If you've ever been to Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg on a weekend day, you'll know the sidewalks can become overcrowded, especially on the north side. This summer the pedestrian traffic jams will be eliminated...at least for four days. The Brooklyn Paper reports "the city will close Bedford Avenue to traffic, turning the thoroughfare into a pedestrian-only plaza between Metropolitan Avenue and North Ninth Street." The project has been in talks for a while now, and......

Back in January video emerged of an enthusiastic street performer, Matthew Silver, dancing in front of Earwax record store on Bedford Avenue. It seems that a war has been going on since, between the employees of the store and the ever-growing troupe of Silver's clowns (dubbed the BC Fools) that adorn the outside of its shop. Seems the Earwax employees have been dumping buckets of water on the performers (who have gone into the......

A four-alarm fire that destroyed at least 12 businesses in the Bronx has also caused some transit issues. Smoke at the Pelham Parkway 2 station is causing the 2 to bypass all stations between Wakefield-241st and East 180th, bypassing Gun Hill Road, Burke Avenue, Allerton Avenue, Pelham Parkway and Bronx Park East. The MTA says there are shuttle buses between stations and also suggests riders take other buses for the B, D, 4 and 6......

A few weeks ago we saw this guy dancing around on Bedford Avenue, attracting a lot of attention. The curious passerby aren't always human though, even canines want to know what's up with this dancin' machine! The questions remain: who is the mystery man, and what exactly is his "message"?......

Bar Boulud: Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni recently lost his patience waiting on hold for 15 minutes to make a reservation, which should give you some sense of how feverish the excitement is for Daniel Boulud’s latest foray. The tony uptown wine bar, across the street from Lincoln Center, enjoyed the raging buzz of a sneak-preview opening on New Year’s Eve and now the 100 seat restaurant is open for real. Judging from the photos,......

Haru: The Japanese mini-chain’s takeover of New York is proceeding according to plan with the opening of their latest location in the financial district. The elegant, bi-level space (pictured) is located in the landmark 1903 Beaver Building, which calls to mind a mini-Flatiron Building. This location features two floors of dining to accommodate 160 guests, a 17 seat sushi bar, a second “alcohol” bar and two private party rooms. Like the other Harus, the extensive......

Ever wonder what that person you passed on Bedford Avenue thinks of the big issues in the world? Well, someone did. Alethea Brown takes it to the streets to find out some Williamsburgites views of the current political state...or at least who they think is sexier: Hillary or Barack: Martha Stewart as President? Whatever Williamsburg!......

FAIR: The International vintage poster fair has arrived. It's time to take that ironic velvet Elvis off the wall and class up your joint. The fair will include "over 25 international dealers with more than 10,000 original vintage posters." More info here. Friday 5 - 9 pm , Saturday 10 am - 7 pm, Sunday 11 am - 6 pm // Metropolitan Pavilion [123 W 18th St 5th floor] // $15 MUSIC: We'll be at......

EVENTS: Both Open House NY and The New Yorker Festival are upon us. You can check out more of OHNY's event here, and The New Yorker Festival here. Some picks: The New Yorker Festival hosts a conversation with Errol Morris tonight. He'll be talking with staff writer Philip Gourevitch about Abu Ghraib, with clips shown from Standard Operating Procedure -- his new film is a study of the prison-abuse scandal. Friday // 8pm // Directors......

The Grey Lady is paying a return visit to Peter Luger Steak House in tomorrow's dining section. This New York institution was last reviewed by Ruth Reichl, who awarded it a hefty three stars, proclaiming it "the best steak in New York City." Her description of the Luger experience is almost pornographic: You know the steak is great before you even taste it. You know it from the fine, funky, mineral aroma that wafts across......

Yesterday saw two important moment in the Department of Transportation's handling of bicylist quality of life issues. One was the installation of bike racks on North 7th at Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, which the DOT said was "the first time car parking spaces have been removed to accommodate bicycle parking in New York City." Previously, cops have sawed through locks chained to the subway entrance and impounded bikes, leading to community demand for bike......

The New York Times is reporting that...Williamsburg has high rent. Shocking. Apparently this "Bedford Avenue" is getting pretty popular. The article, called "Escape From New York", is a list of complaints we've all heard before about rent in a once slightly cheaper area now costing more, and hipsters with trusts funds sitting in coffee shops all day (though we'd be willing to bet some of them may just work nights). The writer, Abigail Frankfurt, lived......

Hungry for some good gluten, Gothamist booked it to the three-month-old Kate’s Brooklyn Joint in Williamsburg, an outpost of the East Village mainstay. Despite its vibrant grafitti façade, Kate’s is a dismal sort of place. The restaurant’s gloomy flooring and rhythmically flickering lights recall the lesser charms of an auto body shop. It’s aggressively without frills but that’s fine by us—the food, for Billyburg vegans anyway, makes decent work of picking up the slack.......

Last year, cops were seen sawing through the locks of bikes locked up against the Bedford Avenue subway station entrance on North 7th and impounding them for obstructing the sidewalk. And back then, the Department of Transportation promised to open many more bike racks for cyclists to leave their bikes near subways, as well as widen sidewalks in Williamsburg. So now you can set your watches to "somewhere between 1 and 2 years" as......

Hmm, were some fires at an almost completed synagogue in Williamsburg actually a message? A new Satmar headquarters is being built at Ross Street and Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, and the Post reports that two suspicious early morning fires occured there. The new synagogue happens to be right next to Satmar Grand Rebbe Zalmen Teitelbaum's house, and one thing that fire marshals cannot ignore is that many supporters of Zalmen's brother Aron, a grand rebbe......

MOVIE: Netflix Rolling Roadshow presents The Warriors. Watch the local turf wars play out on a big screen in Coney Island. Tickets are on a first come, first serve basis. And for some reason, Lisa Loeb is hosting this and there will be a Q&A following the movie. 8:30pm // Asser Levy Park Amphitheater [Coney Island between Sea Breeze and Ocean at 2nd St, Brooklyn] // Free Meanwhile, over at another free outdoor movie, catch......

Today is a day full of real estate goodies (though not are all quite so good). Here are three more: First up, Williamsburg, Brooklyn: Ah, Bedford Avenue between North Third and North Fourth. You aren't such a bad little stretch. Bummer that former Bronx borough president, congressman and Bloomberg campaign manager Herman Badillo and his merry band of real estate developers want to build "Williamsburgh Square" there. What's a Williamsburgh square? It's a full-block retail-residential......

Man, those hipsters in Williamsburg are sure mad at George Bush! The last couple of weeks has shown a sharp increase of anti-government graffiti-- up about 152% by our reckoning. Poor George! First he finds out that the rest of the country is mad at him, and now he's unwelcome on Bedford Avenue!......

After various reports of people's bikes being hauled off by the police in Brooklyn, the NY Times gets more answers with its press creds than the actual bikers. It seems that the police at the 94th Precinct started to forcibly remove locked-up bikes because people had complained the bikes were obstructing sidewalks and endangering pedestrians. And while the Department of Transportation installed more 53 bike racks, the new racks are less convenient, then, say, using......

Gothamist thinks a lot about what Brooklyn still needs- a really great grocery store, better dry cleaners, a safer G train. But we never knew Williamsburg was craving a piano bar. The beautifully lit storefront bar comes from a longtime New Yorker and bartender Matt Webber (most recently of The Cutting Room). Because Webber isn't Chris Noth, he hasn't brought beautiful blondes behind the bar (yet) and is doing everything himself, from fresh juices to......

From the people who brought you Manhunt! DUMBO" comes Capture the Flag Brooklyn. Their invitation is appealing:Run along the streets of old Brooklyn, treading cobblestones and trolley tracks. Outwit opponents, hiding around warehouse corners before you find their flag, outmaneuver their flag keeper and dash home for a point in the pulse-quickening game of urban capture. Defend your territory with its view of the Manhattan skyline, tagging trespassers and sending them to jail. Manhunt......

Elana Levin, Community Organizer & Williamsburg Warrior...

Did you realize that today is Arbor Day? Gothamist didn't! Luckily, red pointed us to Carbon Based Forms's awesome Arbor Day gift to some trees in Williamsburg: Fifty trees along Bedford Avenue, between North 4th and North 10th Streets, each received a brass vanity necklace with type of tree, thanks to artists Cate Bryant and Gregory Kenney. CBF adds "have a look before they disappear, either through theft or happenstance." You can sponsor a......

Gothamist’s quest to find a reliable neighborhood brunch bistro found us at DuMont last weekend, a 40-seat joint with an adjoining back hallway leading to a closet sized, but adorable bar in the back. A Williamsburg staple, especially for those willing to wander east of Bedford Avenue, DuMont offers comfort foods like burgers, DuMac n’ Cheese, and crab cakes on their brunch and dinner menus, with rotating market fresh specials every day. Gothamist gathered a......

Hipsters, don't feel so bad about being maligned by the old neighborhood residents of Williamsburg for gentrifying the area: It seems that peewee entrepreneurship is also at risk. The NY Post reports that a police captain ticketed a Girl Scout's dad for selling cookies. Hoi Lewis and his 13 year-old daughter, Gracie, were delivering boxes of cookies and collecting money from relatives at 162 Bedford Avenue, when a police captain decided to strongarm the father......

Clem Snide will be playing Bowery Ballroom this coming Saturday March 5th and Gothamist wants to hook you and a friend up with some tickets. If you would be interested in going to this show, which you should be, CLICK HERE TO ENTER! Check out some a/v action here if you aren't already familiar with the band. The winner will receive a pair of tickets to the show, so you can bring a friend or......

The steamed up storefront window at Brooklyn’s newest bagel joint, Bagelsmith, was a true testament to their sign clearly stating, “EVERYTHING SERVED HERE IS MADE HERE.” Gothamist stopped in at Bagelsmith, on Bedford Avenue & N. 7th, right next door to the Bedford L-train stop and the new artisanal pizza place, Fornino. Gothamist is wondering if the new kid on the block can live up to New York City's high standards because even with the......

A woman who was having trouble with her Metrocard at the 170th Street B/D station in the Bronx got into an argument with a token booth clerk, resulting in him punching her in the face after an argument. Early reports about the Saturday afternoon were unclear, but the Daily News speaks with Maimouna Saoidoh, the 23 year-old victim, who says she asked Gordon for help, who refused. When she and her cousin pleaded, Gordon got......