We’ve long had faithful contributors like Miss Heather and F. Jasmin Adams, but we’d like to particularly thank some new ones whose names many of you have been seeing for the first time here on GL in recent days. We put out a call for help and they answered: E.C. Stevens (who’s provided so much great material it nearly brings us to tears), Lauren Fairbanks, Vaduz Uvunt (who prefers anonymity), Jean Kahler, Max Casey (our only contributor who’s a skateboarding fanatic) and Marie Viljoen (whose pics and words from Cobble Hill are magnificent) to name a few. We’ve also never thanked Katie Lee Rush, who started doing music coverage right before we went on hiatus for a bit. Our faithful contributors Dan Bennis, Adrian Kinloch and resident development poet Graziella Radici have also had our deep gratitude for a long time. (Also a huge shout out to Rubys Host in Coney Island.) We have heard from a lot more people and hope to be adding their names to the roster in the near future. Thank you!!!

[Photos for GL courtesy of E.C. Stephens]

It was Gowanus Harvest Festival weekend and while the words “Gowanus” and “Harvest” really don’t seem like they belong in the same sentence or, even, the same paragraph, it was all in good fun and the event at the Yard, which is on the shores of the Gowanus at the Carroll Street Bridge, was well attended. Correspondent E.C. Stephens was on the scene and supplied the images.

There’s another rally/media event planned for the deeply troubled Long Island College Hospital, which seems headed in the direction of being a humongous real estate deal that could change the face of its neighborhood rather than a health care provider. To that end, Borough President Marty Markowitz is holding a press conference and rally on LICH’s future of the Long Island College Hospital, and per his office, “we urge you to attend.” The event will be on Tuesday, October 14 at 1PM outside LICH on Hicks Street, between Atlantic and Pacific Avenues. Per the email making the rounds, “Please spread the word far and wide. A good turnout will help demonstrate how important this hospital is to the community!”

[Photo courtesy Adrian Kinloch/Brit in Brooklyn]

Barack Obama is hearted many places in Brooklyn, including by people living near the Red Hook waterfront. The photo comes from our GL Contributor and Brit in Brooklyn blogger Adrian Kinloch.

(A Note from GL: if you interesting Obama street art or graffiti around Brooklyn do send it to us. We’d love to post the pics between now an Election Day. We can be reached, as always, at thegowanuslounge (at) gmail (dot) com.)

And now, we present the return of our GL Concert Calendar courtesy of our faithful correspondent Dan Bennis. This covers a selection of shows from today through Wednesday:

Monday 10/13/08
Jalopy: Country Blues Jam: Bring you fiddle, accordion, banjo, washtub, mandolin, guitar, or maybe even spoons and participate in an open jam session. Free!! 9:30pm

Barbes: Chicha Libre (Latin/Surf/Psychedelic) $10, 9:30pm

Tuesday 10/14/08
Bar 4: Open Mike Night: Hosted by Tanya Buziak, sign up at 8:00pm, 8:30 showtime-Free!!

Wednesday 10/15/08
Jalopy: “Roots n’ Ruckus” w/ Feral Foster (Folk) Free!!, 9:00pm

(Also note that TV on the Radio is playing at the Masonic Temple in Fort Greene on Tues, Wed. & Thurs. night, but all three shows are sold out.)
—Dan Bennis

The creator of this vid, which is a couple of years old, pointed us to it for Columbus Day. Unfortunately, given current events…well, one can foresee a time when it’s not just Columbus Day. He wrote of the making of the vid: “With the plethora of banks along Manhattan Ave, Greenpoint seemed like a good locale for such a video, and so we went from bank to bank shooting pieces for the music video.” It’s fun. Watch it.

We have been fascinated (and frankly somewhat horrified) watching the Vladimir Putin-like power grab moves at City Hall and the cheerleading emanating from Brooklyn Borough Hall where Marty Markowitz stands to become Borough President for Life. More analysis on the issue of incumbents repealing terms limits for themselves and doing so without a public vote at another point. Right now, we simply post a new react from Council Member Bill de Blasio. Mr. de Blasio, of course, is the leading candidate for the Brooklyn Borough presidency and has a deep interested in seeing to it that Mr. Markowitz does not get the ability to be Borough President for Life. We believe it may bother him more than the prospect of Mr. Bloomberg being Mayor for Life (at least, right now). Here is the de Blasio statement on Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s decision to back the Mayor’s approach:

“Today’s announcement makes one thing clear to all New Yorkers: the proposal to cut voters out of this process is losing momentum, and the Speaker is trying to shore up any fragile political support for the Mayor’s power grab. As we gear up to this week’s hearings, the outrage among New Yorkers is building, and their elected officials must take the message seriously.

There is plenty of time to hold a referendum on term limits, and the Mayor and the Speaker are blatantly ignoring that option in favor of a fast track legislative approach that cuts out the public. We were elected to protect and represent the voice of the people, not to conceive creative ways to silence them. The New York City Council has worked hard over the years to become an important voice and partner in governing our City. Today, we have taken a real step backwards, as our leader has partnered with the Mayor to silence the voters.”

This is going to be very, very interesting.

Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brookyn-related information and images.
Schaefer Landing Residents Are Once Again SOL, Water Taxi-Wise [NYT]
Meet John Neilko, Williamsburg’s Premier Pigeon Tender [NY Mag]
Plenty of Brooklynites Aren’t Sad to See the Waterfalls Go [NYT]
PACC: Affordable Housing Plans May Be Screwed [Daily News]
A Bushwick Fire Claimed Two Lives Yesterday [Daily News]
Carroll Gardens Pizza Store Owners Feeling Economic Pinch [NY Post]
Franz Ferdinand, M.I.A. & Others Played at BBP [McBrooklyn]
The Williamsburg Bridge NYPD SkyWatch is in Action [Animal NY]
Who is Clinton Hill’s Ukulele Man? [Clinton Hill Blog]
Behold Greenpoint’s Mattress Mountain [NY Shitty]
A Winter CSA is Brewing in Ditmas Park [Ditmas Park Blog]
Sunset Park, 1916 Edition [Best View in Brooklyn]
–Compiled by Max Casey

According to Brooklynian, on Saturday night around 7pm a narcotics officer was struck in the head with a cinder block thrown from a rooftop. The officer was rushed to Kings County Hospital and is now in stable condition, according to the Daily News, which notes the story today as well as the arrest of a suspect. Helicopters continued to circled the area well into the night searching for the attacker. According to CCCC, this is the second time this has happened this year. “On Tuesday, July 1, 2008 at approximately 23:55 hours, in F/O 1700 Bedford Ave. (Ebbets Field houses), in the confines of the 071 PCT., a police officer assigned to 071 PCT. impact post #1 was hit in the head with a bottle that was thrown from one of the upper floors of 1700 Bedford Ave. The officer was removed to Kings County Hospital with a skull fracture and a laceration to his head that required stitches. A Canvass of the building was conducted with negative results.”
—E.C. Stephens

[Photo for GL courtesy of David Marangio]

Friends, things may be tougher than we think. This image comes from Bay Ridge late last week as a submarine cruised past Bay Ridge. Correspondent David Marangio of Bay Ridge reports: “On Friday morning, I noticed something I have never ever seen in NY Harbor, a submarine.” We’re guessing this is the USS Growler, which was docked in Red Hook for a time and has been spotted prowling about in the last week or so. The Growler is part of the Intrepid setup on the West Side of Manhattan. On the other hand, it could be an entirely different sub here for entirely different reasons like preparing for action if the Dow slides below 5,000 and the White House nationalizes the banking system and starts buying up failing Williamsburg developments.

UPDATE: This is serious. A commenter–who is the person behind the wonderful blog Tugster–writes to say that “actually, it’s the dutch sub walrus. check out my post. They’ve come to avenge the loss of New Amsterdam.” Be very afraid.

[Photo courtesy of annetran06/flickr]

The night life in Williamsburg keeps getting more and more interesting. Things on the Southside have been more insane for a while with reports of gang machete fights and random robberies and stabbings. There’s been less news from the Northside, and especially from Bedford Ave., but a reader reports on a late night weekend incident that sounds like it wasn’t fun:

I just wondered if any other GL readers witnessed the weird events on bedford around north tenth early this morning (Sunday), at about 4:30. i woke up to the sounds of a woman screaming, over and over, “call 911! call the cops! i’m serious!” and crying hysterically. i looked out the window and saw a woman weaving down the sidewalk, walking west on north tenth. then, a man turned the corner and went after her, caught up to her, pushed her, started cursing at her…the crying resumed, and this went on for a while longer. it seemed pretty nasty. there were a lot of people out and about (crazy kids) on the street, and i’m just wondering if anyone else saw this. i wound up calling the police because i was worried he was going to hurt her– i’m not sure if they found them or not.

I sounds like a disturbing (and scary) situation between two people rather than a random crime (which doesn’t make it any better), but if any has insight or saw it, do leave word in the comments section, below.

[Photo for GL courtesy of Marie Viljoen]

Those Brooklyn sunsets as seen from a rooftop sure are beautiful. This photo taken up high on Henry Street comes from Marie Viljoen who alway sends us very cool stuff.

In case there’s anyone out there wondering if they’re going to lose their home due to foreclosure and the ongoing meltdown of the financial system, there are a couple of free events coming up over the next few weeks. They’re Foreclosure Clinics & Mortgage Reviews being offered by the Neighborhood Housing Services. A financial professional will be on hand to review your mortgage and offer advice, which we assume will not include mailing the keys back to the mortgage company and leaving town. The sessions are free and will take place on October 14, 21 and 28 from 6PM to 8PM. The location is 2806 Church Avenue. You can pre-register by calling (718) 469-4679.

[Photo courtesy of June Carter Cash Peep/GL Flickr Pool]

GL Flickr Pool Contributor June Carter Cash Peep sees a little something phallic in this pic of one of the entrances to Prospect Park. Others, of course, might only see flowers. Yet others, might think of both. Et tu?

We’re not clear what neighborhood this story originates from (it appears to be Kensington), but we found it on the Boerum Hill email list with the subject line “scams have resulted in a death.” Here’s the weird and sad story:

On Tuesday, I found my dear friend and neighbor in her apartment, the phone off the hook. It turns out that this dear 81-year-old lady was actually on the phone with a scammer* when she was struck down. He called while I was still in the apartment with the police—-I thought he was a friend—-and told me that the phone had dropped and it was busy after that. Then he hung up on me, “upset”. (*her son found this man’s and several other Jamaica phone numbers in her address book. She has no friends there)

Thousands of dollars were on her dining table, and a receipt dated 10/6 for a wire transfer to Jamaica for thousands more. This dear lady had been more forgetful lately, and I and her family members knew she was upset and embarrassed at having lost a huge amount of money to a scam earlier in the year. I urged her and even wrote her to consult a trusted family member before doing any financial actions. She was constantly short of money lately; little did we know it was because she was sending it all away.

Oh, there’s more vile detail ahead.

[Photo courtesy of nautical2k/flickr]

Yesterday, the Times decided to check out Brooklyn’s Ocean Parkway. Writer Kareem Fahim describes the parkways as:

Elegant and sketchy, welcoming and insular, the striated band of roadway, trees and people called Ocean Parkway both reflects Brooklyn and divides it with a thick green line. It was designed about a century and a half ago as a place to promenade, to socialize, to pleasure-drive or to settle, on a street that looks like a park. The architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux were inspired by the grand tree-lined boulevards of Europe, like Avenue Foch in Paris and Unter den Linden in Berlin.

He continues, “In the decades that followed, the country folk came from other countries, and for most of them, working-class people, survival would do just fine.” The story goes on to vibrantly illustrate the rich diversity of the area and touches on past celebrity residents like Lauren Bacall. The story does justice in describing the distinct architecture that runs down the over 5-mile path and the park culture of playing chess, bike riding and long days lounging peacefully. One point that needs to be made, however: the story fails to touch on the crime and racial tensions that are all too common on both Ocean Parkway and its northern counterpart Eastern Parkway. Do check out, A Tree-Lined Boulevard That’s a Park and a Living Room.
—E.C. Stephens

[Photo courtesy of 52510thstreet/GL Flickr Pool]

Here’s one from the GL Flickr Pool from a new contributor of a scene that is familiar to anyone that’s ever waited for a train at the lovely and special Smith-9th Street station on the F and G Lines. It gives us that warm and fuzzy Gowanus feeling.

Landslide coming? Or will it come down to five votes in Ohio or (please God, no) Florida? What we do know is that signs of Barack Obama are everywhere in Williamsburg.

One of our semi-regular features that is still around is GL Lost & Found in which we try (with little success so far) to reunite those who have lost with those who might have found and vice versa. Here’s one fromm BoCoCa Parents about a found, and quite expensive stroller:

I noticed a phil & teds stroller abandoned along Hicks street for the last 2 days, so I decided to take it home with me today to keep it safe, thinking it was strange that someone would just throw one out and It still had a bag with diapers in it. Please email me if you think I might have your stroller and I will gladly arrange to get it back to you.

Be in touch and we’ll put you in touch.

Things got a little heated in Red Hook yesterday morning at Rocky Sullivan’s Tap Roomas the photo above shows. We’ll let a GL tipster explain:

This morning at around 6.30am, we were woken by the smell of smoke. After confirming none of the apartments in our building were on fire, we went downstairs and outside. Turned out, the neighboring bar, Rocky Sullivan’s Tap Room, was full of black smoke. A neighbor called the emergency in, and within minutes the neighborhood fire department was on the scene. It seems the pizza oven was left on at high temperatures throughout the night, and some pizza boxes that were being stowed above it started smoldering. As of now, the bar’s open, but the kitchen… probably not. Luckily, a bartender who lives close by had keys to the place and let the firemen in, so no door or window smashing had to happen.

Close call, friends.

Yes, we keep repeating this, but we’re a sponsor of the event and we intend to make sure that our readers know about it. The event is the 2008 Red Hook International Film And Video Festival, which is being directed by our friend and GL Contributor Nathan Kensinger. It is taking place today & tomorrow. The screenings will be happening at the Brooklyn Waterfront Artist’s Coalition’s new Screening Room, 499 Van Brunt Street in Red Hook. The movies and the popcorn are FREE!!! The schedule rocks. There’s something cool for everyone and we’re proud to be a sponsor of the fest even if we were on hiatus during part of the time we should have been promoting it. Check out the screening schedule here and go out and support this excellent film festival in the Hook. Great films and it’s free! Free! Free! Free!

Ever since Saje closed in June, Crow Hill denizens have wondered what would replace its charming and frustrating blend of Caribbean/Asian fusion dinners, burned Gorilla morning coffee, and service so laid back it too often ceased altogether. The storefront space on Franklin Avenue and Park Place is big, recently-renovated, and depressing to see empty even while new restaurants and shops revitalize this well-traveled but under-capitalized stretch. Wonder no more. The awning is up for “The Pana Store.” (Thanks for the tip.) Word on the street is that the owners plan to sell Panamanian imports — especially art — in the old seating area of Saje while serving coffee and pastries on the bar side of the shop. The plan was to open by today, in time for the marching bands, glad-handing politicians, and spending spectators of the Panamanian Day Parade. We’ll see if they make it — there was a Stop Work Order posted in the window Friday — but at any rate, new life on Franklin is always welcome.

Do check out the parade. We think it starts at 11 — if you know for sure, please say so in the comments. It’s much more small-town than the Labor Day Parade, and the marching bands are like nothing you’ve ever seen — the platoon of girls holding xylophones aloft and playing in fierce unison is a favorite.
—Jean Kahler

Lambda Legal, the nation’s oldest and largest legal organization working for the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, and people with HIV/AIDS, is pairing up with sex-toy provider Babeland on Sunday, October 19th to celebrate Lambda’s legal work and all things battery operated. The event, held at the Park Slope Babeland at 462 Bergen Street, runs from 7pm to 9pm with a suggested $10 donation. Babeland is insuring a fun time with free drinks, go go dancing by Barrette Bar owner and entertainer Bloody Belle and 10% off all products. (Barrette bar in Prospect Heights does weekly go go dancing nights hosted by Bloody Belle.) There is an RSVP required for admission which can be done here.
—E.C. Stephens

[Photo courtesy of woodendesigner/GL Flickr Pool]

Boerum Hill Residents Want Thomas Greene Park to be Skate Park [BP]
Take Out Taxi Launches in Bed-Stuy [Brownstoner]
Replicas of Sculptures To Be Restored to Flatbush & Tillary [Brooklyn Eagle]
Time’s Up for ‘Green Church’ [Brooklyn Eagle]
Newkirk Plaza Juice Bar Off to a Rocky Start [Flatbush Vegan]
Belly Dancers for Obama Benefit at Je’Bon Noodle House [Ditmas Park Blog]
“Super Obama” Graffiti on Ludlow Street [Bed-Stuy Banana]
Ridge Greenmarket May Wither on Vine [BP]
–Compiled by Lauren Fairbanks

Yes, we keep repeating this, but we’re a sponsor of the event and we intend to make sure that our readers know about it. The event is the 2008 Red Hook International Film And Video Festival, which is being directed by our friend and GL Contributor Nathan Kensinger. It is taking place tomorrow, October 11 & Sunday, October 12. The screenings will be happening at the Brooklyn Waterfront Artist’s Coalition’s new Screening Room, 499 Van Brunt Street in Red Hook. The movies and the popcorn are FREE!!! The schedule rocks. There’s something cool for everyone and we’re proud to be a sponsor of the fest even if we were on hiatus during part of the time we should have been promoting it. Check out the screening schedule here and go out and support this excellent film festival in the Hook. Great films and it’s free! Free! Free! Free!