Posted
by Mark Asch
on Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 12:03 PM
Not a stripper.
“This is as reasonable as an establishment like this can be" is not exactly a ringing endorsement, but that's the reason Community Board 6 member (and Brazen Head owner) Lou Sones gave for his vote to recommend a liquor license to one Dave Ruggiero, who plans to open a place called The Paris Burlesque Club in Red Hook, the Brooklyn Paper reports. The burlesque club had previously attracted controversy: residents didn't want a lot of clubgoers leaving the large space late at night, Ruggiero "declined" to tell a reporter about his previous club experience and neglected to reach out to the city burlesque community, leading residents to speculate that The Paris Burlesque Club would in fact become a place in Red Hook where the naked ladies dance.
The only thing in Brooklyn more rampant than borough president Marty Markowitz's irrational hatred of bike lanes is borough president Marty Markowitz's hunger. We've caught glimpses of it at various food festivals and events, but now, thanks to the new Tumblr Marty Markowitz Eating we can gorge ourselves on photos of Markowitz enjoying the company of food. We asked the creator of the site, who goes simply by "Markowitz Fan," where s/he got the idea...
Posted
by Mike Conklin
on Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 10:33 AM
When The Decemberists take the stage for their third consecutive sold out show at the Beacon Theater tonight, the vibe should be a bit more festive than it was for the first two. Official word comes this morning that the band has scored its first-ever number one album, with the excellent The King is Deadselling 93,567 copies in its first week. Number one is number one, of course, but it must be noted that last week's number on album was Showroom of Compassion by Cake, who, go figure, still exist. So yeah, it's not exactly a huge time for record sales, but still... go indie rock!
Posted
by Mike Conklin
on Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 9:44 AM
For its 2011 installment, All Tomorrow's Parties will abandon its previous home at the Kutsher's Resort in Moniticello, NY, heading instead for the greener, more idyllic pastures of Asbury Park, New Jersey. This year's big-name guest curator is Portishead—a pretty remarkable score, really—but the biggest draw will be the two scheduled performances by the once reclusive former Neutral Milk Hotel frontman Jeff Mangum. The festival is set to take place from Friday September 30th through Sunday October 2nd, with Mangum playing for the second time on Monday the 3rd. Also confirmed so far? Shellac, Cults, Chavez and the Album Leaf, with somewhere around 30 more still to be announced.
Tickets go on sale this Friday at 9am, but the whole thing is complicated, so you'll want to read about all your different options, and about which packages guarantee that you will indeed see Jeff Mangum play. Unless you're like, "Fuck it, I just really want to see Cults," in which case the $60 Friday pass will suit you perfectly. After the jump, all the details you'll need to make the right choice.
Posted
by Henry Stewart
on Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 8:58 AM
Jonathan P. Derow with The Map
Last week, a much-passed around Timesarticle discussed the discovery and restoration of a "Ratzer Map" in the holdings of the Brooklyn Historical Society: it's an extraordinarily rare, ca. 1770 English map of New York City, including a large chunk of "Brookland". Starting today, that map goes on public display until Friday, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. daily, after which it will be packed away, awaiting a proper exhibition space, which could take more than a year. We caught up with Park Slope resident Jonathan P. Derow, who restored the map for BHS.
What kind of condition was the map in? This map, relative to anything I've worked on from any time period during my 20 years in conservation, was in very rough shape. As a conservator, the hardest—and scariest—issue to deal with is fragility, and when I first saw the map it was in extremely fragile condition. This was due to a combination of factors: the shellac on the front, the cloth backing, and the acidity of the paper. Working on something you're afraid to touch is a challenge.
Posted
by Henry Stewart
on Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 4:33 PM
Stick 'em up!
Two weeks ago, police blotter stats revealed that the area around Ratner's Atlantic Yards project had become a hotbed of crime. It wasn't just a fluke: this week's stats report more crime sweeping through the area. A Target shopper had her purse snatched a week ago; four days later, a sexagenarian in Marshall's befell a similar fate, as did a 28-year-old stroller pusher in Target that same day. More seriously, a man tried to assault sexually a woman a block east of the Atlantic Terminal, but she escaped safely.
Bike lane protesters demand more speeding cars, fewer safe cyclists and pedestrians.
Today two former city officials (and very vocal opponents of the hotly-contested Prospect Park West bike lane) tell the Brooklyn Paper that they, much like borough prez Marty Markowitz, are extremely skeptical of a recent Department of Transportation survey showing the lane's many benefits.
Posted
by Keith Wagstaff
on Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 2:46 PM
As someone who has covered the Brooklyn food world for the last, oh, five or so years, this sketch from Portlandia, the new series from SNL's Fred Armisen and Sleater Kinney's Carrie Brownstein (swooooon), rings a little too true. I've never had my waiter say about my chicken "His name was Collin, here are his papers" but my experiences haven't been too far from that. I totally support local and organic food movements, yet I have to recognize that it can be a little absurd sometimes (see: rabbit-killing courses, urban beekeepers, etc.). This sketch got me thinking about all of the other great comedy sketches centered around food. Here, in no particular order, are five more of my all-time favorites.
Posted
by Henry Stewart
on Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 2:02 PM
Hunting for bodies
Last month, police found four bodies on a barrier island 10 miles east of Jones Beach and believed it might be the work of a serial killer. This week, police have finished identifying the bodies: all four are women, sex workers who had been reported missing as long ago as 2007 from North Babylon up to Maine. "It appears the seaside sicko may be hunting a certain type of prostitute," the Daily Newsreported. "All three were tiny women under 5 feet and about 100 pounds." (The other victim, however, was 5'5", and 150 pounds, so...)
Posted
by Mike Conklin
on Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 1:17 PM
Just a little while ago, after hearing rumblings about them for the past few weeks, I decided I would finally give of-the-moment British band Yuck a quick listen to see if, against all odds, they were worth paying attention to. Lo and behold, I was actually enjoying it—predictably pleased by their love of dreamy, fuzzed-out indie-pop, which I have decided sounds exactly like that of the fictional band in Jonathan Lethem's You Don't Love Me Yet. "Maybe I'll go see them at Mercury Lounge tonight," I thought. But no, I won't. Word comes, via the venue's Twitter that the band has had to cancel tonight's show due to visa issues. As of now, tomorrow night's show at Glasslands is still on. We'll let you know if we hear anything to the contrary, of course. After the jump, a video for the very good song, "Georgia," and another, much weirder, much more NSFW one for "Rubber."
The first weekend of Sundance, along the sloping hill that is Park City’s Main Street, is a mad frenzy of tourists rubbernecking at the site of celebrities; music from the likes of Lil Jon and even, this year, Lou Reed pulsating from bar after bar; and women in tight white coats emblazoned with Stella Artois logos promoting their cold asses off. It is also the weekend that press, industry, and filmlovers wait in long lines to delight in seeing the best in new independent films, grabbing a protein bar here and there so they can just get one more film in.
As predicted, the buzzed-about Sundance indies are well, still being buzzed about. Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene (nicknamed via text message as MMMM), James Marsh’s Project Nim, and Pariah are three of the films that have everyone talking. Project Nim will be coming to a television near you, courtesy of HBO Documentary Films, but neither of the two fiction films have been officially picked up yet. [Update: Since Danielle filed last night, Fox Searchlight grabbed MMMM. —Ed.]
Posted
by Henry Stewart
on Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 11:49 AM
Southeast Brooklyn could soon be underwater. For years, the Shore Road bike path and the Belt Parkway have been under threat from the encroaching ocean, but the Army Corps of Engineers finally has a solution: extend Plumb Beach! We're not usually ones around here to encourage saving automobile modes of transit—and this might be an excellent time to point out Robert Moses' error(s) in transforming our borough's beautiful coasts into "scenic motorcoach passages"—but we can easily rally behind 40 extra feet of beach. Not that anyone besides vehicle-equipped cruisers and people who commit hate crimes against homosexuals use Plumb Beach, which looks out at Kingsborough Community College to the west and Roxbury to the south...but still!
Strange news out of the download-driven world of hip-hop websites yesterday with one of the biggest, World Star Hip Hop, supposedly getting shut down (the video section lives on, but the new music blog is still down), a feat for which 50 Cent originally claimed responsibility—he currently has two suits against the site for using his likeness in its banner. But it seems Fitty had nothing to do with it: WSHH just missed a payment to their hosting company. But many worried that it had met a similar fate as another hip-hop mp3 site: last month OnSmash was seized by the Department of Justice, the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination and Homeland Security (legal and illegal mp3s are a matter of national security, apparently). Since mid-December visitors to that site have been met with this imposing image.
Posted
by Mike Conklin
on Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 10:06 AM
During the second period of last night's 2-1 Rangers shootout victory over the Washington Capitals (suck it, Ovechkin), I saw this commercial for the Williamsburg Edge condos. It sort of reminds me of what Michael did to Lelaina's documentary in Reality Bites, only there was probably no Lelaina in the first place. Does that qualify as "without commentary"? It doesn't, does it?
Posted
by Mark Asch
on Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 9:19 AM
In Hollywood, where it's even earlier than it is here, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the nominations for the 2011 Academy Awards, to be broadcast in a February 27 ceremony hosted by beautiful people Anne Hathaway and James Franco, and preceded by a special dinner which Jean-Luc Godard did not attend. The King's Speech received 12 nominations, True Grit a surprising-only-to-disappointed-auteurists 10. (Cinematographer Roger Deakins, who's incredibly never won, receives his 8th nomination.) The Social Network eight and Inception also eight (mostly in the technical categories, plus the designated "Chris Nolan fanboy blockbuster" spot in the recently expanded field of ten Best Picture nominees.
Borough president Marty Markowitz, riding on the sidewalk, plows into a group of pedestrians on Prospect Park West.
As expected, rather than celebrating a dramatic decrease in accidents, injuries and speeding on one of Brooklyn's beautifulest stretches of street, bike-hating borough president Marty Markowitz greeted the results of a recent Department of Transportation study that found the new Prospect Park West bike lane had reaped huge benefits for local cyclists, pedestrians and motorists with skepticism and accusations of numbers-skewing.
Posted
by Lauren Beck
on Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 4:31 PM
Beard
How many times can we possibly write the word "beard" in a single blog post? We're about to find out! This Friday (one day before they headline Radio City Music Hall), Sam Beam, who is bearded, and his bandmates, who probably also have beards, will be playing tracks from their new album, Kiss Each Other Clean, at the Apple store in Soho. In attendance will likely be a whole bunch of homeboys with beards and soft spots for forlorn folk, as well as the women who love them, so we suggest you pick up a wristband starting Thursday at 9am to guarantee admission. Check the details here.
Posted
by Henry Stewart
on Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 3:59 PM
Whom will Zamperla evict from the Cyclone? Fun itself?
While the city continues to accept proposals for long-term operators of the landmarked Cyclone rollercoaster, it has entrusted Zamperla with the task of operating the dilapidated amusement area's central attraction for this season, the Brooklyn Paperreports. The once-welcomed developer, who built Luna Park over Astroland's remains, has recently emerged as a villain after evicting eight businesses, including the iconic Ruby's, from their longtime boardwalk homes. Last month, Zamperla even bulldozed the beloved Shoot the Freak amusement, even though it was illegal to do so. Zamperla also plans to open competing coasters this spring in an area called "Scream Zone," which will include at least one ride based on a Steeplechase classic—one more of Zamperla's increasingly shallow-seeming acknowledgements of Coney's rich history.
Posted
by Mark Asch
on Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 3:17 PM
"I love The L Magazine's film section," we hear you saying, "and only wish that it was easier to interact with it over the internet." When you say this, your voice sounds weirdly like Werner Herzog's. You continue: "I would love to be able to check in to receive links to reviews and blog posts from the L, good film-related reads and engrossing videos from across the web, hot news and enlightened commentary, NYC screening tips, and lots of content related either directly or tangentially to my all-time favorite actor, Eric Roberts."
Well! Starting now, The L's film section is on Twitter, where we aim to provide all that and more. We'd encourage you to follow us @LMagFilm ("at @LMagFilm"? Anybody?), where our unique perspective on NYC cinephilia articulates itself 140 characters at a time.
So far, there have been two tweets. Only one of them has been about Eric Roberts. Follow us, quickly, lest you miss another. (Also, I will probably get drunk on Red Stag and liveblog the Oscars at some point.)
Posted
by Mark Asch
on Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 2:47 PM
The Queens Library—the highest-circulating public library in America—has stopped buying new books, WNYC reports.
This comes after two years of cuts to staff and operating hours necessitated by city budgetcuts; Library CEO Tom Galante tells WNYC that, in essence, he's had to choose between keeping up with new acquisitions and maintaining current levels of access and service.
