We’re almost afraid that today is Friday the Thirteenth, given the kind of week it’s already been. Of course, there was the awful plane crash was on the Upper East Side, but Brooklyn had its own share of little mishaps and awfulness to color the second week of October, including the little construction boo-boo at […]

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The other day we related how Gowanus was the “meat” in an “awesome neighborhood sandwich” and how a real estate agent was even chatting up the Big G as a cool place to park your boat. Well, today, our friends at Dumbo NYC email to point out that the Brooklyn Daily Eagle ran an item […]

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Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related news stories, blog entries and images. Friday the 13th-ish: Dealing with Roaches in Your Dishwasher [Apartment Therapy] Haunted House of the Day [Clinton Hill Blog] Creep Show at the Freak Show [Kinetic Carnival] The Rest of the Stories: Planning Chair Burdens Claims Jane Jacobs Mantle, Tosses It for […]

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We were wandering around and found this really wonderful blog entry about the Empty Vessel Project on the Gowanus Canal. If you know Gowanus, you probably know the Empty Vessel Project, a World War II rescue boat that is moored at the foot of First Street and serves as a community and performance space. Recently, […]

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Everybody digs a Brooklyn raccoon, right? Wrong. There’s a heated discussion over at the Park Slope Forum about what pests they can be. A few people even say they have nasty Brooklyn raccoons that growl, charge and try to bite. (Insert Bensonhurst raccoon wisecrack here.) The original poster writes: Ive been feeding this cat on […]

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Is it just us, or did the Manhattan Bridge work nightmare just cease a couple of years ago? We don’t often write about the press releases that land in our Gowanus Lounge Inbox from the Department of Transportation, but the one that just arrived is enough to make anybody that sometimes crosses the East River […]

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So, like, you’re hungry and want your greens and don’t feel like hitting the Park Slope Food Coop or Fairway or the friendly spot on the corner. What to do? Go to Prospect Park and forage. In doing our daily check of Chowhound we came across the following item, which we reproduce in its entirety, […]

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This weekend and next will feature two of the Brooklyn art events we most look forward to every year. Coincidentally, both are celebrating their tenth anniversaries. We’re talking about the Dumbo Under the Bridge Festival, which runs from October 13-15, and the Annual Gowanus Artists Studio Tour (AGAST), which will take place October 20-21. Both […]

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Brooklinks is a daily selection of news stories, blog items and images. On Thursday we focus on Brooklyn restaurants. (Today, with a nod to yesterday’s Upper East Side tragedy, which is heavily covered elsewhere.) A Few Plane Crash Items: Corridor Where Recreational Pilots Fear to Go [NYT] Black Day on the Upper East Side [NYDN] […]

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On Tuesday, before Google bought youtube.com for $1.65 billion, we posted a video we shot on Columbus Day of some cool kids jumping from the fishing pier in Coney Island into the water. Turns out, via a comment they left on the vid, that they say they’re all lifeguards at Coney. Meantime, they posted their […]

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The back part of today’s Metro–well, an advertising section–has an amusing Q&A about Gowanus called “Canal Days, Gowanus, Brooklyn: The meat in an awesome neighborhood sandwich.” Quite the headline, that. In any case, it’s an interview with Tammy B. Shaw who’s the co-owner of Brenton Realty. We’ll include a bit of it, because it’s only […]

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We’re not entirely sure what the second graffiti writer–working in chalk–found offensive about this particular bit of tagging as opposed to all of the other tagging on Fourth Avenue and in the many blocks of Gowanus. But, we’re amused when we find graffiti that responds to graffiti, especially when it’s laced with political or social […]

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Nasty day in Brooklyn yesterday. First, we had the collapse of a crane at the old Todd Shipyards site where Ikea is building its big box. (Or a “lift accident,” depending on the source of the information.) Ikea is continuing to clear the sprawling site in Red Hook and preparing to fill the Graving Dock […]

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There’s an “Environmental History Tour” of Prospect Park on Saturday (10/14) from 10:00AM-11:30PM that starts from the Vanderbilt Playground, which is at the Vanderbilt St./Prospect Park Southwest entrance. According to the Prospect Park Alliance, it’s a chance to “learn about the history of Brooklyn’s constantly changing landscape firsthand. Join an invigorating hike through some of […]

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Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related news stories, blog entries and images. Cranes and Angels: Ikea Red Hook Crane Collapse Injures Two [AP/WCBS] Two Hurt When Ikea Site Crane Collapses [WNBC] Broken Angel is Burning [Gothamist] Broken Angel on Fire [Brooklyn Record] Angel Wings it After Blaze [NYDN] Other Stories: Backlash Against Park Slope […]

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So, as we enter Day Two of life with really, really messed up Time Warner Road Runner service, we want to tell you that the on-and-off service is definitely putting a crimp in our style. Bear with us as we try to get back up to speed today, using a different internet connection than that […]

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We make a point of doing a weekly wander past the Old Dutch Mustard factory on Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg. To us, it’s one of the most superb remaining historic industrial buildings in the neighborhood, a constant reminder of the way this part of Brooklyn once looked. Hope you have some pictures, because the Old […]

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Okay, so here’s one way to have fun on Columbus Day. We were wandering around Coney Island on Monday enjoying the beautiful weather on our day off and the last day of the season in any form there, when we happened upon the scene pictured above. More than a half dozen males and females were […]

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Of all the crappy stories that we come across, one that continues to bother us is the one about our beloved Brooklyn wild Monk Parrots disappearing–because poachers are taking and selling them to pet stores. Sadly, it’s the sort of problem that will be hard to stop, unless someone catches them and unless there are […]

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Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related news stories, blog items and images. Running and Walking: Gehry-Rigged (ie. Paul Goldberger’s Take on Miss Brooklyn) [New Yorker] Gargano Says There’s “No Question” about Atlantic Yards Blight [AYR] DDDB Study Pummels ESDC Blight Study [AYR] Cops Say Belt Parkway Attack May Have Been Bias Crime [NYSun] Racial […]

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Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn is having a “Walkathon Week” leading up to its second annual Walk Don’t Destroy Brooklyn Walkathon. From October 16 to 21, venues in Brooklyn will host events to raise money for DDDB’s legal fund and impending legal battles against the proposed Atlantic Yards development. The Walkathon itself will take place on […]

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It’s a small miracle that Gowanus Lounge exists this morning, becuase our glorious Time Warner Brooklyn Road Runner service has been glitching up. Let’s just say it’s been a little slow, on and off, for a couple of days. In our experience, Time Warner provides a singularly awful, undependable cable internet connection. We know ISPs […]

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We just happened upon the “Italian Apostolate of the Diocese of Brooklyn Annual Mass and Procession” in Cobble Hill yesterday, and found hundreds of people parading up Henry Street and, then, back down Court Street. There was a band in the lead and, then, the marchers, praying and singing. Everything was in Italian and, if […]

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We took advantage of Open House New York to visit PortSide New York’s future new home, the Mary A. Whalen. A former tanker, the ship was docked at the Red Hook container port and open to visitors as part of the Open House New York Weekend. She will be renovated and return to Red Hook […]

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Brookinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related news stories, blog items and images. We wish all that have the day off today, like us, some extra sleep and good fun on a beautiful day. Columbus:Closed for Columbus [NYDN]Columbus Closings [NYPost]Fast Facts: Columbus Day 2006 [Resource Shelf] Not Columbus:An Arena in Coney? [AYR]Develop Don’t Destroy Walkathon […]

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