Seven months into the pandemic, most of our local small businesses are hanging on. With pure grit and ingenuity, restaurants turned parking spots into dining spaces, and retail stores went online until their doors could open again. Tragically, not all of the businesses survived the long shutdown, not to mention the loss of tourists and […]
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Botched Ballots to Be Resent to Over 100,00 Brooklyn Voters
If you received your absentee ballot and it’s got the wrong name on the return envelope, raise your hand. Both Gothamist and The New York Times reported a “printing error” as the cause of the literal mix-ups. As many as 100,000 absentee ballots were sent with return envelopes mismatched to the intended voter. The vendor responsible, Phoenix […]
Brooklyn Women’s Exchange Plans to Re-Open Soon; Meanwhile, You Can Shop On Line
This window, at the Brooklyn Women’s Exchange earlier this year, promised better days ahead. COVID-19 forced the shop, at 55 Pierrepont Street, to close. For a time the Exchange could only take orders by phone or email. Now they are able to take orders on line; you may shop here. The Exchange hopes to be […]
Photoville is Back, but in a New Format, and Many New Locations
Photoville, the exhibit of contemporary photography that, in recent years has been held in shipping containers in an empty lot beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, has, because of COVID-19, been taken outdoors. It’s now on billboard like structures, as in the photo, taken near the Old Fulton Street entrance to Brooklyn Bridge Park. These displays are […]
Poll on Closing Montague Street for Outdoor Dining
Update: the survey resulted in Montague being kept open to car traffic on weekends. Our friends at the Montague Street BID and at Brooklyn Community Board 2 have alerted us to a poll being run by the BID asking whether Montague Street should be closed to auto traffic on Fridays from 5 to 10 p.m. […]
Clark Street Elevator Repairs on Hold; MTA to do Borough Hall First
We’ve seen some questions on Open Thread Wednesdays, and heard them in on line conversations with friends: when will the MTA proceed with replacement of the Clark Street elevators? Just this February the MTA announced that the Clark Street subway station would close for eight months while all three aged, breakdown prone elevators are replaced, […]
BQE Below Brooklyn Heights Being Resurfaced
Our friends at the Brooklyn Heights Association have advised us that the City Department of Transportation, in an effort to reduce the problem of vibrations from the cantilevered portion of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, has ordered the resurfacing of the BQE from Brooklyn Bridge to Remsen Street. The BHA’s announcement said that the reduction in […]
Pastoring During a Pandemic: An Interview with Rev. Adriene Thorne of The First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn
Rev. Adriene Thorne says she’s not magical. But many in the community would disagree. Since moving to Brooklyn Heights four years ago to become Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, her mark on the community has been tremendous. Adriene tends to her congregation of 300 members, with a focus on faith as it […]
A Day to Celebrate: Scenes from Day 1 of Phase 2 in Brooklyn Heights
New York City has a lot to be proud of. Three months after we went into pandemic “PAUSE,” we made it to Phase 2. It was a tough road to be sure. Those who stuck it out in Brooklyn endured sirens blaring all day for weeks on end, each siren reminding us of the unthinkable. […]
Phase 2 of Re-Opening Starts Monday, June 22; Alternate Side Rule Suspension Continued to 28th
Tomorrow — Monday, June 22 — all of New York City will enter Phase 2 of re-opening from the restrictions imposed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Time Out NY has an excellent summary of what this will entail. Briefly: (1) in addition to take out and delivery, restaurants may offer outdoor dining; (2) barber shops […]
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