This is obviously an old photo, as it includes two now defunct restaurants; one of which is still mourned by your correspondent and by many others. The thing I want to point out, though, is the blue object on the sidewalk between a trash barrel and the back end of the motor scooter. Like the restaurants, it’s not there anymore. Neither are its identical siblings at several other Brooklyn Heights locations. Is the U.S. Postal Service determined to make us hike to the Post Office to deposit our mail? As Mary Frost explains in the Eagle,  it’s because of thievery. The old boxes were vulnerable to crooks who would slide boards covered with a sticky substance into them and “fish out” mail. They are to be replaced with “hardened” boxes. According to Ms. Frost, “USPS did not respond to a request for the schedule of the replacement of the boxes in Brooklyn Heights by press time; check back for updates.”

Whether we were a Prom King, a Solid Gold Dancer or a Wallflower, we can’t look away from our prom. You can go home again, though, with the Heights Players.  Their kick off show of the season—beginning September 6th and running weekends through September 22nd– is The Prom.

Four fading stars. One girl’s prom dream. A heartwarming tale of hope and change.

When prom in Edgewater, Indiana is cancelled to prevent a lesbian couple from dancing, Broadway saves the day. Love brings together a town, the forces of LGBTQ and the power of inclusion. Love, laughs and dancing shoes come to Edgewater—and Brooklyn Heights– in The Prom. A show  “so filled with happiness that you think your heart is about to burst” (Variety).

Raise your hand if you don’t need that…..(ah, put it down, no Donnie Downers here.)

Get out your disco balls and lace up your dancing shoes and get down to the Heights Players on Willow Street.

Looks like a great cast getting ready for opening night.

The show won the Drama Desk Award for Best Musical with book and lyrics by Chad Beguelin, book by Bob Martin, and music by Matthew Sklar. Hope, inclusion and fun just in time for Fall.

Tickets are available HERE

When Fifty Henry Wine Bar closed last December, the neighborhood was promised that the “closure marks the beginning of a new and exciting chapter” and that “a fresh and new dining experience” was coming. Finally, that time has come! In a couple of weeks or so, Jules, a pizzeria, will be opening at 50 Henry Street. Pictured are two of the team members behind Jules, Hallie Lahm and Julian DiChiara, who as of this afternoon were finishing up the DIY refurbishment on the space. We are loving the new blue paint on the exterior.

Julian, Chef at Henry’s End for 15 years, developed the menu. Colin McTigue is also a member of the team opening Jules. The menu is described as “New World/Old New York style smaller pies, akin to middle and late 20th century pizza served by immigrants and first generation Americans,” with a modern touch of “fun and creative seasonal toppings.” There will also be a full compliment of salads and a couple of shareable hot plates, large and small. And of course, a full bar with great wines, all “approach-ably priced for everyday dining.”

Follow Jules on Instagram @pizzeriajules.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, August 14, from 1:00 to 3:00 PM the Brooklyn Women’s Exchange, 137 Montague Street, will host an event in which kids of all ages (those under seven must be accompanied by an adult) can learn to make beaded friendship bracelets. There is a suggested donation of five dollars; registration is not required.

Mad For Chicken may have flown the coop, but Alice’s Tea Cup won’t go down the rabbit hole; at least not anytime soon. As reported by Eater, the chain of whimsical tea-and-pastries shops, which has locations on the Upper East and West sides and in Brooklyn Heights, at 43 Hicks Street (corner of Middagh), and which was near to closure due to financial difficulties, has found a purchaser, led by Jeni He, who intends to keep all locations open and “plans to be faithful to the core concepts and brand.”

Update: Mary Frost, in the Eagle, has more information, including the responses by City Councilmember Lincoln Restler and by the Brooklyn Heights Association. As reported by ABC7, an apartment building on Orange Street that is home to Columbia University’s Chief Operating Officer, Cas Holloway, was vandalized with red triangles painted on the door and each side of the doorway, and red paint splashed on the sidewalk. The vandals also released insects in the building’s lobby. Leaflets left near the building criticized Holloway’s actions in response to the protests at Columbia against Israel’s response to the October 7, 2023 massacre and hostage taking by Hamas. No one has yet been arrested; an investigation is underway.

Photo courtesy of a neighbor.

Now, according to Mary Frost in The Eagle, a suspect has been arrested in connection with this alleged hate crime.

Taylor Pelton, 28, a resident of Astoria, Queens, was arrested and charged Wednesday, police told the Eagle. She was arraigned late Wednesday afternoon before Judge Dale Fong-Frederick in Brooklyn Criminal Court and charged with eight counts of ‘hate crime/criminal mischief property,’ according to court records.

She has “pled not guilty” and has been “released on non-monetary conditions.”

Update 8/6: The Daily News reports that a second person, videographer Samuel Seligson, has been arrested in connection with the vandalism and is “charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime.” The Daily News quotes Seligson’s lawyer, Leena Widdi, as calling the charges “an ‘appalling’ overreach since the videographer didn’t take part in the vandalism.” She said his action “is protected by the First Amendment and consistent with his job as a credentialed member of the press.”

Charlie Mitchell (photo), whom the James Beard Foundation named Best Chef In New York, is leaving Clover Hill, 20 Columbia Place, the restaurant that, under his direction, earned Brooklyn Heights its first Michelin Star. According to Eater he will go to Saga, at 70 Pine Street in Manhattan’s Financial District. Since Michelin Stars are awarded to restaurants, not to individual chefs, we presume Clover Hill will keep its star unless and until a Michelin evaluator decides it is no longer worthy. We also presume Clover Hill’s remaining team will carry on, continuing to serve the dishes Chef Mitchell perfected, and perhaps adding some new ones.

The long awaited and fiercely advocated-for safety improvements are finally coming to Atlantic Avenue, according to a report by Mary Frost in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

The neighborhood has seen horribly tragic accidents on Atlantic Avenue, the latest taking the life of Katherine Harris, 31, last year. Harris was crossing Atlantic Avenue at Clinton Street, when a drunk driver ran a red light and killed her. In 2013, the neighborhood was shocked when Martha Atwater, 48, a Brooklyn Heights Association board member, was killed when a driver jumped the curb and pinned her against a building as she exited a cafe at the northwest corner of Atlantic Avenue and Clinton Street.

Mouyassar Moustapha, 66, the owner of Oriental Pastry & Grocery and prominent member of the local Arab-American community, was struck and killed crossing Atlantic Avenue near Clinton Street in 2015. Moustapha wasn’t in the crosswalk at the time, but who hasn’t crossed Atlantic Avenue mid-block. The distances between the crosswalks are not pedestrian-friendly.

In addition to the pedestrian deaths, there have been roughly 500 vehicle collisions at the western section of Atlantic Avenue in the past 5 years. That’s an astonishing average of over 8 collisions per month. There have also been more than 90 pedestrian and 70 cyclist injuries during the same time period.

Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon at the podium, with Councilmember Lincoln Restler. Photo by Mary Frost for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

Mary Frost covered the “bittersweet celebration” on Atlantic Avenue, where local electeds and advocates gathered, after the Department of Transportation announced that major fixes would be installed to make the street safer. Improvements will include signal changes, pedestrian islands, expanded mid-block crossings, curb enhancements, and the deployment of two full-time traffic enforcement agents. The last time the same folks gathered at that corner was to mourn Harris’s death, which “galvanized the community” to push harder for changes, according to Lincoln Restler.

Read more details about the celebration and the improvements to come in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

Lead photo: Lara Birnback, Executive Director of Brooklyn Heights Association, by Mary Frost for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

FREE CONCERT | JULY 27 | 6PM | RAIN OR SHINE
EMILY WARREN ROEBLING PLAZA UNDER THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE

featuring Lara Downes, Time for Three, Christian McBride, Rosanne Cash & John Leventhal,
Arturo O’Farrill, Orchestra Elena & Aram Demirjian

St. Ann’s Warehouse, WNYC, and Brooklyn Bridge Park present Rhapsody for This Land: The American Odyssey in Music, a free, outdoor concert celebrating the 100th anniversary of Gershwin’s exuberant American anthem Rhapsody in Blue. Situated beneath the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, the concert features classical pianist and host of NPR’s AMPLIFY  Lara Downes, performing the New York City premiere of her take on Gershwin’s innovative 1924 work in a radical new arrangement by the Puerto Rican composer Edmar Colón. Considering American music through a century of immigration and transformation, Rhapsody for This Land celebrates our country’s long history of hope, protest, and change.

WNYC will broadcast the concert live as part of its own Centennial celebration. Listen live on 93.9 FM, AM 820, and www.wnyc.org.

Headcount, a non-partisan organization that channels the power of music to promote participation in democracy, will register voters at the concert.

Full details and RSVP at this link.

If you count the time a sidewalk shed has been in place at a particular location, not considering that the shed at that location has been replaced several times, I think St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church, at Montague and Clinton (photo) may hold the record hands down. I could swear that when I moved to the Heights in July of 1983 there were sheds along the full extent of the Clinon and Montague sides. The shed along the Montague side, except for a small portion over the Court Street subway station entrance which remains today but is obscured by trees in the photo, came down after most of the church’s facade on that side had been repaired and stabilized.

That work, which was done under the supervision of experienced stone workers by students learning the trade, was funded by “Arts at St. Ann’s,” a series of concerts, plays, poetry readings and the like which, from 1980 to 2006, raised approximately $4 million for restoration of the facade and stained glass windows. A previous Rector of St. Ann’s decided that the arts program had become a distraction from the church’s primary mission, so gave notice it could no longer use the church’s premises. Arts at St. Ann’s then decamped for DUMBO and became St. Ann’s Warehouse.

I was hoping that the designation of St. Ann’s as a Pro-Cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island might bring some funding for facade restoration, but so far no luck. Hence, the sidewalk sheds remain under a city statute that requires them to be in place next to any building exterior wall not deemed safe from ejecting potentially injurious or deadly chunks of stone or terra cotta.

So, there it is, but I sense some of you shouting, “What are these ‘sidewalk sheds’? Don’t you mean ‘scaffolding’?” Well, no. As this Untapped Cities article points out, the temporary structures that jut out over sidewalks to protect pedestrians from falling debris are properly called “sidewalk sheds” (I’ve also seen them called “sidewalk bridges”). “Scaffolding” is a structure that sometimes, though not always, rises above a sidewalk shed. It supports workers as they work on the walls of buildings.

This summer’s Movies With A View, presented by Pluto TV, begins tomorrow evening, Thursday, July 11, with Past Lives.

This film follows Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, who are wrested apart after Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea. Twenty years later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confront notions of love and destiny.

The movie will begin at sundown, but you are invited to bring your beach towel to spread on the Harbor View Lawn at Pier One, Brooklyn Bridge Park at 5:00 PM. Get there early to be assured of a good spot. Food and drinks will be available for sale. There’s more information here.

The 46 Old Fulton Street location (Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle) of the renowned Gravesend Sicilian pizza restaurant L&B Spumoni Gardens may, according to Mary Frost in the Brooklyn Eagle, open as soon as this September. It was expected to open as long ago as 2020 but, as the Eagle story notes, there have been repeated delays that the owners attribute to the city’s Department of Buildings’ having required many changes, in one instance having issued a stop work order. Frost spoke to a “supervisor at the site”; based on what she was told she wrote, “[T]he long-awaited moment for devotees of the thick, square pizza slices could come as early as September.”

In April we noted that the City Council was considering legislation

that would ban unnecessary (tourist and charter) helicopter flights, including all such flights to or from the Downtown Heliport directly accross the East River from Brooklyn Heights, and the 34th Street (East Side) Heliport, which generate much traffic that passes above or near the Heights.

Now, The Eagle reports that two bills pending in Council, one of which would ban “non essential flights” from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport directly across from Brooklyn Heights and the East 34th Street Heliport, and the other which would require flights using these heliports to have less noisy propulsion mechanisms, are, if enacted, unlikely to have much effect on the noise level. The Eagle story cites the city’s Economic Development Corporation as finding that only four percent of flights that drew 311 complaints started or ended at those heliports. The EDC, which operates the two heliports in question (see Gothamist article cited below) may have its own agenda on this matter, perhaps considering the economic benefits from helicopter tourism, or the benefit to the city’s most affluent residents of having fast and seamless transport to airports or to their summer homes, to outweigh the negative effects of noise.

The Eagle also cites Gothamist, which “tracked helicopter flights over Memorial Day weekend … and found that a majority did not take off from [either of the two city owned heliports]. Instead, a majority originated from airports either in New York or New Jersey. The city has no authority to regulate such flights, which fall under federal jurisdiction, nor can it enforce the Federal Aviation Administration guidelines requiring helicopters to maintain at least 1,000 feet of cruising altitude. Gothamist quotes City Councilmember Gale Brewer:

“New Jersey makes a lot of money,” Brewer said at a Council hearing in April, referring to profits generated by helicopter operations there. “I tried to stop it. It ain’t going to happen by itself without the federal government.”

Nevertheless, according to Gothamist, the two U.S. Representatives whose districts include areas heavily affected by helicopter noise: Dan Goldman, whose 10th District includes Brooklyn Heights both now and after the redistricting that takes effect in 2025; and Jerry Nadler, whose 12th District includes Manhattan from about 14th Street through Midtown and the Upper East and West Sides, have endorsed passage of City Council legislation on the grounds that, in Nadler’s words, “Something is better than nothing.” Also, the Gothamist article includes a pie chart that shows the distribution of flight origins on Memorial Day weekend. It shows the Downtown Manhattan Heliport as the source of 26 percent of the flights, the largest source except for “Other” (29 percent). Under he chart is this note: “The Downtown Manhattan Heliport is closed on Sundays, and the East 34th Street Heliport is closed Saturdays and Sundays, so they may be underrepresented in this data.”

Photo Credit: Stop the Chop NY NJ

“Grosstedes” indeed! As reported by The Eagle’s staff, Gristedes, “owned by billionaire mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis,” has been levied a civil penalty of $400,000 and ordered to spend $13.5 million to bring its refrigeration equipment at its twenty New York City stores, including the one facing Henry Street, up to standard. The grocery chain “admitted fault” in that its defective equipment released “strictly regulated refrigerants” into the air. It has entered into a consent decree under which it must reduce such emissions by more than seventy percent or face “substantial additional penalties.”

We’ve been advised by Anita Navalurkar of the Department of Transportation that single lane closures of the BQE Central, the portion below Brooklyn Heights, will continue through July. One Queens bound lane will be closed unil July 31st from Atlantic Avenue to Washington Street Monday through Friday from 12:01 AM to 5:00 AM; Saturday from 1:00 AM to 6:00 AM; and Sunday from 1:00 AM to 9:00 AM. The entrance ramp from Atlantic Avenue will also be closed during these times. One Staten Island bound lane will be closed from the Vine Street entrance ramp to Atlantic Avenue Tuesday through Friday from 1:00 AM to 5:00 AM; Saturday from 1:00 AM to 6:00 AM; and Sunday from 1:00 AM to 9:00 AM. There will be no lane closures Thursday, July 4.

Update: Romeo is home with his family. Romeo lives with his family on Henry St. between Clark and Pierrepont Sts. True to his name, he’s known to roam the nearby areas and is unhappy when trapped indoors too long. Romeo always returns home though. This time, he’s been gone since Thursday and his family is concerned. Have you seen Romeo? Comment here.

The photo above (C. Scales for BHB) is of a tree downed by yesterday’s high winds, lying across part of the Montague Street entrance to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, next to Two Montague Terrace. We are told another tree was downed further north, near the Promenade, a day or two earlier.

The intrepid Mary Frost of the Brooklyn Eagle spotted this collapsed construction fence at 100 Clark Street, a location that has had more than its share of problems.

This Sunday, June 30, will be the last Open Streets Montague of the spring to early summer session; Open Streets will return on September 15 for a session lasting each Sunday into the fall. This Sunday’s event, on Montague between Clinton and Henry and between Henry and Hicks from 10:00 AM until 7:00 PM, will feature “a vibrant streetscape curated by Zoescope Studio. Supporting this are the office of Council Member Lincoln Restler and the NYC Department of Transportation’s Open Streets. From 1:00 to 4:00 there will be face painting, fun with hoops, and sounds by DJ Astra Soul.

Montague Street will be closed to vehicular traffic between Clinton and Henry streets and between Henry and Hicks streets from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM Sunday. Parked cars on those blocks will have to be moved before 10:00 AM.

As we noted a week ago, the City Department of Transportation has new plans for the reconstruction of the BQE Central, the cantilevered portion of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway that runs below Brooklyn Heights, from Atlantic Avenue to Sands Street, and would hold two public forums, one in person on June 20, and one on Zoom on Monday evening, June 24. Mary Frost, of the Brooklyn Eagle, attended the in person Thursday event, and we attended yesterday evening’s Zoom event. These are our take-aways from both events:

1. Nothing is set in stone yet. The latest DOT design (see image, courtesy of the DOT), which would stack the Queens bound and Staten Island bound roadways above and below each other, thereby freeing up more space for Furman Street below, is subject to public review, and may be modified or changed completely.

2. No reconstruction work is likely before 2029. According to DOT’s Julie Bero, an environmental assessment will begin in 2025. A draft may be completed and released for review and comments by the end of that year, and a final Environmental Impact Statement should be complete by 2027. Bidding for construction contracts will begin in 2018, and construction in 2029. Asked how long construction might last, Bero said DOT wouldn’t give an estimate, but her best guess was about ten years.

3. The illustration above is based on a configuration of two lanes of highway in each direction. No decision has been made on whether the rebuilt BQE will have two or three lanes in each direction. That will be determined by the result of traffic studies. Governor Hochul’s decision to suspend congestion pricing may affect the outcome.

4. The DOT proposal, if constructed, would require demolition of the Brooklyn Heights Promenade during construction, and its replacement “in kind” upon completion. Bero said DOT would try to do the demolition and construction along the length of the Promenade in stages, so that some portion of the Promenade would remain open at all times during construction.

5. During the discussion period, several people expressed concerns about environmental issues: air pollution, noise, and vibrations. Michael Stein, of schlaich bergermann partner, Stuttgart, Germany, consultants to the DOT, said it may be possible to install sound absorbing panels inside the structure containing the BQE. The other environmental concerns should be addressed in the draft EIS, which will be open to public comment before the EIS is finalized.

6. One matter that seems, in our view, not well addressed by DOT, is the question of where traffic will go during the likely ten year construction period. There was mention of a parallel bypass highway above Furman Street, but also noted that there are “pinch points” at the north and south ends of the cantilevered BQE’s course that cause problems. This is somehing that will need further consideration.

7. A repeated theme during the discussion was, “Why rebuild a relic of Robert Moses’ 1950s auto and truck centric view of intra-city transportation? Why not look at alternatives such as water transport and shifting loads to smaller vehicles for ‘the last mile?’ Why not improve and expand public transit?”

Brooklyn Heights is full of what the Brits call “des res”: highly desirable residences that are in great demand.

But the hottest new spots in the neighborhood aren’t classic prewar buildings, or fancy new construction. No–our newest neighbors have eschewed the conventional and headed for the trees.

Per the Daily Eagle‘s wonderful Mary Frost, more than a dozen fairy doors have been sighted in the North Heights.

Neighbors are speculating that the area’s shady lanes and dappled nooks somehow lend themselves to the tree sprites. Many say they feel their presence adds something indefinable to the area.

According to experts, fair doors are actually portals to the fairy dimension. While often the doors are built by the fairies themselves, the wee folks are known to use doors constructed by friendly humans as well.

Never one to publish speculation without a reliable source, Frost sought confirmation of the fairies’ arrival from Eze, age five:

“I’ve seen them everywhere–once saw one in a tree in the neighborhood close to Joe’s Coffee…it was really tiny and green,” he said, scrunching his fingers very closely together to demonstrate how teeny the fairy was.”

Local luminaries such as Councilman Lincoln Restler and Brooklyn Heights Association president Lara Birnback are on record as welcoming the fairies to the neighborhood.

You can read the full story at the Eagle–click to support vital local journalism!

Photo courtesy of Mary Frost and used with permission.

Update: Open Streets Montague has been cancelled for this Sunday, June 23, because of predicted extreme heat. The final Open Streets Montague before the summer break will be next Sunday, June 30. We’ll let you know what’s on the schedule soon, so stay tuned.

This Sunday, June 23, Open Streets Montague will feature a performance on electric guitar by Larry Simon (photo, courtesy his website) who deserves the perhaps over-used accolade “multi-talented,” being a musician, composer, author, and collaborator with poets, both living and dead. Larry will be performing from noon until 1:00, either between Clinton and Henry or between Henry and Hicks – the website doesn’t specify – but we’re sure you’ll be able to hear and find him. Following Larry’s session, starting at 1:00 between Clinton and Henry, Danse Theatre Surreality will perform an excerpt from their work Shadowboxing in Blue, that “explores self-awareness through various lenses: fantasy, laughter, struggle, and tenderness.” From 2:30 to 3:30 (again location not specified) a local duo, The Rogue Connections, will perform “all your favorite folk and rock hits.”

What about the kids? From noon until 5:00, between Clinton and Henry, Super Soccer Stars will teach kids 2 1/2 through 7 “the fundamental[s] of the game in a fun, non-competitive way.”

Montague Street will be closed to vehicular traffic between Clinton and Henry streets and between Henry and Hicks streets from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM Sunday. Parked cars on those blocks will have to be moved before 10:00 AM.

We’ve been alerted by the Brooklyn Heights Association that the City Department of Transportation will hold two public forums “providing a project update on BQE Central, the Brooklyn Queens Expressway between Atlantic Ave. and Sands Street.” One will be in person this Thursday evening, June 20, starting at 6:30 at the City Tech Namm Cafeteria, 300 Jay Street. No reservation is required. The other, on Monday evening, June 24, also starting at 6:30, will be on line. If you want to participate, you may register here.

From a Brooklyn Eagle article, the NYPD have released photo stills from the surveillance video of the Mansion House vandalism/protest/attack, and are referring to it as a “hate crime criminal mischief incident.” If you seen this person, or have any information regarding this crime, you can contact the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or visit the Crime Stoppers website.

The surveillance video or any clips from it have not been released yet, but — via local independent journalist Talia Jane on Twitter — the perpetrators put out their own little video of the attack, along with a missive claiming that it was in retaliation for the Brooklyn Museum’s response to another protest that occurred on May 31st of this year.

Unfortunately, Brooklyn Heights is no stranger to antisemitism. From just the BHB archives alone, the Brooklyn Heights Synagogue received a bomb threat in May, Adam Yauch Park was defaced/vandalized in 2016, swastikas were found in 2010, 2009, and let’s not forget Ivaylo Ivanov.

Update: The Brooklyn Heights Association issued this statement:

The Brooklyn Heights Association strongly condemns the vandalism discovered this morning targeting the homes of Brooklyn Museum officials throughout the city, including an apartment building in our neighborhood. Attempts to intimidate and frighten Brooklyn Museum staff, their neighbors and our community at large cannot be considered peaceful protest. We call on our elected officials and community partners to stand with us in condemning these hateful acts, and we thank those who have already spoken out.

This Sunday, June 16, is Father’s Day and, at Open Streets Montague, local businesses have lots to offer dads. Visit the Orange Theory table between Clinton and Henry from noon until 5:00 to sign up for a gift and a week of free classes. From noon until 3:00 between Henry and Hicks he can try his skill at the Olympic sport of curling, courtesy of the Brooklyn Curling Center. If he’s hungry Chama Mama, 121 Montague, between Henry and Hicks, will offer a special Father’s Day menu from noon until 5:00. More info and reserve a table here.

At 3:30, at the tent between Henry and Hicks, the P.S, 8 Junior Theater Club will perform songs from “Grunch,” their most recent production. There will be activities for the kids: Super Soccer Stars will teach kids 2 1/2 to 7 the game’s basics “in a fun, non-competitive way” from noon to 5:00 between Clinton and Henry; and from noon to 5:00 kids from 3 through 9 can “Create a Magical Raindrop” thanks to Brooklyn Trails. No location is specified; it’s somewhere between Clinton and Henry or Henry and Hicks; we’re sure you can find it. There’s a complete schedule of events here.

Montague Street will be closed to vehicular traffic between Clinton and Henry streets and between Henry and Hicks streets from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM Sunday. Parked cars on those blocks will have to be moved before 10:00 AM.

This Sunday’s (June 9) Open Streets Montague will feature a blood drive to benefit the New York Blood Center, sponsored by the Montague Street BID, St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church, and the Brooklyn Heights Association. Donations will be taken from 11:00 AM until 5:00 PM in front of St. Ann’s Church at 157 Montague. If you would like to donate, you may make an appointment here.

Of course, as at every Open Streets Montague, there will be many opportunities to enjoy, learn, and listen. Brooklyn Poets will offer 20% off books and swag at their location, 144 Montague, between Clinton and Henry, between noon and 5:00. From noon until 1:00 at 151 Montague, also between Clinton and Henry, Champions Martial Arts will present a demonstration. Want to learn more about art? The Art Dude (photo, Montague BID) will be on hand, strolling along Montague, to answer your questions and give you free postcards of great art. It’s summer; concerned about your skin? Sun Mi James, 120 Montague (between Henry and Hicks) will be giving free samples of sunscreen and cleansers, as well as free add-ons to services when you book an appointment during Open Streets. Ready for some music? Local resident Cheryl Tugade will give a guitar concert from noon until 1:00. The teenage sensations JAW will perform from 3:00 to 5:00 at the tent between Henry and Hicks. There’s more information here.

Montague Street will be closed to vehicular traffic between Clinton and Henry streets and between Henry and Hicks streets from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM Sunday. Parked cars on those blocks will have to be moved before 10:00 AM.

Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy’s iconic outdoor summer film series, Movies With A View presented by Pluto TV, is back for its 24th season. Movies will be shown every Thursday evening from July 11 to August 29 at Pier 1 Harbor View Lawn in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Guests are invited to enjoy a free movie under the stars at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Each evening, the lawn opens at 5:00 PM on a first come, first serve basis, and the movie begins at sunset. This year’s lineup of free screenings is presented and sponsored by Pluto TV, who will be giving away movie night essentials during the pre-screening festivities.

• July 11: Past Lives (PG-13, 2023, 106 minutes) – This film follows Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, who are wrested apart after Nora’s family immigrates from South Korea. Twenty years later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confront notions of love and destiny. Academy Award nominee for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. Directed by Celine Song, starring Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, and John Magaro.

• July 18: Pulp Fiction (R, 1994, 154 minutes) – The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption in this cult favorite. Winner for Best Picture at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, Academy Award winner for Best Original Screenplay, and Academy Award nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, and Best Editing. Directed by Quentin Tarantino, with a star-studded cast including John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, Harvey Keitel, Christopher Walken, Amanda Plummer, and Tim Roth.

• July 25: Mean Girls (PG-13, 2004, 97 minutes) – This teen comedy-drama favorite, follows Cady Heron (Lohan), a naïve teenager who transfers to an American high school after years of homeschooling in Africa. Heron quickly befriends two outcasts, with the trio forming a plan to exact revenge on Regina George (McAdams), the leader of an envied clique known as the Plastics. Winner of three MTV Movie Awards for Best Female Performance, Best On-Screen Team, and Breakthrough Female, and winner of Teen Choice Awards for Choice Movie Actress (Comedy), and Choice Movie Blush, along with several nominations. Directed by Mark Waters, screen-play by Tina fey, starring Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, and Amanda Seyfried.

• August 1: Creed (PG-13, 2015, 133 minutes) – The former World Heavyweight Champion Rocky Balboa serves as a trainer and mentor to Adonis Johnson, the son of his late friend and former rival Apollo Creed. Academy Award nominee for Best Supporting Actor. Directed by Ryan Coogler, starring Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, and Tessa Thompson.

• August 8: But I’m A Cheerleader (R, 1999, 85 minutes) – A naive teenager is sent to a reparative therapy camp when her parents and friends suspect her of being a lesbian. There she falls in love with another girl. Directed by Jamie Babbit, starring Natasha Lyonne, Michelle Williams, Clea DuVall, RuPaul, and Melanie Lynsky.

• August 15: Bram Stroker’s Dracula (R, 1992, 128 minutes) – An adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic novel, Dracula won three Academy Awards for Best Costume Design, Best Sound Effects Editing, and Best Makeup. The centuries old vampire Count Dracula comes to England to seduce his barrister Jonathan Harker’s fiancée Mina Murray and inflict havoc in the foreign land. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Gary Oldman, Anthony Hopkins, Winona Ryder, and Keanu Reeves.

• August 22: The American President (PG-13, 1995, 114 minutes) A widowed U.S. President running for reelection and an environmental lobbyist fall in love. It’s all above-board, but “politics is perception,” and sparks fly anyway. Nominated for Academy Award Best Music and Original Music or Comedy Score. Directed by Rob Reiner, starring Michael Douglas, Annette Benning, Martin Sheen, and Michael J. Fox.

• August: 29: Public Choice – The public is invited to vote for their favorite movie, from three iconic titles: Spy Kids (PG, 2001, 88 minutes), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (PG, 2023, 99 minutes), or School of Rock (PG-13, 2003, 108 minutes). Voting will open in early August online at brooklynbridgepark.org, and the winning title announced at the August 22 movie.

Update: Water was restored last (Saturday) night.

A water main break this morning has caused all Monroe Place residents to lose water supply to their homes. The latest word is that water service should be restored by 9:00 tonight.

Photo: C.Scales for BHB