This year’s Atlantic Antic will take place on Atlantic Avenue between Hicks Street and Fourth Avenue this coming Sunday, October 1, from noon until 6:00 p.m., rain or shine. Local merchants will be represented, with special deals for the occasion, along with food, music, dancers, visual artists, clothing vendors, and fun sites for kids. There’s a festival map here. It’s sponsored by the Atlantic Avenue Local Development Corporation.

Also on Sunday the Brooklyn Book Festival, “the city’s largest free, literary festival,” will have its Festival Day and Literary Marketplace from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. on “Borough Hall Plaza, Columbus Park and other nearby locations.” There’s more information through links on the website linked above.

As of now, the weather forecast for Sunday is encouraging: sunny, with a high of 77.

Photo: Chuck Taylor

The 46th annual Atlantic Antic, a street fair that stretches along Atlantic Avenue from Hicks Street to Fourth Avenue, will be held this Sunday, October 3 from noon until 6:00 PM, rain or shine. Local merchants will be represented, with special deals for the occasion, along with food, music, dancers, visual artists, clothing vendors, and fun sites for kids. There’s a schedule and official program here. It’s sponsored by the Atlantic Avenue Local Development Corporation.

Stories in both the Wall Street Journal and New York Times note that power forward Thaddeus Young, a Memphis, Tennessee native who recently signed a $50 million contract with the Brooklyn Nets, has become the first team member to move to Brooklyn, and specifically to Brooklyn Heights. Although the Nets became Brooklyn’s team and began playing home games in Barclays Center in 2012, basketball operations and training have remained in New Jersey. A new practice facility is scheduled to open in February in Industry City, on the Sunset Park waterfront. Young said he’s eager to have a shorter commute both to the practice facility and to Barclays Center. According to the WSJ and Times stories, other teammates are considering following Young to Brooklyn.

The WSJ article quotes Young about his new neighborhood:

“I’ve been welcomed to the neighborhood,” said Young, the first Nets player to move to Brooklyn. “I’ve walked the Brooklyn Bridge Park, all the piers. My kids hang out there every day, actually.”

Both stories tell of his frustration trying to drive on Atlantic Avenue the day of the Antic.

Brooklyn Heights Blog correspondents were out in force Sunday for Atlantic Antic, which spans one mile along Atlantic Avenue, from Hicks Street to Fourth Avenue. Despite an early afternoon shower and cool temps, Brooklynites came out by the thousands for the 38th-annual event. Many more pics below the jump. (Photos: Chuck Taylor)

It was more than a year ago that BHB reported neighborhood institution Sahadi’s petition to expand the gourmet & Middle Eastern food market at 187 Atlantic Avenue. Good things come to those who wait: Sahadi’s will close from September 17-23, as it begins an expansion that will tie in three storefronts, while offering a new coffee bar, extended cheese station, a new paint job, new lights and new refrigerators.

According to owner Charlie Sahadi—the “Ambassador of Atlantic Avenue”—this is the first time the store will temporarily close since its launch in 1948. He tells DNAInfo.com: “We’re not recreating the store; we’re expanding and offering a neater and cleaner store with more departments. We’re hoping that 75-80% of the changes will be ready for the reopening. They’ll be some exciting changes and I hope our customers will like them.”

Many of the departments will be moved around, which Sahadi adds will be an adjustment for staff and customers, but he assures that employees will be on hand to show off the grocery’s new lay of the land. Its biggest challenge is having the kitchen ready to go for this year’s Atlantic Antic, on September 30. “We’ve been working from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., trying to get everything done. We always open for the Atlantic Antic, and we have to be prepared in the kitchen—and I think we will,” he says.

Read the full story at DNAInfo.com here. (Photos: BHB/Charlie Sahadi: Brooklyn Community Foundation.)

The ever-entertaining end-of-summer Atlantic Antic—which brings madness, music and playful mayhem to a 10-block stretch of Atlantic Avenue, bordering Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill—will convene Sunday, September 30, noon to 6 p.m. Sponsored by the Atlantic Avenue Local Development Corporation (AALDC), it offers 500+ retailers and pop-up shops pawning goodies, food, dancing, family fun and more, between Hicks Street & Fourth Avenue.

The 38th-annual Atlantic Antic is “much more than your average street festival,” organizers say. “The longstanding and well-loved celebration of a myriad of cultures crosses several historic neighborhoods and brings together a wide array of sights and sounds. The Antic is an exhilarating experience for the whole family.” Imagine: belly dancers, falafel, family sing-alongs and Homer & Mrs. Fink in their Brooklyn Bugle booth, all in a single setting.

This year’s theme is “Have it All on Atlantic: From the Waterfront to the Arena.” AALDC President Christian Haag declares, “In a year where Atlantic Avenue has grown exponentially, I am happy to say the Atlantic Antic has, too. Come again or for the first time and see why this is New York City’s greatest street fair.” For more about the Atlantic Antic, including directions and parking information, see here. The event will be held rain or shine (Photos: Chuck Taylor)

Brooklyn Bugle pal/awesome photographer Chris Arnade snapped this shot at yesterday’s Atlantic Antic. He comments:

The Atlantic antic is great for its amazing diversity. Today a stage with Go Go dancers was next to an Animal Rescue booth. Being the post modernist guy that I am I had to meld the two; a donation got me the use of the mascots wonderful head. Its all for a good cause you know……

The Atlantic Avenue Local Development Corporation has named as its first “Ambassador of Atlantic Avenue” Charlie Sahadi, proprietor of Sahadi’s, the gourmet and Middle Eastern food market at 187 Atlantic Avenue, between Clinton and Court streets.

“A true ‘ambassador’ of the Borough of Brooklyn, Charlie has helped to make Brooklyn an international destination and represented our community as both a cultural and business leader. Through Charlie’s vision and hard work, Sahadi’s has become not only a major wholesaler with international influence but also top retail hub for other local businesses to build off of and create a unique retail district where so many cultures and neighborhoods merge,” said Christian Haag, Atlantic Avenue LDC President.

Mr. Sahadi is the inaugural recipient of the Ambassador award, which will be presented annually. He will be honored at a ceremony to be held at Roulette, 509 Atlantic Avenue, at Third Avenue. Tickets are $50, and may be purchased here. Proceeds benefit the Atlantic Avenue LDC, a not-for-profit organization that “promote[s] economic growth and vitality, enhancing the preservation and development of downtown Brooklyn and neighboring communities. [It] sponsors the Atlantic Avenue ArtWalk each spring, the Atlantic Antic in the fall and a Holiday Promotion each year.”

Photo: Brooklyn Community Foundation.

Next Sunday, September 26, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Atlantic Avenue from Hicks Street to Fourth Avenue will be the site of Brooklyn’s largest street festival, the 36th annual Atlantic Antic. It will feature 600 vendors of crafts and a wide variety of foods, as well as nine live performance stages presenting “blues, rock, country, R&B, jazz, music for kids, drum circles, and belly-dancing.” Activities for kids will include pony rides, face painting, balloon sculptures, and live storytelling. More details are here.

On the same day, the Brooklyn Heights Association is promoting a Heights-wide stoop and sidewalk sale, taking advantage of the foot traffic through the neighborhood generated by Atlantic Antic. If you have particularly interesting items for sale, the BHA will promote them on its website. To have your items listed, e-mail a description and your address to rsvp@austeragency.com. More details are on the BHA website.

The Brooklyn Bugle,  Brooklyn Heights Blog and Cobble Hill Blog tent at the Atlantic Antic was jumpin’ Sunday with special guests Melanie Hope Greenberg and New York Superheroes authors Simon Rich and Farley Katz.   Thanks to all of our readers who stopped by and showed us some love — among others Nabeguy, Since47, bornhere, BHB tipster Steve and Sue.

And megakudos from your humble publisher go out to Jeffrey, Qfwfq, EJ and Beth, LA, Grrrrrrgenius, Steve “The Backoffice”, CHB’s Diana, TK Small and Mrs. Fink.   And thanks once again to Adam Suerte of Brooklyn Tattoo for remixing the Brooklyn Bugle logo for our cool t-shirts. Oh and check out our pal/nabe resident/ Vanilla Ice authority/ Celine Dion’s # 1 Fan/ rock wife biographer/ writer for hire Chuck Taylor’s account of the Antic here.

And special thanks to Auster Events for making us part of this year’s Antic!

While the BHB team was holding down the fort… errr tent… the Atlantic Antic, Karl Junkersfeld hit the avenue and brought back not one but two video reports including a tour of Brooklyn Bridge Park.  Pier 6 video after the jump.

We’ll have spankin’ new Brooklyn Bugle logo remix t-shirts by Adam Suerte for sale ($12… cheap!). And since we know that times are tough, we’ll be giving shirts away all day long via Twitter. Follow us @brooklynbugle.

Stop by, say hello! We’ll be between Court and Clinton in front of the bookstore.

If you can’t wait to get a glimpse of the work at Brooklyn Bridge Park, this weekend there will be two tours of the construction areas of the park-in-progress.

One tour will focus on the work at the 1.6-acre Pier 6 playground and the other tour will cover the rest of the park-in-progress. Tours will be offered every half hour from noon to 3:30 p.m. this Sunday at Atlantic Antic. Groups will depart from the Moxie Spot, 81 Atlantic Avenue at Hicks St.

Parts of the park, including Pier 6, are scheduled to open early next year.

Flickr photo by wesleyrosenblum

Did you go to the Atlantic Antic yesterday?  Have fun? What was your highlight? Comment below!

The  34th Annual Atlantic Antic will be held this year on October 5 from 10 AM – 6PM according to organizers.  This year’s fest coincides with the New York Transit Museum’s 15th Annual Bus Festival, so dressing like Ralph Cramden would be an awesome idea.  The press release promises more of the fun we’ve grown to love at the Atlantic Avenue fest including “an exciting array of foods from around the world, from baklava and funnel cake, to grilled sardines and pulled pork sandwiches, to street fair favorites like fresh lemonade, fried mozzarella, and roasted corn. Ten live musical stages offer free performances all day, featuring blues, rock, country, R&B, jazz, music for kids, and belly-dancing.”