Katrin writes: “OK, so we don’t really have a stoop, but we’re improvising! What’s for sale: Clothes–Gap, Banana Republic, J Crew jeans, mostly women’s size 8-12 $7-10; skirts, shirts, a few leftover winter items. Also some vintage-type items and other women’s clothing sizes 4-6. Shoes/boots. Books and a few CDs. Household knicknacks. 159 Eastern Parkway, between Washington and Underhill.”
Subway Photo Ban Proposal: Status Changed from "Idiotic" to "Dead"
From a NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign e-mail alert: “Click away! We all had a good victory last week, beating back a ban on photography in the subways. The Daily News had the story first, quoting the Campaign as rejoicing: “Everyone I spoke to thought you couldn’t impose a workable photo ban without violating both free speech and a sense of what the subways are all about,” Gene Russianoff said. “It’s part of the city’s life.”
“To tell a tourist from Ohio or New Yorker from Brooklyn they can’t take pictures of their family in the subway is nuts.”
PHOTO: Lightningfield.com
Thanks for the tip: noisefootprint
ROCK PAPER SCISSORS: MIDNIGHT RIDER TRUMPS TEAM PROHO
Those of you in attendance last night at ATLANTIC YARDS SMACKDOWN are surely still reeling from the adrenaline rush. For those who missed it, the outcome of the event was unbelievable.
Sadly, no one from Team ProHo made it to the final rounds–sorry, Isa, EmilyM, Susan, Heather, Chris, Lucas, Douglas, etc. etc. But if you follow professional Rock Paper Scissors (RPS) you know the outcome was huge. Huge.
In one semifinal bracket, we had Midnight Rider, an absolute newcomer hailing from Parts Unknown, in a victory against Scissoro (Ben Stein) of Manhattan’s Team All Too Flat.
On the other side of the bracket were two Brooklyn rookies: Tony Hightower (aka Chico Bangs), a rookie representing Astoria, who lost to Amanda from Williamsburg, who was nearly disqualified in the first round but re-entered the competition due to the kindness–or naivete–of RPS newbie Kasia (pronounced like the grain).
Amanda advanced to the finals, but proved to be no match for Midnight Rider, determined to win his first-ever professional RPS match. NYRPS wishes Mr. Rider the best of luck as he moves onward and upward to the Western Regionals.
The surprise of the evening was the emergence of RPS referee Blaine Perry, an unbelievably quick study with a keen eye for the borderline throw. In the leadup to the competition, Blaine proved himself to be a true self-motivator who really threw himself into the task. At Smackdown, he made some hard calls, and he stuck with them. In the opinion of NYRPS, Blaine is already one of the most promising arbiters in the East Coast conference, and I am thrilled to hear that he has been invited to preside over the Philadelphia tournament.
It was a surprise, and a huge burden lifted off the NYRPS, to have so many RPS Enthusiasts take such an active role in putting this together. We can’t thank you enough. Give yourself a hand, because you helped spring the Pandora’s box: Competition-level Rock Paper Scissors has finally come to New York!
THANK YOU FOR THE IMAGE: C. Urbanus, who made it to the second round.
Crime Doesn't Pay: Atlantic Center Edition
Ariel from St. John’s reports to Daily Heights: “Just a heads up… This last Saturday, I was in Target at Atlantic Avenue with a friend. She was so excited by the not-Manhattan prices (having come all the way down from the UES to visit) that she wasn’t paying very good attention to her purse. We turned around and it was gone from the shopping cart where she’d left it.”
“Fortunately, the Target security people were fabulous, and they managed to recover the purse (and apprehend the thief) within minutes, and the officers from the 88th Precinct were also great when it came time to go down to the station and fill out the report (they even gave us a ride back when we were all done, and in one of the nice new squad cars too!).”
“Apparently, this exact kind of theft (purse from uinattended shopping cart) happens several times a week at Atlantic Yards, and most people aren’t as lucky as my friend was. Moral of the story: when your mom said “never leave your purse in the shopping cart!”, she was right!”
Well… now those hooligans will have plenty of time to think about what they’ve done… BEHIND BARS! (In Reality: probably back out on the street in time for dinner)
TONIGHT is the Night
Attend the ATLANTIC YARDS SMACKDOWN Rock, Paper, Scissors (RPS) Tournament, TONIGHT, Thursday, May 26th at Freddy’s in Brooklyn, NY. Go here for the full announcement, directions, etc. GET THERE BY 8 PM to sign in and throw!
Local Penguin Courts Human
About time for another Prospect Heights Cutie, wouldn’t you say?
“This is me and Danny Boy,” KRISTEN writes. “Doesn’t everyone have a pet penguin?”
Danny Boy is a Megellanic penguin that we took care of at the Prospect Park Zoo for a while because the aquatic aviary at the Bronx Zoo collapsed after a snowstorm … Not sure how he got his name, but he was very attached to humans. He tried to court me by bringing me nesting material (sticks, etc.). All guys should be so nice.”
SEND IN YOUR CUTIES! [email protected]
Huge: MTA Will Take Bids on Atlantic Yards
PATRICK GALLAHUE writes in the New York Post: “A plan to bring the Nets to Brooklyn will have to go through a competitive bidding process — much like the Jets stadium deal — before the MTA grants its air rights to developer Bruce Ratner…” Read more…
TIP:Captain Marvelous
PHOTO: Nothing like a blurry camphone pic to liven your day.
here
Space Heaters in the Middle of May: Check
How do May 2005 temperatures look compared with previous years? Does anyone know enough about weather stats to figure that out?
UPDATE: abf tells DAILY HEIGHTS: “The average high so far this May (through the 24th) has been 66 degrees, about 4 degrees below normal. May 2003 was similarly cool.”
May 2005: 66.1 (-3.8)
May 2004: 73.6 (+2.6)
May 2003: 65.8 (-5.1)
May 2002: 69.2 (-1.7)
May 2001: 71.4 (+0.4)
More About That Acorn Kiss
From City Limits, New York’s Urban Affairs News Magazine:
“I’m getting ready to pay my debt, and here it is!” said Bertha Lewis and then turned to Mayor Bloomberg and kissed him squarely on the lips. The executive director of New York ACORN had done it again…
The occasion was the signing of a memorandum of understanding between ACORN and developer Forest City Ratner Companies, decreeing that 50 percent of the new housing to be built at Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards site will rent for less than market rate. “I’m a developer who in his heart wants to do the right thing,” said Bruce Ratner
Prospect Heights councilmember Letitia James, a critic of the Ratner development, responded to the housing deal with a mix of appreciation and skepticism. “The question is the 50 percent which is going to be market rate–it will have to be luxury housing. It’s a zero-sum game: the luxury will cancel out the low income,” said James. “The market prices will have to be high to subsidize the affordable housing and the arena.”
Link: Cozy Quarters: Acorn and Ratner Sign Housing Deal [City Limits]
hey! you! passer-by! EAT ME!
Miranda Gaw writes to DH: “Thought you might like this photo from Park Sloper Ranjit. It was part of the “Guess Where in New York?” game on Flickr and the answer was … BISCUIT. I think it’s a nice photo.”
Bonus: Great discussion about BISCUIT underneath the photo.