Somehow, a parishioner at the Free Mission Action Movement Church in East New York, Brooklyn managed to steal the church and sell it to a developer. How could this happen? Well, the City Register doesn't check deeds for authenticity, enabling many scammers to attempt steal property. The Daily News reports that the "con-man parishioner" Derrick Jones "easily managed to get the City Register to record forged deeds" for the $1 million church and property. Jones......

A 69-year-old woman was the victim of a brutal assault when a man broke into her Dyker Heights home around 9:30 p.m. Friday night. The police say the intruder broke in through a kitchen window, and clubbed Carmela Boccadifuoco on the head. Sources say the robber probably saw Boccadifuoco's 97-year-old mother, who is afflicted Alzheimer's, alone in her bedroom and thought the coast was clear. However, he came across Boccadifuoco and hit her so badly......

After doing time for violating probation and assaulting a manicurist, Rapper Foxy Brown found herself in court again yesterday. This time it was for attacking a neighbor with her Blackberry phone, causing the victim a bruised eye and chipped tooth. Brown, who in the past has pleaded guilty and then tried to take it back, pleaded guilty. By doing so, she avoids trial and thus a maximum sentence of seven years behind bars. Instead, a......

Hallo Berlin Express: A weird name and a weirder awning, but sometimes good food comes in weird packages (consider Masala Munch.) This new 30-seat joint on 9th Avenue near 50th Street is the sister of the bigger German eatery Hallo Berlin. Eating in Translation stuck his beak in when they opened this week, and walked away full of schnitzel, spaetzle, soup, and cucumber salad. There are also German fish sandwiches, and a German "single soul......

When Olafur Eliasson's NYC Waterfalls start roaring on the East River and New York Harbor this June, cruises like Circle Line will be bringing passengers so close to the spray they’ll need to stock ponchos on board. Sure, you could just look at the falls from any number of points on the shore, but tour boat companies are betting that plenty of people will gladly pay for the Man-Made of the Mist experience. A press......

Today, in the wake of the CB6 meeting that took place last night, Eugene Mirman tells us what he really thinks of his nagging neighbors; sentiments that are surely being echoed from his speech last night. Put in some earplugs and read carefully Crow & Co.I feel bad that some people are genuinely bothered by the noise outside the bar — and Union Hall has done a lot to remedy the situation. I don’t live......

The Gowanus Canal, ripe with gonohorrea, served as a very unlikely muse for artist David Eustace. He worked on his Gowanus-drenched art project for two years, so technically he started before the canal's STD was diagnosed (but really, who didn't think it a possibility at that point). So, in the market for some art? These pieces were, in fact, dipped in the canal -- and will be again!The exhibition revolves around four large works......

The presence of oil in parts of Greenpoint is well documented, but it looks like someone wants the oil to be cleaned up. This morning there was artwork in the Queens-bound Nassau Avenue G stop asking for a stop to the oil spills. The artwork shows drops of oil on the walls of the station, pools of oil collected on the floors, and paper towels for straphangers to clean up the spill. Reader Shannan tells......

Colin Leahy, who never made it past the audition round during the third season of American Idol, is accused of having "inappropriate interaction with students" at P.S. 236 in Brooklyn. Leahy, a 23-year-old school volunteer, was charged with two counts of child endangerment. According to school investigators, Leahy sent text messages with sexual references to a 12-year-old male student, some inquiring whether the child was gay--the Daily News reports,"Leahy allegedly told investigators he was 'just......

Photo courtesy Vidiot. Work on this summer’s NYC Waterfalls project seems to be flowing forward, as the photo above indicates. The $9-$10 million project will bring 4 man-made waterfalls, ranging 90 to 120 feet, to the East River and New York Harbor. Presented by The Public Art Fund, the waterfalls are the creation of Danish–Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, who’s currently enjoying a retrospective at MoMA. The falls will be located under the Brooklyn Bridge, between......

Rendering of retail space via Prudential Douglas Elliman. Just after Apple turned sour on New York (and vice versa) over the city's green apple logo, Microsoft is primed to plug into the retail racket with their very own outlet. The Brooklyn Paper reports that the nation's first Microsoft store might be in Brooklyn; the company is eyeing the ground floor of the former Williamsburgh Savings Bank. If they seal the deal, they'll be taking......

For decades, residents of low-income neighborhoods under-served by supermarket chains have been getting their hands on produce the old fashioned way: By growing it in their own gardens. In recent years, outer-borough farmers have taken urban agriculture a step further by selling their mostly organic haul at well-organized community markets. An article in the Times Dining & Wine section notes that the trend is proving to be healthy and lucrative. Groups such as GreenThumb and......

The Gray Lady slums it out to far East Williamsburg to report on the hipster bohemian squalor of the sprawling McKibbin Street “dorms;” two hulking buildings converted from garment factories to lofts in the late nineties by a trio of savvy Stuyvesant alums. It’s since become a filthy, bed-bug ravaged rite of passage for the young DIY arts set, who pile on top of each other in warren-like lofts more crowded than one of Dan......

Rendering courtesy of Municipal Art Society; original aerial photo by Jonathan Barkey. As a counterpoint to the new renderings of Frank Gehry's redesign for the Atlantic Yards flagship tower, here's a different perspective on the project's future look. The Municipal Art Society [MAS] has assembled a compelling slideshow that serves as a sort of dystopian crystal ball, depicting what could come come if Bruce Ratner moves forward with his development on 22-acres of land in......

Aspiring actors, look now further than the Morgan L stop in Williamsburg for your big break! This flier advertises casting for a little film called: "Niki Gets Lost In BushDick." The plot is pretty simple: Niki stumbles upon a band whilst wandering around "BushDick" and (to put it mildly) ends up "sleeping with" them, all, at once. Copyranter guesses that the band must be indie rock; perhaps some real life Brooklyn band porn names......

Elaine Stritch's long and colorful career is packed with so many memorable roles that it's impossible to really say what she's best known for. Her show-stopping rendition of "Ladies Who Lunch" in Sondheim's Company? Or maybe her Tony-nominated performance in Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance? Her movie and television appearances in everything from Woody Allen's Small Time Crooks to 30 Rock? Or her critically-acclaimed solo cabaret show, which she's taken from Broadway to the......

In 2006, Lou Reed revived his album Berlin by performing it in its entirety with a small orchestra for five sold-out shows at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn. The 1973 album, which riffs on themes of drugs, love and suicide, was a commercial failure when it came out; Lester Bangs described it as “the bastard progeny of a drunken flaccid tumble between Tennessee Williams and Hubert (Last Exit From Brooklyn) Selby, Jr.” But in......

Developer Bruce Ratner and architect Frank Gehry have announced that ‘Miss Brooklyn,’ the 620-foot residential and commercial tower planned for the 22-acre Atlantic Yards project, has been scrapped. In its place they’re proposing a building called ‘B1’: a 511 foot tall structure that will now house commercial tenants only. If they can be found – Forest City Ratner has yet to secure an anchor tenant for what will now be 650,000 of commercial space. B1’s......

A couple of years ago parrot poachers were the latest thing keeping bird watcher's eyes opened, as Brooklyn's feral parrots were disappearing. The unfeathered friends at BrooklynParrots.com still have plenty of beaked ones to observe, however, and their next "Parrot Safari" is coming up this June. The troop will "inspect the Brooklyn Parrots' Ellis Island" at Brooklyn College's soccer fields (which represents the first major colony in Brooklyn), before heading over to Green-Wood Cemetery,......

Rumors of the Atlantic Yards mega-development's demise have been greatly exaggerated...at least according to the Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner. He may have been gloomy about the mega-project's prospects last month, but now Ratner has an opinion piece in today's Daily News, pledging to forge ahead with his eminent domain plans to take over Atlantic Ave. He writes:Yes, it's true that construction hasn't happened as fast as we would have liked...[but] Finally, the delays have......

A Brooklyn public school has repeatedly been vandalized with graffiti saying "Jump White People" on the building, teachers' cars and playground. An 11-year-old student explained "It stands for 'beat up the white people.' It's bad for everyone because it's not fair to beat up other people." Even though four students, aged 8 to 11, have been disciplined, the graffiti continues to appear (see some pictures here). According to WCBS 2, school employees are "forbidden" to......

Fish Market: This little bar and restaurant is a loving homage to the now closed Fulton Fish Market; photos of the market from the ‘30’s line the exposed brick walls, illuminated by nautical lamps under a vintage copper ceiling. Andrea Strong takes a glance at the new South Street restaurant, which also features an impressive view of the Brooklyn Bridge. She says Chef Eddie Montalvo’s menu is as ambitious as it is pricey; with standout......

Photo by davidfg's flickr. On January 20th, residents of 475 Kent in Williamsburg were evicted from their apartments, which were deemed illegal, after the Fire and Buildings Departments found multiple violations (including a matzo factory housed in the building). Some of the evictees weren't going down without a fight, however, and have kept the incident in the public eye through everything from art shows to simply fighting the good fight. And while they spent......

A police officer's son was found stabbed multiple times in the hallway of a building on Gates Avenue in Brooklyn. Renato Scantlebury, 18, was pronounced dead the hospital. A tenant told the Daily News Scantlebury "had gotten into a fistfight with two men outside the building after he made a snide comment about their T-shirts" an earlier. The tenant said, "He died over that?" Another witness told NY1, "He was trying to get away. The......

The revelation that Bruce Ratner, would-be Atlantic Yards developer and Nets owner, has been secretly discussing selling the team to the owners of the New Jersey Devils, has put Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz’s athletic reputation on the line. Newark mayor Cory Booker, who would love the team to come to the Prudential Center in his town, has offered to settle the fight for the Nets with a simple, winner-takes-all game of hoops: Cory vs.......

Unnamed sources are telling the Jersey Star-Ledger that Bruce Ratner, principal owner of the New Jersey Nets, has secretly met with the owners of the New Jersey Devils and Newark mayor Cory Booker to discuss selling the Nets and moving them to Newark. If true, it would signal the end of Ratner’s troubled bid to relocate the Nets to downtown Brooklyn, where he is trying to build a controversial $4 billion stadium, residential, office and......

Albie the goat recently lost his leg to amputation, but an animal rights advocate who lost her own leg to illness is doing her best to ease the transition for a goat found in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. Albie was found in the park, after he probably escaped a Brooklyn slaughterhouse. All four of his legs had sharp indentations, indicating he was probably trussed, as many animals are during transportation and the tight tying damaged Albie's......

Is Park Slope ready for its close up? The Post is reporting that the 'nabe may be getting the Star treatment, that is...the Darren Star treatment. He's "teamed with Sony and NBC for a proposed series about a group of affluent characters who live in the upscale Brooklyn neighborhood." The same execs of the yet-to-be-titled show also brought Sex and the City to the small screen, a series that Brooklyn-bashed throughout its lifespan. Post-Carrie Bradshaw,......

Southpaw owner Matt Roff is awfully busy opening new bars and venues lately (hopefully not nearby any nit-picky neighbors). As he works on the Galapagos space transformation, he somehow fit in opening up a beer garden last Friday in Crown Heights. Franklin Park is a 2,000-sq-ft beer garden (with 1,200-sq-ft of outdoor space) housed in a former mechanic's garage (à la Fette Sau) located at 618 St. John's Place in Brooklyn. Their website serves......

In response to complaints about out-of-scale development, the Department of City Planning is proposing a zoning amendment to six streets in Carroll Gardens. This would classify certain streets in Carroll Gardens as narrow streets for zoning purposes and “limit the size and configuration of new buildings and enlargements to more closely match the area's prevailing character.” Many of the 19th century homes have coveted deep front yards, thanks to the Brooklyn Law of 1846 that......