February
BAM Launches The Bridge Project, a Three-Year Trans-Atlantic Partnership with London’s the Old Vic and Neal Street Productions
Performances include the Sam Mendes-directed production of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, Kevin Spacey in Richard III, and A Streetcar Named Desire starring Cate Blanchett.
The First Annual Northside Festival
Hey! We have a festival! The first Northside featured over 100 bands playing at venues all over Williamsburg and Greenpoint. It has now expanded to include film and tech components and this past year featured over 450 bands.
June 21
A Four-Story Building Collapses on Myrtle Avenue in Clinton Hill
Luckily, only a handful of people suffered minor injuries, but this total building collapse (apparently there was “a crack” in a wall??) really ought to make us all take stock of where it is we live, namely, a borough filled with a combination of crumbling infrastructure and hastily constructed condos.
August 30
Beyonce and Jay-Z Attend a Grizzly Bear Show at East River State Park
Bey’s sister Solange brought the couple out to the show, part of the former McCarren Pool Party concert series which relocated in 2009
to East River State Park.
September
DOT Succeeds In Adding Over 200 Miles of Bike Lanes in New York City
There’s some controversy surrounding the bike lanes, particularly on Williamsburg’s heavily Hasidic parts of Kent and Bedford Avenues, but you can’t make everybody happy all of the time, you know? Go bikes!
September 9
Knitting Factory Opens in Brooklyn
This one-time Manhattan stalwart relocated to Williamsburg’s Metropolitan Avenue.
November 3
Michael Bloomberg Wins Historic Third Term as Mayor of New York
Oh, it’s not that Bloomberg was the first New York mayor to serve three terms, but he was the first who deliberately sought to get rid of term limits already in place just to satisfy his own needs, only to replace them following his election. Despite his massive cross-party popularity, this action was not a good look for Bloomberg, and he won re-election by a surprisingly small margin.
November 8
New York Magazine Crowns Brooklyn “America’s Music Capital”
What a coincidence that this happened the same year we launched the Northside Festival. Really makes you think.
November 24
New York State Court of Appeals Paves the Way for the Atlantic Yards Project
By dismissing all challenges to the use of eminent domain re: Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project, the state’s Court of Appeals paved (not literally, but almost) the way for the transformation of this part of Brooklyn.
Openings
• Saraghina, Bed-Stuy
• Rye, Williamsburg
• The Brooklyn Star, Williamsburg
• Mimi’s Hummus, Ditmas Park
• Fort Defiance, Red Hook
• Saltie, Williamsburg
• Prime Meats, Carroll Gardens
• Brooklyn Bowl, Williamsburg
Albums
• Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear
• Bitte Orca by Dirty Projectors
• Actors by St. Vincent
• It’s Blitz by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Books
• Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
• Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead
• Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
Real Estate Notes
Average sale price for a home/condo
• Williamsburg, $590K
• Park Slope, $624K
• Brooklyn Heights, $620K
• DUMBO, $1.098M