Photo by Bryan Bruchman. At last night's full Community Board Six Meeting in Borough Hall, passionate outcries were heard once again arguing over the motion to recommend against the renewal of Union Hall's liquor license. However, this time the loud voices were not coming from angry neighbors, but rather Board members themselves, speaking one after the next in favor of the Union Hall's continued presence in Park Slope. The CB6 not only rejected the......

Pictured: Jon Crow entering Union Hall; from surveillance video. Before the big meeting tomorrow at Borough Hall, the Brooklyn Paper weighs in on the great Union Hall debate of Aught Eight. Recently some neighbors, led by Jon Crow, rallied together to stop the renewal of the establishment's liquor license at the end of the month; one neighbor, who has since moved, told us, "This place had a serious impact on my life, on my......

Like the GWB and the Holland Tunnel, the Brooklyn Bridge will have LED lights installed next year, but how exactly do the bulbs get replaced? The NY Times says it only takes one man to screw in these bulbs. Okay, maybe he has some help. Ben Cipriano, the leader of a crew of electricians who maintain the four major East River Bridges for the city’s Department of Transportation, and his colleagues make about a dozen......

Newsday reports that emergency track work at West 4th Street will be causing delays on the A, E, D and F lines. Apparently Brooklyn-bound F train will be running on the E between 36th Street Station in Queens and 42nd Street Times Square, and then the F will run on the A between Times Square and Jay Street-Borough Hall. And some other Brooklyn-bound F trains will "run on the D line from 47th-50th Street-Rockefeller Center......

The MTA has announced the times of public hearings where the agency will discuss the impending bus and subway fare hike. There are eight meetings across the five boroughs, Westchester, and Long Island. We've all heard about the two kinds of fare hikes - a traditional across-the-board hike and another hike that would give discounts during off-peak rides. The a single ride would be $2.25, up from the current $2. And the early mentioned......

BEER: This one is pretty simple...there will be lots (58!) of New York beers, and a few bands to soundtrack your drinking them, at the Seaport tonight. Go, imbibe, enjoy! Friday // 5 to 10pm // South Street Seaport // $55 THEATER: Paso Doble was a sold-out hit at the 60th anniversary Festival d’Avignon last summer; for one weekend only sculptor Miquel Barceló and dancer Josef Nadj have brought their messy spectacle to St. Ann’s......

Two years ago, we wondered if there was a big list of all the fountains in New York City. We haven't made that much progress with the list, but at least now we have a list of the "display fountains" the Parks Department maintains. And it's interesting - Brooklyn only has three while Staten Island has eight. Of course, there are many fountains outside of the Parks Department's jurisdiction (for instance, the fountain outside......

Councilman Charles Barron stood on the steps of Brooklyn's Borough Hall yesterday and announced that he would be running to become the first African-Amercian Borough President in Brooklyn's history. The Daily News reports that Barron wasted no time in denigrating the current Beep Marty Markowitz. "We've had a cheerleader. Now we need a real leader in Brooklyn." Barron was referring to Markowitz's seemingly perpetual sunny disposition and love of public appearances while looking faintly ridiculous.......

Today, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz will be kicking off another year of "Lighten Up Brooklyn" with a walk around Brooklyn Heights. "Lighten Up Brooklyn" was started a few years ago to encourage Brooklynites to lose weight and make their lifestyles healthier. And since he had stents put into his arteries last year, Lighten Up Brooklyn is a big deal to Markowitz. From his office's press release:Markowitz, who underwent a stent procedure last summer,......

New York's own floating pool is opening tomorrow! The concept was that of Ann Buttenwieser, founder of the Neptune Foundation and a former manager of City Parks. The water on water can be found at Brooklyn Bridge Park, it's free and open from 11am to 7pm (the beach is open from 9am to 9pm) - seven days a week. The park's website tells us how to have fun whether you're floating or land-bound: "Take a......

The most charming weddings article in the NY Times today is not in the Styles section, but the City section: It's about the many Queens couples who get married at Queens Borough Hall, a three-and-a-half story brick building designed by William Gehron and Andrew J. Thomas. About 9,000 couples got married there last year, and after being married by a deputy city clerk, sometimes they pose in front of a retired Redbird Subway car that......

It's getting a little easier to be green these days. There are ten new greenmarkets opening around the city, spreading around the summer bounty of fresh produce. One of the city's goals in creating the new markets is to make seasonal produce more accessible to low-income city residents. To this end, many of the greenmarkets will take senior coupons, WIC coupons, and EBT cards. The new Greenmarket locations, hours of operation and opening dates......

Holy home run. Or is that holy Star Jones-style chutzpah? A couple has managed to land about $80,000 worth of sponsorships for their wedding at a Brooklyn Cyclones home game. Flowers are covered by 1800Flowers, cake by Grandma's Secrets in Harlem, Diageo will create a special wedding drink, and more. Caroline Fisher, a radio station sales manager marrying marketing consultant Dave Kerpen, told Ad Age, "It was an idea that both met our needs......

Have you noticed the sensors at certain subway stations for the MTA's "contactless payment" system? Or, are you part of the program that is actually using them? In January, the MTA announced the Lexington Line, plus Jay Street/Borough Hall A/C/F and 23rd Street Ely Avenue 2/V stops would be the pilot test stations. We wonder if the testers need the special MTA fob, plus a Metrocard, as people will probably commute outside of the......

Special boon for the cross section of the population that are subway nerds and Citibank customers: Select Citibank customers in the NYC area will be chosen to try out the PayPass "contactless payment" system for some NYC subways! A few months after announcing that they would conduct a $44 million pilot test, the MTA revealed that the Lexington Avenue line in Manhattan, along with the Jay Street/Borough Hall A/C/F and 23rd Street Ely Avenue E/Vstops,......

Has anyone taken pictures of the festively lit-up Brooklyn Borough Hall, as featured in the NY Times? Gothamist is curious, because we have sort of mixed feelings on multi-colored displays. On one hand, they are beautiful atop the Empire State Building or in Dyker Heights. On the other hand, they remind us of what the Murray Street townhouse used for MTV's Miss Seventeen looked from the outside during filming - like a club. Brooklyn Borough......

'Twas the night of the transit negotiations, and all through the big city, not a straphanger (or bus rider) was calm, 'cause a strike would be damn gritty. So, it's the end of your work day and the MTA and Transit Workers Union are still engaged in intense negotiations at the Grand Hyatt right by Grand Central. (Have you seeing rallying workers?) And, uh, Newsday reports that the talks are "going nowhere." How about "...going......

Hmm, this is quite a follow-up to a summer story about men cruising certain subway stations for sex: An undercover cop broke up what the Post delightedly calls a "group grope orgy" at the Jay Street-Borough Hall station in Brooklyn. The Post also enjoys mentioning that the "six men outside the men's room coming and going in two- to three-minute intervals" were doing this "right below NYC Transit headquarters." Words escape us. At least two......

In case you missed our reminder last weekend, this weekend is Open House New York. Some of the sites requiring reservations are already full, but with so many sites available for touring, there's almost something for everyone. This year, OHNY boasts over 150 sites on their list with sites all over the five boroughs. Last year, Gothamist went to a lot of cemeteries, which can be a little morbid (yet historically so), so this year,......

The New York Transit Museum has been a staple of Elementary school trips for as long as Gothamist can remember, but in conversation with friends we find it rarely gets the love it deserves from the average New Yorker. Absurd, we say, since where else can you see (and enter) a hundred year old train? Look at every kind of token ever used in New York (oh tokens, those were days)? Not to mention stare......

After seeing Ryan Brenzier's photograph of saw Ali G/ Sacha Baron Cohen/ Borat in Times Square (captured in this picture on the right), Gothamist has wondered where else the British comedian would strike. New York magazine reports he was spotted on the 4 train, "lunging in to kiss surprised men and introducing himself in broken English as 'Borat from Kazakhstan.'" Of course, the "Borat" part was a giveaway, as was the semi-discreet entourage ("ten men,......

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The MTA and riders will be entering another new era of subway service as token booth clerks start to move outside to help customers and new unmanned token booth kiosks are unveiled. NYC Transit President Lawrence Reuter said that since most riders use unlimited ride cards, token booth clerks have been selling less cards - and now they'll be able to help commuters who swipe swipe swipe to no avail. The booths are a new......

Yesterday, the Mayor, City Council, and Parks Department announced a $14 million project to renovate Union Square Park, with focus on the north end. According to the City, the project will include "unification and expansion of two existing playgrounds, a year-round restaurant and a decoratively paved plaza for the Greenmarket farmer’s market and public event." Yes, Luna Park, the outdoor restaurant near the "dilapdated" Pavilion will be replaced by a restaurant. This decision was questioned......

And since we're on the subject of Red Hook, today's New York Daily News profiles the Red Hook Farm, a 2.5 acre farm providing fresh organic produce to the neighborhood along with gardening, cooking, marketing, and teamwork skills to local teens. The farm is run by Added Value, a non-profit whose mission is "to promote the sustainable development of Red Hook by nurturing a new generation of young leaders." These future leaders participate in the......

While most New Yorkers know and love the Union Square Greenmarket, which has been a downtown fixture for the past 34 years, not everyone knows that there are plenty of other Greenmarkets throughout the five boroughs of New York. Some are open year-round, while others close for the winter. Gothamist recently got a chance to visit the Borough Hall Greenmarket which is in downtown Brooklyn, right by the courthouse. For residents of Brooklyn Heights, Fort......

Clay Shirky...

The MTA, in celebratiing 100 years of transporting New Yorkers around town, have a few centennial goodies for us: This weekend centennial Metrocards will be rolled out (there are twelve versions). And if you ride on the A line between Jay Street-Borough Hall and Columbus Circle, you might be riding in one of the vintage subway cars from the 1930s. These cars have wicker seats, porcelain handles and ceiling fans, and have been at the......

Today, the plans for a Brooklyn arena to house the NJ Nets will be unveiled at Brooklyn Borough Hall. Developer Bruce Ratner has enlisted Frank Gehry design the 20,000 seat building that would stand at the corner of Flatbush and Atlantic. And yes, there will be titanium. Ratner also plans to build 5,500 apartments and a commercial complex. Of course, some are complaining that this would lead to the "Manhattanization" of Brooklyn. Other bids to......