Results tagged “kensington”

The fiesta's not forever at Kensington Mexican restaurant El Gavilan, which has been driving neighbors up the wall ever since owners expanded it into a nightclub earlier this summer. Now there's dancing, music and sometimes fisticuffs! Derek Mayer, a resident who lives across the street, tells the Daily News he's been awoken at 3 a.m. with "20 drunk people congregating outside in the street." And in May he saw a knife-wielding man trying to slash a bouncer armed with a baseball bat. After some pressure from Councilman Bill de Blasio, the NYPD raided the place at the end of July, citing the owner for selling alcohol after hours, unlicensed sale of alcohol, operating an unlicensed dance hall, employing an unlicensed security guard and serving alcohol to minors. But the owner's brother insists El Gavilan is "not a discoteca. The people come, they listen to music from the machine. There's no live music." Live or not, the music's too damn loud, counters Albermarle Neighborhood Association President Larry Jayson. And don't even get him started on all the horn honking!

This year's New York City International Pickle Day Festival, taking place on October 4, will be a lot more brinier than usual, supplemented with free flowing half-sour tears. The reason? Earlier today, news broke that Lower East Side tenement-era survivors Guss' Pickles will pack up their barrels four months from now and move to Borough Park.

Yesterday's grating collapse outside a Brooklyn yeshiva left 34 students injured. Dozens of schoolgirls, ages 10-14, at Yeshiva Shaare Torah had been posing for graduation pictures when the grating over shaft gave way. A witness told the Post, "These kids were like clinging on the side of the building. They were screaming and panicking."

A grate over a window shaft collapsed, injuring over two dozen children at a Brooklyn yeshiva. According to NY1, "Fire officials say several students fell after a grate collapsed during a class photo shoot outside the Torah Elementary School in Kensington." Yikes! 1010WINS reports, "At least five students...were rushed to hospitals, two of them with serious injuries." Twenty-seven others were treated on the scene; the students were all girls, ages 10-12. The collapse is being investigated. Two years ago, a woman fell through sidewalk grating in Midtown; while that grate protected Con Ed equipment, it seems a private garbage truck may have compromised the grate's integrity by driving up on the sidewalk over it.

A young man in Brooklyn died last night in a freakish accident after being dragged 100 feet by a city bus. The 21-year-old man emerged from in between two parked cars and then was struck by an out of service B67 bus that was heading back to the depot in Kensington. Witnesses watched as the man got hooked onto the bus as the unsuspecting driver kept moving. One onlooker told the press, "He was trapped behind the back tire. He was breathing. You could see smoke coming out of his mouth because it was so cold." The driver of the bus remained at the scene and is not expected to face any charges. Witnesses said he could be seen crying as he paced back and forth inside the bus while the man was being tended to. The victim was rushed to Maimonides Hospital where he died a short time later.

Buzz has been building for Socarrat Paella Bar (pictured), the casual tapas and paella joint that has fans waiting 20-30 minutes for a seat at a long communal table. And after today's review by Frank Bruni in the Times, you may as well take that wait time and double it: "They’re better than the paellas at many other Spanish restaurants in New York, where paella doesn’t always fare so well...The broad, shallow, black cast iron pans in which they’re cooked are put on pedestals in the center of the table, and at the height of the dinner hour, they form a line stretching deep into the restaurant. It’s a glorious sight."

Those seeking a Brooklyn abode on a budget are doing so in the borough's far south and east corners, The Observer is reporting. "In the second quarter of 2008, the median home sales price for Brooklyn was $525,000 ... of the 3,766 homes sold under $525,000 in Brooklyn so far this year nearly half are within the 10 neighborhoods of Sheepshead Bay, Kensington, Flatbush, Gravesend, East New York, Clinton Hill, Bay Ridge, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Williamsburg and Park Slope." Sheepshead Bay is noted as seeing a dramatic increase amongst first-time home buyers. Another area, which recently got the Times treatment, is Kensington--where one couple in their 30s purchased a 3-bdrm postwar co-op for $313,000 in 2004. Today it would likely go for around $500K. With the economy as it is now, however, one broker noted that it's unlikely you'll see a boom with property values rising in places like Flatbush and East New York any time soon. (Photo cred: missapril1956)

Gala Apple is a sprawling Slavic supermarket housed in a former Rite Aid, located along the southern border of Kensington, Brooklyn. It’s loaded with odd food gems like these cute, 8 oz. “Subway Series” rye mini-loaves ($1.29), above, that come from a Queens bakery. Part of the baker’s profits benefit education about the Armenian Genocide.

The 61-year-old Stamford, CT man accused of sexually abusing three children in two different Brooklyn park bathrooms begged for mercy as he was being apprehended, but pleaded not guilty in front of a judge. Michael Martin was arrested after allegedly molesting three children at two Brooklyn parks. After the second incident, Martin was quickly caught by civilian patrol officers at the park and begged them not to call the police. He allegedly yelled, "I know what I did! I'll seek professional help!"

A 61-year-old man from Stamford, CT, Michael Martin, was arrested Thursday afternoon after he allegedly abused three children at two separate restrooms in Brooklyn parks. The first incident occurred at a park in Gravesend, Brooklyn Thursday, when Martin is accused of following an 8-year-old girl and a 4-year boy into a public restroom where he sexually assaulted them. Later, he is accused of attacking another 8-year-old girl in the bathroom of a Kensington, Brooklyn park. Cops say that Martin ran off on both occasions when the children began to cry.

The family dog who fatally bit an 8-month-old baby in Brooklyn was euthanized yesterday. According to the city, the family had requested the dog be euthanized.

Oh no! An 8-month-old baby bitten by a family dog was pronounced dead at Kings County Hospital.

Riders hope that low grades for the G line will eventually lead to improvements, while plans are in place to make the G a more usable line. Despite being the two largest boroughs in New York City, there is only one train line dedicated to getting people from Brooklyn (2.5 million people) to Queens (2.3 million people). All other passages must make their way from one borough, through Manhattan (1.6 million people), and then on...

A two-alarm fire in the Kensington section of Brooklyn Three people died while another was taken to the hospital in serious but stable condition.

The Kid From Brooklyn sees famine, war, and despair in the world's future. " I've got foresight," he says, but even he could never have predicted his own popularity. Michael Caracciolo started his website TheKidFromBrooklyn.com to entertain friends and family, uploading videos of himself ranting wildly about whatever he happened to feel passionately about that moment, whether it be border control, the President, or even Starbucks. It's led to television appearances, a memoir about his childhood in Brooklyn called "Go F Yourself" due out in December from Kensington Books, and even stand up performances, including one at The Gotham Comedy Club on August 29th. Gothamist sat down with The Big Man to get a taste of what he's all about.

Photograph by ~Raymond on Flickr

WNYC's Brian Lehrer dared ask: How many SUVs are on your block? The experiment in “crowdsourcing” had listeners (450 in total, 345 valid submissions) walk outside and count the SUVs, as well as regular cars, on their own block. Now the numbers have rolled in:

As we mentioned, City Councilman Charles Barron held his press conference yesterday to announce his candidacy for the 2009 Brooklyn Borough Presidency. He told the crowds that his platform included affordable housing, health care accessibility, more jobs, standing up to developers who use eminent domain, ending mayor control of schools and more would help everyone. "Am I going to be a borough president for all the people? Absolutely. But I'm letting y'all know now, I'm taking care of black folk. Unapologetically."

Virgin Mobile's "You Rule" campaign has been in town for a few weeks, but the confusion still runs high. Ad agency Havas McKinney developed an ambitious outdoor campaign that involves specific posters and billboards to praise residents of various New York neighborhoods, such as Chelsea, Murray Hill, Lower East Side, Upper East Side, and Bed-Stuy.

Though it’s only been open for a little more than a week, Thai Tony’s on Fort Hamilton Parkway at the edge of Kensington, Brooklyn, is already building a strong neighborhood following. During repeat visits, Gothamist watched the owners and staff bustle around the dining room of the self-described “home-style bistro,” greeting returning customers by name. That’s right, they already know most of their customers by name. Thai Tony’s first came to our attention via our friends over at the Kensington blog, who followed its development from the construction phase, to last week’s grand opening.

To balance out the news about people who are very bad to pets, here's a story about how many people are wonderful to pets: It's an update about Miss Julie, the cat whose home at a bodega was threatened by the Department of Health. Why? Because it's against the health code to have cats in bodegas - never mind the cats killing vermin - and the bodega was fined and threatened with closure if it kept the tabby. New York Shitty's Miss Heather happily reported that Julie was adopted to a couple in Kensington:

This couple had been mulling over getting a cat for some time and once John (the husband) learned about Julie via Gothamist, he contacted his wife. His wife, Nicole, in turn contacted me. After talking a little over the phone, we agreed to meet today so they could meet Miss Julie and make a final decision.

Continue reading "Happy Ending to Bodega Cat Tale"

The Claremont Riding Academy on West 89th St. between Columbus and Amsterdam Aves. is closing this Sunday after the weekend's riding is done. Opened in 1892, Claremont is the oldest continuously operated horse stable in the U.S. It was initially used as a livery stable, but was turned into a riding academy in the 1920s. Riding lessons are given in a small ring on the main floor, while stables occupy the basement and upper floors, which horses reach via ramps. Owner Paul Novograd said he was closing the business because pedestrian traffic was becoming too congested along Central Park's bridle trails, making it difficult to ride. Homes will be found for the roughly 45 horses that currently stable on 89th St.

The ripple effects from the Don Imus-Rutgers' women's basketball team remarks incident continue. Four female police officers, three black and one Hispanic, claim that supervisors used the terms "ho" and "nappy-headed ho's" in two separate incidents.

With many local short-season spring vegetables out of commission (ramps, pea greens), at least for a while, one nutty underdog is currently available at many small Middle Eastern, Russian, and Ukrainian produce markets throughout lower Brooklyn and parts of Queens- green almonds. Because they are only available for 3-4 weeks each year, green almonds are usually overlooked, or are considered too hard to find. Some people dismiss the olive-sized green things as too much kitchen work; everything depends on how far along the almond inside the furry green casing is- we’ll explain, because other than the two links above, there’s not a lot of literature on the subject. If you’re waiting for fiddlehead ferns, you’re not feeling all the bulky white asparagus, or you just want to try something new, here’s what you need to know:

The Kensington-Ditmas Park area of Brooklyn is slowly becoming known for its restaurants and dishes, including the “haute barnyard” French Fries at The Farm on Adderley. Meanwhile, the wide swath of Coney Island Avenue running through the center of both neighborhoods remains a mainstay of ethnic restaurants from Prospect Park to Brighton Beach -- everything from all-night, tri-level Pakistani joints to Turkish baklava places. It’s sort of like the restaurant bustle of Jackson Avenue in Queens, but decompressed over a 5-mile stretch. In this mix are a dozen or so Mexican Torterias; tiny shops, usually with signature sandwiches. Most of these places are closet-sized, just big enough for a stove at the back, a regular household refrigerator or a steam table. Torterias are often home bases for roving tamale carts; moreover they’re round-the-clock operations, with employees pickling their own jalapenos, pulling and braiding homemade Oaxaca string cheese, or clipping cilantro leaves from plants growing in window boxes.

Earlier this week, the Daily News looked at the YouTube video showing a classic meltdown at the Kensington Post Office. A man, frustrated about the service, yells, "Get the manager over here! I want the manager. We'll see how long you have your job, sweetie." An employee says, "Who the hell do you think you are?" only for the man to reply, "I'm the customer, you stupid bitch." Yeah, that sounds about right.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: An unusual odor in the Bronx, two pedestrians struck (one in Manhattan, a fatal one in the Bronx), and three alarm fire at a tire yard in Brooklyn
• The Department of Education will reinstate 17 bus routes, finally realizing that giving 5-year-olds MetroCards is a very mean lesson
• We're so with East Village Idiot on this one:
• Weird: In a story about the doctor who police believe was attacked in his Upper East Side triplex, a neighbor tells the Daily News, "There was a suspicious guy who came a few times in the last six months. I told the police about him. They told me not to speak about it."
• New and expecting parents: ModernTots in Dumbo is having a sample sale this weekend!
• Busta Rhymes was busted for driving without his license in TriBeCa; he told the cops, "You hide behind the shield. This is bulls---." Then he told the judge he thought the cops were robbers in disguise.
• Representative Anthony Weiner may run for Mayor in 2009; so far, other suspects include City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and City Comptroller William Thompson
• And if you're planning ahead, this Sunday is Chinatown's Chinese New Year Parade
Continue reading "Extra, Extra"

The wonders of timing! Yesterday, Brooklynites' beef with the tagger Backfat was examined in the Daily News, and last night, the police arrested him! The News reports that Charles Abarno was cuffed "in front of the 72nd Precinct stationhouse." Hmm, was Abarno considering tagging the stationhouse? Detective Mike Cleary had been following the case of the mysteriously appearing Backfat tags in the Windsor Terrace-Kensington neighborhood's stores, schools, subway stations, anything, and arrested his white whale.