Farsund and Bay Ridge Become Sisters

Representatives of the Scandinavian East Coast Museum and residents and municipal officers of Norway's Farsund Municipality of Vest Agder joined Councilmember Vinnie Gentile at the First Evangelical Free Church on Saturday to celebrate the signing of a unique "sister city" agreement between Bay Ridge and Farsund.

In the works for over a year, the agreement took on new meaning in the aftermath of the terror attacks in Utøya and Oslo this past summer.

During the ceremony, a Norway sunset maple was planted in Leif Erickson Park to commemorate the 77 Norwegian lives lost in July, and to symbolize the Norwegian heritage of Bay Ridge.

Farsund has a unique Brooklyn connection. Every year in its “Brooklyn Square”, the town hosts its annual “American Festival”, which has been called “the best thing that's happened to Farsund since Brooklyn”, featuring American rock 'n roll from the 50s and 60s, vintage American cars, a Norwegian Elvis, and lots of Brooklyn memorabilia brought back by Norwegians who returned to Farsund after spending their working lives in Brooklyn.

Every Night is Hallowe'en in the Groper's Brooklyn

Six of the 20 women who have been assaulted by an attacker columnist Denis Hamill calls "The Brooklyn Groper", were assaulted at the 7th Ave. F station three blocks from where Hamill grew up.

There are six different composite sketches in circulation.

Hamill talked to the night clerk at the token booth at the station , who had seen the surveillance videos from down the street -- there is no video surveillance inside the station -- of  screaming women being attacked, but you can't see the guy's face.

Funding for surveillance cameras is still in the legislative pipeline.

There is now a marked police presence -- both uniformed and undercover -- at the station.  Some women are taking precautions, but many are still walking alone, jacked into their devices, and a young woman Hamill talked to outside the station hadn't heard about the attacks.

Hamill also talked to a barmaid named Adrienne at the Cafe Remy on Third Avenue in Bay Ridge, who said the bouncer now escorts her to a car service after closing and the driver waits until she's inside, but that no one from the 68th Precinct had been giving out any information in the neighborhood about the attacks.

The Daily News column.

Gershom Gorenberg at Beth Elohim

It's an important time, with the announcement this month of the construction of a new Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem, to look at Israel’s settlement enterprise and the threat it poses to both Israelis and Palestinians.

The New York City chapter of pro-Israel, pro-peace organization J Street will host an evening with renowned Israeli journalist and historian Gershom Gorenberg, whose new book, the Unmaking of Israel, will be released next month by HarperCollins, at 7 PM on Thursday, November 10 at Congregation Beth Elohim,  274 Garfield Place in Park Slope. 

In The Unmaking of Israel, Gorenberg incisively discusses the rise of extremism in Israeli government and society and the threat it poses to peace and democracy, as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict deepens.

The book is based in part on Gorenberg's interviews with Israelis in the West Bank and previously classified Israeli documents.

Americans for Peace Now and Partners for Progressive Israel (Meretz USA) co-host.

Click here for further details.

A Wakeup Call for Car-Centric Southern Brooklyn

Southern Booklyn is seemingly deaf to the message that speed kills, speed costs, and because New York City is self-insured, the money comes out of the taxpayers' pockets when the city gets sued for the carnage.

A Brooklyn Supreme Court jury recently awarded a $36 million judgment to disabled, brain-damaged Gerritsen Beach teen Anthony Tunturro, hit by a speeding car on Gerritsen Avenue in 2004.

Tunturro, biking home from a Christmas tree lighting ceremony, was hit by a red Honda traveling 55 miles an hour in a 30-mile-an-hour zone.

Louis Pascarella, driver of the red Honda, is liable for half of the $36 million award.  The city -- the taxpayers -- will pick up $19 million of that total, based on the jury's finding that local officials ignored repeated requests from Gerritsen Beach residents to reduce speed limits on Gerritsen Avenue.

Drivers are treated like royalty in Southern Brooklyn.  What public official would dare advocate slowing down traffic -- despite the irrefutable relationship between speeding cars and dead and maimed pedestrians on Brooklyn streets?

The cure for speeding cars is traffic calming, a fancy term for slowing down traffic.  But the traffic calming measures implemented citywide by Department of Transportation commissioner Jeannette Sadik-Khan have only enraged car-centric Southern Brooklyn.

Bensonhurst Community Board 11, which is either incapable of grasping or refuses to accept the principle of traffic calming (these are the same folks who brought us trash bin removal as a cure for litter), has fought every effort by the city to slow traffic on Bensonhurst streets.

CB 11's current engagement with DOT involves proposed traffic calming measures that would funnel four lanes down to two at Stillwell Avenue from Bay Parkway to 86th Street and Avenue P from W. 12th Street to Dahill Road, to create more parking, as well as installing neck-downs (sidewalk extensions), traffic islands, left-hand turn lanes, longer red lights, and high-visibility crosswalks.

Community Board 11's reaction?  The traffic calming measures would "bottle-neck traffic".

Is this disingenuity or ignorance?  Bottle-necking -- leveling the playing field for people walking and biking the streets -- is the whole point of traffic calming, which coincidentally reduces taxpayer liability for the death and destruction caused by speeding drivers on our streets.

The article from Brooklyn Daily.

Heads up, homies:  New York State's Complete Streets bill,  premised on road-sharing by cars, pedestrians and cyclists, was passed into law this summer.

New York State Capitol Bans Hydrofracking Within City Limits

The Common Council of the City of Albany, the capitol of New York State, has banned hydrofracking ("fracking") for natural gas within its limits, the second major city in New York to do so.

Among the 63 Albany businesses that supported the fracking ban was the local Ben and Jerry's franchise, whose owner said that people who come to Albany expect to see a clean, beautiful city and surrounding countryside.  Industrial gas drilling would ruin that image, discourage tourism, and hurt the local economy.

Fracking opponents, who hope to see the same protections extended across the state, called the council's decision "common sense".

The controversial drilling method, despite the gas companies' hype, poses long-term economic, environmental and public health threats to New York State.  Other states that have allowed fracking are dealing with contaminated rivers and wells, air pollution from diesel truck and gas drilling emissions, industrial spills of fracking chemicals and wastewater, and, increasingly, fracking-related litigation.

In July, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, ignoring the growing concern about the public health and environmental impacts of fracking, lifted a fracking moratorium and fast-forwarded the regulatory process leading to industrial gas drilling in New York State.

The post from Fox News.

Stalled Sweeney Bill Would Suspend Fracking Permits

Assembly Member Robert Sweeney, Chair of the House Environmental Conservation Committee, has introduced a bill, A07400, which would suspend the permitting process for hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") so that New York State can carefully weigh the environmental and public health impacts of the controversial, high-risk gas drilling practice.

The bill has passed the Assembly, but is now stalled in the Republican-dominated State Senate -- as the fracking-friendly Cuomo administration fast-tracks the regulatory process, ignoring the threat to public health.

But as New York residents, upstate and down, learn about the irreversible environmental and public health effects of fracking, primarily from independent news sources and films like the award-winning Josh Fox film Gasland, public opposition has grown exponentially.

Opponents of fracking are calling on the State Senate to step out in front of the Cuomo steamroller and suspend the fracking permitting process, giving the state the time it needs to carefully weigh the environmental and public health impacts of fracking.

Fracking opponent Dr. Marybeth Carlberg, a family practitioner from Skaneateles and a clinical instructor at SUNY Upstate, has created a petition to the New York State Senate and Governor Andrew Cuomo on SignOn.org, which says:

"We are citizens of New York who oppose high-volume horizontal hydrofracking. We request our Senate leaders act urgently to support Bill A07400 to suspend hydrofracking and bring this bill to the floor for vote."

Click here to add your name to the petition, which, as of November 1, had more than 19,000 signatures, and pass it along to your friends and family.

Lapskaus Avenue Fades into Chinatown

Just 50-odd years ago, 8th Avenue in Sunset Park, now Brooklyn's Chinatown, was its Little Norway.  But lapskaus stew, lutefisk and sytlelabb have given way to stinky tofu, bok choy and tea-flavored eggs, and the Norwegian Lutheran churches are now Asian and Hispanic.

Sunset Park's Scandinavian population dates back 300 years, when people from Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway started coming there to work in the shipping industry.  The Scandinavians peaked in the 1960s, just as the next wave of immigrants, from Puerto Rico, Mexico and South America, began to move in.

The Chinese arrived in Sunset Park in the 1980s and eventually took over the 8th Avenue area, once the heart of the Scandinavian community.

By 1991, Sunset Park's Norwegian population was "on the verge of extinction".

The Danish Athletic Club, the 118-year-old private sports organization and social club on the border of Sunset Park and Bay Ridge, which once boasted 700 members, now has fewer than 50.

The Scandinavians have gone back to Northern Europe to retire, moved to other neighborhoods, or now live in other towns and cities in the Northeast, but they return to Brooklyn every year for the Seventeenth of May celebration -- the one day that the Danish Athletic Club can count on having a packed house.

Every other day, the club gets by as best it can hosting parties for its new neighbors, but it may not be able to survive much longer.

The post from the Brooklyn Ink.

More from L Magazine.

Rally Against Big Food Tomorrow at Zuccotti Park

Occupy Wall Street will host a rally against Big Food from 1 to 4 PM tomorrow, Saturday October 29, at Zuccotti Park.

The event has been organized by a group of NYU students and other members of the food movement in New York City to draw attention to corporatization of our food supply.

The lineup of food reform speakers will include authors Marion Nestle and Anna Lappe, speaking out against the abuse of corporate power and how it impacts our food supply.

The Occupy Wall Street grew out of deep frustration with the collusion between corporate America and elected government officials.  Nowhere is that collusion so evident as in food and agricultural production, where 4 companies control 84% of beef packing and 66% of pork production, and one company, Monsanto, controls more than 93% of the soybeans and 80% of the corn grown in this country.

To participate in the Occupy Against Big Food event, meet directly across Broadway from the main entrance to Zuccotti Park, in front of 140 Broadway, near the Big Red Cube.

Five Dutch Days 2011

5 Dutch Days, an annual event, brings together arts and cultural organizations from across the city to celebrate the continuous influence of Dutch arts and culture in New York.

This year's event begins on Wednesday, November 2, 2011. Here's the calendar.

Some highlights:

• Saturday, November 5 from 7-8 PM, the Society of Daughters of Holland Dames will sponsor "Art in Food, Food in Art", an illustrated slide talk by food historian Peter Rose drawn from the paintings of the Dutch Golden Age masters. The talk is set in a Dutch Revival church modeled on a 1606 market building in Haarlem, the Netherlands. For reservations and more information, email info@hollanddames.org.
• At the Lefferts Historic House in Brooklyn, on Sunday November 6 from 2-4 PM, the Prospect Park Alliance will sponsor "From Garden to Table", an illustrated lecture of 17th century Dutch gardening and cooking. For reservations and more information email enewman@prospectpark.org or call 718-789-2822 x302.  
• St. Mark's Historic Landmark Fund will sponsor its 3rd Annual Peg-Leg Pete's Scavenger Hunt on Saturday, November 5 leaving at 12 PM from Sustainable NYC, 139 Avenue A between 9th and 10th Streets. The Hunt is set in the footprint of Peter Stuyvesant's original farm (photos of last year's event), with clues from the Dutch colonial age all the way to the 1930s. The Hunt coincides with the Bouwerie Tour series launch, focused on Rev. William Guthrie's term as Rector of St. Mark's Church In-the-Bowery from 1911-1937. Free - RSVP to info@neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org or call 212-228-2781.

Contact information:

St. Mark's Historic Landmark Fund
Neighborhood Preservation Center
232 East 11th Street, New York, NY 10003
p 212.228.2781, f 212.471.9987
info@neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org

Women's Self Defense Class in Dyker Heights

According to local City Councilmember Vinnie Gentile, about 60 women came to the free self-defense class at Bethlehem Lutheran Church this Tuesday taught by martial artist Ron Galluccio and co-sponsored by Gentile and Lutheran Medical Center.

The response to the event was so positive that Gentile will host a second self defense class for women on Monday, November 7th at the Brooklyn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Gym, 7603 13th Avenue in Dyker Heights.

Local women who attend the class will learn some basic self-defense skills and get tips on how to stay safe on the street.

Batmobile at This Year's Hallowe'en Walk

Holy Smokes, Batman!

Expect a visit from the Batmobile at Bay Ridge's 16th Annual Hallowe'en Walk and Fairytale Forest on Monday, October 31 at Owl’s Head Park.

Not sure which Batmobile we're talking about here, since there've been several over the years, but it'll be one of 'em.

Event details from an earlier post, here.

Special features will include “Dracula’s Food Court”.

Like the Ragamuffin Parade, The Haunted Halloween Walk and Fairytale Forest provide local kids with a safe alternative to Trick-or-Treat.

VIP passes are available for $5.00 before the event that will admit 1 adult and up to 5 children through the VIP entrances. Regular admission is $1 at the gate.

Sponsor passes are available at:

Circles- 6901-3rd Avenue

Boragi Florist - 7613-3rd Avenue

Kaleidoscope Toys- 8722 3rd Avenue
Heart To Heart - 9004-3rd Avenue
Bay Ridge Mail Station - 9728-3rd Avenue

Sponsors include State Senator Marty Golden, Shore Road Parks Conservancy, the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT1NYC) and the Bay Ridge-Bensonhurst Beautification and Preservation Alliance. 

For more information, contact Senator Golden’s office at (718) 238-6044.

Scandal Rocks the 68

After a two-year federal undercover investigation culminating in a sting operation last month, 5 police officers from Bay Ridge's 68th Precinct were charged this week with running guns and bootlegging cigarettes.

The investigation began in 2009, when a wired informant began recording alleged ringleader William Masso.

According to the indictment, 8 active duty and retired cops from the 68th, the 71st and Brooklyn South ran a million-dollar smuggling operation running cigarettes, slot machines and firearms, including M-16s.

Accused from the 68 are active duty cops Eddie Goris and John Mahoney and retired cops Joseph Trischitta, Marco Venezia and Richard Melnik.

The active duty cops have been suspended without pay.

The article from Brooklyn Daily.

Lady Liberty Turns 125

You are invited to join the National Park Service and the Society of Old Brooklynites on Liberty Island in New York Harbor at 10 AM on Friday, October 28th to celebrate the 125th birthday of the Statue of Liberty.

Actress Sigourney Weaver will read Emma Lazarus’ poem, “The New Colossus", U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will deliver a speech and present gifts to the French government, and the Brooklyn High School of the Arts will perform “Huddled Masses”.

That evening at 7:45 PM, Macy's will present a fireworks show.

Lady Liberty was dedicated 125 years ago with a big ticker tape parade along 5th Avenue from 52nd Street to City Hall featuring President Grover Cleveland riding in an open carriage, followed by members of his cabinet. An armada of ships filled New York Harbor, every naval vessel and nearby fort pounding out a 21-gun salute.

The Society of Old Brooklynites (affectionately known as the SOBs) marched in that parade and took part in the dedication ceremony on Liberty Island.

The SOBs were founded in 1880, before Brooklyn, the country's third largest city, became a borough of New York. The 131-year old civic organization continues to this day.

A few prominent members: State Senator Marty Golden, Brooklyn Daily Eagle Publisher Dozier Hasty, author Pete Hamill and State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Schack.

For more information contact Ted General at (718) 833-4928 or email him at Generally@hotmail.com.

Speak Out on Hydrofracking at Baruch College

State Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh and State Senator Liz Kruger will co-sponsor Speak Out on Hydrofracking, where you can both learn about the current state of hydrofracking in New York and present testimony, on Wednesday, November 9 from 6:30 - 8:30 PM, at the Newman Vertical Campus of Baruch College, 55 Lexington Avenue @ 25th Street Room 1-107, in Manhattan.

All testimonies will be videotaped and submitted to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

If you're testifying, please bring along a written copy of your testimony to be submitted with the video record.

No RSVP is necessary.

For further information, contact kincaid.nysenate@gmail.com or call (212) 490-9535.

Please Note:  upcoming DEC fracking hearing in Manhattan on Wednesday, November 30th. For more information visit: http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/75370.html

Ugly Rhino's Warehouse of Horrors -- with Booze

Ugly Rhino and the Brooklyn Lyceum, at 227 4th Avenue in Gowanus/Park Slope (R to Union), will present Ugly Rhino's Warehouse of Horrors on Monday, October 31.

The cavernous Lyceum will be transformed into a spooky warehouse of tragedy and terror, featuring six spine-tingling stories set in the century-old bare walls bathhouse.

The $20 ticket buys open admission to the warehouse -- and six drinks to calm your nerves.

Audiences can wander through the rooms encountering frightening scenes, stories and interactive experiences.

Arrive anytime between 8 and 10 PM.  Dancing and cash bar until 11 PM.

UglyRhino curates affordable evenings of performance in a setting that captures the Brooklyn vibe.

King Con Brooklyn III comes to the Lyceum November 3-6th.

The Lyceum Café, open every day, serves great coffee and fresh-baked goods.

Visit www.UglyRhinoNYC.com often for a full performance schedule, ticket information and updats.

Follow UglyRhino on www.facebook.com/UglyRhino and www.twitter.com/UglyRhinoNYC.

Haunted Hallowe'en Walk and Fairy Tale Forest

The Annual Bay Ridge Haunted Hallowe'en Walk and Fairy Tale Forest will take place this year on Monday, October 31 from 3:30 to 9 PM at Owl's Head Park, 67th Street and Colonial Road in Bay Ridge.

Now in its 16th year, the Hallowe'en Walk has been called the best public Hallowe'en event of its kind in the U.S. More than 150 volunteers contribute their time and talents to produce this "spooktacular "event every year, with contributions from local businesses, organizations and individuals.

The event features a pumpkin patch, an apple orchard, costumed characters, a coloring contest, a magician, kid's amusements, pony rides, face painting, sand art, a trackless train ride, and more.

Haunted Walk Tours

• Scary 4:30 to 6 PM
  
• Scarier 7 to 8:30 PM

Fairytale Forest Tours

• 3:30 to 5PM 
• 5:30 to 7 PM 

Costume Contest

• Registration 3:30 to 6:30 PM 
• Judging 5 to 7 PM 
• Winners announced at 7:30 PM

More information from State Senator Marty Golden's website.

A Celebration of Women Who Drink -- and Write about It

At the Old Stone House in Park Slope on Thursday, November 17 at 8 PM, Brooklyn Reading Works will present Make Mine a Double, a group reading by the authors of a new anthology, edited by humorist and academic mahatma Gina Barreca, celebrating women who drink.

The anthology brings together 28 original essays about women and booze by authors Fay Weldon, Wendy Liebman, Amy Bloom, Liza Donnelly, Nicole Hollander, Beth Jones, Dawn Lundy Martin and many others.

These witty, reflective stories of women on the sauce explore the role of alcohol and drinking in American women's social coming-of-age.

Library Journal called the book "laugh-out-loud funny".

All profits from the book will be donated to Windham Hospital's "Gina's Friends" fund, which aids women in need.

• When: Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 8PM.
• Where: The Old Stone House in Park Slope on 3rd Street between 5th and 4th Avenues. Note: due to construction in the park enter from west side of the house. 
• What else: $5 suggested donation includes wine and refreshments. Books for sale.

For more information about the authors and the event please contact Louise Crawford at 718-288-4290 or louise_crawford@yahoo.com

At Reading Works on December 8, 2011: A Taste of Salt, a reading with novelist Martha Southgate and others.

Shop the Bay Ridge Greenmarket, Get a Flu Shot Voucher

Bay Ridge City Council Member Vinnie Gentile will be distributing 100 free flu shot vouchers, courtesy of Walgreen's, on Saturday, October 29 at 12 Noon to shoppers at the Bay Ridge Greenmarket, 3rd Avenue and 95th Street (Walgreen's parking lot) in Bay Ridge.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended annual flu shots for everyone over 6 months of age. Flu shots are particularly recommended for the elderly, the very young and those who are chronically ill and therefore at a higher risk of complications.

Sixty-Five Year Old Woman Executed on Brighton Beach Street

Sixty-five-year-old Alla Kemenev was on the sidewalk at the corner of Sea Breeze Avenue and West 2nd Street in Brighton Beach last Thursday when an older man on a girl's bike rode up to her and pumped three bullets into her torso at point-blank range.

Who whacks a woman?  And why?

The victim was on her way to get her nails done before going on a two-week vacation with her husband, Vlad Godin.

She died on the way to Coney Island hospital.

Kamenev was the 5th person murdered in the Coney Island/Brighton Beach area this year.

Police have the surveillance video, which shows a man believed to be the shooter, wearing what looks to be multiple layers of clothing, apparently as a disguise, riding off on the little bike.

Call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS if you know anything. All calls are confidential. You can also text TIP577 to CRIMES, or go to nypdcrimestoppers.com.

The article from NY 1, including the surveillance video.

More from Allmedia.

More from the Daily News.

More from CBS.

More from the Daily Mail.

Cops:  the shooter was her 76-year-old ex-husband, Dimitry. [Brooklyn Daily.]

More from the Brooklyn Ink.

Foodie Website Gastronauts Discovers Bab al Yemen

Gastronauts, a national foodie Website, has discovered local gem Bab al Yemen, just around the corner from the Fourth Avenue R station on Bay Ridge Avenue.

Bab al Yemen is probably the only authentic Yemeni restaurant in the neighborhood, if not in all of Brooklyn -- and maybe New York City.

Gastronauts had the pleasure of meeting Abdul, the turbaned chef, a wonderfully hospitable man who has both mastered Yemen’s traditional medieval dishes and has the culinary school chops to go well beyond the traditional cuisine.

I agree with Gastronauts that Bab's Yemeni omelette is to die for, but as someone who doesn't eat meat -- although I do eat eggs -- I'd skip the lamb's brains and ask for a meatless version. They'll be happy to accomodate you.

Other good veggie options are the slightly grainy hummus and the fool madamus, with a fresh round of wonderfully crispy "hubs", the traditional Yemeni flatbread, and a green salad.

Don't forget to finish with a hot cup of delicious mint tea.

The post from Gastronauts.

Gawker Meets Peeker

Fracking Settlement

A recently-settled Pennsylvania regulatory case provides a window into New York State's future under the fracking-friendly Cuomo administration.

Residents of the northeastern Pennsylvania town of Dimock, who complained to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection when Cabot Oil and Gas contaminated 18 local water wells with methane, are settling their case -- after Cabot was found liable for the damage.

Based on the settlement, Pennsylvania state regulators are allowing Cabot to stop providing clean water to the owners of the contaminated wells, and are now considering letting Cabot go back to fracking in rural Dimock, featured in the movie “Gasland”.

It's not over yet. Some Dimock plaintiffs have refused to accept the deal and are appealing the state's settlement decision.

The methane contamination incidents in Dimock, in the heart of the Marcellus Shale, have made the town emblematic of the clean water battles being waged by outnumbered, outgunned little towns from southwestern New York State to western Virginia as a result of the so-called "Halliburton Loophole", the exception that takes fracking out from under federal regulators.

Beginning in August, 2008, shortly after Cabot began fracking their land, Dimock residents began complaining of exploding water wells and discolored, foul-smelling water.

In April 2010, Pennsylvania’s DEP fined Cabot $240,000, shut down several wells, and made the company provide clean drinking water to the owners of the contaminated wells.

Cabot settled its case with the state last December. Regulators say that Cabot has complied with the terms of the settlement by setting up an escrow fund to buy homeowners out at double the value of their homes and installing water treatment systems to filter the methane out of their drinking water.

Cabot had insisted, before the settlement, that the colorless, odorless methane found in Dimock’s wells, which can explode if it gets concentrated enough, was "natural".

The Dimock cluster is only one of more than a thousand incidences of water contamination documented across the United States as a result of the shale gas production boom.

It's just the beginning.

The post from Alternet.

"Don't Ever Count the People Out"

Bill Moyers, a journalist for whom I have the deepest respect, was the keynote speaker at a recent gala in Washington D.C. honoring the 40th anniversary of Ralph Nader’s advocacy group Public Citizen.

Moyers, with his trademark clarity, put today's American politics in historic focus, urging citizens to throw off their Wall Street overlords.

Moyers took his audience back to 1890, when the great prairie revolt swept the western plains, 100 years after the American Constitution was ratified, quoting the words of populist orator Mary Elizabeth Lease:

“Wall Street owns the country. Our laws are the output of a system which clothes rascals in robes and honesty in rags. The parties lie to us, and the political speakers mislead us...money rules.”

The same rage against the corporations, banks and corrupt government that came boiling of those 19th century agrarian populists is powering the Occupy Wall Street movement today, Moyers said. It's no mystery to him why Manhattan's Zuccotti Park is occupied.  It’s as clear as the crash of 2008: they are occupying Wall Street because Wall Street has occupied their country.

So it's no wonder, Moyers said, why so many Americans feel politically impotent, why they have resigned themselves to a cold-hearted and cynical democracy-in-name-only.

But, although discouragement comes easily against such odds, he said:

"...[I]f the generations before us had given up, slaves would still be waiting on these tables, women would still be turned away from the voting booths on election days, and workers would still be committing a crime if they organize.

So...don’t ever count the people out."

The article from the Nation.

Fracking Prospector Sues to Strike Down Local Zoning Ordinance

Anschutz Exploration, a company that prospects hydrofracking ("fracking") sites across the country, has filed a lawsuit against the town of Dryden, New York seeking to strike down a local zoning ordinance banning natural gas drilling.

Dryden, an unincorporated suburb of Ithaca with a population of 13,000, amended its zoning laws this year to bar all gas drilling within its borders.

Anschutz, which controls more than 22,000 acres in Dryden, said New York's Environmental Conservation Law bars local governments from regulating drilling.

Dryden officials agree that the law prohibits them from regulating drilling -- but not from zoning it.

The article from Reuters.

Free Mammograms at Shore Hill Housing

Lutheran Medical Center will offer free mammograms beginning at 10 AM on Wednesday, November 9 at Shore Hill Housing, 9000 Shore Hill Road in Bay Ridge.

Insurance coverage is not required.

To make an appointment or for more information, call Maria at 1-877-628-9090.

Direct Marketing

Bob Turner Hires Bob Capano

Newly-elected Congressional Representative Bob Turner has hired Bay Ridge Republican Bob Capano, a fixture of local Conservative politics, as his district operations director in the DINO-dominated 9th Congressional District.

Turner won the special election for Anthony Weiner's former Brooklyn-Queens. He tapped Capano because of his experience providing constituent services, most recently as Brooklyn district manager for former Congressional Representative Vito Fossella.

Capano will work out of Turner's office at 80-02 Kew Gardens Road in Queens.

Capano, running as a Conservative/Republican, has unsuccessfully challenged City Council Members Vinnie Gentile and Alec Brook-Krasny.

The article from the Brooklyn Paper.

Free Self-Defense Class for Women at Bethlehem Lutheran

In response to a recent series of sexual assaults in Southern Brooklyn, local City Council Member Vinnie Gentile is sponsoring a free self-defense class for women in Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst and Bath Beach on Tuesday, October 25 at 7 PM at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 6935 4th Avenue (corner of Ovington) in Bay Ridge.

Local martial arts expert Ron Galluccio will teach some basic skills, techniques and strategies women can use to stay as safe as possible while being prepared to defend themselves if necessary.

Call Councilman Gentile’s office at (718) 748-5200 ext. 205

More on Brooklyn's response to the sexual assault spree from the Daily News.

Free Flu Shots at the Bay Ridge Manor

On Monday, October 24 from 10 AM to 2 PM, State Senator Marty Golden is sponsoring free flu shots, administered by the Visiting Nurse Service, at the Bay Ridge Manor, 476 76th Street in Bay Ridge.

Call Golden's office at 718- 238-6044 to schedule an appointment.

Still No Contract

This summer, 45,000 Verizon workers from Boston to Virginia went on strike when the company demanded unprecedented collective bargaining concessions.

Workers went back to work on the strength of Verizon's promise to negotiate in good faith, but almost three months later, the company is still balking.

Tomorrow, Friday, Oct 21st, Verizon and Verizon Wireless workers, joined by Occupy Wall Street, will assemble at 140 West Street at 4 PM.  At 5 PM, they will march east on Barclay Street, then down Broadway, arriving at Liberty Plaza (Zuccatti Park) at 5:30 and marching from there to the Verizon Wireless store at 6 PM.

Verizon, the 16th largest corporation in America, has one of the country's largest unionized workforces. Over the past four years, Verizon has taken $22.5 billion in profits and paid its top five executives $258 million. Yet the corporation seems determined to destroy the gains its unionized workers have made over 50 years of collective bargaining.

Verizon, trying to freeze out 45,000 union workers, is the poster child for the destructive power of corporate greed. 

The 99% invite your participation tomorrow.

Last Chance for Hurricane Irene Federal Disaster Aid

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is sending representatives door-to-door in Bay Ridge, Dyker, Heights, Bensonhurst and Bath Beach urging people and businesses affected by Hurricane Irene to register their Federal Disaster Aid claims before the end of this month, and has asked local City Council Member Vinnie Gentile to help spread the word in the community.

Gentile urges anyone who had storm-related expenses, like having to hire a contractor to clear fallen trees or debris outside their house, to file a Federal Disaster Aid claim before October 31st -- as a hedge against their insurance claims being denied.

• To register by phone, call the FEMA registration line at 800-621-3362.

• To register online, visit www.DisasterAssistance.gov, or register by web-enabled mobile device or smartphone at www.fema.gov and follow the link to "apply online for federal assistance."

• For those with speech or hearing disabilities, use the TTY number, 800-462-7585. Registrants should have the following information ready:

• the address of the damaged property

• names of those living in the household

• a general description of the damage

• the Social Security Account number of any family member living in the home

• the extent of insurance coverage

Ruby's Offered New Lease

In an about face, Italian amusement company Zamperla, chosen by the city to redevelop the Coney Island Boardwalk, has offered 8-year leases to two classic Coney Island businesses: beach bar Ruby's and snack shop Paul's Daughter, that were due to shut down at the end of this month.

Zamperla was hoping for something more upscale, but couldn't land a deal with Miami developers.

Compared to empty storefronts, Ruby's and Paul's Daughter aren't looking so bad.

That doesn't mean that Zamperla won't mess with their Coney Island mojo, though:  the deal involves staying open all winter and "improving" their spaces.

The post from Gothamist.

Brooklyn Riders Keep Ferry Service Afloat

The city's new East River ferry service is booming, with nearly 450,000 East River crossings in just the past 17 weeks, 40,000 more trips than New York Waterways projected for the entire year.

Three-quarters of those trips originated from Brooklyn piers, and most of the passengers are Brooklynites traveling to Manhattan, Downtown Brooklyn and North Brooklyn.

A lot of Brooklyn riders are using the ferry as an alternative to the unreliable L train.

Ridership is expected to drop during the coming winter, but Brooklyn commuters say they'll keep taking the boat -- because it's a great way to start the day.

The article from the Brooklyn Paper.

Rally to Stop Fracking in the Delaware River Basin

In Trenton, New Jersey on November 21st, there will be a vote that could lift a three-year moratorium on fracking in the Delaware River Basin, a national treasure that provides drinking water to 15 million people in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Environmental advocates from the region, including Food and Water Watch, are organizing a rally in Trenton on the day of the vote.

The fracking industry is pushing hard to open the Delaware to fracking, a destructive drilling practice that has contaminated drinking water, degraded air quality, destroyed public forests and poisoned farms.

The advocates have organized a bus convoy to Trenton and a rideshare board where you can connect with others in your area who want to come to Trenton and stand against fracking on November 21.

The Delaware River and the 15 million people who get their drinking water from it need you there.

Find out where you can get on the bus here.

Green Church Bulletin: A Disappearing Sky

Carroll Gardens Woman: South Brooklyn Rapist Attacked Me Last Year

Brooklyn Paper Photo

According to the Brooklyn Paper, a 31-year-old woman from Carroll Gardens was the first victim in a series of South Brooklyn sexual assaults believed, until now, to have begun in March.

When the woman saw the surveillance video of what was thought to be the first assault in the series, she recognized the perpetrator and called the detectives working the case, but says they brushed her off, calling her case "unrelated."

The victim disagrees, saying that she was attacked by the same man seen in a surveillance video on 16th Street on March 20 of this year with his pants around his knees and his victim in a choke hold, trying to rip off her jeans.

The Carroll Gardens attack happened in May, 2010 on Second Place.  The victim was walking her dog at 3 AM when the assailant followed her home, punched her and slammed her head into the pavement.

The attacker, a young Hispanic man, tried to pull her pants down, but she fought back and screamed.

She managed to get cops to put up a “Wanted” poster in her neighborhood and the Special Victims Unit eventually picked up her case, but she has never been invited to a lineup.

Cops are still downplaying the connection between the Carroll Gardens attack last year and at least 20 similar attacks on women in Southern Brooklyn since this spring, citing the distance between Carroll Gardens and Park Slope.

The article from the Brooklyn Paper.

Brooklyn Ink talks to Bay Ridge residents about the sexual assault spree.

Police arrested another suspect yesterday. [Brooklyn Daily Eagle.]

More on yesterday's arrest from Brooklyn Daily.

Doctors to Cuomo: Fracking Makes People Sick

More than 250 New York State doctors and health professionals, joined by county medical societies and the regional office of the American Academy of Pediatricians, sent a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo earlier this month calling out Cuomo and his Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for failing, in their rush to approve gas drilling permits, to analyze the public health impacts of the controversial drilling method known as hydrofracking (“fracking").

The doctors wrote to Cuomo in part because Cuomo had said he wanted to look at the science and the public health issues before deciding whether to permit fracking in New York State.

Guess not.

Click here to read the doctors' letter to Cuomo, with supporting documents.

The evidence is growing, in the states where fracking is already well underway: Texas, Wyoming, Louisiana, North Dakota and Pennsylvania, that people living close to gas wells and drilling infrastructure, such as compressor stations and waste pits, are getting sick from fracking and related industrial activity.

According to Rob Moore, of Environmental Advocates of New York and a member of the state’s Fracking Advisory Panel, the state Department of Health, contrary to its representations, has never considered the impact of fracking on public health and has no plans to do so until after fracking is permitted.

Noting that fracking will raise health care costs in the communities where drilling is permitted, as well as force taxpayers to pick up the costs of cleaning up the air and water after fracking ends, are calling on Cuomo to order an independent Health Impact Assessment of the high-risk drilling method.

Cuomo, in his push to enable fracking, rejected recommendations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to weigh the potential health impacts of fracking and bring the state Health Department on as co-lead agency with the DEC on the fracking environmental reviews.

Click here to read more.

And here.

And here.,

The Return of Hinsch's

According to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, which got it from Council Member Vinnie Gentile's Facebook page over the weekend, Hinsch’s Luncheonette, the iconic Bay Ridge ice cream parlor and soda fountain at 8518 Fifth Avenue, which closed on Sept. 29, will reopen in November under new ownership.

Hopefully, the waffles, ice cream sundaes, milkshakes, egg creams and hamburgers will come back with it.

The story is that the owners of Skinflints, down at 7902 Fifth Ave., worked out a rent deal with the landlord.

The article from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

More from the Brooklyn Paper.

Brooklyn Preservation Council Meets

The Brooklyn Preservation Council will meet on Tuesday, October 25 at 6 PM at the Scotto Funeral Home, 106 First Place at Court Street in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.

On the agenda for the meeting is a report from Buddy Scotto on the status of the Carroll Gardens Historic Districts.

For more information, contact Bob Furman:  (917) 648-4043 / (212) 751-0038 bobfurman1@juno.com / bobfurman1@blackberry.vzw.net.

Three Little Dolls from the Street Are We

Austin, Texas Moves to 100% Renewable Energy

Starting this month, the city of Austin, Texas, has moved to 100% clean renewable energy produced at West Texas wind farms and bought from a publicly-owned utility company.

The city’s public utility, Austin Energy, serves nearly 1 million people in Austin, Travis County and part of Williamson County.

Austin, which subscribes to approximately 400 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy, is believed to be the biggest U.S. city consuming 100% renewables.

Austin has locked in for 10 years at the rate of 5.7 cents per kilowatt-hour through Austin Energy's voluntary green-pricing program.

The deal will stabilize -- but increase -- Austin's energy costs.

Until this month, Austin city government was consuming a mix that included 20% renewables.

The article from Gov Tech.

If Austin can do it, why can't everybody? 

I'm glad you asked that question. Here's what's standing in the way of the conversion to renewable energy. [Alternet.]

Is Hinsch's Coming Back?

A Taste of Sheepshead Bay

Local news site Sheepshead Bites and Il Fornetto, Sheepshead Bay's premiere waterfront restaurant, will co-sponsor "A Taste of Sheepshead Bay", an evening of food and entertainment featuring samplings from more than 20 neighborhood restaurants aimed at restoring the neighborhood's title as Brooklyn's premiere dining destination.

• When:  October 27, 2011 at 7:00 PM.
• Where: Baron DeKalb Knights of Columbus (3000 Emmons Avenue)
• How Much: $25/advance/$35/door.

Brooklyn foodies can schmooze with the city's top food critics as they sample the delicious diversity of the neighborhood's best restaurants, bakeries and other food establishments.

Sheepshead Bites Editor Ned Berke hosts the evening, which will feature:

• Signature dishes from local restaurants
• Live music
• Full cash bar
• Free valet parking
• Door prizes
• Limited edition restaurant guide, featuring the event's participants -- and more.

Contributors of food specialties include Chicken Masters, Randazzo's Clam Bar, Liman, Il Fornetto, Arbuz, Coney Island Taste Peruvian Restaurant, Anthony's Place, Jay and Lloyd's Kosher Deli, Chop Stix, Wheeler's -- and many more.

Only 250 tickets are available, so reserve here now: http://bit.ly/TasteSheepshead.

For more information or to request a media pass, contact Ned Berke or Robert Fernandez at Sheepshead Bites.

Who knows, maybe you'll run into this guy there. [Daily News.]

Sammie the Cat Comes Back

Remember Sammie, the blind kitty who went missing in Bay Ridge last October?

Last week, he was reunited with his owner, special education teacher Karen Hansen, after Hansen got a call from a Borough Park woman who thought she recognized Sammie hanging with the posse of feral cats she regularly feeds.

He may be blind, but Sammie's clearly got game.

The woman, Terri Vanzo, had seen Sammie's picture online.

When Vanzo called Hansen, Hansen was afraid to get her hopes up, because there were a number of earlier tips that didn't pan out. But when she drove to Borough Park to take a look, she immediately recognized her cat.

Hansen had covered Bay Ridge in flyers, posting them on Facebook and across the internet -- including this blog -- and in the Daily News.

And that's how the cat came back.

The article from the Daily News.

Marine Park Priest Charged in Child Sex Abuse Case

Daily News Photo

Msgr. Thomas Brady, a retired Roman Catholic priest at Good Shepherd Roman Catholic Church near Marine Park, was criminally charged last week after a 13-year-old boy accused him of sexual misconduct.

The charges include endangering the welfare of a child and attempted sexual abuse.

A second boy has described similar misconduct.

The “inappropriate contact” between Monsignor Brady and the two boys was alleged to have occurred recently.

Msgr. Brady was a New York City Fire Department chaplain for 25 years.  He was also the pastor of Good Shepherd for more than 20 years before retiring in June, 2009.

In ill health due to multiple strokes and a lung cancer diagnosis, Msgr. Brady continues to live in the church’s rectory.

He has been placed on administrative leave.

Brooklyn district attorney Charles J. Hynes, citing his longtime acquaintance with Msgr. Brady, has passed the case to the Staten Island DA's office.

The post from the New York Times Cityroom Blog.

More from the Daily News.

More from Brooklyn Daily.

Who Does the House of Representatives Represent?

At the end of September, the Republican-dominated House passed HR 2401, the so-called TRAIN Act, the first piece of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's (R-VA) toxic agenda, which threatens to wipe out clean air standards in America.

But the American people don't want to wipe out clean air standards. According to a recent poll, 75% of Americans, including 62% of Republicans, want the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, not Congress, to set clean air standards.

The Republican House rolled over those voters in early October by voting to exempt cement kilns — the nation's second worst mercury polluter -- from the Clean Air Act.

Mercury exposure stunts the developing brains of children.

That bill, H.R. 2681, also allows kilns to burn tires, scrap plastics, used chemicals and other industrial garbage.

The Republican House has now voted to exempt industrial boilers and incinerators — the nation's third largest source of mercury and other toxic air pollution — from the Clean Air Act.

That bill, H.R. 2250, also encourages the unregulated burning of industrial garbage.

Taken together, H.R. 2681 and H.R. 2250 could cause 9,000 premature deaths every year.

Here's how our local representative, Michael Grimm, voted on that legislation.

Grimm's vote wasn't for us, but for the polluters -- the operators of dirty industrial facilities who want to pass along the costs of polluting to us, in the form of higher medical bills, lost wages and diminished quality of life.

Republicans like Grimm always chant the "jobs" mantra, but the analysis shows that clean air is good for the economy, not bad.

Now, the Republican House has voted to block the EPA from regulating toxic coal ash, which is contaminating groundwater in hundreds of states across the country with arsenic, lead and other toxic metals.

Proponents of that bill call it a "jobs" creator, but the research shows the opposite:  the jobs are in the cleanup, not the pollution.

The post from Earthjustice.

Family Fun at Owl's Head Overlook

On Saturday, October 22 from 12:30 to 3:30 PM, local City Council Member Vinnie Gentile and the Bay Ridge Arts + Culture Alliance will sponsor a family afternoon featuring The New River Travelers, a local Bluegrass band, at the newly-renovated Owl's Head Overlook at Owl's Head Park in Bay Ridge.

This is the second in a series of free family events that Gentile has scheduled at the overlook to show off its new $1.4 million renovation -- paved pathways, benches, fencing and landscaping -- with funds secured by Gentile.

The councilman hopes to see the overlook become a family destination, not just for its million-dollar view of New York Harbor, but for the vibrant cultural events hosted there by the Bay Ridge Arts + Culture Alliance.

Finally, a Brooklyn Superhero

 

Until now, Booklyn has had zilch in the superhero department. That's changed. 

His name is Vinnie, he comes from Bay Ridge and he calls himself Captain Brooklyn.

Yeah, a Brooklyn superhero -- other than you. 

Brought to life by co-writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Frank Tieri and artist Amanda Conner — Captain Brooklyn, a three-issue Image Comics miniseries, will be released in May.

His formal coming out will be at the New York Comic Con in Manhattan.

Vinnie is just your average Brooklyn guy trying to make it in the city, but when his grandfather gets sick, he gets into trouble with the wrong people, makes some bad choices, and ends up facing deadly consequences.

That's when he finds out about his super powers and things start to get interesting, because he can barely control them.

The colorful Brooklyn characters surrounding Vinnie include his grandfather, his low-life best friend, his hot Russian neighbor and bunch of cats.

Palmiotti, Conner, his wife, and Tieri, his longtime friend, are all Brooklyn connected.  They were hanging out one night after a comic con, talking superheroes.  When Tieri left early and somebody said "Hey, there goes Captain Brooklyn", Conner begin drawing Frank as Vinnie.

Captain Brooklyn, they say, is an amalgam of all of them.

Tieri calls the Captain Brooklyn series "super-over-the-top", in the spirit of The Pro, a comic about a hooker-turned-superheroine that Palmiotti and Conner worked on -- but even more Chuck Jones-violent.

Palmiotti and Conner have teamed up over the years on projects for DC Comics like Power Girl and All Star Western.

Although Captain Brooklyn is set in Bay Ridge, the story bounces all over Brooklyn, from the Gowanus to Coney Island, drawing on the authors' own Brooklyn memories.

The Brooklyn vibe and the Brooklyn dialect are everywhere in Captain Brooklyn:  street smart, full of attitude and big dreams.

Palmiotti thinks it must be something in the pizza.

The article from USA Today.

The New York Post picks up the Captain Brooklyn story.

What We Got Instead of a Jobs Bill

Congress, after defeating President Obama's jobs bill last week, approved legislation to put in place free trade agreements with Colombia, South Korea and Panama.

Republican supporters claim the legislation will create jobs. Opponents say that it will not only eliminate American jobs, but will support the violent suppression of organized labor on an international scale.

By eliminating tariffs, the legislation will theoretically promote American exports to Panama, Colombia and South Korea. Allowing these "expanding economies" to buy more American goods, supporters say, will add thousands of jobs to the American economy.

Opponents of the legislation say that it will not only outsource more American jobs, but send them to union-crushing Colombia, where nearly 3,000 union members have been killed by anti-union forces in the last 25 years and at least 40 have died in anti-union violence since Columbian President Juan Manuel Santos took office last August.

These new trade agreements, critics say, are just a rerun of what Congress has done before -- outsourced millions of American jobs and exploded our country's trade deficit.  The new trade deals, they say, will serve to escalate the global race for cheap labor in places where union membership could get you killed.

The article from the Washington Independent.