Subject: Brooklyn

• The Michael Jackson Tribute Issue Of Wax Poetics Is Probably Pretty Rad

  ​As the preeminent crate-digging hip-hop/soul/funk/jazz magazine, you had to figure Brooklyn's own Wax Poetics would slowly but lovingly amass a whale of an MJ tribute issue. Featuring in-depth discourses on Indiana, Motown, his songwriting partners, and, apparently, the Thriller video. Very highly recommended.

  October 1, 2009

• B, D, F, V Lines Screwed Up by Fire

  A fire at a substation has interfered with service on the 6th Avenue subway lines. The V is out, F is running on the G line between 36th Street Queens and Bergen Street in Brooklyn, and the B is running on the A line between 59 Street and West 4th Street in Manhattan. Also, the southbound D is running on the N tracks between 36th Street Brooklyn and Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue. These conditions are expected to persist until 3 p.m. at least. Also, drivers note: a missing manhole cover has clo

  October 2, 2009

• Purple Yam Opening Pushed Back to Late October

  The Philippine Daily InquirerPurple Yam's Chef Romy Dorotan​It looks like Ditmas Park will have to wait a little longer for Purple Yam, the eagerly anticipated new Filipino restaurant from the folks behind Cendrillon. According to a message that owners Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan posted on their website, "Yes, we have been delayed again due to permits which take a loooonnngg time to process...We will eventually open, perhaps late in the month." Purple Yam had been scheduled to open in late S

  October 2, 2009

• 6th Ave Trains OK Now; Lex Ave Trains Bollocksed

  ​The Sixth Avenue line delays earlier reported by MTA have been resolved, but there's trouble on the tracks for the Lexington Avenue line: 4 service is suspended in both directions between 149th Street-Grand Concourse and Crown Heights-Utica Avenue, and there are delays on all 4,5, and 6 trains (and the 7 as well). No word on expected resolution time.

  October 2, 2009

• Things to do this weekend for (mostly) free

  ​ Leaf peeper map of New York State Saturday Korean festival and parade Dance, taekwondo, food, music and cooking lessons. Chile Pepper Fiesta, Brooklyn Botanic Gardens Music, chile-chocolate cooking, Qigong lessons, and hot stuff samples. Free with admission to the Gardens ($8 adults, $4 students, seniors, and kids over 12. Kids under 12 free) Colonial Day, Fort Greene Park Hands-on games, cooking and butter churning Garden walking tours overlooking the Hudson in Fort Tryon Park F

  October 3, 2009

• When Cupcakes are Banned, Only Outlaws Will Have Cupcakes

  ​Over the weekend, parents who had flocked to Brooklyn Tech for the city's High School Fair were given the depressing news that 100,000 city children had applied for the 5,000 seats available in the 800 specialty programs around town. That makes the Specialized High Schools about twice as selective as Harvard. At least, if school placements were hard to come by, there was plenty of fattening food for the taking. Several Brooklyn Tech groups took the opportunity to sell cupcakes and cook

  October 5, 2009

• New Venue Report: South Williamsburg's The Woods

  PIx by Puja Patel, more below​Nestled beneath the Williamsburg Bridge (a charming view) (no, really), long-rumored nightlife spot the Woods finally opened its doors Friday night to an overwhelming response. Located at 48 South 4th Street, the bar has no sign over the door; a set of stairs and swarm of people was the only indications of its existence. (Despite all the buzz, no one was sure where--or what--this place would actually be.) When we arrived at 9 p.m., a sign read "free beer 'til

  October 5, 2009

• Somebody Got Murdered: Three Stabbed, One Dead in Brooklyn Brawl

  View Larger Map DATE: Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009, 10:34 p.m. LOCATION: Corner of 61st St. and 7th Ave., Brooklyn. The police say they have arrested Nelson Liu, 19, of West 11th St. in Brooklyn in connection with the stabbings of three men outside an internet cafe. One victim, a 25-year-old man, was declared dead at Lutheran Hospital. The two other victims were expected to survive the assault. Police have yet to release the victim's identities. Know anything about this case? Drop us a line at gray

  October 5, 2009

• Reverend Billy Calls for "Zombergs" to Descend Upon Halloween Parade

  ​Green Party candidate for Mayor Reverend Billy, perhaps emboldened by his recent endorsement by L magazine ("The city is not a corporation, democracy is not a product, and we are not mere consumers"), has unveiled our favorite campaign idea of the season so far: Zombies for Bloomberg. He's recruiting "dance team, float building and general zombergification" volunteers for his display in this year's Halloween Parade in the Village. Thematically, it fits. Our interviews with the candidate

  October 6, 2009

• Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey & the Moodswing Orchestra

  October 6, 2009

• Another Brooklyn Indignity: Phantom of the Opera Comes to Coney Island

  ​The terrible thing about the alleged new coolness of Brooklyn -- aside from the escalating rents and increasing population of young collegiate dolts -- is that the outside world is now bringing its aesthetic hideosities to our tree-lined streets. First it was the threat of a Brooklyn Sex & The City that curdled our blood. Now we learn that schlockmeister Andrew Lloyd Webber wants to do a sequel -- or, as he likes to think of it, a "standalone piece" based on "unfinished business" -- that

  October 8, 2009

• Woods Do Daytrotter

  ​Daytrotter's currently got a session up with Brooklyn's Woods gang on which the band plays an EP's worth of unreleased material: three new dripping wet Neil Young leg-stretchers and one Songs of Shame standby, "Where and What Are You?" Dunno if we're still killing Brooklyn lo-fi or what but allow us to request that should that reckoning come, these guys be spared. [Daytrotter]

  October 8, 2009

• Open & Closed: Say Hello to Abe & Arthur's; Goodbye to T Thai

  Piquant has opened in the bi-level space that once occupied Mitchell's. Texas-born David Sharp will serve up takes on Southwestern favorites like flautas stuffed with slow-roasted brisket, corn tamales with duck confit, and ancho molasses barbecue pulled pork sliders. [Thrillist] Abe & Arthur's has set up shop in a two-floor Meatpacking District space. Expect meatballs on Franklin Becker's menu, but also fancier fare, like scallops with foie gras. [TONY] Tanuki Tavern is a new homestyle Japane

  October 9, 2009

• The Flashing Lights Party Turns One

  ​Nick Catchdubs' Flashing Lights party--which the writer-turned-DJ throws monthly with the Rub's DJ Ayres and Brooklyn bass queen Jubilee--turns one this month, and to celebrate, Sheffield dance champion Toddla T is coming through 88 Palace tomorrow night to help mark the occasion. As always, an RSVP will get you in for cheap(er), and the FL crew are offering all four volumes of their Flashing Lights mix series for free download over here. Happy anniversary.

  October 9, 2009

• Who's That Bloomberg Guy Knockin' On My Door?

  For a welcome break from campaign nastiness, check out the video of Mike Bloomberg knocking on door No. 1,000,018 in Williamsburg. It's the fourth day of Succoth, according to mayoral video DJ Barnett Zitron, and the door swings open to an impossibly crowded room of fully garbed and ecstatic Hasidim who start tumbling around like the Marx Brothers as the doo wop tune, "Who's that Knockin'" plays in the background. The song was a hit for The Genies out of Long Beach in 1958 and the actual lyrics

  October 10, 2009

• Have You Seen... Brooklyn Sexual Assailant

  ​On Saturday at 4 a.m. a 24-year-old woman was walking at the corner of Bristol Avenue and Pitkin Avenue in Brownsville when a man on a red and silver mountain bike pulled a gun on her, robbed her, took her to Chester Playground and sexually assaulted her. He's described as black, in his late 20's, and between 5'10" to 6'0' and 160 and 185 pounds, and was wearing a black leather jacket, gray sweat suit and white sneakers at the time of the assault. If you have information as to this man

  October 13, 2009

• Brighton Beach's KeBeer Bar & Grill

  October 13, 2009

• HIPSTERS BEWARE

  October 13, 2009

• See Diplo and DJ Drama in Williamsburg Tomorrow Night

  ​An RSVP will get you in for five bucks cheaper. Not for nothing, but the circa '04-'05 spectacle of Diplo doing it in Williamsburg will probably move a lot of humans to show out for this. And how will you look your future children in the eye and tell them that you missed the opportunity to have Drama screamingly ad-lib your life in real time? Roxy Cottontail hosts, and Maluca--who just shot a video in the neighborhood--will be in the building. More info here.

  October 14, 2009

• Canning Across the Country; Will New Yorkers Go Nuts for Goobers?

  ​According to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, requests for canning classes have increased. Countrywide canning fests organized by Canning Across America are all the rage, and Jarden Home Brands -- makers of Kerr and Ball brand jars -- say sales of canning equipment are up 30 percent. [Wall Street Journal] A new study suggests that chocolate could be an alternative to aspirin for killing pain. The distraction of eating foods like chocolate for pleasure acts as a natural pai

  October 15, 2009

• The Top 10 Records Sold Last Week at Academy Records in Brooklyn

  In 2009, the traditional practice of exchanging physical copies of records for money is a trade that might best be called quixotic. But New Yorkers are stubborn people, and the record store is not dead. Below, the top ten records that actually sold in the last week at a store near you. Academy Records, Williamsburg Annex. Pic via.​When we phoned the Academy Records Annex in Williamsburg, 32-year-old employee Caleb Eraaten was listening to Peter Ivers Band's bizzare 1969 LP Knight of the B

  October 16, 2009

• Update: Fort Defiance's New Dinner Menu

  ​Since the Fort Defiance review ran, owner St. John Frizell has added a proper dinner menu, so we headed to Red Hook to check it out this weekend. Frizell is a master of coziness and simplicity--he knows what would hit the spot, and serves it without fuss. When the weather was hot, he slung plates like blue fish rillettes and deviled eggs, along with refreshing cocktails like a cucumber-infused Tom Collins in a huge frosted glass. It was just exactly what you wanted--but it was difficult t

  October 19, 2009

• Another Subway Masturbator Arrested

  ​It seems the subway masturbation epidemic persists: the Brooklyn Paper reports that a 28-year-old passenger on the G Train was yanked, so to speak, at Smith-9th Street station for riding "naked with an erect penis out on public view" and charged with public lewdness on October 9. Back in July a man, yet uncaught, went robbin' and wankin' on the trains, and in August cops rousted Kevin Bishop for stroking on the 3 (Bishop claimed "it just popped out"). Rudolph Giuliani warned us about this

  October 20, 2009

• Somebody Got Murdered: Stabbed to Death in Brooklyn

  View Larger Map DATE: Monday, Oct. 19, 2009 at approx 11:25 p.m. LOCATION: Inside of 128 Lewis Ave, Brooklyn. A 42-year-old Brooklyn man was stabbed in the chest Monday night, the police say. He was taken to Kings County Hospital where he was declared dead. His identity has not been released by the police. If you know anything about this case, drop us a line at grayman@villagevoice.com.

  October 20, 2009

• Somebody Got Murdered: Two Shot, One Dead, in Brooklyn

  View Larger Map DATE: Monday, Oct. 19, 2009, 9:12 p.m. LOCATION: inside of 635 Sutter Ave., Brooklyn. Two people were, one of them fatally, in Brooklyn Monday night. A 42-year-old man was shot several times, and declared dead at Brookdale Hospital. A 33-year-old man was struck once in a leg, and listed at Brookdale in stable condition.The police have yet to release the identity of either man. If you know anything about this case, drop us a line at grayman@villagevoice.com.

  October 20, 2009

• Wild Yaks+Blood Warrior+This Frontier Needs Heroes

  October 20, 2009

• GET A GRIP

  October 20, 2009

• Best of NYC: Brooklyn Rocks!

  October 20, 2009

• The Early Word: Cafe Barakah

  A grand opening at Cafe Barakah​ A talented Pakistani-Punjabi shopkeeper who was whipping up dishes like channa masala and selling them at her Brooklyn health food shop has expanded. Cafe Barakah, on Fourth Avenue at 21st Street, opened about two months ago, and offers homemade aloo ghobi (potato-cauliflower stew), daal, biryani, and chapli kebab, among other South Asian standards. A cup of masala chai, obtained this afternoon, was perfect--beautifully spiced with ginger and cardamom (a wh

  October 21, 2009

• Have You Seen... Sexual Assailants in Greenpoint, Canarsie

  On Monday around 44:40 in the afternoon, a 14-year-old girl was allegedly approached at the corner of Avenue N and East 108 Street in Canarsie by the man on the left, who showed her a knife and also pretended to have a gun, and tried to sexually assault her. She screamed and he took off. He's described as 25-35 years of age, about 5'8", and 220-250 pounds with a large build and dark complexion. On Tuesday around 4:30 a.m. near the corner of Diamond Street and Nassau Avenue in Greenpoint, th

  October 22, 2009

• CMJ: Beach And/Or Campfire (Or Both) Vibes Abound At The Group Tightener Showcase

  ​ Jolene Kao"Coast" is the new "Wolf": Best Coast (above) and Coasting (below)​ Group Tightener Showcase Monster Island Wednesday, October 21 Monster Island's basement couldn't have been more perfect for last night's Todd P/Group Tightener party. High ceilings and sparkly, stone-layered walls loomed over a warmly lit floor setup with a definite mountain-retreat sort of air, as the Group Tightener label--a project of Fader associate editor Sam Hockley-Smith and Jamie Granato from Br

  October 22, 2009

• Project Runway Winner Christian Siriano Says Williamsburg Is Full of "Little Divas"

  This week is the Voice's Best of NYC issue, our annual opportunity to bestow awards like Best Blow Job and Best Literally Underground Cabaret Show on our favorite things about the city. In turn, we asked a few of our favorite New Yorkers to name a few of their favorite local things. He's the fierecest, and most succesful (!), thing to ever come from the Frau Klum empire that is Project Runway. Fashion designer Christian Siriano lets us in on his best reason to appreciate "all the little div

  October 23, 2009

• Meadowlands to Swap Nets to Newark for Concerts?

  ​Rumors of the Nets moving to Newark to join the Devils are as old as Jason Kidd's knees, but hoops-by-the-Ironbound may finally be a reality, as early as next season. After the Newark Star-Ledger reported yesterday that unnamed team sources were saying the Nets would consider a temporary relocation to Newark while awaiting their new Brooklyn digs, today's Bergen Record followed up with actual quotes from a real person — or as real as you believe "New Jersey's economic czar" to be &m

  October 23, 2009

• Project Runway Villainess Kenley Collins's Favorite Brooklyn Bar is Matchless

  This week is the Voice's Best of NYC issue, our annual opportunity to bestow awards like Best Shop for the Williamsburg Girl Who Has to Grow Up and Best Bodega on our favorite things. In turn, we asked a few of our favorite New Yorkers to name their favorite local things. photo by Chris Ramirez Kenley Collins played the bitchiest Project Runway contestant that could make "one hell of a fifties dress." Out of Parsons The New School for Design and back in Brooklyn, she's befriended her former

  October 24, 2009

• SkyWatch Anti-Crime Tower Goes Up on Canal Street

  We've seen SkyWatch -- those E-Z-assembly conning towers NYPD erects to get an overview of troubled neighborhoods -- in many parts of Brooklyn, including Dumbo, Prospect Heights, and Gerritsen Beach. They usually go up when and where crime is perceived to be a bigger problem than usual. Today NYC the Blog spots one on... Canal Street. NYCTB wonders "if they might be keeping an eye on the street vendors in the area selling Gucci sneakers on the cheap." We're thinking pickpockets and vehicular hom

  October 26, 2009

• Real Housewife of New York Alex McCord Tells Us the Best Place to Spot an Off-Duty Bravo Housewife

  This week is the Voice's Best of NYC issue, our annual opportunity to bestow awards like Best Ex-Prisoners' Publicist and Best Reason to Put a Ring On It on our favorite things. In turn, we asked a few of our favorite New Yorkers to name their favorite local things. Alex is the only real housewife not hailing from Manhattan. Here the well-known Brooklyn resident picks the borough's bests. New York phobia? I'm not afraid of anything, which you already knew because I signed up for a reali

  October 26, 2009

• Somebody Got Murdered: Student Shot Outside Brooklyn High School

  View Larger Map DATE: Monday, Oct. 26, 2009, 3:15 p.m. LOCATION: Rockaway Avenue and Hegeman Avenue, Brooklyn. The police say a high school student was fatally shot at the above intersection Monday afternoon. Malachi Cotton, 17, of Sutter Avenue in Brooklyn was shot several times in the chest. He was taken to Brookdale Hospital, where he was declared dead. No arrests thus far. Cotton had just left the Metropolitan Diploma Plus High School. He was standing at a bus stop when he was shot. Kno

  October 27, 2009

• Yes In My Backyard: The Video Premiere of Talk Normal's "In A Strangeland"

  Yes In My Backyard is a semiweekly column showcasing MP3s from new and emerging local talent. Now that Brooklyn loft-rock is leaning towards toward beach-y, garage-y, tape-damaged nostalgiasmush, we should thank the stars that Talk Normal have arrived to keep it ugly. The best thing to lurch out of BK noise-punk in years, Talk Normal take the Swans-iest tendencies of Liars and stretch them out for maximum syncopation, hypnosis, and unease. Guitarist Sarah Register pokes and slashes, pushing t

  October 27, 2009

• Gemini and Scorpio Present Masquerade Macabre

  October 27, 2009

• Vegetarian Delights of NYC: Ship's Biscuit at Saltie in Williamsburg

  ​ ​Ship's biscuit is the somewhat facetious name for one of the vegetarian sandwiches available at Saltie. Saltie is a sandwich shop that debuted recently on Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg, open from 8 a.m. in the morning till 8 p.m. at night. The cafe--which provides only rudimentary seating--is descended from Marlow and Sons, and uses local ingredients--so local, in fact, that many are made on the premises.

  October 28, 2009

• Liza de Guia Channels Her Inner Food Network with Food.Curated

  Liza de Guia is building her own one-woman food network on Vimeo, called food.curated. The series of mini documentaries features chefs, bakers, beekeepers, fishermen, and farmers, mostly from Brooklyn and Long Island. (For those of you whose New York geography is shady, Brooklyn is on Long Island.) The self-taught filmmaker has just posted her first video set in Manhattan, starring Back Forty's butcher and chef de cuisine, Shanna Pacifico, as she lovingly breaks down a hulking hunk of cow. [v

  October 28, 2009

• Live Music Booking in Brooklyn Consolidates Just a Little Further

  Photo of Warsaw via bitchcakesny's photostream​Back in September, Bowery Presents took over booking at the Brooklyn Bowl, adding the concert space/cool-dad mecca to a coterie of venues that already included Bowery Ballroom, the Music Hall of Williamsburg, the Mercury Lounge, and Terminal 5. The move seemed like a pretty neutral one, really. On the negative side? Less competition--pity those bands out of favor with BP. On the plus side? Being able to host the Gaslight Athem at the cavernous

  October 30, 2009

• Corrections Officer with Suspended License Runs Down, Kills Woman in Brooklyn

  ​It's not a cop this time, but a state corrections officer who has reportedly mowed down a woman with his car in Brooklyn this morning. The as yet unnamed 38-year-old victim was struck at St. Marks and Flatbush Avenues and pronounced dead at Methodist Hospital. Sing Sing employee Damon Padmore, aka KokoHead (which name appears on his license plate), also 38, was on his way to work at the time of the incident. He is charged with driving with a suspended license.

  November 3, 2009

• Jewish Patrol Assault Trial "Close to Farce"; Messiah to Be Called as Witness

  ​The Flatbush Shomrim -- a safety patrol of observant Jews -- has been on fire lately. Last week they caught a graffiti artist and a car-breaker, and yesterday they took down a burglar. The Crown Heights Shomrim, meanwhile, has been much busier in court, with six of its members charged with beating up some students after they responded to a yeshiva brawl on Eastern Parkway two years ago, allegedly over a dormitory bed. The trial started yesterday and "veered close to farce," says the Da

  November 3, 2009

• Before Chili, Chocolate: A Sweet Amateur Cook-off

  ​The weekend before the aromas of meat, beans, and spices take over the Bell House, the place will be filled with teeth-rotting goodness from amateur chefs competing in The Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment. Theo Peck and Nick Suarez, of Experiments Cheese and Beer, have teamed up with Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs from Food52 for the event. Celebrity judges include Bon Appetit's Andrew Knowlton and Ben Van Leeuwen of the eponymous ice cream truck. (Note to competitors: for heaven's sake, n

  November 3, 2009

• BEEF & BEER

  November 3, 2009

• Pix from Ambiance, a Haitian Restaurant in Canarsie, Brooklyn

  ​Djon djon rice is a Haitian homestyle specialty, rice boiled with spindly black mushrooms native to the island along with baby lima beans. While Hatian restaurants in town were originally concentrated in Flatbush and East Flatbush, a fanning out of the Haitian population in Brooklyn has resulted in some killer Haitian restaurants in areas a farflung as Canarsie, at the end (or origin, depending on your perspective) of the L train.

  November 4, 2009

• The Ghost of Studio B Deep Sixes DUMBO Dance Club

  ​The One Front restaurant in DUMBO will remain sans dance club, reports the Brooklyn Paper, after a community board voted to deny owner Marcelo Pevida a cabaret license last night. The reasoning?

  November 5, 2009

• Cheek, in Review: 7 Days of Runnin' Scared

  After the parade. Twitpic by Mzthicknflychic. Theeeee Yankees won! Doooooouuug Hoffman lost! The week was a mixed bag -- half fire, half dog poo. How 'bout them Yanks? They won one in Philly, then another, and were back home at the climax. Local merchants didn't get much out of it -- nor, Tom Robbins observed, did a certain former Mayor -- but everyone else was delirious. Sweetening the victory, Rudolph Giuliani lost his seat to Michelle Obama. Allen Barra took notes, thumbed through the Gr

  November 6, 2009

• Posts of the Week

  Friday afternoon has arrived. And so has the weekly round-up of the best posts of the last five days. You really can earn a PhD in bar culture. Our list of the 10 Best Cheeses. This weekend's Brooklyn Beefsteak would make Joseph Mitchell and Tammany Hall proud. Battle of the Dishes pitted industrial steak against its grass-fed, locally raised counterpart. Our Man Sietsema visited the much-hyped Bill's Bar & Burger and ate....a so-so burger. Fork in the Road went on the road down South and

  November 6, 2009