The New York Times has a large article today detailing the exquisite, and expensive, pizza at Brooklyn's Di Fara pizzaria. At 5 bucks a slice it better be good! All the pizza there is made by the restaurant's 72 year old owner and chef Domenico De Marco. You can read the full Time's article HERE.
Born in Brooklyn on Oct. 10, 1910, Julius Shulman is credited with creating and idealizing the very notion of what was California, Mid-Century modern. You can read the full obituary HERE
There are two large scale flea markets happening in Brooklyn these days. The New York Post keeps score and dissects the goods, the crowds, the winner and the loser. You can read the Post article HERE.
"'In the engine room of the Wonder Wheel in Coney Island, a mere 60-horsepower engine moves 200 tons of steel. It's a low-maintenance system, with the engine taking a little oil daily." From the NY Times. More HERE.
The New York Times has a charming piece HERE, on Short Al, aka, Albert Kaufman, a FANdroid and regular caller into WFAN's sports radio, who suddenly and mysteriously disappeared.
The New York Times lays out, HERE, a day for tourists who want to sample Hassidic Williamsburg.
(AP) -"The stork deserves a summer vacation after a record 74 newborns were delivered in 48 hours at a Brooklyn hospital.
The Maimonides Medical Center called in staff reinforcements and opened an extra wing after the 60-bed birthing suite was filled to capacity during a surprise baby surge last week. Hospital spokeswoman Eileen Tynion says that veteran staff often swap stories about spikes in baby births, but couldn't recall such a tyke-storm as the one that began on Tuesday. She says once or twice a year about 65 babies are born over 48 hours. The usual tempo for the hospital is about 20 bundles of joy a day. Tynion says the closures of two Brooklyn hospitals might have helped stoke the surge. She says there were no complaints from moms".
A recent profile in the new York Times examines the Rev. A.R Bernard and his Brooklyn mega church. With 10,000 customers/ parishoners, "the Rev. A. R. Bernard leads the Christian Cultural Center in East New York. He believes in treating his church members like customers: “We say, ‘FedEx-fast, Disney-friendly. Because what he does is peddle a product. Not a proprietary product, of course, but the same product as every minister: a relationship with God." “We all get our meat from the same warehouse,” he said. “Lamb is lamb. Beef is beef. It’s how we prepare it.” You can read the full article HERE.
From the NY Times. "In the birthplace of Michael Jordan, where basketball is king, Brooklyn’s Brad and Brandon Belle are virtually unknown.
Yet the Belle brothers, 14-year-old identical twins and table tennis prodigies whose stellar play has opponents doing double takes, have quickly become the Venus and Serena Williams of their sport." The New York Times has more HERE.
The Daily Beast, caught up in the P.R machine's campaign to promote Larry King's new book, has a detailed account of a swell reception held for King in the "art-filled living room" of Howard Rubenstein's fifth avenue apartment.
“If you had told me when I was a little kid in Brooklyn that I would be in an apartment with an art collection like I’ve never seen in my life, hosted by a famous Jewish guy who gets other people out of trouble...” the proud author kvelled in his remarks to the crowd, “That the police commissioner would be here! In my neighborhood, if you said the police commissioner would be here, they would not show up!” Larry went on: You can read more HERE. I'm reminded, again, of a quote from Jay Z's 'Brooklyn, We Go Hard'; "I'm a Brooklyn boy, I may take some getting used to." Indeed!
He may, or may not, save the New York Times. Rumors and speculation are flying and motives and strategies are being questioned. One thing that is for certain though is that music impresario, and Hollywood, heavy weight David Geffen hails from Brooklyn!
"Geffen began his entertainment career in the mailroom at the William Morris Agency, where he quickly became an agent. In order to obtain the WMA job, he had to show proof of graduating college. Geffen forged a letter and submitted it to WMA. His colleagues in the mailroom included Barry Diller and Elliot Roberts, who later became David Geffen's partner in a management company. He was a hard worker, and spent his vacation time working in the mailroom of the Beverly Hills office of the WMA. He left William Morris to become a personal manager and was immediately successful with Laura Nyro and Crosby, Stills and Nash. In the process of looking for a record deal for young Jackson Browne, Ahmet Ertegün suggested that Geffen start his own record label." You can find out more about David Geffen HERE and HERE.
Brooklyn Based makes the case for Brooklyn's continuing relationship with the printed word and the efforts of one small Brooklyn publisher, Melville House, to keep the flame burning.
From Bruno Lacorazza of course. Mr. Lacorazza, who comes to Brooklyn via Columbia, via Miami, is one of the few makers and distributors of the traditional, black only, hats favored by Brooklyn's devout Jews. The New York Times has the full story and slide show HERE.
From the Transport Politic comes news that the possibility of street cars returning is under consideration. "New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Kahn, visiting Toronto, said that she wanted to consider the rebuilding of a streetcar transit network in Brooklyn, having learned that the street-running trains were quite efficient at attracting people away from their cars and in pushing transit-oriented development." It makes too much sense. While we are sceptical we cant help but wax romantic about the notion of the return of a Brooklyn icon. Get ready Trolly Dodgers!
Chandelier by Jason Miller
Today's New York Times article, "Made In Brooklyn" details this weekend's Seventh annual 'Bklyn Designs" show. It goes on to say that
“Brooklyn has become a space and a place where the thoughts and the ideas matter,” said Courtney Sloane, the principal at Alternative Design, who helped judge the Bklyn Designs entries. “At this moment, there’s definitely a shifting from what’s in Manhattan, to what’s happening in other boroughs.”
If the old "Gray Lady" has finally gotten around to noticing the cultural shift in New York City from the previous Manhattan centric construct to a more Parisian style city of multiple, cultural hotspots then you can be certain that the change is firmly, and perhaps irrevocably, in place.
"Crazy" Joe Gallo
From the Brooklyn Real Estate blog Brownstoner comes notice of a "Gangster Walking Tour of Redhook"
"This isn't your regular walking tour. Presented by Freebird Books, Tom Folsom, author of The Mad Ones: Crazy Joe Gallo and the Revolution at the Edge of the Underworld, will lead the tour over the classic Gallo turf where you can "relive the infamy of gangster-era Red Hook and the life and times of beatnik mobster Joey Gallo." Meet in front of Carroll Park this Saturday, May 9th at 1 p.m. This event is free and open to the public but please RSVP by calling 718-643-8484 or emailing info@freebirdbooks.com."
NEW YORK (AP) - Hundreds of people are remembering Grammy-nominated gospel singer the Rev. Timothy Wright at the Brooklyn church where he was pastor.
Ben Vereen was among those who paid respects at a viewing Saturday at the Grace Tabernacle Christian Center Church of God in Christ. The actor and dancer had known Wright for years and tells Newsday "his spirit will always be with me."
Remembrances are set to continue with a second viewing and a concert tribute Sunday. Wright's funeral is scheduled for Monday.
Wright died April 24. The 61-year-old "Godfather of Gospel" had been paralyzed from the neck down and in poor health since a July 4 car crash that killed his wife and grandson.
Son David Wright says he feels joy at knowing his father is no longer suffering.
'Brooklyn' is the name of a new novel by the Irish writer Colm Toibin. The novel tells the story of Ellis Lacey who in 1951, "reluctantly finds herself swept up in an unplanned adventure to America, engineered by the family priest and her glamorous, "ready for life" sister, Rose. Eilis's determination to embrace the spirit of the journey despite her trepidation--especially on behalf of Rose, who has sacrificed her own chance of leaving--makes a bittersweet center for Brooklyn. Colm Tóibín's spare portrayal of this contemplative girl is achingly lovely, and every sentence rings with truth. Readers will find themselves swept across the Atlantic with Eilis to a boarding house in Brooklyn where she painstakingly adapts to a new life, reinventing herself and her surroundings in the letters she writes home. Just as she begins to settle in with the help of a new love, tragedy calls her home to Enniscorthy, and her separate lives suddenly and painfully merge into one. Tóibín's haunted heroine glows on the page, unforgettably and lovingly rendered, and her story reflects the lives of so many others exiled from home." --Daphne Durham
The New York Times Sunday Book Review further examines the book HERE.
msnbc.com has a look at Brooklyn's continuing effort to develop the Brooklyn Navy Yard into fertile ground for the incubation of new industries and businesses. After decades of seeing business flee to New Jersey and else where, it is a stragey that seems to be paying off for both New York City and Brooklyn. You can find out more about the Navy Yard at their web site HERE
If there's one individual who encompasses the varied characteristics and all spice ingredients of the borough of Brooklyn it is Mike Tyson. He is sensitive, over sensitive, occasionally brutal, weak, made of "iron," child like, intelligent, idiotic, fearless and afraid all at the same time. If we ask ourselves: "why are we so fascinated by this fatally flawed man," the answer is simple. To examine Mike Tyson is to look at ourselves. Or as Flaubert famously said: "Madame Bovary, c'est moi."
Posts
All Comments
