Congratulations Saints

Monday Morning Links

The State of the Borough, make that the Park Slope Armory was the place to be last week. Everyone is weighing in on the Beep's speech, which touched on the renovation of Loew's Kings (Helen Klein The Courier), the future of Fourth Avenue, turning more armories into rec centers, the new poet laureate, and Atlantic Yards, briefly.

WG News and Arts has a new issue out, and while they don't have Reid Pillifant anymore, they've got two interesting pieces by Lisette Johnson about Duane Reade moving in on Kings Pharmacy's turf, Shannon Manning on the vitality of North 3rd Street, and a post by Anne Szustek about gilttery fashion along the G.

On the topic of locavores, NBC New York visits Delmonicos, the Brooklyn paper dines at Anella's in Greenpoint, while I speak with Ben Sargent whose Chowdahouse is blowing up. Really (the daily news has it too). Just watch out for the DEC.


A tree sweater in South Slope has gone missing. Someone call the 78th Precinct!

Finally, NKD's Lincoln Restler better watch his karaokee ass when he belts out versions of Frank Sinatra in Fillipino karaoke bars. It won't end well.

The Short List: Doppelganger Edition

People make mistakes. Like this entire album.
In honor of doppelganger week I am posting about a topic that I have been ruthlessly annoyed by for at least half a decade. I would have been cool if this fake imposter Aaron Short were a decent if slightly undersized shooting guard in a high school in Reno, NV, or even a dude susptected in a string of convenience store robberies outside Pittsburgh, but an awful John Mayer-wannabe British folk musician who is selling out shows in Chicago and has his own myspace page? And what the Hell is a bluejack? Is that like blackjack but for men with no balls? Let's take a look at an interview excerpt from his homepage, you guessed it, www.aaronshort.com:

“I’ve always been into the lyrical and the gutsy, the artists who aren’t afraid to be deep,” he says.
Moving to London at the age of 21, Short began to play anywhere he could, continually refining his songs. “When I first began songwriting, I wrote just to write,” he remembers. “But I soon began working to put my own experience in my songs, and I found ways to make my personal experience strike a chord with the audience.”

This has to stop before he becomes more famous than me. This blog is already outpacing google alert searches under (shudder) our name, and all I need is a few bad critical reviews and a cocaine bender or two before Mr. Short is selling his website name to me for pennies on the pound. Make no mistake, before the year is over I will end you Aaron Short. You hear me? I WILL END YOU!

On another note, the Super Bowl is later today featuring two teams that are not the New England Patriots. I could care less who wins. But, in the Puppy Bowl, I am rooting for Royal, the Husky mix, to make a statement and drop a few points in the end zone. And by points, I mean poop. Puppy touchdown!

Life is... Too Short

The day is Too Short (thanks jury duty!) and there's a nor'easter comin' so I am wrapping things up. That means that there will be a special Saturday edition of The Short List, featuring reflections from Idiotarod 2010 and the weekly links of things you may have missed.

One other reminder. Valentine's Day is coming and I want to remind you to send in those nominations for Williamsburg's Most Eligible Bachelor! Get em in before Tuesday or I'll give it to the Chairman Emeritus. I swear I'll do it and you know I'm good for it. Because I'm Too Short tp be a Playa...

On a brighter note... Santo's Party House

Here's one of the more intriguing ideas to come out of East Williamsburg/ Bushwick in a little while. Transforming underutilized Church spaces for artist studios, rehearsal space, and performance venues. Check out BushwickBK.com for more about Father Santo and Most Holy Trinity Church.

P.S. Santo's Party House is the best headline I've thrown up this year.

The Problem With Helpsters

A word about "Helpsters." The New York Press cover story about Helpsters in Williamsburg has been making the rounds the past couple of weeks with mixed reactions in the neighborhood. The piece is already gathering comments from a number of outlets like a tumbleweed, including Ben Muessig at Gothamist, the electric egg cream, and the Huffington Post (uh oh). So far, Gawker hasn't bitten yet. I thought I saw a post from Die Hipster too, but I may have imagined it.

Writing about volunteerism in Brooklyn among the Obama generation is an interesting piece. But when you put a subheader that reads "Formerly self-obsessed interlopers are giving up coke binges for seed bombs. Goodwill goes glam with New York's new breed of sexy do-gooders," you know you're reading a story with an editorial edge, maybe beyond what the reporter who wrote it intended.

So what happened? Interviews featuring Not An Alternative's Beka Economopoulos, Transportation Alternatives' Dan Latorre, NAG co-founder Joe Weisbord are on point, though the reporter Justin Richards doesn't talk to Weisbord or many of the other NAG members that much. When he does, this is the result:

Hanging by the bar, laughing with friends, frowning at my questions, was NAG co-founder Joe Weisbord. He moved to Williamsburg in 1988, when he was 30 years old, to join his artist wife. I asked him if he found it difficult to understand the idea of neighborhood transformers fighting neighborhood transformation.

Weisbord felt that mine was a reductive outlook. He said that NAG comprises as many longtime New Yorkers as it does newcomers. Its acronym once meant Neighbors Against Garbage, since it was founded to combat waste disposal on the north Williamsburg waterfront in the 1990s. The group had a different composition then, and the current challenge for everyone, Weisbord explained, was to make sure those who had made the area livable could still afford to live there.

NAG member Emily Gallagher's quote, “We have a really hard time at NAG to find people who genuinely want to volunteer if there’s not beer involved. Seriously everything has to be like a singles event," is priceless, but other interviews seemed to catch people off guard. Verbal tics were kept in quotes as if to reinforce the frame that "helpsters" don't understand the irony of fighting gentrification after recently moving into the neighborhood.

Then the article, when it turns to Economopoulos' and Jeff Hnilicka’s work, changes tone with more straight reporting of their various projects and ends on a more upbeat note than it started. After reading the piece, it is unclear whether helpsters are to be revered or ridiculed and there is barely any mention of young activists of color (such as the ones in Make the Road New York, El Puente, or St. Nicks) who are doing the same quality of life advocacy work but in different circles.

The article's biggest shortcomings are that there are no interviews with anyone who has been gentrified from Williamsburg and Greenpoint (What do they think about "helpsters" and organizations such as NAG and Not An Alternative? Who do they blame for leaving the neighborhood?), and there is little separation of the young activists involved in community organizations and the new residents moving into condominium buildings in the neighborhood that have most directly contributed to gentrification.

Also, there's the question about whether Helpsters as a subset of hipsters actually exist in the first place. To get an expert opinion, I interviewed bloggers Andi Bartz and Brenna Ehrlich at Stuff Hipsters Hate. The full article is here, but here's the question about Helpsters:

Brenna: We thought the word ‘helpster’ was kind of silly. But hipsters aren’t this evil group that doesn’t care about anybody. Also, the word hipster has similar roots to ‘hippie,’ and hippies were driven by social activism. A lot of people sent us e-mails after that story came out saying the age of hipster hate is over, but we feel it’s not, really. I think it’s a fallacy to assume that just because someone is doing good, they can’t be negative in other aspects of their life.

Voir Dire In the Headlights

Just got done with questioning. I've been dismissed from jury duty. Let's see if the case I heard made the blotter...

Team 11th Hour

Andy Campbell joins the 2010 New York Fantasy Politics Draft with an expansion team called "Team 11th Hour". Let's take a look at his lineup and let's welcome David Yassky back to A Short Story!:

QB- Sen. Kevin Parker Center- Michelle Paterson RB- Annette Robinson FB- Rudy Guiliani, Offensive Tackle- Albert Vann Wide Receiver- David Yassky Tight End- Mathieu EugeneKicker- David Yassky Defense- MTA

Gone Juryin'

I'm at 360 Adams Street in Supreme Court for the day. They haven't called my name yet and it's a slow purgatory-like experience. At one point the court clerk called out a series of numbers before a woman in the audience shouted bingo. At least I'm not stuck in night court.

Schumer and Jelly Sandwich

Senator Chuck saw his shadow which means the Jelly Pool Parties are returning to the East River.

By now, you've heard that the pool parties are returning in 2010 which will feature 8 free concerts. Senator Schumer's office sent out a release yesterday where everyone thanked everyone else for saving the concerts.

“Summer in Brooklyn without the free JELLY Pool Parties simply would not have been the same and I am beyond thrilled to see that they will return in 2010,” Schumer said. “I have truly been inspired and energized by the enthusiasm behind these outstanding concerts and am proud to have worked so hard on behalf of concert-goers everywhere to see that they return. I’d like to thank OSA, NYS Parks, NYC Parks, Borough President Marty Markowitz, Assemblyman Joe Lentol, Senator Daniel Squadron and Councilman Stephen Levin for working so hard to see that the Pool Parties return in 2010. I can’t wait to ride my bike this summer to the East River State Park to rock out at these concerts once again.”

A cursory look behind the story has revealed some grumbling between the parties involved, though surprisingly it did not come from an originally reluctant State Parks office, which had not been involved with a project of this scale in Brooklyn before and had concerns about security and liability.
Instead, Jelly and the Open Space Alliance had differences regarding fee structures, liability issues, and other costs, and the delays in negotiating a deal seemed to frustrate OSA's board which wanted to have ticketed shows in the park.
At this point, with a memorandum of understanding in place, the groups are trying to resolve their differences and move forward with what will likely be an exciting concert season and expanded use of the Wiliamsburg waterfront.

Wednedsay morning links

Time for a quick look at links from the past few days from reporters in the local news-o-sphere and check in on what they're working on...

The Brooklyn Paper's Andy Campbell visits and works out at the Green Fitness Studio in East Williamsburg.

The Courier's Steve Witt's mosque story continues to gain some steam, as he reports from Community Board 15.

The New York Observer's Reid Pillifant has been following Harold Ford around for the past week, reporting from Buffalo, but he was back on his home turf in Williamsburg last Friday with a look inside Cono's restaurant and Ford's politicking at Vito's zero martini lunch.

The Brooklyn Downtown Star's Dan Bush has a one-on-one interview with new Council member Steve Levin. What do they talk about? Zoning of course.

It's a little out of the area, but it's nice to see Council member Leroy Comrie (and starting left tackle on The Jack Hammers) get a City Hall profile on his new role as Land Use Chair.

City Hall News' Chris Bragg travels out to Boro Park to look at the race to replace Simcha Felder.

Chris Bragg gets around. He also talked with old friends Matt Silverstein and Costa Constantinides who are reviving (or depending on your opinion, being co-opted by) the Queens County Democratic Party.

WG News and Arts' Phil DePaolo takes a closer look at the city budget.

New York Shitty's Miss Heather finds what is believed to be the ####iest car in North Brooklyn and in a nod to Bob Guskind, two classic street couches.

Finally, the Greenpoint Gazette's Juliet Linderman has been in Costa Rica the past week, but check out her profile of Pastor Ann Kansfield.

Futurama, Brooklyn

A photo from last month's Futurama Civic Association Meeting

Brooklyn is a big borough, with little known neighborhoods such as Wyckoff Heights, Georgetown, Fiske Terrace, and RAMBO, but my favorite has to be Futurama. Located in Flatlands and not far Avenue U and Mill Basin, Futurama is home to the Futurama Civic Association, which happens to be A Short Story's Civic Association of the Month. Congratulations FCA! Do the hustle!

Futurama Brooklyn happens to be the site of Past-O-Rama, a historical recreation of 2oth Century life in Old New York, which is located in New New York. Wait a second, now I'm confused.

City Reliquary Needs Your Help

The City Reliquary has brought you the Miss G Train pageant, Bicycle Fetish Day, and countless other neighborhood events and exhibits. Now they need your help. Find out more at The Brooklyn Paper and The Williamsburg Courier. But here are the two big events they are promoting:

Thursday, February 18th 2010 - FIRE SALE: NYC Firefighter Date Auction, Doors 6:00 PM / Show 7:30 PM, Tickets are $20 and available at the door or on the Knitting Factory website, More Details »
Wednesday, March 17th 2010 - St. Patrick's Day Benefit Concert for the City Reliquary, Doors 6:00PM/Show 7:30 PM, Tickets are $20, Bands will include: Drink Me, Brian Dewan, Tiagaa!, Frankenpine, Lucky Chops Brass Band and more.

Borough President Sees Shadow

That means six more weeks of deliberations before zoning decisions on the New Domino come up!

SITE Fest Takes Over Idiotarod

Ok, that's an inside joke. But rest easy. I'll have a full weekend of photos and copy from Saturday's Idiotarod marathon in the morning.

From the Borough of Brooklyn Comes Dollar Van Demos

Through all the missed quotes, the dropped calls, the grind-it-out deadline days of covering press conference after press conference in addition to banking six stories on any given day before the subway cuts its two-way service to deep Brooklyn, this is why we blog. This is what gives us the energy to wake up the next morning and kick this city in the shins.

Joe Lentol's Facebook page

Assemblymember Joe Lentol (D- Williamsburg, Greenpoint) has discovered Facebook. Today, I became his friend. I have joined 57 other people including Assemblymembers Steven Cymbrowitz, Jonathan Bing, Hakeem Jeffries, and Karim Camara, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Council members Steve Levin and Robert Jackson, former council candidate Evan Thies, current Council candidate Joe Lazar, and state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, to name a few. DiNapoli doesn't really count because he's just doing this to add as many friends as he can and brag about it at the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers 2010's Annual Conference on August 7-11, 2010.

Joe also has a twitter account. Can someone check with Amy to find out whether Joe knows what Twitter is? Updated!: Amy said that he wrote his first tweet all by himself:

*Two hours ago: Williamsburg Charter High School raps about the importance of filling out FAFSA http://bit.ly/982cLj

*Two hours and 1 minute ago: Brilliant and entertaining rap video created by Williamsburg Charter High School about the SATs http://bit.ly/9aWf9a

*12: 15 PM January 28th: I posted 19 photos on Facebook in the album "Photos" http://bit.ly/daGoCM

On Joe's Facebook account includes two videos. A Duffield Street co-naming from 2007, and then this...

Through Fat and Thin

A Missouri study founds that most Americans prefer their male politicans to be on the husky side while their women leaders more svelte. Suddenly Brooklyn politics makes so much sense. And also, Steve Levin better start upgrading to Michael Phelps' 12,000 calorie-a-day diet.

A full Fantasy Politics Draft analysis will be coming.

Rose Plaza Part III

Once again South Williamsburg is split over Rose Plaza, Isack Rosenberg's controversial development project on Kent and Division Avenues, as residents and comunity leaders gave their testimony at a City Planning Commission public hearing on Wednesday, January 27. Check out my article in The Courier for the animated back-and-forth.

Not much has changed with this since the Borough President's partial recommendation and his own public hearing back in December. Rabbi David Niederman and CB1 member Simon Weiser are still against it. UJCare's Gary Schlesinger, Rabbi Leib Glanz, and former Council candidate Isaac Abraham are in support of it.

Speaking publicly on the issue for the first time was Council member Steve Levin, the new Dispositions Subcommittee Chair, who is opposing the project in a nod to the wishes of Community Board 1 and some of his constituents. Two news sites, The Brooklyn Eagle and Vosizneias, led with the Levin testimony, and so far Vosizneias has 41 comments on it. Here's an excerpt of his testimony:

As City Councilmember for the affected area, I must weigh the possible benefits of the proposed action for the community against the possible negative impacts. This application is asking the Commission to approve a rezoning to R7-3 and number of special permits without, I believe, giving nearly enough public benefit. On each issue which matters to the community, and which therefore matters to me, this application comes up far short. I therefore look to the recommendations of Community Board 1 in Brooklyn , which voted overwhelmingly, 31-8, to disapprove this application unless it met an extensive list of 10 recommendations.

Levin's opposition is not surpising, as he noted that he would take the Community Board's advice on zoning projects very seriously. Niederman is also lobbying him strongly to oppose Rose Plaza, and the project is emerging as the Council member's first big test and former foes, including Isaac Abraham are promised "there's a fight coming" if Levin ignores them.

However, there may be modifactions coming in the next month as the applicant's representative Howard Weiss indicated that they may look at adding larger apartments. Howard in the Eagle:

“I am prepared today to state our commitment to add 10 additional three-bedroom units,” Weiss said, adding, “And we are also committed to making sure this site will be remediated to residential standards.” As for the percentage of affordable units (20 percent = 160 units), Weiss reminded the commissioners that 20 percent was the amount acceptable to city planners when the inclusionary bonus was adopted. In addition to Levin and Weiss, commissioners heard from architect Peter Samton of Gruzen Samton and landscape architect Tom Balsley of Balsley Landscape Associates, who described elements of the proposal.

Williamsburg's Most Eligible Bachelor 2010

Yes, you read that correctly. The Williamsburg Courier wants you to nominate your friends and coworkers for Williamsburg's Most Eligible Bachelor 2010 contest. I am reposting this, as it may have missed a few eyes last week. Remember to send in your nominations!...

Have you ever attended an East River summer concert, hung out at Union Pool or wandered into a community board meeting and thought, “Who’s that cute boy in the corner?”Well, let the Williamsburg Courier answer that question for you this Valentine’s Day as we are asking for nominations for the Williamsburg’s Most Eligible Bachelors!Nominate your friends, coworkers, or your local city council member! Everyone living or working in Williamsburg (and Greenpoint, thanks to New York Shitty) is eligible.Please e-mail the nominee’s name, contact information, and a brief 50-word statement why you think they deserve to be nominated to ashort@cnglocal.com by Tuesday, February 9. The winners will be announced in our February 12 edition of the Williamsburg Courier.