Brooklyn Magazine

8 Brooklyn Wedding Gifts to Give This Summer

Virginia K. Smith — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:01:31 -0400

For whatever reason—weather, probably?—summer is pretty widely considered to be "wedding season." Which also makes it "spending most of your disposable income on wedding gifts" season.…

Top 10 Food Trends of the Last Decade, and Where You Can Still Go to Eat Them

Kristin Iversen — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:37:00 -0400

With the introduction this spring of the cronut by Dominique Ansel, New Yorkers got their first taste of a brand new food trend. Exciting!…

Bloomberg Wants to Make You Start Composting

Henry Stewart — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:30:00 -0400

I have a backyard, so I compost. It's easy: I got a big ol' box out there, where every few days I dump out the food scraps I've been collecting in an oversize plastic cup (with a cap!)…

Looks Like North Brooklyn Has a Minor Crime Wave On Its Hands

Virginia K. Smith — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:42:00 -0400

A crime wave mostly comprised of what seems to be just one guy, but to be fair, it's a pretty persistent guy. Bedford and Bowery reports this morning on NYPD alerts warning residents that a suspect—a black man in his twenties who rides a BMX bike—has robbed five people over the course of the past two weeks in the area of Greenpoint and Williamsburg stretching between McGuinness and North 12th, and Richardson and Driggs.…

Is There Such A Thing As A "Boutique Motel?" Because One Is Coming To The Rockaways

Virginia K. Smith — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:32:00 -0400

So, this was probably inevitable: the Rockaways are getting in on the whole "boutique hotel" boom in the form of the "Playland Motel," which Gothamist reports is expected to open over the 4th of July weekend.

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Will Citibike Save Stranded G Train Riders?

Kristin Iversen — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:01:00 -0400

Citibike—the bike share program that everyone loves to hate, loves to love, loves to vandalize, etc.—has come under some criticism (from our own Henry Stewart!) for not catering to many areas of New York, including several parts of Brooklyn that are already underserved by public transportation. In fairness, the bike share program has only just launched, and a slow roll-out was always part of the plan, and yet the glaring omission of Citibike stations in places like Greenpoint only became more noticeable with the recent announcement by the MTA that the G train (the main mode of public transportation for most Greenpointers) will be largely out of commission due to extensive repairs that need to be done because of that bitch, Superstorm Sandy.…

How Much Money Do People In New York Really Make?

Kristin Iversen — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:00:00 -0400

Last week, someone on Reddit posed an always interesting question to New Yorkers: What do you do and how much is your salary? And because there's nothing New Yorkers like to do more than talk about money—whether it's our salaries or how much we pay for rent or where to find the cheapest tacos—hundreds of people answered the initial query, revealing a staggering range of incomes and professions.…

5 Things You Should Eat (And Drink) At Bushwick Restaurant Week

Virginia K. Smith — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 18:24:00 -0400

Back in March, Dine In Brooklyn happened, and whether or not the move was intentional, Bushwick's rapidly growing restaurant scene was left out of the proceedings entirely. Not ideal, but then, without the much-publicized snub we might not have gotten Bushwick Restaurant Week, which kicked off last night and runs through this Saturday.…

Sharks Have Been On A "Killing Spree" At The Coney Island Applebee's

Virginia K. Smith — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:29:22 -0400

So, we've been pretty on record as thinking the new Applebee's that "grows" in Coney Island is a bad, possibly even destructive idea, and so far, it's turned out to be sort of true. But not for the reasons anyone guessed—aside from the slow, subtle encroachment of chain restaurants on a historic neighborhood that never asked for them, the problem thus far has been shark attacks!

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Does Obama Care About Poor People in NYC?

Henry Stewart — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:10:00 -0400

Because Obama and Congress couldn't reach a deficit-reduction deal, a plan B so draconian no one thought it could ever actually go into effect went into effect: Sequestration will result in $1 trillion in cuts over the next eight years. How does this affect New York?…

The Brooklyn Bike Patrol Is No More

Virginia K. Smith — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:49:25 -0400

Sad news from a helpful, well-loved institution: the Brooklyn Bike Patrol, which offered free bike escorts to women walking home at night, is shutting down after founder Jay Ruiz suffered a heart attack last week.

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

10 of Brooklyn's Best Rum Drinks

Kristin Iversen — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:30:00 -0400

Rum—is there any other alcohol currently more maligned? I mean, sure, vodka doesn't really garner any respect from those in the know anymore, but no one will look askance if you order a vodka tonic at a bar.…

Chefs Share Their Favorite Father-Related Food Memories

Sarah Zorn — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:32:00 -0400

Many classic childhood food memories tend to revolve around one’s mom. The dinners that brought you (however begrudgingly) around the table each night.…

Prospect Park Is Finally Starting Its Slow Recovery From GoogaMooga

Virginia K. Smith — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:58:10 -0400

A month after this year's rainy, notoriously bad-for-the-grass Great GoogaMooga, Prospect Park's Nethermead meadow is just now beginning the process of re-seeding the huge patches of dirt left the festival left behind. As with every single other thing going on so far this summer, the problem has been rain, which reportedly delayed the process.…

An Interview with Todd Selby about his Collaboration with Svbscription

Kristin Iversen — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:20:00 -0400

In the years since starting his eponymous blog, Todd Selby has become renowned not only for his work as a photographer, author, and illustrator, but also for his ability to curate the beautiful things that he comes across on his many travels, so that he can share them with the world. For the most part, Selby has shared his vision with the public through his blog, his two books—The Selby Is In Your Place and Edible Selby—and through collaborations with brands like Louis Vuitton, Nike, and Ikea.…

Where to Spend Father's Day in Brooklyn

Sarah Zorn — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:13:00 -0400

Far be it from us to indulge in gender stereotypes. We know a lot of manly men who can appreciate a good pear and goat cheese salad or an elderflower-based cocktail.…

Rents In Brooklyn Actually Took A Slight Dip This Spring

Virginia K. Smith — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 10:37:00 -0400

Nothing particularly game changing, to be fair, but at this point any kind of respite from relentless inflation is a pretty welcome one. And according to a new report from Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel Inc., median prices in the borough really did drop in May, falling 3 percent to an average of $2,579.…

So the New York Times Clearly Hates Mike D

Kristin Iversen — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 10:00:00 -0400

Beastie Boy Mike D opened his Brooklyn home to the readers of the New York Times Home & Garden section yesterday and what's more notable than any feature of his Cobble Hill townhouse is that the Times writer pretty clearly thinks that the "D" stands for dick, not Diamond.

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

8 Places in Brooklyn that Need Bike-Share Stations

Henry Stewart — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:23:00 -0400

When the bike-share program started, I got an email from friends who were like, "what the fuck is this thing? And how is it of any use to me?" Truth is, so far most New Yorkers are done no help by the new program: unless you're commuting within Manhattan, or from there to Downtown Brooklyn or something, how would you use it?…

Win $200 to Vine.com, Your Source for Thousands of Natural & Organic Goods and Snacks

admin — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:00:00 -0400

This post is sponsored by Vine.com.

Shop thousands of natural & organic goods, snacks, skincare, cleaners and more, all delivered in 1-2 days.

We all try so hard to live a healthy, natural lifestyle without all of those nasty additives and chemicals, but sometimes it can be insanely hard. With busy schedules, demanding jobs, or just lack of convenience, you skip the tempeh go right back to eating chips and frozen dinners.…

Anthony Weiner May Just Win The Election By Default

Virginia K. Smith — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:49:25 -0400

The whole "guess how little the average citizen knows about politics!" game is always a classic, if also pretty reliably disheartening. And a new series of small polls taken by the Observer is just that, indicating that if recognition were the only factor, Anthony Weiner would be winning the mayoral race by a long shot.…

8 Brooklyn Items That'll Get You Through the Summer

Virginia K. Smith — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 13:13:53 -0400

If you're anything like me, once summer hits—or really, any new season or otherwise vaguely seminal event—your first reaction is to start stockpiling. It's just good sense, if you care about your own survival.…

Inside the Williamsburg Homes of Nicole and Kim Carosella, the Sisters behind Jewelry Line Sorellina

Kristin Iversen — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 13:00:00 -0400

Nicole and Kim Carosella are the kind of sisters who finish each other's sentences and have the sort of easy communication that makes it clear that they know each other better than anyone else in the world. Besides their incredibly close personal relationship, Nicole and Kim also have a professional partnership that they've been developing for a little over two years—Sorellina, a jewelry line that is at once both modern and evocative of Victorian and Art Deco designs.…

10 Perfect Brooklyn Picnic Spots—and What to Eat Once You're There

Kristin Iversen — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 10:00:00 -0400

It's summer! It's summer?…

"An Applebee's Grows in Brooklyn"

Henry Stewart — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 14:26:00 -0400

Applebee's is opening another location in Brooklyn, this time in Coney Island. Or, to put it another way, "An Applebee’s Grows (Again) in Brooklyn…," which not only rolls easily off the tongue—it's also a clever pun on the never-punned name of Betty Smith's classic novel!…