Brooklyn Heights Blog

Archive | August, 2008

NYC Waterfalls Hours Cut in Half

by Homer Fink on 31. Aug, 2008 in Brooklyn Heights

The NYC Parks Department has cut the hours of operation of the NYC Waterfalls art installation in half. The move comes in response to the Brooklyn Heights Association’s call to turn Olafur Eliason’s project off completely a month before its October 13 end date due to tree damage they believe was caused by its salt water spray. The Parks Department maintains that no permanent damage has been done to trees along the Promenade and at the River Cafe.

According to NY1 the new hours of operation are: Tuesdays, and Thursdays through Sunday from 12:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

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Moonstruck House Seller Talks to NY Times

by Homer Fink on 31. Aug, 2008 in Landmark Preservation, News

Flickr photo by 24gotham

Moonstruck House (19 Cranberry Street) seller/ Heights Hero Edwards Rullman talks to nabe resident/NY Times writer J. Courtney Sullivan in today’s edition: (more…)

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Memorial Service for Brooklyn Heights Girl Killed in Boating Accident

by Homer Fink on 30. Aug, 2008 in News

The New York Daily News reports that over 200 people attended the memorial service held at the Quaker Meeting Hall Friday for Brooklyn Heights resident Alexandra Vitale, 3, who drowned during a boating safety lesson in Long Island Sound off of Westport, Connecticut on Tuesday.

New York Daily News: Friend, Family Mourn…: “She loved her daddy more than anything in the world,” the Brooklyn girl’s mother, Andrea, said through tears yesterday.

“She had the perfect life and was the perfect little girl and will always be remembered that way.”

And while the girl’s father, Dr. Michael Vitale, said his the incident that took his daughter’s life was nothing more than a “terrible accident”, Westport authorities are investigating the safety procedures of the boat’s operators, Long Shore Sailing School.

An experienced sailor interviewed by the Connecticut Post questioned the wisdom of allowing young children on the type of boat young Alexandra was riding on: (more…)

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New York Times Magazine Gives Kudos to BHB and Weegee

by Homer Fink on 29. Aug, 2008 in Brooklyn Heights

Brooklyn Heights Blog’s Weegee and the coverage of the recent suicide on Hicks Street are the focus of an article in the Sunday’s New York Times Magazine. The piece, written by nabe journo Virginia Heffernan, documents her quest to find out what all the police activity was about around 166 Hicks Street on August 5.

New York Times: Narrowcast News: That’s when I found weegee. This weegee — lowercase “w” to distinguish him from the famous street photographer of the 1930s and ’40s — is a poster and frequent commenter to a local site called Brooklyn Heights Blog. It turns out that he beat The Sun to many details of the Brooklyn-death story. Like the other Weegee, this guy is Johnny on the spot with crime, but he’s not as arrogant and elusive as the original. His name is Marc Hermann. He’s a news photographer.

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LIVE Today at 4pm on The Homer Fink Show

by Homer Fink on 29. Aug, 2008 in Brooklyn Heights

Homer’s guest on this week’s The Homer Fink Show (with Homer Fink) is legendary hoaxster Joey Skaggs. Over the last 40 years he’s pulled off many notable culture jamming pranks – which the mainstream media reported as fact – including the Cathouse for Dogs, the Celebrity Sperm Bank, the Solomon Project and the Brooklyn Bridge Lottery. Read more about him at JoeySkaggs.com. He’s also the publisher of pranks.com. Listen to the show here. (more…)

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Puggle Abused, Owner Arrested

by Homer Fink on 29. Aug, 2008 in News

Flickr photo of puggle breed by Shelia Rose

A BHB Tipster points us to an item on the ASPCA website about a Brooklyn Heights woman arrested on August 11 for misdemeanor animal cruelty. Francesca Sullivan’s ex-boyfriend discovered their puggle ( pug/beagle mix; similar to the one in photo), Ditto, to be in an emaciated condition when he returned the apartment they had shared. Concerned about the dog’s health, he brought it to “a nearby animal hospital” for an examination. The ASPCA was called and began an investigation.

Ditto has been adopted and he’s almost doubled his weight.

“This is a pretty remarkable weight gain,” Dr. Robert Reisman, ASPCA Medical Coordinator of Animal Cruelty Cases tells ASPCA.org. “In the absence of any underlying medical problem that would contribute to the fluctuation, such significant growth in a short time period proved that Ditto had been starved in his previous home.”

Sullivan has relinquished ownership of Ditto. She faces up to a year in jail and a $2000 fine.

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Middle School Mania

by Homer Fink on 29. Aug, 2008 in Government, Kids

The Brooklyn Eagle’s Mary Frost writes about parents freaking out about the lack of middle school space in our area and Brooklyn in general:

Brooklyn Eagle: Middle School Situation…: Brooklyn parents can feel a terrible sense of anxiety as the middle school years approach. Some even consider moving. The lure of a middle school is being dangled before the eyes of desperate District 13 parents by Two Trees Management, as it seeks to build a controversial 17-story apartment complex on DUMBO’s Dock Street.

“It’s very difficult for parents to deal with uncertainty,” Hemphill said. “Do whatever works for you: meditation, valium or a stiff shot of bourbon! But try not to let your child see your anxiety.”

She recommends that parents should “look at a school’s leadership and see if they can list their top priorities and articulate a vision for the future. A principal with a vision will attract strong teachers and involved parents. A principal with no vision will just maintain the status quo. For example, at the Urban Institute of Arts & Letters, the principal went to Saint Ann’s, and wants to create a Saint Ann’s for public school kids.”

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Parks Deparment: Chill Out, Trees Will Be Fine

by Homer Fink on 29. Aug, 2008 in Landmark Preservation, News

The Brooklyn Heights Association fired off a letter yesterday to the city’s Community Assistance Unit commissioner asking that the NYC Waterfalls “art” installation be turned off after Labor Day, weeks earlier than planned. BHA Executive Director Judy Stanton made the original declaration in this week’s Brooklyn Paper and followed that up by telling the NY Daily News that the tree damage caused by the falls is irreversible. The Parks Department tells the paper that Promenade trees are being given extra waterings and that it’s unlikely there will be permanent damage.

Update: Here is the text of the letter sent by the BHA to the CAU commissioner: (more…)

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Unconventional

by Homer Fink on 28. Aug, 2008 in Photos

BHB Photo Club pic by jwpalmer via Flickr

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But By the Content of Their Character or Nanny Blog Offends Again

by Homer Fink on 28. Aug, 2008 in Brooklyn Heights, Kids

Forty five years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Tonight in Denver, the first step to a post-racial America will be made when Sen. Barack Obama accepts the Democratic Party’s nomination as its candidate for President of the United States of America.

Tonight’s event at Mile High Stadium is the embodiment of Dr. King’s declaration: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

To me and others who grew up in the late 60s and 70s, that sentence rang in our ears every time the the cauldron of racial tension began to boil. Whether it was the controversies surrounding Judge Bruce Wright‘s judicial policy, the murder of Yankel Rosenbaum, the blatant racial and media manipulation in the Tawana Brawley circus or the issues raised in any Spike Lee movie, Dr. King’s words were always the best advice.

…But by the content of their character.

So, on one of the most hopeful and historic days of our lifetime, I stumbled upon another inflammatory post – claiming to be from Brooklyn Heights – on the vigilante blog I Saw Your Nanny: (more…)

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