stab her, she began to cry, and begged fervently that he might spare her life, promising to run away into the woods and never return. The huntsman took pity on her because she was so beautiful, and he thought, “The wild animals will soon devour her anyway. I’m glad that I don’t have to kill her.” Just then a young boar came running by. He killed it, cut out its lungs and liver, and took them back to the queen as proof of Snow-White’s death. She cooked them with salt and ate them, supposing that she had eaten Snow-White’s lungs and liver.

Snow-White was now all alone in the great forest. She was terribly afraid, and began to run. She ran over sharp stones and through thorns the entire day. Finally, just as the sun was about to set, she came to a little house. The house belonged to seven dwarfs. They were working in a mine, and not at home. Snow-White went inside and found everything to be small, but neat and orderly. There was a little table with seven little plates, seven little spoons, seven little knives and forks, seven little mugs, and against the wall there were seven little beds, all freshly made.

Snow-White was hungry and thirsty, so she ate a few vegetables and a little bread from each little plate, and from each little glass she drank a drop of wine. Because she was so tired, she wanted to lie down and go to sleep. She tried each of the seven little beds, one after the other, but none felt right until she came to the seventh one, and she lay down in it and fell asleep.

When night came, the seven dwarfs returned home from the work. They lit their seven little candles, and saw that someone had been in their house.

The first one said, “Who has been sitting in my chair?”

The second one, “Who has been eating from my plate?”

The third one, “Who has been eating my bread?”

The fourth one, “Who has been eating my vegetables?”

The fifth one, “Who has been sticking with my fork?”

The sixth one, “Who has been cutting with my knife?”

The seventh one, “Who has been drinking from my mug?”

Then the first one said, “Who stepped on my bed?”

The second one, “And someone has been lying in my bed.”

And so forth until the seventh one, and when he looked at his bed, he found Snow-White lying there, fast asleep. The seven dwarfs all came running, and they cried out with amazement. They fetched their seven candles and looked at Snow-White. “Good heaven! Good heaven!” they cried. “She is so beautiful!” They liked her very much. They did not wake her up, but let her lie there in the bed. The seventh dwarf had to sleep with his companions, one hour with each one, and then the night was done.

When Snow-White woke up, they asked her who she was and how she had found her way to their house. She told them how her mother had tried to kill her, how the huntsman had spared her life, how she had run the entire day, finally coming to their house. The dwarfs pitied her and said, “If you will keep house for us, and cook, sew, make beds, wash, and knit, and keep everything clean and orderly, then you can stay here, and you’ll have everything that you want. We come home in the evening, and supper must be ready by then, but we spend the days digging for gold in the mine. You will be alone then. Watch out for the queen, and do not let anyone in.”

The queen thought that she was again the most beautiful woman in the land, and the next morning she stepped before the mirror and asked:

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Who in this land is fairest of all?

The mirror answered once again:

You, my queen, are fair; it is true.
But Little Snow-White beyond the seven mountains
Is a thousand times fairer than you.

It startled the queen to hear this, and she knew that she had been deceived, that the huntsman had not killed Snow-White. Because only the seven dwarfs lived in the seven mountains, she knew at once that they must have rescued her. She began to plan immediately how she might kill her, because she would have no peace until the mirror once again said that she was the most beautiful woman in the land. At last she thought of something to do. She disguised herself as an old peddler woman and colored her face, so that no one would recognize her, and went to the dwarf’s house. Knocking on the door she called out, “Open up. Open up. I’m the old peddler woman with good wares for sale.”

Snow-White peered out the window, “What do you have?”

“Bodice laces, dear child,” said the old woman, and held one up. It was braided from yellow, red, and blue silk. “Would you like this one?”

“Oh, yes,” said Snow-White, thinking, “I can let the old woman come in. She means well.” She unbolted the door and bargained for the bodice laces.

“You are not laced up properly,” said the old woman. “Come here, I’ll do it better.” Snow-White stood before her, and she took hold of the laces and pulled them so tight that Snow-White could not breathe, and she fell down as if she were dead. Then the old woman was satisfied, and she went away.

Nightfall soon came, and the seven dwarfs returned home. They were horrified to find their dear Snow-White lying on the ground as if she were dead. They lifted her up and saw that she was laced up too tightly. They cut the bodice laces in two, and then she could breathe, and she came back to life. “It must have been the queen who tried to kill you,” they said. “Take care and do not let anyone in again.”

The queen asked her mirror:

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Who in this land is fairest of all?

The mirror answered once again:

You, my queen, are fair; it is true.
But Little Snow-White with the seven dwarfs
Is a thousand times fairer than you.

She was so horrified that the blood all ran to her heart, because she knew that Snow-White had come back to life. Then for an entire day and a night she planned how she might catch her. She made a poisoned comb, disguised herself differently, and went out again. She knocked on the door, but Snow-White called out, “I am not allowed to let anyone in.”

Then she pulled out the comb, and when Snow-White saw how it glistened, and noted that the woman was a complete stranger, she opened the door, and bought the comb from her. “Come, let me comb your hair,” said the peddler woman. She had barely stuck the comb into Snow-White’s hair, before the girl fell down and was dead. “That will keep you lying there,” said the queen. And she went home with a light heart.

The dwarfs came home just in time. They saw what had happened and pulled the poisoned comb from her hair. Snow-White opened her eyes and came back to life. She promised the dwarfs not to let anyone in again.

The queen stepped before her mirror:

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Who in this land is fairest of all?

The mirror answered:

You, my queen, are fair; it is true.
But Little Snow-White with the seven dwarfs
Is a thousand times fairer than you.

When the queen heard this, she shook and trembled with anger, “Snow-White will die, if it costs me my life!” Then she went into her most secret room — no one else was allowed inside — and she made a poisoned, poisoned apple. From the outside it was red and beautiful, and anyone who saw it would want it. Then she disguised herself as a peasant woman, went to the dwarfs’ house and knocked on the door.

Snow-White peeped out and said, “I’m not allowed to let anyone in. The dwarfs have forbidden it most severely.”

“If you don’t want to, I can’t force you,” said the peasant woman. “I am selling these apples, and I will give you one to taste.”

“No, I can’t accept anything. The dwarfs don’t want me to.”

“If you are afraid, then I will cut the apple in two and eat half of it. Here, you eat the half with the beautiful red cheek!” Now the apple had been so artfully made that only the red half was poisoned. When Snow-White saw that the peasant woman was eating part of the apple, her desire for it grew stronger, so she finally let the woman hand her the other half through the window. She bit into it, but she barely had the bite in her mouth when she fell to the ground dead.

The queen was happy, went home, and asked her mirror:

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Who in this land is fairest of all?

And it answered:

You, my queen, are fairest of all.

“Now I’ll have some peace,” she said, “because once again I’m the most beautiful woman in the land. Snow-White will remain dead this time.”

That evening the dwarfs returned home from the mines. Snow-White was lying on the floor, and she was dead. They loosened her laces and looked in her hair for something poisonous, but nothing helped. They could not bring her back to life. They laid her on a bier, and all seven sat next to her and cried and cried for three days. They were going to bury her, but they saw that she remained fresh. She did not look at all like a dead person, and she still had beautiful red cheeks. They had a glass coffin made for her, and laid her inside, so that she could be seen easily. They wrote her name and her ancestry on it in gold letters, and one of them always stayed at home and kept watch over her.

Snow-White lay there in the coffin a long, long time, and she did not decay. She was still as white as snow and as red as blood, and if she had been able to open her eyes, they still would have been as black as ebony wood. She lay there as if she were asleep.

One day a young prince came to the dwarfs’ house and wanted shelter for the night. When he came into their parlor and saw Snow-White lying there in a glass coffin, illuminated so beautifully by seven little candles, he could not get enough of her beauty. He read the golden inscription and saw that she was the daughter of a king. He asked the dwarfs to sell him the coffin with the dead Snow-White, but they would not do this for any amount of gold. Then he asked them to give her to him, for he could not live without being able to see her, and he would keep her, and honor her as his most cherished thing on earth. Then the dwarfs took pity on him and gave him the coffin.

The prince had it carried to his castle, and had it placed in a room where he sat by it the whole day, never taking his eyes from it. Whenever he had to go out and was unable to see Snow-White, he became sad. And he could not eat a bite, unless the coffin was standing next to him. Now the servants who always had to carry the coffin to and fro became angry about this. One time one of them opened the coffin, lifted Snow-White upright, and said, “We are plagued the whole day long, just because of such a dead girl,” and he hit her in the back with his hand. Then the terrible piece of apple that she had bitten off came out of her throat, and Snow-White came back to life.

She walked up to the prince, who was beside himself with joy to see his beloved Snow-White alive. They sat down together at the table and ate with joy.

Their wedding was set for the next day, and Snow-White’s godless mother was invited as well. That morning she stepped before the mirror and said:

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Who in this land is fairest of all?
The mirror answered:
You, my queen, are fair; it is true.
But the young queen
Is a thousand times fairer than you.

She was horrified to hear this, and so overtaken with fear that she could not say anything. Still, her jealousy drove her to go to the wedding and see the young queen. When she arrived she saw that it was Snow-White. Then they put a pair of iron shoes into the fire until they glowed, and she had to put them on and dance in them. Her feet were terribly burned, and she could not stop until she had danced herself to death.

State of the Borough: Marty Striptease Edition

Borough President Marty Markowitz's enters Sunset Park High School

Once a year, Marty Markowitz gives his state of the borough address. This year, he rode onto the stage on a bicycle, trashed the Prospect Park Bike Lane, vowed to lose weight, and ended the 90 minute address with a poll-dancing striptease lesson. Sounds about right to us.

Atlantic Yards Report looks at the speech and writes up the applause lines, while the New York Post summarizes the highlights.

In other news, Streetsblog's Ben Fried lashes into Markowitz for making light of street safety measures and Marty Markowitz Eating has a new Passover-themed matzo brei recipe video. It's got apple juice.

Ok, here's the actual entrance video complete with an introduction from Queen. Hey, is that Stefano and Nydia Velazquez in the front row?

Linderman Leaves the Gazette

Goodbye, Greenpoint Gazette!
Feb 03, 2011 by Juliet Linderman

After two and a half exciting years, it’s finally time for me to hang up my press hat and bid farewell to the Greenpoint Gazette. I do so, however, with a tremendous amount of love and admiration for this newspaper, this community and this neighborhood.

I started as the managing editor of the Greenpoint Gazette in October of 2008. I had just graduated from college and was dying to find a job—any job, really—in the newspaper biz. Before landing the position at the Gazette I lived in Park Slope (I moved to the nabe shortly thereafter), and had only made the trek up to Greenpoint a handful of times. I remember getting off the train on my first day and feeling confused. ‘Where am I?’ I thought. ‘It feels like the end of the earth out here.’

Fast-forward two and a half years. I’ve gotten to know every corner of this neighborhood from the poisonous banks of Newtown Creek to the complicated borders of the Broadway Triangle, the classic arches of McGolrick Park to the dazzling waterfront view of East River State, the bustling commercial corridor of Franklin Street to the Polish delicatessens along Nassau Avenue. This is a neighborhood with an eclectic cultural legacy, but also a place of immense change and it has been a pleasure and privilege to write about the communities that call Greenpoint home.

We’ve been through a lot together over the past couple of years. We’ve watched high-rises grow up along the waterfront to sit empty in the wake of the housing bust, mega-developments get approved by certain city agencies and shot down by others, old elected officials step down or be ousted in favor of a new political guard, Newtown Creek finally see the Superfund status so many members of this community fought long and hard for.

I am a New York City transplant originally from San Francisco, and before moving to Greenpoint I had never really felt like a part of any particular community in New York. But now I’m a Greenpointer, and I thank you all for that. It has been a truly amazing experience to watch this neighborhood grow and develop, and get to know so many residents of the Garden Spot, new and old. The commitment you show to your community is inspiring, and is a testament to the spirit of this place. You are some of the strongest political, social and environmental advocates I’ve ever met, and I have the utmost respect for the dedication you display and the battles you fight on a daily basis.

So, thank you Greenpoint, for making my tenure at the Greenpoint Gazette so satisfying, and for welcoming me into this community with open arms. Thank you for all the tips and phone calls, the e-mails and invitations. I served this community to the best of my ability, and I hope I did right by all of you.

Lastly: I am by no means cutting ties with the Greenpoint Gazette. You’ll still see my bylines now and then, maybe in the form of a weekly column, maybe attached to sporadic feature stories. Either way, you’ll most certainly still see me around the neighborhood, and please don’t hesitate to call or write me with story ideas: you’ve all got my number.

So goodbye for now, Greenpoint. I’ll see you soon, no doubt.

All Best,
Juliet Linderman

Daily Links

City's threats to seize your fence got you down? Joe Lentol and friends got you back!

Let's comb through the links.

*Everyone is atwitter on Monitor Street after the city sent letters threatening that residents remove "encroachments" on public property. New York Shitty has video of last night's meeting, including the seminal moment when Joe slapped the table to maintain order.

*The Brooklyn Paper's Andy Campbell gets beaten up in Cobble Hill.

*Williamsburg's fashion Id Izzy Grinspan looks at Valentines Day in the hood... and cringes a bit.

*Benjamin Lozovsky at the WG News and Arts profiles the unfortunate story of the 99% Gallery's closure.

*Sticking with the WG, sharp profile by Mary Yeung on the Cinema on the Waterfront.

*Times Up! stages a Love-In at the Manhattan Bridge.


*Finally, the Borough President's address is tonight. And Marty Markowitz Eating has been updated. Expect the floodgates to open if there's a buffet after the speech. Let's go back to 2008 for a video highlight!

Letter from Teresa Toro

The CB1 Listerv Passion Party has been moved to the Williamsburgh Savings Bank building.

I took half a day yesterday to recover from a sore throat, and the community board 1 listerv blows up again. Because of this. And this. And did you know that Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh's new nickname is CB1? I digress.

Basically, a Williamsburg resident posted a "passion party" solicitation on community board 1's unofficial yahoo group listserv. The group is typically not the place for advertisements (a local carpet business spammed the listserv two months ago and was chased away) so a board member raised some criticism about that, which prompted the author to complain to the board office yesterday. Now the listserv's administrator, former board member Teresa Toro, felt it was necessary to respond to the controversy. Below is her letter:

Dear Members:

The purpose of the CB1Info Yahoo Group is stated on the home page, and most people adhere to it most of the time. There have been very few instances of misuse or abuse, clearly demonstrating to me that most of us act like responsible adults, most of the time – meaning we have a general sense of what constitutes an appropriate post or comment for this particular audience. Hundreds of posts over the years support this observation.

I started this Yahoo Group eight years ago so community members could share news, information, and even opinions about our community in Greenpoint-Williamsburg, Brooklyn. (Or Williamsburg-Greenpoint, if you prefer.) For the most part, posts are pretty mundane. We see a lot of announcements about upcoming community meetings. Occasionally there are invitations to fundraisers organized by local groups or businesses who give back to the community. And sometimes a local business will announce special events (McCarren Park Greenmarket, Gym Park). No one seems to find these occasional, courteously worded posts by local businesses (which are also part of our community) to be objectionable – if they do, no one has gone to the trouble of complaining openly about it.

During campaign/election season in particular, group posts and comments can get heated and downright spicy, but people seem to sense when it's time to back off – or someone reminds them – and they desist. Even then, no formal group moderation has been necessary.

I can only speak for myself, not my fellow group moderators, but it would be a drag for me to play a formal Standards & Practices role here. The only work we moderators currently do is to make sure new members are not spambots, which is the only reason why the group is members-only in the first place. I'm not inclined to start censoring or moderating this group, which has seen very few conflicts like this over the years. Free speech has worked well enough for us here, and I strongly believe in it. (Please note that this isn't an invitation from me to more Passion Party events, nor anything else that fits into the realm of intimacy and interpersonal relationships – there are many online groups and forums to satisfy those interests, while there aren't many forums dedicated to community happenings.)

If group members or my fellow moderators want to establish an appropriateness policy, and commit themselves to enforce it, you certainly are free to do so, if there's a strong majority in favor of it. All I can say is this is your group, not merely mine. I simply believe that we can continue to have a group whose membership acts appropriately 99% of the time, and are willing to weather the occasional storm when someone makes an error in judgment.

Thanks for reading,
Teresa

But, the party's still on, right?

Daily Links

Mayor Bloomberg and Staten Island Chuck take a joyride to New Jersey after too much blizzard coverage gets to hizzoner.

Yes, Chuck, the Staten Island groundhog is predicting only four more weeks of winter but Artie, the 20-lb football-sized rat that has permanently camped out on the platform of the Morgan Avenue L-train station saw his shadow and scurried into a corner. So, Williamsburg will get more snow. Onto the links!

*Church officials called the police at Our Lady of Montserrat (and St. Michaels St. Edwards) on Sunday to provide security in case parishioners demonstrated before the Diocese closed the churches permanently.

*The city wants to take a few feet of property from Monitor Street residents to build new water mains, forcing homeowners to remove 100-year-old brick and wrought iron fences.

*Rich Calder at The Post brings news of the city awarding the contract for expanded ferry service on the East River to NY Waterway (which runs the Staten Island Ferry) and not to New York Water Taxi. Ward at 11211 expounds on the implications.

*WNYC's Azi Paybarah breaks down Gov. Cuomo's budget proposal on Brian Lehrer this morning. Public radio's Paybarah pick-up looks better and better. Nice job, Azi.

*WNYC's Jennifer Hsu visits Bushwick to find a man who makes tempeh from scratch in an incubator. My question: Is it radioactive?

*Windshields in Sheepshead Bay this morning look like the inside of my refrigerator.

*Eastern District (the bar/ cafe, not the art gallery) gets some love in the Times.

*Want to watch the Super Bowl around fans of either the Packers or the Steelers? Head to Cobble Hill.

*The Observer and The Brooklyn Paper round-up the wild-haired and mustached gents who entered the 2011 Brooklyn Beardfest and Stache Bash at The Bell House. Just a note, this blog's nominations for the All-Brooklyn Facial Hair All-Stars will be announced on Friday. Shockingly Brett Keisel did not qualify.

Obama meets LPR and KPC hangs with VJL

President Obama and First Lady Michele Obama meet Sen. Al Franken in the White House

December was a whirlwind for Brooklyn's young District Leaders, including Lincoln Restler and Kevin Peter Carroll. Restler and his campaign manager, Sarah Baker, got invited to the White House last month for one of several Christmas parties the president hosts. He also managed to defeat Santa Claus in an arm wrestling match and won 200 proxy votes as his prize.

Restler's New Kings Democrats colleagues Matt Cowherd and Theo Moore were not invited to the White House, so they had to settle with a cardboard cutout of the president instead.

Someone call Reggie Love, Cowherd's a little too close for my comfort.

Finally, Kevin Peter Carroll threw a party of his own and everybody showed up. Even Elton John.

Daily Links

Congratulations to Disasterpiece for winning the 2011 Idiotarod!

I'll have more Idiotarod photos later, but let's get to the weekend tidbits:

*Rose Music Live and the cozy restaurant Vutera are closing at the end of the month.

*State Sen. Eric Adams is appropriating the NYPD's "If you see something, say something" phrase and bringing it on home-- by teaching parents to spy on their kids in a new video. And I've got it:


*It's women playing football! Meredith Deliso has a preview.

*The Times reports that the state has shut down the Williamsburg tortilla factory on Grand Street after a worker died from being crushed by a mixing machine last week.

*The new WG News is out, and there's a lot of arts coverage. I'll link to more this week, but check out the profile of artist Andrew Ohanesian who's creepy sculptures of interior rooms such as a jetway, a walk-in bodega refrigerator, and a dilapidated one-story house are among the most exciting exhibitions in Brooklyn.
Art writer James Calm explores that last one at English Kills:

Daily Links

Anthony Bordain shouldn't waste his time at Katz's and visit Mile End instead.

We've got not one but two Vito Lopez is out-and-about profiles. The Observer's Reid Pillifant follows Vito to a Stonewall meeting (and gets pilloried, metaphorically) while The Brooklyn Paper looks at Lopez's busy legislative agenda.

Looks like Greenpoint is still a bit blizzard buried and slowly digging out (New York Shitty).

Stephen Brown at Fort Greene Patch looks at the future of Myrtle Avenue.

God forbid Mott Haven in the South Bronx becomes the next Bushwick.

Finally, Megan Sperry is working on a documentary about the New Domino project and she needs to raise some money for it. Here's a preview.


Wait, that's the wrong link. Here we go.

The Domino Effect (Trailer) from The Domino Effect on Vimeo.

Daily Links

Hey Mr. Plow, stop rapping and dig out Flatbush!

Another massive snowstorm blew through the city, dropping more than a foot of snow and canceling school.

Like that stalled, burned out cab in the middle of Roebling Street right now, the Broadway Triangle lawsuit will continue forward not going forward, after a Manhattan judge denied the city's motion to lift a stay on development on the site. Or at least until the snow melts.

At some point later this year, Marty Needelman is going to cradle Steve Levin in his arms and repeat, "It's not your fault" over and over.

*The city is hiking recreation fees, and tennis players are upset.

*Dana Rubinstein profiles Governor Cuomo's communications director Richard Bamberger for Capital New York.

*I think I found a place to celebrate my birthday this year.

*Williamsburg's adorable "microcelebrity" Cole Escola is performing at Joe's Pub. Capital New York catches up and L Magazine previews the show.

I think Cole's a fan of Taylor Swift

Marty Markowitz's Love Affair With Food

Once in a great while, a blog comes along that taps into the cultural zeitgeist while also elevating the public's understanding of a complex world around them. This is not that blog. Instead, it is a tumblr site of photographs of Borough President Markowitz eating or surrounded by food, entitled Marty Markowitz Eating.

Already the critics are raving:
*F*cked in Park Slope called it the BEST F*ING TUMBLR EVER
*Village Voice food and culture writer Rebecca Marx linked it up
*Grub Street dug up a priceless food-related Marty quote.
*L Magazine prostrated itself for an interview with the mystery blogger, who explained that Markowitz's food adventures come from his desire to promote Brooklyn's burgeoning food industry, by "killing two birds with one fork." I would add, that Marty would then grill the birds over a spit and shish kebab them.
*And finally -- holy sh#t-- Erin Durkin at The Daily News interviewed the blog author. This is out of control.

I called a political consultant to comment on the public's fascination with Marty Markowitz's fascination with food. Typically, politicos politely shun meals served at events, or eat quickly in a corner, for fear of being photographed swallowing something. But Marty puts food front in center. And then there's this:

"This is the best diet. Watching Marty Markowitz shove food in his mouth is like watching ducks being force fed before their intestines explode. That's how they make foie gras."

Photographs of Marty eating is a Tumblr gift that keeps giving. Like one of those Russian dolls, except if it were made of creme-filled chocolate.

The next tumblr blog should be Mayor Bloomberg Not Eating.

Daily Links

This looks like a job for... Blizzard man!

*Tom Tracy at The Brooklyn Paper has more details about that strange cat-astrophe in a Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg. Yes, I went there.

*And just down the street, The Daily News' Juan Gonzalez looks at the story of the Guatemalan immigrant worker who died in a tragic tortilla factory accident and the inspiring story of the factory's owner, Erasmo Ponce.

*Hat tip to Time Out New York which talks pork with Traif's Jason Marcus in one of the better food round-ups I've seen in a while. It's all about the hidden gems around Havemeyer Street, including Nha Toi, Sugar Beets Thai, and several delis, butcher shops and seafood markets. The first reviews of the restaurant focused on the gulf between hipster Williamsburg and Hasidic Williamsburg below Broadway, but what this interview reveals instead is that Traif is successful because it incorporates the tastes and Spanish/ Asian cultures of the neighborhood's changing immigrant south side.

*The Brooklyn Eagle's Linda Collins digs underneath a historic Gowanus household, originally owned by a tugboat captain to find artifacts from the late 1800s.

*Finally, Sheepshead Bites is upset at the lack of plows in South Brooklyn and the South Brooklyn Blizzard Response Hearing has been canceled... due to snow.

It's going to snow through the weekend... which means your porch will look like this.

CB 1 Sexy Party Returns...

The all-girls sexy party strikes the Community Board Listserv again... behold!:

HELLO LADIES!!!!
PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR THIS VALENTINES!!!!!
FEB 4TH AT 6PM -9PM

I AM HAVING A GIRL'S PARTY NIGHT IN WILLIAMSBURG. THESE PARTIES ARE FOR ADULTS
ONLY. IT IS A PASSION PARTY WITH ADULT ITEMS TO SELL. WE WILL HAVE GAMES AND
DRINKS (LIMITED ON DRINKS)I NEED TO HAVE AT LEAST 10 GIRLS OR SO TO HAVE A NICE
TIME. UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE GENEROUS ;) LOL

THIS PARTY WILL BE IN A COMMUNITY ROOM IN MY BUILDING OR MY APARTMENT IT IS A
SAFE BUILDING WITH SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS AND THERE IS NO CHARGE TO COME OR
MANDATORY BUYING. IT'S JUST A COOL ADULT PARTY! IF YOU DO LIKE ANYTHING YOU CAN
BUY. YOU CAN PLAY SOME OF THE GAMES AND HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN SOME ITEMS. YOU CAN
ALSO ORDER FROM A CATALOG.

I NEED TO GET A COUNT BY THIS WEEK SO PASS ON THE WORD AND PLEASE EMAIL ME IF
YOU ARE INTERESTED OR WANT MORE INFO!

POSSIBLE DATE 02/04/2010 @6PM SHARP
PLACE: 366 HEWES STREET
BRING A FRIEND!
SEND ME YOUR EMAIL SO I CAN FORWARD THE EVITE AND GET A COUNT PLEASE!
*****ONLY IF WE GET 10 OR MORE LADIES WILL THIS EVENT GO ON!!!!!! UNLESS YOU GET A CONFIRMATION IT WILL NOT BE SET
THANKS!!!!!

Daily Links

Rudy Gay wins my media vote for the NBA All Stars.

The cold has broken, but the stories keep coming in, including yet another omen for the decline of the newspaper industry.

*A horrible accident occurred during the night shift at a Williamsburg tortilla factory two days ago, when a 22-year-old immigrant worker reached into a mixing machine, which then crushed him to death. The factory doesn't have any history of OSHA violations, but expect a long follow-up report.

*Reid Pillifant looks at New York's newest odd couple: Congressmen Peter King and Anthony Weiner. Warning, this article has an NC-17 rating just for language.

*If you find yourself asking who Rachel Sterne is... well, you should read Gillian Regan's report at CapitalNY.

*City Journal asks where the Korean groceries went? (Answer: Williamsburg)

*Finally, the Idiotarod is returning on Saturday. Below, a video from last year.

Weird CB1 Listserv Spam of the Week

Can anyone explain what is going on in the below message? And what it would look like if the board went to this?

HELLO,

I AM HAVING A GIRL'S PARTY NIGHT IN WILLIAMSBURG. THESE PARTIES ARE FOR ADULTS ONLY. IT IS A PASSION PARTY WITH ADULT ITEMS TO SELL. WE WILL HAVE GAMES AND DRINKS (LIMITED ON DRINKS)I NEED TO HAVE AT LEAST 10 GIRLS OR SO TO HAVE A NICE TIME.

THIS PARTY WILL BE IN A COMMUNITY ROOM IN MY BUILDING OR MY APARTMENT IT IS A SAFE BUILDING WITH SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS AND THERE IS NO CHARGE TO COME OR MANDATORY BUYING. IT'S JUST A COOL ADULT PARTY! IF YOU DO LIKE ANYTHING YOU CAN BUY. YOU CAN PLAY SOME OF THE GAMES AND HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN SOME ITEMS. YOU CAN ALSO ORDER FROM A CATALOG.

I NEED TO GET A COUNT BY THIS WEEK SO PASS ON THE WORD AND PLEASE EMAIL ME IF YOU ARE INTERESTED OR WANT MORE INFO!

######@YAHOO.COM

THANKS!
MISS. ######

Frozen Monday links

It's a cold one today, doncha know?

Let's take five!

*The New York Times anoints Williamsburg as Toddlertown, complete with anecdotal evidence to prove its point! Take a deep breath Ward. More on this later.

*A partner with Il Buco wants to open an Italian bakery on Kent Avenue across from Domino. It's not Eataly, but the concept of bakery, specialty food store and restaurant should win over the waterfront.

*Tenants at 338 Berry hope the Loft Law will shield them from an aggressive landlord.

*Jeff Mann at the Gazette looks at the Polish petition over concentration camps.

*The Real Deal's hardbitten editorial writer Amy Tennery looks at a mortgage scheme gone bad on S. Second Street.

Yes it's really that cold outside. What are you going to do? Make a song about it?

Thursday links

It must have been busy in Queens this morning.

*The tri-state mob sweep is leading the news this morning, which means William Rashbaum and John Marzulli are going to be hard to reach today.

*The Newtown Creek Nature Walk is expanding.

*Live in Bushwick from Community Board Four!

*Brooklyn housing data is out and BusinessWeek and the Wall Street Journal note that home sales are in decline compared with last year.

*Finally, the Brooklyn Paper's Andy Campbell tries the new Williamsburg Camel cigarettes and is upset that they taste like regular Camel Lights.

Wednesday links

Mayor Bloomberg makes a pit stop.

Mayor Bloomberg's state of the city is upon us, which will drive the news today. The New York Times and DNAInfo Manhattan have an advance look at the speech, City Hall News plots Bloomberg's "comeback," and the Wall Street Journal picks out the mayor's livery cab proposal making it legal for livery cabs to pick up passengers in the outer boroughs.

But onto some other links.

*It's been far too long since I put up a Chris Bragg story. Here is his report on Walmart and the city's labor unions and the dueling Walmart surveys at City Hall News.

*The Daily News' Erin Durkin finds theft at an East New York nursing home.

*Commercial property sales surged in Brooklyn, but there's a more comprehensive report coming out today, so we'll have to compare.

*Classically-trained Dan Deacon is the prince of percussive pop, although I'm just stringing words together at this point.

*Finally, Greenpoint is getting a fart factory. And Jeff Daniels is going to manage it.


*Bonus link! This is what happens when Jim Dwyer is on leave.

Tuesday links

Let's take ten in honor of the new Greenpoint CoWorking site on Norman Avenue.

*More details are emerging about the weekend shooting on Monitor Street that left a 30-year-old man on life support. New York Shitty has notes from last night's brief precinct meeting.

*Greenpoint residents are upset about a fence on Noble Street blocking access to the river and New York Shitty adds on.

*A man who allegedly tried to rape a woman in an elevator at Bushwick Houses has been arrested.

*Checking in with Achievement First Bushwick.

*Meanwhile there were two big fires in Bushwick this week.

*Landlords are losing out on rent now that the off-track betting shops are closed.

*Atlantic Yards Report analyzes the Nets-Carmelo rumors (and so does Capital New York's Howard Megdal regarding the Carmelo-Knicks rumors.

*Steiner Studios is doubling in size thanks to some federal funding (but Greenpoint Broadway Stages is still having trouble getting that bond

*A very detailed, interesting piece out of Gotham Gazette about the city's growing income gap.

*And the Wall Street Journal tours the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in this video.

Press Release of the Week: Illegal Liquid Silicone

For Immediate Release
January 14, 2011 United States Attorney's Office
Southern District of New York

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Charges Bronx Woman with Illegal Administration of Liquid Silicone Injections Through Underground Business

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, JANICE K. FEDARCYK, the Assistant Director-In-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), and MARK DRAGONETTI, Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigations ("FDA"), announced the arrest today of WHALESCA CASTILLO on charges that she administered illegal injections of liquid silicone for cosmetic purposes, as part of an underground business she ran out of her Bronx home. The Complaint alleges that CASTILLO, who does not have a medical license, charged over $1,000 in some instances for each round of shots.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA said: "As we allege, Whalesca Castillo put the health of unsuspecting women at risk, all to make a quick buck. She compounded the danger in which she placed her clients by allegedly discouraging at least one woman from seeking medical attention after she developed complications from the injections. We will continue to work with our partners at the FBI and the FDA to expose and prosecute such underground operations that seek to profit by offering unsafe treatments at the expense of public health and safety."

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge JANICE K. FEDARCYK stated: "Castillo allegedly performed procedures she was not licensed to perform, using substances unapproved for that purpose. She knew what she was doing was illegal, as she told one of her customers. In her thirst for profit, she put lives in peril. The mission of the FBI Health Care Fraud Task Force is not only to minimize the monetary effects of fraud, but to protect the health and safety of the public from unscrupulous practitioners."

FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Special Agent-in-Charge MARK DRAGONETTI said: "FDA's regulatory requirements are designed to ensure the safety and quality of the medical devices and drugs distributed to American consumers. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute those who disregard regulatory requirements and jeopardize the public health by engaging in the distribution of unapproved and misbranded products."

According to the Complaint unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:

Although the FDA has approved certain forms of silicone for cosmetic use, it has prohibited the injection of liquid silicone or silicone gel to fill wrinkles or augment tissues anywhere in the body for public and health safety reasons. Tissue augmentation using injectable fillers such as silicone has resulted in death and serious injuries in both the United States and abroad, especially when injections are performed by unlicensed practitioners and outside a clinical setting. Risks associated with such injections include permanent lumps within the skin, infection, skin ulceration, and potentially fatal pulmonary blood clots.

Since at least 2009, CASTILLO, who does not hold a medical or nursing license of any kind in New York State, has imported liquid silicone from the Dominican Republic, and administered injections of it to women for breast and buttocks enhancement. She has administered these injections in her Bronx home, telling women that the injections are safe, and charging them hundreds of dollars per injection. One woman, who paid CASTILLO $1,000 for injections, experienced pain and shortness of breath following the procedure, and fainted within hours of the procedure. After being revived by her boyfriend, the woman called CASTILLO to report her medical symptoms. CASTILLO discouraged the woman from seeking proper medical attention, saying that a hospital would not help her because the procedure was illegal.

In November and December 2010, federal agents, working together with the New York City Police Department and the New York City Department of Sanitation, Environmental Police Haz-Mat Unit, recovered numerous trash bags in the vicinity of CASTILLO's home. The trash bags contained over one hundred bottles, some of which were tested and had silicone residue on them, syringes, needles, bloodied gauze, and dozens of tubes of Krazy Glue, which unlicensed practitioners sometimes use to seal puncture wounds.

CASTILLO, 36, of Bronx, New York, is charged with one count of distributing an adulterated or misbranded product. She faces a maximum of three years in prison on that charge.

Mr. BHARARA praised the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations, the New York City Police Department, and the New York City Department of Sanitation for their work in investigating this case. He also said that the investigation is continuing.

The FBI has set up a hotline, in English and Spanish, that individuals can call if they received liquid silicone injections from WHALESCA CASTILLO or anyone else. That number is (212) 384-2400.

This case is being handled by the Office's Complex Frauds Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney SARAH LAI is in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Video of the day: Rat attack!

A rat attacks a subway passenger on the 4 train- and it gets captured on video. Note how nonchalantly the man brushes away the rat, which awoke him from his slumber, and how nobody tried to help him.

And minutes later, someone creates a t-shirt inspired by the rat attack.

CB1 January thoughts, sponsored by White Castle

Community Board 1 gets its snack on via White Castle after last night's meeting.

A couple of thoughts about last night's meeting before moving onto other topics.

*It was one of those kitchen sink meetings that had a lot of little things to chew on (new bar openings, a mild debate over two venues Club Rust and The Wick, moderately substantial committee reports) but no big-picture controversy or presentation to frame the whole thing, so it felt pretty lethargic. I kept waiting for Mieszko to break free for a 40 yard run or for Esteban to lash out at something, but it didn't really happen.

*Councilmembers Diana Reyna and Steve Levin did not show up. I don't know what Diana's excuse was but Steve was busy climbing a rock wall at a fundraiser in the Gowanus. Fortunately, Patch.com's Carrol Gardens' edition has a photograph (right).

*If I had to pick five new things that you'll probably hear more about in the coming weeks that came out of that meeting they'd be anaerobic gas, The Wick, the Polish Slavic Center's cafeteria, the Noble Street fence, and the Kosciouszko Foundation's concentration camp messaging campaign which is a nice NYTimes/ NPR feature story that I haven't read yet.

*Neighbors Allied for Good Growth's Lacey Tauber isn't talking to the press anymore because "spambots" stole her identity and are commenting on the blogs. That's a new one.


*Jason Otano, the seductive-cherubic (seducherubic?) 31-year-old general counsel for Borough President Markowitz pushed a few upcoming Marty-centric events and reminded people to re-up to the board in a couple of months. Jason would be a nice addition to CB1 but he can't join the board because he's the guy who helps pick who gets on all the boards.

*The city declared a state of emergency at 4:47 pm yesterday and snow plows hit the streets maybe an hour after the snow started to fall. Looks like the sanitation officers decided to spend a little less time in the jacuzzi with Linda Ronstadt.

*What exactly is in "crack pie?"

*Finally, I can't stop watching this video of Secretary of State Clinton tripping on the portable stairway and tumbling into her plane. She can take a fall with the best of them.