January 11
MTV News spotlights “The Noise From Brooklyn”
Featuring interviews with Yeasayer, Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors and A Place to Bury Strangers, this proves how mainstream Brooklyn’s music scene has become.
april
Brooklyn Flea Launches
What started off as a relatively modest endeavor in a parking lot in Fort Greene will soon come to define a certain facet
of Brooklyn commerce, and will eventually spawn Smorgasburg, and thus, the Ramen Burger.
May 7
The New York Times
Discovers Bushwick, Calls It East Williamsburg
The Gray Lady checks out life in the McKibbin Lofts, a place Gawker has already aptly dubbed “Fort Whitey.”
July 27
MGMT plays a free JellyNYC Pool Party at McCarren Park Pool
People scale the walls trying to get in. For MGMT! WHAT WAS WRONG WITH 2008?!?
September 4
Coney Island’s Astroland Closes
Unrelated to the tragic death on the Cyclone in 2007, Astroland in Coney Island closes for good. (The Cyclone stays open.) In its stead, Coney Island developer Thor will launch Luna Park in the summer of 2010.
September 17
Expanded Brooklyn Children’s Museum Opens
The redesign was done by architect Rafael Vinoly, and was designed to draw in thousands of more visitors a year. Though attendance has increased, the museum continues to face financial issues today.
November 4
Barack Obama Is Elected President of the United States of America
This was a pretty big deal here in Brooklyn, and, like, the world. Plus, this borough even has a connection to the first African-American president
of this country because Obama lived for a short time in
Park Slope.
December 21
RELIEF: The Times Declares “Hipness Stays Afloat”
This year marked the arrival of tons of condos along the Williamsburg waterfront, but while some worried about what this meant, the Times was there to reassure us that while “condos flood in; hipness stays afloat.” Whew. We were worried there for awhile.
Openings
• Egg, Williamsburg
• Five Leaves, Greenpoint
• Franklin Park, Crown Heights
• Brooklyn Ice House, Red Hook
Albums
• Alight of Night by Crystal Stilts
• You & Me by The Walkmen,
• Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend
• Dear Science by TV on the Radio,
Books
• Atmospheric Disturbances by Rivka Galchen
• The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti
• Netherland by Joseph O’Neill
• Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
Real Estate Notes
Average sale price for a home/condo
• Williamsburg, $647K
• Park Slope, $688K
• Brooklyn Heights, $623K
• DUMBO, $1.296M