Brooklyn is the Coolest City on the Planet

10/21/2011 | Comment

GQ validates our lifestyle choices by calling out Brooklyn as the coolest city on earth for its food. Even Alan Richman is on board – proclaiming the chef’s table at Brooklyn Fare to be the “most exciting restaurant in New York“.

Meanwhile, Fucked in Park Slope is not entirely impressed (and most of their comments are pretty apt).

Santorini Grill: Pay What You Want for Dinner

For its fourth anniversary, Santorini Grill on Grand Street is instituting a pay-what-you-want policy. Santorini’s food is great (as Gothamist notes), the portions are huge, and the staff and owners are very nice. It was a bargain before, even more so now.

BushwickBK Shuts Down

10/20/2011 | Comment

BushwickBK, last night:

For many reasons, it’s not working out. It takes too much money and time to do this, so BushwickBK is shutting down for some period of time, and possibly forever. Turns out, sadly, we were never in the pockets of The Developers ™ or anyone else. The site and all its resources will stay up, and we will probably run occasional pieces. The Twitter feed (@bushwickbk) will probably continue to update as well.

This is a loss – BushwickBK managed to be a lot more than a neighborhood blog. It had some great reporting, strong editing and a ton of content. That’s tough to maintain, even if you are in the pockets of the The Developers or anyone else.

Ladies, Please Move to the Back of the Bus

Women on a public bus route (operated by a private company) are told to move to the back of the bus, where they belong.

This is illegal, right?

The 70’s as #OWS Prologue

Perhaps the most creative acts of resistance occurred in November, when the city shut Engine Company 212, a fire company in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Tipped off to the imminent closure by an air-raid siren, residents occupied the fire station, refusing to leave or to let the fire engine be driven away. They slept and ate there, and held meetings every Tuesday night that were open to the community and attracted large numbers of activists. After a 16-month occupation, the firehouse reopened.

North Brooklynites Demand Promised Parks

The Where’s Our Park coalition held a rally this past weekend to protest the lack of progress on the City’s promise to to bring more parks to the neighborhood.

‘Every community deserves access to open space — and North Brooklyn is no exception,’ said state Sen. Daniel Squadron. ‘It’s time for the city to fulfill its promise and make Bushwick Inlet Park a reality.’

Coney’s Axed Eateries May be Back

Ruby’s Bar & Grill and Paul’s Daughter are two boardwalk establishments that were thought to be history – now they may not be.

[via @Lola_Star_]

Examining MetroCard Usage

Speaking of cool maps – the Wall Street Journal has an interactive map showing MetroCard usage by type of card and station.

Hours of fun.

[via @felixsalmon]

Bicyclist Killed in East Williamsburg

Tragic – another bike fatality, this one in industrial East Williamsburg (in an area that has seen other very similar bike fatalities in past years). From what I hear, the driver of the flatbed trailer truck may not have known that he hit anyone.

Visualizing a Changing Region, Block by Block

CUNY’s Center for Urban Research has posted a very cool block-level map comparing the 2000 and 2010 census. (Based on work I’ve been doing, the 2010 census for part of North Brooklyn is flat out wrong, so take the numbers with a big grain of salt – but CUNY’s map is a thing of beauty.)

[via @OASISnycmaps]