By Brian Park Coney Island winters can be unforgiving. Gone are the tourists and beachgoers of the summer months. The cold winds, exacerbated in their fury by the Atlantic, bite at exposed skin like an unyielding flurry of tiny whips. The sidewalks are mostly bare. But there is at least one place in Coney Island...
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December 8, 2010December 13, 2010Brooklyn Life, Business
New Bakeries and Cafés in Bed Stuy Face Uncertain Prospects
By La Toya Tooles The outside of Ms. Dahlia’s Café on the 440th block of Norstrand Ave in Brooklyn is a sign of changing times. There are wicker and metal benches nestled in the nook of bay windows with colorful cushions placed around. It’s an unusual sight on the otherwise bustling but often grimy street....
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December 8, 2010December 13, 2010Politics
Three Brooklyn Congressional Representatives to Lose Clout
By Miranda Neubauer Brooklyn’s clout in the new U.S. Congress will be greatly diminished come January. Despite easy victories in November, the borough’s three most powerful congressional representatives will be removed from leadership posts in three House committees when the new Republican majority is sworn in. Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D), who represents Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Bushwick...
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November 17, 2010November 17, 2010Brooklyn Life
City Officials Fight Program Targeting Immigrants
By Brian Park. On Wednesday, a group of city council members announced plans to fight a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) program that they claim unfairly targets legal immigrants for deportation. The council members said they would present resolutions calling for Governor David Paterson to end participation in the Secured Communities program, which is intended to...
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November 10, 2010November 11, 2010Brooklyn Life
Brownsville Residents Protest Charter School
by Brian Park Residents and public officials in Brownsville are voicing their concerns and displeasure in response to the transformation of a local landmark into the new site for a charter school. The new plans call for the conversion of the historic Loews Pitkin Theatre into a 70,000 square foot shopping space for national and...
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October 22, 2010October 22, 2010Live Wire
Brooklyn teacher fired after sexual tryst with 13-year old student
A Brooklyn junior-high teacher was fired after it was discovered he was having a year-long affair with a 13-year old student. The New York Post reports, Wayne Bartley, 46, a former science teacher at KIPP AMP Academy Middle School carried out biweekly trysts with the student at a Bronx motel. Investigators say Bartley had a...
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October 22, 2010October 22, 2010Live Wire
Thief robs and sexually assaults 78-year old Brooklyn woman
A 78-year old Brooklyn woman was robbed and sexually assaulted by an unknown male assailant early Thursday morning, the New York Daily News reports. The elderly woman awoke to the sounds of the intruder at 5:30am in her East New York apartment. Despite handing him some loot, including a couple cellular phones, in a desperate...
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October 22, 2010October 22, 2010Live Wire
Brooklyn District Attorney’s office announces campaign against sex trafficking
The Kings County District Attorney offices has begun a new outreach campaign against sex trafficking in the borough, reports NY1. In addition to flyers, posters and a 24-hour hotline, the campaign will feature public service announcements by actresses Sarah Jessica Parker and Gabourey Sidibe. This news coincides with the creation of a new task force,...
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October 22, 2010October 22, 2010Live Wire
Chilling video confession in murder of WABC newsman
In the murder case of WABC radio newsman George Weber, a jury watched a video of a 16-year old’s chilling account of the murder. John Katehis, now 17, is on trial for Weber’s murder in Brooklyn court. In the video, Katehis claims it was an accident, saying, “It was a gig, he wanted someone to...
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October 22, 2010October 22, 2010Live Wire
Brooklyn does Halloween
Mary Frost of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle presents this thorough list of Halloween festivities in Brooklyn. In addition to the usual haunted houses, there will also be Halloween-themed aquariums and gardens, frightening stage performances and even a doggie parade.