Jose reports on Beast: "Deb (the owner) emailed me … Beast finally has a liquor license and will be fully stocked for Friday night."
Beast | 638 Bergen St. at Vanderbilt Ave.; 718-399-6855.

Despite the relentless stream of dire predictions for the Atlantic Yards project, Forest City Ratner just cleared another major hurdle. The New York Times reports today that "the city and the state have signed an agreement with the developer Bruce
C. Ratner to build a new home for the Nets basketball team and at least
4,500 apartments as part of a $2.5 billion project at the Atlantic
Yards in Brooklyn."

Of course, there are still plenty of obstacles that Ratner must pretend to be concerned about… The project "still must go through a lengthy environmental review,
condemnation proceedings, approval by the state Public Authorities
Control Board and possible lawsuits … The Empire State Development
Corporation would shepherd the project through the review process and
take control of any land the developer has not already acquired." PATTI HAGAN quoted: "This project is too big … We don’t want to supersize Brooklyn."

"11217" writes: "City Lighting has a sign up that says Closed for
Renovations. Why would you renovate a place that is so new? Looks closed
to me."

UPDATE 10:02 am: Out running errands, DH caught this crew "renovating" all of CL’s furniture into this moving van. Are they going to reopen? "No, just closed forever," one of the moving guys said. "I don’t know why."

UPDATE 1:50 pm: "Friend of a friend" confirmation from Stargirl: "They weren’t making enough money. Sad."

UPDATE: So, speaking of (hopefully) decent pizza in Prospect Heights… What’s the verdict on Albano Ballerini’s new place? What are your first impressions of this place? And don’t be fooled by that awning: the name of the place is Amorina.

As EXCOM notes in the Comments below, he/she just posted a mini-review of Cucina Rustica Amorina on Chowhound. Excerpts:

"Sausage and mushroom: a great, earthy slice. The sausage
(homemade?) and crimini mushroom combined beautifully. I think the same
fresh sauce as the Margherita … nice extra virgin olive oil in
the background … They do have wine … The prices are more than fair for what you get. I
didn’t see a pie that was more than $13, nor a slice more than $2.50."

(Actually, ALMOST everything is less than $13… we had dinner there over the weekend, and the octopus-containing pizza is $14.)

Amorina (Cucina Rustica) | 624 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11238. 718-230-3030.

UPDATE: So, speaking of (hopefully) decent pizza in Prospect Heights… What’s the verdict on this place? What are your first impressions of this place? And don’t be fooled by that awning: the name of the place is Amorina.

As EXCOM notes in the Comments below, he/she just posted a mini-review of Cucina Rustica Amorina on Chowhound. Excerpts:

"Sausage and mushroom: a great, earthy slice. The sausage
(homemade?) and crimini mushroom combined beautifully. I think the same
fresh sauce as the Margherita … nice extra virgin olive oil in
the background … They do have wine … The prices are more than fair for what you get. I
didn’t see a pie that was more than $13, nor a slice more than $2.50."

(Actually, ALMOST everything is less than $13… we had dinner there over the weekend, and the octopus-containing pizza is $14.)

Amorina (Cucina Rustica) | 624 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11238

UPDATE: So, speaking of (hopefully) decent pizza in Prospect Heights… What’s the verdict on Albano Ballerini’s new place? What are your first impressions of this place? And don’t be fooled by that awning: the name of the place is Amorina.

As EXCOM notes in the Comments below, he/she just posted a mini-review of Cucina Rustica Amorina on Chowhound. Excerpts:

"Sausage and mushroom: a great, earthy slice. The sausage
(homemade?) and crimini mushroom combined beautifully. I think the same
fresh sauce as the Margherita … nice extra virgin olive oil in
the background … They do have wine … The prices are more than fair for what you get. I
didn’t see a pie that was more than $13, nor a slice more than $2.50."

(Actually, ALMOST everything is less than $13… we had dinner there over the weekend, and the octopus-containing pizza is $14.)

Amorina (Cucina Rustica) | 624 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11238. 718-230-3030.

UPDATE: So, speaking of (hopefully) decent pizza in Prospect Heights… What’s the verdict on this place? What are your first impressions of this place? And don’t be fooled by that awning: the name of the place is Amorina.

As EXCOM notes in the Comments below, he/she just posted a mini-review of Cucina Rustica Amorina on Chowhound. Excerpts:

"Sausage and mushroom: a great, earthy slice. The sausage
(homemade?) and crimini mushroom combined beautifully. I think the same
fresh sauce as the Margherita … nice extra virgin olive oil in
the background … They do have wine … The prices are more than fair for what you get. I
didn’t see a pie that was more than $13, nor a slice more than $2.50."

(Actually, ALMOST everything is less than $13… we had dinner there over the weekend, and the octopus-containing pizza is $14.)

Amorina (Cucina Rustica) | 624 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11238

Thanks to Roy for the tip…

Filmmakers Joel Sucher and Steven Fischler will be at Union Temple (17 Eastern Parkway, 718-638-7600) next Wednesday to show and discuss their 1-hour documentary: "FROM SWASTIKA TO JIM CROW: Jewish Refugee Scholars in the American South."

This film "tells the previously untold story of the many German Jewish professors
who, expelled from their homeland by the Nazis, found new lives and
careers at all-Black colleges and universities in the South."

META tags at pbs.org reveal that "The story of Black-Jewish relations in the United States is a long and complex one…. Jews were among those who worked to establish the NAACP in 1909. African-American newspapers were among the first in the U.S. to denounce Nazism…. FROM SWASTIKA TO JIM CROW creates hope and reminds us of a time in U.S. history when the two communities came together."

DETAILS: Next Wednesday, March 9; 7 pm. Bring dessert or snacks. FREE. Reservations: uniontemple@uniontemple.org or 718-638-7600.

…by delivery, at least. Two Boots (Park Slope, Brooklyn) just expanded its delivery area to include "beyond Flatbush Ave. to Underhill Ave." Will they deliver a Cajun Bloody Mary? Maybe, if you ask nicely.

Two Boots | 514 2nd St. btw 7th and 8th Aves., Brooklyn, NY;  718-499-3253. Delivery hours 5-10:30 pm Sun-Thurs; 5-11:30 pm Fri-Sat. $10 minimum.