According to their website, Pashman and Garrison are obsessive about food. During the program they “discuss and debate the most ridiculous food-related minutiae, always seeking ways to eat more, eat better, and eat more better.”  Tune in on any given week and you could hear them discuss chicken parm subs vs. calzones, the importance of surface area-to-volume ratio in ice cubes, or what exactly makes the perfect potato chip.  It’s Car Talk meets the Food Network, but as Pashman is quick to point out, it’s not just for foodies, it’s for eaters.

“We really want the podcast and blog to appeal to everyone,” he says, “and pretty much everyone is an expert eater, whether they realize it or not.”  Pashman and Garrison both hail from NPR, where they worked together as producers. Garrison can still be heard doing newscasts on WNYC. Consequently, “The Sporkful” is well-polished, with a professional sound and a focus on entertainment value. The show also incorporates listener suggestions and food-related questions at TheSporkful@gmail.com. Dan and Mark will answer those questions during the program.

“The Sporkful” will take to the road soon when they broadcast from Brooklyn’s brand new Arby’s, in an attempt to find out why the chain is so loved.  Future show topics include Noodle and Pasta Consumption: Strategies and Tools, and The Structural Engineering of the Sandwich.

Go to www.TheSporkful.com to find the podcast, blog, and more.

NY Creates in association with the Brooklyn Historical Society will hold a Valentine’s Day Weekend Crafts Fair at BHS. Come pick up handmade jewelry, clothing, pottery, soaps, sweets and other treats for your Valentine at the fair. The fair will take place on the ground floor entrance of BHS. Another sweet treat: All visitors to BHS receive free admission to the museum during the Fair.

In conjunction with the Fair, there will be a red velvet cake taste off, starting at noon on Friday, with judges including Brooklyn Beep Marty Markowitz and BHS President Deborah Schwartz digging in to determine who makes the Borough’s best version of this Valentine classic. Come early to be sure to get your share of succulent cake. The Fair will be open during the Museum’s normal hours: Friday, 12:00 noon to 5:30 pm; and Saturday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

BHB photo by C. Scales

Originally scheduled to open in December, then delayed to January, the Pier 1 portion of Brooklyn Bridge Park (see photo above), though evidently good to go, will not welcome the public until, according to the latest promise, sometime this spring.

The Brooklyn Paper: The long-awaited first permanent section of Brooklyn Bridge Park has been delayed — again! — and will now open “in the spring,” Borough President Markowitz revealed in his “State of the Borough” address on Wednesday night.

The waterfront development’s Pier 1 recreation area at the foot of Old Fulton Street — the fruit of decades of planning and controversy — was originally scheduled to open in late 2009, but was pushed back until January.

According to the report, no one has given an explanation for the delay.

Internet “sensation” Bob Trucken Hat recently shot this strange video at Siggys on Henry Street.  The series is a hobby of film exec Marcus Vannini.

Update: According to reader bklyn20, representatives of the MTA, National Grid, Con Ed, and the City’s Department of Transportation will all be present at the meeting.

The swank eatery, which earned its first Michelin Star this year, was revealed by the Post this week to only pay $5,536 a month in rent, while the restaurant’s tasting menu is $125 a person.

Owner Michael “Buzzy” O’Keeffe, who also operates Pershing Square and Water Grill, has a lease from the city through 2025. A lawyer for the restaurant said last night that the cabaret license, which allows patrons to dance, was intended to bring a “supper club” ambiance to the restaurant, allowing late diners to dance after the final dinners were served for the night. Although no one showed up to oppose the plan, one board member was concerned that if a family member inherited the restaurant, they might turn the space into a nightclub. The representative joked, “If you want us to stipulate that we won’t play hip hop, we’ll do that.”

The board took him a little too seriously. Just before voting, the committee added a stipulation to the license that the restaurant must “maintain the intent of the license.” Basically, the only dancing happening at the restaurant will be the ballroom kind.

YourNabe.com: The man responsible for smearing swastikas across Brooklyn Heights and hoarding a secret cache of guns and explosives in his apartment won’t be coming back to the neighborhood any time soon.

Prosecutors announced Thursday that Ivaylo Ivanov, 39, pled guilty to multiple weapons possession and hate crime charges with the understanding that he would be sentenced to 18 years in prison.

We recently posted on Ivanov’s activities while in pre-trial detention at Rikers.

The New Tenants trailer from Det Danske Filminstitut on Vimeo.

Reader Bob posted this comment on Open Thread Wednesday:

Congrats to BH resident Joachim Back on his Academy Award nomination for his short live action film The New Tenants. Joachim wrote, directed and produced and his wife Mette was an Executive Producer. They had a screening recently at the Brooklyn Hts Cinema.

If you know any Academy members, tell them to vote for Joachim’s film!

BHB adds its congratulations and best wishes.

Angry neighbors showed up to battle over the serving of alcohol in the cafe’s backyard space, which they said was unfit for a residential neighborhood. That fight, however, turned out to be a non-issue tonight when the owners were informed by the Community Board that a separate application would need to be filed to approve the serving of alcohol outside.

Still, the neighbors of the buildings that surround the space said that any venue that serves alcohol, inside or out, would be a nuisance on this block. Representatives from City Council member Steve Levin and Assemblymember Joan Millman’s offices echoed the sentiment, asking the Community Board not to approve the request for a full liquor license.

Before finding out that they would not be able to serve alcohol regardless of tonight’s decision, co-owner Tom Finniean said in his presentation to the Board that the backyard would close nightly at 8 p.m. and the interior space was going to be soundproofed to insure noise doesn’t travel outside.

Finniean said that the still-unnamed venue was going to be a European-style cafe that would serve light fare throughout the day, including pastries in the morning and sandwiches, soups and salads for lunch.

“It’s going to be a comfortable place for neighbors to gather,” he said. The space was not going to be a bar and the focus was not going to be on alcohol. The new cafe will open in about four or five months, he said.

Marian Wood, who spoke on behalf of Steve Levin’s office, said that it was a difficult situation, but that there were too many residences too close to the venue.

“There is not a big need for this space in the neighborhood,” she said, adding there were already 13 venues in the area that sell alcohol.

Later in the evening that argument was disputed by John Harrison, the co-chair of the Health, Environment and Social Services Committee.

“I beg to differ that this a purely residential neighborhood,” he said.

Ultimately, the committee decided that since alcohol would not be served in the backyard space, the liquor license should be approved. Tonight’s vote cleared a major hurdle for the venue. Next, the full Community Board has to approve the proposal before the Community Board presents its decision to the State Liquor Authority, which has ultimate authority to approve or disapprove a license.

The  first “official” Homer Fink’s Hidden Brooklyn Heights Walking Tour will take place on Saturday March 6, 2010 at 1pm.  Tickets are  SOLD OUT .

We’ve taken our cue from Radiohead for this installment - pay what you want for your ticket.   Tickets are on sale now at Eventbrite.

The Brooklyn Paper: Nurses at Long Island College Hospital took to the street in front of the Cobble Hill medical center on Wednesday, alleging that the financially flatlining institution is tinkering with their contracts as it braces for new ownership.

The sticking point is a job security clause that management wants to eliminate, allegedly because of a demand by LICH’s prospective merger partner, SUNY Downstate Medical Center.

What’s on your mind? Comment away!

Brooklyn Eagle: “We are sorry, but by order of NYC DOH we are required to post the sign or face a fine a $2,000 fine,” the notice explains. That was confirmed by Joseph Aceto a partner at Montague Street Bagels, in an interview on NY 1 News.

Customers have complained that the ugly anti-smoking poster is out of place in a deli, he said. It’s in color and approximately 20 by 19 inches in size.

NY1 has a video report as well.

The full email after the jump.

This morning my son and I were followed by a very unkempt person in the neighborhood who appears homeless, but is not. He is a mentally ill person who lives at [REDACTED] Hicks Street, the house with the kelly green trim paint. I have known of him for years because I had a friend who used to work next door.

We were on our way to school walking up Henry Street between Montague and Pierrepont when I saw him headed towards us. I stopped and let him pass, but then he turned around and came up behind us. I crossed the street and so did he, and at that point I turned around to a young man who was also behind us and told him I felt we were being followed and asked him to walk with us (he said yes). The scary individual turned and walked away.

He is very tall, african american, dressed all in black and he smells awful and from what I recall my friend saying he is picked up periodically by the police and/or Dept. of Health and either put in jail or a mental hospital, but is always released. I don’t know if he’s ever been physically violent with anyone, but he is certainly very menacing.

I was wondering if others had had any experiences with him. I would be very careful if you see him.

Norval White and Fran Leadon - NY Times

When Norval White, who passed away in December, was working on the latest edition of his AIA Guide to New York, he knew it was going to be the last one with which he was involved. With both the future in mind and needing assistance–in his eighties, his mobility wasn’t what it was–he enlisted the help of City College assistant professor Fran Leadon in completing the edition.

Leadon, who lives in Cobble Hill, was referred to White by another CCNY professor, who knew both. White had founded the architecture department at City College and taught there for more than twenty-five years, before retiring and moving from Pierrepont Street to France, with a stop in Connecticut.

Even with White back in France, Leadon, with a legion of his own students, was able to carry out the leg-work that allowed the fifth edition of the “go-to” guide of NYC architecture to get completed.

An article in the Times back in the spring mentioned that Leadon was also a musician, which is how I knew him – as a singer for the Brooklyn bluegrass band, the Y’all Stars. Last week,I contacted Mr. Leadon to ask how the book was going, and when the next Y’All Star gig was. Though in the Times he was self-effacing about his avocation, he is an accomplished musician, and grew up in Florida, listening to bluegrass, folk, country and honky-tonk.

I’m told the Guide is almost done – it’s being proofread right now, and is available for pre-ordering on Amazon. As for the Y’all Stars, Leadon described them as on “hiatus”, as several members or their partners have recently had babies. In fact, Leadon and his wife are expecting their first child.

Perhaps though in a final fling with nap-time-less freedom, he played with his own band on Saturday at Freddy’s, the Prospect Heights bar under imminent threat of demolition for Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards.

I got myself down to the gig, and it was a fine show. The songs were all his, and the band was aces. Part of Brooklyn’s thriving bluegrass and traditional music scene.

Here’s “My Nashville Rose”, and more can be found here.

The Fair begins at 10:00 a.m., with many items on sale at bargain prices, including baked goods, books, CDs and DVDs, children’s and women’s clothing, furniture, jewelry, plants, tchotchkes, toys, and sporting goods. A silhouette artist will be there. Luncheon will be served in the upstairs Guild Hall from 11:30 to 2:00, and a kids’ cafe will be open in the downstairs gym area from 11:30 to 1:30. The daytime portion of the Fair closes at 3:00 p.m.; there is no admission charge.

The silent auction and gala begins at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for the event, which includes wine, beer, soft drinks, plentiful appetizers, and the right to bid on items in the auction (in addition to those mentioned above, these will include gift certificates from local merchants and restaurants, weekends in country or beach houses, tickets to sporting events, and many other unusual and valuable items) are $20 in advance (available through the Church office, located at 254 Hicks Street, between Grace Court and Joralemon, phone 718-624-1850), or $25 if purchased at the daytime portion of the Fair or at the door. If you wish, you may come to the free daytime event and view the items available at the auction before deciding whether to buy a ticket.

photo by jason puris

A FedEx truck ran into 128 Willow Street around  3:45 pm, according to several BHB tipsters.  The Brooklyn Eagle reports that one pedestrian was injured and taken to Long Island College Hospital, however BHB has learned that the victim was actually taken to Bellevue Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

More photos after the jump.

photo by Tim N

photo by Tim N

We’ll tour notorious addresses in the neighborhood and share some interesting tales of  ”unknown” Brooklyn Heights history.

This is a test run of Homer’s first walking tour so space is very  limited. Tickets for this maiden voyage are free.  However you must register for a ticket at Eventbrite to attend.

NOTE: This is a walking tour.  If you are unable to stand or walk for 90 minutes this event is not for you.   Some of the subject matter is “R” rated, so attendees should be 17 or older.

Dress appropriately for the weather and wear comfortable shoes.

I recently found myself without a job after the demise of Air America media, which means I have entirely too much time on my hands, and well you know what they say about idle hands (I don’t either but it has something to do with the devil).

Being that I’m curious, bored and now poor I figured I’d use my
time wisely by doing some neighborhood investigating. My first mission: to satisfy something I’ve been curious about for a while – is there really any difference, price-wise, between the three markets closest to my apartment; Gristedes, Peas N Pickles, and Hans Market on Clark. So, with my newfound boredom - I mean free time I set out to scratch my curious itch.

I based my study on just a few essential items I like most: eggs (6 pack free range), milk (silk 1 gallon), cheese (McCadam, white cheddar) , tuna and frozen Amy’s organic enchiladas with black beans.. Here’s what I found:

The Winner is Peas N Pickles; twenty whole cents cheaper than Gristedes and seventy-two whole cents cheaper than Hans Market. There are other calculations one can do in terms of service, convenience and variety but truth be told the name Peas N’ Pickles is worth about a buck anyway so they win hands down!

Stay tuned for my next missions: How many total strollers exist in BH and how to survive in the Heights for under $500 a day.

*Hans doesn’t sell Silk by the gallon but they do sell a half gallon for 2 dollars.

**When I first moved to BH Gristedes has this item for $7.00 and even after I told the manager it must be wrong they didn’t change it – but after it burnt down the price was back to normal.

Tina Nole: Former Executive Producer for the Ron Reagan show on Air America Media and author of The Only Livin’ Girl in New York: http://elonanit.blogspot.com

By hosting a convenient local collection site, Tom and the crew at Perfect Paws are hoping Brooklyn Heights area residents can generously donate their spare items taking up room in their closets.  All items collected will be donated to churches that will ship the items directly to Haiti.

BHB photo by C. Scales

The New York Post: A turf war between the Bloomberg administration and the state over who will control two highly touted waterfront parks is causing even more holdups for both already-long-delayed projects, sources told The Post.

Most immediately, the squabble — the mayor wants to commit another $300 million right away but in return wants control of the two projects, while the cash-strapped state has been dragging its feet — is delaying the opening of the first completed segment of Brooklyn Bridge Park, which was supposed to open in Brooklyn Heights late last year. To date, no ribbon-cutting is set, and the green space remains fenced up.

We earlier reported on the City’s plan to commit an additional $55 million (the $300 million referenced in the Post article includes funding for parks on Governors Island) to park construction if the State would yield control of the Park. It appears that state officials, despite having no additional funds for the Park, may be opposing this because of their desire to take credit for the Park.

BHB photo by C. Scales

I’ve been wondering about the fate of the trees that have been sitting at the park site for a while. Do you have information about how long those trees will live just sitting there like they are, without being planted in the ground? I have no idea how long trees can live like that, but I wonder how much longer they can endure the park delays?

We have inquired of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation concerning this, but have not yet received a response. These trees are evidently awaiting transplantation to Pier 6 which, as the photo below, taken on Tuesday, January 26 shows, has a way to go before it is ready to receive them (it is now slated for opening this coming spring).

BHB photo by C. Scales

The Brooklyn Paper: Long Island College Hospital’s financial malaise is about to run its course, thanks to an agreement that would merge it with another healthcare center, officials say.

LICH’s current operator, Continuum Health Partners, approved an agreement on Wednesday that would merge the Cobble Hill hospital with SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Crown Heights — effectively easing LICH’s fiscal woes and its tumultuous relationship with Continuum.

The agreement, under which SUNY Downstate would operate LICH as a second campus in addition to its present one in Crown Heights, must still receive approval from the New York State Department of Health. Should LICH leave Continuum, and presuming there is no dispute over insurance coverage between SUNY Downstate and UnitedHealthcare, the completion of this merger should mean that those covered under UnitedHealthcare’s medical insurance plans, which include Oxford, will still be able to use LICH.

No one is ever too young for Shakespeare, and PS 8’s third and fourth graders are about to prove this with their upcoming performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The performance is part of the drama program started by Noel Gentile three years ago.  Until recently, the productions mounted by the students were original pieces tackling issues such as the culture divide, racism, and the environment. However, because the new dates for New York State standardized tests left little time to develop the student’s original pieces, Gentile opted for a production of the Bard’s most famous comedy.

But how well can an eight-year-old understand texts that scholars spend a lifetime poring over?

“We started with simplified versions of Midsummer, so the kids could get a basic idea of the plot. Then we moved on to individual scene study so the cast could fully understand what was going on,” Gentile said while supervising children who, fresh from a rehearsal, were waiting to be picked up by their parents.

Gentile edited the five-act play, which generally has a running time of 3 hours, to a 40- minute show.  However the text has not been simplified. With 31 actors, 12 dancers, and props, costumes and scenery all created by the students, this production will certainly be a formidable accomplishment for these youngsters.

“They have far surpassed out expectations,”  Gentile said proudly.

Midsummer Night’s Dream will be performed on February 5th and 6th at 6pm.  There is a $5 suggested donation.

While restoring the previous system in its entirety would be expensive and disruptive, advocates like Diamond think that trolleys could be a boon to neighborhoods like Red Hook that are distant from subway stations.

One might envision a system linking the Borough Hall and Jay Street subway stations, via Court Street and Atlantic Avenue, to the south entrance to Brooklyn Bridge Park, and continuing south via Columbia Street to Red Hook, with a branch going northward from Jay Street and Borough Hall along Cadman Plaza to the High Street stop, then continuing down Old Fulton Street to the north entrance to the Park, Fulton Landing and DUMBO.

Similar ideas have been proposed in the recent past, and rejected; however, the concept may be worth reconsidering.

Update: Service was restored.

BHB Photo Club pic by onmontague

The third season of the FX drama Damages is chock full of scenes shot in Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO.  Playing a crucial role in the time shifting script this year is the t-bone car crash filmed on Willow and Cranberry Streets in November. Parts of it are featured in the promo above with the full scene available for viewing at the official FX show website.