· Bizarre Police Shooting in Coney Parking Lot Ends Quiet Man’s Life [NYT]
· Teens Clean Up Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights [NYDN]
· A Couple of Years Later, Times “Discovers” Slope’s Boymelpark Issue! [NYT]
· Boerum Hill, Gowanus, Etc. Turning Deadly Again? [Eagle]
· I Saw the Putzmeister on Cranberry Street. For Real. [BHB]
· Life on Mars [Englishman in New York]
· A Last Look at the Old Beverly [Kensington Stories]
· No Black Friday Lines at Ikea [McBrooklyn]
· “Spy Cam” at Seventh and Union in Park Slope [Fucked in Park Slope]
· Some Hanukkah Greenpoint-Style Involving Corks, Etc. [New York Shitty]
· Car Windows Smashed in Sunset Park [BVIB]
· Another Closing on Cortelyou? [Ditmas Park Blog]

This is Alta Voce, the family-style Italian restaurant coming from the people that run Sotto Voce on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope and, sadly, are also behind Fifth Avenue’s Apperitivo, which may be one of the most vile Italian restaurants on the entire planet (including Communist Prague in 1987) in which we’ve had the misfortune of dining. (We’re talking the worse freaking pasta this side of the Yangtze River.) We think the day we dined there, they were opening up surplus Linguini Marinara military Meals Ready to Eat, tossing ’em in the microwave and overcooking them. In any case, the loud voices of Alta Voce will have soft openings on Wednesday and Thursday and a real opening on Friday, December 5. One might want to wear stain repellent clothing as we’ve literally watched the little ones toss ziti around Sotto Voce on Seventh Avenue without so much as a a parental “Stop throwing the pasta, Toby.” The website is up and it says:

Sotto Voce’s Sister Restaurant, Alta Voce, is like no other restaurant space in Park Slope. With a wide array of dishes, Alta Voce gives you a taste of Italy from the top of the boot down to is soul. Alta Voce offers classical & contemporary Italian cuisine in a charming atmosphere acompanied by live piano and jazz. Brunch served in its airy sun lit Wine Atrium gives that spring time feel every season of the year or melt away winters grip with a cocktail by the fire place in our lounge.

The menu is up for perusal as well, and we’re thinking the little ones are going to have a fine time playing with the Spaghetti con Polpettini e Olive, which will give them both little meatballs and olives to toss around, as well as the Malfatti con Anatra e Funghi, which will offer recreational opportunities with duck, pine nuts, dried cranberries and other fine things. Just remember to say in a molto alto voce: Yo, stop that!!! Buona Fortuna, friends, and remember, tell ’em you heard it on GL first.

A couple of more Alta Voce pics right this way.

Community Board 7’s Transportation Committee will meet this Tuesday, Dec. 2, at 6:30pm to hear a presentation by Transportation Alternatives on their ideas about the Prospect Park Drive and traffic around the park. The meeting will be held at 4201 4th Ave., enter on 43rd Street, and the public is welcome to attend. For more information call CB7 at (718) 854-0003. CB 7 will also hold a public hearing on the proposed rezoning of East Windsor Terrace (the area surrounding the Kensington Stables)
 on Wednesday, December 10th, at 6:30pm.
 This section of Windsor Terrace does not have the same zoning protections as the rest of the neighborhood and has been threatened with oversized development. (Brownstoner covered the rezoning proposal a couple of weeks ago and there’s a ton of info about it here at the Department of City Planning website.) The meeting will be held at Calvary Cathedral of Praise on 45 East 8th Street. For more information on their fight to protect their streets go to www.stablebrooklyn.com

—E.C. Stephens

That kind of cheap looking thing rising at the corner of N. 11 St. & Roebling in Williamsburg that has now reached the imposing height of two stories? It’s the Giant Fart Cloud Building, so-called because it is a condo (actually, we hear it’s going to be a rental building) replacing an old cabbage processing plant that left the corner smelling like godzilla had cut the cheese. (Click here for all our coverage of this sordid little story.) We’re looking for major high-grade construction quality from the early looks of this thing. It will eventually be 66-feet-tall, with six stories and ten apartments that should hit the market at a very interesting moment.

A picture of the open gate so you could play in the construction site, ahead.

What happened this afternoon around 2:30 on Atlantic and Bedford? Looked like a terrible car accident. The body was still on the street, but the only thing intact were the shoes and the legs, the upper part of the body was covered, but there was not much left to be covered. So sad. What happened? Was this a pedestrian who got hit? Be careful crossing Atlantic…–Brooklynian

Crains starts December off on a high note with a story full of very sobering polling data about how New Yorkers feel about the economy, the security of their jobs and other things. The results are not uplifting. (In the image above, the figures on the left are results from 2003. The ones on the right are current.) Per a story written by Matthew Sollars:

Wall Street’s worst collapse since the Great Depression has put a scare into New Yorkers, with nearly 40% believing their jobs are at risk, a new Crain’s New York Business poll shows. A growing fear that job losses will ripple throughout the city is also causing residents to pull back on their spending—nearly 80% say they have already done so—just when the city’s retailers are entering the critical holiday selling season. “New Yorkers are hurting and scared,” says Craig Charney, president of Charney Research, the firm that conducted the poll. “These numbers are startling and far worse than anything we’ve seen, even in the last recession.”

In the Crain’s poll, 59% of those surveyed said they believed the city’s economy was in poor condition, compared with 34% five years ago, when the city was emerging from its last recession. In part, the increasing pessimism reflects a drumbeat of bad news and dire predictions about job losses. Just last week, the New York state comptroller predicted that 175,000 jobs could be lost in the city in the next two years—the highest estimate yet. When asked about job security, 39% said their job was “fairly insecure or very insecure” from layoffs. That’s a high number, considering that the unemployment rate in the city is still a relatively modest 5.7%.

There is way more in the story itself as well as links to the PDFs with the full poll results. Not a pretty picture.

This recently appeared on N. 10 Street at Roebling in Williamsburg on a building that sports a lot of street art.

[Photo courtesy of mugsniffer/GL Flickr Pool]

Yes, ominous is one way to describe this awesome pic of the Greenpoint sky.

How many times will we be fooled into delight at that new bodega, that cute coffee place, that reopened restaurant so close to the apartment, only to see the craft services trucks and klieg lights roll in to film a movie in what turns out to be just a set?

The motion picture mountebanks struck Crown Heights this week, with the appearance of “Glenister Pub” on Prospect between Washington and Grand, in place of an empty storefront previously known for its weekly stoop sales some years back. Right across the street from the laundromat, we noted: perfect for drowning our sorrows after accidentally shrinking the sweaters or dying the sheets pink. What with The Spot on the opposite corner, Grand was looking decidedly grander. We exchanged promises to meet at the pub with the other neighbors who stopped to admire the possibilities.

The cold light of the following day revealed an unusual amount of black paint over the green, as if someone had burned the place down. After further scrutiny of the scene, we wondered at the large number of vintage police cars and ambulances in the area and finally noticed the inevitable No Parking signs. Thanks, “Life On Mars”, for lifting and subsequently dashing our hopes of sudsy afternoons. Now we’ll have to go back to concealing Colt 45s in socks.
—Jean Kahler

A GL Reader sends a heartbreaking story that we hope will have a happy ending. He found this little guy on Seventh Avenue. Hopefully, the person heartbroken about losing him will see him. Here is the email we got:

I found a kitten who was playing Frogger, dodging across the intersection of 7th Avenue and 15th St in Park Slope – managed to catch him (super friendly), wearing a collar (no tag though). Figured I could go to the Animal Kind Veterinary Hospital on 7th ave, and that they would take him, since the cat had a collar and it was in the neighborhood — but all they did was check to see if he had a microchip (none), and basically kicked us out, telling us to call 311 in the morning. Kind of a wtf moment.

While we understand the vet’s dilemma, that’s not exactly a heartwarming reaction. If he’s your email us and we’ll hook you up with the kind soul who took him in.

What could be more appropriate for our Thanksgiving Weekend Missed Connection than two people from Brooklyn traveling home to Ohio Virginia talking about, you know, stuff?

On the train, NYC to DC, talked about eating duck and horse burgers (Amtrak train)
We sat next to each other on the Amtrak train from penn station to DC for thanksgiving. You were watching gossip girl on your computer and I thought it was funny because I watch it too. We’re both from Virginia and we talked about the virtues of eating duck for thanksgiving vs. the traditional mainstream turkey (I swear duck tastes a lot better). I wanted to trade numbers so maybe we could meet up once we’re back in the city, and I wasn’t expecting my Dad to come meet me in the station (he was supposed to pick me up outside) so my fingers are crossed that you’re lame like me and think to check missed connections. So just in case this isn’t specific enough, I’m the short little girl in the black sweatshirt with brown hair who was reading the paul auster book the whole ride, and you’re the super tall guy with a sweet beard who watched tv shows on your computer to pass the time. I hope I hear from you!

We vote for the vile Tofurky.

You remember Brookyule? That’s the series of Christmas photos we’ll be running between now and the big today. Our first entry comes from the Burg, where there’s a similar scene every year. Have a submission for Brookyule (we especially love those decorations, email it to us at thegowanuslounge (at) gmail (dot) com.

Per the make of the vid: “‘Fixed,'” a short film, shot on location in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Watch a bicyclist ride through the neighborhood.”

[Photo courtesy of mgny903/GL Flickr Pool]

It is, per a reader’s ID, Maspeth Creek.

The Empty Cages Collective is having another Adoption Day today. Please go and give one of these lovely little creatures a home.

Click here for the full poster and all the details

Seen outside a bar that shall not be named on Fifth Avenue in the South Slope.

Chief correspondent E.C. Stephens, brought this CL Listing to our attention yesterday. We must say that it does have that GL something to it:

Crutches for the Tall Daredevil in your Life (East Williamsburg)

Some crutches for someone in need. –or– Could also be a good Christmas/Hanuka present for your hypochondriac cousin –or– Could be a good peace offering for your diminutive landlady who really can’t reach that top shelf –or– You could buy it as a preparatory measure for your friend who insists on riding his or her fixed gear bicycle on the BQE. Fits a person 5’10” to 6’6″. If you are unfortunate enough to be buying these crutches for yourself, please send that friend who owes you that favor to: THE MONTROSE STOP OFF THE L TRAIN. send me an e-mail ahead of time and I will meet you there. I’m the guy holding crutches.

It is different.

Streetlevel: Ethiopian Imminent on Fulton [Brownstoner]
Heights and Hill Serves Feast for Seniors [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
Word of the Day: Craftsmanship [New York Shitty]
Eminent Domain Cloud Darkens Bay Ridge Neighborhood [No Land Grab]
Ridgewood Savings Bank Settles into Sheepshead Bay [Sheepshead Bites]
Life on Mars Shoots on Dean Street. Blows things up. [Filming in Brooklyn]
Coney Island: The Freak’s Domain [Nathan Kensinger Photography]
Finishing Touches to Triangle Junction Mall Applebees [Flatbush Pigeon]

–Compiled by Lauren Fairbanks

[Photo courtesy of mikebny/GL Flickr Pool]

Here’s a little bit of Black Friday Stoop Sale action in Brooklyn Heights.

[Photo courtesy of Dumbo Books of Brooklyn]

Dumbo Books of Brooklyn did a little big of traveling yesterday on Big Black Friday and found a lack of crowds and that usual holiday shopping frenzy. We will, no doubt, be treated to endless analysis of Black Friday in coming days, but here is the beginning of this very long one, which is worth reading in its entirety. Richard Grayson writes:

Getting to the Triangle Junction Mall at 8 a.m., this morning we saved hundreds of dollars on this day after Thanksgiving. A few hours later, we saved even more a few miles up Flatbush Avenue at the Atlantic Terminal Mall. How did we save this much money? We didn’t buy anything on Black Friday, merely watched others doing so.

And from the look of things, this recession/ depression is severely crimping sales as strapped consumers behave more like us than they do normal people.

Did someone say recession?

[Photo courtesy of megunski/GL Flickr Pool]

The view from Green-Wood Cemetery.

Stung by a dozens of emails circulating on the Park Slope Parents Mailing List, a letter from the group’s advisory board and, we are certain, some unflattering blog headlines, Methodist Hospital says it wants to talk and try to figure out what’s wrong with its emergency room that has people so angry. (Separately, we talked to someone yesterday who was taken there by ambulance after falling and having no feeling on her left side and ended up leaving after receiving no care in a timely fashion, other than a curt “you’ve been drinking” from the triage person.) Here’s the report from Susan Fox, head of Park Slope Parents, which is newsorthy and which we reproduce without asking permission: Yesterday the PSP Advisory Board sent a letter to Lyn Hill, Vice President of Communications and External Affairs at New York Methodist Hospital and the Board of Directors. The letter included examples from PSP posts (included with permission from the authors) along with an offer to the hospital to post a response to our list.

I received a call from Lyn late yesterday afternoon. She indicated that New York Methodist Hospital is looking into the matter and will write up a response to our list for posting after Thanksgiving weekend. Furthermore, they are going to plan a Community Forum early in the new year so that they can hear first hand people’s concerns first hand as well as educate people on how best to get their the emergency situations having a positive experience…

Moral of the story: create a stink, then have online news outlets bring it to hundreds of thousands of readers, and you get a hope of action.

We’ve seen many a messed up street sign in our day, but this baby, which is inside of an abandoned storefront at the garden spot of the Brooklyn Universe–Flatbush Ave. and Tillary Street–takes the cake. Bravo! How’d it get in there?

[Photo for GL Courtesy of Gary Mirabelle]

As we’ve already noted there is a lot of paving going on all over South Brooklyn. This example on an Ocean Parkway overpass was captured by Gary Mirabelle. Us, we can verify that the DOT crews start work at 5:45AM when they’re paving streets and that the vibration and sound is like nothing that anyone has ever heard. We’re talking things about to fall off the wall.